Donald Trump and the House Jan. 6 Committee

FALSE
The Secret Service request to have the agents in the car testify claiming Hutchinson's claims were false and it never happened yet the committee refuses to call them

Because only an idiot would testify in a committee that does not allow cross examination or any representation for the accused.

But you ask the question why Trump doesn't testify then post this

First you claim the committee has not turned away anyone who wishes to testify which is false
Then you ask why Trump doesn't testify
Then you claim the committee won't let him testify?

 

The Post reports, "A government watchdog accused the U.S. Secret Service of erasing texts from Jan. 5 and 6, 2021, after his office requested them as part of an inquiry into the U.S. Capitol attack, according to a letter sent to lawmakers this week.

"Joseph V. Cuffari, head of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, wrote to the leaders of the House and Senate Homeland Security committees indicating that the text messages have vanished and that efforts to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, attack were being hindered."

“The Department notified us that many U.S. Secret Service (USSS) text messages, from January 5 and 6, 2021 were erased as part of a device-replacement program,” he wrote in a letter dated Wednesday.

"Cuffari emphasized that the erasures came “after” the Office of Inspector General requested copies of the text messages for its own investigation."

The explanation from the Secret Service is nothing short of extraordinary.

The Post continued, "Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Thursday that the agency did not maliciously delete text messages following a request.

“In January 2021, before any inspection was opened by OIG on this subject, USSS began to reset its mobile phones to factory settings as part of a pre-planned, three-month system migration. In that process, data on some phones was lost,” he said.

Let's examine that explanation with one question. Is there anyone here dumb enough to replace their old computer with a brand new computer and not transfer the data from the old computer?

It is easy to assume the data was injurious to someone or several someones. Was the Secret Service loyal to Trump? Before anyone answers, it is one thing to be protective of the President. It is something quite different to be politically aligned with the President. The latter is a violation of the integrity of the Secret Service.

CNN reports, "The Department of Homeland Security inspector general on Friday briefed all nine members of the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack about the Secret Service erasing text messages from the day of the riot and the day before.

"The committee now plans to reach out to Secret Service officials to ask about the erasure of text messages from the day of the US Capitol attack and the day before."

 

CBS reports, "The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol assault expects the Secret Service to hand over text messages that the panel subpoenaed by Tuesday, committee member Rep. Zoe Lofgren said Sunday.

"The committee issued the subpoena last Friday after the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general told lawmakers that the Secret Service had erased text messages from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021. DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari said the messages were deleted after his office requested them, and the Secret Service claimed some phone data was deleted unintentionally as a part of a pre-planned system migration.

"In a statement, a Secret Service spokesman said the agency "confirmed to OIG that none of the texts it was seeking had been lost in the migration." On ABC's "This Week," Lofgren said the committee expects to receive the relevant messages "by Tuesday."

The inspector general said that he had been trying to get this information, but it had been deleted after he asked for the text messages.

"There was a statement made by the spokesperson for the [Secret Service] saying that it wasn't true, it wasn't fair, and that they, in fact, had pertinent texts — and we go, fine, if you have them, we need them. And we expect to get them by this Tuesday. So we'll see," Lofgren said.

There is something really strange about all this. At first glance, it appears the Secret Service can't get its story straight. Lofren agreed with this.

She was "shocked" to hear the Secret Service didn't back up the data before resetting agency iPhones, calling that "crazy."

Or extremely unlikely. No one could be that stupid.

 

Sandy Shanks said: ↑
Diplomacy was not invented to communicate with our friends, but to communicate with our adversaries.

That is how the major wars in our history have ended. Adversaries talking to one another and coming up with an agreement to end the fighting and the killing. This is known as diplomacy.

Our President greeted an adversary last week and we still haven't heard the end of it.

Politico reports, "Upon Biden’s arrival at Al Salam Royal Palace, where he was scheduled to participate in a meeting with the king, the crown prince was on hand to greet the president as he stepped out of his vehicle. Biden and bin Salman then fist-bumped one another before walking inside.

"The exchange prompted immediate backlash from human rights activists who criticized Biden for offering what they called too-friendly of a greeting to the crown prince. The president also received criticism from Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan, who called the fist bump “shameful.'"

Fred is unaware of the meaning of diplomacy.

Immediate backlash? The former President sponsored and, perhaps, led a coup attempt on Jan. 6, 2021, to overthrow our elected government. Where is the backlash to that?

A fist pump vs. the first ever coup attempt in American history, the former receives an "immediate backlash," the latter, a ho-hum. The coup attempt is low on the list of priorities for voters.

The former President is the leading candidate for the Republican nomination for President in 2024, and his party is likely to win Congress in November.

Americans have their priorities screwed up.

Politico continued, "A reporter asked whether he can be sure a murder like Khashoggi’s won’t happen again. Biden responded: “God love you. What a silly question. How can I possibly be sure of any of that?”

I like this President.

Incidentally, our relations with Saudi Arabia are complicated. It can be argued that Saudi Arabia is more of a friend than Turkey.

Turkey is a member of NATO.

 

There is very little doubt now. The Secret Service intentionally deleted those text messages on Jan. 5 and 6, 2021.

That becomes self-evident when the Secret Service, after a sequence of confusing statements, was forced to admit that the messages are unrecoverable. Unrecoverable means they were deleted permanently so the committee could not get their hands on them.

It is apparent that the Secret Service is hiding something. There simply is no other explanation.

The Times reports, "The Secret Service said it may [may?, bull] not be able to recover a batch of erased text messages from phones used by its agents around the time of the attack on the Capitol last year, a development that comes amid intensified scrutiny over lapses in the agency’s accounting of its actions during the riots.

"The Secret Service informed the House Jan. 6 committee that it was still attempting a forensic search for the phone records on Tuesday morning, when it delivered not the missing text messages the panel was seeking but “thousands of pages of documents” and other records related to decisions made on Jan. 6, according to the agency’s spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi."

Later, in an interview, Mr. Guglielmi said the phone records were probably not recoverable, the Times.

This is the song and dance the Secret Service gives, according to the Times.

"The Secret Service has said the missing messages were purged as part of a technology update and were not related to its work around Jan. 6. Other messages directly related to the work of its agents during that period, the agency has said, were backed up and have been turned over to the inspector general."

Of course, they can say anything they want regarding the missing messages. The Secret Service destroyed them. They must really think Americans are stupid.

All of this is simply another nail in Trump's coffin. It is circumstantial evidence that the Secret Service was attempting to hide what Trump was doing that day.

That becomes an interesting question when one realizes that our capitol was under attack, the lives of the members of Congress were being threatened, and the Commander-in-Chief did nothing for over three hours.

Donald Trump is currently the leader of the Republican Party, and he is expected to announce his intentions of running for President in 2024. Grassroots Republicans adore him.

 

CNN reports, "Matthew Pottinger, who served on former President Donald Trump’s National Security Council before resigning in the immediate aftermath of January 6, 2021, will testify publicly at Thursday’s prime-time hearing held by the House select committee investigating the US Capitol attack, according to multiple sources familiar with the plans.

"Pottinger is slated to appear alongside former Trump White House aide Sarah Matthews.

"CNN previously reported that Matthews, who served as deputy press secretary in the Trump White House until resigning shortly after January 6, 2021, was expected to testify publicly. When she resigned, Matthews said she was honored to serve in Trump’s administration but “was deeply disturbed by what I saw.” She said at the time, “Our nation needs a peaceful transfer of power.”

"The committee’s vice chairwoman, Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, described Pottinger like this during one of the committee’s previous hearings: “A former Marine intelligence officer who served in the White House for four years, including – including as deputy national security adviser, was in the vicinity of the Oval Office at various points throughout the day.”

"The committee played a video clip from Pottinger’s interview in which he described the moment he knew it was the moment to resign."

“One of my staff brought me a printout of a tweet by the President, and the tweet said something to the effect that Mike Pence, the vice president, didn’t have the courage to do what he – what should have been done. I – I read that tweet and made a decision at that moment to resign. That’s where I knew that I was leaving that day once I read that tweet.”

Dare I say it. Still another nail in Trump's coffin. This is Trump's inner circle at the White House.

 

Actually the J6 committee has utterly failed to show a coup where there was no coup and now they are trying to scapegoat the Secret Service for the Committee's failure.

Is this committee claiming that "the Secret Service was part of an attempt to take over the government? The deletion of the text messages is being defended by Joe Biden’s own appointee. Is the theory now that Biden officials are pro-January 6th?"

"As to whether any laws regarding record keeping were broken here, I doubt it. It seems that the Secret Service has the receipts to show the phone issues were months in the making and did not happen suddenly after January 6th. So, while the press fret and the committee fumes, there’s very little that is likely to come from this. They’ll just have to look elsewhere for their “evidence” of an organized coup that didn’t happen."

​

Flailing committee stares into the abyss, finally realizing that their complete and total failure will be the final full exoneration of the Orange Miracle Worker under whose presidency we had rising wages, full shelves, cheap gas and reasonable prices throughout the economy.

Secret Service Leaves the January 6th Committee and the Fake News Democrat Propaganda Press Fuming

 

A strong majority of Americans favor meaningful gun control laws and a ban on assault rifles.

The NRA sponsored Republican Party is vehemently opposed to meaningful gun control laws and a ban on assault rifles.

When it comes to abortion, a strong majority of Americans support the woman's right to decide her health decisions as well as decisions on related matters.

The Republican Party strongly opposes the woman's rights in this matter and favor government control of the woman's health.

The Earth is heating up and people are dying. A strong majority of Americans favor enacting climate change initiatives.

The oil, gas, and coal sponsored Republican Party along with Senator Manchin are opposed to climate change legislation because it is inflationary. Beyond that, their sponsors wouldn't like it.

Republicans are better than Democrats at managing the economy. Really? U.S. economic history belies that myth promulgated by Republicans.

10 of the last 11 recessions started under Republican presidents. Every Republican president since Benjamin Harrison, who served from 1889 to 1893, had a recession in their first term in office. Below is the start date of recessions; the following list includes the president in office at that time and their party:

1.) February 2008 (Bush 43 / R) House - D / Senate - D

2.) December 2007 (Bush 43 / R) House - D / Senate - D

3.) March 2001 (Bush 43 / R) House - R / Senate - R

4.) July 1990 (Bush 41 / R) House - D / Senate - D

5.) July 1981 (Reagan / R) House - D / Senate - D

6.) January 1980 (Carter / D) House - D / Senate - D

7.) November 1973 (Nixon / R) House - D / Senate - D

8.) December 1969 (Nixon / R) House - D / Senate - D

9.) April 1960 (Eisenhower / R) House - D / Senate - D

10.) August 1957 (Eisenhower / R) House - D / Senate - D

11.) July 1953 (Eisenhower / R) House - R / Senate - R

12.) November 1948 (Truman / D) House - R / Senate - R

The economy was in recession for 49 quarters from 1949-2013; 8 of these quarters were under Democrats, with 41 under Republicans.

Our latest recession took place under the Republican administration of Donald Trump in 2020. Recovery took place under the Democratic Biden administration. We currently have full employment and healthy spending by consumers.

Within the next few months, while under investigation by the DOJ for sedition, Donald Trump is expected to announce his candidacy for President in the next few months.

Question: Why in the world are Republicans expected to win control of Congress in November? Sheer ignorance? Americans vote against their interests? Party first, their own interests second?

Our economic history was provided by this source, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._...mocratic_and_Republican_presidents#Recessions

 

CNBC reports, "The Jan. 6 select committee’s eighth public hearing Thursday will go inside the White House to detail then-President Donald Trump’s hourslong refusal to call for an end to the Capitol riot.

"The hearing marks the final scheduled presentation of the committee’s initial findings from its investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, when throngs of Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol and temporarily stopped Congress from confirming President Joe Biden’s victory.

"The nine-member committee, which is comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans, has accused Trump of being at the center of a multi-pronged conspiracy to overturn his loss to Biden in the 2020 contest.

"The panel is expected to present audio and video evidence, as well as live testimony from two former White House officials, to drill down on Trump’s inaction during a crucial 187-minute gap between the end of his pre-riot rally near the White House and his eventual Twitter call for the mob to go home.

Trump was watching television in a White House dining room while rioters were raging at the Capitol, multiple witnesses told the select committee.

“To the best of my recollection, he was always in the dining room,” former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told investigators.

"Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg said he recalled, “everyone was watching the TV.”

"Trump’s former executive assistant Molly Michael told the committee that when she talked to Trump on Jan. 6, “It’s my understanding he was watching television.”

"Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, a highly sought-after witness who spoke with the investigation under subpoena in recent weeks, confirmed that the violence occurring at the Capitol was visible on the television screen when he was in the dining room with Trump."

The testimony speaks for itself, and no one, including Trump, disputes what he was doing -- better yet, what he was not doing -- while the attack on the capitol was going on.

 

ABC reports, "For all the focus on what former President Donald Trump didn't do on Jan. 6, something he did -- a tweet calling then-Vice President Mike Pence a "coward," while Pence and his Secret Service detail had reason to fear for their lives -- might have brought the biggest political consequences inside the Republican Party.

"As Thursday night's prime-time hearing made clear, that move prompted anger and disgust from Trump aides -- "fuel on the fire," in the analogy employed by two who resigned in the immediate aftermath of Jan. 6.

"It also cemented a split between Trump and Pence that has implications for 2022 and 2024. It matters not just for who might be the next GOP presidential nominee -- it could easily be neither of them, though both could still run -- but because it resonates among Republicans who can't tolerate how Trump acted on and around Jan. 6.

"The hearing surfaced chilling radio traffic revealed by a national security official, with agents protecting Pence making "calls to say goodbye to family members." It also established that it was Pence ordering military assets to secure the Capitol, while Trump vented anger and expressed approval for "hang Mike Pence" chants."

It amazes me how any sane person could support Trump. We will never know how. They don't talk much other than trying desperately to change the subject. Most are from America's rural counties, and they are educationally disadvantaged. A good guess is, they don't know why they support Trump. We know they are ignorant of the Jan. 6 committee's proceedings as shown by this thread.

 

ABC reports, "The House Jan. 6 select committee used its second prime-time hearing Thursday to make the case that President Donald Trump not only did nothing to stop the assault on the U.S. Capitol but did so because he wanted it to succeed.

"The panel detailed the 187 minutes that passed between Trump's speech at the Ellipse and his taped statement telling his supporters still storming the Capitol to leave.

"Former White House officials described Trump, after his Jan. 6 speech at the Ellipse, spending three hours in the private dining room off the Oval Office simply watching the attack on the Capitol on television while making calls to supportive senators.

"He finally taped a statement issued at 4:17 p.m., calling on his supporters to end the attack, but also telling them, "We love you. You're very special."

At 2:24 Trump poured fuel on the fire consuming our capitol. He tweeted that Pence "didn't have the courage to do what should have been done."

Former White House official Sarah Matthews said she thought the tweet "was the last thing that was needed in that moment" from Trump.

"He should have been telling these people to go home, and to leave, and to condemn the violence that we were seeing," she said. "For him to tweet out the message about Mike Pence, it was him pouring gasoline on the fire, and making it much worse."

Then she resigned from the White House.

Clearly, Trump is a narcissistic extremist jerk who is unable to accept reality. Instead, he lives in a fantasy world where he is the boss.

How did this man ever become our President?

 

The [Republican] Senate Intelligence Committee reaffirmed its support for the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election with the goal of putting Donald Trump in the Oval Office. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/...rms-russia-aimed-to-help-trump-in-2016-198171

Putin could not be more proud of his protégé. A Russian agent provocateur could not have done a better job, and millions of Americans support the former President.

America fights back.

CNN reports, "The prime-time finale of the compelling and highly produced television saga otherwise known as the House January 6 hearings on Thursday presented a horror show of presidential dereliction of duty and a cliffhanger promise to return with even more damaging evidence against Donald Trump in September."

The committee "embroidered a broader narrative of an out-of-control President who put his own fantastical belief he won an election above more than two centuries of democratic tradition and the national interest. And, most chillingly, it is advancing a case – in the words of a key witness, retired conservative Judge J. Michael Luttig – that Trump remains “a clear and present danger” to US democracy."

CNN continued, "At the start of these hearings, it seemed a stretch that the committee could build a case with criminal implications for the ex-President. That could be changing. Some seasoned lawyers believe that the committee has indeed established evidence of intent by Trump to precipitate the horrendous events leading up to and on January 6 – an important component to any court case.

"But then there is the question of whether a potential prosecution of Trump, as a former President, would be in the national interest – since it could potentially rip even deeper partisan divides in an already internally estranged nation. Establishing a precedent that a former President could be liable to criminal action could be dangerous since it could be misused by future commanders-in-chief to go after their predecessors. These issues could become even more explosive since Trump may soon launch a presidential campaign that would make it easier for him to claim the investigation against him is politically motivated."

Putin is loving this.

 

WOW! DOUBLE WOW!

Murdoch’s New York Post dumps Trump, calling him ‘unworthy to be chief executive again’

CNN reports, "One of Donald Trump’s favorite newspapers — controlled by his media ally Rupert Murdoch — says Trump is “unworthy to be this country’s chief executive again.”

"Those words, in this weekend’s New York Post, may be the tabloid’s strongest critique of Trump yet.

"It was published online on Friday evening, around the same time another Murdoch publication, the Wall Street Journal, also published an editorial harshly critiquing the former president.

"The Journal called him “The President Who Stood Still on Jan. 6” and praised Vice President Mike Pence. “Character is revealed in a crisis, and Mr. Pence passed his Jan. 6 trial. Mr. Trump utterly failed his,” the Journal editorial stated.

"Both newspapers have been noticeably more critical of Trump than Murdoch’s biggest megaphone of all, the Fox News Channel, though close viewers have also picked up on some signs that Fox might be souring on Trump."

It's about time. Fox has been backing a loser, and, for a news network, that makes no sense at all.

 

Nobody but the Trump obsessed care about the J6 committee dog and pony show. Once the GOP is swept into power in the House in 15 weeks, they very well will elect Trump Speaker of the House so that he can personally disband this worthless committee that is now so crazed that they are attacking the Secret Service.

​

 

Stephen Collinson writes, "It’s not just about the 2020 election anymore. [Someone tell Trump.]

"The unhealed wound in American politics first opened by Donald Trump – a President who mounted a coup attempt after he was rejected by voters – is already tainting the 2022 and 2024 elections.

"A rush of fresh evidence and the House January 6 committee’s expanding ambition to hold the ex-President to account over the Capitol Insurrection mean its probe, and new hearings in September, will crash headlong into midterm election season.

"Trump all but declared a 2024 campaign this weekend, firing up a rally in Arizona with a new torrent of lies about his defeat to President Joe Biden and setting the tone for another democracy-rattling White House bid that he could officially launch at any moment.

"Trump’s determination to run a 2024 campaign of vengeance rooted in his mountain of misinformation means it could be 2026, at least, before Americans experience a campaign that is not shaped by his inability to accept his legitimate loss nearly two years ago.

"It is no coincidence, therefore, that leading members of the January 6 committee are becoming increasingly adamant about the need for Trump to pay a price now for his misdeeds after the 2020 campaign – before it is too late.

"The panel has not yet decided whether to recommend a criminal investigation of the former President, but committee members on Sunday heaped indirect pressure on the Justice Department to mount a formal prosecution of the ex-President, days after exposing his dereliction of duty as his mob ransacked the Capitol in January 2021."

Of course, Trump Republicans will maintain their silence on this issue. They don't care that their man attempted to overthrow the U.S. government. These people chose our President in 2016 with Vladimir Putin's blessing, and they are expected to gain control of Congress in November.

 

The Times reports, "Two top aides to former Vice President Mike Pence testified last week to a federal grand jury in Washington investigating the events surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the highest-ranking officials of the Trump administration so far known to have cooperated with the Justice Department’s widening inquiry into the events leading up to the assault.

"The appearances before the grand jury of the men — Marc Short, who was Mr. Pence’s chief of staff, and Greg Jacob, who was his counsel — were the latest indication that the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into the events surrounding and preceding the riot is intensifying after weeks of growing questions about the urgency the department has put on examining former President Donald J. Trump’s potential criminal liability."

So, how about we get an answer from the head of the department? NBC did just that ... or tried to.

NBC reports, "Attorney General Merrick Garland left open the possibility that former President Donald Trump could be prosecuted in connection with inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection in an exclusive interview Tuesday with NBC News."

"Look, we pursue justice without fear or favor," the politician told Lester Holt in an interview.

"We intend to hold everyone, anyone who was criminally responsible for the events surrounding Jan. 6, for any attempt to interfere with the lawful transfer of power from one administration to another, accountable," Garland continued. "That’s what we do."

"So if Donald Trump were to become a candidate for president again, that would not change your schedule or how you move forward or don’t move forward?" Holt asked.

"I’ll say again that we will hold accountable anyone who is criminally responsible for attempting to interfere with the transfer — legitimate, lawful transfer of power from one administration to the next," the politician answered.

Garland never said the DOJ was investigating the former President!

Beats me why correspondents interview politicians. You can never get a straight answer from them.

 

Lol except that Christopher Miller in sworn testimony under oath explicitly stated Trump said to give Bowser ALL of the assistance she requested. Trump told them they would need 10,000 national guard and told Miller to “do anything you need to do” to protect the Capitol.

 

This is why Republican lawmakers do not talk about Jan. 6, why they do not participate in the hearings, and why they do not attempt to defend Trump, their party's leader.

CNN reports, "Less than a week after his slow-motion sprint from the US Capitol during the January 6 riot went viral, Josh Hawley isn’t sorry – for any of it."

“I don’t regret anything I did that day,” the Missouri Republican Senator told CNN’s Manu Raju Wednesday. “And, you know, it’s a privilege to be attacked [by] the January 6 committee. And I want to thank – say thank you for all the help with my fundraising. It’s been tremendous.”

Let’s take a quick step back here and revisit what Hawley actually did on January 6.

CNN continued, "In the early afternoon, he was photographed on the east front of the Capitol with a raised fist in solidarity with the protesters, who had not yet swarmed the Capitol. As the January 6 committee has noted, Hawley made his gesture while safely protected by barriers and Capitol Police.

"Later in the day, as rioters stormed the Capitol, the January 6 committee unearthed video of Hawley hightailing it out of the Capitol – literally running from the same mob that he had egged on earlier in the day.

"Hawley dismissed the footage as “100% trolling” and added: “I’ve just come from Missouri and all I can say is that the people in Missouri are pretty grateful for my stand.” (Hawley was one of eight senators who opposed the certification of the election results on January 6.) [Note: A total of 147 Republicans voted to overturn the election results.]

"More broadly consider what the committee was trying to show: Hawley’s hypocrisy.

"This was a man who egged on the crowd that eventually overran the Capitol and then, when faced with what he – and others espousing the same lies about the election had wrought – was forced to flee.

"The twin moments helped illustrate the Frankenstein’s monster nature of the following that Donald Trump and his enablers like Hawley had built. These people riled up the crowd, fed them lies about the elections, and then lost their ability to control what happened next."

In the end, Hawley made a complete fool of himself. Republican lawmakers in Washington prefer not to have that happen to them.

So, they stay away.

 

Garland continues to dance around the issue. Is Trump the subject of a DOJ investigation? He hasn't said.

The media is playing footsie with this issue, implying the former President is being investigated, but not really saying so because the DOJ is dodging the issue.

CBS was the most forthcoming. "The Justice Department's criminal investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, rioting at the U.S. Capitol, now includes questions for witnesses about the communications of people close to then-President Donald Trump and his reelection campaign, CBS News has confirmed.

"That news, first reported by The Washington Post, was confirmed to CBS News by a U.S. government official familiar with the investigation and a source with knowledge of what's been presented by the Justice Department to a grand jury.

"It is not evident that Trump himself is a target of the investigation, only that that prosecutors are asking questions related to him and his aides."

 

The Jan. 6 committee is closing in on Trump. They are talking to Trump's former chief advisors.

CNN reports, "The House select committee investigating January 6 is zeroing in on former officials from Trump’s Cabinet for testimony and is particularly interested in learning more about conversations among officials about possibly invoking the 25th Amendment after the US Capitol attack.

"The panel has interviewed former President Donald Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, sources tell CNN.

"The committee will also interview former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as soon as this week and is speaking with former acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Thursday.

"Several former Cabinet officials are known to have met with the committee already, including Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller and Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen.

"The committee also met with former Attorney General Bill Barr, but he had left the administration prior to the events of January 6th.

"The interest in the 25th Amendment and activities following the Capitol attack comes after former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified last month about a “large concern” that the Cabinet and then-Vice President Mike Pence could attempt to remove the President from office.

"But Marc Short, former chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence, said on CNN Thursday that he doesn’t “recall there being any serious conversation” about invoking the 25th Amendment, saying that using it would have been impractical.

“That wasn’t happening in 10 days in the administration … This was really just a political ploy by Nancy Pelosi and Democrats in Congress to try to put pressure to exert this and it was never going anywhere in our White House,” Short added.

In the meantime, the separate Justice Department criminal investigation into the plots to subvert the 2020 election is also heating up. The details are voluminous. They will be addressed at a later time. Suffice to say, Trump is not happy.

 

There is very little doubt. Donald J. Trump is working hard at being the biggest jerk on the planet!

With billions of dollars inherited from his fathers along with profitable properties and being a former President, Trump is well equipped to be a most extraordinary jerk.

As President, he destroyed an agreement that permanently barred Iran from making a nuke. He severely weakened NATO to the point that, in the end, NATO leaders refused to talk to him. Trump was impeached twice, exonerated by his own party by overlooking the evidence. He lost his reelection bid by seven million votes to a 78 year-old Democrat, then launched a coup attempt to overthrow the elected government.

Details of the coup attempt and Trump's involvement have been circulating over the past eighteen months, and the House committee has been conducting its hearing on live television for the past three weeks with more to come, including their final report just in time for the November mid-terms.

Anyone with half a brain and Trump's past history would logically think it is time to lie low. Besides, incredible as it may seem, Trump is serious about announcing his candidacy for President of the United States. Even more reason to be cool and keep your mouth shut.

But that is not Trump. He is ambitious He wants everyone to know he is the world's biggest *******.

Fifteen of the 19 attackers on 9/11 were citizens of Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman or MBS for short, ordered the killing and dismemberment of the US-based Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. Trump supported and defended the Saudi leader even though American intelligence was convinced MBS ordered the hit.

The golfing world has been dominated by talk of the LIV Golf Invitational Series, the Saudi-backed venture fronted by Greg Norman and LIV Golf Investments.

So, what does Trump do? He agrees to hold the third LIV tournament at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey. In your face, world, Bedminster is 50 miles from the hallowed ground in New York.

The season-closing Team Championship will be held at Trump National Doral.

“Well, nobody’s gotten to the bottom of 9/11, unfortunately, and they should have as to the maniacs that did that horrible thing to our city, to our country, to our world. So nobody’s really been there. There are a lot of really great people that are out here today, and we’re gonna have a lot of fun,” Trump said.
The 9/11 Commission Report
Is a huge volume that was three years in the making. It is sitting on one of my bookshelves.

So, in addition to everything else, Trump is just downright stupid and has no idea what he is talking about.

So, the only question is, what does that say about Trump's followers, recalling he did attempt to overthrow our government. Simply denying the reality of that while ignoring the factors involved says a lot about Trump's followers, particularly from an intelligence standpoint.

Recalling that Vladimir Putin wanted this man to be our President, how can Americans support such a man? As can be seen, Trump works hard at being a complete idiot and a total jerk, and there are some who want him to run for President?

 

Jennifer Rubin writes, "Defying cynical critics who said no one would learn anything from its Jan. 6 hearings, the House select committee has made sure Americans learned plenty — presenting testimony that Donald Trump knew the crowd was armed when he invited them to march to the Capitol, for instance, and that he desperately wanted to join them. (Trump has disputed these claims.) But in addition to exploring the depths of Trump and the GOP’s depravity, the committee has taught House and Senate members how to run an effective, interesting and newsworthy hearing.

"Let’s hope members of Congress were paying attention.

"The Jan. 6 committee had many challenges. It had hundreds of witnesses and tens of thousands of documents; a complicated, multipart conspiracy to explain; and a press corps determined not to be impressed. The committee figured out that the normal style of hearings — five minutes of questioning per member, hours of rambling testimony, the presentation of impenetrable documents — would not accomplish its aims. It had to educate the public, lay out a compelling set of facts that might be the basis of criminal charges and make the case for reforms to prevent the next coup attempt.

"You might be thinking: “The reason the hearings were so helpful was that loony Republicans weren’t making a mockery of the whole thing.” Well, yes, Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the House minority leader, did pull his members out in a fit of pique, leaving Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to appoint the two responsible Republicans."

Please note Senate Republicans made a huge mistake. The Democrats wanted a bipartisan commission to investigate Jan. 6, and the Democratic-controlled House passed such a measure. Members of Congress would not be on the commission. Senate Republicans killed the bipartisan commission, and a partisan commission led by Democrats landed on Pelosi's desk.

How do we know the House select committee on the Presidential-led coup attempt is successful? Republican members of Congress and grassroots Republicans avoid the sedition attempt like the plaque. For proof, scan this thread.

 

Arizona voters are going to the polls today to begin the process of selecting their next governor. Kari Lake is expected to win the Republican nomination.

Lake told a far-right group in Anthem that she was “already detecting some stealing going on” in the election. Then she repeated it on the radio.

“I’m telling you right now, anybody trying to steal this, first of all, we’re already detecting some stealing going on, but you guys know I’m a fighter, right?” she told the North Valley Constitutional Republicans. “You haven’t seen me when they try to steal something. I’m gonna go supernova radioactive. We’re not gonna let them steal an election.” https://www.azcentral.com/story/opi...back-up-her-claim-election-fraud/10215658002/

It is very strange that Americans would support such a candidate. Worse, she has the endorsement of a former President of the United States.

It would appear that Republicans are begging for an autocracy. Only an autocrat would say her loss would be the result of cheating.

Republicans should be aware. They just might get what they wish for ... an autocratic government that is totally unconcerned about the rights and freedoms of its citizens.

The problem is, many Trump Republicans would think that would be funny.

 

The conservative National Review reports, "The news that federal prosecutors are seeking the testimony of Trump’s former White House counsel suggests their investigation is ramping up.

"The Justice Department’s issuance of a grand-jury subpoena to former White House counsel Pat Cipollone signals that the criminal investigation of former President Trump is ramping up.

"The theory of executive immunity from congressional information demands is rooted in the Constitution’s separation-of-powers principles. Ordinarily, the immunity is aggressively defended by the Justice Department, an important executive-branch component. So it is notable that DOJ has substantially refrained from defending executive privilege in connection with the House January 6 committee’s investigation. (This is because President Biden, the incumbent, has not supported his predecessor’s attempts to invoke executive privilege in the committee’s investigation.)

The Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation with an eye toward prosecuting penal offenses.

 

CNN reports, "Liz Cheney has posed the question with which America may have to wrestle for months to come: if there is evidence that ex-President Donald Trump committed crimes in seeking to overturn the 2020 election, what message will it send if he’s not charged?

"The Wyoming representative, who serves as the vice chair of the House select committee investigating January 6, 2021, issued what was effectively a challenge to the Justice Department as CNN exclusively reported on Thursday that Trump’s lawyers are in talks with its prosecutors – in the most concrete step yet toward the former commander-in-chief.

"The news was the latest sign that the department, criticized for months for moving too slowly to investigate Trump’s election stealing effort and his incitement of the mob that invaded the US Capitol, is moving with speed and broadening its scope – though there remains no indication when or even if the former President will be charged in the Justice Department’s probe."

The problem, of course, is obvious. If the Justice Department is going to indict a former President for a crime, they better have all the ducks lined up or it could be a disaster for years to come.

On the other hand, "Cheney argued that if the Justice Department failed to act in the face of evidence of criminal wrongdoing, it would be disastrous to the idea of America itself," CNN.

Putin knew what he was doing when he chose Trump to be our President in 2016.

The Republican Senate Intelligence Committee reaffirmed its support for the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election with the goal of putting Donald Trump in the Oval Office. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/...rms-russia-aimed-to-help-trump-in-2016-198171

What I am wondering is this. Because of his grassroots support, Trump is the leader of the Republican Party, and Republicans running for office seek his endorsement. Why are so many Americans willing to agree with Vladimir Putin's choice?

One possible answer, ignorance. They don't know, and they don't want to know. That would explain their near-total silence on this thread, and total silence on current issues.