January 6 Hearings Live

[lpetrich]

Tlaib, Colleagues Demand Answers on National Guard Response to Capitol Attack | Representative Rashida Tlaib - back in Jan 11

On Friday, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-13) led a letter with 25 of her colleagues to Vice President Mike Pence, Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller, and top officials at the Pentagon and National Guard, demanding answers on why the National Guard was delayed in responding to Wednesday’s violent attack on the Capitol.

“The American people and their Representatives who survived this coup attempt deserve immediate and thorough answers to the following questions to help the public gain a complete picture of the events that occurred on January 7, 2021 and an understanding of the current capabilities of the President to continue to lead this country,” the members wrote.

...
“As the dust settles in the wake of this insurrection, our nation will look to its leaders, such as Members of Congress, the Administration, and state and local leaders, to preserve and restore democracy in this country,” the members also wrote.“Now more than ever, our actions must be governed by an unwavering dedication to the pursuit of peace, freedom, and justice for all. The eyes of history will be watching.”

The letter was signed by: Congressmembers Barragán, Blumenauer, Bonamici, Clarke, Cohen, Connolly, Cooper, Correa, Davids, Evans, Hayes, Huffman, Johnson, Jones, Lee, Lowenthal, McNerney, Meng, Moore, Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Payne, Plaskett, Pressley, Price, Raskin, Vargas, and Velázquez.

From the full letter - Capitol Attack National Guard Letter.pdf -

• Who gave the order to deploy the Washington, D.C. National Guard to the Capitol Complex once the request had been made by the bipartisan leadership of both the House of Representatives and the Senate?
• If, as reports indicate, it is true that the Vice President gave the order, what were the circumstances that required him to do soand what was the exact time the order was given?
• Was the President unable or unwilling to deploy the Washington, D.C. National Guard to the Capitol? If so, please describe for the American people the circumstances and/or reasoning that lead to his inability and/or unwillingness to do so.
• Is the President mentally and physically capable of discharging the powers and duties of his office as prescribed by the Constitution?
• If the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, why haven’t the Vice President the principal officers of the executive departments fulfilled their Constitutional duty to exercise their power under Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to remove the President from office?
• Please describe to the best of your knowledge why the National Guard was not deployed to the Capitol Complex in advance of the January 6th protests, as it has been for past large-scale protest events?
• What explains the contrasting tactics the Washington, D.C. National Guard deployed against Black Lives Matter and other unarmed, nonviolent protestors in 2020 and those deployed – or not deployed – against armed insurrectionists assaulting law enforcement officers and laying siege to the Capitol complex?

We'll be seeing lots of investigations, I'm sure.

 

[TomC]

We'll be seeing lots of investigations, I'm sure.

I certainly hope so.

Hey Biden. Kick some ass!

Tom

 

[ZiprHead]

Justice Department, FBI debate not charging some of the Capitol rioters

Federal law enforcement officials are privately debating whether they should decline to charge some of the individuals who stormed the U.S. Capitol this month — a politically loaded proposition but one alert to the practical concern that hundreds of such cases could swamp the local courthouse.

The internal discussions are in their early stages, and no decisions have been reached about whether to forgo charging some of those who illegally entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions.

Justice Department officials have promised a relentless effort to identify and arrest those who stormed the Capitol that day, but internally there is robust back-and-forth about whether charging them all is the best course of action. That debate comes at a time when officials are keenly sensitive that the credibility of the Justice Department and the FBI are at stake in such decisions, given the apparent security and intelligence failures that preceded the riot, these people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss legal deliberations.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Justice Department, FBI debate not charging some of the Capitol rioters

Federal law enforcement officials are privately debating whether they should decline to charge some of the individuals who stormed the U.S. Capitol this month — a politically loaded proposition but one alert to the practical concern that hundreds of such cases could swamp the local courthouse.

The internal discussions are in their early stages, and no decisions have been reached about whether to forgo charging some of those who illegally entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions.

Justice Department officials have promised a relentless effort to identify and arrest those who stormed the Capitol that day, but internally there is robust back-and-forth about whether charging them all is the best course of action. That debate comes at a time when officials are keenly sensitive that the credibility of the Justice Department and the FBI are at stake in such decisions, given the apparent security and intelligence failures that preceded the riot, these people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss legal deliberations.

Um....we looked bad letting them get as far as they did, so we'll look better if we let them off scot free?

I would think the usual triage, based on likelihood of getting a conviction, would be fine. Your credibility of convicting someone who filmed himself doing the felony would be pretty solid.

 

[lpetrich]

2 Guardsmen with ties to right-wing militias axed from inauguration mission - POLITICO - "No plot against President-elect Joe Biden has been found."

‘We feel incredibly betrayed’: Thousands of Guardsmen forced to vacate Capitol - POLITICO - "Guardsmen were later let back into facilities after an outcry from lawmakers."

‘Packed us together like sardines’: Guard deployed to Capitol struggles to contain Covid - POLITICO - "Hundreds of Guard members who poured into Washington after the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol have tested positive for Covid-19 or are quarantining in nearby hotels."


Self-styled militia members planned Capitol storming in advance of Jan. 6 - The Washington Post

Self-styled militia members from Virginia, Ohio and other states made plans to storm the U.S. Capitol days in advance of the Jan. 6 attack, and then communicated in real time as they breached the building on opposite sides and talked about hunting for lawmakers, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

While authorities have charged more than 100 individuals in the riot, details in the new allegations against three U.S. military veterans offer a disturbing look at what they allegedly said to one another before, during and after the attack — statements that indicate a degree of preparation and determination to rush deep into the halls and tunnels of Congress to make “citizens’ arrests” of elected officials.

noting
U.S. v Thomas Edward Caldwell, Donovan Ray Crowl and Jessica Marie Watkins - The Washington Post

Man arrested in New York after threatening on Facebook to kill Pelosi, AOC, Schumer

Brendan Hunt of Queens, N.Y., posted on social media that he wanted Trump to “hold a public execution of Pelosi aoc schumer etc.”, law enforcement say.

...
Brendan Hunt of Ridgewood, Queens, a former Occupy Wall Street activist and part-time filmmaker and actor, was charged with knowingly making threats to murder U.S. officials based on posts he allegedly made in December and January on Facebook, Bitchute and Parler, sometimes under the alias “X-Ray Ultra."

... Nearly a decade later, he called President-elect Joe Biden a communist on social media while inciting others to take up arms during the inauguration, according to the FBI.

 

[Worldtraveller]

Justice Department, FBI debate not charging some of the Capitol rioters

Federal law enforcement officials are privately debating whether they should decline to charge some of the individuals who stormed the U.S. Capitol this month — a politically loaded proposition but one alert to the practical concern that hundreds of such cases could swamp the local courthouse.

The internal discussions are in their early stages, and no decisions have been reached about whether to forgo charging some of those who illegally entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions.

Justice Department officials have promised a relentless effort to identify and arrest those who stormed the Capitol that day, but internally there is robust back-and-forth about whether charging them all is the best course of action. That debate comes at a time when officials are keenly sensitive that the credibility of the Justice Department and the FBI are at stake in such decisions, given the apparent security and intelligence failures that preceded the riot, these people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss legal deliberations.

Um....we looked bad letting them get as far as they did, so we'll look better if we let them off scot free?

I would think the usual triage, based on likelihood of getting a conviction, would be fine. Your credibility of convicting someone who filmed himself doing the felony would be pretty solid.

Umm:
https://twitter.com/HeyMandoKay/status/1353083067108352006

Weird. No one was concerned about overloading the Court when we scheduled 180 eviction cases in one day.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Justice Department, FBI debate not charging some of the Capitol rioters

Federal law enforcement officials are privately debating whether they should decline to charge some of the individuals who stormed the U.S. Capitol this month — a politically loaded proposition but one alert to the practical concern that hundreds of such cases could swamp the local courthouse.

The internal discussions are in their early stages, and no decisions have been reached about whether to forgo charging some of those who illegally entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions.

Justice Department officials have promised a relentless effort to identify and arrest those who stormed the Capitol that day, but internally there is robust back-and-forth about whether charging them all is the best course of action. That debate comes at a time when officials are keenly sensitive that the credibility of the Justice Department and the FBI are at stake in such decisions, given the apparent security and intelligence failures that preceded the riot, these people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss legal deliberations.

What, is the FBI worried a jury won't convict? As noted above, it looked bad when they stormed the Capitol causing Congress to flee... it looked worse when most of them walked out and got away... it looks even worse if they aren't going to be charged with anything!

 

[ZiprHead]

GOP Sen. Josh Hawley wrote a column in defense of militia members in the wake of Oklahoma City bombing when he was 15

President Donald Trump's voter fraud claims following the 2020 election, wrote a column in which he defended militia members in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing when he was 15 years old, according to a report from the Kansas City Star.

The Kansas City Star reported that following the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Hawley wrote a column for his hometown paper, The Lexington News, in which he warned against calling anti-government militia members domestic terrorists.

"Many of the people populating these movements are not radical, right-wing, pro-assault weapons freaks as they were originally stereotyped," Hawley wrote about militia groups. "Dismissed by the media and treated with disdain by their elected leaders, these citizens come together and form groups that often draw more media fire as anti-government hate gatherings."

"Feeling alienated from their government and the rest of society, they often become disenchanted and slip into talks of 'conspiracy theories' about how the federal government is out to get them," he added.

Also in the column, Hawley said former Los Angeles police detective Mark Fuhrman was being unfairly depicted as a racist after his use of racial slurs became known during the OJ Simpson trial.

"In this politically correct society, derogatory labels such as 'racist' are widely misused, and our ability to have open debate is eroding," he wrote.

So he's always been an asshole.

 

[crazyfingers]

GOP Sen. Josh Hawley wrote a column in defense of militia members in the wake of Oklahoma City bombing when he was 15

President Donald Trump's voter fraud claims following the 2020 election, wrote a column in which he defended militia members in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing when he was 15 years old, according to a report from the Kansas City Star.

The Kansas City Star reported that following the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Hawley wrote a column for his hometown paper, The Lexington News, in which he warned against calling anti-government militia members domestic terrorists.

"Many of the people populating these movements are not radical, right-wing, pro-assault weapons freaks as they were originally stereotyped," Hawley wrote about militia groups. "Dismissed by the media and treated with disdain by their elected leaders, these citizens come together and form groups that often draw more media fire as anti-government hate gatherings."

"Feeling alienated from their government and the rest of society, they often become disenchanted and slip into talks of 'conspiracy theories' about how the federal government is out to get them," he added.

Also in the column, Hawley said former Los Angeles police detective Mark Fuhrman was being unfairly depicted as a racist after his use of racial slurs became known during the OJ Simpson trial.

"In this politically correct society, derogatory labels such as 'racist' are widely misused, and our ability to have open debate is eroding," he wrote.

So he's always been an asshole.

His religious views already show.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/11/opinion/josh-hawley-religion-democracy.html

In multiple speeches, an interview and a widely shared article for Christianity Today, Mr. Hawley has explained that the blame for society’s ills traces all the way back to Pelagius — a British-born monk who lived 17 centuries ago. In a 2019 commencement address at the King’s College, a small conservative Christian college devoted to “a biblical worldview,” Mr. Hawley denounced Pelagius for teaching that human beings have the freedom to choose how they live their lives and that grace comes to those who do good things, as opposed to those who believe the right doctrines.

The most eloquent summary of the Pelagian vision, Mr. Hawley went on to say, can be found in the Supreme Court’s 1992 opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Mr. Hawley cited Justice Anthony Kennedy’s words reprovingly. “At the heart of liberty,” Justice Kennedy wrote, “is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” The fifth-century church fathers were right to condemn this terrifying variety of heresy, Mr. Hawley argued: “Replacing it and repairing the harm it has caused is one of the challenges of our day.”

In other words, Mr. Hawley’s idea of freedom is the freedom to conform to what he and his preferred religious authorities know to be right. Mr. Hawley is not shy about making the point explicit. In a 2017 speech to the American Renewal Project, he declared — paraphrasing the Dutch Reformed theologian and onetime prime minister Abraham Kuyper — “There is not one square inch of all creation over which Jesus Christ is not Lord.” Mr. Kuyper is perhaps best known for his claim that Christianity has sole legitimate authority over all aspects of human life.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

This is when you start realizing the cancer has metastasized. Hawley is a zealot. He seems to make Cotton look moderate. And Cotton is out there.

 

[Treedbear]

GOP Sen. Josh Hawley wrote a column in defense of militia members in the wake of Oklahoma City bombing when he was 15

President Donald Trump's voter fraud claims following the 2020 election, wrote a column in which he defended militia members in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing when he was 15 years old, according to a report from the Kansas City Star.

The Kansas City Star reported that following the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Hawley wrote a column for his hometown paper, The Lexington News, in which he warned against calling anti-government militia members domestic terrorists.

"Many of the people populating these movements are not radical, right-wing, pro-assault weapons freaks as they were originally stereotyped," Hawley wrote about militia groups. "Dismissed by the media and treated with disdain by their elected leaders, these citizens come together and form groups that often draw more media fire as anti-government hate gatherings."

"Feeling alienated from their government and the rest of society, they often become disenchanted and slip into talks of 'conspiracy theories' about how the federal government is out to get them," he added.

Also in the column, Hawley said former Los Angeles police detective Mark Fuhrman was being unfairly depicted as a racist after his use of racial slurs became known during the OJ Simpson trial.

"In this politically correct society, derogatory labels such as 'racist' are widely misused, and our ability to have open debate is eroding," he wrote.

So he's always been an asshole.

I think he may be right. But they're not militias. They're a cult. The Tyrannical Republicans Undermining Moral Principles. Cult-45.

ETA - I didn't think of that. I heard it from a caller on C-Span this morning.

 

[TomC]

I think he may be right. But they're not militias. They're a cult. The Tyrannical Republicans Undermining Moral Principles. Cult-45.

ETA - I didn't think of that. I heard it from a caller on C-Span this morning.

I'm not a fan of this sort of thing...

But
Hahaha!
Tom

 

[blastula]

Oregon GOP tries to out-crazy the AZ GOP.

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/Bencjacobs/status/1353806234680492032?s=20[/TWEET]

 

[jab]

Oregon GOP tries to out-crazy the AZ GOP.

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/Bencjacobs/status/1353806234680492032?s=20[/TWEET]

America has gone crazy.

 

[Jarhyn]

Oregon GOP tries to out-crazy the AZ GOP.

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/Bencjacobs/status/1353806234680492032?s=20[/TWEET]

America has gone crazy.

False flag? The guys had white power tattoos. That's taking the role a little far.

 

[Swammerdami]

GOP Sen. Josh Hawley wrote a column in defense of militia members in the wake of Oklahoma City bombing when he was 15

President Donald Trump's voter fraud claims following the 2020 election, wrote a column in which he defended militia members in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing when he was 15 years old, ...

"Many of the people populating these movements are not radical, right-wing, pro-assault weapons freaks as they were originally stereotyped," Hawley wrote about militia groups. "Dismissed by the media and treated with disdain by their elected leaders, these citizens come together and form groups that often draw more media fire as anti-government hate gatherings."

"Feeling alienated from their government and the rest of society, they often become disenchanted and slip into talks of 'conspiracy theories' about how the federal government is out to get them," he added.

Also in the column, Hawley said former Los Angeles police detective Mark Fuhrman was being unfairly depicted as a racist after his use of racial slurs became known during the OJ Simpson trial.

"In this politically correct society, derogatory labels such as 'racist' are widely misused, and our ability to have open debate is eroding," he wrote.

So he's always been an asshole.

I am struck by Hawley's age when he displayed political asshole-ism: Fifteen. At age 15, most boys do not have a thorough first-person understanding of society or even human behavior. Brains are not fully developed; experience is lacking. Hawley's reference to "political correctness" suggests that he was parroting the views of enablers, perhaps one of his parents. (I was certainly incapable of forming sound political views at that age, even though I was something of a prodigy. My own political views and understanding of society underwent big changes in the years — and decades — after age 15.)

Even if we agree that Hawley's extreme views were inappropriate for his age, I'm not sure what conclusions to draw. Racism and related extremisms are a sign of immaturity?

One thing seems likely: Hawley was probably praised as precocious by other haters; this feedback helped his ill-formed juvenile views to metastasize.

 

[lpetrich]

Hawley files ethics counter-complaint against seven Democratic senators | TheHill

Hawley sent a letter on Monday to Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) arguing that the seven senators who submitted an ethics complaint against Hawley and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) last week issued a "frivolous complaint to accomplish impermissible partisan purposes."

"These Senators have engaged in improper conduct that may reflect upon the Senate. The Committee should discipline these Members to ensure that the Senate’s ethics process is not weaponized for rank partisan purposes," he added.

...
Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Tina Smith (Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), Tim Kaine (Va.) and Sherrod Brown (Ohio) last week sent a complaint to the Ethics Committee asking that it investigate Hawley and Cruz and "offer recommendations for strong disciplinary action, including up to expulsion or censure, if warranted by the facts uncovered.”

Sen. Josh Hawley has filed a countercomplaint against them.


Multiple threats against members of Congress being investigated before Trump impeachment trial: report | TheHill

 

[lpetrich]

Hawley's forthcoming book picked up by conservative publishing house | TheHill
"Sen. Josh Hawley’s upcoming book has been picked up by conservative publishing house Regnery Publishing after it was dropped by Simon & Schuster in the wake of the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol."

Simon & Schuster announced that it wouldn't publish the book one day after the riots at the U.S. Capitol that forced Congress to delay its certification of the Electoral College vote affirming President-elect Joe Biden as the winner.

The publisher said the decision didn’t come lightly, but it couldn’t support Hawley after the Missouri Republican still objected to the official vote count in Pennsylvania hours after a violent takeover of the Capitol by pro-Trump supporters who largely believed the president's claims that the election was stolen from him.

Hawley Book On Big Tech To Be Published Despite Cancellation Attempt
then
Mollie on Twitter: "SCOOP: Senator Josh Hawley’s Book On Big Tech To Be Published Despite Cancellation Attempt (link)" / Twitter
then
Regnery Publishing on Twitter: "BREAKING: @HawleyMO signs with Regnery after Simon & Schuster cancels book.

Pre-order your copy of “The Tyranny of Big Tech” here: (link)" / Twitter
noting
The Tyranny of Big Tech by Josh Hawley, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble®

The reign of Big Tech is here, and Americans’ First Amendment rights hang by a keystroke.

Amassing unimaginable amounts of personal data, giants like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple—once symbols of American ingenuity and freedom—have become a techno-oligarchy with overwhelming economic and political power.

Decades of unchecked data collection have given Big Tech more targeted control over Americans’ daily lives than any company or government in the world. In The Tyranny of Big Tech, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri argues that these mega-corporations—controlled by the robber barons of the modern era—are the gravest threat to American liberty in decades.

To reverse course, Hawley argues, we must correct progressives’ mistakes of the past. That means recovering the link between liberty and democratic participation, building an economy that makes the working class strong, independent, and beholden to no one, and curbing the influence of corporate and political elites.

Big Tech and its allies do not deal gently with those who cross them, and Senator Hawley proudly bears his own battle scars. But hubris is dangerous. The time is ripe to overcome the tyranny of Big Tech by reshaping the business and legal landscape of the digital world.

Does he favor labor unions and workers' cooperatives? A working class independent and beholden to no one is a working class that owns its workplaces and the means of production, not some corporate elite. The only prominent politician I know of who has talked about worker cooperatives is AOC.

More seriously, this is another point of comparison with the Gilded Age of the late 19th cy - with the rise of new industries is the rise of big monopolies in those industries. So that's why I like to call the last 40 years Gilded Age II.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Wait. I thought he was being censored. His first amendment rights violated.

 

[Elixir]

The only [other] prominent politician I know of who has talked about worker cooperatives is AOC.

I'm dyin' here, trying to imagine the unholy alliance between Josh Hawley and AOC.
Let's face it: we're doomed.