House Select Committee on 1/6

[LFC]

Ginni Thomas is either pathological or has decided her best defense is to remain all in.

Ginni Thomas Regurgitated Big Lie During Jan. 6 Panel Testimony, Chair Says

Hardline MAGA activist Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, had her voluntary interview with the House Jan. 6 Committee yesterday. It turns out that if you’re as dedicated to the Big Lie cause as she is, then you’ll keep insisting the 2020 election was stolen even while under oath.

[Bact PhD]

Sept 30, 2022 17:10:03 GMT LFC said:

Ginni Thomas is either pathological or has decided her best defense is to remain all in.

Ginni Thomas Regurgitated Big Lie During Jan. 6 Panel Testimony, Chair Says

Hardline MAGA activist Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, had her voluntary interview with the House Jan. 6 Committee yesterday. It turns out that if you’re as dedicated to the Big Lie cause as she is, then you’ll keep insisting the 2020 election was stolen even while under oath.

Why not both?

[LFC]

One piece of info from today's hearing. The Secret Service needs a serious overhaul.

[goldenvalley]

Just heard Congressmember Zoe Lofgren being interviewed.  She said that when the Select Committee first talked with representatives of the Secret Service the committee was told there was no information about possible threats.  She said she and others of the committee had a hard talk with the SS over Labor Day weekend.  Then a whole lot of papers and documents showed up from the SS. That looks to my amateur eyes to be an attempt to paper the committee...a million pages, perhaps in the hopes that the committee staff would miss something in the blizzard. 

[AnBr]

Jan. 6 panel voted to subpoena Trump

“He is required to answer for his actions,” said the chairman of the committee investigating the Capitol attack. The panel revealed new video of congressional leaders desperately seeking help from the Trump administration and the National Guard as rioters stormed the building.

[LFC]

Good.

[andydp]

Rudy has a problem with his "expert" election witnesses. Seems like none of them can actually qualify as "experts".  Most are the same people that lost the "election fraud" cases.  I think it would be great to call in the Four Seasons Lawn people for their take.

Giuliani’s Election ‘Experts’ Get Cold Reception in Washington Ethics Case

Giuliani’s lawyers plan to call as many as 16 witnesses, including the one-time New York City mayor himself, at a hearing set for early December. The District of Columbia’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel is objecting to five witnesses being offered as experts, saying Giuliani’s lawyers didn’t provide required expert reports or other information necessary to qualify expert testimony, according to a notice made public Tuesday.

www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/giuliani-s-election-experts-get-cold-reception-in-washington-ethics-case/ar-AA13pjSV?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=a90d4f1f9bf4419eb9feec19642ed647

[goldenvalley]

Oct 26, 2022 18:51:03 GMT andydp said:

Rudy has a problem with his "expert" election witnesses. Seems like none of them can actually qualify as "experts".  Most are the same people that lost the "election fraud" cases.  I think it would be great to call in the Four Seasons Lawn people for their take.

Giuliani’s Election ‘Experts’ Get Cold Reception in Washington Ethics Case

Giuliani’s lawyers plan to call as many as 16 witnesses, including the one-time New York City mayor himself, at a hearing set for early December. The District of Columbia’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel is objecting to five witnesses being offered as experts, saying Giuliani’s lawyers didn’t provide required expert reports or other information necessary to qualify expert testimony, according to a notice made public Tuesday.

www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/giuliani-s-election-experts-get-cold-reception-in-washington-ethics-case/ar-AA13pjSV?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=a90d4f1f9bf4419eb9feec19642ed647

You have to offer evidence of the "experts" qualifications and a report by the expert.  Looks like none of that was provided.  The report needs to be more than generalities.   I suspect they'll get a second bite at the apple and be allowed to submit some more detailed report.

[andydp]

A big reason medieval courts had jesters who were allowed to mock all in sight:  The truth needs to be said

Jimmy Kimmel Gives Eric Trump A Scathing Reminder About 'Daddy's Lawyers'


Jimmy Kimmel has an offer for Eric Trump, son of former President Donald Trump, but it’s probably not one he’ll ever have a chance to accept.

Over the weekend, Eric Trump told a rally crowd that his father had been subpoenaed by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol that was carried out by Trump supporters.

“Who wants to pop a beer, make some popcorn and watch Donald Trump talk about election fraud in the United States of America?” he asked.

Kimmel raised his hand.

“I do, too! I would like to see that,” the “Jimmy Kimmel Live” host said of the notion of listening to Trump answer questions while under oath. “But Daddy’s lawyers definitely don’t want them. They want him to be quiet so he doesn’t go to jail and you don’t have to work at a car wash for the rest of your life.”


www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/jimmy-kimmel-gives-eric-trump-a-scathing-reminder-about-daddy-s-lawyers/ar-AA13qoIA?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=41fc3d8ceebc4595baad213d2ad9274c

[LFC]

Kelli Ward's phone records must be turned over. Bold of the most right-wing partisan hackery of right-wing partisan hack SCOTUS mine.

But What About Her Phone Records?

Kelli Ward will have to cough up her phone records to the House Jan. 6 committee after the Supreme Court turned back her effort to rein in the subpoena against T-Mobile.

Ward, the chair of the Arizona Republican Party, was a key figure in the run-up to Jan. 6. She was one of the slate of fake electors the Trump team assembled as part of its election subversion plan. She previously took the Fifth when questioned by the Jan. 6 committee.

Notably, Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito broke from the rest of the justices. Not only would they have had the court take up the matter, they would have gone so far as to actually block the subpoena (on what possible grounds is not clear). It should also be mentioned that Thomas did not recuse himself from the case even those his wife Ginni Thomas was in communications with Arizona lawmakers in advance of Jan. 6, urging them to name fake electors.

Ward, who first came to fame as Chemtrail Kelli, was also part of the pressure campaign against Mike Pence ahead of Jan. 6.

Clarence and Ginni, STILL the most corrupt power couple in D.C.

[LFC]

They're not done yet. They are now putting texts to and from Mark Meadows concerning his role and the roles of others in attempting to overthrow the government.

Mark Meadows Exchanged Texts With 34 Members Of Congress About Plans To Overturn The 2020 Election
The Messages Included Battle Cries, Crackpot Legal Theories, And ‘Invoking Marshall Law!!’

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows exchanged text messages with at least 34 Republican members of Congress as they plotted to overturn President Trump’s loss in the 2020 election.

Those messages are being fully, publicly documented here for the first time.

The texts are part of a trove Meadows turned over to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack that was obtained by TPM. For more information about the story behind the text log and our procedures for publishing the messages, read the introduction to this series. Meadows’ exchanges shed new light on the extent of congressional involvement in Trump’s efforts to spread baseless conspiracy theories about his defeat and his attempts to reverse it. The messages document the role members played in the campaign to subvert the election as it was conceived, built, and reached its violent climax on Jan. 6, 2021. The texts are rife with links to far-right websites, questionable legal theories, violent rhetoric, and advocacy for authoritarian power grabs.

One message identified as coming from Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) to Meadows on January 17, 2021, three days before Joe Biden was set to take office, is a raw distillation of the various themes in the congressional correspondence. In the text, despite a typo, Norman seemed to be proposing a dramatic last ditch plan: having Trump impose martial law during his final hours in office.

Mark, in seeing what’s happening so quickly, and reading about the Dominion law suits attempting to stop any meaningful investigation we are at a point of � no return � in saving our Republic !! Our LAST HOPE is invoking Marshall Law!! PLEASE URGE TO PRESIDENT TO DO SO!!

Based on TPM’s analysis, Meadows received at least 364 messages from Republican members of Congress who discussed attempts to reverse the election results with him. He sent at least 95 messages of his own. The committee did not respond to requests for comment. Some of Meadows’ texts — notably with Fox News personalities and a couple members of Congress — have already been made public by the committee, media outlets, and in the book “The Breach.” However, the full scope of his engagement with congressional Republicans as they worked to overturn the election has not previously been revealed.

Meadows’ text log shows what the scheme to reverse the election results looked like behind the scenes, revealing new details about which members of Congress helped spearhead the efforts and the strategies they deployed. The members who messaged Meadows about challenging the election included some of the highest-profile figures on the right flank in Congress, such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), all of whom are identified as playing leading roles in the effort to undo Trump’s defeat.

One message that was dated Dec. 30, 2020 and was identified as coming from Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller described Brooks as a “ringleader” of the effort to block the electoral certification.

[goldenvalley]

"Marshall law" is code for martial law.  

These folks were quite chatty and seem unbelievably oblivious to reality.  What were they all ingesting?  Too bad the Select Committee couldn't get this stuff before.  

[andydp]

Dec 13, 2022 2:10:27 GMT goldenvalley said:

"Marshall law" is code for martial law.  

These folks were quite chatty and seem unbelievably oblivious to reality.  What were they all ingesting?  Too bad the Select Committee couldn't get this stuff before.  

If they can confuse Pearl Harbor Day with D-Day they can confuse Marshall vs Martial.  They sound the same, then they must mean the same.

Serious thought: I would bet a large portion of my 401K if this had been a "libtard" insurrection, the GOP would have a US Marshal arrest anyone whose name was on the distribution list.

[goldenvalley]

There are several articles on text messages from various Congress Member sharing conspiracy theories and plans with Meadows on TPM.  It seems like Meadows is the recipient of a lot of this, not an initiator.  He was probablytelling Trump that there are people running down all the fraud and we're attacking the problem from all angles...voting machine issues, fake elector slates...getting stuff done to overturn the election results.  Don't worry Sir, we've got it covered.  

Did any of these texters break any laws? Who knows but I would like to believe that the voters in their districts will realize what crackpots they are and stop voting for them.  I would like to believe that...but I'm not sure I do.

[pnwguy]

Dec 13, 2022 16:54:28 GMT goldenvalley said:

...but I would like to believe that the voters in their districts will realize what crackpots they are and stop voting for them. 

ROFL

Oh, you were serious?  Do you know who populates most of these districts?  They are MAGAt-infested.  How else does a MTG, Blowbert, Gomer, Biggs, Gaetz, etc. get sent to DC in the first place?

In that regard, they really DO represent their districts.  

[LFC]

American traitor Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) took two days to come up with this brilliant excuse for actually advocating martial ("marshall") law.

Rep. Ralph Norman (R) of South Carolina tells local press that his January 17th, 2021 call to place the United States under martial law to keep Trump in office — first reported yesterday by TPM — came from “frustration.”

[LFC]

“These members of Congress communicating with Meadows were — and it’s not my place to editorialize — stupid, evil traitors who were trying to do crimes against democracy, for which they should be punished with decades of jail time.” --Stephen Colbert

[goldenvalley]

Dec 14, 2022 18:05:10 GMT LFC said:

“These members of Congress communicating with Meadows were — and it’s not my place to editorialize — stupid, evil traitors who were trying to do crimes against democracy, for which they should be punished with decades of jail time.” --Stephen Colbert

I'm no expert on this but I doubt these folks broke any laws.  Stupid and evil so far isn't illegal unless they engage in a conspiracy to carry out their stupid evil ideas.  These folks seemed to want Meadows or Trump or Guiliani or Powell to pursue their theories.

[jackd]

That's my impression too.

[goldenvalley]

I was happy to see that the Select Committee began its session with video of the actual insurrection.  When you see that you realize this wasn't just a protest that got a little out of hand or that it was analogous to most (not all) protests after Floyd was murdered.

[LFC]

Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Mark Meadows, was told by her lawyer to lie to the Jan 6 Committee. He may have just screwed his career path.

Stefan Passantino Is In A World Of Hurt

When your lawyer tells you its okay to tell investigators you don’t remember when in fact you do remember …. wow.

Over the last 48 hours, things have come apart quickly for former Trump White House deputy counsel Stefan Passantino.

Monday the executive summary of the Jan. 6 committee, without naming Passantino, detailed some of what he was allegedly doing and saying when he represented former Mark Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson before the committee.

By Tuesday, Passantino — who denies any wrongdoing and says he represented Hutchinson “honorably, ethically, and fully consistent with her sole interests as she communicated them to me” — had taken a leave of absence from one of his law firms.

By late Tuesday, CNN had publicly identified Passantino as Hutchinson’s former lawyer. The NYT soon followed suit.

What in the world?
What Cassidy Hutchison Alleges

The key allegations raised against Stefan Passantino in the Jan. 6 executive summary are presumably coming from Cassidy Hutchinson herself:

Executive summary excerpt of Jan. 6 committee report

Again, Passantino is not named in the report, but the report notes this is what the witness said “about her decision to terminate a lawyer who was receiving payments for the representation from a group allied with President Trump.”

There is reason to believe the Jan. 6 committee already referred this matter to the Justice Department even before the much-publicized criminal referrals it made this week. “Much of this evidence is already known by the Department of Justice and by other prosecutorial authorities,” the committee noted in the executive summary.

“Two sources familiar with the situation tell CNN that Hutchinson has discussed the episode with the Justice Department,” the cable news network reported.

[LFC]

Here are 5 takeaways from TPM.

After more than a year and a half of investigating, and just weeks before Republicans take control of the House, it’s finally here: The January 6 Select Committee’s final report. 

Much of the committee’s understanding of the insurrection, including its most dramatic discoveries about Trump’s behavior that day, was unveiled in a series of hearings. But the report helps deepen our understanding of key episodes in Trump’s election-theft effort. 

Here are five aspects of the report that stood out to us. For more, check out our breaking-news liveblog from Thursday night, when the report was released.

[LFC]

TPM created a list of all 32 witnesses who plead the Fifth. They finish with this:

The 5th Amendment protection against self incrimination has famously been lampooned by Donald Trump, who once said that only “the mob” pleads the Fifth, then proceeded to do so himself 400 times during a single deposition back in August.

[LFC]

Here is in-depth TPM reporting on the committee's final report. The last two entries (at least as of now) concern the military. Those who were in the thick of it were afraid that Trump would try to order them to overthrow American democracy.

Josh Kovensky | 1:21 a.m.
Confusion Continues To Reign Over the D.C. National Guard

Early on in the Capitol insurrection, reports spread that the Pentagon had denied a request from the Capitol to deploy the D.C. National Guard to the building.

It’s hard to overstate the level of confusion at the time. Vice President Mike Pence was reported to have entered the chain of command somehow, while some military leaders feared that Trump would order the army to take actions to keep him in power.

Per Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, Pence did issue orders that day.

“He was very animated, and he issued very explicit, very direct, unambiguous orders. There was no question about that,” Milley recalled of Pence’s demand that the National Guard be deployed to the Capitol.

It’s odd, because Pence had no legal authority to do that as vice president. Per Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller, Pence “did not order me,” but was instead “[h]yper professional” and “[v]ery focused.”

At the same time, the report recounts a bizarre and unsettling call between Pentagon leaders and panicked law enforcement officials at the Capitol who were also trying to secure national guard assistance.

MPD Chief Robert Contee asked army generals whether they were willing to honor a request to deploy the guard.

“They didn’t say ‘no,’ but they also didn’t say ‘yes,'” he recalled.

Contee and others on the call then threatened to go to the media, at which point the call purportedly ended abruptly.

“f a general says his troops are not coming, his troops aren’t coming,” one person on the call remarked.

The report attributed the delay in the D.C. national guard to miscommunication, and not to any particular intention.


Josh Kovensky | 12:57 a.m.
Before J6, Pentagon Officials Feared Trump Would Use Military To Stay In Power

It was quickly forgotten in the chaos and destruction of Jan. 6, but the concern before the insurrection was not that the army would be too slow to reach the Capitol. Rather, it was that the military would be too present, with Trump ordering soldiers into the streets to reverse the election outcome.

That concern was so real that all ten living former secretaries of defense published a joint op-ed on Jan. 3 in the Washington Post warning against involving the military in election disputes. That week was so full of momentous events — the Raffensperger call, the op-ed, the first vaccinations in a raging pandemic, the Georgia run-off that gave Democrats the Senate, January 6 — that it’s easy to forget everything that happened.

But to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, it was clear where he had to look.

“I know all these [men],” he said of the op-ed. “[T]hey were — everyone was telling us, be very conscious of your actions and how you — you know, what you’re going to do that day. So we wanted to know where every soldier was by street corner.”

McCarthy confirmed for the panel that there was concern among top brass that Trump would order the military to take actions that would keep him in power.

“There was a lot of talk in the lead-up about martial law … and the employment of forces, and you know, that was something that we were all, you know, conscious of,” McCarthy said.

[goldenvalley]

Dec 23, 2022 16:35:29 GMT LFC said:

TPM created a list of all 32 witnesses who plead the Fifth. They finish with this:

The 5th Amendment protection against self incrimination has famously been lampooned by Donald Trump, who once said that only “the mob” pleads the Fifth, then proceeded to do so himself 400 times during a single deposition back in August.

Yes.  I skimmed a couple of the transcripts. The pleading of the 5th by some of these witnesses is only done to obstruct.  They knew the Committee has no ability to get to judge to obtain a ruling on the usage.  They made sure they said nothing that could be used against them in a criminal proceeding. In fact they said nothing.