House Select Committee/Rex/Shutterstock
Donald Trump is increasingly agitated by the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack, according to sources familiar with the matter, and appears anxious he might be implicated in the sprawling inquiry into the insurrection even as he protests his innocence…
When Trump sees new developments in the Capitol attack investigation on television, he has started swearing about the negative coverage and bemoaned that the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, was too incompetent to put Republicans on the committee to defend him.
The portrait that emerges from interviews with multiple sources close to Trump, including current and former aides, suggests a former president unmoored and backed into a corner by the rapid escalation in intensity of the committee’s investigation…
The former president is especially attuned to his potential for legal exposure, even as he maintains he did nothing wrong in conferring about ways to overturn the 2020 election and encouraging supporters to march on the Capitol…The reality is that with each passing day, the committee seems to be gathering new evidence about Trump’s culpability around the Capitol attack that might culminate with recommendations for new election laws – but also for prosecutions.
Har!
And here’s the worlds smallest violin playing “My Heart Bleeds”…
Fitting. Trump supporters fit into the newest category of species. The Retardigrade,
Researchers claim they were able to quantum entangle a qubit with a tardigrade. https://www.cnet.com/news/no-tardigrades-have-not-been-quantum-entangled-with-a-qubit/
Others say “The wording of the paper very strongly suggests claims much stronger than the data can support.” https://twitter.com/benbenbrubaker/status/1472287582654455817?s=20
Trump on ‘taking the Fifth Amendment’ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-innocent-fifth-amendment/
Former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn is suing to block the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack from subpoenaing his phone records along with other documents and his testimony.
Flynn did not appear for his scheduled deposition Monday, filing the late Tuesday suit challenging the committee’s subpoena for his Verizon phone records. The suit also notes that Flynn planned to plead the Fifth.
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/586891-flynn-sues-jan-6-panel-to-block-access-to-phone-records-testimony
Michael Flynn loses his legal challenge to the House January 6 probe, one day after filing it https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/22/politics/michael-flynn-january-6-lawsuit/index.html
Michael Flynn loses his legal challenge to the House January 6 probe, one day after filing it https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/22/politics/michael-flynn-january-6-lawsuit/index.html
7AM MST, tomorrow morning, 24th
Former President Trump has announced he will hold a news conference from Mar-a-Lago on Jan. 6, the one-year anniversary of the riot at the U.S. Capitol that the former president himself was accused of inciting.
“Why isn’t the Unselect Committee of highly partisan political hacks investigating the CAUSE of the January 6th protest, which was the rigged Presidential Election of 2020?” Trump said in his statement Tuesday announcing the news conference.
The former president went on to cite several states where he claimed “the numbers don’t work for them, or even come close.” He also sought to reframe the November 2020 election as “the insurrection,” instead of the day his supporters overran the Capitol in an attempt to block certification of the electoral results.
“I will be having a news conference on January 6th at Mar-a-Lago to discuss all of these points, and more,” Trump said. “Until then, remember, the insurrection took place on November 3rd, it was the completely unarmed protest of the rigged election that took place on January 6th.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/586722-trump-to-hold-news-conference-from-mar-a-lago-on-jan-6
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FHJPIArXMAIzmNR?format=jpg&name=small
The Jan. 6 select committee on Wednesday asked Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to meet with the panel to provide information on his communications with former President Trump regarding the attack on the Capitol. https://www.axios.com/jim-jordan-gop-jan-6-panel-57278026-9210-4e8c-9ee5-14ca4427a0e4.html
“We understand that you had at least one and possibly multiple communications with President Trump on January 6th,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chair of the committee, wrote to Jordan in a letter. https://january6th.house.gov/sites/democrats.january6th.house.gov/files/2021-12-22.BGT%20Letter%20to%20Jordan.pdf
GOP Rep Rice regrets voting against certifying 2020 result ‘because Trump was responsible for attack on the Capitol’ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/tom-rice-trump-election-capitol-riot-b1981032.html
“Proud Boys member Matthew Greene just pleaded guilty in court to not only obstruction of the January 6th vote certification, but also conspiracy charges. According to NBC4 Washington, Greene has agreed to fully cooperate with the Feds. This means he has to give up everyone else in the Proud Boys who participated in January 6th, or who committed any crime of any sort. So the Feds have just found their clear shot at taking down the Proud Boys. But it may be bigger than that.
Greene’s decision to plead guilty to conspiracy charges means that he’s admitting the whole thing was in fact a criminal conspiracy. It means he’s going to help take down everyone else he conspired with in relation to the Capitol attack, including those who aren’t in the Proud Boys.” https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/doj-just-made-a-major-breakthrough-in-taking-down-the-january-6th-criminal-conspiracy/43202/
(2/6/21) “Congressional investigators are reportedly looking into what role Trump associates including Roger Stone may have played in the assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6. New video footage obtained by Just Security, and published in full below, shows connections between Stone and leaders of the Proud Boys who may have planned some aspects of the attack.” https://www.justsecurity.org/74579/exclusive-new-video-of-roger-stone-with-proud-boys-leaders-who-may-have-planned-for-capitol-attack/
7AM MST, tomorrow morning, 23rd
“Former President Donald Trump appealed to the Supreme Court on Thursday to block the release of documents from his White House to the House committee investigating the January 6 riot at the Capitol, escalating his effort to keep about 700 pages of records secret.
The House committee, which is charged with investigating the US Capitol attack to provide recommendations for preventing such assaults in the future, seeks the documents as it explores Trump’s role in trying to overturn the election. That includes his appearance at a January 6 rally when he directed followers to go to the Capitol where lawmakers were set to certify the election results and “fight” for their county. The documents are currently held by the National Archives.” https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/23/politics/donald-trump-supreme-court-records-january-6/index.html
A couple of weeks ago, Donald Trump appeared on Fox News and was asked about the investigation into the Jan. 6 attacks. “Honestly, I have nothing to hide,” the former president said. “I wasn’t involved in that. And if you look at my words and what I said in the speech, they were extremely calming, actually.”
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones issued a “warning” to former President Donald Trump, calling him either “ignorant” or “evil” for encouraging people to take the coronavirus vaccine.
The infamous extremist talking head made the comments during his InfoWars show on 25 December.
“This is an emergency Christmas Day warning to President Trump. You are either completely ignorant about the so called ‘vaccine’ gene therapy that you helped ram through with operation warp speed, or you are one of the most evil men who has ever lived,” Mr Jones said.
In the past, Mr Jones has been a staunch — but not unquestioning — supporter of Mr Trump. Mr Jones allegedly helped secure funding for the “Stop the Steal” Rally that eventually mutated into the January 6 Capitol riot. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/alex-jones-trump-christmas-covid-b1982573.html
During a speaking tour with former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly a week ago, Mr Trump was booed by the crowd after he said he had gotten his booster shot.
When the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman asked a Trump spokesperson why he changed his message on the vaccine and boosters, she received a handwritten note, signed “Donald.“ The first four words were underlined, according to the photo Haberman posted on Twitter.
The Jan. 6 Select Committee has signaled it intends to explore potential criminal wrongdoing by former President Trump, marking a significant escalation for the investigation that could put pressure on the Biden administration.
The panel has said it could refer Trump to the Justice Department for prosecution if it finds damning evidence, in what would be seen as an open invitation to Attorney General Merrick Garland to be more aggressive toward the former president than he has been in his tenure thus far.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the select committee’s vice chair, gave the first indication at a hearing earlier this month that the panel is examining whether Trump committed a crime.
Quoting the statutory text for a felony obstruction offense, Cheney said that a key question for the select committee investigation is, “Did Donald Trump, through action or inaction, corruptly seek to obstruct or impede Congress’ official proceedings to count electoral votes?”
Obstruction of an official proceeding is a charge that carries a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison. https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/587171-jan-6-panel-signals-interest-in-whether-trump-committed-crime
“Sock it to ’em, sock it to ’em!”
7AM MST, tomorrow morning, 27th
Taylor Budowich, current spokesperson for former President Donald Trump, on Friday sued the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, trying to block it from gaining access to his financial records.
Besides the Jan. 6 committee and its nine individual members, Budowich also sued House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and J.P. Morgan Chase Bank. Budowich indicated in the suit that he had already provided “more than 1,700 pages of documents“ and “roughly four hours of sworn testimony” to the panel, cooperation that he said should have precluded the subpoena for his records. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/12/24/trump-spokesperson-sues-jan-6-committee-financial-records-526139
“…just follow the money” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QodGxD19_as
Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro details the “Green Bay Sweep” he organized with “over 100 congressmen” to keep Trump in office” https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/jan6-peter-navarro-ted-cruz-green-bay-sweep-1276742/
“Donald Trump abruptly ended an interview with NPR on Tuesday after he was repeatedly called out on his baseless claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
A video of the interview, published Wednesday morning, shows Trump becoming increasingly irritated as NPR’s Steve Inskeep asks him why he’s still pushing debunked conspiracy theories about his 2020 defeat.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-rage-quits-npr-interview-after-hes-grilled-on-election-fraud-lies
Transcript: NPR’s full interview with former President Donald Trump https://www.npr.org/2022/01/12/1072176709/transcript-full-npr-interview-former-president-donald-trump
In addition to the context provided in the course of the interview, you can read more fact-checking and analysis of the conversation here: https://www.npr.org/1072204478
‘House of Trump is crumbling’: why ex-president’s legal net is tightening https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/22/donald-trump-legal-perils
“Civil lawsuits seeking to hold Donald Trump accountable for the January 6, 2021, insurrection can move forward in court, a federal judge said Friday in a ruling outlining how the former President could conceivably be responsible for inciting the attack on the US Capitol.
Trump’s statements to his supporters before the riot “is the essence of civil conspiracy,” Judge Amit Mehta wrote in a 112-page opinion, because Trump spoke about himself and rallygoers working “towards a common goal” of fighting and walking down Pennsylvania Avenue.
“The President’s January 6 Rally Speech can reasonably be viewed as a call for collective action,” Mehta said.” https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/18/politics/trump-giuliani-swalwell-january-6-lawsuit/index.html
18 U.S.C. § 2101 – U.S. Code – Unannotated Title 18. Crimes and Criminal Procedure § 2101. Riots https://codes.findlaw.com/us/title-18-crimes-and-criminal-procedure/18-usc-sect-2101.html