House Select Committee Hearings on Jan. 6 (3 Viewers)

[MT15]

Let’s put our discussion in this thread we can use it for all the hearings.

 

[J-DONK]

You would think so, but I'm a federal employee who works for an agency who deals with sensitive intel. We had to switch to new laptops because of a transition and the agents were required to back up all of their data and it was not a seamless process. And IT basically had to walk them through the transition. Because we're all working from home, getting that done without losing a lot of data was a tall order. And I can tell you first hand, a lot was lost in the transition. Having competent IT professionals is only half of the picture. What's more, is IT support hasn't always been great either. Some know their stuff, and some, not so much. Depends on the agency and/or contractor you're dealing with.

I work in Managed Services as a network engineer. We have multiple 3 letter agencies as clients. We don't even start migrations for networking devices without a backup of the config, and device image. We do that because in the case of failure in implementation you need the ability to rollback to your previous hardware, and software. I find the whole story is super sus. I just assume stuff like text data is stored on a server somewhere that could have been backed up without much effort.

The fact the SS says it doesn't have all those text stored somewhere, and it's only local to the phone seems insane to begin with.

 

[DaveXA]

I work in Managed Services as a network engineer. We have multiple 3 letter agencies as clients. We don't even start migrations for networking devices without a backup of the config, and device image. We do that because in the case of failure in implementation you need the ability to rollback to your previous hardware, and software. I find the whole story is super sus. I just assume stuff like text data is stored on a server somewhere that could have been backed up without much effort.

The fact the SS says it doesn't have all those text stored somewhere, and it's only local to the phone seems insane to begin with.

Agreed. It doesn't make a lick of sense, but it does depend on the agency, how well-run their IT departments are, whether they follow SOP and what not. For example, the laptops we used previously, we utilized network drives, but because we were moving from one agency to another, everything stored on the network drives had to be saved and moved to the new network drive with the agency we are working with now. It was a mess and stuff got lost, mostly due to agents not properly following the directions. Also, setting up the network drive and getting the necessary permissions to access the drives we needed access to was a nightmare for some. The whole transition took months and months and it was definitely messy.

Fwiw, I think part of the problem was the techs weren't fully aware of what needed to be transitioned and what didn't. They can only do as well as what requirements are given to them. I think part of the problem is you had too many cooks in the kitchen during the transition and not everyone was relying on the same info. It's a common problem in more than a few agencies.

 

[bird]

Agreed. It doesn't make a lick of sense, but it does depend on the agency, how well-run their IT departments are, whether they follow SOP and what not. For example, the laptops we used previously, we utilized network drives, but because we were moving from one agency to another, everything stored on the network drives had to be saved and moved to the new network drive with the agency we are working with now. It was a mess and stuff got lost, mostly due to agents not properly following the directions. Also, setting up the network drive and getting the necessary permissions to access the drives we needed access to was a nightmare for some. The whole transition took months and months and it was definitely messy.

Fwiw, I think part of the problem was the techs weren't fully aware of what needed to be transitioned and what didn't. They can only do as well as what requirements are given to them. I think part of the problem is you had too many cooks in the kitchen during the transition and not everyone was relying on the same info. It's a common problem in more than a few agencies.

So, basically it comes down to…hoomins. Humans have a tendency to screw up from small scale to enormous scale with high frequency. Sometimes, of course, things are done deliberately.

but then again, just because I am paranoid that doesn’t mean they’re not out to get me.

 

[DaveXA]

So, basically it comes down to…hoomins. Humans have a tendency to screw up from small scale to enormous scale with high frequency. Sometimes, of course, things are done deliberately.

but then again, just because I am paranoid that doesn’t mean they’re not out to get me.

Yep, there are systems and redundancies to reduce the number of screw ups, but what's been implemented still isn't idiot proof, heh.

 

[Eeyore]

Text messages for former President Donald Trump’s acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and acting deputy secretary Ken Cuccinelli are missing for a key period leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to four people briefed on the matter and internal emails.


This discovery of missing records for the senior-most homeland security officials, which has not been previously reported, increases the volume of potential evidence that has vanished regarding the time around the Capitol attack.


It comes as both congressional and criminal investigators at the Department of Justice seek to piece together an effort by the president and his allies to overturn the results of the election, which culminated in a pro-Trump rally that became a violent riot in the halls of Congress.

The Department of Homeland Security notified the agency’s inspector general in late February that Wolf’'s and Cuccinelli’s texts were lost in a “reset” of their government phones when they left their jobs in January 2021 in preparation for the new Biden administration, according to an internal record obtained by the Project on Government Oversight and shared with The Washington Post…….

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/28/homeland-security-texts-jan6/

I believe that the mantra was "Buttery males! Lock her up!" Well, lock them up.

 

[SFIDC3]

Agreed. It doesn't make a lick of sense, but it does depend on the agency, how well-run their IT departments are, whether they follow SOP and what not. For example, the laptops we used previously, we utilized network drives, but because we were moving from one agency to another, everything stored on the network drives had to be saved and moved to the new network drive with the agency we are working with now. It was a mess and stuff got lost, mostly due to agents not properly following the directions. Also, setting up the network drive and getting the necessary permissions to access the drives we needed access to was a nightmare for some. The whole transition took months and months and it was definitely messy.

Fwiw, I think part of the problem was the techs weren't fully aware of what needed to be transitioned and what didn't. They can only do as well as what requirements are given to them. I think part of the problem is you had too many cooks in the kitchen during the transition and not everyone was relying on the same info. It's a common problem in more than a few agencies.

Sounds like an incompetent IT department. Some of the major advantages to using network drives is 1) duplicity (became a thing once storage space became a lot less expensive) and 2) the capability to back them up regularly (also offsite storage of backups) to not do either is flat out incompetence…..especially if the data is sensitive and/or mission critical……

 

[Optimus Prime]

I believe that the mantra was "Buttery males! Lock her up!" Well, lock them up.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Former president Donald Trump has asked a court to rule that he has "absolute immunity" in all civil suits related to the Capitol riots that took place on 6 January last year.

In a brief filed with the US Court of Appeals, Mr Trump's lawyer has urged the court to reverse the February ruling by judge Amit Mehta, which denied a motion to dismiss lawsuits related to the attack on Capitol.

Citing presidential immunity, Mr Trump's lawyers have sought dismissal of the possibility of civil suits against him entirely, Politico reported.

In his 112-page opinion, Judge Mehta had said that the president’s rally speech on 6 January 2021 that preceded the assault “can reasonably be viewed as a collective action.” His opinion determined that arguments in several lawsuits are “plausible” in their allegations that the former president’s “words at the rally sparked what followed”.

Mr Trump is facing civil suits running parallel to Congress's own inquiry into his effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which led to the insurrection.

Judge Mehta’s ruling followed several civil suits against Mr Trump under the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act, a civil rights statute that bars the use of “force, intimidation, or threat” to infringe on people’s rights to vote, hold office, testify in court and serve on a jury.

"President Trump is shielded by absolute presidential immunity because his statements were on matters of public concern and therefore well within the scope of the robust absolute immunity afforded all presidents," his lawyers said in a filing on Wednesday.

"No amount of hyperbole about the violence of 6 January 2021, provides a basis for this Court to carve out an exception to the constitutional separation of powers."…..

Trump wants court to declare he has ‘absolute immunity’ in Jan 6 civil suits

Trump’s lawyers have sought dismissal of the possibility of civil suits against former president

www.independent.co.uk

 

[DaveXA]

Sounds like an incompetent IT department. Some of the major advantages to using network drives is 1) duplicity (became a thing once storage space became a lot less expensive) and 2) the capability to back them up regularly (also offsite storage of backups) to not do either is flat out incompetence…..especially if the data is sensitive and/or mission critical……

Sure. In our case, the problem for us was we were migrating not only hardware, but also the drives/servers because we were moving from one agency to another. Not really something that normally happens in any agency.

 

[SFIDC3]

Sure. In our case, the problem for us was we were migrating not only hardware, but also the drives/servers because we were moving from one agency to another. Not really something that normally happens in any agency.

Ah, so 2 different agencies with different platforms? Much more understandable….

 

[Optimus Prime]

sobering read
================
.........Levitsky warns that the hearings have illuminated two great dangers for America, both relating to Republicans. The first is that the party’s strategists have acquired through Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, a roadmap to the vulnerabilities of the electoral system.

“They discovered that there is a plethora of opportunities for subverting an election, from blocking certification to sending alternate slates of electors to Congress. Armed with that knowledge, they may well do it much better next time.”

The second lesson for Levitsky relates to accountability, or the lack of it. The Republicans who played with fire, openly backing the anti-democratic movement, found that they were largely immune to the consequences.

“They learned that if you try to overturn the election you will not be punished by Republican voters, activists or donors. For the most part, you’ll be rewarded for it. And to me, that is terrifying.”

Even now, at national level, the Republican leadership continues to stoke the flames. The minority leader of the House, Kevin McCarthy, and his top team have relentlessly striven to hinder and belittle the January 6 committee.

But it is at state and local levels that the rot is most advanced. The watchdog States United Democracy Center calculates that at least 33 states are considering 229 bills that would give state legislatures the power to politicize, criminalize or otherwise tamper with elections. The group also notes that disciples of Trump’s stolen election lie are bidding for secretary of state positions in November in 17 states, which would give them, were they to win, control over election administration in a large swathe of the country.......

‘US democracy will not survive for long’: how January 6 hearings plot a roadmap to autocracy

Trump’s efforts to subvert the elections laid bare the system’s weaknesses, exposing it to greater exploitation

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

(CNN) - The Defense Department wiped the phones of top departing DOD and Army officials at the end of the Trump administration, deleting any texts from key witnesses to events surrounding the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, according to court filings.

The acknowledgment that the phones from the Pentagon officials had been wiped was first revealed in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit American Oversight brought against the Defense Department and the Army.

The watchdog group is seeking January 6 records from former acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller, former chief of staff Kash Patel, and former Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, among other prominent Pentagon officials -- having filed initial FOIA requests just a few days after the Capitol attack…….

First on CNN: Jan. 6 text messages wiped from phones of key Trump Pentagon officials | CNN Politics

The Defense Department wiped the phones of top departing DOD and Army officials at the end of the Trump administration, deleting any texts from key witnesses to events surrounding the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, according to court filings.

www.cnn.com

 

[DaveXA]

(CNN) - The Defense Department wiped the phones of top departing DOD and Army officials at the end of the Trump administration, deleting any texts from key witnesses to events surrounding the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, according to court filings.

The acknowledgment that the phones from the Pentagon officials had been wiped was first revealed in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit American Oversight brought against the Defense Department and the Army.

The watchdog group is seeking January 6 records from former acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller, former chief of staff Kash Patel, and former Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, among other prominent Pentagon officials -- having filed initial FOIA requests just a few days after the Capitol attack…….

First on CNN: Jan. 6 text messages wiped from phones of key Trump Pentagon officials | CNN Politics

The Defense Department wiped the phones of top departing DOD and Army officials at the end of the Trump administration, deleting any texts from key witnesses to events surrounding the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, according to court filings.

www.cnn.com

Looking for my shocked face. I know it's laying somewhere around here.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

(CNN) - The Defense Department wiped the phones of top departing DOD and Army officials at the end of the Trump administration, deleting any texts from key witnesses to events surrounding the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, according to court filings.

The acknowledgment that the phones from the Pentagon officials had been wiped was first revealed in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit American Oversight brought against the Defense Department and the Army.

The watchdog group is seeking January 6 records from former acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller, former chief of staff Kash Patel, and former Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, among other prominent Pentagon officials -- having filed initial FOIA requests just a few days after the Capitol attack…….

First on CNN: Jan. 6 text messages wiped from phones of key Trump Pentagon officials | CNN Politics

The Defense Department wiped the phones of top departing DOD and Army officials at the end of the Trump administration, deleting any texts from key witnesses to events surrounding the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, according to court filings.

www.cnn.com

Just cover-up left and right...

 

[Optimus Prime]

Top officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector general’s office interfered with efforts to recover erased Secret Service texts from the time of the US Capitol attack and attempted to cover up their actions, two House committees said in a letter on Monday.

Taken together, the new revelations appear to show that the chief watchdog for the Secret Service and the DHS took deliberate steps to stop the retrieval of texts it knew were missing, and then sought to hide the fact that it had decided not to pursue that evidence.

The inspector general’s office had initially sought to retrieve the lost texts from across the DHS – spanning both the Secret Service as well as the former DHS secretary Chad Wolf and his deputy, Ken Cuccinelli – as part of its internal review into January 6…….

House panels: DHS officials interfered in effort to get lost Secret Service texts

After the inspector general’s office requested the Secret Service’s January 6 communications, the effort was shut down

www.theguardian.com

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Just a straight forking cover-up...

Cuffari in a defiant email to colleagues obtained by Politico on Monday wrote that he "cannot always publicly respond to untruths and false information about our work," alleging that the department has faced an "onslaught of meritless criticism."

But it's not just Congress criticizing the department. A DHS IG official told Politico that Cuffari and his senior staff are "uniquely unqualified to lead an Inspector General's office, and the current negative congressional and media scrutiny bear that out."

"The crucial oversight mission of the DHS OIG has been compromised," the official said, "and there will be no course correction as long as Cuffari leads the DHS OIG."

Olivia Troye, a former DHS official and adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, told CNN on Friday that she went public with her 2020 resignation over the administration's pandemic response because she did not trust Cuffari.

"There is a reason that I went very public with my concerns about the Trump administration, rather than going through the traditional whistleblower process, which would have led me through the inspector general's office at DHS," she said. "And I'll just say that. So, there's a level of trust there that you understand."

“Cover-up”: DHS watchdog told Secret Service to ignore J6 text request

DHS inspector general Joseph Cuffari's staff “may have taken steps to cover up the extent of missing records."

www.salon.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Washington (CNN) - Former Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN.

Cipollone and his attorneys are in discussions about an appearance before the grand jury, including how to deal with executive privilege issues, the source said…..

Federal grand jury subpoenas ex-Trump WH counsel Cipollone in 2020 election probe, source says | CNN Politics

Donald Trump’s White House counsel has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN.

www.cnn.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

(CNN) - The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol has sent a letter to former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich seeking his voluntary cooperation to discuss his role in promoting false claims that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen.

The committee wants to learn more about communications Gingrich had with senior advisers in former President Donald Trump's White House about television advertisements that relied on false claims about the election……

January 6 committee seeking voluntary cooperation from Newt Gingrich | CNN Politics

The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol has sent a letter to former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich seeking his voluntary cooperation to discuss his role in promoting false claims that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen.

www.cnn.com