Jan 6 Breach of the Capitol: Consequences & Repercussions III

[Mayzoo]

I don't think so.

Brown, 47, served in the Special Forces from 1992 to 2012. For most of that time, he held a “secret” security clearance, which gave him lawful access to national defense information that was closely held by the government, the indictment states.

The indictment alleges that Brown “willfully retained the documents and failed to deliver them to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it.”

Ah, my mistake, thanks

 

[essentialsaltes]

What's any of this got to do with Hunter and the Big Guy???

Nothing. That's off-topic in this thread about Jan 6. Plenty of threads for those topics if that's what interests you.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s four answers on Jan 6, under oath, that invite scrutiny

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is unlikely to be disqualified from the 2022 ballot, and a hearing on that subject Friday probably didn’t change this. But the hearing did afford the public our first sworn testimony from a member of Congress about Jan. 6, 2021.

Gotta love this exchange:

Question to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: "In fact, you think that Speaker Pelosi is a traitor to the country, right?"
Greene: "I'm not answering that question...I haven't said that."
Q: "Put up plaintiff's exhibit 5."

...

“No, I haven’t said that,” Greene responded.
And yet, she had. She said it in an old video that has circulated widely in the run-up to her testimony.

--

Next, Greene was asked about other talks with the White House — specifically, whether she ever recommended that Trump declare martial law.

“I don’t recall,” Greene said, responding to the same question by again saying, “I don’t remember.”

Just as Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-Ohio) statements that he didn’t remember whether he spoke with Trump during the riot were difficult to swallow, this is very difficult to swallow. Imagine telling a president to go so far as to declare martial law and … not remembering that? It would seem to be the kind of thing you’d easily recall happening or not.

--

[She also failed to recall whether it was she herself or an overzealous staffer who liked a Twitter post suggesting] “a bullet to the head would be quicker” to remove Pelosi as speaker.

--

Recall that some of the rioters had a similar plan in mind:

Jan 6 Breach of the Capitol: Consequences & Repercussions
he informed his family that he was considering shooting both D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), twice texting that he was considering “putting a bullet in her [Pelosi’s] noggin on live TV.”

Jan 6 Breach of the Capitol: Consequences & Repercussions
An Indiana man charged with carrying a loaded firearm to the Capitol on Jan. 6 told investigators that if he had found Speaker Nancy Pelosi, “you’d be here for another reason,” according to court documentsposted over the weekend.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s four answers on Jan 6, under oath, that invite scrutiny

Perfect way to deny that your pre-Jan 6 tweet of "Today is 1776." had a violent revolutionary subtext is to tweet it all over again after being specifically questioned about it.

@RepMTG

Today and everyday is 1776. Never give up our freedoms. Never let the left steal them away. Be a watchman on the wall and stay on guard every single second of every single day because the left will stop at nothing until they destroy our faith, our families, and our freedoms.

 

[BPPLEE]

In a D.C. jail, Jan. 6 defendants awaiting trial are forming bitter factions

Initially, the inmates seemed so unified and bonded that a defense attorney told a judge the jail had developed a "cult-like" atmosphere. Experts on extremism worriedthat the jail was radicalizing the inmates. But recently, conflicts have blown up between the inmates and grown into what another attorney referred to as a "schism" and what an inmate compared to a "middle school lunchroom."

The main driver of this conflict, according to C2B inmates, along with their attorneys and family members, is the growing pool of money donated in the name of the Jan. 6 defendants. ... As donations have grown, so have resentments. And the conflict that has built inside the jail has been amplified outside by a kind of power struggle over who speaks for the so-called political prisoners.

A handful of inmates said their experience of being arrested had turned them away from Donald Trump. "I stopped caring about politics because that's what got me incarcerated," said one inmate, "and I don't ever want to be a pawn in someone else's game again." Another said he would never go to another political rally in his life.

Others have gotten more deeply invested in the pro-Trump █████ conspiracy theory and have even been writing letters to a post office box that they've heard reaches Trump.
-
Seven other current and former inmates of the D.C. jail, however, agreed with Smocks and told NPR that Hale-Cusanelli [this guy] had made antisemitic comments or drawings — such as depicting Jewish people as pigs and dropping an atomic bomb on Israel. The drawings were "hateful and inflammatory," said one detainee. "It perpetuates a stereotype that I resent about Trump supporters being racist and intolerant, because we're not."

One detainee compared the situation to "the movie Mean Girls, but with racist, antisemitic extremists."

A story from NPR. Not surprising

 

[DaisyDay]

Trying to cast aspersions on a reliable source? Also not surprising.

 

[essentialsaltes]

CNN has obtained 2,319 text messages that former President Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff Mark Meadows sent and received between Election Day 2020 and President Joe Biden’s January 20, 2021 inauguration.

Here's are ones just from Jan 5-6. No link because Don Jr. has a potty mouth.

Rep. Jim Jordan to Mark Meadows
On January 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence, as President of the Senate, should call out all electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all – in accordance with guidance from founding father Alexander Hamilton and judicial precedence. ‘No legislative act,’ wrote Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 78, ‘contrary to the Constitution, can be valid.’ ‘The court in Hubbard v. Lowe reinforced this truth: ”That an unconstitutional statute is not a law at all is a proposition no longer open to discussion.’ ’226 F. 135, 137 (SDNY 1915), appeal dismissed, 242 U.S. 654 (1916). ’ Following this rationale, an unconstitutionally appointed elector, like an unconstitutionally enacted statute, is no elector at all.

Mark Meadows to Rep. Jim Jordan
I have pushed for this. Not sure it is going to happen

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to Mark Meadows
Mark I was just told there is an active shooter on the first floor of the Capitol Please tell the President to calm people This isn’t the way to solve anything

Mick Mulvaney to Mark Meadows
Mark: he needs to stop this, now. Can I do anything to help?

Rep. Barry Loudermilk to Mark Meadows
It’s really bad up here on the hill.

Rep. Barry Loudermilk to Mark Meadows
They have breached the Capitol.

Mark Meadows to Rep. Barry Loudermilk
POTUS is engaging

Rep. Barry Loudermilk to Mark Meadows
Thanks. This doesn’t help our cause.

Rep. William Timmons to Mark Meadows
The president needs to stop this ASAP

Mark Meadows to Rep. William Timmons
We are doing it

Donald Trump Jr. to Mark Meadows
He’s got to condem this [poop]. Asap. The captiol police tweet is not enough.

Donald Trump Jr. to Mark Meadows
This his one you go to the mattresses on. They will try to [diddle] his entire legacy on this if it gets worse.

Reince Priebus to Mark Meadows
TELL THEM TO GO HOME !!!

[OP note: Here beginneth the attempted gaslighting.]

Jason Miller to Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino
Call me crazy, but ideas for two tweets from POTUS: 1) Bad apples, likely ANTIFA or other crazed leftists, infiltrated today’s peaceful protest over the fraudulent vote count. Violence is never acceptable! MAGA supporters embrace our police and the rule of law and should leave the Capitol now! 2) The fake news media who encouraged this summer’s violent and radical riots are now trying to blame peaceful and innocent MAGA supporters for violent actions. This isn’t who we are! Our people should head home and let the criminals suffer the consequences!

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to Mark Meadows
Mark we don’t think these attackers are our people. We think they are Antifa. Dressed like Trump supporters.

Rep. Louie Gohmert to Mark Meadows
Cap Police told me last night they’d been warned that today there’d be a lot of Antifa dressed in red Trump shirts & hats & would likely get violent. Good that Trump denounces violence but could add & well demand justice for those who became violent & well get to the bottom of what group they’re with.

Jared Kushner to Mark Meadows, Jason Miller and Dan Scavino
Why don’t we post on his Facebook page since he isn’t locked out there…

 

[essentialsaltes]

Oh, this is also good.

January 13, 2021
Jason Miller to Mark Meadows, Jared Kushner and Dan Scavino

I tried to walk the President through this earlier but he won’t have any of it. 2/3 of the MAGA base wants us to move on. [i.e. the election is over; you lost] DO YOU BELIEVE THERE WAS ELECTION AND VOTER FRAUD IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION BETWEEN JOE BIDEN AND DONALD TRUMP BACK IN NOVEMBER? Total: 48 Trump voters: 82 GOP voters: 80 DO YOU THINK THAT THERE WAS ENOUGH ELECTION AND VOTER FRAUD THAT DONALD TRUMP MAY HAVE ACTUALLY WON THE ELECTORAL VOTE TO BE RE-ELECTED AS PRESIDENT? Total: 42 Trump voters: 74 GOP voters: 68 DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT? ‘THE ELECTION HAS BEEN DECIDED AND PRESIDENT TRUMP SHOULD MOVE ON AND FOCUS ON ENSURING A PEACEFUL AND ORDERLY TRANSITION.’ Total: 81 Trump voters: 67 GOP voters: 71

 

[essentialsaltes]

Thomas Webster, a 20-year veteran of the NYPD, has claimed he was acting in self-defense when he tackled a police officer who was trying to protect the Capitol from a mob on Jan. 6, 2021.

 

[Hans Blaster]

Thomas Webster, a 20-year veteran of the NYPD, has claimed he was acting in self-defense when he tackled a police officer who was trying to protect the Capitol from a mob on Jan. 6, 2021.

Since the article title didn't indicate things clearly... Webster is now on trial. Jury selection started today (Monday). He faces charges that include assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon. He is ex-NYPD. The three prior trials ended with convictions on all counts.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Since-deleted videos from Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s social media contradict comments the GOP congresswoman made at a court hearing on Friday downplaying her ties to a YouTuber and conservative activist who participated in the January 6, 2021, mob that broke into the US Capitol.

Speaking at her hearing, Greene called Anthony Aguero, who CNN’s KFile previously reported cheered on and justified the Capitol break-in, “a distant friend,” and someone whom she had not spent much time with. Greene said she was unaware Aguero called Greene one of his closest friends. Aguero has not been charged for unlawful entry at the US Capitol on January 6. The FBI previously declined to comment on whether it was investigating Aguero in an email to CNN.

But in past deleted videos, saved by CNN from Greene’s time as a political activist, she spoke extensively about her ties to Aguero, repeatedly boasting he was a “dear, dear,” “great, great,” and “best” friend. Greene spoke about the considerable work the pair had done together, saying the two had “gone to a lot of different events together and do a lot of work together.”

At the hearing, Greene was asked if she communicated directly with Aguero prior to January 6, 2021, about the events of the day.

“I don’t recall,” Greene said.

---
Previously, in Jan 6 thread #1:

Friend of Marjorie Taylor Greene among those in Capitol mob

Anthony Aguero, a conservative livestreamer, activist and associate of Greene, said on video following the January 6 assault on the Capitol that he had been among those who entered and [he also] attacked those who falsely claimed it was done by "Antifa."

"We were all there. It was not Antifa and it was not BLM. It was Trump supporters that did that yesterday. I'm the first to admit it, being one myself," said Aguero in a video posted on January 7.

Greene and Aguero have worked closely together over the years on causes such as immigration and the border wall and have attended pro-Trump rallies together. In many since-deleted videos saved by CNN's KFile, Greene repeatedly calls Aguero "amazing" and a "friend." On social media, Aguero has called Greene "one of my closest friends."

 

[DaisyDay]

Greene should have her own thread or share one with fellow legislator-insurrectionists.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Thomas Webster, a 20-year veteran of the NYPD, has claimed he was acting in self-defense when he tackled a police officer who was trying to protect the Capitol from a mob on Jan. 6, 2021.

In the fourth felony trial arising from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, Thomas Webster, 56, of Goshen, N.Y., faces seven counts including a charge of assaulting D.C. police Officer Noah Rathbun with a deadly weapon, an offense punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The earlier trials ended in convictions on all counts, but Webster is the first of about 150 defendants charged with assaulting an officer to take his case to a jury, and the first to argue self-defense.

In video shown to the jury, Webster emerges from a crowd, jabs his finger at officers and hurls obscenities at a line of police before pushing a metal bike rack barrier into Rathbun. When the D.C. officer pushes him back hard with an open palm to the face, Webster swings down a Marine Corps flagpole he was carrying at the bike rack several times and tackles the officer to the ground as the crowd surges forward.

But Webster, in a four-day trial in U.S. District Court in D.C., blamed Rathbun for not de-escalating the situation. Webster said the younger D.C. police officer started the fight amid the mayhem, beckoning him with a hand gesture out of camera view as if to say “C’mon,” before visibly swatting him in the face. Webster said the blow felt “like a freight train” and caused him to fight back out of fear for his safety.

“I saw him starting to separate the racks to come after me,” Webster testified in his own defense on Thursday, explaining why he tackled the officer. “I’m afraid. I thought he’s some rogue cop, and I was concerned for my safety.”

[I guess the best defense is some offense. We'll see how that works in terms of legal defense.]

 

[Hans Blaster]

The Webster case went to the jury late Friday afternoon briefly. They deliberations will resume in earnest on Monday morning.

Another note:

A new thread was opened about the plea of an OathKeeper to seditious conspiracy (the second of the 11 so charged). It can be found here (unless it gets merged in by mods):

Oathkeeper pleads guilty to seditious conspiracy

 

[essentialsaltes]

LINK

House Republican Reps. Mo Brooks of Alabama, Andy Biggs of Arizona, and Ronny Jackson of Texas on Monday rejected requests from the House select Jan. 6 committeeto testify voluntarily regarding the attack on the Capitol.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Ex-NYPD officer found guilty of attacking D.C. cop with flagpole on Jan. 6
Thomas Webster tried to convince jurors that he was acting in self-defense.

Thomas Webster, a 56-year-old retired NYPD officer was found guilty of all six counts, including felony assault and civil disorder. He was the first Jan. 6 defendant tried on assault charges.

A juror later told NBC News, “There was no dissension among us at all.”

“We unanimously agreed,” the juror said. “Some said we came to a verdict quickly. We came to a verdict deliberately.”

Webster was the fourth Jan. 6 defendant to face a jury trial. His predecessors — Dustin Thompson, Thomas Robertson and Guy Reffitt — were found guilty on all counts.

 

[durangodawood]

Ex-NYPD officer found guilty of attacking D.C. cop with flagpole on Jan. 6
Thomas Webster tried to convince jurors that he was acting in self-defense.

Thomas Webster, a 56-year-old retired NYPD officer was found guilty of all six counts, including felony assault and civil disorder. He was the first Jan. 6 defendant tried on assault charges.

A juror later told NBC News, “There was no dissension among us at all.”

“We unanimously agreed,” the juror said. “Some said we came to a verdict quickly. We came to a verdict deliberately.”

Webster was the fourth Jan. 6 defendant to face a jury trial. His predecessors — Dustin Thompson, Thomas Robertson and Guy Reffitt — were found guilty on all counts.

Creepy.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Donald Trump Jr., the son of former President Donald Trump, met on Tuesday with the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, according to two sources familiar with the meeting.

A person familiar with the interview said it was conducted remotely, lasted a little more than three hours and was cordial. Trump Jr. answered all the questions and did not assert the Fifth Amendment during the interview, the person said.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Chronicled elsewhere here, but:

William Todd Wilson, a 44-year-old former leader of the Sampson County chapter of the far-right militia group, is the third Oath Keeper to admit to seditious conspiracy.

Joshua James and Brian Ulrich pleaded guilty to the charge earlier this year and agreed to cooperate with the government.

Wilson has also agreed to cooperate in the ongoing investigation as part of a plea deal, the Justice Department said.

He conspired with Oath Keepers founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes to "oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power," according to a court filing.

Link2

Court documents state that, sometime after 5 p.m. on Jan. 6, Wilson and some of his fellow Oath Keepers were in a private suite at the Phoenix Hotel when the group’s founder, Stewart Rhodes, called an unidentified Trump intermediary and put the person on speaker phone.

“Wilson heard Rhodes repeatedly implore the individual to tell President Trump to call upon groups like the Oath Keepers to forcibly oppose the transfer of power,” the Justice Department said.

The intermediary declined to let Rhodes speak with Trump, the document says

 

[essentialsaltes]

Two men accused of attacking DC Officer Michael Fanone on Jan. 6 set to enter into plea agreements this week

Two of the alleged assailants of former DC police Officer Michael Fanone have plea agreement hearings scheduled before the DC District Court this week, bringing a partial close to one of the most high-profile assault cases of the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot.

The two men, Kyle Young and Albuquerque Head, as well as a third, Thomas Sibick, are accused of spearheading the assault on the then-officer, who was dragged away from a police line, beaten, and robbed of his badge and radio.

According to video highlighted by prosecutors, Head bear-hugged Fanone and slowly pulled him into the onslaught of rioters, shouting, "Hey! I got one!" Once in the crowd, Sibick allegedly robbed Fanone of his badge and radio and Young allegedly attempted to grab Fanone's service weapon.