Donald Trump and the House Jan. 6 Committee

It is a popular tactic of fascists to accuse their opponents of engaging in crimes they, themselves, are guilty of.

The Insurrection Act of 1807 is a United States federal law that empowers the President of the United States to deploy U.S. military and federalized National Guard troops within the United States in particular circumstances, such as to suppress civil disorder, insurrection, or rebellion. Wikipedia

The Times reports, "Two days after Election Day in 2020, Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers militia, sent an urgent, encrypted message to high-ranking members of his group, telling them to resist allowing Joseph R. Biden Jr. to enter the White House.

“We aren’t getting through this without a civil war,” he wrote.

"Setting out their opening statement in the trial of Mr. Rhodes and four other members of the Oath Keepers on charges of seditious conspiracy, federal prosecutors said on Monday that the message was an early step in a broad effort to stop the transfer of presidential power and to use the might of the far-right militia to keep President Donald J. Trump in office.

"Over the next two months, Mr. Rhodes riled up and recruited dozens of Oath Keepers to join his plot, prosecutors said, eventually deploying them in Washington and across the river in Virginia to disrupt a key moment of the democratic process: the certification of Mr. Biden’s victory at a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021."

What follows is difficult to understand. Difficult to understand -- knowing the hours and hours of video footage of the attack on our capitol -- that an educated lawyer would offer this defense.

The Times continued, "Phillip Linder, Mr. Rhodes’s lawyer, said Mr. Rhodes and his subordinates had never planned an attack against the government on Jan. 6. Instead, Mr. Linder said, the Oath Keepers were waiting for Mr. Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act — a move, they claim, that would have given the group standing as a militia to employ force of arms in support of Mr. Trump.

"Calling the Oath Keepers a “peacekeeping force,” Mr. Linder also argued that the group did not go to Washington on Jan. 6 to storm the Capitol but to provide security at political rallies for speakers and dignitaries, like Roger J. Stone Jr., Mr. Trump’s longtime political adviser.

“Even though it may look inflammatory,” Mr. Linder told the jury, “they did nothing illegal.”

I have no words. I hope Mr. Linder is being paid a lot of money to look like an idiot.

 

On December 19, 2020, President Trump, for all practical purposes, circled the date. The Times reports, "For weeks, President Trump and his supporters had been proclaiming Jan. 6, 2021, as a day of reckoning. A day to gather in Washington to “save America” and “stop the steal.”

“Big protest in D.C. on January 6th,” Trump tweeted on Dec. 19, just one of several of his tweets promoting the day. “Be there, will be wild!”

“We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”

“When you catch somebody in a fraud, you are allowed to go by very different rules."

“We fight like hell and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

"Now it is up to Congress to confront this egregious assault on our democracy. And after this, we’re going to walk down, and I’ll be there with you. We are going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.”
*****************************************************************************************************Donald J. Trump, Jan. 6, 2021

 

Newsweek reports, "U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas is facing calls to recuse himself from a case brought by former President Donald Trump amid an investigation of his handling of White House documents.

"Trump is appealing a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit that allowed the Department of Justice (DOJ) to continue using classified documents seized from the former president's Mar-a-Lago residence as part of its investigation."

Note: The filing was so trivial in nature it deserves no further explanation. Trump is just wasting everyone's time. That is what he does.

Newsweek continued, "Thomas handles emergency appeals for the 11th Circuit, so the application was submitted to him, but no decision will be made before the DOJ has filed a reply, which is due by next Tuesday.

"Lawyer Tristan Snell tweeted that "The Justice covering the 11th is... Clarence Thomas. So Thomas will hear a case that potentially implicates the January 6 insurrection plot that his wife may have participated in."

"Snell was referring to Thomas' wife, lawyer and conservative activist Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, who testified on September 29 before the House of Representatives' Select Committee investigating January 6, 2021."

Can a Supreme Court judge preside over a case in which he or she is personally involved?

The answer to that question is yes. No one can tell a Supreme Court judge to recuse himself ... or herself.

 

Frida Ghitis writes, "On Sunday, almost by accident, two groups of demonstrators came together in London. One was waving Ukrainian flags; the other Iranian flags. When they met, they cheered each other, and chanted, “All together we will win.”

"The uprising in Iran and the war in Ukraine are, on the surface, very different conflicts. At their core, however, they are being fought by individuals who have decided to risk their lives, to do what it takes to defend their right to live as they choose; to push back against violent, entrenched dictatorships.

"For decades autocrats have been gaining ground while democracies looked almost spent, in retreat. Now suddenly, when we least expected, a ferocious pushback against two of the most brazen tyrannies has burst into view. In Ukraine and in Iran, the people have decided to defy the odds for the sake of their dignity, freedom and self-determination.

"These David v. Goliath battles show bravery that is almost unimaginable to the rest of us – and is inspiring equally courageous support in places like Afghanistan.

"The consequences could prove far reaching.

"In Iran, the spark was the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last month. Known as “Zhina,” she died in the custody of morality police who detained her for breaking the relentlessly, violently enforced rules requiring women to dress [in accordance with Muslim law].

"If the prospects for success in Iran’s “Women, life, freedom!” uprising look dim, consider what the prognosis was for Ukraine when what was supposed to be one of the world’s mightiest military forces set out to seize their country.

"Putin had built up his forces and thought he could conquer democratic, neighboring Ukraine in a few days. Even US intelligence predicted Russia would capture the capital, Kyiv, in a matter of days, if not hours.

"Ukraine is pushing ahead, is doing very well in fact, and very possibly winning this war."

In America, we have our own autocrat. He is a former President, and, while President he led a coup attempt to overthrow our elected government. Defeated by seven million votes, he still insists he won the election. Countless Republicans agree with him. His coup failed, and when he left office, he thought it appropriate to remove hundreds of pages of classified documents and take them home with him. The Republican Party strongly supports this former President, and he is the leader of that party. He is the leading Republican for President again in 2024.

The Republican Party is expected to win control of Congress in November!

 

What is wrong with this picture?

The Times reports, "A top Justice Department official told former President Donald J. Trump’s lawyers in recent weeks that the department believed he had not returned all the documents he took when he left the White House

"The outreach from Jay I. Bratt, who leads the department’s counterintelligence operations, is the most concrete indication yet that investigators remain skeptical that Mr. Trump has been fully cooperative in their efforts to recover documents the former president was supposed to have turned over to the National Archives at the end of his term.

"It is not clear what steps the Justice Department might take to retrieve any material it thinks Mr. Trump still holds.

"And it is not known whether the Justice Department has gathered new evidence that Mr. Trump has held onto government material even after the court-authorized search in August of his private club and residence in Florida, Mar-a-Lago, and 18 months of previous efforts by the federal government to convince the former president to return what he had taken."

Why is the DOJ *****footing around? Is this going to go on for a few years? They have enough evidence to charge Trump with several crimes. The DOJ should simply indict the S.O.B. and haul him before a judge.

Americans are quite weary of this man playing games with the system while threatening our democracy, and the feds do nothing.

This man who was elected President with the help of the Russian dictator is making the federal government look like a bunch of fools.

"The Justice Department declined to comment," the Times.

As is their custom. Trump Republicans will remain silent on the issues.

 

The DOJ is urging the courts, including the Supreme Court, to stay out of national security matters which are clearly the purview of the executive branch.

CNN reports, "The Justice Department urged the Supreme Court on Tuesday to reject former President Donald Trump’s request that it intervene in the dispute over classified documents seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August.

"Calling the records “extraordinarily sensitive,” the Justice Department said the Supreme Court should let stand a federal appeals court order that blocked the special master’s access over those records while legal challenges play out.

“As this Court has emphasized, courts should be cautious before ‘insisting upon an examination of records whose disclosure would jeopardize national security ‘even by the judge alone, in chambers,’” DOJ wrote, citing a past case.

"Trump’s lawyers want the special master assigned in the case to review the more than 100 documents marked classified – which, if allowed, could open the door to Trump’s team reviewing the records and arguing they should be off-limits to prosecutors in a criminal case.

"The full court could act on the matter within days. It would take five justices to agree to grant Trump’s request."

Trump appointed three of the judges -- our extraordinary bad luck -- so there is no telling how what the conservative court will do. Does it want to get involved in politics again (Roe vs, Wade)?

 

Trump's irresponsible, partisan district judge is creating some temporary problems for the DOJ as it investigates the theft of classified documents and its impact on our national security.

CNN reports, "At issue are two orders US District Judge Aileen Cannon issued last month. She has authorized a special master to review seized materials – including those with classified markings. Earlier, Cannon temporarily enjoined the Justice Department from using the subset of documents as a part of its ongoing criminal probe.

"A panel of judges on the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals, however, acting upon a request from the Justice Department, agreed to freeze portions of those orders while the legal dispute plays out.

"Trump has argued that he may have had a right, as a former president, to possess certain government documents, including documents potentially containing the country’s most sensitive secrets."

Note: Apparently Cannon has decided trump has a point.

"US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, “fundamentally erred” in appointing a special master in the first place and noted the Justice Department is appealing that decision in the lower courts," CNN.

CNN continued, "The DOJ, in its filing, also noted that the 11th Circuit US Court of Appeals found that Cannon “abused her discretion” and inflicted “a serious and unwarranted intrusion on the Executive Branch’s authority to control the use and distribution of extraordinarily sensitive government records.”

"DOJ said that Trump’s application to the Supreme Court “concerns an unprecedented order by the district court restricting the Executive Branch’s use of its own highly classified records in an ongoing criminal investigation and directing the dissemination of those records outside the Executive Branch for a special-master review.”

For a short-term benefit, 41-year-old Cannon made an extraordinarily bad career move.

It is understandable that Republicans will remain silent about all this.

 

Although this thread attests that Republicans never talk, I will not say they are stupid.

But, one has to wonder. Why is it they never say anything when their party is being denounced?

That said, here are a few examples as to what the leading Republicans in Washington are saying.

CNN reports, "During a private meeting last summer, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told two police officers who defended the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 that former President Donald Trump had no idea his supporters were carrying out the attack. McCarthy maintained Trump was unaware of the violence inside the Capitol when he spoke with Trump by phone that afternoon."

Who is more foolish? McCarthy, who may be lying to cover for his boss, or Trump as President was unaware that our capitol was being attacked by far-right extremists loyal to him? Either way, it does not look good for the Republican Party from an intelligence point of view.

Then we have Senator Scott who claims the Democrats are out to destroy our country. In a statement to NBC News, Scott said, “The Democrats want to destroy this country, and they will try to destroy anyone who gets in their way. Today it’s Herschel Walker, but tomorrow it’s the American people.”

Huh! Double huh! Incidentally, the Democrats are not saying a thing about Walker, not even Walker's opponent, Raphael Warnock. They don't have to. Walker and the Republicans are doing it for them.

Then we have the comments of Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.). Speaking to an all-white audience in Minden, Nev.. the Republican Senator said, "They’re [Democrats] pro-crime. They want crime. They want crime because they want to take over what you got. They want to control what you have. They want reparations because they think the people that do the crime are owed that,” adding profanity.

Note: The General Services Administration (GSA) is a small government agency that helps Presidents move in or out of the White House, depending on the circumstances. It has nothing whatsoever to do with classified documents. It moves furniture and belongings.

Saving the best for last, Trump's latest fantasy. This guy has no problem at all lying to the American people. Trump and his allies are now claiming that the government agency is to blame for packing the boxes containing classified documents that were later recovered by the FBI during the search of his Mar-a-Lago resort in August.

Why do Republicans like McCarthy, Scott, Tuberville, and Trump make such ludicrous remarks? Rational voters will only laugh at such statements.

They say those things because grassroots Republicans will believe them. They are speaking to their base, the educationally challenged rural voter, not the general public.

Republicans are incapable of addressing the issues in this report.

Grassroots Republicans chose our President in 2016, helped along by Vladimir Putin. Are we going to allow them to take control of our Congress in November?

 

Set your timer now! The House Jan. 6 Select Committee resumes tomorrow!

The [Republican] Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday [4/21/2020] 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

CNN reports, "The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol will treat its Thursday hearing as a closing argument ahead of the November midterms, which will seek to hammer home that former President Donald Trump remains a clear and present danger to democracy.

"The hearing will feature new testimony and evidence that the committee has uncovered. Since its last hearing in July, the committee has interviewed more former members of Trump’s cabinet, received more than a million communications from the Secret Service from the lead-up to the riot."

“We discovered through our work through this summer what the President’s intentions were, what he knew, what he did, what others did,” committee member Rep. Zoe Lofgren said.

CNN continued, "Some of the evidence presented on Thursday will come from new witnesses, sources say, which could include Trump’s former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin, and former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. Some of the new testimony will come from witnesses the committee has presented in previous hearings.

"The committee returns to the public eye amid a markedly changed investigative landscape. In the months since the last hearing, the FBI searched the former President’s Mar-a-Lago estate as part of its investigation into the apparent mishandling and retention of sensitive government documents. In a separate probe, the Justice Department has fired off subpoenas to dozens of individuals connected to Trump, as its investigation into efforts to subvert the 2020 election intensifies and expands."

For America's sake, tune in.

The Republican Party is responsible for Trump. Do we overlook what they have done and allow them to win control of Congress in November?

What is quite revealing is that grassroots Republicans are unlikely to respond to the issues of this report.

 

The federal government, whether it is being run by Democrats or Republicans, can do very little about the economy and inflation. In a free enterprise system, the economy is controlled by us, not the government.
99.5% of voters do not realize that. They want the government to stay out of the economy while, at the same time, they want the government to fix the economy when it's broken.

Stephen Collinson writes, "The House select committee investigating the US Capitol insurrection long ago dropped the notion of being a narrowly focused quest for the facts as members use their probe to try to defend democracy in its intensifying struggle with Donald Trump.

"The panel returns to the public eye, warning that the ex-President is a clear and present danger to free elections.

"But are the American people listening? Are they more concerned about the cost of French fries? Do the committee’s efforts to undermine Trump’s cadre of election denier candidates in 2022 and vow to ensure he never again tastes presidential power have any chance of success?

What does Collinson mean by that? He is asserting that voters are more concerned about inflation and the economy than they are about Trump.

The problem for the voters is -- because there is very little Congress can do about the economy and inflation -- there is a great deal voters can do about the political party responsible for Trump. They can vote that party out of office in November.

Trump attempted to overthrow our elected government. The Republican Party is responsible for Trump. He is the leader of the party, and the leading Republican for the Presidency in 2024. There are scores of Republican nominees running for federal and state positions on a platform of Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen.

Thus the Republican Party is responsible for the attempted overthrow of our government and Trump's Big Lie which he and Republican lawmakers profess today. Free elections are the bulwark of a democracy. Hence, the Republican Party is assaulting our democracy.

Do we reward them with control of Congress in November?

Proof of the accuracy of this report is that Republican lawmakers and the forum's Republicans will say nothing.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

 

The Hill reports, "Former President Trump was repeatedly alerted to mounting violence during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol and did not seek to end it, according to the House select committee investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

"Secret Service records show the former president was made aware of the escalation at the Capitol and continued to stoke the conflict."

Except for providing evidence against Trump, members of the Trump White House, Trump's cabinet, and Republican lawmakers are not saying a word about the mounting evidence provided by the Jan. 6 committee.

Politico reports, "The Jan. 6 select committee voted unanimously Thursday to subpoena Donald Trump, a remarkable bid to tie up one of its last remaining threads that’s unlikely to successfully compel the former president’s testimony."

“It is our obligation to seek Donald Trump’s testimony,” the panel’s chair, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), said before the vote. “There’s precedent in American history for Congress to compel the testimony of a president.”

“Why didn’t the Unselect Committee ask me to testify months ago? Why did they wait until the very end, the final moments of their last meeting?” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform after the hearing.

As is his custom, Trump, a prolific liar, evaded reality and his past. Of course, Trump could appear before the committee at any time to plead his case, but Trump and the Republican Party evaded the committee and any investigation into the coup attempt.

 

Donald Trump had a bad Thursday.

"The House January 6 committee voted to subpoena him after laying bare his depraved efforts to overthrow the 2020 election and his dereliction of duty as his mob invaded the US Capitol," CNN.

Then matters got worse for the former Republican President.

CNN continued, "The hearing featured never-before-seen footage of congressional leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, huddled in a secure location during the insurrection grappling with the implications of the pro-Trump mob’s attack on the Capitol. It also featured almost pitiful accounts of the ex-President’s desperate attempts to avoid publicly admitting he was a loser in 2020 and made a case that his full comprehension of his defeat made his subsequent actions even more heinous.

"As the House select committee hearing went on, the Supreme Court sent word from across the road that it’s got no interest in getting sucked into Trump’s bid to derail a Justice Department probe into classified material he kept at Mar-a-Lago.

"A Trump employee told the FBI about being directed by the ex-President to move boxes out of a basement storage room at his Florida club after Trump’s legal team received a subpoena for any classified documents. The FBI also has surveillance footage showing a staffer moving the boxes.

"On the face of it, this development is troubling since it could suggest a pattern of deception that plays into a possible obstruction of justice charge. On the initial search warrant before the FBI showed up at Trump’s home in August, the bureau told a judge there could be “evidence of obstruction” at the resort."

It is being suggested that Trump will be indicted soon after the November elections. The DOJ is averse to taking any action that might affect elections.

 

Are Americans taking democracy for granted? Former Republican President, Donald Trump, his Republican followers in Congress, and running for office, keep proving that democracy is quite fragile. Trump and his minions are threatening the basis of our democracy -- free and fair elections.

Chris Cillizza writes, "January 6, 2021, was a cataclysm. An angry mob fueled by falsehoods about the 2020 election tried to grind the gears of democracy to a halt.

"And yet, 21 months removed from that day, voters are acknowledging that while they are concerned about the future of democracy, it’s simply not something that factors much into their vote heading into the midterm elections.

"According to the latest New York Times/Siena College poll, roughly 7 in 10 registered voters (71%) said that democracy is at risk, but just a tenth of that number (7%) rank it as the most important problem facing the country.

"Seven in 10 Republican voters said they were comfortable voting for a candidate who believed that the 2020 election was stolen. Almost 4 in 10 independents said the same."

Note: Conclusion, obviously the Republican Party is a threat to our democracy. This fact will be greeted with silence from the forum's Republicans.

Cillizza continued, "In an age of high inflation and ongoing worries about the potential for a recession, concerns about American democracy take a back seat."

Americans are not thinking this out. We have a free enterprise. That means the government and the voter can do very little about the economy and inflation. One who favors government control of the economy should move to a country ruled by authoritarians.

But Americans can do something about the threats to our democracy. Do not vote for those who threaten our democracy. That would include election deniers, meaning those who think the 2020 election was stolen from Trump and are threatening to disavow the 2022 election if they lose.

Unfortunately, "The further we get from January 6, the more the idea of an active threat to our system of government fades," Cillizza.

It is quite likely that Republicans will have nothing to say about the issues in this report. They haven't said anything yet, but they expect to win control of Congress next month. Go figure!

 

True to form, Trump Republicans said nothing. But, wait there is more.

Still another example of the former Republican President breaking the law while enjoying the support of the Republican Party. Does anyone care or are they more concerned about the price of coffee?

U.S. News reports, "A federal judge on Wednesday ordered former Trump attorney John Eastman to turn over more emails to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol – including one the former president signed under oath that could criminally implicate him.

"The committee subpoenaed Eastman, the attorney who led former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, for the records in January, while Eastman has argued that his emails are privileged. But on Wednesday, a judge determined that a number of emails related to Trump and Eastman’s “court efforts to delay or disrupt the January 6 vote” and “their knowing misrepresentation of voter fraud numbers in Georgia” are subject to disclosure under the crime-fraud exception to attorney-client privilege.

"According to the court filing, some of the emails apparently show that Trump knowingly signed a document under oath certifying that inaccurate figures related to voter fraud were correct.

“The emails show that President Trump knew that the specific numbers of voter fraud were wrong but continued to tout those numbers, both in court and to the public,” U.S. District Judge David Carter wrote in the filing. “The Court finds that these emails are sufficiently related to and in furtherance of a conspiracy to defraud the United States.”

The [Republican] Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday [4/21/2020] 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

“I like Putin. Our relationship should be a very good one. I campaigned on getting along with Russia, China and everyone else. Getting along with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing, all right? Especially because they have 1,332 nuclear f***ing warheads,” Donald Trump.

 

Want to hear the latest joke provided by Donald Trump?

CNN reports, "Donald Trump’s legal team is weighing whether to allow federal agents to return to the former President’s Florida residence, and potentially conduct a supervised search, to satisfy the Justice Department’s demands that all sensitive government documents are returned."

This guy is so dumb he doesn't know that he doesn't have any choice in the matter. Geez!

 

The criminal investigations of Donald Trump continue.

CNBC reports, "A federal appeals court panel on Thursday unanimously rejected a request by Sen. Lindsey Graham to block a subpoena for his testimony before a Georgia grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump for possible criminal interference in the 2020 presidential election.

"Graham, R-S.C., had asked the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to stay an order compelling his testimony issued by a federal district judge in Georgia pending his appeal of that decision.

"Among other things, a prosecutor presenting evidence to the Fulton County grand jury wants to question Graham about a phone call he had with Georgia’s top election official and talks he had with the Trump campaign on the heels of Election Day 2020, when Trump and his allies were trying to overturn his loss in that state to President Joe Biden."

That presents a very interesting question. Why is a Senator from South Carolina and Trump's friend calling the Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger? Little wonder as to why the Fulton County prosecutor wants to have a chat with Graham.

I doubt Republicans care at all. The former Republican President committed several crimes. So what?

 

Trump has been subpoenaed. He said that he might appear if the hearing is televised.

But, it no longer matters what Trump says. He lies so much, creates so many diversions, he doesn't know the difference between fantasy and reality. To him, reality is what he says it is.

The Times reports, "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack issued a subpoena on Friday to Donald J. Trump, paving the way for a potentially historic court fight over whether Congress can compel testimony from a former president.

"The subpoena was the most aggressive step taken so far by what was already one of the most consequential congressional investigations in decades. It comes as the Justice Department conducts a separate criminal inquiry into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

"In an attempt to persuade Mr. Trump to comply, the committee was quick to cite numerous examples of former presidents, from John Quincy Adams to Gerald R. Ford, who have testified before Congress after they left office.

CNN reports, "Unlike with previous subpoena announcements, the committee released on Friday the entire subpoena it sent to Trump along with the documents it is requesting.

"It says Trump “purposely and maliciously” disseminated false claims that the 2020 election was stolen in order to help his plan to overturn the election and to solicit contributions. The committee paints Trump as “orchestrating and overseeing” the effort to obtain false state electors. On pressure campaigns Trump enacted, the panel highlight says Trump attempted to “corrupt the Department of Justice,” by getting officials to make “false statements,” illegally pressured state officials to change election results, pressured former Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to count electoral votes on January 6 “despite knowing specifically that it was illegal,” and pressured members of Congress to object to valid electors," CNN.

 

The Republican Party is expected to win control of Congress in less than three weeks.

As can be seen from this thread, Republicans don't care what their party leader has done, what crimes he has committed. They don't care that the Republican Party is responsible for an attempted coup, an attempt to overthrow our elected government. 147 Republicans voted to overturn the election.

Republicans, including those who vote, are a threat to American democracy. Republican voters support an attempt to overthrow our government.

They are concerned about inflation.

 

We went through four years of Russia Russia Russia. You know, Sandy, with the FBI and the media, they were after him before he was inaugurated. Intelligent people could see how Obama and Clinton had weaponized the FBI. The media we know for sure, at the direction of the FBI suppressed Hunter's laptop as Russian Misinformation. We watched media reporters stand in front of burning buildings and smashed police cars declaring it was a peaceful protest. Of course you are going to upset Conservatives. When it is not clear why these lies are supported conspiracy theories arise. Fringe elements rebel and that is what we had.....get over it!

We've had Democrats in the not too distant past declare voter fraud. Hillary spent days in a drunken stupor roaming the woods declaring fraud. Get over it!

 

Ginni Thomas has told the committee investigating the January 6 insurrection that she still believes the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump. Like everyone else from Trump on down, she offered no proof of that assertion.

Incidentally, Ginni is married to Clarence.

CNN reports, "Justice Clarence Thomas on Monday agreed to temporarily freeze a lower court order requiring the testimony of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham in front of an Atlanta-area special grand jury that is investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state.

"Thomas acted alone because he has jurisdiction of the lower court that issued the original order.

"Thomas’ move is an administrative stay that was most likely issued Monday to give the Supreme Court justices more time to consider the dispute.

"The court has asked for a response from the Georgia investigators by Thursday.

"The South Carolina Republican senator is arguing that such testimony is foreclosed by the Constitution’s Speech or Debate clause, which shields legislators from certain law enforcement action for conduct connected to their legislative duties.

"The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals had said that “communications and coordination with the Trump campaign regarding its post-election efforts in Georgia, public statements regarding the 2020 election, and efforts to ‘cajole’ or ‘exhort’ Georgia election officials” are not legislative activities protected by the Speech and Debate Clause.”

Will the Supreme Court block the Fulton County D.A.'s subpoena, and Trump's friend will not have to testify? Is the Supreme Court going to tell us directly or indirectly that it is okay for a Senator from South Carolina to interfere in Georgia's state elections?

I don't think so. That would be blatant politics, and it is past time for judges to get out of the way. They are being played by Trump and his sycophants.

 

The circle is closing on Donald Trump.

Attorney/client privilege and executive privilege do not apply in the case of a criminal enterprise. Trump's lawyers know that, and they have to be careful as to just how far to go when protecting Trump.

CNN reports, "The Justice Department is asking a federal judge to force the top two lawyers from Donald Trump’s White House counsel’s office to testify about their conversations with the former President, as it tries to break through the privilege firewall Trump has used to avoid scrutiny of his actions on January 6, 2021, according to three people familiar with the investigation.

"The move to compel additional testimony from former White House counsel Pat Cipollone and deputy White House counsel Patrick Philbin just last week is part of a set of secret court proceedings. Trump has been fighting to keep former advisers from testifying before a criminal grand jury about certain conversations, citing executive and attorney-client privileges to keep information confidential or slow down criminal investigators.

"But the Justice Department successfully secured answers from top vice presidential advisers Greg Jacob and Marc Short over the past three weeks in significant court victories that could make it more likely the criminal investigation reaches further into Trump’s inner circle.

"The litigation around Cipollone and Philbin’s testimony may be important for investigators in the long run, given how close the pair was to the Trump leading up to and during the Capitol riot. Prosecutors are likely to aim for the grand jury to hear about their direct conversations with the then-President.

"The disputes – conducted under seal in court because they involve grand jury activity – may also spawn several more court fights that will be crucial for prosecutors as they work to bring criminal charges related to Trump’s post-election efforts."

As I said, the circle is closing, just another two years.

 

You've been working on this how long?

 

Donald Trump lost still another court case. Some estimate that he is 0 for 65, or is it 70?

It's a lot, but he keeps trying. There really are no serious attempts to win a case. He is just wasting everyone's time, and his lawyers are making a bundle.

CNBC reports, "Former President Donald Trump on Thursday lost his latest effort in court to block years of his income tax returns be given to the House Ways and Means Committee.

"The federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., denied Trump’s request to have the full lineup of judges on that court rehear his appeal of a lower court order requiring the Treasury Department to turn over those tax returns.

"A three-judge panel on the appeals court in August unanimously denied Trump’s appeal of the lower court decision."

Naturally, Thursday’s decision by the full appeals court, which had no noted dissents, sets the stage for Trump to make an expected request to the Supreme Court to hear his appeal.

Nearly every one of Trump's lost court cases end up in the Supreme Court, and with very little, if any, success.

Trump is the leader of the Republican Party and the leading Republican for the Presidency in 2024,

Strange, though, Republicans shy away from talking about him. This thread proves that statement.

 

Donald Trump is the leading candidate for the Republican nomination for the Presidency in 2024.

Trump is criminally involved in at least two DOJ investigations, his role in the Jan. 6, 2001, capitol riot, and his theft of classified documents. He was elected President in 2016 with the help of Vladimir Putin.

With all that in mind, ABC reports, "Opening statements began Monday in the criminal trial of former President Donald Trump’s namesake family real estate business, which has been charged by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office with orchestrating a 15-year scheme to help certain executives evade taxes.

"This case is about greed and cheating," a prosecutor said Monday during an opening statement.

"Two entities of the Trump Organization -- the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation -- have pleaded not guilty to charges they orchestrated a 15-year scheme to help certain executives evade taxes by paying a substantial amount of their personal expenses off-the-books, including rent, car leases and school tuition.

"One of the executive recipients, the Trump Organization’s longtime former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, has pleaded guilty and agreed to be a star witness for the prosecution."

Trump is the best the Republican Party has. Little wonder as to why Republicans remain silent about their own party's activities. They are expected to win Congress in a little more than a week.

Concerning this report, there is little doubt Republicans will remain silent. That's what they do.

 

October 12, 2018, USA Today reports, "Kanye West took his bromance with President Donald Trump to another level.

"The rapper, who has become one of Trump's highest-profile celebrity supporters, visited the White House Thursday, where his planned lunch meeting with the president gave way to a meandering 10-minute monologue.

"During the wide-ranging discussion, West dropped an F-bomb, ("Put the beep on however you want to do it and have a five-second delay,” he warned reporters), explained why he famously derided former President George W. Bush as racist while defending Trump ("I was in a victim mentality") and announced that he had been misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder when he was actually merely sleep deprived."

Donald Trump is the leading candidate for the Republican nomination for the Presidency in 2024.