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Author Topic: 1/6 Insurrection Investigation  (Read 67857 times)

Offline Rick Plant

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Re: 1/6 Insurrection Investigation
« Reply #128 on: November 23, 2021, 11:41:45 PM »
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Older brother of MAGA rioter from posh Chicago suburb gets indicted with him five months later



A 27-year-old man from a wealthy suburb of Chicago has joined his younger brother as a defendant in the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Mark Kulas Jr., 27, of Lake Forest, was charged in a criminal information made public Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington with one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct on the grounds of a government building," the Chicago Tribune reported.

"He was charged five months after his brother, Christian Kulas, 24, was hit with similar counts alleging he posted video of himself on Instagram storming the Capitol building during the Jan. 6 siege while wearing a designer coat and pro-Trump hat.

"Both Mark and Christian Kulas are scheduled to plead guilty Dec. 6 before U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan, records show. The charge they're facing carries a maximum sentence of a year in prison."

As reported at Raw Story June 8, Christian Kulas was most notable for the promises he made to a judge related to his release pending disposition of his case:

"Kulas' mother agreed to be responsible for her son returning for upcoming court appearances.

"Yes, I understand I must listen to everything my mother says your honor," Christian Kulas told the judge during a hearing conducted by phone Tuesday.

"Attorneys indicated Kulas would be staying at his parents' home in Kenilworth. Public records indicate it is $4.5 million mansion that sits on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. His father agreed to remove two guns from the premises.

Christian Kulas' designer fashion statement at the riot was quite distinctive, as we reported:

"The individual depicted in the video is laughing. The individual is wearing a dark baseball type hat with "KEEP AMERICA GREAT" in bright orange letters on the hat. The individual was also wearing a dark coat with a Burberry print around the hood of the coat."

The specific charges against Mark Kulas were not spelled out in the charges made public Monday, the Tribune reported. Here's more from the newspaper:

"The Kulases are sons to the wealthy owner of a North Shore maid service, Kulas Maids, and attended Lake Forest High School. The FBI began receiving tips about Kulas' participation three days after the attack, according to the complaint. An informant who went to middle school and high school with Kulas later identified him from the videos and said it was his voice talking about storming the Capitol.

"Zana Weismantel, 22, who said she went to high school with Christian, was one of many people to identify and condemn Kulas on their social media accounts soon after the siege took place. She told the Tribune in June he became the talk of the town once his name and photo hit the internet.

"I do know that a lot of people were fully aware," she said. 'It's a small town. It traveled really quickly.'"

https://www.rawstory.com/older-brother-of-maga-rioter-from-posh-chicago-suburb-gets-indicted-with-him-five-months-later/

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Re: 1/6 Insurrection Investigation
« Reply #128 on: November 23, 2021, 11:41:45 PM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: 1/6 Insurrection Investigation
« Reply #129 on: November 23, 2021, 11:50:05 PM »
Jan 6 committee subpoenas Oath Keepers and Proud Boys



The House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol released another round of subpoenas Tuesday.

According to the request, the committee is calling on Proud Boys International, L.L.C., Henry "Enrique" Tarrio, the Oath Keepers, Elmer Stewart Rhodes, and Robert Patrick Lewis/1st Amendment Praetorian to hand over documents related to the Jan. 6 attack.

According to the committee, they'll be seeking information because they believe "the individuals and organizations we subpoenaed today have relevant information about how violence erupted at the Capitol and the preparation leading up to this violent attack. The Select Committee is moving swiftly to uncover the facts of what happened on that day and we expect every witness to comply with the law and cooperate so we can get answers to the American people."

The committee explained that the Proud Boys called for violence leading into the attack and at least 34 of their members have already been indicted by the Justice Department

"Many individuals associated with the Proud Boys repeatedly spread the former President's unsupported claim that the 2020 election was stolen and suggested the use of force against police officers and government officials," the release said.

Tarrio, the former Proud Boys chair, was blocked from coming into Washington, D.C., however, the committee explained that he too helped his organization plot the events.

The Oath Keepers group was also involved with 18 members indicted by a federal grand jury for "planning a coordinated attack to storm the Capitol, including by traveling to Washington, D.C., with paramilitary gear and supplies," said the release.

Oath Keepers president Elmer Stewart Rhodes suggested this group should "engage in violence to ensure their preferred election outcome," the committee explained.

The 1st Amendment Praetorian claims to be an organization that provided security at 2020 election protest rallies. The group's Twitter account suggested that violence was imminent in a message sent on Jan. 4.

The chair of the group, Robert Patrick Lewis, tweeted Jan. 6 tweeted: "Today is the day that true battles begin."

After the attack on the Capitol, Lewis claimed he was involved in "war-games" to continue the efforts to overthrow the government.

Read the full statement:

SELECT COMMITTEE SUBPOENAS GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS LINKED TO VIOLENT ATTACK ON THE CAPITOL ON JANUARY 6TH

Nov 23, 2021

Bolton, MS—Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) today announced that the Select Committee has issued five subpoenas as a part of its investigation into the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol and its causes. The committee is demanding information from groups involved in violence both leading up to and on January 6th and testimony and records from individuals who may have information about the attack.

Chairman Thompson issued the following statement:

“The Select Committee is seeking information from individuals and organizations reportedly involved with planning the attack, with the violent mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6th, or with efforts to overturn the results of the election. We believe the individuals and organizations we subpoenaed today have relevant information about how violence erupted at the Capitol and the preparation leading up to this violent attack. The Select Committee is moving swiftly to uncover the facts of what happened on that day and we expect every witness to comply with the law and cooperate so we can get answers to the American people.”

The Select Committee issued subpoenas for records and testimony from three organizations and a number of associated individuals.

Members of Proud Boys International, L.L.C., called for violence leading up to January 6th, and at least 34 individuals affiliated with the Proud Boys have been indicted by the Department of Justice in relation to the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Many individuals associated with the Proud Boys repeatedly spread the former President’s unsupported claim that the 2020 election was stolen and suggested the use of force against police officers and government officials. Henry “Enrique” Tarrio was Chairman of the Proud Boys during the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Though Mr. Tarrio was prevented from entering Washington, D.C., on January 6th, he was allegedly involved in the Proud Boys’ preparation for the events at the Capitol.

Individuals associated with the Oath Keepers organization were similarly involved in planning and participating in the violent attack on the Capitol on January 6th. Eighteen members of the Oath Keepers were indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly planning a coordinated attack to storm the Capitol, including by traveling to Washington, D.C., with paramilitary gear and supplies. Elmer Stewart Rhodes is President of the Oath Keepers. Prior to January 6th, Mr. Rhodes repeatedly suggested the Oath Keepers should engage in violence to ensure their preferred election outcome. On January 6th, Mr. Rhodes was allegedly in contact with several of the indicted Oath Keepers members before, during, and after the Capitol attack, including meeting some of them outside the Capitol.

1st Amendment Praetorian is an organization that provided security at multiple rallies leading up to January 6th that amplified the former President’s unsupported claim that the election was stolen. On January 4th, the 1st Amendment Praetorian Twitter account suggested that violence was imminent. Robert Patrick Lewis, Chairman of 1st Amendment Praetorian, was listed as a speaker on the permit for the January 5th rally on Freedom Plaza. On January 6th, Mr. Lewis tweeted: “Today is the day that true battles begin.” The day after, Mr. Lewis claimed that he was involved in “war-gaming” to continue efforts to overturn the election results.

The letters to the witnesses can be found here:

Proud Boys International, L.L.C.
Henry “Enrique” Tarrio
Oath Keepers
Elmer Stewart Rhodes
Robert Patrick Lewis/1st Amendment Praetorian

https://january6th.house.gov/news/press-releases/select-committee-subpoenas-groups-and-individuals-linked-violent-attack-capitol

Offline Rick Plant

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Re: 1/6 Insurrection Investigation
« Reply #130 on: November 24, 2021, 05:59:10 AM »
Eric Trump and Lara Trump reportedly used burner phones to communicate with January 6th organizers, meaning they didn’t want the planning to be traced back to them. That's something you do in a criminal plot. The 1/6 committee will certainly subpoena them under threat of criminal indictment.

Jan. 6 Organizers Used Anonymous ‘Burner Phones’ to Communicate with White House and Trump Family, Sources Say

A key planner of the Jan. 6 rally near the White House insisted the burner phones be purchased with cash, a source says


Some of the organizers who planned the rally that took place on the White House Ellipse on Jan. 6 allegedly used difficult to trace burner phones for their most “high level” communications with former President Trump’s team.

Kylie Kremer, a top official in the “March for Trump” group that helped plan the Ellipse rally, directed an aide to pick up three burner phones days before Jan. 6, according to three sources who were involved in the event. One of the sources, a member of the “March for Trump” team, says Kremer insisted the phones be purchased using cash and described this as being “of the utmost importance.”

The three sources said Kylie Kremer took one of the phones and used it to communicate with top White House and Trump campaign officials, including Eric Trump, the president’s second-oldest son, who leads the family’s real-estate business; Lara Trump, Eric’s wife and a former senior Trump campaign consultant; Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff; and Katrina Pierson, a Trump surrogate and campaign consultant.

The member said a second phone was given to Amy Kremer, Kylie Kremer’s mother and another key rally organizer. The team member said they did not know who the third phone was purchased for.

“That was when the planning for the event on the Ellipse was happening, she needed burner phones in order to communicate with high level people is how she put it,” the March For Trump team member tells Rolling Stone, referencing Kylie Kremer.

Kylie and Amy Kremer did not immediately respond to a request for comment on record.

According to the three sources, some of the most crucial planning conversations between top rally organizers and Trump’s inner circle took place on those burner phones. “They were planning all kinds of stuff, marches and rallies. Any conversation she had with the White House or Trump family took place on those phones,” the team member said of Kylie Kremer.

Spokespeople for President Trump and Meadows also did not respond to a request for comment. Eric Trump, Lara Trump, and Pierson did not respond to requests for comment.

Burner phones — cheap, prepaid cells designed for temporary usage — do not require users to have an account. This makes them hard to trace and ideal for those who are seeking anonymity — particularly if they are purchased with cash. The use of burner phones could make it more difficult for congressional investigators to find evidence of coordination between Trump’s team and rally planners.

The House select committee on the January 6 attack has been examining what role Trump and his allies played in what the committee has described as “efforts to subvert the rule of law, overturn the results of the November 3, 2020 election, or otherwise impede the peaceful transfer of power.” As part of that effort, the committee has subpoenaed documents from the Kremers, other “March For Trump” organizers, rally planners, and top Trump advisers including members of his White House staff and campaign team. The committee has received “thousands of pages of records” and, according to an attorney familiar with the investigation, that includes “tons” of group text conversations. (The committee declined to comment.) Rolling Stone reviewed group texts from the rally planners that show the Kremers claiming they worked with the White House Trump’s team to plan the Ellipse event.

Kylie and Amy Kremer helped lead the nationwide “March For Trump” bus tour where speakers promoted false conspiracy theories about last November’s election and called for the results to be overturned. That tour culminated on January 6,  with the large “Save America” rally on the White House Ellipse, which took place as Trump’s loss was being certified at the U.S. Capitol. The Kremers also lead an organization called “Women for America First,” which obtained the permit for the Ellipse rally.

Trump spoke at the Ellipse rally on January 6 and said they should “walk down Pennsylvania Avenue” to the Capitol which is located about 1.5 miles away from the Ellipse. In his remarks, the former president told the crowd to both “fight like hell” and to “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.” As the speech concluded, crowds of Trump supporters breached barricades at the Capitol complex. Some supporters proceeded to break into the building and spend hours attacking Capitol police and threatening violence against lawmakers, an attack that delayed the certification of President Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.

There was no evidence the Kremers and the other rally organizers encouraged or planned violence in the group text messages reviewed by Rolling Stone. However, critics have argued Trump and the leaders who encouraged thousands of his supporters to come to Washington as the vote was certified deserve some blame for the violence because of their pre-Jan. 6 rhetoric and the fiery content of the former president’s speech at the Ellipse rally.

The three sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the ongoing investigation into the January 6 Capitol attack, say Kylie asked the aide to buy the three “burner phones” as the group passed through Palm Springs, California about a week before the Ellipse event. Based on the group’s website, which has since been deleted, the tour began on December 27, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada before moving on to California.

There could still be some evidence of direct communications between Kylie Kremer and the White House in more traditional phone records. The team member says that there were rare exceptions in which Kylie Kremer used her regular phone to communicate with Trump officials. “She talked with Mark Meadows on her personal phone once, but mainly on the burner phone,” the team member says.

The sources who spoke to Rolling Stone about the phones also describe an incident that occurred around last Christmastime as the “March For Trump” bus tour kicked off in Las Vegas — just before the phones were allegedly purchased. According to the sources, the group stayed at the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas, which is co-owned and managed by the former president’s real estate company. The team member said the group hoped to park their bus, which was emblazoned with logos, a picture of Trump, and a message declaring “PROTECT ELECTION INTEGRITY” in front of the hotel. However, the team member said hotel management initially declined due to political sensitivities and a lack of space in front of the building.

“The hotel manager said, ‘There’s no way in hell you can have that here unless you can have a member of the Trump family on the phone,’” the team member recalls.

Photos reviewed by Rolling Stone showed the bus parked prominently in front of the hotel’s main entrance. According to the team member, it was able to park because of calls from the Kremers to the Trump family.

“Amy and Kylie,” the team member says, “got Eric and Lara on the phone right away.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/jan-6-rally-organizers-trump-white-house-1262122/

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Re: 1/6 Insurrection Investigation
« Reply #130 on: November 24, 2021, 05:59:10 AM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: 1/6 Insurrection Investigation
« Reply #131 on: November 25, 2021, 12:55:56 AM »
GOP's 'domestic army': How Michigan Republicans allied with paramilitary extremists and paved the way for insurrection
https://www.rawstory.com/michigan-gop/

Offline Rick Plant

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Re: 1/6 Insurrection Investigation
« Reply #132 on: November 26, 2021, 10:48:50 AM »
How Charlottesville set the stage for Jan. 6 -- and helped launch some of the biggest players in the Capitol riot

Days after neo-Nazi James Fields Jr. murdered antiracist activist Heather Heyer in a horrific car-ramming attack in Charlottesville, Va., the Daily Caller, a website founded by Tucker Carlson, quietly removed articles by contributor Jason Kessler.

Kessler was the primary organizer of the Unite the Right rally, which saw neo-Nazis chant, "Jews will not replace us," as they carried torches to the Rotunda at the University of Virginia on Aug. 11, 2017 and again the following day as they marched through Charlottesville.

More than four years later, the ideas that galvanized the Unite the Right rally are no longer considered too radioactive for mainstream conservative media. Carlson himself embraced the Great Replacement theory — responsible for fueling massacres in Pittsburgh; Christchurch, New Zealand; Poway, Calif.; and El Paso, Texas — on his Fox News show in April 2021. He accused Democrats of "trying to replace the current electorate" in the United States "with new people, more obedient voters from the Third World."

There are distinct differences in messaging between Unite the Right, in which white supremacists used Confederate symbols and neo-Nazi aesthetics to nakedly promote white nationalism, and the Jan. 6 insurrection, in which Trump supporters filtered similar aims through QAnon, paranoid anticommunism, and a perverted version of patriotism.

Amy Spitalnick, executive director of Integrity First for America — the nonprofit that won the civil lawsuit against the organizers of Unite the Right — is among those who see distinct similarities between the two events.

"The four years in between have shown us how much of this extremism has moved into the mainstream," she said. "If you look at the tools and tactics, there are many, many parallels, from the use of social media to plan the violence to explicit discussion of the use of free speech instruments like flagpoles as weapons, to the immediate finger-pointing to 'antifa, blaming them for the violence that far-right extremists were responsible for to even some of the ideology.

"While Charlottesville was explicitly white nationalist with holocaust imagery, and with KKK and Nazi paraphernalia like the tiki torches that are meant to evoke dark periods of our history, on January 6th when you think about 'stopping the steal,' it also speaks at its core to this same idea: There's a plot to steal the country from largely white Christians," Spitalnick continued. "That idea that Jews will not replace us is at the core of Unite the Right, but it's also at the core of Jan. 6. We've seen how these ideas have been mainstreamed, from Tucker Carlson giving replacement theory a home on Fox News every night to Republican politicians talking about it."

The two dozen leaders and organizations that were in trial earlier this month in Charlottesville have not been the primary drivers of far-right radicalization over the past four years. While the defendants who were the central organizers of Unite the Right have been financially hobbled by ongoing litigation, some of those who attended the rally played important roles in organizing support for the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol.

Nicholas Fuentes, who attended the rally as an 18-year-old Boston University student, gushed on Facebook on Aug. 12, 2017: "The rootless transnational elite knows that a tidal wave of white identity is coming. And they know that once the word gets outs, they will not be able to stop us. The fire rises!"

More than three years later, Fuentes was recruited to bring the legion of young, white men known — known as "Groypers" — that follow him into the #StopTheSteal coalition. Introduced by #StopTheSteal organizer Ali Alexander, Fuentes ascended a stepladder and addressed Trump supporters outside of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta on Nov. 21, 2020.

"This is an intergenerational struggle of the real American people that constitute this country over and against the global special interests that have taken it over," Fuentes said, electrifying the crowd. "If we are unsuccessful in our struggle to secure President Trump another term in office, then that will institute and introduce the rule of global corporations over this country.

"What is at stake is nothing short of our civilizational inheritance," Fuentes continued, using language strikingly similar to that of Richard Spencer, the marquee leader at Unite the Right. "We Americans have inherited the greatest civilization in the history of the world, and we're not giving it up without a fight." Launching into a transphobic rant accusing global elites of harboring "sick plans" for Americans, Fuentes then falsely equated immigration with criminality, claiming that the globalists "want dirt and scum and crime on these streets." He declared: "This is not a Third World country; this is the United States of America!"

The Proud Boys, which also emerged from the alt-right movement that rode Trump's coattails, are likewise intertwined with the organizing efforts surrounding Unite the Right, though they evaded legal liability in Charlottesville.

As well as being a contributor to the Daily Caller, Kessler was also member of the Proud Boys. As the complaint in the civil suit noted, prior to Unite the Right, Kessler organized a "Proud Boys" event in Charlottesville in which he was initiated into the gang by being beaten in an alley until he could name five breakfast cereals. The plaintiffs introduced into evidence an article published by defendant organization Traditionalist Worker Party entitled, "Proud Boys are Cordially Invited to Unite the Right."

But shortly before Unite the Right, Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnis publicly disavowed the event. Many Proud Boys, including future national chairman Enrique Tarrio, attended anyway. Shane Reeves, a Proud Boy from Colorado posted a photo of himself on Facebook providing a security escort for Augustus Sol Invictus at Unite the Right. Invictus led the short-lived Fraternal Order of the Alt-Knights, formed as the "tactical defense arm" of the Proud Boys. Both Invictus and Fraternal Order of the Alt-Knight were defendants in the Charlottesville lawsuit. Although they did not show up in court to represent themselves during the trial, the plaintiffs are seeking a default judgement against them.

"It is still an overwhelming experience to process, and the men I met that day I consider brothers for life," Reeves wrote in the Facebook post.

As other far-right groups dealt with the legal fallout and public-relations backlash after Unite the Right, over the ensuing four years the Proud Boys would engage in escalating street violence against left-wing adversaries, build ties with the GOP, and supply foot soldiers to the effort to prevent Joe Biden from taking office. Dozens of Proud Boys face federal charges in connection with the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol.

"The clearest winners from Unite the Right were the Proud Boys," said Alexander Reid Ross, a doctoral fellow at the Center for Analysis of the Radical Right. "They backed out. There's a part of the alt-right within the Unite the Right coalition that was able to bring that legacy further into fascism. That was the Proud Boys.

"McInnis recognized astutely in a sense that with the National Socialist Movement getting involved, it was going to be a debacle," Ross continued. "It was always going to be associated with the Nazi movement, and not just the broad right wing. He disassociated at the last minute. But the Proud Boys are interwoven with Unite the Right. Tarrio was there, as well as the Fraternal Order of the Alt-Knights."

At least one person who attended Unite the Right has also been charged in connection with the storming of the US Capitol: Tim Gionet aka Baked Alaska.

The plaintiffs introduced evidence showing a text message between Kessler and Gionet, who is prominent far-right live-streamer.

On. Aug. 8, 2017, Gionet tweeted a photo of himself pointing a pistol at a camera, accompanied by the misogynistic text: "Get in b*** we are saving the world." On Jan. 6, 2021, Gionet live-streamed himself inside a Capitol office saying, "America First is inevitable. F*** globalists, let's go."

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who serves on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, is among those who have drawn a tight connection between that event and Unite the Right.

"The events in Charlottesville in 2017 were a nightmare and a precursor and a foreshadowing of everything that would unfold over the next four years, culminating in the violent insurrection against the union on January 6th, the attack on our US Capitol," Raskin said during an online fundraiser for Integrity First for America on Sept. 30.

The most horrific aspect of Unite the Right — James Fields' deadly car attack — has unfortunately become a common feature in white vigilante response to antiracist protests.

As the civil complaint detailed, the tactic was already gaining mainstream acceptance prior to August 2017. In January 2017, Fox News' opinion website tweeted out a video entitled "Reel of Cars Plowing Through Protestors Trying to Block the Road" that had originally appeared on the Daily Caller.

"One thought that perhaps the car attack in Charlottesville would diminish that strategy, and the Daily Caller deleted the post," Ross said. But in 2020, there was an unprecedented number of car attacks — 129 since the beginning of the George Floyd protests in May 2020, and an additional five since the beginning of 2021.

"The Charlottesville car attack is a propaganda of the deed," Ross said. "It publicized the act; people see it as possible and sort of proliferate it."

While Biden's election marks a victory for progressives, many observers continue to see far-right politics making inroads in American politics. Ross said that in the aftermath of Unite the Right, the Proud Boys were perfectly positioned to push forward the process of fascism.

"Their mission is to restore Western civilization to the seat of power culturally," he said. "Their approach to doing it is a performance: If they can beat up enough of the people who disagree with them, they show can they're superior and spread the myth of the crusading knights of Western civilization. It's kind of like what the Klan did. They're more inclusive than the Klan; they don't exclude Catholics. But the underpinning of their ideology is white nationalist."

Whatever the seeds of right-wing radicalization, there's little doubt that extremism has taken a tighter hold since Unite the Right.

"I think people are sleeping on the idea that there's a wide swath of America that is radicalized," said Shawn Breen, an independent researcher who has tracked many of the participating groups since before and after Unite the Right rally. "Not necessarily due to these groups. They've been radicalized by proxy, by Trump and the GOP. People that weren't receptive to these groups then would be a lot more receptive now."

In a number of respects, the GOP base and what was known as the alt-right in 2017 have arrived at the same place.

"I think you can watch Tucker Carlson, and see many of the alt-right's positions put plain and simple," Ross said. "He goes off on the Great Replacement. He says white Americans are being replaced by immigrants. He specifies white conservative Americans being replaced by immigrants."

Another point of convergence is admiration for Hungary.

Mike Peinovich, who was dismissed as one of the original defendants in the Charlottesville lawsuit, went on to co-found the National Justice Party, which is modeled after the ruling Fidesz party in Hungary. And in August, Carlson traveled to Hungary to meet the country's authoritarian leader, Viktor Orban.

"The positioning of Hungary as an international center for conservatism — that is deeply disturbing," Ross said. "This is a deeply authoritarian situation in Hungary. It's admired for sure by the alt-right today with the National Justice Party. You can see the alt-right and the Republican Party reconverging over the dual exigency of illiberal populism."

So far, at least, Ross said, Carlson has refrained from explicit antisemitism.

"Tucker Carlson will simply use liberals as a stand-in for the role played by the Jews," Ross said. "He talks about [liberal financier George] Soros a lot. He promotes conspiracy theories, but he doesn't make those the obvious center of his politics; it's more obscure. That might be changing. We've seen in the US an increase in attacks on Jews. We've seen major sports stars and comedians come out with antisemitic extremism. I think we're witnessing a frightening increase in antisemitism in the mainstream of the United States. I think they're preparing the ground for openly antisemitic populism."

In her closing remarks during the Sept. 30 fundraiser, Spitalnick said the goal of the lawsuit against the neo-Nazis who organized the Unite the Right rally was multifaceted.

"This case is about making clear the consequences of violent hate, about winning accountability for our plaintiffs, who survived the unthinkable; for the community of Charlottesville, which was violently targeted by the extremists who descended on their city from around the country," she said. "It's about setting a precedent serving as an example of how you can bring violent extremists to justice, and deterring others from participating in the next violent act."

But Spitalnick wanted to make sure the last point didn't get overlooked.

"And it's about helping to wake up our country to the crisis of white supremacy and hate," she said.

https://www.rawstory.com/jan-6-charlottesville/

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Re: 1/6 Insurrection Investigation
« Reply #132 on: November 26, 2021, 10:48:50 AM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: 1/6 Insurrection Investigation
« Reply #133 on: November 27, 2021, 10:37:03 PM »
Capitol riot organizers' body-cam footage may come back to haunt them: reporter



Appearing on MSNBC Saturday afternoon with host Alex Witt, Guardian reporter Hugo Lowell revealed that the House select committee that recently subpoenaed organizers of the January 6th protest that turned into a riot have every intention of demanding new video taken by the insurrectionists -- many of whom were wearing body cams.

According to Lowell, the recent round of subpoenas handed out to Roger Stone and members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys could turn up more valuable information about the events of the day.

"What do investigators want to know from these groups? What kind of information could they provide?" host Witt asked.

"Well, the January 6th committee, as you know, is trying to see if there was a connection between the [Donald] Trump White House, possibly Trump himself, and the attack on the Capitol," the journalist explained. "And, of course, the people that attacked the Capitol were led by these paramilitary groups like the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, and if you look into the subpoenas that were issued, I think Tuesday, you see kind of what the committee is trying to get at."

"They want the documents, they want testimony as usual," he elaborated. "They're also looking for body cam footage. These guys wore body cams everywhere. If there were incriminating conversations or meetings, then the committee wants to get ahold of that as well."

"That makes sense," Witt replied. "What about the subpoenas that were issued to five political operatives that were associated with Trump; the most notable is Roger Stone, Alex Jones as well. What does that tell you about the direction of the investigation and the kinds of questions they could answer, and what do you think the odds are, Hugo, that they actually cooperate?"

'Well, I think these subpoenas are really interesting," he replied. "If you look at the subpoena for these two guys, like Roger Stone, Alex Jones, what becomes clear is that the committee has noted that these two guys, huge figures in Trump world were invited to speak at the rally before the January 6th attack, and they were also invited to lead the march from the rally to the Capitol, but curiously, they didn't attend either."

"I think the fact that chairman Bennie Thompson mentioned this in the letter shows where the committee is going with this, and they want to know did these guys, you know, who are connected to the people -- that are connected to Trump world operatives, possibly even to president Trump himself, did they have advance knowledge of what might go down at the capitol and was that the reason why they didn't participate? I think this is the central question," he explained.

Watch below:


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: 1/6 Insurrection Investigation
« Reply #134 on: November 28, 2021, 10:39:19 AM »
Key Jan. 6 organizer to comply with Capitol riot subpoena: 'I don't want to go to jail'



Jan. 6 organizer Ali Alexander, who calls himself the "founder" of former president Donald Trump's "Stop the Steal" movement, announced Saturday that he will comply with a subpoena from the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol insurrection.

"You may have missed the news that I've been subpoenaed by the the Democrats' partisan Jan. 6 committee," Alexander said in a video posted to the right-wing social-media platform Telegram. "This is a midterm issue that they want to run on, and what they want to do is paint me as the black face for a white supremacy movement that doesn't actually exist."

Speaking in front of a poster of singer Johnny Cash flashing the middle finger, Alexander added that he respects his "fellow patriots" who are defying the committee, but called it "an expensive right" — claiming that it would cost between $250,000 and $500,000 to fight the subpoena.

"I frankly don't have that money to spend on legal bills, so for this unselect committee, I will actually be privately deposed in December," Alexander said. "I've asked to make it public testimony. They won't cooperate with that request."

"The only reason I'm going is that I don't want to go to jail," he added. "So under the threat of imprisonment and spending tens and tens and tens of thousands of dollars on lawyers, I will be privately deposed before this committee in December, and I will make public whatever I can."

In a post accompanying the video, Alexander wrote that he plans to submit to the committee "photographic and video evidence of agitators sabotaging his January 6th peaceful protests."

Referring to himself in the third person, Alexander wrote: "He will also present evidence to the Committee that President Trump was betrayed by someone in his inner circle. Someone made the decision to take instructions for patriots out of the Ellipse Rally. Ali says he's not backing down and the Democrat Committee has already threatened to imprison him."

Watch below:


JFK Assassination Forum

Re: 1/6 Insurrection Investigation
« Reply #134 on: November 28, 2021, 10:39:19 AM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: 1/6 Insurrection Investigation
« Reply #135 on: November 29, 2021, 01:03:56 PM »
Editorial: It's long past time for the Senate ethics panel to address Hawley's Jan. 6 actions

Ten months after a group of Senate Democrats lodged ethics complaints into the conduct of Republican Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas regarding their roles in sparking the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the Senate Ethics Committee has shown no sign of movement. Both senators tell Politico they haven’t even been contacted by the committee.

The House recently moved with appropriate speed to censure Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Arizona, for promoting a cartoon fantasy in which his character kills a fellow member of Congress.

Jan. 6 wasn’t a fantasy; it was real, and the culpability of these two senators must be determined.

Hawley and Cruz were the only two senators to object to certification of Joe Biden’s clear victory in the 2020 election results, citing (with zero evidence) supposed concerns about the election’s integrity. That was the same baseless, toxic nonsense then-President Donald Trump had been spewing since before the election. Such talk whipped up the mob of Trump loyalists to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Hawley was the first senator to object to certification, which is the only reason there had to be a floor vote on the issue. That vote provided the rallying point for the mob. Without that, the attack might not have even happened.

More than a dozen Republican senators initially said they would join Hawley in voting against certification. But after the mob attacked, most of them realized the damage the charade had done to the country and backed off, voting to certify an election in which — again — there wasn’t a single valid indication of significant irregularities. But not Hawley. Even after the violence, he persisted in voting with just five other senators to continue promoting Trump’s big lie that Biden’s win was illegitimate.

Hawley even had the nerve to give a glowering Senate floor speech later that night condemning the violence — an arsonist standing among the ashes. If he had an ounce of honor, he’d have heeded our Jan. 7 call for his resignation (we certainly weren’t alone on that). But at this point, why even talk about honor?

Hawley, of course, now claims victimhood, alleging the ethics complaint would punish him for exercising his official power to object to election results. But the complaint, filed in late January, specifically cites the Code of Ethics for Government Service, which requires that elected officials put “loyalty to the highest moral principles and to country above loyalty to persons, party, or Government department.” Just because there’s a mechanism in place allowing senators to object to election results doesn’t mean it’s OK for Hawley to abuse that process for crass political gain.

Hawley and Cruz have the right to defend themselves from the allegations — but so far, they haven’t even had to. The Ethics Committee should stop sitting on this.

https://www.stltoday.com/opinion/editorial/editorial-its-long-past-time-for-the-senate-ethics-panel-to-address-hawleys-jan-6/article_3ca27f48-21fa-5eca-ab0f-3856bb9b5c79.html