Trump loyalists in Congress to challenge Electoral College results in Jan. 6 joint session (Update: Insurrectionists storm Congress)(And now what?) (2 Viewers)

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    superchuck500

    superchuck500

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    I guess it's time to start a thread for this. We know that at least 140 members of Congress have pledged to join the objection. Under federal law, if at least one member of each house (HOR and Senate) objects, each house will adjourn the joint session for their own session (limited at two hours) to take up the objection. If both houses pass a resolution objecting to the EC result, further action can take place. If both houses do not (i.e. if one or neither passes a resolution), the objection is powerless and the college result is certified.

    Clearly this is political theater as we know such a resolution will not pass the House, and there's good reason to think it wouldn't pass the Senate either (with or without the two senators from Georgia). The January 6 joint session is traditionally a ceremonial one. This one will not be.

    Many traditional pillars of Republican support have condemned the plan as futile and damaging. Certainly the Trump loyalists don't care - and many are likely doing it for fundraising purposes or to carry weight with the fraction of their constituencies that think this is a good idea.


     
    In support of his effort to prosecute Donald Trump for his attempt to subvert the 2020 election results, special counsel Jack Smith compiled a 165-page report detailing Trump’s actions, from casting doubt on the security of the election well before it occurred to fomenting the riot that unfolded at the Capitol.

    The document, a redacted version of which was made public on Wednesday, was the third exhaustive public delineation of Trump’s actions. It was preceded by the findings of the House select committee that investigated the Capitol riot. And, even earlier, it was preceded by Trump’s public actions — his comments about fraud and exhortations for officials to subvert the results and his calls for people to come to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.

    Put another way, while there were new details in the Smith compilation, there was no new theory of the case. And given that seeing Trump’s efforts unfold and hearing the House select committee’s presentation didn’t convince Republicans of Trump’s culpability, it seems that nothing will.

    Consider the results of a poll conducted by Ipsos for Reuters earlier this year.

    In that survey, Americans were asked whether various statements were believable, including some that were simple statements of fact. Respondents were asked, for example, whether “Trump called Georgia state officials in an attempt to get them to change the 2020 election outcome in Georgia in an effort to stay president.” This is not a question of opinion; it happened. We know it happened because The Washington Post reported that it happened. And not only did The Post report that it happened, we obtained audio of the call in which Trump does exactly what’s articulated.

    About 6 in 10 Americans said that the statement presented in the poll was believable. Only 3 in 10 Republicans did — even though it happened.

    There were other statements related to Trump’s effort to overturn the election, too. Republicans were consistently unlikely to describe those statements as believable — including one about Trump inciting the mob on Jan. 6, 2021.

    Why don’t Republicans think the statement about Georgia — referring to a conversation in which Trump said that he wanted officials to “find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have” — is believable? Perhaps in part because right-wing media hasn’t spent a lot of time talking about Trump’s actions. That includes limited coverage of the House select committee, and it includes less coverage of things like the Georgia call.............


     
    Prisoners charged with and convicted of crimes related to the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, are reportedly growing more radical by being held together in a Washington, D.C., a harbinger of the dark mood around the 2024 election as top Republicans continue to deny or avoid the fact Trump lost the 2020 election and the former president himself has mused publicly in recent days that his supporters want him to “go after” his enemies.

    Current and former inmates of the unit at the D.C. Jail, dubbed the “Patriot Wing,” told New York Magazine that their time facing charges for January 6 and living together only hardened their support for the false stolen election claims of Donald Trump, who has promised to pardon January 6 rioters.

    “I haven’t met a single person here who regrets January 6,” Dominic Box, 34, who is charged with felony civil disorder, told the magazine. “Or who doesn’t think that it was a noble cause.”

    “I definitely am so much more for overthrowing the government after what they did to me,” former Patriot Wing inmate Brandon Fellows added in the piece. “I’m totally down. Especially if Trump doesn’t get in. I want it to happen. I wasn’t onboard before, but now — f*** these guys.”

    Inside the wing, inmates also reportedly screen new transfers for their politics and ideology, and make threats to those who cooperated with the government or are suspected to be informants…….





    www.independent.co.uk

    Jan 6 prisoners Trump has vowed to free are getting radicalized inside jail

    Prisoners also regularly communicate online with thousands of supporters on the outside
    www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk
     
    Patrick Byrne may have fled the US to Dubai, where he cannot be extradited. He was due to give a deposition in a lawsuit filed by Hunter Biden, and he was involved up to his eyeballs in the coup attempt. Tina Peters getting a long prison sentence may have also spooked him, as well as a lawsuit from Dominion.

     
    WASHINGTON (AP) — Over the past four years, judges at Washington’s federal courthouse have punished hundreds of rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol in an unprecedented assault on the nation’s democracy. On the cusp of the next presidential election, some of those judges fear another burst of political violence could be coming.

    Before recently sentencing a rioter to prison, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said he prays Americans accept the outcome of next month’s election. But the veteran judge expressed concern that Donald Trump and his allies are spreading the same sort of conspiracy theories that fueled the mob’s Jan. 6, 2021, riot.

    “That sore loser is saying the same things he said before,” Walton said earlier this month without mentioning the Republican presidential nominee by name. “He’s riling up the troops again, so if he doesn’t get what he wants, it’s not inconceivable that we will experience that same situation again. And who knows? It could be worse.”

    Walton, a nominee of President George W. Bush, is not alone. Other judges have said the political climate is ripe for another attack like the one injured more than 100 police officers at the Capitol. As Election Day nears, judges are frequently stressing the need to send a message beyond their courtrooms that political violence can’t be tolerated.

    “It scares me to think about what will happen if anyone on either side is not happy with the results of the election,” Judge Jia Cobb, a nominee of President Joe Biden, said during a sentencing hearing last month for four Capitol rioters.


    Judge Rudolph Contreras lamented the potential for more politically motivated violence as he sentenced a Colorado man, Jeffrey Sabol, who helped other rioters drag a police officer into the mob. Sabol later told FBI agents that a “call to battle was announced” and that he had “answered the call because he was a patriot warrior.”


    “It doesn’t take much imagination to imagine a similar call coming out in the coming months, and the court would be concerned that Mr. Sabol would answer that call in the same way,” Contreras, a President Barack Obama nominee, said in March before sentencing Sabol to more than five years in prison……..

    apnews.com

    Judges punishing Jan. 6 rioters say they fear more political violence as Election Day nears

    Before recently sentencing a rioter to prison, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said he prays Americans accept the outcome of next month’s election.
    apnews.com apnews.com
     
    Chris LaCivita is currently co-managing Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, but CNN reports that in the aftermath of January 6, he was among the many Republicans who condemned the attack and the then-president’s embrace of the lies that fueled it.

    On X, LaCivita, who these days uses the account to promote Trump’s campaign, retweeted posts that condemned the violent assault on the Capitol by his supporters:

    LaCivita’s shared posts included a statement on January 6 from former President George W. Bush, who expressed “disbelief and dismay” at the violent assault on the Capitol, calling it “a sickening and heartbreaking sight.”
    “I am appalled by the reckless behavior of some political leaders since the election and by the lack of respect shown today for our institutions, our traditions, and our law enforcement,” read the statement by Bush that LaCivita shared. “The violent assault on the Capitol – and disruption of a Constitutionally-mandated meeting of Congress – was undertaken by people whose passions have been inflamed by falsehoods and false hopes.”
    The post, which was shared on the evening of January 6, was later deleted from LaCivita’s feed.
    CNN also reviewed a video showing a screen recording of posts that LaCivita liked on January 6, including one from Republican former Rep. Barbara Comstock of Virginia, who called for Trump’s Cabinet to remove him from office via the 25th Amendment.
    “Twitter locked @realDonaldTrump for 12 hours. Now the Cabinet needs to lock him down for the next 14 days. #25thAmendmentNow,” Comstock wrote on the evening of January 6.
    Although X has since removed the ability to view likes, a user whose tweet was liked by LaCivita confirmed to CNN that his post had indeed been liked by Trump’s campaign manager on January 6.
    Click to expand...
    In response to CNN’s digging, LaCivita had this to say:

    Retweets and likes are not endorsements. I’m focused on winning the election two weeks from now, and not distractions from CNN.
    Click to expand...

    www.theguardian.com

    US elections live: Trump’s campaign manager shared, then deleted, posts critical of January 6 attack

    Chris LaCivita retweeted posts condemning violent Capitol attack but insists they were not endorsements of criticism
    www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
     
    Protest takes many forms in D.C. On Thursday, it arrived in the shape of a giant poop on a desk in direct view of the U.S. Capitol.

    Welcome to America, version 2024, where number two officially enters the political discourse.

    In addition to the soft-serve swirled poop replica, the desk in the middle of the National Mall near 3rd Street NW also held a rendering of an office phone and a nameplate with Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s name on it.

    “This memorial honors the brave men and women who broke into the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 to loot, urinate and defecate throughout those hallowed halls in order to overturn an election,” a plaque reads on a pedestal below the desk. “President Trump celebrates these heroes of January 6th as ‘unbelievable patriots’ and ‘warriors.’ This monument stands as a testament to their daring sacrifice and lasting legacy.”

    The Park Service said when issuing permits it “does not consider the content of the message to be presented.” Park Service spokesman Mike Litterst said in a statement, “as Federal land and America’s premier civic space, the National Mall provides a forum in which citizens can exercise their Constitutional rights of speech and assembly.”

    By early afternoon, curious passersby circled Washington’s newest monument like flies. Some laughed aloud. Others wrinkled their noses. Almost all of them took photos.

    “I think it’s a cool and appropriate use of public space,” said Jon Golinger, 54, who was alerted to the statue by a friend living in Baltimore who texted to ask if the reports of the protest excrement was real. “It’s a dramatic, graphic illustration of what was done to our democracy that day. Having it here in line with the Capitol is fitting and we’re all thinking of the next January 6th around the corner.”

    For Dan Thayer, who lives near the Capitol and sheltered in his basement on Jan. 6, 2021, the statue prompted a mixed reaction. “I like the sarcasm,” said Thayer, 38, “but it was also a tragic, sad day for the country. So I’m not exactly sure how I feel.”

    Many visitors weren’t sure what to make of the statue as they first approached it. One older gentleman wearing a Harris/Walz baseball cap originally thought it was mocking Pelosi (D-Calif.). A few thought it was an ice cream statue. Many declined to share their views on the record because of the nation’s polarized views on poo and politics..........


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    Patrick Byrne has been ordered to return to the US to be deposed for the defamation suit filed against him by Hunter Biden. Byrne was deeply involved in insurrection planning in 2020 and has been in Dubai for a while, claiming he’s not safe in the US. He was also involved in the election crime committed by Tina Peters, IIRC, and he fled to Dubai about the same time that she got sentenced to prison.

     
    For dozens of people currently sitting in federal prisons around the country, the election of Donald Trump as president last week meant more than a new political future, it offered a lifeline.

    Hundreds of people have been imprisoned over the past four years for their roles in the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Now, with the accused instigator of that insurrection about to take office as president, dozens of violent rioters are pinning their hopes on Trump’s promise to issue pardons for the attack, which he recently called “a day of love.”

    Trump has repeatedly referred to the jailed insurrectionists as political prisoners treated unfairly by an unjust system. While he has placed some vague caveats on who he will pardon – he told a conference of Black journalists this summer he would “absolutely” free insurrectionists, “if they’re innocent” – the possibility remains that he will pardon every single Jan. 6 prisoner on the first day of his presidency.

    Such a move, or even a more limited swath of pardons, would send a jolt of electricity through America’s far-right ecosystem, including white supremacist groups, the so-called armed “militia“ movement and grifters who have pushed baseless conspiracy theories like QAnon, experts told USA TODAY.

    Monitors of extremist groups are waiting and watching to see how extensive Trump’s Jan. 6 clemency campaign becomes. At the least, even a few pardons will send a sign to the country’s far right that its criminal actions on that day were justified, experts told USA TODAY. At its most broad, a sweeping presidential pardon would send a clear message of support and redemption to the groups and individuals who took part in the assault on democracy, said Joan Donovan, founder of the nonprofit group The Critical Internet Studies Institute, whose team has been monitoring extremists' response to Trump's election.

    “That signals something very dangerous, not just for America, but also for what could eventually turn into a civil war,” Donovan said. “I think that if Trump does pardon some of the more serious vigilantes from January 6, that sends a clear message – that he is building a private army.”

    If Trump goes so far as to pardon the leaders of the extremist groups who planned and executed the insurrection – who are serving the longest prison terms for Jan. 6 – that will breathe new life into organizations gutted by prosecutions and cowed by a federal legal system that targeted domestic violent extremists, Donovan said.

    “If he does pardon people that are part of those groups, we will see an upsurge in recruitment,” she said. “We'll also see an upsurge in groups of people that are perhaps rebranding themselves as right-wing movements.”............

    The extremist far right in America has had a quiet couple of years.

    The first Trump administration saw the birth of a new white supremacist movement dubbed the “alt-right,” which roared to life in 2017 and 2018, spawning racist demonstrations like the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and running street battles between the far right and leftist counterprotesters.


    The COVID pandemic saw a unification of far-right groups including armed militias, conspiracy theorists and white supremacists who gathered at anti-government and anti-vaccine protests around the country in defiance of lockdown laws.

    And the zenith of America’s burgeoning extremist far-right movement came on Jan. 6 when a crowd of tens of thousands of people including armed militias, white supremacists, Christian supremacists and conspiracy theorists descended on the U.S Capitol in an attempt to block Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election.

    While conservative politicians, commentators and influencers have since attempted to spin the Capitol attack, in which more than 150 police officers were assaulted, as a peaceful demonstration, the Justice Department and the FBI tracked down and charged more than 1,200 Capitol rioters. Prosecutions of those cases continued even in the days leading up to the election.


    The net impact of these prosecutions, combined with a Democratic presidency that promised to root out far-right extremism, led to the splintering of once-popular groups like the Proud Boys. With its founder and leader incarcerated, the Oath Keepers, which once claimed tens of thousands of members, many of them current and former military and law enforcement, also largely fizzled away into insignificance.

    But while the popular brands of the far right were struggling to maintain relevance, the sentiment behind their rise never went anywhere.

    Throughout the Biden administration, American far-right extremists sought to rebrand themselves, uniting in newly popular culture wars including the fight against trans rights, all-age drag shows and the banning of books highlighting LGBTQ+ issues from schools.

    While the Jan. 6 prosecutions had a “chilling effect” on public displays and protests from the extremist far right, presidential pardons will have an opposite effect on the movement, said Katherine Keneally, head of threat analysis and prevention at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

    “It certainly has not only the potential to make people less worried about joining, but those releases will also be pretty public,” Keneally said. “People will be very aware of it happening, and that in itself, and that media attention, also has the potential to influence recruitment.”..............


    www.usatoday.com

    Trump pardons for Jan. 6 rioters could reinvigorate America's far-right extremism

    Trump has promised to pardon Jan. 6 insurrectionists. Experts said that would send a strong signal of support to America's far-right movement.
    www.usatoday.com
     
    Proud Boys leader currently serving a 17 year sentence for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack is confident he'll be pardoned when Trump is back in office.

    Joe Biggs, a prominent leader in the Proud Boys organization, was sentenced in August 2023 to 17 years in federal prison for his role in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

    Biggs. 40, has expressed hope for a presidential pardon following Donald Trump's re-election, according to his attorney, Norman Pattis.

    Fellow prisoners at the Talladega Federal Correctional Institution in Alabama have reportedly congratulated Biggs, "telling him he was going to be free," The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported.

    "Oh, I know he'll pardon us. I believe that with all my heart," Biggs said in a recent interview with Infowars. "We went there like he asked."

    Pattis confirmed plans to file a formal pardon application with the Trump transition team as well as the Justice Department, though he admitted skepticism regarding the Justice Department, who pushed for an even harsher sentence for Biggs.

    Pattis accused the Department of Justice of "overcharging" January 6 cases, describing the event as a "riot" rather than a coordinated conspiracy.

    "It's not a crime to believe the commander in chief," Pattis said. "Donald Trump told them the election was stolen. They believed him."..........

     

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