January 6 Hearings Live

[TLK Valentine]

This was my fear at the end of his Presidency. But he didn't pardon them.

Treated unfairly. If I invaded a place of work that required that place to be evacuated, I've got to think I wouldn't be handled with kid gloves by the courts.

Supposedly Donald toyed with the idea of pardoning them before leaving office, but his advisers warned him that his impeachment would've been a slam-dunk if he had.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

This was my fear at the end of his Presidency. But he didn't pardon them.

Treated unfairly. If I invaded a place of work that required that place to be evacuated, I've got to think I wouldn't be handled with kid gloves by the courts.

Supposedly Donald toyed with the idea of pardoning them before leaving office, but his advisers warned him that his impeachment would've been a slam-dunk if he had.

Source?

Regardless, should have been a slam dunk without the pardons.

 

[Keith&Co.]

This was my fear at the end of his Presidency. But he didn't pardon them.

Treated unfairly. If I invaded a place of work that required that place to be evacuated, I've got to think I wouldn't be handled with kid gloves by the courts.

Supposedly Donald toyed with the idea of pardoning them before leaving office, but his advisers warned him that his impeachment would've been a slam-dunk if he had.

Source?

I have seen that in a number of places. He wanted to pardon, but advisors told him it might make him legally vulnerable.

 

[lpetrich]

Some of Trump’s Jan. 6 Calls Are Not in White House Logs - The New York Times

Sparse call records and missing documents hinder the House panel as it tries to piece together what President Trump was doing during the attack on Congress.

...
Investigators have not uncovered evidence that any official records were tampered with or deleted, and it is well known that Mr. Trump routinely used his personal cellphone, and those of his aides, to talk with other aides, congressional allies and outside confidants, bypassing the normal channels of presidential communication.

...
The gaps in the call logs were the latest in a string of revelations this week about the extent of Mr. Trump’s flouting of the rules and norms of presidential conduct, and how his penchant for doing so has left an incomplete record of how he operated while in office.

...
They have also prompted accusations of hypocrisy from Democrats, who recall how Mr. Trump branded Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state “worse than Watergate,” and made “lock her up” a campaign rallying cry in 2016. Republicans who eagerly followed his lead in savaging Mrs. Clinton for her email practices have been notably silent amid revelations that Mr. Trump spent his four years in office — and much of the time since — mishandling presidential records.

Also mentioning Trump's taste for tearing up documents, and staffers having to tape them together. Also of someone flushing documents down a toilet, though it didn't mention him eating any documents.

This reminds me of the 18-1/2-minute gap in one of Richard Nixon's White House tapes, a gap that became very well-known in the Watergate scandal. From The missing 18 1/2 minutes: Presidential destruction of incriminating evidence - The Washington Post

Without Stennis participating, the White House would release the transcripts the next year, in April 1974. But something would be missing. On November 17, 1973, the White House informed Federal District Judge John Sirica that the 18 1/2 minute Nixon-Haldeman conversation of June 20, 1972, had been erased. White House Counsel Fred Buzhardt told the Court that he no explanation for the erasure.

Nixon’s Secretary Rose Mary Woods took the blame for the first five minutes of the erasure. She said that she had been transcribing the tape, and when she reached to take a phone call, her foot hit a pedal on the recording machine, inadvertently causing the tape player to “record” over the original tape’s contents. Reporters were called to the White House to watch her perform a re-enactment, and the photos of her performing a tremendous stretch, which she supposedly held for five minutes, were rejected as implausible. Moreover, the particular tape recording machine does not operate the way she had claimed; simply pressing the foot pedal to “record” would not initiate a recording unless the play button was being manually depressed at the very same time.

Chief of Staff Alexander Haig blamed the 18 1/2 minute gap on a “sinister force.” In January 1974, experts who examined the tape reported that were four or five separate erasures.

 

[TLK Valentine]

This was my fear at the end of his Presidency. But he didn't pardon them.

Treated unfairly. If I invaded a place of work that required that place to be evacuated, I've got to think I wouldn't be handled with kid gloves by the courts.

Supposedly Donald toyed with the idea of pardoning them before leaving office, but his advisers warned him that his impeachment would've been a slam-dunk if he had.

Source?

Regardless, should have been a slam dunk without the pardons.

A tribute to partisan loyalty -- but at least Donald goes down in history as the only impeached president to have members of his own party vote to convict him... twice.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

This was my fear at the end of his Presidency. But he didn't pardon them.

Treated unfairly. If I invaded a place of work that required that place to be evacuated, I've got to think I wouldn't be handled with kid gloves by the courts.

Supposedly Donald toyed with the idea of pardoning them before leaving office, but his advisers warned him that his impeachment would've been a slam-dunk if he had.

Source?

Regardless, should have been a slam dunk without the pardons.

A tribute to partisan loyalty -- but at least Donald goes down in history as the only impeached president to have members of his own party vote to convict him... twice.

I was looking for a source. Many of these claims are provided anonymously, which carry no weight in a House investigation. I'm wanting to see this in print, with a named source. Then it carries judicial weight. I don't think Trump is ever going to pay for what he has done in DC (or anything else in life really). Not even if fourteen smoking cannons come exposed. The Mueller obstruction remarks as well as the Ukraine phone call... that didn't take him down, why should something about half of Republicans now support having had happened?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Washington Post article (gifted) regarding the Texting, before / during / after the January 6th event.

It is incredible that the Trump Admin really tried to steal the election. Hannity's Text about his discussion (private?) with Trump on the phone not going well was quite telling.

 

[Elixir]

I was looking for a source.

I believe you'll get all that info before the fall election. It probably won't sway a single Trumpsucker, because he'll them it's all Fake News (he is already telling them that) and they'll believe him. That part is not subject to change via facts, truth or anything like that. But if there's anyone left in the mythical middle who is actually paying attention, that person might (should) become a definite NO to the GOP's fascist agenda.

 

[lpetrich]

Biden tells National Archives to release Trump White House visitor logs : NPR

"Former President Donald Trump had claimed the records — which show dates and times of appointments people make to enter the White House complex — were subject to executive privilege."


Jan. 6 panel expands inquiry into false electors scheme with new subpoenas : NPR

The new wave of subpoena targets includes Kelli Ward, the chair of the Arizona Republican Party, in addition to two GOP political candidates in swing states. State Sen. Doug Mastriano is a candidate for Pennsylvania governor, and state Rep. Mark Finchem is running to be the next secretary of state in Arizona.

noting a previous batch:
Committee probing Capitol attack subpoenas 14 false electors : NPR

LIST: Who the January 6 committee has subpoenaed or requested to appear - CNNPolitics - now at 86 people

With these section headings: Close Trump allies subpoenaed, Trump family members whose phone records were subpoenaed, Organizers of rallies and events preceding January 6 attack subpoenaed, Individuals who advised on election fraud claims and rallies subpoenaed, Department of Justice officials subpoenaed, Trump campaign officials subpoenaed, Trump White House officials subpoenaed, Groups and individuals linked to the Capitol Hill riot on January 6 subpoenaed, Individuals tied to fake electors subpoenaed

Five more have been contacted for voluntary interviews: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Reps. Jim Jordan and Scott Perry, Fox host Sean Hannity, and Trump daughter Ivanka

 

[Swammerdami]

Republican figures condemn RNC's decision to censure Cheney and Kinzinger

The statement says the RNC has "ceded control of a once-great movement to grifters and extremists."

www.axios.com

About 140 Republican leaders and former officials signed a statement out Monday condemning the Republican National Committee's decision last week to censure Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) over their participation in the Jan. 6 select committee.

I wondered about these 140 sane Republicans. Did Mitt Romney sign his name on the Roll of Honor? How about supposed patriots like Lisa Murkowski or the Bush brothers? So I studied the list. Boy, was I disappointed. :-(

Most of the names on the list were very low-level: Former state legislator, former deputy assistants, private citizen, etc.

There was a grand total of one (1) signatory currently serving in an elected position: that was Chad Mayes, a Member of the California State Assembly. (He was once Assembly Republican Leader, but since 2019 runs as Independent.)

Other than Chad Mayes, there were only 52 signatories with job titles worth mentioning:

25 Former U.S. Representatives
5 Former Chiefs of Staff to Senator, Governor, etc.
2 Former top Aides to Melania Trump
1 Former Arkansas Speaker of the House
1 Retired State Supreme Court Justice

3 Former U.S. Senators = John C. Danforth, David Durenberger, Gordon Humphrey
3 Former Governors= Christie Todd Whitman, Mark Sanford, William F. Weld

1 Former Cabinet Secretary = Mary E. Peters
2 Former Acting Cabinet Secretaries
1 Former Cabinet Deputy Secretary = Paul Wolfowitz

1 Former Chairman, State GOP
1 Former Chairman, County GOP
2 Former Chairs, National GOP = Michael Steele & Carly Fiorina
4 Former Directors at White House = Anthony Scaramucci, etc.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Biden tells National Archives to release Trump White House visitor logs : NPR

"Former President Donald Trump had claimed the records — which show dates and times of appointments people make to enter the White House complex — were subject to executive privilege."

And this will be one of the last steps between democracy and alt-right rule in this country. The GOP will use this precedence to endlessly investigate Democrat Presidents, including wildly communist Biden and his son.

Trump has no right for being able to hide using his former office, but that won't stop the GOP from abusing this now "available" power.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Jebus!

For most of his life, J. Michael Luttig has operated behind the scenes at the top of the conservative legal world. He started his career as a young aide at the U.S. Supreme Court, worked as an attorney in the Reagan White House, clerked for Judge Antonin Scalia before he was a legal icon, helped guide the appointment of two other Supreme Court justices and was appointed to a federal judgeship by former President George H.W. Bush.

...

In a now-infamous legal memo, Eastman argued that then-Vice President Mike Pence had the ability to discard certified electoral votes from contested states — a notion that has been roundly debunked, but which Trump’s closest allies clung to (and which helped to inspire some of his supporters to storm the Capitol in rage).

That story is, by now, well known. But there’s another part of the story — one that hasn’t been told until now.

Today, in his first in-depth interview on the topic, Luttig shares the story of those days before the insurrection, when he was unknowingly enlisted to help Pence reject Trump’s efforts on Jan. 6.

What I find the most outrageous from this is:

1) how secret the GOP kept this
2) that Pence needed legal backup to say no?!

It looks like we were this guy's opinion away from Trump stealing the election in House of Reps.

 

[SLD]

Jan. 6 committee says Trump violated multiple laws in effort to overturn election

The select panel suggested its evidence supported findings that the former president violated multiple laws by attempting to prevent Congress from certifying his defeat.

www.politico.com

Characterizing excerpts of nearly a dozen depositions from top aides to Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence, the committee described a president who had been informed repeatedly that he lost the election and that his claims of fraud were unfounded — only to reject them and continue to mislead the American public.

Three potential illegal actions: Obstruction of an official proceeding — in this case, Congress’ Jan 6 session to count electoral votes — defrauding the United States by interfering in the election certification and spreading false information about the results, and a violation of the District of Columbia’s common fraud law.

Not that his die hard believers will give a fuck.

But listening to NPR just now had a law professor and former US Attorney pointing out that the jury instruction on these matters says a Defendant can’t just stick his head in the sand and ignore the overwhelming evidence presented to him when trying to prove his state of mind. Thus if he knew that there was no fraud in the election, as numerous people and courts were telling him, then he can be convicted. I don’t think Garland will do it though.

it’s too bad this is happening in the middle of Ukraine war, otherwise it would get some news.

 

[Politesse]

A Defendant can’t just stick his head in the sand and ignore the overwhelming evidence presented to him when trying to prove his state of mind...

Correct. You can't shoot two people to death and (successfully) claim that it's only manslaughter because you thought it was just a harmless water gun. You would have to demonstrate that you had cause to believe that.

 

[ZiprHead]

Michael Flynn pleads the Fifth in deposition with January 6 committee

Michael Flynn, former President Donald Trump's onetime national security adviser, invoked his Fifth Amendment right during a deposition before the January 6 committee on Thursday, declining to answer the panel's questions.

www.cnn.com

Washington (CNN)Michael Flynn, former President Donald Trump's onetime national security adviser, invoked his Fifth Amendment right during a deposition before the January 6 committee on Thursday, declining to answer the panel's questions.
Flynn -- who met with the committee virtually -- invoked the Fifth "on advice of counsel," his attorney, David Warrington, said in a statement that accused the panel of insinuating "General Flynn's decision to decline to answer their questions constituted an admission of guilt."
"Most of the questions lacked any relation to the legislative purpose contained in House Resolution 503, and many were clearly sourced from fringe news and conspiracy websites and rumors. No American should have to endure such harassment by the legislative branch of our government," Warrington claimed.
The committee, which is investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, is interested in Flynn because he reportedly attended a December 2020 Oval Office meeting "during which participants discussed seizing voting machines, declaring a national emergency, invoking certain national security emergency powers, and continuing to spread the false message that the November 2020 election had been tainted by widespread fraud."

 

[lpetrich]

Biden book: "This Will Not Pass" on 2020 election and Biden's first year

The book's authors write "Trumpism on the right is a central theme. But more broadly we wanted to capture how both party establishments are being tested like never before."

On Jan. 6, an enraged Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) telephoned White House counsel Pat Cipollone and told him that if President Trump didn't act more aggressively to denounce the mob "we’ll be asking you for the 25th Amendment" to remove Trump from office.

• In an in-person interview with the authors that afternoon, after they all evacuated from the Senate, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) expressed optimism that the riot could become a turning point: "People will say, 'I don't want to be associated with that' ... There will be a rallying effect for a while, the country says: We're better than this."
• Graham suggested Biden was the right man for this time: "I mean, how mad can you get at Joe Biden?"

It's a pity that Sen. Graham did not stick with that sentiment, and that Sen. McConnell did not do likewise with his assessment of blame.

 

[Swammerdami]

Also mentioning Trump's taste for tearing up documents, and staffers having to tape them together. Also of someone flushing documents down a toilet, though it didn't mention him eating any documents.

Too bad the 'eating documents' claim hasn't been confirmed. It would be a fitting summary for that unusual Presidency.

This reminds me of the 18-1/2-minute gap in one of Richard Nixon's White House tapes, a gap that became very well-known in the Watergate scandal. From The missing 18 1/2 minutes: Presidential destruction of incriminating evidence - The Washington Post

Chief of Staff Alexander Haig blamed the 18 1/2 minute gap on a “sinister force.” In January 1974, experts who examined the tape reported that were four or five separate erasures.

So, you're saying it's just a coincidence that the 18 minute, 35 second gap is EXACTLY the same length as Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant" ?

 

[ZiprHead]

Exclusive: Witness Claims Trump's Chief of Staff Was on Phone Call Planning Jan. 6 March on Capitol

Trump’s team encouraged supporters to march, but tried to “make it look like they went down there on their own,” Scott Johnston says.

www.rollingstone.com

Donald Trump’s White House Chief of Staff and a national campaign spokesperson were involved in efforts to encourage the president’s supporters to march on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. That’s according to a person who says he overheard a key planning conversation between top Trump officials and the organizers of the Jan. 6 rally on the White House Ellipse — and has since testified to House investigators about the phone call.

Trump and his allies have tried to minimize his role in calling his supporters to the Capitol and argue he was simply participating in a lawful, peaceful demonstration.

Scott Johnston — who worked on the team that helped plan the Ellipse rally — says that’s just not so. He claims that leading figures in the Trump administration and campaign deliberately planned to have crowds converge on the Capitol, where the 2020 election was being certified — and “make it look like they went down there on their own.”

 

[blastula]

GQP attorney generals continue to sedition.

 

[lpetrich]

The Ginni Thomas texts create a serious crisis for the Supreme Court

The most important function of any political institution is to maintain its legitimacy. If that legitimacy is lost, the institution itself can break down and become irrelevant. Losses in legitimacy can lead to a direct loss of authority as citizens no longer trust the institution to act in their best interest. New reports of text messages between Virginia “Ginni” Thomas (wife of Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas) and President Trump’s then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows present a serious legitimacy crisis for the Court.

noting
January 6 committee has text messages between Ginni Thomas and Mark Meadows - CNNPolitics
The committee now has some 29 messages between the two.

These text messages, according to sources, took place between early November 2020 and mid-January 2021. Thomas recently revealed that she attended the pro-Trump rally that preceded the US Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, but says she "played no role" in planning the events of that day.
The text messages, reviewed by CNN, show Thomas pleading with Meadows to continue the fight to overturn the election results.

"Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!! ... You are the leader, with him, who is standing for America's constitutional governance at the precipice. The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History," Thomas wrote on November 10, 2020.