Trump Transgressions Timeline Part I - 1927 to June 14, 2019
Trump Transgressions Timeline Part II - June 17, 2019 to February 28, 2020
Trump Transgressions Timeline Part III - March 1, 2020 to November 3, 2020
Trump Transgressions Timeline Part V - January 7, 2022 to March 29, 2023
Trump Transgressions Timeline Part VI - March 30, 2023 to the Present
Post 2020 Election Transgressions
January 6, 2022 - Today is the one year anniversary of the January 6th insurrection at the US Capitol.
Speaking to reporters, Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, the vice chair of the special House committee investigating the 6 January insurrection, stated today that Trump's conduct on that day was "a supreme dereliction of duty". Cheney also stated that our institutions "only held because of people who were willing to stand up against the pressure from former president Trump, people in his own Department of Justice ... elected officials at the state level who stood up to him and the law enforcement officers here at the Capitol. We came very close, and we need to recognize how important it is that the system depends on individuals and that it never happens again."
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris addressed the nation from the US Capitol to speak about January 6th. Here are some highlights:
- Kamala Harris: "What the extremists who roamed these halls targeted was not just the lives of elected leaders. What they sought to degrade and destroy was not only a building, hallowed as it is. What they were assaulting were the institutions, the values, the ideas that generations of Americans have marched, picketed and shed blood to establish and defend ... You see, the strength of democracy is the rule of law. The strength of democracy is the principle that everybody is to be treated equally, that elections should be free and fair, that corruption should be given no order. The strength of democracy is that it empowers the people. The fragility of democracy is this: if we are not vigilant, if we don't defend it, democracy will not stand. It will falter. And it will fall."
- Joe Biden: "One year ago today in this sacred place, democracy was attacked. The will of the people was under assault. The constitution, our constitution, faced the gravest of threats. For the first time in our history, a president had not just lost an election, he tried to prevent a peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the Capitol ... The former president of the United States of America has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election. He has done so because he values power over principle, because he sees his own interests as more important than his country's interests. Because his bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy or our constitution. He can't accept he lost, even though that's what 93 United States senators, his own attorney general, his own vice-president, governors and state officials in every battleground state have said: he lost. That's what 81 million of you did when you voted for a new way forward ... He's not just the former president, He's the defeated former president, defeated by more than 7m of your votes, in a full and free and fair election. There is simply zero proof the election results were inaccurate. In fact, in every venue where evidence had to be produced, where oaths of truth had to be taken, the former president failed to make his case. Just think about this: the former president and his supporters have never been able to explain how they accept as accurate the other election results on November 3, elections for governor, United states senator, House of Representatives, elections where they closed the gap in the house. They challenged none of that ... They want to rule or they will ruin, ruin what our country fought for at Lexington and Concord, at Gettysburg, and Omaha Beach, Seneca Falls and Selma, Alabama, and what we're fighting for now: The right to vote. The right to govern ourselves. The right to determine our own destiny. With rights come responsibilities. The responsibility to see each other as neighbors. Maybe we disagree with that neighbor, but they're not an adversary. The responsibility to accept defeat, and then get back in the arena and try again the next time to make your case. The responsibility to see that America is an idea, an idea that requires vigilant stewardship."
Barack Obama released a statement saying in part: "Although initially rejected by many Republicans, the claims that fanned the flames of violence on January 6th have since been embraced by a sizeable portion of voters and elected officials – many of whom know better. State legislatures across the country have not only made it harder to vote, but some have tried to assert power over core election processes including the ability to certify election results. And those remaining Republican officials and thought leaders who have courageously stood their ground and rejected such anti-democratic efforts have been ostracized, primaried, and driven from the party."
The AP provided a sampling of statements by insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol:
- "I have realized that we, meaning Trump supporters, were lied to by those that at the time had great power, meaning the then sitting President, as well as those acting on his behalf ... They kept spitting out the false narrative about a stolen election and how it was 'our duty' to stand up to tyranny. Little did I realize that they were the tyrannical ones desperate to hold on to power at any cost, even by creating the chaos they knew would happen with such rhetoric." - Robert Palmer, Capitol Insurrectionist
- "My conservative creed still remains the same. However, the system of governance, a constitutional republic, and the processes in place for deciding who sits in the Oval Office behind the Resolute Desk transcends any one candidate or party. That peaceful transfer of power and the method set out for achieving it are worthy of protection. My message to fellow conservatives, or any American dissenting with the current administration, is that we must continue our work within the confines of the system and condemn the actions on January 6th as atrocious." - Devlyn Thompson, Capitol Insurrectionist
- "The only plan I had was to go to the White House Ellipse to listen to President Trump's speech. He said during his speech that he would be going to the capitol after he spoke and he asked us to walk there together after his speech. I left his speech early to walk back to my hotel room because I was cold. Once back in my room, I saw on the news that people were at the capitol building ... Having travelled a long way to attend this rally, I decided to put on an extra layer of clothing and walk to the capitol" - Valerie Elaine Ehrke, Capitol Insurrectionist
Donald Trump released a statement in reponse to Joe Biden's speech today which stated in part: Biden "used my name today to try to further divide America ... The Democrats want to own this day of January 6th so they can stoke fears and divide America. I say, let them have it because America sees through theirs [sic] lies and polarizations." NOTE: Biden did not mention Trump by name in the speech.
Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida, spoke to the press saying "The DC-New York media, I mean, this is their Christmas, January 6, OK? They are going to take this and milk this for anything they could to try and be able to smear anyone who ever supported Donald Trump." NOTE: Many journalists were assaulted and harrassed on January 6th where insurrectionists made nooses out of camera cords, and scratched the words "Murder the Media" into one of the doors at the Capitol.
The following exchange, which was reported by the New York Times to have taken place on January 6th, was confirmed today by Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney:
CONGRESSMAN JIM JORDAN: "We need to get the ladies away from the aisle. Let me help you."
CONGRESSWOMAN LIZ CHENEY: "Get away from me. You fucking did this."
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, held a press conference today, here are some highlights:
- Psaki was asked why Biden never mentioned Trump's name in his speech today. Psaki responded: "There's only one president in the history of this country that fomented an insurrection which prompted the seizing of our nation's Capitol. I think everybody knew who he was referring to."
- Psaki was asked to comment on Trump's response to the speech. Psaki's response: "Well, it looks like he saw the speech. I guess that's good news. Maybe he learned something."
- Psaki was asked about the lack of Republicans participating in today's commemorations for the anniversary of the January 6th attack on the US Capitol. Psaki responded: "We're talking about some Republicans in Congress - not all, but many, far too many, in our view and in the president's view - who need to take a look at themselves and what role they want to play in the history Books. When their children and grandchildren look at the history books, do they want to be perpetuating the big lie? Do they want to be walking like silent lemmings behind the former president, who fomented an insurrection? Or do they want to be part of saving our democracy?"
Republican members of congress Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene held a press briefing. Here are some highlights:
- The two far-right extremists insinuated that the feds caused the January 6th riot. NOTE: One year ago today, Gaetz blamed antifa.
- Greene stated: "I was very upset with what happened that day, and it was because it completely interrupted the work that we had worked very hard on all throughout Christmas, preparing for January 6th to object on behalf of Americans." NOTE: In the lead-up to January 6th, Greene had urged Republicans to show up on January 6th for the Republican's "1776 moment". Recently Greene stated regarding the January 6th attack: "If you think about what our Declaration of Independence says, it says overthrow tyrants."
Writing for the Guardian, David Smith offers the following commentary on Democrat Dean Phillips January 6th moment: "It was a visceral cry at the moment of maximum peril for American democracy. A furious mob had overrun police and was nearly at the door of the House of Representatives. Inside the chamber, Republican Paul Gosar was launching a spurious challenge to Joe Biden's election victory in Arizona. Then, at the back of the gallery on the second floor, Democrat Dean Phillips rose to his feet and screamed at the top of his lungs at Gosar: 'This is because of you!' The outburst was out of character for a 'Minnesota nice' congressman with a reputation for moderation and working across the aisle. But a year later, Phillips remains convinced it was an urgent and necessary response to the deadly insurrection inspired by then president Donald Trump. 'It's not my style to break decorum and to scream,' he told the Guardian, 'but I have to say at that moment I felt the way that tens of millions of Americans did, which is there were people responsible for what was about to transpire and there are moments where you do what you got to do, and I had to do it. I don't regret it one bit because it's true.' Phillips, 52, comes from a business background. He led a family-owned distillery – producing vodka, gin, rum and other liquors – and ice cream company. He was elected to Congress in 2018, representing Minnesota's third congressional district, and is vice chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. 'I never imagined I'd be doing this,' he admits. 'I woke up the morning after the 2016 election, saw the reaction of my daughters, who were 18 and 16 at that time – their fear, their tears – and I promised them right then and there I would do something, and here I am.'"
Writing for the Guardian, Joan E Greve offers the following analysis of concerns by the nation's historians: "Some of America's most prominent historians gave an urgent warning about the state of American democracy as they gathered on Capitol Hill on Thursday to commemorate the 6 January insurrection. Doris Kearns Goodwin and Jon Meacham condemned the attack on the Capitol, which was carried out by a group of former president Donald Trump's supporters to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election. They warned that the US remained at a crucial turning point amid ongoing threats to its democratic systems. 'What you saw a year ago today was the worst instincts of both human nature and American politics,' Meacham said. 'And it's either a step on the way to the abyss or it is a call to arms figuratively for citizens to engage.' Echoing Meacham's message, Goodwin argued that this moment represents an opportunity for Americans to rededicate themselves to the cause of democracy, citing the example set by those who fought for the Union in the civil war and marched for civil rights in the 1960's. 'We've come through these really tough times before,' Goodwin said. 'We've had lots of people who were willing to step up and put their public lives against their private lives. And that's what we've got to depend on today. That's what we need in these years and months ahead.' The historians' comments came as many Americans, particularly those who support Trump, continue to deny the dark reality of the Capitol insurrection. Only about 4 in 10 Republicans describe the 6 January attack as very violent or extremely violent, according to a recent AP-NORC poll. About 30% of Republicans say the insurrection was not violent at all, while another 30% say it was only somewhat violent."
According to Politico, Kamala Harris was inside the Democratic National Committee building last year when a pipe bomb was discovered outside. From the story: "Capitol Police began investigating the pipe bomb at 1:07 p.m., according to an official Capitol Police timeline of events obtained by POLITICO. The timeline says that Capitol Police and the Secret Service evacuated an unnamed 'protectee' at approximately 1:14 p.m, seven minutes later. The four people, among them a White House official and a former law enforcement official, confirmed that Harris was the Secret Service protectee identified in the timeline, which has circulated on Capitol Hill. Harris' presence inside the building while a bomb was right outside raises sobering questions about her security that day. It also raises the chilling prospect that the riots could have been far more destructive than they already were, with the incoming vice president's life directly endangered. Federal law enforcement officials have faced harsh criticism for failing to anticipate the chaotic scene around the Electoral College certification one year ago, despite receiving a host of warnings about possible chaos."
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levin offers the following analysis of DHS warnings as we approach the anniversary of January 6th: "The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has warned of an increase in extremist content and threats against US lawmakers in the days leading up to the anniversary of the 6 January insurrection, according to a memo obtained by the Guardian. The memo, sent on Thursday to state and local law enforcement, said that DHS had no indication of a specific and credible plot, but that the agency and the FBI had 'identified new content online that could inspire violence, particularly by lone offenders, and could be directed against political and other government officials, including members of Congress, state and local officials, and high-profile members of political parties, including in locations outside of [Washington DC]'. John Cohen, the head of DHS's office of intelligence and analysis, outlined a range of content on 'extremist related platforms' that was concerning. In one instance, an 'unknown individual' posted a video online listing 95 members of Congress who, the video claimed, were involved in voting to certify the 'fraudulent' presidential election, echoing far-right misinformation that has spread since last year. The video called for the Congress members to be hanged in front of the White House and was posted on a forum that hosts QAnon conspiracy theories and was reposted by Telegram users and on blogs. The video was viewed more than 60,000 times across platforms, the memo said. Cohen also warned of a separate posting that referenced 6 January 'as an appropriate day to conduct assassinations against named Democratic political figures, including [the president], because of the perceived fraudulent election'. The US Secret Service, the Capitol Police and the DC Metropolitan Police agencies were aware of the online activity and have initiated investigations 'as appropriate', Cohen wrote in the memo, adding that the Federal Protective Service had also expanded patrols in and around federal facilities across the US. The memo comes amid reports of a sharp rise in threats against lawmakers over the last year. Earlier on Thursday, Joe Biden denounced Donald Trump for spreading a 'web of lies' about the 2020 election and accused Trump and his allies of holding a 'dagger at the throat of American democracy'."
January 5, 2022 - A new Axios-Momentive poll reports that just 55% of Americans believe Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 presidential election. NOTE: Biden's victory has been proven in courts across the country repeatedly.
Andy Kim, a Democrat congressman from New Jersey, sent the following tweets to remind Republicans of the things they were saying in the immediate aftermath of January 6th:
- "Kevin McCarthy on Jan 13: 'last week's violent attack on the Capitol was undemocratic, un-American and criminal ... those who are responsible for Wednesday's chaos will be brought to justice ... The President bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob rioters.'"
- "Senator Lindsey Graham on Jan 7: 'When it comes to accountability the president needs to understand that his actions were the problem not the solution'"
- "Senator McConnell: 'Former President Trump's actions preceding the riot were a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty. There's no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.'"
According to the Insurrection Index, more than 1,000 Americans in positions of public trust acted as accomplices in Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election result, either by participating in the January 6th insurrection, or by spreading the lie that the vote count was rigged.
Jennifer Bendery of HuffPost, asked each of the 147 Republican members of congress who objected to the certification of the 2020 election results if they thought Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election fairly. Most declined to answer. Here are some notable repsonses to the question:
- "Call our press office" - Senator Ted Cruz
- "Yeah, I don't have anything for you on that" - Senator John Kennedy
- "I don't do hallway interviews" - Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith
- "He's the constitutionally elected president. I've said it like a zillion times" - Senator Rick Scott
Stephanie Grisham, the former White House press secretary under Donald Trump, met today with the House select committee investigating the January 6th insurrection.
Speaking to reporters, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, stated that during a speech on the anniversary of January 6th, Joe Biden "is going to speak to the truth of what happened, not the lies that some have spread since, and the peril it posed to the rule of law and our system of democratic governance ... President Biden has been clear-eyed about the threat the former president represents to our democracy and how the former president constantly works to undermine basic American values and the rule of law. And President Biden has of course spoken repeatedly about how the former president abused his office, undermined the constitution and ignored his oath to the American people in an effort to amass more power for himself, and his allies ... sees January 6 as the tragic culmination of what those four years under President Trump did to our country and they reflected the importance to the president of winning ... the battle for the soul of our nation ... I would expect that President Biden will lay out the significance of what happened at the Capitol and the singular responsibility President Trump has for the chaos and carnage that we saw ... And he will forcibly push back on the lies spread by the former president in an attempt to mislead the American people and his own supporters."
According to Merrick Garland, the US attorney general, the justice department has filed charges against 725 defendants in connection with the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Garland also stated: "The actions we have taken thus far will not be our last. The justice department remains committed to holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law — whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy."
January 4, 2022 - Rob Portman, a Republican senator from Ohio, has tested positive for coronavirus.
According to Dan Crenshaw, a Republican congressman from Texas, Marjorie Taylor Green "might be a Democrat - or just an idiot". NOTE: This comment was in response to Greene criticizing Crenshaw for his support of using the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to operate Covid testing sites.
Writing for the Guardian, Alexandra Villarreal offers the following analysis of attitudes about the Capitol insurrection: "Nearly a year after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, only about four in 10 Republicans believe the 6 January riot that injured more than 100 law enforcement personnel was very or extremely violent. The insurrection shocked the world as dramatic footage showed a mob invading Congress in a last-ditch effort to stop certification of Joe Biden's electoral victory. A new poll – conducted by the Associated Press - NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in early December – finds that nearly two-thirds of Americans and the vast majority of Democrats say the siege was very or extremely violent. But Republicans largely disagree, with 32% saying the insurrection was only somewhat violent and another 29% claiming it was not very or not at all violent. Meanwhile, 57% of Americans say Donald Trump bears significant responsibility for the riot. But only 22% of Republicans believe the same and 60% claim 'he had little to no responsibility'."
Gregg Abbott, the Republican governor fo Texas, filed against the Biden administration over its Covid-19 vaccine mandate for National Guard members. From a statement released by Abbott: "As commander-in-chief of Texas' militia, I will not tolerate Biden's efforts to compel Guardsmen to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. That is why I am suing the Biden Admin. over its latest unconstitutional vaccine mandate."
Joe Biden urged Americans to get vaccinated saying: "We have in hand all the vaccines we need to get every American fully vaccinated, including the booster shot. There's no excuse for anyone being unvaccinated. This continues to be a pandemic of the unvaccinated so we need to make more progress."
Marcus Moore of the Capitol Police, and Bobby Tabron and DeDivine Carter of the Metropolitan Police, filed suit against Donald Trump for trauma and physical injuries sustained while defending the Capitol building on January 6th.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, more than 1.08 million people acreoss the US tested positive for Covid-19, which is a global daily record. NOTE: Current evidence suggests the Omicron variant is more mild and less lethal than other strains, but the volume of new cases has been followed by an increase in hospitalizations which threaten to overwhelm hospitals.
The select committee investigating the January 6th insurrection sent a letter to Sean Hannity of Fox News seeking information. From the letter: "The Select Committee now has information in its possession, as outlined in part below, indicating that you had advance knowledge regarding President Trump's and his legal team's planning for January 6th. It also appears that you were expressing concerns and providing advice to the President and certain White House staff regarding that planning. You also had relevant communications while the riot was underway, and in the days thereafter. These communications make you a fact witness in our investigation."
Writing for the Guardian, Nick Robins-Early offers the following analysis of Republican attempts to re-write the history surrounding the January 6th insurrection: "It's been one year since a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol, as the 'stop the steal' rally demanding to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election turned into a deadly insurrection. After the attack, the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation mobilized one of the largest criminal investigations in American history. Those efforts have so far resulted in more than 700 federal cases and counting, with more suspects expected to be charged. But for all that we have learned about the insurrection and the people who took part in it, crucial questions remain about the fallout of the attack for the far right and what it means to hold its perpetrators accountable. Federal prosecutors want the arrests and convictions of those responsible to act as a deterrent against extremism and future attempts to undermine democracy, experts say, but despite more than 150 guilty pleas so far, the legacy of 6 January is already contentious. A judicial debate has emerged over the appropriate sentencing for rioters, while trials in the coming months will test whether prosecutors can secure convictions on more serious charges facing far-right extremists. The fundamental understanding of what happened on 6 January is also being increasingly contested, as Republican lawmakers and rightwing media attempt to whitewash the events and reframe the insurrection as an act of justified political protest. More than any court case, researchers say, this revisionist narrative may have long-lasting implications for the far right and for political violence in America."
Donald Trump, who was planning to hold a press conference on January 6th, issued a statement that he is canceling the press conference. From the statement: "In light of the total bias and dishonesty of the January 6th Unselect Committee of Democrats, two failed Republicans, and the Fake News Media, I am canceling the January 6th Press Conference at Mar-a-Lago".
January 3, 2022 - According to a Washington Post poll, one third of Americans believe violence against the government is sometimes justified.
According to a CBS poll, two thirds of Americans believe US democracy is threatened.
According to an ABC poll, just over half of Republicans believe the January 6th rioters were trying to protect democracy.
According to an NPR/Ipsos poll, 64% of Americans believe US democracy is "in crisis and at risk of failing". Two thirds of Republican respondents believe "voter fraud helped Joe Biden win the 2020 election".
Writing for the Guardian, Martin Pengelly offers the following analysis of Trump's fears over January 6th: "A former US official archivist thinks Donald Trump is so desperate to stop the 6 January committee accessing records from his White House because he wants to avoid 'prison time' as a result of any release. Trump's fight to keep the records secret is on its way to the supreme court, after repeated losses for the former president. The House 6 January committee is preparing for televised hearings and in rounds of interviews on Sunday its Democratic chairman, Bennie Thompson, and senior Republican, Liz Cheney, said a criminal referral for Trump remains a possibility. 'Given how frantic [Trump's lawyers] are ... there are things in those records that are going to make real trouble. I'm talking about prison time,' John W Carlin told the Daily Beast. 'It reinforces the fact that they know they're in real trouble if these things are released – particularly if they're released soon.' Five people died around the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January, by supporters Trump told to 'fight like hell' to overturn his election defeat by Joe Biden. On Sunday, Cheney said the House select committee investigating 6 January now had 'first-hand testimony' confirming Trump was in his private dining room at the White House watching TV as the riot unfolded. Speaking to ABC's This Week, Cheney said there were 'potential criminal statutes at issue here, but I think that there's absolutely no question that it was a dereliction of duty [by Trump in not trying to stop the attack]. And I think one of the things the committee needs to look at is ... a legislative purpose, is whether we need enhanced penalties for that kind of dereliction of duty.' Carlin was one of two former US archivists who spoke to the Beast about Trump's fight to keep records pertinent to 6 January away from the House committee. He said: 'It's important that records are used to get the truth out. Nothing highlights that more than the controversy we're going through. Records are going to have a huge impact in determining who did what, particularly as you get to the justice department.'"
Marjorie Taylor Greene, the far-right congresswoman who regularly peddles conspiracy theories, and who was was permanently suspended from Twitter yesterday for violating their rules, was temporarily suspended from Facebook today.
Laurence Tribe, an esteemed legal scholar, warned that a coup in the next election is greater now than it was under Trump saying: "Only free and fair elections in which the loser abides by the result stand between each of us and life at the mercy of a despotic regime – one we had no voice in choosing and one that can freely violate all our rights. So everything is at stake in the peaceful transfer of power from a government that has lost its people's confidence to its victorious successor. It was that peaceful transfer that Donald Trump and his minions sought to obstruct and almost succeeded in overthrowing when Joe Biden was elected president."
Marjorie Taylor Greene, who regularly spreads misinformation about coronavirus, has been fined -again - for refusing to wear a mask on the House floor. According to the New York Times, Greene has racked up at least $80,000 in fines for more than 30 mask incidents.
December 17, 2021 - Roger Stone, a staunch Trump ally, and self described "dirty trickster", sat for a deposition before the House select committee regarding his role in the Capitol insurrection. Stone spoke to the press afterwards saying: "I did invoke my Fifth Amendment rights to every question -- not because I have done anything wrong, but because I am fully aware of the House Democrats' long history of fabricating perjury charges ... I stress yet again that I was not on the Ellipse. I did not march to the Capitol. I was not at the Capitol and any claim, assertion or even implication that I knew about or was involved in any way whatsoever with the illegal and politically counterproductive activities of January 6, is categorically false." Stone also referred to the inquiry as "witch hunt 3.0".
Writing for the Guardian, Ed Pilkington offers the following analysis on Capitol insurrectionists who are cashing in: "Trump supporters and members of far-right extremist groups who took part in the violent insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January are raising hundreds of thousands of dollars from online crowdfunding sites by portraying themselves as maligned American patriots, martyrs and 'political prisoners'. Several of the highest-profile participants in the 'stop the steal' insurrection which attempted to disrupt Joe Biden's certification as US president are raising substantial sums on fundraising sites. They include members of the far-right Proud Boys and many of the 6 January individuals being detained in a Washington DC jail, awaiting trial for allegedly attacking police officers. In their donations appeals they are drastically rewriting history. Their scripts transform 6 January from what it was – a violent attempt to overthrow the democratic results of the 2020 presidential election on behalf of Donald Trump – into the fantasy that it was a peaceful and patriotic protest to uphold voter integrity. 'It's shocking to say, but America now has legitimate political prisoners, en masse,' says the fundraising page titled American Gulag for Jan 6 Political Prisoners which has so far raised $41,000. The page, created by Jim Hoft, founder of the conspiracy site Gateway Pundit, claims that there are 'scores of political prisoners wrongfully imprisoned as a result of the protest on January 6th'".
While speaking at the commencement ceremony at South Carolina State University - a historically black university, Joe Biden addressed the current assault on voting rights by Republicans, saying: "We have to protect that sacred right to vote, for God's sake. I've never seen anything like the unrelenting assault on the right to vote ... This battle is not over. We must pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. We must"
According to new data analysis by the New York Times, 25 out of every 100,000 residents in counties that voted for Donald Trump died of Covid in October, compared to 7.8 per 100,000 in counties that voted heavily for Biden.
According to the AP, a Capitol insurrectionist has been sentenced to more than five years in prison, representing the longest sentence given to a Capitol rioter thus far. From the story: "Robert Palmer, 54, of Largo, Florida, wept as he told U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan that he recently watched a video of his actions that day and could not believe what he was seeing. 'Your honor. I'm really really ashamed of what I did,' he said weeping. Palmer was one of a few rioters sentenced on Friday in District of Columbia court for their actions on Jan. 6 when the angry mob descended after a rally by then-President Donald Trump to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden's victory. Scores of police were beaten and bloodied, five people died and there was about $1.5 million in damage done to the U.S. Capitol. Palmer is the 65th defendant to be sentenced overall. More than 700 people have been charged." NOTE: Palmer was charged with attacking police officers during the riot.
According to Politico, Brandon Straka, one of the speakers at the "Stop the Steal" rally that preceded the Capitol insurrection, provided the government information that may impact his sentencing after he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct during the riot. From the story: "It's an indication that Straka, one of the few Jan. 6 defendants who is also of interest to congressional investigators, has cooperated with prosecutors in a substantive way. Straka, who describes himself as a 'former liberal,' became a relatively prominent figure in Trump-world in 2018, when he founded the 'WalkAway campaign' to encourage liberals to abandon Democrats. He was one of just two speakers at pro-Trump events on Jan. 5 and 6 criminally charged for their roles in the Capitol attack. Owen Shroyer, an InfoWars broadcaster and ally of Alex Jones, also faces misdemeanor charges in the case. Straka pleaded guilty in October to a single misdemeanor charge and was set to be sentenced next week. But prosecutors have asked for a 30-day sentencing delay so that his new evidence 'can be properly evaluated.'"
According to CNN, Rick Perry, the former Texas governor and energy secretary under Donald Trump, sent Mark Meadows a text on November 4th with a strategy to overturn the election. The text, which was included in the documents Mark Meadows turned over to the House select committee reads: "HERE's an AGRESSIVE (sic) STRATEGY: Why can t (sic) the states of GA NC PENN and other R controlled state houses declare this is BS (where conflicts and election not called that night) and just send their own electors to vote and have it go to the SCOTUS." From the story: "A spokesman for Perry told CNN that the former Energy Secretary denies being the author of the text. Multiple people who know Rick Perry confirmed to CNN that the phone number the committee has associated with that text message is Perry's number. The cell phone number the text was sent from, obtained from a source knowledgeable about the investigation, appears in databases as being registered to a James Richard Perry of Texas, the former governor's full name. The number is also associated in a second database as registered to a Department of Energy email address associated with Perry when he was secretary. When told of these facts, the spokesman had no explanation." NOTE: Perry's text message suggests that Trump and his allies were working to overturn the results of the 2020 election even before a winner was declared in multiple battleground states.
According to the Washington Post, an appeals court has upheld a Biden administration rule that employers with more than 100 workers must require vaccinations or have to undergo weekly Covid testing, and mask mandates. From the story: "More than two dozen Republican-led states, private businesses and conservative legal groups challenged the policy. Before the legal challenges filed in courts throughout the country were consolidated at the 6th Circuit, a different appeals court temporarily halted Biden's plans. The Louisiana-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeal said the Labor Department exceeded its authority and ordered the OSHA to not take any further steps to implement or enforce the rules."
December 16, 2021 - According to the AP, the supreme court has returned the case involving Texas' six week abortion ban to a federal appeals court, which has already twice upheld the law. From the story: "Justice Neil Gorsuch on Thursday signed the court's order that granted the request of abortion clinics for the court to act speedily. But the clinics wanted the case sent directly to U.S. Judge Robert Pitman, who had previously though briefly blocked enforcement of the Texas abortion ban known as S.B. 8. When Pitman ordered the law blocked in early October, the appeals court countermanded his order two days later. Texas has said it will seek to keep the case bottled up at the appeals court for the foreseeable future."
December 15, 2021 - According to the CDC, the Omicron coronavirus variant represents 3% of cases in the US.
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levin and Johana Bhuiyan offer the following analysis of the LAPD's use of a "strategic communications" firm to track "defund the police" online: "The Los Angeles police department worked with a Polish firm that specializes in 'strategic communications' to monitor social media and collect millions of tweets last year, including thousands related to Black Lives Matter and 'defund the police', according to records reviewed by the Guardian. Internal LAPD documents, obtained by the Brennan Center for Justice through public records requests, reveal that the department conducted a one-month trial of social media monitoring software from Edge NPD, a company that typically worked in advertising and marketing, had no prior experience contracting with law enforcement and was based thousands of miles away in Warsaw, Poland. During the trial in fall 2020, Edge NPD tracked tweets on roughly 200 keywords for LAPD, the records show. In the process, the software collected millions of tweets, according to Edge NPD's CEO, Dobromir Cias. The data set included tens of thousands of tweets related to Black Lives Matter and racial justice protests, some of them from prominent Black activists outside LA and private civilians advocating for reforms, the files show. The records suggest that LAPD was interested in using the company's services in part to help the department respond to 'negative narratives'. Cias told the Guardian the company also aimed to flag possible threats."
December 14, 2021 - Liz Cheney, the Republican vice chair of the House select committee, released the following text messages that were sent to Mark Meadows on January 6th as the 187 minute Capitol insurrection was underway:
"Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy" - Laura Ingraham, Fox News Host NOTE: Ingraham said the following later that evening on Fox News: "From a chaotic Washington tonight, earlier today the Capitol was under siege by people who can only be described as antithetical to the Maga [Make America Great Again] movement. Now, they were likely not all Trump supporters, and there are some reports that antifa sympathisers may have been sprinkled throughout the crowd."
"Please get him on tv. Destroying everything you have accomplished." - Brian Kilmeade, Fox News Host
"Can he make a statement. Ask people to leave the Capitol" - Sean Hannity, Fox News Host
"He's got to condemn this shit asap. The Capitol police tweet is not enough" - Donald Trump Jr
"I'm pushing it hard. I agree" - Mark Meadows, response to Trump Jr
"We need an Oval Office address. He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand." - Donald Trump Jr
"We are under siege here at the Capitol" - Unnamed member of congress
"They have breached the Capitol" - Unnamed member of congress
"Mark, protesters are literally storming the Capitol. Breaking windows on doors, rushing in. Is Trump going to say something?" - Unnamed member of congress
"There's an armed standoff at the House chamber door" - Unnamed member of congress
"We are all helpless" - Unnamed member of congress
"POTUS has to come out firmly and tell the protesters to dissipate. Someone is going to get killed" - Unnamed Trump official
"Mark, he needs to stop this now." - Unnamed Trump official
"TELL THEM TO GO HOME" - Unnamed Trump official
Karl Racine, the attorney general of the District of Columbia, announced that his office is suing the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, two far-right groups "for conspiring to terrorize the District" on January 6th. In a statement, Racine stated: "The District seeks compensatory, statutory and punitive relief and, by filing this action, intends to make clear that it will not countenance the use of violence against the District, including its police officers." The suit accuses the defendents of conspiracy to terrorize "by planning, promoting and participating in the violent January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol ... with the express purpose of preventing members of Congress and then Vice President Michael Pence from discharging their official constitutional duties and declaring Joseph Biden the winner of the 2020 Presidential Election." Also from the lawsuit: "The January 6th Attack on the Capitol, was not a protest or a rally. It was a coordinated act of domestic terrorism. Would-be insurgents from across the country came to the District, marched through its streets, and ultimately gathered at the United States Capitol, ready and eager to carry out a violent attack on the lawful operation of government. Then, as the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, their leadership, and certain of their members and affiliates had planned, Defendants and others rioted, broke through police barricades, and physically forced their way into the Capitol. In doing so, they threatened, assaulted, and injured those who tried to stop them, including officers of the District's Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and incited terror among those inside and around the building, including members of Congress who were discharging the official duties of their offices. In the wake of this assault, the Capitol was left in shambles, with the District left to deal with the aftermath of the violent disruption to what should have been the peaceful transition of presidential power."
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, was asked about the news that Republican lawmakers and multiple Fox News hosts had sent texts to Mark meadows during the Capitol insurrection. Psaki's response: "It's disappointing, and unfortunately not surprising, that some of the very same individuals who were willing to warn, condemn and express horror over what happened on January 6 in private were totally silent in public or, even worse, were spreading lies and conspiracy theories and continue to since that time."
Writing for the Guardian, Peter Stone offers the following analysis of the election lawyers who are making it harder for Americans to vote: "A powerful network of conservative election lawyers and groups with links to Donald Trump have spent millions of dollars promoting new and onerous voting laws that many battleground states such as Georgia and Texas have enacted. The moves have prompted election and voting rights watchdogs in the US to warn about the suppression of non-white voters aimed at providing Republicans an edge in coming elections. The lawyers and groups spearheading self-professed election integrity measures include some figures who pushed Trump's baseless claims of fraud after the 2020 election. Key advocates include Cleta Mitchell with the Conservative Partnership institute; J Christian Adams of the Public Interest Legal Foundation; Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation; Jason Snead of the Honest Elections Project; and J Kenneth Blackwell with the America First Policy Institute. These conservative outfits tout their goal as curbing significant voter fraud, despite the fact that numerous courts, the vast majority of voting experts and even former top Trump officials, such as ex-attorney general Bill Barr, concluded the 2020 elections were without serious problems. Watchdogs say that tightening state voting laws endanger the rights of Black voters and other communities of color who historically back Democrats by creating new rules limiting absentee voting and same day registration, while imposing other voting curbs. Among the election lawyers and groups advocating tougher voting laws, Mitchell, a veteran conservative lawyer , boasts the highest profile and has sparked the most scrutiny. She took part in the 2 January call where Trump prodded Georgia's secretary of state Brad Raffensperger to 'find' about 11,780 votes to overturn Joe Biden's victory there. After details emerged about Mitchell's role on the call, Foley & Lardner, where she had worked for nearly 20 years, mounted an internal review, and she resigned."
Trevor McFadden, a federal district judge, dismissed a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump to shield his tax returns from the House Ways and Means committee. Trump had claimed executive privilege, but McFadden rejected that claim saying: "Even the special solicitude accorded former presidents does not alter the outcome."
December 13, 2021 - The US has now lost 800,000 Americans to coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic.
During a gathering of the Democratic Governors Association, Governor Jay Inslee of Washington spoke to CNN about the future of America's democracy saying: "We have to be Paul Revere every chance we get to let people know what is at risk and why it is at risk. We live it. Every time we eat breakfast we think about these things. I don't think you can be overly concerned about this. The American psyche has not recognized we were one vice-president away from a coup."
The US supreme court upheld a New York state vaccine mandate for hospital and health workers. One request to overturn the mandate came from a group called We the Patriots USA, which argued the rule allows for medical exemptions but not religious exemptions. Justices Alito, Gorsuch and Thomas dissented.
Robert Scott Palmer, one of the rioters at the Capitol insurrection, penned a letter to the judge presiding over his case that he now realizes he and others were lied to by the twice impeached former president. From the letter: [Trump and those acting on his behalf] "kept spitting out the false narrative about a stolen election and how it was 'our duty' to stand up to tyranny. Little did I realize that they were the tyrannical ones".
Organizers of the rally that preceded the Capitol insurrection have filed a lawsuit againsy Verizon to block the company from providing their phone records to the House select committee investigating the riot saying the request for those records "lacks a lawful purpose and seeks to invade the plaintiffs' constitutional rights to privacy and to confidential political communications."
The House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection voted to recommend criminal prosecution for former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Bennie Thompson, the chair of the select committee, stated during the vote: "It comes down to this, Mr Meadows started by doing the right thing: cooperating. He handed over records that he didn't try to shield behind some excuse. But in an investigation like ours, that's just a first step. When the records raise questions – as these most certainly do – you have to come in and answer those questions. And when it was time for him to follow the law, come in and testify on those questions, he changed his mind and told us to pound sand. He didn't even show up."
December 10, 2021 - In what is widely seen as a blow to pro-choice advocates, the US supreme court declined to stop the Texas law that bans abortions after 6 weeks - which is before most women know they are pregnant, but has voted to allow abortion providers to sue over the state's law.
Notable reactions to the supreme court decision on the Texas abortion ban:
"While SCOTUS has allowed challenges to SB 8 to proceed, it's outrageous that the Court has again decided not to block Texas' unconstitutional abortion ban. More Texans are harmed every day this law is allowed to stand. The Senate must pass the Women's Health Protection Act." - Elizabeth Warren, US Senator
"By 8-1 vote, #SCOTUS holds that Texas abortion providers *can* challenge #SB8 by suing *some* state licensing officials in federal court, but by a 5-4 vote, the Court does *not* allow their suit to go forward against state court clerks: Beyond the implications for pregnant people in Texas, this is perhaps the most alarming feature of today's decision. Instead of disincentivizing states from playing such procedural games with our constitutional rights going forward, #SCOTUS has provided a blueprint for doing so." - Steve Vladeck, Legal Scholar
"The only clarity in today's abortion ruling is about how fractured the Court is on this issue. SB8 remains in effect in Texas. Abortion rights are severely restricted. No reason to believe it won't get worse when the Court decides Dobbs, where it will reverse or gut Roe v. Wade." - Joyce Alene, Former US Attorney for Northern District of Alabama
"Justice Sotomayor, dissenting in part, blasts colleagues for failing to 'put an end to this madness' and says other states could still copy Texas b/c court isn't allowing AG or state court judges to be sued" - Lawrence Hurley, Reuters Supreme Court Reporter
"By allowing this cruel abortion ban to remain in effect, SCOTUS is turning a blind eye to the direct attacks on the rights of pregnant people in Texas and across America. Enough of the political games — it's imperative that the Senate pass the Women's Health Protection Act now." - Pramila Jayapal, Democratic Representative
"The Supreme Court has once again failed to put an end to Texas's bounty hunting scheme and protect our constitutional rights. They have failed to bring relief to Texas patients and providers who've suffered for 100 days under this unconstitutional law. We’ll keep fighting." - Planned Parenthood
"#SB8 has caused untold harm—forcing those who can afford it to travel out of state for the care they need, and those who can't to remain pregnant against their will. As it stands, SB 8 makes accessing abortion care in Texas nearly impossible. And #SCOTUS should have blocked it." - National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL)
"BREAKING: The Supreme Court has once again failed to block Texas's extreme abortion ban. Make no mistake: SB8 continues to wreak havoc on people's lives every additional day it's in effect. More to come on what this means from our legal experts soon." - American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
"BREAKING: #SCOTUS has not overturned SB8, the Texas restrictive abortion law, but has allowed Texas lower courts to hear cases challenging this unconstitutional law. This is a partial win for reproductive freedom! #BansOffOurBodies" - National Organization for Women (NOW)
The House select committee investigating the January 6th Capitol insurrection has issued six more subpoenas. The targets of those subpoenas are the following:
- Bryan Lewis
- Ed Martin
- Kimberly Fletcher
- Robert "Bobby" Peede Jr
- Max Miller
- Brian Jack
The Guardian has more information about the new round of subpoenas issued by the House select committee: "The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack on Friday issued new subpoenas against two Trump White House officials involved in organizing the rally and march that descended into the 6 January insurrection, as they inquire into the extent of Donald Trump's involvement. The select committee issued orders compelling documents and testimony to Brian Jack, Trump's former White House director of political affairs, now working for the House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, and Max Miller, a former deputy manager for the Trump campaign. Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the select committee, said in the subpoena letter for Miller that the panel targeted him as he attended a 4 January meeting with Trump in a private White House dining room about who should speak at the rally on the morning of 6 January. Miller also communicated with the then deputy secretary of the interior and the then-acting director of the National Park Service to strong-arm career officials, who had declined to allow the rally from taking place on the Ellipse, to reverse course, Thompson said."
Tam Pham, a former Houston police officer, has been sentenced to 45 days in jail for his role in the January 6th Capitol insurrection. Pham resigned his police officer position after his department learned of his involvement.
According to the AP, US District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw has temporarily blocked a Tennessee law that restricts public schools from requiring masks and prohibits local officials from making decisions about quarantines. From the story: "The lawsuit against the state was filed on behalf of eight students between the ages of seven and 14 who have disabilities and who are deemed by federal health officials as being more vulnerable to serious illness or death if they get Covid-19. The ruling also blocks the law's provision that says local health and school officials can’t make their own coronavirus quarantining decisions. 'It is also in the public's interest to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Tennessee's schools,' Crenshaw wrote in his ruling. 'Defendants have proffered absolutely nothing to suggest that any harm would come from allowing individual school districts to determine what is best for their schools, just as they did prior to the enactment of (the law.)'" NOTE: Bill Lee, Tennessee's Republican governor, signed the bill in the dead of night during a late-October special session, despite being warned by his own administration that the law could violate federal disability laws and risk the state losing federal funding.
December 9, 2021 - According to the Washington Post, Letitia James, the New York state attorney general, is seeking Donald Trump's deposition as part of the ongoing civil fraud investigation into his business. From the story: "Part of a civil investigation into whether Trump's company committed financial fraud in the valuations of properties to different entities, according to the people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the inquiry is ongoing. One of the people familiar with the investigation said James is examining whether widespread fraud 'permeated the Trump Organization.' Fabien Levy, a spokesman for James, declined to comment. Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to messages from The Washington Post. Ronald Fischetti, an attorney who has been representing Trump in investigations into his New York financial practices, also did not respond. The deposition marks an escalation in the probe of the former president's company and a critical moment for James, who is running for governor next year ... James has said she is considering filing a lawsuit over the matter and Manhattan prosecutors have convened a new grand jury to consider potential criminal charges related to the company's financial practices, according to the people familiar with the investigations. Reuters adds that: James, along with Manhattan’s district attorney, Cyrus Vance, are jointly investigating the Trump Organization's business practices. The Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, were indicted earlier this year. Trump has not personally been accused of any crimes in relation to this investigation."
A Washington DC appeals court has ruled against efforts by Donald Trump to withhold documents from the House select committee investigating the January 6th Captol insurrection
The city council of New York approved a measure to allow non-citizens the right to vote in local elections. Similar measures are being looked at in Los Angeles, Washington, and Portland, Maine. NOTE: According to Ronna McDaniel, the Republican National Committee chairwoman, Republicans have vowed to fight the expansion of voting rights in "all 50 states".
December 8, 2021 - The House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection released a letter to Mark Meadow's attorney, George Terwilliger, stating: "The select committee is left with no choice but to advance contempt proceedings and recommend that the body in which Mr Meadows once served refer him for criminal prosecution ... The text messages you did produce include a November 6, 2020, text exchange with a Member of Congress apparently about appointing alternate electors in certain states as part of a plan that the Member acknowledged would be 'highly controversial' and to which Mr. Meadows apparently said, 'I love it'; an early January 2021 text message exchange between Mr. Meadows and an organizer of the January 6th rally on the Ellipse; and text messages about the need for the former President to issue a public statement that could have stopped the January 6th attack on the Capitol ... All of those documents raise issues about which the Select Committee would like to question Mr. Meadows and about which you appear to agree are not subject to a claim of privilege. Yet, despite your recent agreement to have Mr. Meadows to come in and answer questions in a deposition, Mr. Meadows now, once again, refuses to do so."
According to the Outlet, Jena Griswold, the secretary of state for Colorado, who has been receiving threats of violence that are driven by extremists who continue to spread the lie that Trump won the 2020 election, has made a plea for better security for herself and her staff. From the story: "Griswold's profile has risen in recent months as she has appeared on national television to lambast GOP [Republican] efforts to question the nation's voting systems and the 2020 presidential election results. She's also been at the center of a feud with Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, a Republican who has spread baseless claims about the 2020 presidential election being stolen and who is under federal, state and local criminal investigation for her alleged role in a breach of her county's election system ... Nonpartisan legislative staff wrote in a budget briefing document that the Colorado Department of State 'has significant safety concerns' for Griswold and that the department has not consistently or reliably had access to physical security for her. The Colorado State Patrol has at times provided security for Griswold, but the agency sometimes declines requests because threats against her 'don't meet their standards for actionability' or because it lacks the capacity, according to the briefing document. The agency is required to provide protection only for Gov. Jared Polis or for members of the legislature when statehouse leadership makes a request. 'Like other agencies responsible for carrying out elections across the country, the Colorado Secretary of State's office has experienced an unprecedented spike in threats toward the secretary of state and the office,' said Annie Orloff, a spokeswoman for Griswold. 'Election administrators and workers have been the target of harassment, vitriol and violent threats.' The secretary of state's office says the threats aren't just scary; they also are hurting efforts to hire and retain the workforce needed to administer elections. Now, Griswold's office has felt obliged to ask the Colorado legislature to provide $200,000 annually to pay for guards and other security measures to protect those receiving a sharply-elevated and intense level of threats from members of the public."
According to the AP, president Joe Biden signed an executive order calling for the federal government to be carbon-neutral by 2050. From the story: "It directs that government buildings use 100% carbon pollution-free electricity by 2030; that the U.S. fleet of cars and trucks become all-electric by 2035; and that federal contracts for goods and services be carbon-free by 2050. Government buildings should be carbon-free by 2045, including a 50% emissions cut by 2032, Biden said. The executive action is a part of Biden's commitment to support the growth of clean energy and clean technology industries, while accelerating U.S. progress toward achieving a carbon pollution-free electricity sector by 2035, the White House said."
While delivering remarks in Kansas City, Missouri, about the new bipartisan infrastructure law, Joe Biden told the attendees: "I don't think I could take one more phrase that it's going to be infrastructure week. Guess what? It's gonna be infrastructure decade now, man." NOTE: Donald Trump repeatedly declared "infrastructure week" during his presidency, but never signed any actual infrastructure bill.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Rob Bonta, the attorney general of California, announced that his office will investigate the police department of Torrance, California regarding a Times investigation which revealed that officers had exchanged racist and anti-semitic text messages. From the story: "The officers' comments spared no color or creed: They joked about 'gassing' Jewish people, assaulting members of the LGBTQ community, using violence against suspects and lying during an investigation into a police shooting, according to district attorney's office records reviewed by The Times. Frequently, hateful comments were targeted at Black people. Officers called Black men 'savages,' and several variations of the N-word, according to documents reviewed by The Times. The officers also shared instructions on how to tie a noose and a picture of a stuffed animal being lynched inside Torrance's police headquarters, according to the documents. The Times reported that the 15 officers on administrative leave over their involment in such exchanges were also involved in 'at least seven serious or fatal uses of force against Black or Latino men since 2013'. 'Police departments are on the front lines of that fight every day as they work to protect the people of our state,' Bonta said in a statement. 'However, where there is evidence of potentially pervasive bias or discrimination, it can undermine the trust that is critical for public safety and our justice system.'"
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a congresswoman from New York, tweeted about the emerging trend of Republican lawmakers posting holiday photos of themselves online showing themselves and their family holding military-style rifles. From her statement: "Tell me again where Christ said 'use the commemoration of my birth to flex violent weapons for personal political gain'? lol @ all the years Republicans spent on cultural hysteria of society 'erasing Christmas and it's meaning' when they're doing that fine all on their own."
Mark Meadows, the former chief of staff under Donald Trump, has filed suit against House speaker Nancy Pelosi and members of the select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection by Trump supporters on January 6th. The lawsuit asks the courts to toss ou the committee's subpoenas. From the suit: "Mr Meadows, a witness, has been put in the untenable position of choosing between conflicting privilege claims."
December 7, 2021 - According to George Terwilliger, the attorney for Mark Meadows, the former chief of staff to Donald Trump, Meadows plans to stop cooperating with the House select committee investigating the January 6th insurrection at the US Capitol.
Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin met for two hours virtually today to discuss the build up of Russian troops along the border with Ukraine. According to the White House: "President Biden voiced the deep concerns of the United States and our European allies about Russia's escalation of forces surrounding Ukraine and made clear that the US and our allies would respond with strong economic and other measures in the event of military escalation. President Biden reiterated his support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and called for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy. The two presidents tasked their teams to follow up and the US will do so in close coordination with allies and partners. The presidents also discussed the US-Russia dialogue on strategic stability, a separate dialogue on ransomware, as well as joint work on regional issues such as Iran."
Speaking to the Atlantic, Peter Meijer, one of ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump for inciting the Capitol insurrection, recounted his experience on January 6th as the insurrection was taking place: "On the House floor, moments before the vote, Meijer approached a member who appeared on the verge of a breakdown. He asked his new colleague if he was okay. The member responded that he was not; that no matter his belief in the legitimacy of the election, he could no longer vote to certify the results, because he feared for his family's safety. 'Remember, this wasn't a hypothetical. You were casting that vote after seeing with your own two eyes what some of these people are capable of,' Meijer says. 'If they're willing to come after you inside the U.S. Capitol, what will they do when you're at home with your kids?"
Khalid Aedh al-Otaibi, one of the men suspected of killing Jamal Khashoggi, who worked as a personal security official for Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi Crown Prince, has been arrested at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, France.
Michael Bolton, the US Capitol police's inspector general, testified before a Senate committee today. According to Bolton, around 200 officers have left the US Capitol police since the January 6th insurrection.
December 6, 2021 - Donald Trump responded to the revelation in the book that was recently published by his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, that he tested positive for covid prior to the 1st debate saying: "The Fake News continues to push the false narrative that I had Covid prior to the first debate. My Chief of Staff Mark Meadows confirmed I did not have Covid before or during the debate, 'And yet, the way that the media wants to spin it is certainly to be as negative about Donald Trump as they possibly can while giving Joe Biden a pass.'"
According to the Wall Street Journal, the SEC is investigating a deal between Donald Trump and a special-purpose acquisition company. From the story: "The Securities and Exchange Commission is probing a potential merger between Trump Media & Technology Group and the SPAC Digital World Acquisition Corp., Digital World disclosed Monday. The SPAC said in October that it is taking Mr. Trump's social-media company public in a deal that valued it at roughly $875 million, including debt. After the deal was announced, The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets reported that Mr. Trump met with Digital World Chief Executive Patrick Orlando early this year and before the SPAC had raised money. If the meeting is deemed to have represented substantive deal talks, it could violate SEC rules. That is because SPACs aren't supposed to have a target company identified at the time they initially raise money, analysts say."
Donald Trump reacted to news that David Perdue has entered the Georgia gubernatorial race, saying: "Wow, it looks like highly respected Senator David Perdue will be running against RINO Brian Kemp for Governor of Georgia. David was a great Senator, and he truly loves his State and his Country. This will be very interesting, and I can't imagine that Brian Kemp, who has hurt election integrity in Georgia so badly, can do well at the ballot box (unless the election is rigged, of course)."
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, confirmed during a press briefing that the US will stage a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing saying: "The Biden administration will not send any diplomatic or official representation to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games, given the PRC's ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses."
Merrick Garland, the attorney general of the US, announced that the department of justice is suing Texas over its new electoral maps, saying those maps violate section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. According to Garland: "The complaint that we filed today alleges that Texas violated Section 2 by creating redistricting plans that deny or abridge the rights of Latino and Black voters to vote on account of their race, color or membership in a language or minority group." Vanita Gupta, the number three official at the Justice Department, stated that some of the districts were drawn with "discriminatory intent." NOTE: Texas is a repeat offender when it comes to voting discrimination. Courts have repeatedly found that the state has discriminated against minority voters over the last several decades.
December 5, 2021 - Bob Dole, the former Republican senator and presidential nominee, died today. Dole was 98.
Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman from Kentucky, generated outrage after he tweeted a Christmas photo that shows him and his family, kids and all, standing in front of their Christmas tree while brandishing military-style rifles. The caption with the photo: "Merry Christmas! PS: Santa, please bring ammo." NOTE: The photo was widely seen as being indicative of modern Republican provocation politics that are designed to generate viral outrage and "own the libs".
Devin Nunes, a Republican congressman from California, who was widely mocked for filing defamation lawsuits against two parody accounts on Twitter that called themselves "Devin Nunes' Mom" and "Devin Nunes' Cow", announced that he is retiring from the House of Representatives to pursue a "new opportunity to fight for the most important issues I believe in". NOTE: The lawsuits against the parody accounts were thown out.
The Trump Media & Technology Group announced that Devin Nunes will become the chief executive officer for Trump's new social media venture, which is known as "Truth Social".
Regarding Mark Meadows refusal to cooperate further with the Capitol insurrection inquiry, the House select committee released the following statement: "Mark Meadows has informed the Select Committee that he does not intend to cooperate further with our investigation despite his apparent willingness to provide details about the facts and circumstances surrounding the January 6th attack, including conversations with President Trump, in the book he is now promoting and selling. Tomorrow's deposition, which was scheduled at Mr. Meadows's request, will go forward as planned. If indeed Mr. Meadows refuses to appear, the Select Committee will be left no choice but to advance contempt proceedings and recommend that the body in which Mr. Meadows once served refer him for criminal prosecution."
Writing for the Guardian, Martin Pengelly and David Smith offer the following analysis of Meadow's unwillingness to cooperate with the House select committee: "Mark Meadows' attorney, George Terwilliger, wrote in a letter on Tuesday that a deposition would be 'untenable' because the 6 January select committee 'has no intention of respecting boundaries' concerning questions that Donald Trump has claimed are off-limits because of executive privilege. Executive privilege covers the confidentiality or otherwise of communications between a president and his aides. The Biden administration has waived it in the investigation of 6 January. Trump and key allies entwined in events leading up to the storming of the Capitol, around which five people died, have invoked it. Terwilliger also said he learned over the weekend that the committee had issued a subpoena to a third-party communications provider that he said would include 'intensely personal' information. In an interview on the conservative Fox News network, the attorney added: 'We have made efforts over many weeks to reach an accommodation with the committee.' But he said the committee's approach to negotiations and to other witnesses meant Meadows would withdraw cooperation."
According to a new study by National Public Radio (NPR), people in counties that voted for Donald Trump are nearly three times more likely to die from Covid-19 than those who live in counties that voted for Joe Biden. The study looked at deaths per 100,000 people in about 3,000 counties across the US starting on May 1st, which was the date vaccines became universally available. The study found that the higher the percentage the county went for Trump, the higher the death rate, and the lower the vaccine rate. According to Charles Gaba, an independent analyst who reviewed the study's methodology, "the reddest 10th of the country saw death rates six times higher than the bluest 10th." According to NPR: "the strength of the association, combined with polling information about vaccination, strongly suggests that Republicans are being disproportionately affected." NOTE: The percentage of Republicans who are fully vaccinated is around 59%, while 91% of Democrats have been vaccinated.
The Guardian's Ed Helmore offers the following analysis of the hurdles Donald Trump's new media company is facing: "Donald Trump's plan to launch 'Truth Social', a special purpose acquisitions backed social media company, early next year may have hit a roadblock after US regulators issued a request for information on the deal on Monday. The request from the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for information from Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC), a blank-check SPAC that is set to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group, comes as a powerful Republican congressman, Devin Nunes, announced he was stepping out of politics to join the Trump media venture as CEO. The twin developments set the stage for a major political battle over Truth Social, a platform that purportedly plans to challenge Twitter and Facebook, social platforms that have banned or curbed the former president over his involvement in stoking the 6 January Capitol riot. The request for information relates to DWAC board meetings, policies about stock trading, the identities of certain investors and details of communications between DWAC and Trump's social media firm. It comes three weeks after Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren asked the SEC to investigate possible securities violations at the company. Warren quoted news reports that said DWAC 'may have committed securities violations by holding private and undisclosed discussions about the merger as early as May 2021, while omitting this information in [SEC] filing and other public statements.' But investigations into the Trump project appear to predate Warren's request. 'According to the SEC's request, the investigation does not mean that the SEC has concluded that anyone violated the law or that the SEC has a negative opinion of DWAC or any person, event, or security,' DWAC said in a statement."
December 4, 2021 - While speaking at Mar-a-Lago to Turning Point USA, a group for young conservatives, Donald Trump said the following: "The country is at a very important, dangerous place ... We have no press. The press is so corrupt. We don't have a press. If there is a good story about us, a good story about any of the people that are Republicans, conservatives, they make it a bad story. And if it's a bad story they make it the worst story in history. It is the most dishonest group of people ... when I first announced I was running in 2015 they had a 94%-95% approval rating. And right now they have a lower approval rating than Congress. I consider that to be a great honor because they are a bunch of very dishonest, crooked bastards." NOTE: in 2015, the year Trump began his run for president, a Gallup poll indicated that 40% of Americans "had a great deal or fair amount of trust and confidence in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly". In 2021, this number had dropped to 21%. Later in the speech, Trump referred to general Mark Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, as a "fucking idiot".
December 3, 2021 - According to the November jobs report, the US added 210,000 jobs, which was fewer than expected by economists.
John Eastman, a lawyer and associate of Donald Trump, has indicated through a letter from his lawyer - Charles Burnham - that he will be asserting his 5th Amendment right against self incrimination in the investigation by the House select committee looking into the January 6th Capitol insurrection by supporters of Donald Trump. From the letter: "Dr. Eastman hereby asserts his Fifth Amendment right not to be a witness against himself in response to your subpoena." Eastman, who spoke at the rally behind the White House which preceded the insurrection, is of interest to the House select committee because of a memo he wrote, which included scenarios for overturning the election. The memo was included in a January 4th White House meeting which was attended by Mike Pence, the former vice president, and Mark Meadows, the former chief of staff.
The following analysis of John Eastman's 5th amendment assertion is being reported by Politico: "Eastman’s decision is an extraordinary assertion by someone who worked closely with Trump to attempt to overturn the 2020 election results. He met with Trump and pushed state legislative leaders to reject Biden's victory in a handful of swing states and appoint alternate electors to the Electoral College, effectively denying Biden's victory. The former Chapman University law professor also pressured Pence, who is constitutionally required to preside over the Electoral College certification on Jan. 6, to unilaterally refuse to count some of Biden's electors and send the election to the full House for a vote — or delay long enough to give states a chance to submit new electors. Eastman also spoke at Trump's Jan. 6 rally alongside Rudy Giuliani. Most of Burnham's letter makes procedural objections to the structure of the Jan. 6 committee ... Eastman, who's also a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, would be the second known Jan. 6 committee witness to plead the Fifth to avoid self-incrimination. The other, former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark, revealed his decision to the Jan. 6 panel on the same day Burnham sent his letter. After Clark's last-minute decision, the committee scheduled a Saturday deposition to permit him to formally assert his Fifth Amendment rights and to discuss whether they accept it as a legitimate invocation. Eastman may face similar questions."
In a hearing regarding the defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump that was filed by E Jean Carroll, Trump's lawyers claimed their response wasn't about skirting responsibility, but was instead about protecting future presidents from being burdened by legal claims. According to Alina Habba, one of Trump's attorneys: "This is not political. This is not about being a Democrat or a Republican. It is solely to protect the presidency as an institution."
The new covid variant known as Omicron has now been detected in 11 states.
December 2, 2021 - Senate Republicans blocked an attempt to to pass legislation for universal background checks. The bill, which passed the House in March, expands background checks to allow an expanded 10-day review for gun purchases and transfers.
Mike Parson, the Republican governor of Missouri, commissioned a study in early November to analyze whether mask mandates helped save lives and prevent Covid-19 in the state. The findings were not made public, so news outlets in the state made a public records request for the results. The findings: Mask mandates in the state's largest cities were effective in helping prevent higher Covid-19 cases.
Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, two former Georgia election workers, are suing the Gateway Pundit, a far-right conspiracy website, for defamation. In the suit, the women accuse Gateway Pundit of publishing multiple false stories about them after a Trump attorney said at a hearing in Georgia that he saw a video of several poll workers stuffing ballots from suitcases under a table. The claim by the attorney, and the subsequent stories on Gateway Pundit, led to harassment and threats against the women. According to the women, the stories "have not only devastated their personal and professional reputations but instigated a deluge of intimidation, harassment and threats that forced them to change their phone numbers, delete their online accounts, and fear for their physical safety." The suit also says that the FBI recommended the women leave thir home for two months because of the threats.
According to the Washington Post, Donald Trump, the disgraced former president who was twice impeached for his transgressions while in office, has asked a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit against him that was filed by E Jean Carroll, who accused the former president of sexual assault. Carroll sued Trump for defamation in 2019 after he claimed she made up her sexual assault accusation to sell her new book.
December 1, 2021 - The supreme court will hear oral arguments today in Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Clinic. At issue is whether the state of Mississippi can ban nearly all abortions from 15 weeks. In opposition to Mississippi's law, more than 250 doctors and medical professionals from across the US signed an open letter that urges policymakers to uphold Roe v Wade.
Some notable facts regarding the state of abortion in the United States:
- If Roe v Wade were overturned, 26 states are expected to move to make abortion illegal.
- About 40 million women of reproductive age, or about 58% of the people who can get pregnant in the US, live in states considered hostile to abortion rights.
- Pro-choice advocates and legal experts warn that fetus-related prosecutions that over-criminalize women – in particular poor women of color – will increase should Roe be overturned. Already, Alabama has prosecuted nearly 500 women since 2006 for allegedly exposing a fetus to a 'controlled substance' in the womb, even including prescription painkillers.
- Six of the nine supreme court justices lean to the right, meaning the court is now dominated by conservatives. Abortion advocates see the Dobbs case as especially perilous for abortion rights because justices could have outright dismissed the law as unconstitutional under Roe. But the court chose to take the case, indicating at least four justices see a reason to revisit the historic ruling.
Some notable highlights from today's oral arguments in Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Clinic:
- Scott Stewart, the solicitor general of Mississippi argued that Roe (which established the right to abortion in 1973) and Casey (which re-affirmed Roe's core holding in 1992) "damaged the democratic process" and "poisoned the law."
- Justice Sonia Sotomayor, asked Scott Stewart the following question: "Fifteen justices over 30 years have reaffirmed that basic viability line. Four have said no, two of them members of this court. But fifteen justices have said yes, of varying political background. Now, the sponsors of this bill, this house bill in Mississippi, are saying, 'We're doing this because we have new justices on the supreme court'. Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the constitution and its reading are just political acts? If people believe it's all political, how will we survive? How will the court survive?"
- Scott Stewart called Undue Burden "perhaps the most unworkable standard in American law".
- Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked Stewart: "How is your interest anything but a religious view? It's debated in religions, so when you say this is the only right that takes away from the start the ability to protect the life, that's a religious view isn't it? Where does the life of a woman and putting her life at risk enter the calculus?"
- Justice Elana Kagan stated that the legal concept known as stare decisis (Latin term meaning "to stand by things decided") is "to prevent people from thinking that this court is a political institution that will go back and forth" depending on the court's changing membership or who "yells the loudest."
- Justice Elana Kagan stated that for a court to overturn a prior precedent "usually there has to be a justification, a strong justification, beyond the fact that some people think the precedent is wrong. Not much has changed since Roe and Casey. People think it's right or wrong, for the same reasons they've always thought it was right or wrong."
- Justice Clarence Thomas asked attorney Julie Rikelman to identify the constitutional right that protects abortion saying "Is it privacy? Autonomy? What would it be?" Rikelman responded: "It's liberty. It's the textual protection in the 14th Amendment that the state can't deny someone liberty without the due process of law."
- Rikelman responded to a question from Justice Alito in which she stated: "Allowing a state to take control of a woman's body" and force her to bear the burdens of pregnancy is a fundamental violation of her liberty."
- Justice Brett Kavanaugh made the following statement: "The Constitution is neither pro-life nor pro-choice ... and leaves the issue to the people to resolve in the democratic process"
- Elizabeth Prelogar, the US Solicitor General, told the court: "The Court has never revoked a right that is so fundamental to so many Americans and so central to their ability to participate fully and equally in society. The Court should not overrule the central component of women's liberty."
- Justice Amy Coney Barrett told the court that all 50 states have "safe haven" laws that allow women to relinquish parental rights after birth, making the burdens of parenthood discussed in Roe and Casey irrelevant, and the decisions obsolete. NOTE: Barrett's point does not address the violations of forced pregnancy or forced birth.
Notable reactions to the oral arguments in Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization:
"Supreme Court abortion arguments have concluded. It seems conservative justices have the votes to uphold Mississippi's 15-week ban but the question is how far will they go in either gutting or completely overturning Roe v. Wade" - Lawrence Hurley
"The case is submitted. The Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022. Half the states will have complete or near-total bans on abortion within six months." - Mark Joseph Stern
"'Why is 15 weeks not enough time?' asks a man who has never had a period arrive late, never been an underage victim of rape, never been in impoverished circumstances without access to basic services, never been hundreds of miles from the nearest abortion clinic." - Alice Driver
"By the end of this Supreme Court term, it will likely be far easier for a teenage boy to acquire a firearm in Michigan than for an adult woman to procure an abortion." - Dana Nessel
"Justice Thomas doesn't have a thing to say for decades but this morning he can't stop talking about the justification of banning abortions. Curious." - Joe Lockhart
According to an ABCNews/WaPo poll, 60% of Americans support upholding Roe v Wade, 58% oppose state legislation making it harder for clinics to operate, and 75% believe a decision to have an abortion should be left to the woman and her doctor.
Federal authorities have identified the first confirmed case of a coronavirus variant known as Omicron in the United States.
According to a new book by Mark Meadows, Donald Trump's chief of staff, Trump had a positive coronavirus test three days before the first presidential debate in the 2020 election campaign. NOTE: Joe Biden was asked if he thought Trump had put him at risk at that debate. Biden's response: "I don't think about the former president."
According to a new government report, the US is the world's biggest culprit in generating plastic waste, currently generating 42m metric tons of plastic a year, which represents about 130kg of waste for every person in America. Based on current estimates, this amount could increase to 53m tons by 2030.
Writing for the Guardian, Julian Borger offers the following analysis of Russian plans to invade Ukraine: "The US says it has evidence Russia has made plans for a 'large scale' attack on Ukraine and that Nato allies are 'prepared to impose severe costs' on Moscow if it attempts an invasion. Speaking at a Nato ministers meeting in Latvia, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said it was unclear whether Vladimir Putin had made a decision to invade but added: 'He's putting in place the capacity to do so in short order, should he so decide. So despite uncertainty about intention and timing, we must prepare for all contingencies while working to see to it that Russia reverses course.' He said he had found solidarity among his fellow Nato ministers in the Latvian capital, Riga, saying the alliance was 'prepared to impose severe costs for further Russian aggression in Ukraine' and would 'reinforce its defences on the eastern flank'. While repeating the US position that Washington is 'unwavering in our support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and committed to our security partnership with Ukraine', the secretary of state stopped well short of saying the US or the alliance would intervene militarily. 'Should Russia follow the path of confrontation, when it comes to Ukraine, we've made clear that we will respond resolutely, including with a range of high impact economic measures that we have refrained from pursuing in the past,' Blinken said. He did not specify the nature of those measures, but most observers believe that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, intended to bring Russian gas to Europe, could be cancelled if there is another invasion. The new German coalition government is already sceptical about the scheme. Blinken said the US would spell out the consequences to Russia's leaders 'at the appropriate time'. His remarks represent the strongest warning from the Biden administration so far, and were delivered a day before Blinken is due to meet his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Stockholm under increasingly tense circumstances."
The House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection that took place on January 6th, has recommended that Jeffrey Clark, a former justice department official under Donald Trump, be held in criminal contempt of congress for his refusal to comply with a subpoena.
November 30, 2021 - According to the Guardian, hours before the January 6th insurrection at the US Capitol, Donald trump called several of his top lieutenants who were manning a command center at the Willard hotel in Washington DC to discuss stopping the certification of Joe Biden's election win.
Nancy Mace, a Republican congresswoman, criticized Lauren Boebert for her attacks on Ilhan Omar, calling Boebert's comments "disgusting". Marjorie Taylor Greene, responded to Mace's criticism of Boebert by tweeting: "Nancy Mace is the trash in the GOP Conference. Never attacked by Democrats or RINO's [Republican In Name Only] (same thing) because she is not conservative, she's pro-abort [sic]. Mace you can back up off of Lauren Boebert or just go hang with your real gal pals, the Jihad Squad. Your [sic] out of your league." Nancy Mace responded to Greene's tweet with the following tweet: "*you're. And, while I'm correcting you, I'm a pro-life fiscal conservative who was attacked by the Left all weekend (as I often am) as I defied China while in Taiwan. What I'm not is a religious bigot (or racist). You might want to try that over there in your little 'league'." Mace also tweeted: "This is what *bat emoji* *poop emoji* *clown emoji* looks like." NOTE: The three emoji's stand for bat shit crazy.
According to CNN, Mark Meadows, Donald Trump's former chief of staff, has reached an agreement with the House select committee to cooperate with the investigation. NOTE: Meadows has turned over a trove of documents to the committee.
Lara Logan, a Fox News commentator, generated outrage after she compared Dr Anthony Fauci, the leading infectious disease expert in the US, to Joseph Mengele, the Nazi official who was known as the "Angel of Death". Pete Hegseth, the Fox News Prime Time host, did not try to push back against Logan's comments. NOTE: The American Jewish Committee released a statement condemning Logan's remarks which states in part: "Josef Mengele earned his nickname by performing deadly and inhumane medical experiments on prisoners of the Holocaust including children. There is no comparing the hell these victims went through to public health measures. An apology is needed."
A new state law in Tennessee that bans some teaching approaches to issues of race - specifically calling out Critical Race Theory or CRT - was tested recently when Robin Steenman, chair of the Williamson county chapter of Moms for Liberty, a conservative parents group, filed a complaint with the education department that a literary curriculum called Wit and Wisdom presented a "heavily biased agenda" that caused children to "hate their country, each other and/or themselves". The complaint took issue with several books, which included a book about the Reverand Martin Luther King Jr and the march on Washington, the integration of schools in California by activist Sylvia Mendez, and the autobiography of Ruby Bridges, the first Black child to desegregate an all-white primary school in Louisiana. NOTE: The Tennessee education department declined to investigate the complaint.
A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction to block the Biden administration's vaccine mandate for health workers. According to judge Terry Doughty: "There is no question that mandating a vaccine to 10.3 million health care workers is something that should be done by Congress, not a government agency. It is not clear that even an act of Congress mandating a vaccine would be constitutional."
November 29, 2021 - Dr Anthony Fauci, the lead infectious disease expert in the US, was interviewed by CBS News. The following are some highlights form that interview:
- Fauci was asked how he deals with attacks by Republican leaders over his role in the federal coronavirus response. Fauci's response: "I dealt with [the attacks] by focusing on what my job is from the time that I went into medicine to right now. Where I am at my age" – nearly 81 – "my job has been totally focused on doing what I can with the talents and the influence I had to make scientific advances to protect the health of the American public. So anybody who spins lies and threatens and all that theatre that goes on with some of the investigations and the congressional committees and the Rand Pauls and all that other nonsense ... that's noise. I know what my job is."
- Fauci was asked about Republican senator Ted Cruz's claim that Fauci should be prosecuted for his handling of the covid response. Fauci's response: "Yeah, I have to laugh at that. I should be prosecuted? What happened on 6 January, senator?" NOTE: Cruz was among the Republicans who voted to object to electoral college results in key states, even after Trump supporters mounted a deadly assault on the US Capitol.
- Fauci was asked if he is being made a scapegoat for Trump's failed response to covid. Fauci's response: "Of course, you have to be asleep not to figure that one out ... That's OK, I'm just going to do my job and I'm going to be saving lives and they're going to be lying."
- Fauci was asked about Republicans who are playing politics with his role in the covid response. Fauci responded that this is "unbelievably bad because all I want to do is save people's lives. That's what I have done for the last 50 years ... I mean, anybody who's looking at this carefully realizes that there's a distinct anti-science flavor to this. So if they get up and criticize science, nobody's going to know what they're talking about. But if they get up and really aim their bullets at Tony Fauci, well, people could recognize there's a person there. There's a face, there's a voice you can recognize, you see him on television. So it's easy to criticize, but they're really criticizing science because I represent science. That's dangerous. To me, that's more dangerous than the slings and the arrows that get thrown at me. I'm not going to be around here forever, but science is going to be here forever. And if you damage science, you are doing something very detrimental to society long after I leave. And that's what I worry about."
Steve Bannon, the former Trump adviser who has been charged with criminal contempt of Congress, demanded that all records in his case be made public, writing in the Washington Post: "Members of the public should make their own independent judgment as to whether the US Department of Justice is committed to a just result based upon all the facts". Amanda Vaughn, an Assistant US attorney responded to Bannon's request saying: "Upon release from custody, the defendant and his counsel gathered the press outside of the courthouse and made a five-minute statement about the pending charges ... [Bannon] indicated he intends to publicly disseminate [court] materials for an improper purpose: to make extrajudicial arguments about the merits of the case pending against him and the validity of the government's decision to seek an indictment ... Contrary to what the defendant told the Washington Post, allowing unfettered public access to discovery materials, regardless of their use or relevance to public judicial proceedings, is not the 'normal process'. It is the opposite of normal."
The House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection announced that it will vote to recommend criminal prosecution of Jeffrey Clark, a top former Trump justice department official who defied a subpoena seeking his cooperation.
The CIA released an account of presidential briefings during the Trump years. Here are some highlights:
- Trump rarely read anything put in front of him.
- By the middle of Trump's term, his daily briefings were reduced to two weekly sessions of 45 minutes each. Mike Pence continued to get daily briefings of potential threats to the US.
- Daily briefings were discontinued for Trump following the Capitol insurrection.
Video surfaced of far-right congresswoman Lauren Boebert speaking to some of her constituents where she implied that congresswoman Ilhan Omar is a suicide bomber, and refers to her as a member of the "Jihad Squad". After receiving heavy criticism, including from her own party - congressman Adam Kinzinger called her trash - Boebert called Omar regarding the controversy. Ilhan Omar described the phone call as follows: "Today, I graciously accepted a call from Rep. Lauren Boebert in the hope of receiving a direct apology for falsely claiming she met me in an elevator, suggesting I was a terrorist, and for a history of anti-Muslim hate. Instead of apologizing for her Islamophobic comments and fabricated lies, Rep. Boebert refused to publicly acknowledge her hurtful and dangerous comments. She instead doubled down on her rhetoric and I decided to end the unproductive call. To date, the Republican Party leadership has done nothing to condemn and hold their own members accountable for repeated instances of anti-Muslim hate and harassment. This is not about one hateful statement or one politician; it is about a party that has mainstreamed bigotry and hatred. It is time for Republican Leader McCarthy to actually hold his party accountable." NOTE: House minority leader Kevin McCarthy has remained silent about Boebert's comments.
Lauren Boebert issued a statement about the conversation she had with Ilhan Omar. Here's a summary:
- Claimed Omar asked for a public apology
- Said she told Omar that SHE should apologize for anti-American, anti-semiotic, anti-police rhetoric.
- Said Omar hung up on her which she argues is part of cancel culture 101.
November 23, 2021 - Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the far-right group Proud Boys, was denied early release from a Washington DC jail where he is currently serving a five-month sentence for illegal acts during a pro-Trump rally last December. Enrique was charged for setting fire to a stolen Black Lives Matter banner.
Tony Fabrizio, Donald Trump's pollster, claims that polls from 5 states that Trump narrowly lost in 2020 show Trump ahead of Biden by margins of 3 to 12 points. Fabrizio believes Trump will run again in 2024.
Louie Gohmert, the far-right congressman from Texas who is a fierce Donald Trump loyalist, and who has promoted extreme conspiracy theories about climate change denial, anti-masking, QAnon, and the notion that terrorists are sending pregnant women to the US to raise America-hating offspring, has entered the race for state's attorney general in Texas.
The House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection has issued 5 new subpoenas related to planning for the attack. Bennie Thompson, the chair of the committee issued the following statement regarding the subpoenas: "We believe the individuals and organizations we subpoenaed today have relevant information about how violence erupted at the Capitol and the preparation leading up to this violent attack. The Select Committee is moving swiftly to uncover the facts of what happened on that day and we expect every witness to comply with the law and cooperate so we can get answers to the American people." The individuals and organizations involved in these subpoenas are the following:
- Proud Boys International. L.L.C.
- Henry "Enrique" Tarrio
- Oath Keepers
- Elmer Stewart Rhodes
- Robert Patrick Lewis/1st Amendment Praetorian
A jury in a monthlong civil trial in Charlottesville, VA, has awarded $25m in damages against white nationalist leaders in a lawsuit filed by nine people who suffered physical or emotional injuries during the 2017 far-right "Unite the Right" rally. The jury deadlocked on two claims, but found the white nationalists liable on four other counts. The lawsuit accused the groups of orchestrating violence against African Americans, Jews and others in a meticulously planned conspiracy. Richard Spencer, one of the white nationalist leaders, vowed to appeal. NOTE: Lawyers for the plaintiffs invoked a 150-year-old law that was passed after the civil war to protect freed slaves from violence. The law is commonly referred to as the Ku Klux Klan Act, which has as one of its provisions the ability of private citizens to sue others citizens for civil rights violations.
November 22, 2021 - In an open letter, 150 scholars of American democratic systems warned that American democracy will be at "critical risk" if the US Senate fails to pass voting rights legislation. The scholars called on the US Senate to get rid of the filibuster, which requires 60 votes to advance most legislation through the upper chamber. According to the letter, failing to eliminate the filibuster could "undermine the minimum condition for electoral democracy—free and fair elections" and also "likely result in an extended period of minority rule, which a majority of the country would reject as undemocratic and illegitimate. This would have grave consequences not only for our democracy, but for political order, economic prosperity, and the national security of the United States as well." The scholars also called on the Senate to pass the Freedom to Vote Act. According to the scholars: "Defenders of democracy in America still have a slim window of opportunity to act. But time is ticking away, and midnight is approaching."
According to Reuters, a United Nations human rights expert claims that electoral laws in some parts of the US have deprived millions of citizens, mainly from minority groups, of having the right to vote. From the story: "Fernand de Varennes, the U.N. special rapporteur on minority issues, speaking on the final day of a two-week visit to the United States, decried a Texas law that he said resulted in 'gerrymandering' and dilution of voting rights of minorities in favour of white Americans. 'There is in fact what could be described as an undermining of democracy with a phenomenal number of legislative measures in different parts of the country ... which certainly have the effect of making the exercise of the right to vote more difficult for certain minorities,' he told a news briefing. 'It is becoming unfortunately apparent that it is almost a tyranny of the majority where the minority right to vote is being denied in many areas,' he added. De Varennes called for a 'New Deal' to overhaul legislation. There was no immediate U.S. reaction to his preliminary observations which de Varennes said he had shared with U.S. State Department officials earlier in the day."
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine writes of Senate Republicans blocking voting rights legislation. From the story: "No, it's not deja vu: Senate Republicans once again used the filibuster on Wednesday to stymie Democratic efforts to pass a significant voting rights bill. It's the fourth time it's happened this year, the most recent coming just two weeks ago. But Democrats and other voting rights advocates hope that this time is different. They never really expected 10 Republicans to sign on to the bill and advance it. Instead, they hoped to use the vote as a final chance to show the West Virginia senator Joe Manchin and Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema, two of the staunchest filibuster defenders, that there is no hope of passing a voting rights bill while the filibuster remains in place."
Sean Parnell, a Republican Senate candidate from Pennsylvania, who was endorsed by Donald Trump, announced that he is dropping out of the race. Parnell, who faced abuse allegations, made the announcement after losing a custody battle with his wife.
The House select committee, which is investigating the Capitol insurrection, has issued subpoenas for the following individuals:
- Roger Stone, a self described "dirty trickster" and Trump advisor who was pardoned by the former president in 2020
- Alex Jones, a far-right talk show host
- Dustin Stockton and Jennifer Lawrence, a pro-Trump husband and wife pair
- Taylor Budowich, a spokesman for Donald Trump
According to Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the select committee, the subpoenas were issued to uncover "who organized, planned, paid for, and received funds related to those events, as well as what communications organizers had with officials in the White House and Congress."
November 19, 2021 - Prior to a routine colonoscopy, Joe Biden transferred presidential powers to Kamala Harris for one hour and 25 minutes, making her the first acting female president in US history.
Kyle Rittenhouse, the 18-year-old who drove from his home in Illinois to Kenosha, Wisconsin, and shot 3 people during unrest in that city - two of whom died - has been acquitted on all charges. Notable reactions to the verdict:
"Kyle Rittenhouse is not guilty, my friends. You have a right to defend yourselves: Be armed, be dangerous and be moral." - Madison Cawthorn, Republican Congressman
"You know damn well that if Kyle Rittenhouse were Black he would have been found guilty in a heartbeat—or shot dead by cops on the scene." - Julian Castro, Democratic Congressman
"This heartbreaking verdict is a miscarriage of justice and sets a dangerous precedent which justifies federal review by DOJ. Justice cannot tolerate armed persons crossing state lines looking for trouble while people engage in First Amendment-protected protest." - Jerry Nadler, Democratic Representative
November 18, 2021 - The Senate held a hearing today to question Saule Omarova, who was nominated by Joe Biden to be comptroller of the currency. Omarova, who was born in Kazakstan and immigrated to the US as a college student, is currently a law professor at Cornell University. Omarova's Republican critics have brought up her place of birth as proof that she is a communist. During questioning, Senator John Kennedy, a Republican, said to Omarova, "I don't mean any disrespect: I don't know whether to call you professor or comrade." Omarova responded, "Senator, I'm not a communist. I do not subscribe to that ideology. I could not choose where I was born. I do not remember joining any Facebook group that subscribes to that ideology – I would never join any such group. There is no record of me ever actually participating in any Marxist or communist discussions of any kind. My family suffered under the communist regime. I grew up without knowing half of my family. My grandmother herself escaped death twice under the Stalin regime. This is what's seared in my mind. That's who I am. I remember that history. I came to this country. I'm proud to be an American. And that is why I'm here today, Senator. I'm ready for public service." In response to the attacks on Omarova, Senator Sherrod Brown, chairman of the Senate banking committee, stated: "Now we know what happens when Trumpism meets McCarthyism" .
According to a new study published by the CDC, following Delta becoming the most common covid variant, fully vaccinated people were found to have reduced risk of infection by 5 times, reduced risk of hospitalization by 10 times, and reduced risk of death by 10 times. During the period of April 4 to July 17, the unvaccinated represented 92% of the cases, 92% of hospitalizations, and 91% of the covid related deaths.
November 17, 2021 - According to the Hill, Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican congresswoman who has peddled QAnon-supporting conspiracy theories, and compared mask-wearing to protect against Covid-19 to the Holocaust, has racked up $63,000 in fines for refusing to wear a mask on the House floor.
Jacob Chansley, the self described "QAnon Shaman", who wore a horned helmet as he and thousands of other Trump supporters attacked the Capitol on January 6th, has been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for his role in the insurrection.
Steve Bannon, the former adviser to Donald Trump, has notified the court that he is pleading not guilty to two counts of criminal contempt: one for refusing to appear for a congressional deposition and the other for refusing to provide documents in response to the committee's subpoena.
The House of Representatives voted today to censure congressman Paul Gosar for tweeting a video depicting violence against congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The vote was 233 to 207. Two Republicans joined all the Democrats to vote for censure. Gosar is now the 24th member of the House to be censured in its history. NOTE: Following the censure vote, Gosar retweeted the violent video.
November 16, 2021 - According to the book "Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show" by ABC's Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl, Steven Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, and Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, discussed removing Trump from office with other cabinet members following the Capitol insurrection.
November 15, 2021 - Steve Bannon, the former adviser to Donald Trump, has surrendered to federal authorities and will appear in a DC court later today where he will be arraigned on his contempt of congress charges.
Michael Flynn, the disgraced former national security adviser to Donald Trump, is being widely criticized today for statements he made while speaking over the weekend at a rally that was organized by American Faith, a Christian "nonprofit news media network". While speaking, Flynn told the audience: "If we are going to have one nation under God, which we must, we have to have one religion. One nation under God and one religion under God."
Notable responses to Flynn's "one religion" comments:
"These people hate the US constitution" - Ilhan Omar, Democratic Representative from Minnesota
[One of the] "knaves and fools and dangerous authoritarian figures" [with whom Trump surrounded himself was] "saying out load things that have never been said by an aide or close associate to the president of the United States" - Carl Bernstein
Alex Jones, the far-right conspiracy theorist who peddles lies from his Infowars website, was found guilty by default in a defamation lawsuit brought by the families of the children and educators killed in a 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The guilt by default ruling came after Jones refused to turn over documents ordered by the court.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Trump Organization has agreed to a $375m deal to sell its hotel near the White House in Washington DC.
During an interview on MSNBC, Olivia Troye, who worked as Mike Pence's homeland security, counterterrorism and coronavirus adviser, spoke of being warned not to listen to Taylor Swift's music. Here's the exchange Troye said she had with a colleague after that colleague heard Taylor Swift playing in Troye's office:
COLLEAGUE: "Are you trying to get fired?"
TROYE: "For being blunt in meetings or for what?"
COLLEAGUE: "I don’t think she’s a fan of Trump's. And so, if somebody hears that, you should really watch your back. You should be careful on that."
According to John Karl, of ABC News, Mitch McConnell had decided not to invite Donald Trump to Joe Biden's inauguration, which led Kevin McCarthy to tell Trump he was being snubbed, which Trump then decided to pretend it was his idea not to go.
Donald Trump responded to reports that he was not invited to Joe Biden's inauguration, and then pretended it was his idea, by writing: "The decision was mine and mine alone. The old broken-down Crow Mitch McConnell had nothing to do with it."
As Steve Bannon, the former adviser to Donald Trump, left federal court today, he spoke to reporters telling them he and his allies were "taking down the Biden regime" and that "I'm telling you right now, this is going to be the misdemeanor from hell for Merrick Garland, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden ... They took on the wrong guys this time; they took on the wrong guys. We're going to go on the offense on this. Stand by."
Joe Biden signed into law the $1.2tn bipartisan infrastructure bill. The legislation includes the following:
- Upgrade and repair nation's aging highways, bridges and roads.
- Improve public transit, making it greener and more accessible for people with disabilities.
- Modernize the nation's electric grid, making it greener and more resilient.
- Improve America's national rail system, with substantial investments in Amtrak, which suffers from a maintenance backlog, as well as upgrades to existing rail lines and funding for news ones.
- Fund broadband access and improve internet services for rural areas, low-income families and tribal communities.
- Fund climate resiliency that would help regions prone to extreme weather better prepare for future catastrophes.
- Replace lead pipes and modernize water systems to eliminate contaminated drinking water that has harmed residents in communities across the country.
- Build electric vehicle charging stations, which the administration believes are critical to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles as a climate mitigation strategy.
The Wyoming Republican party voted to censure Liz Cheney, the state's lone US representative, for her vote to impeach Donald Trump for his role in the January 6th insurrection. The vote was 31-29 to pass a resolution to stop recognizing Cheney as a member of their party. Notable reactions to the vote:
"She is bound by her oath to the Constitution. Sadly a portion of the Wyoming GOP leadership has abandoned that fundamental principle and instead allowed themselves to be held hostage to the lies of a dangerous and irrational man" - Jeremy Adler, Spokesperson for Liz Cheney
"It's fitting because Liz Cheney stopped recognizing what Wyomingites care about a long time ago. When she launched her war against President Trump, she completely broke with where we are as a state" - Harriet Hageman, Trump Endorsed Candidate for Cheney's House Seat.
Donald Trump endorsed John Gibbs, who is running against Michigan Representative Peter Meijer. Meijer had voted to impeach Trump for his role in the Capitol insurrection. NOTE: Gibbs circulated a conspiracy theory that claimed John Podesta, the campaign chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential run, took part in a satanic ritual. Gibbs has also called the Democrats the party of Islam and "gender-bending". Gibbs has also defended a Twitter user who was banned for making anti-semitic remarks.
According to the New York Times, Lloyd Austin, the defense secretary, has asked for a briefing on the March 18, 2019 airstrike on Baghuz, Syria, which is considered to have resulted in one of the largest civilian casualties in the war against Islamic State fighters. From the story: "The Times investigation showed that the death toll from the strike was almost immediately apparent to military officials. A legal officer flagged the bombing as a possible war crime that required an investigation. But at nearly every step, the military made moves that concealed the catastrophic strike. The death toll was downplayed. Reports were delayed, sanitized and classified. U.S.-led coalition forces bulldozed the blast site. And top leaders were not notified. An initial battle damage assessment quickly found that the number of dead was about 70. The Times investigation found that the bombing by Air Force F-15 attack jets had been called in by a classified American Special Operations unit, Task Force 9, which was in charge of ground operations in Syria. The task force operated in such secrecy that at times it did not inform even its own military partners of its actions. In the case of the Baghuz bombing, the air command center at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar had no idea the strike was coming, an officer who served at the command center said. The Defense Department's independent inspector general began an inquiry, but the report containing its findings was stalled and stripped of any mention of the strike."
November 12, 2021 - Mark Meadows, the former chief of staff for Donald Trump, failed to appear for his scheduled deposition before the House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection.
Bennie Thompson, the chair of the select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection, sent a letter to Mark Meadow's attorney, part of which reads: "The Select Committee will view Mr. Meadows's failure to appear at the deposition, and to produce responsive documents or a privilege log indicating the specific basis for withholding any documents you believe are protected by privilege, as willful non-compliance. Such willful noncompliance with the subpoena would force the Select Committee to consider invoking the contempt of Congress procedures in 2 U.S.C. §§ 192, 194—which could result in a referral from the House of Representatives to the Department of Justice for criminal charges—as well as the possibility of having a civil action to enforce the subpoena brought against Mr Meadows in his personal capacity."
During an interview with Donald Trump for Jonathan Karl's new book "Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show", the following exchange took place after Karl asked Trump if he was worried about Mike Pence during the attack on the Capitol:
TRUMP: "No. I thought he was well-protected, and I had heard that he was in good shape. No. Because I had heard he was in very good shape, But, but, no, I think - "
KARL: "Because you heard those chants – that was terrible. I mean –"
TRUMP: "He could have – well, the people were very angry."
KARL: "They were saying 'hang Mike Pence'."
TRUMP: "Because it's common sense, Jon."
Steve Bannon, a former senior adviser to Donald Trump, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena issued by the House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection.
Merrick Garland, the attorney general, stated regarding the indictment of Steve Bannon: "Since my first day in office, I have promised Justice Department employees that together we would show the American people by word and deed that the department adheres to the rule of law, follows the facts and the law and pursues equal justice under the law. Today's charges reflect the department's steadfast commitment to these principles."
Adam Kinzinger, one of two Republicans on the House select committee, called the indictment of Steve Bannon "great news" followed by "You cannot ignore Congress. You're not going to be able to avoid it."
November 11, 2021 - Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's top election official, sat down for an interview with the Guardian to talk about his new book "Integrity Counts", where he described how his family has been subject to a barrage of harassment, including death threats, from Trump supporters.
Donald Trump has asked a federal appeals court to block a lower court's ruling that allowed the National Archives to send White House documents to the House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection.
A group of House Democrats issued a statement demanding that Republican congressman Paul Gosar be censured over his violent tweet about Joe Biden and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. From the statement: "For a Member of Congress to post a manipulated video on his social media accounts depicting himself killing Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Biden is a clear cut case for censure. For that Member to post such a video on his official Instagram account and use his official congressional resources in the House of Representatives to further violence against elected officials goes beyond the pale ... vicious and vulgar messaging can and does foment actual violence ... Violence against women in politics is a global phenomenon meant to silence women and discourage them from seeking positions of authority and participating in public life, with women of color disproportionately impacted ... Minority Leader McCarthy's silence is tacit approval and just as dangerous."
The 13 House Republicans who helped pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill last week are facing calls for political punishment from far-right Republicans, as well as receiving death threats.
A federal appeals court granted Donald Trump's request to temporarily block the National Archives from releasing documents to the House select committee. The court set a hearing for November 30 to hear oral arguments.
According to the Guardian, an attorney for one of the defendants in the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial has sparked outrage over his request to limit Black pastors in the courtroom. From the story: "Kevin Gough, a defense attorney in the trial over the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, has sparked outrage after asking the court to limit the number of Black pastors who can sit with the Arbery family, claiming their presence could influence the almost entirely white jury. On Thursday, while addressing Judge Timothy Walmsley, who is presiding over the trial, Gough claimed that high-profile Black pastors such as the Rev Al Sharpton and the Rev Jesse Jackson could be 'intimidating' for jury members. 'There's only so many pastors they [Arbery’s family] can have. If their pastor's Rev Al Sharpton right now, that's fine. But that's it. We don't want any more Black pastors in here or others,' said Gough. As others in the court discussed Sharpton's presence in the court room, Gough went on to say, 'If a bunch of folks came in here dressed like Colonel Sanders with white masks … ' before being cut off. Walmsley refused Gough's request, stating: 'I'm not going to start blanketly excluding members of the public from this courtroom.' Sharpton said in a statement: 'The arrogant insensitivity of attorney Kevin Gough in asking a judge to bar me or any minister of the family's choice underscores the disregard for the value of the human life lost and the grieving of a family in need spiritual and community support.'"
November 10, 2021 - Tanya Chutkan, a US district judge, issued a ruling that documents from the Trump White House can be turned over to the House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection. From the ruling: "His position that he may override the express will of the executive branch appears to be premised on the notion that his executive power 'exists in perpetuity'... but presidents are not kings, and plaintiff is not president."
According to CNN, the National Archives is expected to start turning over documents to the select committee. From the story: "As of now, the National Archives remains on track to turn over to the House a number of documents on Friday, including White House call logs, video logs and schedules related to January 6 as well as three pages of handwritten notes from Trump's then-chief of staff. The outcome in court also could help the House in its pursuit of more information from those around Trump, including witnesses who've been subpoenaed and haven't spoken to the committee yet."
According to the Guardian, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, said he warned Twitter's boss Jack Dorsey that his platform was allowing political unrest. Harry stated: "I warned him his platform was allowing a coup to be staged. That email was sent the day before. And then it happened and I haven't heard from him since."
According to CNN, a New Jersey man who pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer during the Capitol insurrection has been sentenced to 41 months in prison. From the story: "New Jersey gym owner and former MMA fighter who punched a police officer during the January 6 riot was sentenced to 41 months in prison on Wednesday, becoming the first rioter sentenced for violence against the police during the attack. Scott Fairlamb pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer and obstructing an official proceeding in August. 'I truly regret my actions that day. I have nothing but remorse,' Fairlamb said in court Wednesday, later adding to the judge: 'I just hope you show some mercy on me sir.'" The AP has more details on Fairlamb's role in the Capitol attack: "Fairlamb picked up a police baton as he joined the mob that broke past a line of police officers and breached the Capitol, according to prosecutors. A video showed him holding the collapsible baton and shouting, 'What (do) patriots do? We f——— disarm them and then we storm the f——— Capitol!' After he left the building, Fairlamb shoved and punched a Metropolitan Police Department officer in the face, an attack captured on video by a bystander. The officer said he didn't suffer any physical injuries, according to prosecutors."
According to the AP, gerrymandering is surging in states where legislatures are in charge of redrawing voting districts used to elect members of Congress. From the story: "North Carolina Republicans are well positioned to pick up at least two House seats in next year's election - but it's not because the state is getting 'redder'. The state remains a perennial battleground, closely split between Democrats and Republicans in elections. But, last week, the GOP-controlled legislature finalized maps that redraw congressional district boundaries, dividing up Democratic voters in cities to dilute their votes. The new plan took the number of GOP-leaning districts from eight to 10 in the state. Republicans even have a shot at winning an eleventh. North Carolina's plan drew instant criticism for its aggressive approach, but it's hardly alone. Experts and lawmakers tracking the once-a-decade redistricting process see a cycle of supercharged gerrymandering. With fewer legal restraints and amped up political stakes, both Democrats and Republicans are pushing the bounds of the tactic long used to draw districts for maximum partisan advantage, often at the expense of community unity or racial representation. 'In the absence of reforms, the gerrymandering in general has gotten even worse than 2010, than in the last round' of redistricting, said Chris Warshaw, a political scientist at George Washington University who has analyzed decades of redistricting maps in U.S. states. Republicans dominated redistricting last decade, helping them build a greater political advantage in more states than either party had in the past 50 years. Republicans' potential net gain of three seats in North Carolina could be fully canceled out in Illinois, where Democrats control the legislature. In the 13 states that have passed new congressional maps so far, the cumulative effect is essentially a wash for Republicans and Democrats, leaving just a few toss-up districts. That could change in the coming weeks, as Republican-controlled legislatures consider proposed maps in Georgia, New Hampshire and Ohio that target Democratic-held seats. 'Across the board you are seeing Republicans gerrymander,' said Kelly Ward Burton, executive director of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which oversees redistricting for the Democratic Party. Former Attorney General Eric Holder, who leads the Democrats' effort, has called for more states to use redistricting commissions. In Maryland, Democrats are considering a proposal that would make it easier for a Democrat to oust the state's only Republican congressman. Newly passed congressional maps in Indiana, Arkansas and Alabama all maintain an existing Republican advantage."
Emerald Robinson, a White House correspondent for far-right media company Newsmax, was suspended from Twitter permanently for repeatedly breaking the rules against spreading lies about Covid-19.
Judge Lee Yeakel, a federal district judge, blocked an executive order from Texas governor Greg Abbott prohibiting schools from issuing mask mandates, saying it violates the Americans with Disabilities Act saying: "Children with certain underlying conditions who contract Covid-19 are more likely to experience severe acute biological effects and to require admission to a hospital and the hospital's intensive-care unit". The federal lawsuit was filed by Disability Rights Texas, which argued the governor's order would deny children with disabilities access to public education.
November 9, 2021 - Paul Gosar, a Republican representative, tweeted a violent anime video that had been modified to show Gosar striking Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a sword, and also attacking Joe Biden. In response, Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, called on Kevin McCarthy to join her call for an ethics investigation. Ocasio-Cortez responded by calling Gosar "just a collection of wet toothpicks anyway" who "couldn't open a pickle jar or read a whole book all by himself".
Joanne Freeman, a Yale Historian and author of The Field of Blood, a well-regarded history of violence in Congress before the civil war, reacted to the Gosar tweet saying: "Threats of violence lead to actual violence. They clear the ground. They cow the opposition. They plant the idea. They normalize it. They encourage it. They maim democracy. And run the risk of killing it."
The House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection has issued subpoenas for 10 former Trump administration officials, including senior adviser Stephen Miller. From their statement: "We believe the witnesses subpoenaed today have relevant information and we expect them to comply fully with the Select Committee's investigation as we work to get answers for the American people, make recommendations on changes to the law to protect our democracy, and help ensure that nothing like January 6th ever happens again." Here are the names of the 10 officials:
- Nicholas Luna - Former personal assistant to Donald Trump.
- Molly Michael - Trump's former Oval Office operations coordinator.
- Benjamin Williamson - former senior advisor to Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
- Christopher Liddell - Former White House deputy chief of staff.
- John McEntee - Former White House personnel director.
- Keith Kellogg - National security adviser to former Vice-President Mike Pence.
- Kayleigh McEnany - Former White House press secretary.
- Stephen Miller - Trump's former senior adviser who is best known for crafting the administration's widely criticized immigration policies.
- Cassidy Hutchinson - Trump's former special assistant for legislative affairs.
- Kenneth Klukowski - Former senior counsel to assistant attorney general Jeffrey Clark, who refused to answer the select committee's questions about the insurrection last week.
Jonathan Karl, an ABC News correspondent, published a book called Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show. In an excerpt of the book published by the Atlantic, Karl details how John McEntee, the former White House personnel director, used his post to enforce White House staffer's loyalty to Donald Trump and bolster his baseless claims of a stolen election. From the excerpt: "McEntee and his enforcers made the disastrous last weeks of the Trump presidency possible. They backed the president's manic drive to overturn the election, and helped set the stage for the January 6 assault on the Capitol. Thanks to them, in the end, the elusive 'adults in the room' — those who might have been willing to confront the president or try to control his most destructive tendencies — were silenced or gone. But McEntee was there — bossing around Cabinet secretaries, decapitating the civilian leadership at the Pentagon, and forcing officials high and low to state their allegiance to Trump. When Trump wasn't happy with the answers he was getting from White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, McEntee set up a rogue legal team. This back -channel operation played a previously unknown role in the effort to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the vote. Just days before January 6, McEntee sent Pence's office an absurd memo making the case that Pence would be following Thomas Jefferson's example if he used his power to declare Trump the winner of the 2020 election. More than anyone else in the White House, McEntee was Trump's man through and through — a man who rose to power at precisely the moment when American democracy was falling apart."
Donald Trump, the one term, twice impeached former president, reacted to the new round of subpoenas by the House select committee saying: "The Unselect Committee of politically ambitious hacks continues to subpoena people wanting to know about those protesting, on January 6th, the insurrection which took place during the Presidential Election of November 3rd."
November 8, 2021 - According to the Guardian, Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to health, has called on the US Supreme Court to uphold the right to abortion in America or risk undermining international human rights law and threatening that right elsewhere in the world.
A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked the Biden administration's 100 worker vaccine rule.
The House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection has issued subpoenas for six more associates of Donald Trump, all of whom were involved in efforts to spread lies about widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Those individuals are:
- William Stepien - Trump's 2020 campaign manager
- Jason Miller - Senior Adviser to the Trump 2020 re-election campaign
- Angela McCallum - National Executive Assistant to the Trump 2020 campaign
- John Eastman - Attorney who founded the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence
- Michael Flynn - Trump's former national security
- Bernard Kerik - Former Commissioner of the New York Police Department
According to the Guardian, the House select committee is particularly interested in meetings that Donald Trump allies had at the Willard Hotel in the days leading up to the insurrection. From the story: "The subpoenas seeking documents and testimony are aimed at obtaining the legal advice offered to Trump on how he could manipulate events on 6 January to stop certification of [Joe] Biden's election win, [one] source said. House investigators are moving to pursue Trump lieutenants who gathered at the Willard to uncover the 'centers of gravity' from which Trump and his advisers conspired, the source said – and whether the former president had advance knowledge of the Capitol attack. The select committee appears to be seeking a full account of what transpired in several suites at the Willard in the days leading up to 6 January and during a final 'war room' meeting the night before the Capitol attack."
According to the AP, Jeff Hoverson, a North Dakota Republican representative who organized a rally to oppose Covid vaccine mandates, is not able to attend the event after becoming infected with Covid-19. From the story: "The state representative, Jeff Hoverson, posted on Facebook on Sunday that he was 'quarantining and each day is getting better.' The Minot lawmaker said he was taking the deworming drug ivermectin as a Covid-19 treatment and had not checked into a hospital. Ivermectin is designed to fight parasitic infections but conservative commentators have promoted it as a treatment for Covid-19, despite a lack of evidence that it helps. 'It's making me better,' Hoverson said."
November 5, 2021 - According to the latest jobs report, 531,000 jobs were added to the US economy in October.
According to the AP, attorneys general in more than two-dozen Republican-controlled states filed suit today against the requirement for workers with more than 100 employees. From the story: "'This mandate is unconstitutional, unlawful, and unwise,' said the court filing by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, one of several Republicans vying for the state's open U.S. Senate seat next year. New regulations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration mandate that companies with more than 100 employees require their workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be tested for the virus weekly and wear masks on the job. The requirement is to kick in Jan. 4. Failure to comply could result in penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation. Schmitt said Missouri has 3,443 private employers who could be covered by the vaccine requirement, with nearly 1.3 million employees. He said he sued 'to protect personal freedoms, preserve Missouri businesses, and push back on bureaucratic tyrants who simply want power and control.' The Biden administration has been encouraging widespread vaccinations as the quickest way out of the pandemic. A White House spokeswoman said Thursday that the mandate was intended to halt the spread of a disease that has claimed more than 750,000 lives in the U.S. The top legal official for the U.S. Department of Labor, which includes OSHA, has said legal precedent allows it to issue rules that keep workplaces safe and that those rules pre-empt state laws. Missouri was joined in the lawsuit by the Republican attorneys general of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. The office of Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Democrat, also joined in the suit, along with several private, nonprofit and religious employers. The Daily Wire, a conservative media company, filed a challenge in federal court on Thursday. So did companies in Michigan and Ohio represented by a conservative advocacy law firm, as well as two Wisconsin manufacturers represented by a conservative law firm."
Jeffrey Clark, a former Trump justice department official who assisted Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, has declined to testify before the January 6 commission.
November 4, 2021 - The Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a rule that those who work for companies with more than 100 employees must be vaccinated by January 4th, or receive weekly coronavirus tests in an attempt to mitigate the spread of coronavirus among coworkers. The Department of Health's Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a rule that workers at healthcare facilities must be fully vaccinated by January 4th.
According to the Washington Post, the Manhattan district attorney has convened a new grand jury regarding the Trump Organization in order to weigh potential charges. From the story: "An earlier grand jury — convened this spring in Manhattan — previously handed down felony indictments against two Trump companies and Trump's longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, charging them with tax evasion. It is unclear if that grand jury is still hearing evidence about the Trump Organization. The new grand jury was seated last week, and is expected to meet three days a week over six months, people familiar with the matter said. It was expected to hear evidence on Thursday, meeting in Manhattan's Surrogate’s Court — usually a forum for disputes over the estates of the deceased — because the criminal court buildings are jammed with a rush of post-pandemic trials. One person familiar with the matter said the second grand jury was expected to examine how former president Donald Trump's company valued its assets. That appears to be a separate issue than the one described in indictments from the first grand jury, which has dealt with allegations that Weisselberg and other Trump executives evaded taxes on their pay by systematically hiding some of their compensation from the IRS. Both Weisselberg and the two companies have pleaded not guilty. The seating of the new grand jury does not signal that any other Trump entities or executives will be charged. The second grand jury could end its term without indicting anyone. The former president has not been charged with any crime. On Thursday, neither Trump's company or his post-presidential office responded to requests for comment. Ron Fischetti and Phyllis Malgieri, two of Trump's personal lawyers, declined comment."
Speaking to the press, deputy White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, offered the following criticism of Republican's use of Critical Race Theory (CRT) to win votes by stirring up fears among white voters: "Republicans are lying. They're not being honest. They're not being truthful about where we stand, and they're cynically trying to use our kids as a political football. They're talking about our kids when it's election season, but they won't vote for them when it matters." NOTE: Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin warned of the dangers of CRT during his campaign, despite the fact that CRT is not taught in the state's schools. NOTE2: Critical race theory recognizes how racism has shaped American laws and institutions.
Igor Danchenko, the Russian analyst who was the main source for Christopher Steele's dossier on Donald Trump and Moscow, was arrested by US authorities as part of the investigation by John Durham, the special counsel appointed by the Trump administration to examine the origins of the FBI's investigation into links between the Trump campaign and Russia. According to the five page indictment, Danchenko is accused of lying repeatedly to the FBI in 2017.
According to the Guardian, the Biden administration filed a federal lawsuit challenging Texas' new voting law, saying some of the state's restrictions violate civil rights laws. From the story: "The suit takes aim at two specific provisions in the Texas law that deal with providing assistance to voters at the polls and mail-in voting, respectively. The first measure restricts the kind of assistance people can provide at the polls to voters, blocking them from explaining how voting works or breaking down complex language on the ballot. That violates a provision of the Voting Rights Act that guarantees that anyone who requires assistance because of 'blindness, disability, or inability to read or write' can receive assistance, the justice department said. The complaint targets a second provision that requires voters to provide identification information on mail-in ballot applications as well as the ballot return envelopes. The new Texas law says that election workers have to reject the ballots if there are discrepancies in the identification provided. The Justice Department said that violates a provision of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that says someone can't be blocked from voting because of an error on a paper or record that is unrelated to their qualifications under state law to vote."
November 2, 2021 - The US has officially rejoined the High Ambition Coalition at the UN climate talks, the group of developed and developing countries that ensured the 1.5C goal was a key plank of the Paris agreement.
During an event in Iowa City, which was held by a conservative youth group, Mike Pence, the former vice president, was asked why he didn't do what Donald Trump wanted him to do to help overturn the 2020 election. Pence's response: "James Madison". NOTE: James Madison is widely considered the father of the US constitution.
Jon Meacham, a Pulitzer Prize winning historian, was disinvited from speaking at Samford University, in Birmingham, a Southern Baptist institution, because he has given speeches to Planned Parenthood groups. NOTE: According to Samford's president, Beck A Taylor, Meacham's speech was "intended to highlight his work in analysing the current state of civility and discourse in our country".
Brad Raffensberger, the Georgia secretary of state, published a book called Integrity Counts. In the book, Raffensberger writes about the phone call he received from Trump, where the former president famously told him "I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have [to get]" and then when Raffensberger resisted, told him that his refusal to expose mass voter fraud in Georgia could be a "criminal offense". Raffensberger writes in his book: "I felt then – and still believe today – that this was a threat. Others obviously thought so, too, because some of Trump's more radical followers have responded as if it was their duty to carry out this threat."
November 1, 2021 - The supreme court heard oral arguments today regarding Texas' six-week abortion ban. One notable highlight:
- Elena Kagan interrupted the Texas solicitor general to say the law appeared to have been written by "some geniuses" to evade the broad legal principle that "states are not to nullify federal constitutional rights".
According to a new poll conducted by researchers at the Public Religion Research Institute, 30% of Republicans agreed with the statement "Because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country". Among the Americans who believe the 2020 election was "stolen" from Donald Trump, 39% believe violence may be required. 11% of Democrats agreed with the statement, and 17% of independents agreed. Among all Americans, 18% agreed. NOTE: There is no evidence to support the notion that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 80% of American adults (206,333,974) have gotten at least one vaccine dose. 69.6% (179,729,970) are fully vaccinated.
According to Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the "overwhelming" number of infections in the US continue to occur among the unvaccinated.
While speaking at the Cop26 climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, President Joe Biden told the audience: "I guess I shouldn't apologise, but I do apologise for the fact that the United States – the last administration pulled out of the Paris accord. It put us sort of behind the eight ball a little bit."
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, during a custody hearing, the estranged wife of Sean Parnell, a Trump-endorsed candidate competing in the Republican primary for an open US senate seat in Pennsylvania, testified under oath that Parnell choked her, pinned her down and berated her - calling her a piece of shit - and once slapped one of their children so hard it left welts through a t-shirt.
Donald Trump, the one-term, twice impeached former president, issued the following statement: "Even Biden couldn't stand hearing so much about the Global Warming Hoax, the 7th biggest Hoax in America, followed closely behind the 2020 Presidential Election Scam, Russia, Russia, Russia, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, Impeachment Hoax #1, Impeachment Hoax #2 and, of course, the "No Collusion" finding of the Mueller Report. Biden went to Europe saying Global Warming is his highest priority, and then promptly fell asleep, for all the world to see, at the Conference itself. Nobody that has true enthusiasm and belief in a subject will ever fall asleep!"
Frances Haugen, the facebook whistleblower who leaked a trove of damaging documents about the company's inner workings, called on Mark Zuckerberg to step down, saying "I think it is unlikely the company will change if [Mark Zuckerberg] remains the CEO".
Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican senator from Alaska, has announced she will support the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which is coming up for a vote soon. What makes this newsworthy is that Murkowski is the ONLY Republican senator who will support the bill. Notable reaction to the news:
"Senate voted 98-0 to reauthorize Voting Rights Act in 2006. 52 GOP senators voted for it. Now only 1 wiull. Very sad commentary on GOP" - Ari Berman
Justice Beth Robinson, a member of the Vermont Supreme Court, was confirmed today as the "first openly lesbian judge" to serve on a federal appellate court in the US.
October 29, 2021 - Adam Kinzinger, one of two House Republicans on the House select committee, announced that he will not be seeking reelection next year saying: "In this day, to prevail or survive, you must belong to a tribe. Our political parties only survive by appealing to the most motivated and the most extreme elements within it. And the price tag to power has skyrocketed, and fear and distrust has served as an effective strategy to meet that cost. After all, if a man is convinced that his very survival is at stake, he'll part with anything, including money to ensure he does survive."
Notable reactions to Kinzinger's announcement:
"The RINO turncoats will keep falling...Enjoy your CNN contract, loser." - Madison Cawthorn, Republican Representative from North Carolina
"Two down, eight to go!" - Donald Trump
The office of the US director of national intelligence released a report on the origin of the coronavirus. Notable findings in the 18 page report:
- The first human exposure to the virus occurred "no later than November 2019" and resulted in the outbreak in Wuhan.
- "We judge the virus was not developed as a biological weapon"
- "Most agencies also assess with low confidence that SARS-CoV-2 probably was not genetically engineered; however, two agencies believe there was not sufficient evidence to make an assessment either way."
- The US intelligence community concluded Chinese officials "did not have foreknowledge of the virus before the initial outbreak"
- The US intelligence community "remains divided on the most likely origin of Covid-19"
- "The IC judges they will be unable to provide a more definitive explanation for the origin of COVID-19 unless new information allows them to determine the specific pathway for initial natural contact with an animal or to determine that a laboratory in Wuhan was handling SARS-CoV-2 or a close progenitor virus before COVID-19 emerged."
- "China's cooperation most likely would be needed to reach a conclusive assessment of the origins of COVID-19 ... Beijing, however, continues to hinder the global investigation, resist sharing information, and blame other countries, including the United States ... These actions reflect, in part, China's government's own uncertainty about where an investigation could lead as well as its frustration the international community is using the issue to exert political pressure on China."
According to Reuters, the supreme court has agreed to hear a case involving how far the federal government can go to limit carbon emissions. From the story: "The court's decision to take up the case could complicate efforts by President Joe Biden's administration to issue new and more stringent regulations under the Clean Air Act aimed at reducing emissions linked to global climate change. ... About 20 states and various industry groups, including coal interests, had appealed a lower court's ruling striking down a regulation issued by Republican former President Donald Trump's administration intended to constrain the regulation of carbon emissions from power plants. The ruling was made in January 2021 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Those states and groups have opposed regulating carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act. The Trump administration's Affordable Clean Energy rule was challenged in court by states and groups that support aggressive action to curb such emissions."
According to Reuters, the Biden administration has issued a memo ending the Trump-era "remain in Mexico" policy for migrants. From the story: "Biden officials made a renewed attempt to end a Trump-era immigration program that forced asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for US court hearings, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memo previewed by officials. The administration first ended the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program, informally called 'Remain in Mexico', earlier this year, but was ordered to restart it by a federal judge, who said it had failed to follow proper regulatory procedure. The U.S. Supreme Court in August rejected an effort by the Biden administration to block the judge's ruling. The new memo is comprehensive, DHS officials said on a call with reporters. It 'squarely addresses some of the alleged failures of the prior memo,' one of the officials said. 'It takes into account a whole range of new information that's been made available or that's occurred since June,' when the previous memo was issued, one official said. The administration will seek to have the court order vacated in light of the new memo, the officials said. Meanwhile, the Biden administration will continue to take steps to restart the program by mid-November, to comply with the judge's ruling, officials said. The possible reinstatement of MPP - even on a short-term basis - would add to a confusing mix of U.S. policies in place at the U.S.-Mexico border, where arrests of migrants crossing into the United States have hit record highs. The administration said it can only move forward if Mexico agrees. The DHS officials said Mexico and the United States are still in talks. Mexico's foreign ministry said earlier this month that it has expressed a 'number of concerns' over MPP to U.S. officials, particularly around due process, legal certainty, access to legal aid and the safety of migrants."
The supreme court denied a request to block a statewide requirement in Maine that healthcare workers get vaccinated after a group of workers argued the mandate violated their religious beliefs.
Michael Riley, the Capitol police officer who was charged with helping hide evidence of a rioter's participation in the January 6th insurrection, has pleaded not guilty and has resigned.
October 26, 2021 - According to CNN, at least five former Trump administration staffers are speaking to the House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection. From the story: "According to five former Trump aides, counsel for the committee has emailed or texted them directly to ask whether they are interested in coming in to talk to the congressional investigators, often looking for context on what happened inside the West Wing before the insurrection on January 6. While several people have voluntarily sat down with the committee, others have declined the committee's request or not responded at all. The outreach has ranged from junior-level staffers to more seasoned officials. The outreach is not necessarily because the committee believes the staffers were involved in what happened that day. But the investigative staff appears to be trying to glean more context on what was happening inside the West Wing before, during and after the attack, according to the sources."
Marjory Taylor Greene and Andrew Clyde, two Republicans who regularly peddle misinformation, were both fined for failing to wear masks on the floor of the House. NOTE: Infractions against the House mask mandate will impose a warning for the 1st offense, a $500 fine for the second, and $2,500 for subsequent offenses. Greene has already been fined twice.
A package containing a "suspicious substance" was found outside the office of Representative Ilhan Omar with a message reading: "The Patriarchy will rise again. Merry fucking Christmas"
According to a new report from the UN, current plans fall short of what's needed to prevent the most disastrous impacts of climate change. From the Guardian: "Tuesday's publication warns that countries' current pledges would reduce carbon by only about 7.5% by 2030, far less than the 45% cut scientists say is needed to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C, the aim of the Cop26 summit that opens in Glasgow this Sunday. António Guterres, the UN secretary-general, described the findings as a 'thundering wake up call' to world leaders, while experts called for drastic action against fossil fuel companies."
According to the Washington Post, Deborah Birx, who helped lead the response to covid for the Trump administration, told members of congress that hundreds of thousands more people died in the US because of the White House's response to the pandemic during the presidential campaign. From the story: "'I felt like the White House had gotten somewhat complacent through the campaign season,' she reportedly said. 'I believe if we had fully implemented the mask mandates, the reduction in indoor dining, the getting friends and family to understand the risk of gathering in private homes, and we had increased testing, that we probably could have decreased fatalities into the 30-percent-less to 40-percent-less range.'" Birx also told lawmakers: "I've said that to the White House in general, and I believe I was very clear to the President in specifics of what I needed him to do." Also from the story: "Other former Trump officials have acknowledged that last year's political fights were sometimes prioritized over battling the pandemic. Steven Hatfill, who served as a White House coronavirus adviser, told colleagues that Trump's attempt to challenge last year's election results also distracted from the virus response last winter, according to documents previously released by the subcommittee." NOTE: More than 735,000 Americans have lost their lives to Covid-19, which according to Birx's estimate, could have been reduced by as many as 130,000 if the Trump administration had not been so distracted by trying to maintain control of the White House.
James Clyburn reacted to Birx's statement on the Trump administration's response to the pandemic saying: "The Trump White House's prioritization of election year politics over the pandemic response — even as cases surged last fall — is among the worst failures of leadership in American history."
October 25, 2021 - Neil Cavuto, a Fox News host, begged viewers to get a Covid-19 vaccination saying: "My God, stop the politics. Life is too short to be an ass. Life is way too short to be ignorant of the promise of something that is helping people worldwide. Stop the deaths, stop the suffering, please get vaccinated, please ... I hear from a lot of people in ongoing nasty emails 'You're a Never Trumper', or 'you're this' or 'We don't trust you, we don't believe a word you're saying.' And that's just coming from my family."
Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, signed into law HB25, which bans transgender students in grades k-12 from playing on sports teams that match their gender. NOTE: This is now the ninth state law that restricts how trans athletes can participate in team sports. Ricardo Martinez, the CEO of Equality of Texas, responded to the passage of the bill saying his organization will: "begin to shift focus to electing pro-equality lawmakers who understand our issues and prioritize representing the vast majority of Texans who firmly believe that discrimination against trans and LGB+ people is wrong."
October 22, 2021 - Bill Posey, a representative from Florida, made the following statement on the House floor: "People are understandably frustrated. Actually, they are very angry, and they are not going to sit back and take it much longer. Instead of the bogus Build Back Better plan and reconciliation plan, you know what they want? They want the Democrats to help put America back where they found it and leave it the hell alone. Let’s go, Brandon". NOTE: "Let's go, Brandon" is a phrase used by the right to mean "Fuck Joe Biden". The phrase has been used by many Republicans, including Texas governor Greg Abbott, who used the phrase in a tweet along with a clip from an interview he did with Breitbart, which is an online publication that features white supremacists.
Merrick Garland, the US Attorney General, announced that the US Department of Justice is launching a nationwide initiative to combat "modern-day redlining", also known as lending discrimination.
The US supreme court allowed a Texas abortion ban to remain in effect, but will hear arguments on November 1st. The law is known as Senate Bill 8, which bans abortions after roughly six weeks gestation, which is before most women even know they are pregnant.
According to the AP, Lev Parnas, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani, has been convicted on federal charges of making illegal campaign contributions. From the story: "The verdict was returned in Manhattan federal court, where Lev Parnas was on trial for more than two weeks as prosecutors accused him of using other people's money to pose as a powerful political broker and cozy up to some of the nation's star Republican political figures. One part of the case alleged that Parnas and an associate made illegal donations through a corporate entity to Republican political committees in 2018, including a $325,000 donation to America First Action, a super PAC supporting former President Donald Trump. Another part said he used the wealth of a Russian financier, Andrey Muraviev, to make donations to U.S. politicians, ostensibly in support of an effort to launch a legal, recreational marijuana business. Parnas was convicted on all counts ... The case had drawn interest because of the deep involvement of Parnas and a former co-defendant, Igor Fruman, in Giuliani's efforts to get Ukrainian officials to investigate Joe Biden's son during Biden's campaign for president. Giuliani remains under criminal investigation as authorities decide whether his interactions with Ukraine officials required him to register as a foreign agent, but he wasn't alleged to have been involved in illegal campaign contributions and wasn't part of the New York trial. The case did, though, give an up-close look at how Parnas entered Republican circles in 2018 with a pattern of campaign donations big enough to get him meetings with the party's stars."
According to investigations by Kaiser Health News and the New York Times, at least 32 states have introduced about 100 new laws to restrict state and local authorities from addressing health crises. David Rosner, a public health and social historian at Columbia University reacted to the news of the investigations saying: "It's a pretty grim future. This is an eye-opening moment in American history, where we see all of these traditions and ideas being mobilized to basically create discord rather than harmony around disease. I've just never seen this before." Writing for the Guardian, Melody Schreiber offers the following analysis of the findings: "More than half of US states have introduced new laws to restrict public health actions, including policies requiring quarantine or isolation and mandating vaccines or masks. Between the new laws and the massive workforce departures during the pandemic, public health in America is now in crisis, experts say. The new restrictions and shortages not only affect responses to the coronavirus but also make it harder to contain outbreaks of the flu, measles and other health crises, and they put the US in a weaker position to combat future pandemics. 'We're very, very concerned about the rolling back of public health powers,' Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, told the Guardian. 'We thought there was going to be a renaissance for public health, and we may be at the cusp of a major decline.'"
October 21, 2021 - During an interview on MSNBC, Sherrilyn Ifill, a law professor and president and director of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund responded to the procedural vote on the Freedom to Vote Act saying of the Republicans: "[They were] unwilling to even have the conversation about expanding voter access, and we have seen in states like Florida and Georgia and Texas what is happening in terms of voter suppression laws that have been passed ... restrictive laws targeted at Black and brown voters over the objections of almost every Democrat in those legislatures. That doesn't change what it is...the reality of what we are dealing with is no different than the reality of what Black voters were dealing with in 1964 and we don't look back at the great voting rights effort and the Selma march and say the Democrats were doing this or the Republicans were doing that, we look back and recognize that voter suppression was being perpetuated and advanced to keep fellow citizens from being able to vote and participate in the democratic process today... And not to confront the racial discrimination that lies at the heart of it. But the voting Right Act talks about Black voters having the right to elect their candidate of choice, it doesn't say who that candidate is or what party they belong to ... the maps that are being drawn ... voter suppression laws that are being passed are targeted very specifically at Black and brown voters and that's the conversation we need to be having ... that is the sign that white supremacy still remains a critical flaw in our democracy ... it has come to take down our entire democracy."
The Guardian has a piece about the 2013 supreme court decision known as Shelby county v Holder which the Guardian called: "One of the most consequential rulings in a generation in a case called Shelby county v Holder. In a 5-4 vote, the court struck down a formula at the heart of the Voting Rights Act, the landmark 1965 law that required certain states and localities with a history of discrimination against minority voters to get changes cleared by the federal government before they went into effect. It's hard to overstate the significance of this decision. The power of the Voting Rights Act was in the design that the supreme court gutted – discriminatory voting policies could be blocked before they harmed voters. The law placed the burden of proof on government officials to prove why the changes they were seeking were not discriminatory. Now, voters who are discriminated against now bear the burden of proving they are disenfranchised. Immediately after the decision, Republican lawmakers in Texas and North Carolina – two states previously covered by the law – moved to enact new voter ID laws and other restrictions. A federal court would later strike down the North Carolina law, writing it was designed to target African Americans 'with almost surgical precision'. 'The scope of what, frankly, the right could do, in a pre-Shelby world was very limited. Now it's not so limited,' said Bryan Sells, a voting rights attorney in Georgia. 'If I'm a Republican political consultant or strategist, the options that are available to me are now wider than they used to be ... It made it more advantageous to tinker.'"
Speaking to the press, Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, stated regarding Steve Bannon and the Capitol attack: "Steve Bannon had specific knowledge about the events before they occurred" and has a lot of evidence "relevant to the attack".
According to the AP, the state leadership in Texas has asked the US Supreme Court to leave in place its law banning almost all abortions in the state. From the story: "The state filed its response Thursday to the Biden administration's call on the court to block the law, the most restrictive abortion curb in the nation, and rule conclusively this term on the measure's constitutionality. The court's intervention at this early stage, before a federal appeals court has ruled on the law, would be highly unusual but not unprecedented. In its court filing, Texas defended an order by a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that allowed the abortion law to go back into effect after a lower-court judge put it on hold. 'In sum, far from being demonstrably wrong, the Fifth Circuit's conclusion that Texas is likely to prevail was entirely right,' the state wrote."
During debate by the full House over whether to hold Steve Bannon in criminal contempt, Republican Liz Cheney pointed out that comments Bannon made on his podcast the day before the insurrection were "shocking and indefensible". According to Cheney: "He said all hell is going to break loose. He said, 'We are coming in right over the target. This is the point of attack we have always wanted'". Cheney also entered into the record a letter that Republican Jim Banks sent to Deb Haaland the interior secretary, where he requested that any information sent to the committee be sent to him as he is the ranking member of the 1/6 committee, despite not being a member of that committee.
The full House voted to hold Steve Bannon in contempt for defying Capitol attack subpoena. The final vote was 229 to 202, with all Democrats and nine Republicans supporting the resolution. Here the names of the nine Republicans who voted with Democrats:
Liz Cheney of Wyoming
Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania
Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio
Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington
Adam Kinzinger of Illinois
John Katko of New York
Nancy Mace of South Carolina
Peter Meijer of Michigan
Fred Upton of Michigan
Only one House member did not vote on the contempt resolution, that member is Greg Pence, the brother of former Vice President Mike Pence. NOTE: Greg Pence voted against impeaching Donald Trump for inciting the Capitol insurrection.
Three reports released simultaneously by the White House, the US intelligence community and the Department of Defense warn of security and humanitarian disasters that could pose significant risks as the climate disaster continues to worsen.
According to Human Rights Watch, documents obtained after six years of legal tussles disclose more than 160 cases of misconduct and abuse by leading government agencies, notably Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and US Border Patrol. The documents record events that occurred between 2016 and 2021 that range from child sexual assault to enforced hunger, threats of rape, and brutal detention conditions.
Donald Trump, who has been banned from major social media platforms since January, announced that he will be launching his own social media company called Truth Social, which is part of a wider media network called Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG). In the announcement, Trump stated: "I created TRUTH Social and TMTG to stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech. We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced. This is unacceptable."
October 20, 2021 - In a procedural vote in the senate to open debate on the Freedom to Vote Act, Republicans blocked the advancement of the bill by voting no as a block. Because of the filibuster, Democrats needed 60 votes in a Senate that is evenly split 50 - 50. NOTE: The Freedom to Vote Act would require every state to automatically register voters at motor vehicle agencies, offer 15 consecutive days of early voting and allow anyone to request a mail-in ballot. It would also set new standards to ensure voters are not wrongfully removed from voter rolls, protect election officials against partisan interference and set out clear alternatives people who lack ID to vote can use at the polls. It also includes campaign finance regulations and outlaws the practice of gerrymandering.
Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, responded to Republicans voting to block the Freedom to Vote Act saying: "The fight to protect our democracy is far from over in the United States Senate. As soon as next week, I'm prepared to bring the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act here to the floor... Let there be no mistake, Senate Republicans blocking debate today is an implicit endorsement of the horrid new voter suppression and election subversion laws pushed in conservative states across the country."
October 19, 2021 - Jamie Raskin, a member of the select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection on January 6th, responded on twitter to Steve Bannon's claim that he can invoke executive privilege in response to the panel's subpoenas: "The idea that 'executive privilege' would shield a private citizen from turning over evidence about a violent insurrection against the [government] because he knows a twice-impeached former president is farcical and insulting. Get with it, Steve."
According to NBC News: "FBI agents swarmed the home of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska in Washington D.C. Tuesday, an agency spokesperson confirmed to NBC News. Deripaska has ties to the Kremlin and Paul Manafort, Donald Trump's former election campaign manager who served time for fraud and was pardoned by Trump. The reason for their presence wasn't immediately clear. The spokesperson said the agency is conducting 'law enforcement activity at the home,' but wouldn't elaborate." NOTE: Deripaska is a Russian oligarch with ties to Vladimir Putin. Deripaska had previously filed a lawsuit over sanctions that were issued in response to allegations of Russian election meddling. His lawsuit was dismissed in June.
Reuters has additional details on the Deripaska raid. From the story: "An FBI agent stood outside the house in one of Washington's wealthiest neighborhoods, with yellow 'CRIME SCENE DO NOT ENTER' tape across the front of the mansion, while members of the FBI's Evidence Response Team carried boxes out of the property. A spokesperson for the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed the agency was conducting a court-authorized law enforcement activity at the home, which the Washington Post has previously reported was linked to the Russian oligarch. The specific reason for sealing off and searching the mansion was not immediately clear, and the FBI spokesperson did not provide details. A representative for Deripaska said the homes belong to relatives of the oligarch. Deripaska, 53, has been under U.S. sanctions since 2018. Washington imposed sanctions on him and other influential Russians because of their ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin after alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Reuters could not immediately determine Deripaska’s whereabouts. Deripaska once employed Paul Manafort, who served for a period as the chairman of Trump's 2016 campaign and who was convicted in 2018 on tax evasion and bank fraud charges. He owns part of Rusal via his stake in the giant aluminum producer’s parent company En+ Group. Washington previously dropped sanctions against both companies but kept them on Deripaska. Rusal's Moscow-listed shares extended losses after the report, falling 6%. The representative for Deripaska, who declined to give their name because of company policy, confirmed the raid on the home in Washington as well as one in New York City, and said both belong to Deripaska's family rather than the executive himself. 'The FBI is indeed currently conducting searches of houses belonging to Oleg Deripaska's relatives. The searches are being carried out on the basis of two court warrants related to the U.S. sanctions. The houses in question are located in New York and Washington, DC and are not owned by Oleg Deripaska himself,' said the representative who did not provide any further details. Deripaska previously sued to have the U.S. sanctions lifted but his case was dismissed in June."
According to the Washington Post, Tommy Tuberville, a US Senator from Alabama, was warned by Trump on January 6th to protect himself. From the story: "It was the former college football coach's first full day in the Senate, and already he was being called off the sidelines. Earlier on Jan. 6, Trump had wanted to talk to Tuberville but called Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) by mistake; Lee had handed Tuberville a cellphone in the Senate chamber. Tuberville said he didn't have time to find out exactly what Trump wanted. Vice President Mike Pence had been whisked to a secure location, and Tuberville and his colleagues had to get moving, too. 'I know we've got problems,' Tuberville recalled the president saying before the call ended. 'Protect yourself. Inside the storage closet, a bunker within a bunker, surrounded by stacked furniture, the senators weighed whether the mob's demonstration of loyalty to Trump that day might affect their own."
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, was asked about a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump to block attempts by the House select committee to access White House documents related to the Capitol insurrection and Trump's efforts to invoke executive privilege. Psaki's response: "Our view, and I think the view of the vast majority of Americans, is that former President Trump abused the office of the presidency and attempted to subvert a peaceful transfer of power. The former president's actions represented a unique and existential threat to our democracy that we don't feel can be swept under the rug... constitutional protections of executive privilege should not be used to shield information that reflects a clear and apparent effort to subvert the constitution itself."
According to a new Quinnipiac poll, 51% of Americans feel that Trump has had a mainly negative impact on American politics. 41% feel he has had a mainly positive impact. 51% also feel Trump has undermined democracy, while 39% feel he has been protecting it. Among just Republicans, 78% say they want him back as president.
According to the Washington Post, the White House sent a letter to Steve Bannon's lawyer saying he had no basis for his refusal to appear for a deposition. From the letter: "As you are aware, Mr. Bannon's tenure as a White House employee ended in 2017. To the extent any privileges could apply to Mr. Bannon's conversations with the former President or White House staff after the conclusion of his tenure, President Biden has already determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not in the public interest, and therefore is not justified, with respect to certain subjects within the purview of the Select Committee."
The House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection on January 6th has voted to recommend criminal prosecution of Steve Bannon, Trump's former chief strategist. NOTE: Bannon defied a subpoena to appear before the committee.
Before the vote to recommend criminal prosecution of Steve Bannon, Liz Cheney, a Republican member of the House select committee stated: "Mr. Bannon's and Mr. Trump's privilege arguments do appear to reveal one thing. They suggest that President Trump was personally involved in the planning and execution of 6 January. And we will get to the bottom of that.” Cheney also had a message for Republican lawmakers: “You know that there is no evidence of widespread election fraud sufficient to overturn the election; you know that the Dominion voting machines were not corrupted by a foreign power. You know those claims are false."
October 18, 2021 - Colin Powell, the former secretary of state and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff died from complications due to covid-19. Powell was 84.
Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against the January 6th select committee and the National Archives to block the release of White House documents pertaining to the January 6th attack on the US Capitol. The lawsuit seeks to invalidate the select committees request for documents, and allow Trump lawyers to review all documents selected by the National Archives before they are turned over.
The Department of Justice is asking the supreme court to block a Texas law that would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
October 15, 2021 - Michael Riley, a 25-year veteran of the Capitol police, has been charged with obstruction of justice, for his role in helping one of the participants in the Capitol attack by encouraging him to take down incriminating posts from his facebook account.
The select committee investigating the January 6th attack on the US Capitol will vote October 19th on whether to recommend that steve Bannon face criminal contempt charges over his refusal to appear before the panel.
Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives passed a bill to ban transgender women and girls from participating in school sports. NOTE: Bills limiting access to sports by trans girls have been passed this year in Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi and West Virginia. Bills that more broadly ban trans kids from playing on the teams that match their gender were signed into law in Alabama, Montana and Tennessee. Idaho passed a similar sports ban last year, but the federal courts have blocked it.
October 14, 2021 - Former White House adviser Steve Bannon, who is scheduled to appear before the House select committee today, appeared at a rally yesterday in a suburb outside of Richmond, VA. The rally opened with the Pledge of Allegiance to a flag the emcee stated had been present "at the peaceful rally with Donald J Trump on January 6th". Bannon told the crowd: "We're going to build the wall. We're going to confront China. We're putting together a coalition that's going to govern for 100 years." Donald Trump called into the rally and stated: "We won in 2016. We won in 2020 — the most corrupt election in the history of our country, probably one of the most corrupt anywhere. But we're going to win it again."
Steve Bannon, the former Trump adviser, and Kash Patel, a former Trump aide, failed to appear for questioning today.
The House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection will move forward with proceedings to refer Steve Bannon for criminal contempt after Trump's former adviser failed to show today. Bennie Thompson, the leader of the committee, issued the following statement: "Mr. Bannon has declined to cooperate with the Select Committee and is instead hiding behind the former President's insufficient, blanket, and vague statements regarding privileges he has purported to invoke. We reject his position entirely. The Select Committee will not tolerate defiance of our subpoenas, so we must move forward with proceedings to refer Mr. Bannon for criminal contempt. I've notified the Select Committee that we will convene for a business meeting Tuesday evening to vote on adopting a contempt report. The Select Committee will use every tool at its disposal to get the information it seeks, and witnesses who try to stonewall the Select Committee will not succeed. All witnesses are required to provide the information they possess so the Committee can get to the facts. We're grateful to the many individuals who are voluntarily participating and to witnesses who are complying with subpoenas, including several who met the deadline to begin producing materials to the Select Committee. We're moving ahead quickly to get answers for the American people about what happened on January 6th and help secure the future of American democracy."
Adam Schiff, a member of the House select committee, sent the following in a tweet: "We've said it before, and we'll say it again: We're not messing around here. People with relevant information to our investigation into January 6 must comply with lawful subpoenas. If they don't, we will use all the tools at our disposal — including criminal contempt."
This is the note that Bennie Thompson sent out to explain the process the select committee will follow in pursuit of information: "Any person who willfully refuses to provide testimony or documents subpoenaed by Congress, including committees of the House, is potentially liable for contempt of Congress under 2 U.S.C. §§ 192, 194. Contempt of Congress is a crime that may result in a fine and between one and twelve months imprisonment. Contempt of Congress begins with a 'formal action' by the Select Committee, i.e., a business meeting at which a contempt report is adopted. If a witness fails to appear, produce documents, or refuses to answer any question 'pertinent to the question under inquiry,' the Select Committee then writes a report documenting the inquiry, the attempts to accommodate the witness's production or testimony, and the failure by the witness to appear, produce, or answer a pertinent question. The report also contains the text of the resolution recommending the full House hold the witness in contempt. After the Select Committee has adopted a contempt report, it is referred to the House for a vote and, upon its adoption, the Speaker certifies the report to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. Under 2 U.S.C. § 194, following such certification it is the 'duty' of the United States Attorney to 'bring the matter before the grand jury for its action.'"
According to the Washington Post, Donald Trump will be required to testify in a lawsuit in New York that alleges his Trump Tower security guards assaulted people protesting his 2016 campaign trail comments about Mexican immigrants.
October 13, 2021 - William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk in Star Trek, became the oldest person in space while flying aboard Blue Origin, a rocket built by entrepreneur Jeff Bezos.
A study of more than 1,000 schools in Arizona's Maricopa and Pima counties found that schools without a mask requirement were 3.5x more likely to have a Covid outbreak than schools that require masks. According to the findings, there were 113 Covid-19 outbreaks in schools without mask requirements, compared to 16 outbreaks in schools with mask requirements.
A study of more than 2 million people from 800,000 families found that "as the number of family members vaccinated against Covid-19 increased, the risk to the unvaccinated family members decreased."
Walt Blackman, an Arizona Republican running for Congress, and who the National Republican Congressional Committee announced is a member of their Young Guns recruitment program led by House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, said the following at a rally in Phoenix in September: "I believe those are the Proud Boys back there. Let me tell you something about the Proud Boys. The Proud Boys came to one of my events and that was one of the proudest moments of my life. Not because of what the media portrayed them to be, but the patriots they showed young people: the example on how to be an American." NOTE: Dozens of people with ties to the Proud Boys have been charged in the January 6th insurrection at the US Capitol.
The House select committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol on January 6th issued a subpoena to Jeffrey Clark, a top Trump justice department official.
Writing for the Guardian, Amanda Holpuch offers the following analysis of Florida, where the department of health levied a $3.5m fine against a county government for requiring its employees to provide proof of a Covid-19 vaccination: "The state is also investigating other government entities, schools and businesses, including a Harry Styles concert, for violating its ban on asking people to provide proof of vaccination. The ban went into effect last month and Texas put a similar ban in place on Monday. Florida fined Leon county $5,000 for each of the 714 employees it asked to provide proof of vaccination by 1 October. The health department said 700 employees met this requirement and the 14 employees who did not were terminated several days later. Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, said the state health department would continue to enforce the ban. 'We're going to stand up for Floridians' jobs, stand up for Floridians' livelihoods, and stand up for freedom,' DeSantis said in a statement. The Florida and Texas bans challenge Joe Biden's planned rule for companies with more than 100 workers to require proof of vaccination or weekly testing. Biden announced the rule in September but its details are still being worked out."
October 12, 2021 - During an interview with CNN, California representative Adam Schiff described his experience during the insurrection and his reaction to Republicans who were advising him on how to stay safe during the insurrection to which Schiff stated: "My next reaction was to think, 'If you all hadn't been lying about the election, let alone lying about me for four years, I wouldn't need to be worried about my security. None of us would need to be worried about it". Schiff continued: "What angered me the most, I think, about that day were these insurrectionists in suits and ties who were, still, even after the bloody insurrection, even after all the shattered glass and death of that day, were back on the House floor, trying to overturn the election." Schiff was then asked if he thought Representative McCarthy was an insurrectionist in a suit and tie, to which Schiff responded "Absolutely" then added that McCarthy has "absolutely no reverence for the truth."
According to the AP, numerous red states are considering moves to ban vaccine mandates. From the story: "With the governor of Texas leading the charge, conservative Republicans in several states are moving to block or undercut President Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandates for private employers before the regulations are even issued. The growing battle over what some see as overreach by the federal government is firing up a segment of the Republican Party base, even though many large employers have already decided on their own to require their workers to get the shot. The dustup will almost certainly end up in court since GOP attorneys general in nearly half of the states have vowed to sue once the rule is unveiled. The courts have long upheld vaccine mandates, and the Constitution gives the federal government the upper hand over the states, but with the details still unannounced and more conservative judges on the bench, the outcome isn't entirely clear. On Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order barring private companies or any other entity from requiring vaccines. It was perhaps the most direct challenge yet to Biden's announcement a month ago that workers at private companies with more than 100 employees would have to get either vaccinated or tested weekly for the coronavirus.... White House officials brushed off Abbott's order, saying the question of whether state law could supersede federal was settled 160 years ago during the Civil War. They said the Biden administration will push through the opposition and put into effect the president's package of mandates, which could affect up to 100 million Americans in all. ...Elsewhere, lawmakers in Arkansas have approved a measure creating vaccine-mandate exemptions. Though the GOP governor hasn't said whether he will sign it, it has prompted fears businesses will be forced to choose whether to break federal or state law. Calls for special legislative sessions to counter vaccine mandates have been heard in states like Wyoming, Kansas and South Dakota. Bills are being introduced or drafted elsewhere too, including swing states like Ohio and New Hampshire. In Utah, lawmakers have not taken action, but a record-setting crowd of over 600 people packed a legislative hearing room last week... While the conservative legislative push may not ultimately succeed in blocking the mandates, it could be a stumbling block and could prove to be another factor pushing the GOP further right."
According to Reuters, supply chain issues could cause higher prices and shortages over the upcoming holiday season. From the story: "White House officials, scrambling to relieve global supply bottlenecks choking U.S. ports, highways and railways, warn that Americans may face higher prices and some empty shelves this Christmas season. The supply crisis, driven in part by the global COVID-19 pandemic, not only threatens to dampen U.S. spending at a critical time, it also poses a political risk for President Joe Biden. The White House has been trying to tackle inflation-inducing supply bottlenecks of everything from meat to semiconductors, and formed a task force in June that meets weekly and named a 'bottleneck' czar to push private-sector companies to ease snarls. Biden himself plans to meet with top executives from retail giants Wal-Mart Inc and Home Depot Inc and with unions and other stakeholders on Wednesday to discuss efforts to relieve transportation bottlenecks before delivering a speech on the topic. American consumers, unused to empty store shelves, may need to be flexible and patient, White House officials said. 'There will be things that people can't get,' a senior White House official told Reuters, when asked about holiday shopping. 'At the same time, a lot of these goods are hopefully substitutable by other things. ... I don't think there's any real reason to be panicked, but we all feel the frustration and there's a certain need for patience to help get through a relatively short period of time.' Inflation is eating into wages. Labor Department data shows that Americans made 0.9% less per hour on average in August than they did one year prior. The White House argues inflation is a sign that their decision to provide historic support to small businesses and households, through $1.9 trillion in COVID-19 relief funding, worked. U.S. consumer demand stayed strong, outpacing global rivals, and the Biden administration expects the overall economy to grow at 7.1%, as inflation reaches its highest levels since the 1980s."
October 8, 2021 - The US economy added 194,000 jobs in September, which was far below the expected 500,000.
According to documents released by the House oversight committee, Donald Trump's DC hotel lost $74m between 2016 and 2020, despite public claims by Trump that the hotel was making tens of millions of dollars. Members of the committee penned a letter to the general services administration stating that newly obtained documents show that "President Trump's federal financial disclosures projected an exaggerated image of financial success and hid the Trump Hotel's serious financial problems, raising questions about the effectiveness of the current financial disclosure regime. In particular, the new documents show that while President Trump privately reported tens of millions of dollars in losses to GSA, he hid these losses from the American public by omitting them from his federally mandated, public financial disclosures. By portraying the hotel as a successful business, President Trump concealed significant ethical issues stemming from his failing business. The hotel's massive losses decreased President Trump's personal net worth, compromised the hotel's ability to repay loans from other entities owned by the President, and potentially jeopardized his other personal assets due to the personal guarantee he provided for the Trump Hotel's $170m debt." Additional key points in the report:
- Trump received “undisclosed preferential treatment” from Deutsche Bank - a foreign bank - on a $170m construction loan in 2018, which he did not disclose.
- The Trump Hotel received about $3.7m in payments from foreign governments from 2017 to 2020, raising questions about possible violations of the foreign emoluments clause.
- Trump concealed debts when he applied for the federal government lease in 2011. According to the documents, he provided the general services administration with financial information that omitted $1.1bn in outstanding loan balances for properties in Chicago, Las Vegas, New York, and San Francisco.
- Trump transferred millions of dollars in and out of the Trump Hotel through affiliated entities and opaque transactions with other Trump businesses, which raises questions on whether the general services administration was able to enforce provisions that prohibited the president from taking money out of the business.
An attorney for Steve Bannon has informed the select House committee investigating the January 6th attack on the US Capitol that Bannon will not be cooperating with their subpoena to provide related documents because those things are covered by "executive privilege".
Joe Biden announced that he will be restoring protections for three national monuments that were stripped down by the Trump administration. Those monuments are Bears Ears National Monument, Grand Staircase-Escalante and Northeast Canyons and Semounts National Monument.
Joe Biden waived executive privilege for the 1st set of documents at the National Archives which are being sought by the select House committee investigating the January 6th insurrection at the US Capitol. Trump's legal team sought to block the release of the documents claiming they are protected by executive privilege. NOTE: Only the person currently in office can declare executive privilege. In a letter to the Archives, White House counsel Dana Remus wrote: "After my consultations with the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice, President Biden has determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not in the best interests of the United States, and therefore is not justified as to any of the documents".
Joe Biden became the 1st president today to issue a proclamation commemorating Indigenous People's Day.
In a letter to the National Archives protesting the release of records sought by the House select committee, Trump wrote that the investigation into the attack on January 6th is about "using the power of the government to silence 'Trump' and our Make America Great Again movement. My administration, and the great patriots who worked on behalf of the American people, will not be intimidated".
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following analysis of details contained in a Senate report about Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election: "In late December, Trump asked the justice department to take the highly unusual step of filing an election lawsuit directly in the US Supreme Court. The suit would have asked the court to nullify Biden's election victories in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada. The solicitor general's office (OSG) and the office of legal counsel (OLC) prepared memos explaining why the department could not file a lawsuit. 'Among other hurdles, OSG explained that DOJ could not file an original supreme court action for the benefit of a political candidate,' the senate report says. A plain-English memo from OLC was more blunt. '[T]here is no legal basis to bring this lawsuit.'"
October 7, 2021 - The Senate judiciary committee released an interim report on Donald Trump's efforts to pressure the justice department into overturning the 2020 presidential election titled Subverting Justice. Here are some key findings in the report:
- Trump repeatedly asked DoJ leadership to endorse his false claim that the election was stolen and declare the election “corrupt”.
- White House chief of staff Mark Meadows asked acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen to initiate election fraud investigations on multiple occasions – a violation of longstanding restrictions on communications between the White House and the justice department about specific law enforcement matters.
- Trump ally Jeffrey Bossert Clark told Rosen he would decline Trump's potential offer to install him as acting attorney general if Rosen agreed to publicly announce that the DoJ was investigating election fraud and tell key swing state legislatures they should appoint alternate slates of electors following certification of the popular vote.
- Trump forced the resignation of US attorney Byung Jin ("BJay") Pak, whom he believed was not doing enough to address false claims of election fraud in Georgia, and then went outside the line of succession to appoint someone he believed would "do something" about his election fraud claims.
- In addition to Trump White House officials, outside Trump allies with ties to the "Stop the Steal" movement and the 6 January attack on the US Capitol also pressured the DoJ to help overturn the election results.
- By pursuing false claims of election fraud before votes were certified, the justice department deviated from a longstanding practice meant to avoid inserting the justice department itself as an issue in the election.
Senator Chuck Grassley released the GOP version of the report. In that report, Grassley claimed:
- "the available facts and evidence show that President Trump listened to his senior DOJ and White House advisors at every step of the fact pattern presented by this investigation and that he did not weaponize DOJ for his personal or campaign purposes."
- "President Trump's focus was on 'legitimate complaints' and 'reports of crimes'"
- "President Trump was inundated with information about election fraud allegations and witnesses testified that they believe he was wrongly informed by some people within his circle. However, when presented with the opportunity to order DOJ to take certain actions that would have been against the advice and recommendations of his senior counsel, such as terminating Rosen and sending Clark's letter, the President did not take those actions."
Based on the findings in the newly released report by the Senate Judiciary Committee, senator Dick Durbin has asked the Washington DC Bar to open an investigation into Trump ally Jeffrey Clark.
According to David Becker, an election administration expert and the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, Republicans across many states "have slight differences tactically, but they all share the same strategic goals, which are primarily to continue to sow doubt about the integrity of American elections overall. I don't know that there's a word to describe how concerning it is."
Speaking in Illinois, president Joe Biden stated that "The unvaccinated put our economy at risk. People are reluctant to go out. Even in places where there are no restrictions in going to restaurants and gyms and movie theaters, people are not going. They're worried they're going to get sick."
According to the Washington Post and Politico, an attorney for Donald Trump sent a letter on the former president's behalf asking Trump's former aides not to comply with congressional investigators looking into the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol. The letter argues that "the executive and other privileges, including among others the presidential communications, deliberative process, and attorney-client privileges" are protected. The letter goes on to say that "President Trump is prepared to defend these fundamental privileges in court".
Writing for the Guardian, Hugo Lowell offers the following analysis of subpoenas issued to former Trump aides: "The move to defy the subpoenas would mark the first major investigative hurdle faced by the select committee and threatens to touch off an extended legal battle as the former president pushes some of his most senior aides to undercut the inquiry. All four Trump aides targeted by the select committee – Meadows, deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, strategist Steve Bannon and defense department aide Kash Patel – are expected to resist the orders because Trump is preparing to direct them to do so, the source said. The select committee had issued the subpoenas under the threat of criminal prosecution in the event of non-compliance, warning that the penalty for defying a congressional subpoena would be far graver under the Biden administration than during the Trump presidency."
According to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics, more than 140,000 children under 18 lost their mother, father, or grandparent who provided their housing, basic needs and daily care to Covid from April 2020 through the end of June 2021. The hardest hit were members of racial and ethnic minority groups like Hispanic, Black, Asian and American Indian/Alaska Native which make up 39% of the population, but represent 65% of the losses.
According to the Guardian, Alaska, which has the highest rate of Covid cases, has resorted to rationing healthcare at 20 medical centers across the state.
October 5, 2021 - During an appearance on Fox News, Mike Pence said the media's focus on the events of January 6th at the US Capitol - in which a pro Trump mob chanted "Hang Mike Pence" - is all meant "to distract from the Biden administration's failed agenda by focusing on one day in January". According to Pence: "I believe that our entire focus today should be on the future". Pence went on to say that the media "want to use that one day [6 January] to try and demean the character and intentions of 74 million Americans who believe we could be strong again and prosperous again and supported our administration in 2016 and 2020."
During an interview with CNN, Stephanie Grisham, the former White House press secretary under Donald Trump, admitted that she "probably wasn't" honest during her interviews with Fox News and lied on at least one occasion about former White House chief of staff John Kelly. During a 2019 interview on Fox, Grisham had said "I worked with John Kelly and he was totally unequipped to handle the genius of our great president." Grisham admitted today that Trump told her to say that after Kelly disparaged Trump in some way. According to Grisham "I don't speak that way. He dictated that to me, word for word. At the time, I felt, I was his spokesperson. He told me to do it. I knew he was probably sitting there, watching TV, waiting for it. And so I put it out. It's one of my biggest regrets. I apologized to general Kelly and Mrs Kelly in the book about it." Grisham also revealed that she did not vote for Trump in 2020.
The following exchange took place between Republican senator Lindsey Graham and an audience at the Summmerville Country Club in Dorchester county in South Carolina:
GRAHAM: "If you haven't had the vaccine, you ought to think about getting it because if you're my age ..."
AUDIENCE: "No!" and "Boo!"
GRAHAM: "I didn't tell you to get it. You ought to think about it."
AUDIENCE: "No!" and "Boo!"
GRAHAM: "92% of people hospitalized in South Catrolina with Covid-19 were not vaccinated."
AUDIENCE: "False!" and "Not true!" and "Boo!"
Frances Haugen, a 37-year-old former Facebook employee, testified today before congress about how Facebook knowingly harms children. According to Haugen: "Facebook knows that they are leading young users to anorexia content"
According to Forbes, the 400 richest Americans added $4.5tn to their wealth last year even as the pandemic shuttered large parts of the US economy.
Joe Arpaio, who was pardoned by Donald Trump after being convicted of criminal contempt for disobeying a judges order, has announced he is running for mayor of Fountain Hills, AZ. NOTE: Arpaio is 89.
October 4, 2021 - Speaking to ABC's Good Morning America, Stephanie Grisham, the former White House press secretary, stated regarding Trump: "He's clearly the frontrunner in the Republican party. Everybody's showing their fealty to him. He's on his revenge tour, for people who dared to vote for impeachment. And I want to just warn people that once he takes office if he were to win, he doesn't have to worry about reelection anymore. He will be about revenge, he will probably have some pretty draconian policies."
According to the AP, Donald Trump has until December 23rd to undergo questioning in a defamation lawsuit filed by Summer Zervos. Zervos had accused Trump of unwanted kissing and groping during meetings in 2007 at his New York office and at a California hotel where he was staying. The lawsuit was filed after Trump called her claims "a hoax" and described the women who accused him of sexual assault and harassment as "liars" who were trying to hurt his 2016 campaign. Zervos' suit alleges damaged reputation and is seeking a retraction, an apology and unspecified damages. Zervos appeared on Trump's show The Apprentice in 2006.
While speaking to a Sirius XM host, Mary Trump, Donald Trump's niece, stated that she had been served with papers in a lawsuit filed by the former president. During the interview she stated: "Donald is suing me, the New York Times and the three Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters who wrote that extraordinary piece of journalism in 2018, for $100m for reasons which don't necessarily stand up to scrutiny, but obviously we'll have to let the courts decide. But in an unusual move, a process server came to my home to serve me with papers – which typically doesn't happen if you're represented by counsel. It's usually sent to the attorney's office, so I'm guessing it was some kind of power play. But to lighten the mood, I guess, the process server also asked me to sign a copy of my first book which he had brought with him."
October 1, 2021 - Brett Kavanaugh, one of the conservative justices on the Supreme Court, has tested positive for Covid-19.
Former president Jimmy Carter turned 97 today.
According to MSNBC, Rudy Giuliani admitted under oath that Donald Trump's claim of voter fraud in the 2020 election is baseless. Giuliani was deposed in a lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Machines in response to claims by Giuliani and attorney Sydney Powell that Dominion worked with actors including Venezuela and George Soros to help Joe Biden steal the election. While being deposed in Coomer vs Trump Campaign, Giuliani claimed that he couldn't remember from which social media platform the claims came from, and that he did not "lay eyes on" any other evidence for the claims, and that he did not speak to a witness he has claimed in public to know of. According to transcripts of the deposition, Giuliani stated: "It's not my job in a fast-moving case to go out and investigate every piece of evidence that's given to me, otherwise, you're never going to write a story." and “Why the heck wouldn't I believe him? I would have been a terrible lawyer to say, 'Let’s go find out if it's untrue.' I didn't have the time to do that."
September 30, 2021 - After Liz Cheney, congresswoman from Wyoming, admitted that she was wrong to oppose equal marriage. A reporter then asked Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, if his views had changed. McCarthy's answer: "Look — same-sex marriage is the law of the land, and it's what America holds, and that's the law of the land"
Fifteen Senate Republicans, including minority leader Mitch McConnell, joined all 50 Senate Democrats to pass a stopgap government spending bill. The same bill went to the House where 34 Republicans joined all 220 Democrats to pass the bill. Joe Biden signed the bill, which averts a government shutdown through December 3rd.
According to the Guardian, a leaked document reveals the membership of the secretive Council for National Policy (CNP), which includes elite Republicans, wealthy entrpeneurs, media proprietors and pillars of the US conservative movement, along with members of groups the Southern Poverty Law Center includes on its hate groups list. The group was founded in 1981 by activists influential in the Christian right, including Tim LaHaye, Howard Phillips and Paul Weyrich, who had also been involved in founding and leading the Moral Majority.
September 29, 2021 - According to the Guardian, Donald Trump is planning to sue to block the House select committee investigating the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol from receiving White House records. According to the story, Trump also expects top aides like former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, strategist Steve Bannon and defense department aide Kash Patel, to defy select committee subpoenas for records and testimony.
According to the Guardian, the state of Alabama, which has the highest death rate from Covid-19 in America, is planning to use Covid relief funds to help construct three large prisons, and renovate several others. Opponenets of the planeed spending argue that the funds should be used to address pandemic issues like overwhelmed health systems, outdated school ventilation systems and the economic fallout for small businesses. The governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, is a Republican.
The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack issued 11 subpoenas for people directly connected to the rally immediately preceding the January 6th riot. Included in this group of subpoenas are 11 individuals connected to the Trump-supporting organization Women for America First, which organized the rally at the Ellipse. The subpoenas included Amy Kremer and her daughter Kylie Jane Kremer, the two co-founders of the organization.
September 28, 2021 - Authors Bob Woodward and Robert Costa dropped a bombshell in their book "Peril" which describes how General Mark Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, carried out acts of insubordination during Trump's presidency to prevent Trump from starting a war as a diversion from his election defeat in 2020. According to the book, Milley called his Chinese counterpart twice to reassure him that the US would not conduct a surprise attack, and that he would alert Beijing if Trump tried to order one. Milley will appear today beofore the Senate. Republicans have accused Milley of treason over this reporting.
Mark Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and Lloyd Austin, the defense secretary, appeared today before the Senate armed services committee. Here are some highlights:
- Jim Inhofe, the top Republican on the committee, criticized the Biden administration for coordinating with the Taliban during the Kabul evacuation, saying "We went from 'we will never negotiate with terriorists' to 'we must negotiate with terrorists.'" NOTE: in 2020, after the Trump administration made a deal with the Taliban regarding US withdrawl from Afghanistan, Inhofe tweeted: "I commend President Trump and his administration for this weekend's historic steps towards peace in Afghanistan."
- Lloyd Austin stated: "We helped build a state, Mr Chairman, but we could not forge a nation. The fact that the Afghan army that we and our partners trained simply melted away – in many cases without firing a shot – took us all by surprise. And it would be dishonest to claim otherwise."
- Mark Milley stated that his calls to his Chinese counterpart were within the purview of his responsibilities as chairman. Milley also noted that defense secretary Mark Esper helped coordinate the conversations, and that they were arranged due to "concerning intelligence" that the Chinese were concerned about a potential US attack on them. Milley stated: "I know, I am certain that President Trump did not intend to attack the Chinese. My task at that time was to de-escalate."
- Mark Milley spoke of a call he received on January 8th from House speaker Nancy Pelosi regarding Trump's ability to launch nuclear weapons saying: "I sought to assure her that nuclear launch is governed by a very specific and deliberate process. She was concerned and made various personal references characterizing the president. I explained to her that the president is the sole nuclear launch authority and he doesn't launch them alone and that I am not qualified to determine the mental health of the president of the United States." Milley said he assurred her that there was "no chance of an illegal, unauthorized or accidental launch of nuclear weapons."
- Milley called the withdrawl from Afghanistan a "logistical success but a strategic failure."
Stephanie Grisham, the former White House press secretary under Donald Trump, revealed in her new book: I'll Take Your Questions Now, that she heard Trump tell Putin at Osaka in 2019 that he had to pretend to be tough in front of the cameras saying "OK, I'm going to act a little tough with you for a few minutes, but it's for the cameras, and after they leave, we'll talk. You understand."
During a speech to the Youth4Climate summit in Milan, Italy, Greta Thunberg mocked global leaders over their promises to address climate change saying: "Build back better. Blah, blah, blah. Green economy. Blah blah blah. Net zero by 2050. Blah, blah, blah. This is all we hear from our so-called leaders. Words that sound great but so far have not led to action. Our hopes and ambitions drown in their empty promises. Of course we need constructive dialogue, but they’ve now had 30 years of blah, blah, blah and where has that led us? We can still turn this around – it is entirely possible. It will take immediate, drastic annual emission reductions. But not if things go on like today. Our leaders' intentional lack of action is a betrayal toward all present and future generations."
September 27, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following analysis of Republican efforts in Texas to retain power: "Texas lawmakers released their long-awaited proposed congressional map on Monday, a plan that would shore up Republican control of congressional seats across the state even as Democrats have made substantial gains in recent elections. Although 95% of the population growth in Texas over the last decade was from voters of color, the new map does not create any new districts where Hispanics form a majority. Compared to the map currently in place, it creates an additional white-majority district and one less Hispani c-majority district, according to the Texas Tribune. The map strengthens Republican control of the suburbs of several areas, some of the fastest growing areas in the state. Republicans are attempting to 'pack' Democratic voters in those suburban areas into already-Democratic districts, and then attaching the suburban districts to more rural areas. A good example of this is the 22nd congressional district, which is anchored in Fort Bend county, suburbs outside of Houston. Trump barely carried the district in 2020 by less than a percentage point. The new proposed 22nd congressional district carves out some of the most Democratic parts of the county and attaches them to already heavy Democratic districts in Houston. The new plan attaches two counties that overwhelmingly voted for Trump in 2020. If the 2020 election were held under the new lines, Trump would have won 58% of the vote, according to Planscore, a tool run by the Campaign Legal Center that analyzes maps."
Joe Biden got his Covid-19 booster shot on live television, and during the broadcast encouraged Americans to get their booster shot.
Senate Democrats moved to raise the debt ceiling, which raises the amount of money the US government can borrow, which must be passed by the end of the week to avoid a government shutdown. Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, tweeted in response: "We will not provide Republican votes for raising the debt limit." NOTE: The debt ceiling was raised three times in a bipartisan way during Trump's presidency.
According to Yahoo News, senior CIA officials during the Trump administration discussed abducting and/or assassinating Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. According to the story, Mike Pompeo, who was secretary of state, and other top CIA officials were furious about Wikileaks' publication of "Vault 7", which is a set of CIA hacking tools. The CIA has called this event the biggest data loss in its history. According to the story, "there seemed to be no boundaries" in the discussions of options according to a senior counterterrorist official.
The New York Times offers the following commentary on Republican's refusal to vote for raising the debt limit: "Republicans who had voted to raise the debt cap by trillions when their party controlled Washington argued on Monday that Democrats must shoulder the entire political burden for doing so now, given that they control the White House and both houses of Congress. Their position was calculated to portray Democrats as ineffectual and overreaching at a time when they are already toiling to iron out deep party divisions over a $3.5 trillion social safety net and climate change bill, and to pave the way for a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure measure whose fate is linked to it."
September 24, 2021 - According to the Arizona Republic, a controversial "audit" of 2020 ballots in Maricopa county has concluded. According to their early findings, Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump. From the story:
"The three-volume report by the Cyber Ninjas, the Senate's lead contractor, includes results that show Trump lost by a wider margin than the county's official election results. The data in the report also confirms that U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly won in the county. The official results are set to be presented to the Senate at 1 p.m. Friday. Several versions of the draft report, titled 'Maricopa County Forensic Audit' by Cyber Ninjas, circulated prematurely on Wednesday and Thursday."
Carolyn Maloney, the chairwoman of the house oversight committee, and Jamie Raskin, the chairman of the subcommittee on civil rights and civil liberties, sent a letter to Doug Logan, the CEO of Cyber Ninjas, to appear at a hearing on October 7. From the letter:
"This request follows your repeated refusal to produce documents requested by the Committee regarding this largely privately funded audit ... As a result of your obstruction, your participation in a Committee hearing is necessary for the Committee to advance the investigation of the questionable audit your company performed and to examine whether this audit is interfering with Americans' right to vote free from partisan interference."
House Democrats voted for the Women's Health and Protection Act to establish a federal right to abortion. The measure was opposed by one Democrat, and every Republican.
Politico offers the following details on the process going forward as the select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection issues subpoenas:
"The National Archives and Records Administration has sent hundreds of pages of documents requested by the Jan. 6 select committee to the former president's legal team to review, according to a person familiar with the situation. That move kicks off a process that will result in some tough decisions for Biden's White House counsel, both politically and legally. That's because the office will have to decide whether to sign off on any efforts from Team Trump to keep sensitive White House communications from becoming public. When it comes to document after document relevant to the Jan. 6 panel's expansive request, Biden White House lawyers will likely face the same tough dilemma: They can either send Congress the material over Trump's objections, entering unprecedented legal territory about the treatment of former presidents; or they can withhold materials from Hill allies, thereby stymieing investigators' access and potentially generating significant political fallout."
During testimony in Arizona, the group involved in the "audit" of ballots in Maricopa county are describing "anomalies", despite finding no fraud, and are saying more investigation is needed.
Brad Raffensperger, the Republican official in charge of elections in the state of Georgia, sat down for an interview with the Washington Examiner where he discussed an upcoming Trump rally in that state, and also the lies Trump continues to tell about the election. According to Raffensperger:
"He's going to come, and he's going to say what he's going to say, but he knows in his heart that he lost ... Every time we've looked into all of these and all of these concerns, it's clear that Donald Trump lost the election fair and square ... What bothers me, and it really should bother everyone, after 10 months since the last ballots were counted, we're still dealing with this misinformation and disinformation surrounding the elections."
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following analysis of the Cyber Ninjas "audit" in Arizona:
"In search of fraud, Arizona Cyber Ninjas review found 99 additional votes for Biden. Arizona's 'Cyber Ninjas' election investigation, which lasted several months, confirmed that Joe Biden did indeed beat Trump in Maricopa county, the state's most populous county, Doug Logan, who led the review, told the Arizona senate on Friday. In fact, a hand recount found 99 additional votes for Biden and 261 fewer votes for Trump. Logan, the CEO of Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based firm leading the review, said in a presentation Friday afternoon to the Arizona senate that the discrepancies were 'small'. 'The ballots that were provided to us in the coliseum very accurately correlate with the official canvas numbers that came through,' he said. Despite that finding, Logan, who has spread election conspiracy theories, outlined what he claimed were anomalies in the count. Several of them were immediately debunked by Maricopa county officials, who fact-checked his presentation. Shiva Ayyadurai, a failed US senate candidate who has espoused election conspiracy theories, gave another presentation filled with misrepresentations about the county's process for verifying signatures."
According to the Guardian, experts are warning of GOP "election subversion". From the story:
"The United States faces significant risks to its democracy in the 2022 and 2024 elections, experts on democracy and election law warned at a conference on Friday. 'You have a significant portion of one of the two major political parties that is no longer committed to democratic norms,' political scientist Larry Diamond, a fellow at the conservative Hoover Institute, warned as part of a conference on 'election subversion' hosted by the University of California, Irvine. 'We are facing an existential challenge to American democracy.' 'It's not just the crazies that kill democracy, it's not just the people who storm the Capitol on 6 January,' said Steve Levitsky, one of the authors of How Democracies Die. 'It is the mainstream Republican party not breaking with democratic extremists that is most dangerous at this moment.' 'The US faces a serious risk that the 2024 election, and other future US elections, will not be conducted fairly, and that the candidates taking office will not reflect free choices made by eligible voters under previously announced election rules,' Rick Hasen, a leading US election law expert and the host of the conference, said. The decision by many Republican politicians to continue to back Donald Trump's claims that he lost because of election fraud, and their continued willingness to undermine confidence in elections rather than admit defeat, was a serious blow to American democracy, Levitsky said. 'You can't have a democracy if one of the two major parties cannot accept an election defeat,' Levitsky said. 'In most cases where we lose a democracy, you can get it back, but it often takes, ten, fifteen, twenty years,' he added later. 'Better to prevent backsliding than to try to reverse it.'"
September 23, 2021 - According to the New York Times, the FBI released its Uniform Crime Report, which showed that murders in the US increased by 29% in 2020. From the story:
"The United States in 2020 experienced the biggest rise in murder since the start of national record-keeping in 1960, according to data gathered by the F.B.I. for its annual report on crime. The Uniform Crime Report will stand as the official word on an unusually grim year, detailing a rise in murder of around 29 percent. The previous largest one-year change was a 12.7 percent increase in 1968. The national rate — murders per 100,000 — still remains about one-third below the rate in the early 1990s. The data is scheduled to be released on Monday along with a news release, but it was published early on the F.B.I.'s Crime Data Explorer website."
Reacting to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, Kayleigh McEnany, the former White House press secretary and current Fox News host, tweeted a graph contained in the report showing the spike in murders in 2020 with the words "The U.S. murder rate under Joe Biden..." NOTE: McEnany deleted the tweet, after numerous twitter users pointed out that Donald Trump was the president in all of 2020. McEnany then re-tweeted the graph, but this time with the following words:
"From the White House podium in August 2020, I warned Defund would result in rising crime. Sadly, I was right. Biden you enabled this. Defund, Democrat mayors, you own this!"
According to the AP, a House subcommittee is holding a hearing today about the "surge in air rage and its effects on workers, airlines and airports." From the story:
"Nearly one in five flight attendants say they have gotten into a 'physical incident' this year with a passenger, and their union is calling for criminal prosecution of people who act up on planes. A union survey supports what airlines and federal officials have been saying: there has been a surge in unruly passengers this year, who sometimes become violent. The most common trigger is passengers who refuse to follow the federal requirement that they wear face masks during flights, according to the survey by the Association of Flight Attendants. Alcohol is the next largest factor, with flight delays also playing a role, according to the union."
Writing for the Guardian, Hugo Lowell offers the following analysis of Capitol attack subpoenas:
"The House select committee scrutinizing the Capitol attack on Thursday sent subpoenas to Trump's White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and a cadre of top Trump aides, demanding their testimony to shed light on the former president's connection to the 6 January riot. The subpoenas and demands for depositions marked the most aggressive investigative actions the select committee has taken since it made records demands and records preservation requests that formed the groundwork of the inquiry into potential White House involvement. House select committee investigators targeted four of the closest aides to the former president: deputy White House chief of staff Dan Scavino, former Trump campaign manager Steve Bannon, and the former acting defense secretary's chief of staff Kash Patel as well as Meadows. 'The select committee has reason to believe that you have information relevant to understanding important activities that led to and informed events at the Capitol on January 6,' the chairman of the select committee, Bennie Thompson, said in the subpoena letters. 'Accordingly, the select committee seeks both documents and your deposition testimony regarding these and other matters that are within the scope of the select committee's inquiry,' Thompson said."
September 22, 2021 - According to the Guardian, Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida, named a medical professor who is opposed to mask and vaccine mandates as the state's new surgeon gerneral. From the story:
"Dr Joseph Ladapo, a Harvard-trained doctor, has attacked concern over the pandemic as 'Covid mania' and likened the eating of fruit and vegetables to the benefits of vaccination. He has railed against restrictions placed upon day-to-day life to curtail the pandemic and has sought to block funding for schools in the state that have attempted to make students wear masks to stop the spread of the virus that has killed more than 675,000 people in the US since the pandemic began."
Joseph Ladapo, the new surgeon general of Florida, issued a new emergency rule that parents can decide whether or not their children should quarantine after being exposed to someone who tested positive for Covid-19.
September 21, 2021 - Jesse Benton and Doug Wead, two Republican operatives, have been charged with funneling $25,000 from a Russian to a 2016 presidential campaign. The indictment doesn't name the campaign or the Russian, but the contribution was made in September of 2016, and at that time, Donald Trump was the Republican nominee for president. According to the indictment, the two men orchestrated a cover-up of the illegal donation.
Writing for the Guardian, Martin Pengelly offers the following commentary on Tucker Carlson and Covid misinformation:
"Vaccine mandates for the US military are meant to identify 'sincere Christians ... free thinkers' and 'men with high testosterone levels', the Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed on Monday night. Such people, he said, 'do not love Joe Biden' and would therefore 'leave immediately'. 'It's the takeover of the US military,' Carlson said. The rightwing host has a hugely influential platform, reaching an average 3.3 million viewers in August. Despite vaccinations or daily Covid tests being required by Fox News, Carlson's employer, he has consistently cast doubt on vaccines and other measures to combat Covid-19. On Monday, Katie Lane, whose 45-year-old father was not vaccinated and who died of Covid-19 in Washington state, told CNN he 'watched some Tucker Carlson videos on YouTube, and some of those videos involved some misinformation about vaccines, and I believe that played a role'. On Monday, the US death toll passed 675,000, the estimated toll from the flu pandemic of 1918. The vast majority of hospitalisations and deaths are among unvaccinated people."
According to the New York Times, Trump campaign officials knew the election fraud claims being made by Trump and other allies were baseless. From the story:
"Two weeks after the 2020 election, a team of lawyers closely allied with Donald J. Trump held a widely watched news conference at the Republican Party's headquarters in Washington. At the event, they laid out a bizarre conspiracy theory claiming that a voting machine company had worked with an election software firm, the financier George Soros and Venezuela to steal the presidential contest from Mr. Trump. But there was a problem for the Trump team, according to court documents released on Monday evening. By the time the news conference occurred on Nov. 19, Mr. Trump's campaign had already prepared an internal memo on many of the outlandish claims about the company, Dominion Voting Systems, and the separate software company, Smartmatic. The memo had determined that those allegations were untrue ... According to emails contained in the documents, Zach Parkinson, then the campaign's deputy director of communications, reached out to subordinates on Nov. 13 asking them to 'substantiate or debunk' several matters concerning Dominion. The next day, the emails show, Mr. Parkinson received a copy of a memo cobbled together by his staff from what largely appear to be news articles and public fact-checking services. Even though the memo was hastily assembled, it rebutted a series of allegations that [campaign lawyer Sidney] Powell and others were making in public. It found:
- That Dominion did not use voting technology from the software company, Smartmatic, in the 2020 election.
- That Dominion had no direct ties to Venezuela or to [George] Soros.
- And that there was no evidence that Dominion's leadership had connections to left-wing 'antifa' activists, as Ms. Powell and others had claimed."
September 20, 2021 - According to a new Monmouth University poll:
- 62% of Americans say the supreme court should leave the 1973 Roe v Wade decision in place, while 31% want to see it revisited.
- 54% of Americans disagree with the supreme court decision allowing the Texas law to go into effect while 39% agree.
- 70% of Americans disapprove of a provision of the Texas law allowing private citizens to use lawsuits to enforce the abortion mandate.
- 81% of Americans disapprove of a provision that would award $10,000 to private citizens who successfully file lawsuits against those who perform or assist a woman with getting an abortion.
According to the AP, US deaths from covid, which are now around 675,000 (the number is 4.5m deaths world wide), has reached the number of people who died from the 1918-19 Spanish flu. From the story:
"The US population a century ago was just one-third of what it is today, meaning the flu cut a much bigger, more lethal swath through the country. But the COVID-19 crisis is by any measure a colossal tragedy in its own right, especially given the incredible advances in scientific knowledge since then and the failure to take maximum advantage of the vaccines available this time. 'Big pockets of American society — and, worse, their leaders — have thrown this away,' medical historian Dr Howard Markel of the University of Michigan said of the opportunity to vaccinate everyone eligible by now. Like the Spanish flu, the coronavirus may never entirely disappear from our midst. Instead, scientists hope it becomes a mild seasonal bug as human immunity strengthens through vaccination and repeated infection. That could take time."
September 17, 2021 - Anthony Gonzalez, one of ten House Republicans who supported impeaching Donald Trump, announced that he is retiring. Threats against Gonzalez have been significant since that vote, and Gonzalez has been attacked by Donald Trump repeatedly. Gonzalez spoke with the New York Times about his reasoning for retiring saying:
- "the current state of our politics, especially many of the toxic dynamics inside our own party, is a significant factor in my decision"
- "Is this really what I want for my family when they travel, to have my wife and kids escorted through the airport?"
- Donald Trump is a "cancer for the country"
Donald Trump responded to news of Gonzalez retirement saying "1 down, 9 to go!"
Jonathan Mitchell, the legal architect of the Texas abortion ban, argued in a supreme court brief that "Women can 'control their reproductive lives' without access to abortion; they can do so by refraining from sexual intercourse ... One can imagine a scenario in which a woman has chosen to engage in unprotected (or insufficiently protected) sexual intercourse on the assumption that an abortion will be available to her later. But when this court announces the overruling of Roe, that individual can simply change their behavior in response to the court's decision if she no longer wants to take the risk of an unwanted pregnancy."
Clarence Thomas, a hardline conservative justice on the supreme court, criticized the media saying:
"I think the media makes it sound as though you are just always going right to your personal preference ... So if they think you are anti-abortion or something personally, they think that's the way you always will come out. They think you're for this or for that. They think you become like a politician. That's a problem. You're going to jeopardise any faith in the legal institutions." NOTE: Thomas was one of five conservative justices on the court who in an emergency "shadow docket" decision let stand an extreme and clearly unconstitutional anti-abortion law in the state of Texas.
General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has come under fire from Republicans after news surfaced that he reassured his Chinese counterpart through phone calls that the US would not launch an attack against Beijing, and that he would warn them if an attack was launched. The revelations of these warnings come from Bob Woodward's new book "peril". Trump and his Republican supporters have called these exchanges treasonous. Milley responded to qustions about the calls saying:
"These are routine calls in order to discuss issues of the day, to reassure both allies and adversaries in this case, in order to ensure strategic stability ... And these are perfectly within the duties and responsibilities of the chairman."
Lloyd Austin, the secretary of defense, has approved a request to place 100 national guard troops on standby in response to the "Justice for J6" rally taking place tomorrow a the US Capitol.
Tom Manger, the chief of the US Capitol Police stated the following regarding "Justice for J6":
"There have been some threats of violence associated with this, the events for tomorrow, and we have a strong plan in place to ensure that it remains peaceful and that if violence does occur, that we can stop it as quickly as possible"
The US military has admitted that an August 29th drone strike in Kabul did not kill any Islamic State fighters, but instead killed 10 Afghan civilians.
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following analysis of a North Caroline voter ID law, which was blocked by a panel of judges:
"A North Carolina panel of judges permanently blocked the state’s 2018 voter photo identification law on Friday, saying Republican lawmakers were in part motivated by an intent to discriminate against African American voters when they enacted the measure. 'The majority of this three-judge panel finds the evidence at trial sufficient to show that the enactment of S.B. 824 was motivated at least in part by an unconstitutional intent to target African American voters,' Superior Court Judge Michael O’Foghludha wrote in a 2-1 decision for a 3-judge panel. 'The majority of this three-judge panel also finds that the Defendants have failed to prove, based on the evidence at trial, that S.B. 824 would have been enacted in its present form if it did not tend to discriminate against African American voters,' he added. 'Other, less restrictive voter ID laws would have sufficed to achieve the legitimate nonracial purposes of implementing the constitutional amendment requiring voter ID, deterring fraud, or enhancing voter confidence.' In a dissenting opinion, Judge Nathaniel Poovey wrote 'not one scintilla of evidence was introduced during this trial that any legislator acted with racially discriminatory intent.' The ruling is almost certain to be appealed."
NOTE: The 2018 North Carolina voter ID law followed a ruling by the US court of appeals for the 4th circuit that a 2013 voter ID law targeted African Americans with "almost surgical precision".
According to the Guardian, public health officials in Idaho and parts of Alaska and Montana have approved a healthcare rationing process known as "Crisis Standards of Care", which is a set of legal and ethical guidelines hospitals follow when they cannot meet demand, in response to the surge of hospitalizations among mostly unvaccinated COVID-19 patients.
Donald Trump sent the following letter to Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state:
"Dear Secretary Raffensperger, Large scale Voter Fraud continues to be reported in Georgia. Enclosed is a report of 43,000 Absentee Ballot Votes Counted in DeKalb County that violated the Chain of Custody rules, making them invalid. I would respectfully request that your department check this and, if true, along with many other claims of voter fraud and voter irregularities, start the process of decertifying the Election, or whatever the correct legal remedy is, and announce the true winner. As stated to you previously, the number of false and/or irregular votes is far greater than needed to change the Georgia election result. People do not understand why you and Governor Brian Kemp adamantly refuse to acknowledge the now proven facts, and fight so hard that the election truth not be told. You and Governor Kemp are doing a tremendous disservice to the Great State of Georgia, and to our Nation - which is systematically being destroyed by an illegitimate president and his administration. The truth must be allowed to come out. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Donald Trump"
September 16, 2021 - Dusty Graham and his wife Tristan were video bloggers who posted online about their trips to buy items to sell on eBay. In addition to posting information about their trips, Dusty and Tristan were prolific critics of vaccines and masks. In one of their final posts, the two declared they would never get vaccinated. Dusty died today from complications due to COVID-19. Dusty's wife Tristan died from a COVID-19 infection in late August.
News surfaced that in July, Dr Michelle Fiscus, Tennessee's top vaccine official, sent out a reminder that in Tennessee, children over the age of 14 may choose to be vaccinated without asking their parents first. The response to the memo was that Fiscus was fired.
Writing for the Guardian, David Smith offers the following commentary on Republican reaction to Biden's vaccine mandate for employers with more than 100 workers:
"When Joe Biden announced sweeping federal coronavirus vaccine requirements for 100 million Americans, the White House was braced for objections from Republican opponents. But this being 2021, the rightwing backlash has gone way beyond mere political debate into the realm of incendiary language that, analysts fear, could translate into direct and violent action. In South Carolina, Governor Henry McMaster vowed to fight 'to the gates of hell to protect the liberty and livelihood of every South Carolinian'. Tate Reeves, the governor of Mississippi, tweeted: 'The vaccine itself is life-saving, but this unconstitutional move is terrifying.' JD Vance, a conservative running for a Senate seat in Ohio, warned: 'Only mass civil disobedience will save us from Joe Biden's naked authoritarianism.' And the rightwing media went further, casually tossing around terms such as 'authoritarian', 'fascist', 'totalitarian' and 'tyrannical' to characterize the US president's mandate that all employers with more than 100 workers require their employees to be vaccinated or test for the virus weekly. The rhetoric is seen as dangerous in a febrile political atmosphere that saw a deadly insurrection at the US Capitol in Washington on 6 January and plans for another extremist protest at the same location on Saturday."
Twenty-four attorneys general sent a letter to Joe Biden in opposition to a federal vaccine mandate stating: "If your Administration does not alter its course, the undersigned state Attorneys General will seek every available legal option to hold you accountable and uphold the rule of law." NOTE: The mandate, which will come as a rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), requires all employers with more than 100 workers to either mandate vaccination, or require the unvaccinated to be tested weekly.
September 15, 2021 - According to NBC News, far-right online platforms appear to be trying to steer participants away from the "Justice for J6" rally scheduled for Sptember 18th. From the story:
"Users in extreme far-right Facebook groups and extremist forums such as TheDonald and 4chan, which previously hosted pictures of users streaming into Washington hotel rooms and even maps of the Capitol tunnel system in the days before the Jan. 6 riot, are largely steering users away from the upcoming event. Those posting on these forums say they largely believe the event to be a setup for a 'false flag' event or 'honeypot,' in which they'll be entrapped and coerced to commit violence by federal agents. The shift offers a window into how the dynamics among some of the most active and extremist online forums have changed in the aftermath of Jan. 6, which has led to hundreds of arrests. Paranoia drives many conversations, and it appears to be inhibiting some extremists' ability to organize on the open web."
According to the Guardian, Fox News bosses sent out a memo that those who are not vaccinated will be required to do daily testing. NOTE: The vast majority of employees at Fox Corporation are vaccinated, despite some of its biggest screen stars questioning the efficacy of vaccines on the network on a nightly basis.
September 14, 2021 - According to CNN, Mark Milley, the Joint Chiefs Chairman, feared that Trump would go "rogue" and possibly launch a nuclear attack after losing to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. From the story:
"Two days after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, President Donald Trump's top military adviser, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, single-handedly took top-secret action to limit Trump from potentially ordering a dangerous military strike or launching nuclear weapons, according to 'Peril,' a new book by legendary journalist Bob Woodward and veteran Washington Post reporter Robert Costa. Woodward and Costa write that Milley, deeply shaken by the assault, 'was certain that Trump had gone into a serious mental decline in the aftermath of the election, with Trump now all but manic, screaming at officials and constructing his own alternate reality about endless election conspiracies.' Milley worried that Trump could 'go rogue,' the authors write. 'You never know what a president's trigger point is,' Milley told his senior staff, according to the book. In response, Milley took extraordinary action, and called a secret meeting in his Pentagon office on January 8 to review the process for military action, including launching nuclear weapons. Speaking to senior military officials in charge of the National Military Command Center, the Pentagon's war room, Milley instructed them not to take orders from anyone unless he was involved."
According to NBC News, about 700 people are expected to turn out for the "Justice for J6" rally on the 18th. From the story:
"The Department of Homeland Security is estimating roughly 700 people will attend the 'Justice for J6' rally in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, and has taken steps to make sure law enforcement is better prepared than it was prior to Jan. 6, said Melissa Smislova, deputy undersecretary for intelligence enterprise readiness. Saturday, Sept. 18 is the date supporters of former President Donald Trump, many with ties to groups that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in protest of his election loss, will return to Washington for a rally. Smislova said DHS has also learned via social media that similar protests are planned in other cities across the country. Smislova, speaking at the Homeland Security Enterprise Forum on Tuesday, estimated 'tens of thousands' of protesters attended the pro-Trump rally that turned violent in January."
According to a new Quinnipiac University poll, Joe Biden's approval rating has dropped into negative territory. 42% approve, and 50% disapprove.
September 13, 2021 - Bob Enyart, a conservative pastor who hosted a show called "Real Science Radio", and who used the show to spread false claims about COVID-19 like calling overcrowding in hospital ICUs "imagined" and calling the severity of the pandemic "fake news", died today from complications brought on by COVID-19. In 2020 Enyart successfully sued the state of Colorado over its capacity limits and mask mandates in churches. Prior to the pandemic, Enyart mocked AIDS victims and called for the death penalty for women who have had abortions.
In response to mounting criticism leveled against conservatives on the supreme court for allowing a six-week abortion ban to go into effect in Texas - which is clearly unconstitutional, Amy Coney Barrett defended the integrity of the court saying:
"My goal today is to convince you that this court is not comprised of a bunch of partisan hacks ... Judicial philosophies are not the same as political parties. And here's the thing: Sometimes, I don't like the results of my decisions. But it's not my job to decide cases based on the outcome I want."
According to a new book written by Stephanie Grisham, a former White House press secretary who famously did not hold a single press briefing, Melania Trump declined a suggestion by her chief of staff to condemn the rioters who sacked the US Capitol on January 6th. According to Grisham, Grisham texted Melania and asked her: "Do you want to tweet that peaceful protests are the right of every American, but there is no place for lawlessness and violence?" to which Melania responded: "No." NOTE: Grisham, who resigned after the January 6th insurrection, named her book "I'll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw in The Trump White House".
Donald Craighead was arrested near Democratic National Committee's headquarters in Washington DC today. According to US Capitol Police, Craighead was in possession of prohibited weapons, which included multiple knives, a machete and a bayonet. Officers also noted that Craighead's pickup had swastikas and other white supremacist symbols painted all over it, and did not have a license plate. Craighead told the officers he was "on patrol".
According to the Guardian, the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol has instructed telecom and social media companies to preserve records of Mark Meadows, Donald Trump's White House chief of staff.
Tom Manger, the chief of the US Capitol Police, announced that fencing will be installed around the US Capitol to prepare for the "Justice for J6" rally which is planned for September 18 at the Capitol. The rally, which was organized by Matt Braynard, a Trump operative, is being held to demand that the justice department drop charges against nearly 600 people who were charged in connection with the Capitol insurrection. Braynard's organization, which is called Look Ahead America, calls the incarcerated insurrectionists "non-violent protesters", despite the widespread violence and five deaths that occurred during the insurrection.
Tony Blinken testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee regarding the Afghanistan withdrawal where he stated: "We inherited a deadline. We did not inherit a plan".
According to new research, the global production of food is responsible for a third of all planet-heating gases emitted by human activity.
September 11, 2021 - Gregg Prentice, who worked as an accountant for the Hillsborough County GOP, and who developed the software used to convert data from Quickbooks into a format needed for submissions to the FEC, and also chaired the organizations' committee for election integrity, passed away. According to an FEC filing from the organization, Prentice died without sharing login information for financial accounts, or instructions for how to use them, leaving the organization's finances in shambles. Prentice, who spent much of his last year using facebook to attack public health officials over COVID-19 vaccines, mask mandates, and other basic pandemic safety measures, died from complications due to COVID-19.
September 10, 2021 - Republican governors are reacting to Joe Biden's vaccine mandate. Here are some examples:
"The American Dream has turned into a nightmare under President Biden and the radical Democrats. Rest assured, we will fight them to the gates of hell to protect the liberty and livelihood of every South Carolinian." - Henry Mcmaster, Republican Governor of South Carolina
"This is exactly the kind of big government overreach we have tried so hard to prevent in Arizona – now the Biden-Harris administration is hammering down on private businesses and individual freedoms in an unprecedented and dangerous way. This will never stand up in court." - Doug Ducey, Republican Governor of Arizona
"I appreciate the President's continued prioritization of vaccination and the country's recovery as we move forward. As Vermont's experience shows, vaccines work and save lives. They are the best and fastest way to move past this pandemic." - Phil Scott, Republican Governor of Vermont
Ronna McDanial, the chairwoman of the RNC responded to Biden's vaccine mandate saying:
"Joe Biden told Americans when he was elected that he would not impose vaccine mandates. He lied. Now small businesses, workers, and families across the country will pay the price ... Like many Americans, I am pro-vaccine and anti-mandate. Many small businesses and workers do not have the money or legal resources to fight Biden's unconstitutional actions and authoritarian decrees, but when his decree goes into effect, the RNC will sue the administration to protect Americans and their liberties."
Joe Biden responde to Republicans who are threatening lawsuits over his vaccine policies:
"Have at it ... I am so disappointed that, particularly some of the Republican governors, have been so cavalier with the health of these kids, so cavalier with the health of their communities. We're playing for real here, this isn't a game. And I don't know of any scientist out there in this field that doesn't think it makes considerable sense to do the six things I’ve suggested."
While giving a speech at the Ronald Reagan Library, Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor, stated:
"We need to renounce the conspiracy theorists and the truth deniers. The ones who know better and the ones who are just plain nuts ... We need to give our supporters facts that will help them put all those fantasies to rest. We need to quit wasting our time, our energy and our credibility on claims that won't ever convince anyone of anything. Pretending we won when we lost is a waste of time and energy and credibility ... No man, no woman, no matter what office they've held or wealth they've acquired, are worthy of blind faith or obedience. We deserve much better than to be misled by those trying to acquire or hold on to power."
A Florida appeals court has overturned a district Judge's ruling that prevented the state from penalizing districts with mask mandates, thus clearing the way for the Florida department of education to resume withholding state funds from districts that continue to defy the governor's order.
According to the Guardian, the civil rights arm of the US Department of Education has opened an investigation into Forida's mask mandate ban in schools.
According to the Guardian, a federal appeals court has ruled that a Tennessee anti-abortion law that banned abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which typically occurs around 6 weeks into a pregnancy, is "constitutionally unsound".
September 9, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Melody Scheeiber offers the following analysis of coronavirus and children:
"As millions of children head back to school across the US, health experts are highlighting a troubling trend: hundreds of thousands of them are testing positive for Covid. More than 250,000 children had new cases in the last week of August, the American Academy of Pediatrics said in a report published on Tuesday. That's the highest weekly rate of new pediatric cases since the pandemic began, and it's a 10% increase in two weeks. With slightly more than 1m new Covid cases reported in the US during that period, that means one of every four new cases in the country was among children. Children's hospitals are straining under the spike in cases. About 2,500 children were hospitalized with Covid-19 in the week up to 6 September, which is also more than ever before, data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. A total of 750,000 children tested positive between 5 August and 2 September, the AAP said. In the same time period, 54,859 children were admitted to hospitals, according to the CDC. Over the course of the pandemic, 5 million children in the US have tested positive for Covid-19 and at least 444 have died, the AAP said."
According to the AP, the number of US jobless claims has hit a pandemic low of 310,000.
Merrick Garland, the attorney general, announced that the Biden administration is suing the state of Texas over its new anti-abortion law saying:
"The act is clearly unconstitutional under longstanding supreme court precedent ... deputizes all private citizens, without any showing of personal connection or injury, to serve as bounty hunters ... The obvious and expressly acknowledged intention of this statutory scheme is to prevent women from exercising their constitutional rights by thwarting judicial review for as long as possible."
Mark Walker, a US district judge, declared that Florida's anti-riot law, signed into law in April by Florida governor Ron DeSantis, is unconstitutional saying:
"[Its] new definition of 'riot' both fails to put Floridians of ordinary intelligence on notice of what acts it criminalizes, and encourages arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement, making this provision vague to the point of unconstitutionality"
NOTE: Florida's anti-riot law offered protections for motorists who hit protestors during a riot.
President Joe Biden layed out a new Covid-19 strategy. Here are the key points:
1. The Labor Department will require all employers with more than 100 employees to ensure their workers are vaccinated or tested weekly. Employers must also provide paid time off to allow workers to get vaccinated. This will affect more than 80 million workers in private sector businesses. Companies that do not comply could face fines of up to nearly $14,000 per violation.
2. Workers in healthcare settings that receive Medicaid or Medicare reimbursement must be vaccinated, a move that applies to 50,000 providers and covers more than 17 million healthcare workers.
3. All federal government workers, as well as employees of contractors that do business with the federal government, must get vaccinated, or regularly tested.
Biden addressed the unvaccinated saying:
"My message to unvaccinated Americans is this: what more is there to wait for? What more do you need to see? We’ve made vaccinations free, safe and convenient ... We've been patient but our patience is wearing thin and your refusal has cost all of us ... The bottom line: We're going to protect vaccinated workers from unvaccinated co-workers."
According to the AP, one third of female service members in the air force and space force say they've experienced sexual harassment. From the story:
"The review, done by the Air Force inspector general concluded that minorities and women are underrepresented in leadership and officer positions, particularly at the senior levels, and get promoted less frequently. It echoed many of the findings of an initial review, released last December, which found that Black service members in the Air Force are far more likely to be investigated, arrested, face disciplinary actions and be discharged for misconduct. The two reviews into racial, ethnic and gender disparities across the Air Force and Space Force broadly confirm that biases exist, but the data does not fully explain why. The studies also reflect broader campaigns within the Defense Department and the Biden administration to root out extremism and racism. President Joe Biden has declared domestic extremism an urgent national security threat and the Defense Department is working to identify extremist behavior and eliminate it from the force. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, earlier this year, ordered military leaders to spend a day talking to their troops about extremism in the ranks, after a number of former and current military members took part in the assault on the U.S. Capitol in January."
September 8, 2021 - New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded to Greg Abbott's "eliminate all rapists" comments from yesterday saying:
"I find Governor Abbott’s comments disgusting. He speaks from such a place of deep ignorance, and it's not just ignorance. It's ignorance that's hurting people ... I'm sorry we have to break down Biology 101 on national television, but in case no one has informed him before in his life, six weeks pregnant means two weeks late for your period. And two weeks late on your period ... can happen if you're stressed, if your diet changes or for really no reason at all. So you don't have six weeks ... These aren't just predators that are walking around the streets at night. They are people's uncles, they are teachers, they are family friends, and when something like that happens, it takes a very long time, first of all, for any victim to come forward. And second of all, when a victim comes forward, they don't necessarily want to bring their case into the carceral system."
According to the Guardian, ProLifeWhistleblower.com, the website that allows people to anonymously submit information about potential violations of the new abortion law, is continuing to have issues, and according to Ronald Guilmette, a web infrastructure expert, is "for all intents and purposes, it is offline." NOTE: Internet users continue to protest against the site by flooding it with false reports, memes, and even porn to render it less effective.
Writing for the Guardian, Ed Pilkinton offers the following commentary on the reaction of human rights monitors regarding the Texas anti-abortion law:
"United Nations human rights monitors have strongly condemned the state of Texas for its new anti-abortion law, which they say violates international law by denying women control over their own bodies and endangering their lives. In damning remarks to the Guardian, Melissa Upreti, the chair of the UN's working group on discrimination against women and girls, criticized the new Texas law, SB 8, as 'structural sex and gender-based discrimination at its worst'. She warned that the legislation, which bans abortions at about six weeks, could force abortion providers underground and drive women to seek unsafe procedures that could prove fatal. 'This new law will make abortion unsafe and deadly, and create a whole new set of risks for women and girls. It is profoundly discriminatory and violates a number of rights guaranteed under international law,' the human rights lawyer from Nepal said."
During a press conference on the economy, Joe Biden stated: "By the way, the stock market's gone up exponentially since I've been president. You haven't heard me say a word about it." NOTE: Trump consistently touted the strength of the stock market as an indication of the success of his economic agenda, but decalred he bore no responsibility for the decline in the market at the beginning of the pandemic.
A giant statue of Robert E Lee in Richmond, Virginia, was removed from its pedestal, which is covered with Black Lives Matter graffiti.
According to CNN, the US Capitol Police are bracing for potential violence at a "Justice for J6" rally planned for September 18, in support of the January 6 insurrectionists. From the story:
"Law enforcement officials are bracing for potential clashes and unrest during an upcoming right-wing rally in Washington, DC, as violent rhetoric surrounding the September 18 event has increased online and counter protests are being planned for the same day, according to an internal Capitol Police memo reviewed by CNN. The latest intelligence report on the 'Justice for J6' rally — which aims to support insurrectionists charged in the Capitol riots — notes that online chatter in support of the event started increasing after the officer who fatally shot rioter Ashli Babbitt went public with his identity in a recent interview with NBC's Lester Holt. There's been a noticeable uptick in violent rhetoric around the event and heated discussions centered on Babbitt's shooting on social media and discussion boards, according to the memo. The document warns that many individuals may also see September 18 as a 'Justice for Ashli Babbitt' rally, which could be cause for concern, and it's not unreasonable to plan for violent altercations. There's also been additional discussions of violence associated with the event, with one online chat suggesting violence against Jewish centers and liberal churches while law enforcement is distracted that day."
During a White House briefing, Jen Psaki responded to Greg Abbott's pledge to "eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas" saying:
"Well, if Governor Abbott has a means of eliminating all rapists or all rape from the United States, then there'd be bipartisan support for that. But given there has never in the history of the country, in the world been any leader who's ever been able to eliminate rape, eliminate rapists from our streets, it's even more imperative -- it's one of the many reasons I should say, not the only reason -- why women in Texas should have access to healthcare."
According to the AP, Ron DeSantis, the Florida of governor, has lost another legal battle in his campaign to prevent schools from implementing mask mandates. From the story:
"A Florida judge ruled on Wednesday that the state cannot enforce a ban on public schools mandating the use of masks to guard against the coronavirus, while an appeals court sorts out whether the ban is ultimately legal. The Leon county circuit judge, John C Cooper, lifted an automatic stay of his decision last week that the Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, and education officials exceeded their authority by imposing the blanket ban through executive order and hitting pro-mask local school boards with financial penalties. Cooper said the overwhelming evidence before him in a lawsuit by parents challenging the DeSantis ban is that wearing masks does provide some protection for children in crowded school settings, particularly those under 12 for whom no vaccine yet exists."
According to the Guardian, the Biden administration has asked officials appointed to military academy advisory boards by Donald Trump to resign. From the story:
"The 11 officials include former counselor to Trump Kellyanne Conway, former press secretary Sean Spicer and former national security adviser HR McMaster. Biden's goal 'was to ensure you have nominees and people serving on these boards who are qualified to serve on them and who are aligned with our core values,' press secretary Jen Psaki said. Former Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought on the Naval Academy's board said he would not resign, noting that appointees usually serve for three years. 'No. It's a three year term,' he tweeted."
According to a report from the US Treasury, the US's wealthiest 1% are failing to pay $163bn a year in taxes, amounting to 28% of the "tax gap". NOTE: The Biden administration has proposed closing the tax gap, which represents 3% of GDP, by empowering the IRS to more aggressively pursue unpaid taxes. Republicans in Congress, and business lobbyists, are united in opposition to shore up tax enforcement.
September 7, 2021 - Jason Miller, a former senior adviser to Donald Trump, was detained by Brazilian authorities over alleged anti-democratic activities in that country. Miller responded to the reports of his detainment saying:
"This afternoon my traveling party was questioned for three hours at the airport in Brasilia, after having attended this weekend's CPAC Brasil Conference. We were not accused of any wrongdoing, and told only that they 'wanted to talk'. We informed them that we had nothing to say and were eventually released to fly back to the United States. Our goal of sharing free speech around the world continues!"
Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, signed restrictive voting bill SB1 into law. During the signing, Abbott stated: "Election integrity is now law in the state of Texas." NOTE: The law, which prohibits 24-hour and drive-thru voting, places new restrictions on who can assist people as they seek to cast their ballots, prohibits election officials from sending out unsolicited applications to vote by mail, and gives poll watchers more power in the polling place, unfairly targets people of color according to voting rights advocates.
Notable responses to the new Texas voting law:
"Black votes were suppressed today. Texas governor Greg Abbott has intentionally signed away democracy for so many. We are disgusted. This voter suppression bill is undemocratic, unAmerican and even violates core conservative principles. While Greg Abbott and many other governors have confirmed over and over how far they are willing to go to attack Black voters, we will continue to fight twice as hard to defend the right to vote." - Derrick Johnson, President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
"SB1 will reduce voter participation and discriminate on the basis of race, and for those reasons it should be struck down in court. In addition to making voting more difficult for all voters, SB1 is aimed directly at Latinos and Asian Americans with specific provisions that cut back on assistance to limited English-proficient voters." - Nina Perales, Vice-President of litigation for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
"Governor Abbott is restricting the freedom to vote for millions of Texans. Instead of working on issues that actually matter, like protecting school kids from Covid or fixing our failing electrical grid, Abbott is focused on rigging our elections and implementing extreme, right-wing policies. Abbott's agenda of criminalising abortion, permit-less carry, anti-mask mandates and voter suppression is killing Texans and limiting their voting rights to elect more responsible leaders." - Former Texas Congressman and Presidential Candidate Beto O’Rourke
"History will remember this period as one of democracy in distress; as an era during which our sacred freedom to vote endured unrelenting assault." - Claudia Yoli Ferla, Executive Director, MOVE Texas Action Fund
Writing for the Guardian, Ed Pilkington offers the following analysis of the new anti-abortion law in Texas:
"United Nations human rights monitors have strongly condemned the state for its new anti-abortion law, which they say violates international law by denying women control over their own bodies and endangering their lives. In damning remarks to the Guardian, Melissa Upreti, the chair of the UN working group on discrimination against women and girls, criticized the new Texas law, SB8, as 'structural sex and gender-based discrimination at its worst'. She warned that the legislation, which bans abortions at about six weeks, could force abortion providers underground and drive women to seek unsafe procedures that could prove fatal. 'This new law will make abortion unsafe and deadly, and create a whole new set of risks for women and girls. It is profoundly discriminatory and violates a number of rights guaranteed under international law,' the human rights lawyer from Nepal said. Upreti, one of five independent experts charged by the UN human rights council in Geneva to push for elimination of discrimination against women and girls around the world, was also sharply critical of the US supreme court. Last week the court's rightwing majority decided by a 5-4 vote to allow the Texas law to go ahead, despite its blatant disregard of the court's own 1973 ruling legalizing abortion in the US, Roe v Wade. 'The law and the way it came about – through the refusal of the US supreme court to block it based on existing legal precedent – has not only taken Texas backward, but in the eyes of the international community, it has taken the entire country backward,' Upreti said."
According to an editorial in the Lancet that was co-published by more than 200 medical and health journals, global heating will cause "catastrophic harm to health ... The science is unequivocal; a global increase of 1.5C above the preindustrial average and the continued loss of biodiversity risk catastrophic harm to health that will be impossible to reverse ... Indeed, no temperature rise is 'safe'." The editorial goes on to mention both direct and indirect health risks like: "increased dehydration and renal function loss, dermatological malignancies, tropical infections, adverse mental health outcomes, pregnancy complications, allergies, and cardiovascular and pulmonary morbidity and mortality." The editorial adds: "We are united in recognizing that only fundamental and equitable changes to societies will reverse our current trajectory."
Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, was asked by a reporter "Why force a rape or incest victim to carry a pregnancy to term?" Abbott responded:
"Obviously, it provides at least six weeks for a person to be able to get an abortion, and so, for one, it doesn't provide that. That said ... rape is a crime, and Texas will work tirelessly to make sure that we eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas by aggressively going out and arresting them and prosecuting them and getting them off the streets."
NOTE 1: The six week countdown for a pregnancy starts from the first day of a person's last period, which leaves many with only one or two weeks to end their pregnancy.
NOTE 2: Many people don't know their pregnant at 6 weeks.
September 6, 2021 - According to the Guardian, Republicans who are the focus of the January 6 Committee, have begun a campaign of intimidation. From the story:
"Top Republicans under scrutiny for their role in the events of 6 January have embarked on a campaign of threats and intimidation to thwart a Democratic-controlled congressional panel that is scrutinizing the Capitol attack and opening an expanded investigation into Donald Trump. The chairman of the House select committee into the violent assault on the Capitol, Bennie Thompson, in recent days demanded an array of Trump executive branch records related to the insurrection, as members and counsel prepared to examine what Trump knew of efforts to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election win. House select committee investigators then asked a slew of technology companies to preserve the social media records of hundreds of people connected to the Capitol attack, including far-right House Republicans who sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The select committee said that its investigators were merely “gathering facts, not alleging wrongdoing by any individual” as they pursued the records in what amounted to the most aggressive moves taken by the panel since it launched proceedings in July. But the twin actions, which threatened to open a full accounting of Trump’s moves in the days and weeks before the joint session of Congress on 6 January, has unnerved top House Republicans, according to a source familiar with the matter. The House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, decried the select committee’s investigation as a partisan exercise and threatened to retaliate against any telecommunications company that complied with the records requests. 'A Republican majority will not forget,' he warned, in remarks that seemed to imply some future threat against the sector. The warning from the top Republican in the House amounted to a serious escalation as he seeks to undermine a forensic examination of the attack perpetrated by Trump supporters and domestic violent extremists that left five dead and nearly 140 injured. But his remarks – which members on the select committee privately consider to be at best, harassment, and at worst, obstruction of justice – reflects McCarthy’s realization that he could himself be in the crosshairs of the committee, the source said. Most of McCarthy's efforts to undercut the inquiry to date, such as sinking the prospects of a 9/11-style commission to scrutinize the Capitol attack, have been aimed at shielding Trump and his party from what the select committee might uncover. But deeply alarmed at the efforts by House select committee investigators to secure his personal communications records for the fraught moments leading up to and during the Capitol attack, McCarthy went on the offensive to pre-emptively protect himself, the source said. McCarthy was among several House Republicans who desperately begged Trump to call off the rioters as they stormed the Capitol in his name, only to be rebuffed by Trump, who questioned why McCarthy wasn't doing more to overturn the election. Thompson previously told the Guardian in an interview that such conversations with Trump would be investigated by the select committee, raising the prospect that McCarthy could be forced to testify about what Trump appeared to be thinking and doing on 6 January. The statement from McCarthy asserted, without citing any law, that it would be illegal for the technology companies to comply with the records requests – even though congressional investigators have obtained phone and communications records in the past. The threat is unlikely to be viewed as a violation of federal witness tampering law, which, as part of a broader obstruction of justice statute, makes it a felony under some circumstances to try to dissuade or hinder cooperation with an official proceeding. Congressman Jamie Raskin, a member of the select committee and the former lead impeachment manager in Trump's second trial, said that he was appalled by McCarthy's remarks, which he described as tantamount to obstruction of justice. 'He is leveling threats against people cooperating with a congressional investigation,' Raskin said. 'Why would the minority leader of the House of Representatives not be interested in our ability to get all of the facts in relation to the January 6th attack?' Meanwhile, other members on the select committee have also seized on McCarthy's threat as a reminder that Republicans could not be trusted to engage in the inquiry in good faith, according to a source connected to the 6 January investigation. It also underscored to them, the source said, the nervousness among top Republicans as the select committee ramps up its work, even though the inquiry is still in its early days and has yet to sift through thousands of pages of expected evidence. Emboldened by McCarthy's combative stance, Trump denounced the select committee as a 'partisan sham', while Republicans under scrutiny by the panel such as Marjorie Taylor Greene threatened any companies that complied with the records requests would be 'shut down'. The chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, Andy Biggs, is now also asking McCarthy to remove from the Republican conference Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger – the two vocal critics of Trump appointed to the select committee – whom he called 'spies' for Democrats. Biggs on Thursday suggested in a letter, first reported by CNN, that Cheney and Kinzinger should be ejected because they are involved in investigating Republicans over 6 January and the party should be able to strategize without having the pair present at conference meetings. Still, McCarthy remains unable to shape an investigation likely to prove politically damaging to Trump and to Republicans at the ballot box at the midterms next year, a reality that has come largely as a result of his own strategic miscalculations. The proposed 9/11-style commission into the Capitol attack had envisioned a panel with equal power between Democrats and Republicans, and McCarthy's decision to boycott the select committee in a flash of anger inadvertently left Trump without any defenders."
According to an open letter from an influential group of presidents, prime ministers and leading public figures on the left, Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian president, could be preparing to mount a military coup. The letter warns that nationwide marches by Bolsonaro supporters are modelled on the attack against the Capitol by Donald Trump supporters on January 6th. The rallies, which will occur tomorrow, will take place at the supreme court and Congress, and will involve white supremacist groups, military police, and public officials at every level of government. From the letter:
"We are gravely concerned about the imminent threat to Brazil's democratic institutions – and we stand vigilant to defend them ahead of 7 September and after. The people of Brazil have struggled for decades to secure democracy from military rule. Bolsonaro must not be permitted to rob them of it now."
NOTE: Bolsonaro stated on August 21st that an August 10th military parade through the capital city of Brasilia was preparation for a "necessary countercoup" against Congress and the supreme court, whom he claims are conspiring against him.
Writing for the Guardian, Adam Gabbatt offers the following analysis of the rise of far-right terrorism post 9/11:
"The US government acted quickly after 9/11 to prevent further attacks by Islamic extremists in the US. Billions of dollars were spent on new law enforcement departments and vast powers were granted to agencies to surveil people in the US and abroad as George W Bush announced the war on terror. But while the FBI, CIA, police and the newly created Department of Homeland Security scoured the country and the world for radicalized Muslims, an existing threat was overlooked – white supremacist extremists already in the US, whose numbers and influence have continued to grow in the last two decades. In 2020 far-right extremists were responsible for 16 of 17 extremist killings, in the US, according to the Anti-Defamation League, while in 2019, 41 of the 42 extremist killings were linked to the far right. Between 2009 and 2018 the far right was responsible for 73% of extremist-related fatalities in the US, while rightwing extremists killed more people in 2018 than in any year since 1995, when a bomb planted by an anti-government extremist killed 168 people in a federal building in Oklahoma City. Despite the statistical dominance of far-right and white supremacist killings in the US, America's intelligence agencies have devoted far more resources to the perceived threat from Islamic terror ... In the last few years alone, a gunman killed 23 people in El Paso, Texas, after allegedly posting a manifesto with white nationalist and anti-immigrant themes online. In it he wrote that he planned to carry out an attack in 'response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas'. In February 2019, a US Coast Guard lieutenant who was a self-described 'white nationalist' was arrested after he stockpiled weapons and compiled a hitlist of media and government figures. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2020. Nine black church members were murdered in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2017, by a 22-year-old who confessed to the FBI that he hoped to bring back segregation or start a race war ... Trump may be gone, but the pandering of some Republicans to rightwing extremists seems unlikely to stop. As recently as August Mo Brooks, a Republican congressman from Alabama, defended a Trump supporter who carried out a Capitol Hill bomb threat. 'Although this terrorist's motivation is not yet publicly known, and generally speaking, I understand citizenry anger directed at dictatorial Socialism and its threat to liberty, freedom and the very fabric of American society,' Brooks tweeted, hours after the man had parked close to the Capitol and supreme court and told police he had a bomb. 'The way to stop socialism's march is for patriotic Americans to fight back in the 2022 and 2024 election,' he said. 'Bluntly stated, America's future is at risk.' It's a dangerous game, but with the rise of Trumpism and far-right extremism in conservative politics – which can be traced back to the Tea Party movement which demonized Barack Obama – it is one Republicans seem likely to continue. 'What was once the unacceptable extreme has become an accepted part of our politics and media,' Singer said. 'It is a hard truth that too many are unwilling to accept. It didn’t start on 6 January, but years before, where these extremist views were first tolerated and then celebrated as good for clicks, and then votes.'"
September 4, 2021 - According to the Guardian, overdoses of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, are helping to cause delays and problems for rural hospitals and ambulance services that are already struggling to cope with a surge in Covid-19 cases. From the story:
"Ivermectin is used to kill internal and external parasites in livestock animals and, in smaller doses, in humans. 'There's a reason you have to have a doctor to get a prescription for this stuff, because it can be dangerous,' Dr Jason McElyea told KFOR, an Oklahoma TV station. 'The [emergency rooms] are so backed up that gunshot victims were having hard times getting to facilities where they can get definitive care and be treated. 'Ambulances are stuck at the hospital waiting for a bed to open so they can take the patient in and they don't have any, that's it. If there's no ambulance to take the call, there's no ambulance to come to the call.' McElyea told the Tulsa World a colleague was forced to send one severely ill Covid patient to a hospital in South Dakota, three states away to the north. 'They had sat in a small hospital needing to be in an [intensive care unit] for several days, and that was the closest ICU that was available,' he said. Oklahoma is among states struggling to cope with a surge in hospitalisations and deaths caused by the Delta virus variant. According to Johns Hopkins University, in the past week Oklahoma has recorded more than 18,400 cases and 189 deaths. The same source puts the death toll in Oklahoma over 8,000, out of more than 647,000 across the US. The vast majority of US hospitalisations and deaths are among unvaccinated people. Amid opposition to vaccines and public health mandates stoked by Republican politicians, conservative media and disinformation on social media, many have turned to ivermectin. This week, the influential podcaster Joe Rogan, who has been dismissive of vaccines, announced he had tested positive for Covid and was taking ivermectin. In Arkansas, the drug was given to inmates at a jail. Louisiana and Washington issued alerts after an increase in calls to poison control centers. Some animal feed supply stores have run out of the drug because of people buying it in its veterinary form. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cited a case of a man who drank an injectable form of ivermectin intended for cattle. He suffered hallucinations, confusion, tremors and other side effects and was hospitalised for nine days. McElyea told KFOR: 'Growing up in a small town, rural area, we’ve all accidentally been exposed to ivermectin at some time. So it's something people are familiar with. Because of those accidental sticks, when trying to inoculate cattle, they're less afraid of it.' Authorities have tried to debunk claims that animal-strength ivermectin can fight Covid-19. 'Taking large doses of this drug is dangerous and can cause serious harm,' the US Food and Drug Administration warned, adding that the drug can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, seizures, delirium and death. The American Medical Association appealed for an 'immediate end' to the drug's use, outside studies seeking to determine if the drug has any use against Covid-19, with federal and state regulators tracking side effects and hospital admissions. A panel from the National Institutes of Health found 'insufficient evidence' for or against using the drug for Covid-19. In Oklahoma, McElyea said: 'Some people taking inappropriate doses have actually put themselves in worse conditions than if they'd caught Covid. The scariest one that I've heard of and seen is people coming in with vision loss. 'You have to ask yourself, 'If I take this medicine, what am I going to do if something bad happens?' What's your next step, what's your back-up plan? If you're going to take a medicine that could affect your health, do it with a doctor on board. 'It's not just something you look on the internet for and decide if it's the right dose.'"
Pete Buttigieg, the US transportation secretary and former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, announced the birth of twins adopted by him and his husband Chasten.
September 3, 2021 - Here are some headlines from a few papers in Texas:
"Texas Abortion Ban Uses Harassment to Bypass the Rule of Law" - The Austin American-Statesman
"Hello, Texas? The Wild West Called, They Want Their Laws Back" - Houston Chronicle
"Conservatives Used to Hate Frivolous Lawsuits. Now, Texas Abortion Law Invites Them" - Fort Worth Star-Telegram
While speaking to an undercover liberal activist, Jim Jordan stated the following:
JORDAN: "President Trump, he’s gonna run again"
ACTIVIST: "You think so?"
JORDAN: "I know so. Yeah, I talked to him yesterday. He’s about ready to announce after all of this craziness in Afghanistan."
15 people have been charged in New York over a scheme to make and sell fake vaccination ID cards and to fraudulently enter people into the New York vaccination database. Cyrus Vance Jr, the Manhattan district attorney, reacted to the scheme saying "The stakes are too high to tackle fake vaccination cards with whack-a-mole prosecutions ... Making, selling, and purchasing forged vaccination cards are serious crimes with serious public safety consequences."
Tucker Carlson, a far right primetime host on Fox News reacted to Vance's characterization of people making fake vaccine cards saying:
"Buying a fake vaccination card is not a, quote, 'serious crime'. It's not even close to a serious crime. Buying a fake vaccination card is an act of desperation by decent, law-abiding Americans who have been forced into a corner by tyrants. You know what's a serious crime? Forcing Americans to take drugs they don't need or want. That's a very serious crime. And let's hope, in the end, someone is punished for it, severely."
Writing for the Guardian, Rebecca Solnit offers the following analysis of Texas and its role in a bigger Republican war:
"The American right has been drunk on its freedom from two kinds of inhibition since Donald Trump appeared to guide them into the promised land of their unleashed ids. One is the inhibition from lies, the other from violence. Both are ways members of civil society normally limit their own actions out of respect for the rights of others and the collective good. Those already strained limits have snapped for leading Republican figures, from Tucker Carlson on Fox News to Ted Cruz in the Senate and for their followers. We've watched those followers gulp down delusions from Pizzagate to QAnon to covid-denialism to Trump's election lies. And rough up journalists, crash vehicles into and wave weapons at Black Lives Matter and other antiracist protestors at least since Charlottesville, menace statehouses, issue threats to doctors and school boards testifying about public health, and plot to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, for imposing Covid-prevention protocols. The Texas abortion law that the rightwing supreme court just smiled upon, despite its violation of precedent, seethes with both violence and lies. The very language of the law is a lie ..."
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed a complaint against House minority leader Kevin McCarthy and US representative Marjorie Taylor Greene for violating House rules by after they threatened companies who comply with records requests issued by the House committee investigating the insurrection on January 6. NOTE: Greene stated that if companies "go along with this, they will be shut down and that's a promise" while McCarthy stated that companies that comply "are in violation of federal law and subject to losing their ability to operate in the United States".
A group of parents in Iowa are filing a lawsuit against the state for its ban on mask mandates. According to the suit, the law discriminates against students with disabilities that make them more susceptible to Covid-19. Heather Preston, one of the parents, stated: "For my son, going to school where not everyone is wearing masks puts him at huge risk. Meanwhile, because of his needs, he needs to be learning in person."
Joe Biden signed an executive order that will declassify documents related to the FBI's investigation into September 11th, 2001. The executive order requires the attorney general to release the declassified documents over the next six months.
A coalition of Texas civic action groups as well as a former poll worker and Harris county election administrator has filed a lawsuit which argues that the new election restrictions put into place by Texas Republicans is intentionally designed to discriminate against minority voters. It also argues that the new laws violate the First Amendment's free speech protections as well as the equal protection guaranteed by the 14th amendment along with the Voting Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the Texas Civil Rights Project, and Disability Rights Texas filed a lawsuit challenging the new election restrictions in Texas.
NOTE: Provisions challenged in the two lawsuits include those that allow poll watchers increased movement at the polls, which they argue could lead to harassment of voters of color. They also challenge provisions that impose new requirements on those who assist voters, including an oath in which they are required to affirm the voter asked them for assistance and that they understand the voter's ballot may not be counted if they are ineligible for assistance. Assistors must also swear that they did not "pressure" the voter for assistance. The suit argues "This additional language will cause assistors to question every voter's 'need' for assistance, which further invades the voter's privacy and opens assistors to the threat of prosecution for any misstep". Also challenged are provisions blocking election officials from soliciting vote by mail applications. According to the suit, this language chills the speech of officials like plaintiff Isabel Longoria, the Harris County election administrator, from encouraging people to vote by mail.
After being told by the principal of Mesquite Elementary School in Tuscon Arizona that his son needed to stay home from school for at least a week to quarantine after coming in close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19, the father showed up at the school with two other adults carrying zip ties, which they intended to use to restrain the principal during a "citizen's arrest". The incident was resolved by the Tucson police department.
News surfaced that pro-choice users on TikTok and Reddit launched a guerrilla effort to fight Texas's new abortion law by flooding the online tip website with fake tips. One TikTok user went viral after they admitted to submitting 742 fake reports that the governor, Greg Abbott, was getting illegal abortions.
Ride services Uber and Lyft announced that they would cover the legal expenses of their drivers if they were sued under Texas's new anti-abortion law. NOTE: The new law allows private citizens to bring suits against anyone who potentially "aided or abetted" someone accessing an abortion after six weeks. If plaintiffs are successful, they receive $10,000 and have legal fees reimbursed.
September 2, 2021 - The AP offers the following explainer of the new Texas anti-abortion law:
"Here's what to know about the new Texas law that took effect Tuesday, which already has abortion clinics in neighboring states reporting a surge in the number of Texas women seeking the procedure:
WHAT DOES THE TEXAS LAW DO?
It allows any private citizen to sue Texas abortion providers who violate the law, as well as anyone who 'aids or abets' a woman getting the procedure. The law does not make exceptions for rape or incest. The person bringing the lawsuit who needs to have no connection to the woman getting an abortion is entitled to at least $10,000 in damages if they prevail in court.
HOW MANY PEOPLE COULD BE AFFECTED BY THE TEXAS LAW?
The new Texas law could affect thousands of women seeking abortions, though precise estimates are difficult. In 2020, Texas facilities performed about 54,000 abortions on residents. More than 45,000 of those occurred at eight weeks of pregnancy or less. Some of those abortions still could have been legal under the new law, if they occurred before cardiac activity was detected.
HOW IS THE TEXAS LAW DIFFERENT FROM THOSE IN OTHER STATES THAT HAVE TRIED TO RESTRICT ABORTION EARLY IN PREGNANCY?
The key difference is the enforcement mechanism. The Texas law relies on citizens suing abortion providers over alleged violations. Other states sought to enforce their statutes through government actions like criminal charges against physicians who provide abortions. Texas is one of 14 states with laws either banning abortion entirely or prohibiting it after eight weeks or less of pregnancy. The rest have all been put on hold by courts. Most recently, a court halted a new Arkansas law that would have banned all abortions unless necessary to save the life of the mother in a medical emergency. Other states with blocked laws banning abortions early in pregnancy are Alabama, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah.
HOW DID THE TEXAS ABORTION LAW COME ABOUT?
Texas has long been a major battleground over abortion rights and access, including a 2013 law that closed more than half of the 40-plus abortion clinics in the state before it was blocked by the Supreme Court. Emboldened by victories in the 2020 elections, Republicans responded with a hard-right agenda this year that included loosening gun laws and further tightening what are already some of the nation's strictest voting rules. Anti-abortion groups say the new law was in response to frustration over prosecutors refusing to enforce other abortion restrictions already on the books. Before Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed the law in May, voters in Lubbock, Texas, approved an ordinance similarly intended to outlaw abortion in the city by allowing family members to sue an abortion provider."
According to the AP, Jackie Johnson, the former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney, has been indicted by a grand jury on charges she violated her oath of office and for hindering a law enforcement officer. The charges arose from Johnson's role in showing "favor and affection" toward Greg McMichael, one of a group of men who chased down then murdered Ahmaud Arbery on February 23, 2020. Johnson is also accused of interfering with police officers at the scene of the crime by "directing that Travis McMichael should not be placed under arrest." NOTE: Greg McMichael was a former employee of Johnson's. Johnson had recused herself from the case and appointed George Barnhill. Barnhill, who concluded that no charges were warranted in the case, stepped aside after it became known that he had a son working for Johnson as an assistant prosecutor.
The January 6 committee has asked telecommunications companies to preserve records for several lawmakers including House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy.
Kevin McCarthy, the House Minority leader responded to the Januyary 6 committee's request to telecommunications companies saying that any company that complies with such a request will be "in violation of federal law". NOTE McCarthy did not explain which law the companies would be violating, and legal experts say there is no such law. McCarthy went on to say:
"If companies still choose to violate federal law, a Republican majority will not forget and will stand with Americans to hold them fully accountable under the law"
The Virginia Supreme court has ruled that the state of Virginia can remove the statue of Robert E Lee in Richmond.
According to Forbes, Kelly Craft, a former US ambassador to Canada under Donald Trump, used his position to direct business to Donald Trump's Washington hotel.
According to Salon, DHS officials are alarmed by white supremacists who cite the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan as a model for civil war. From the story:
"The championing of the Taliban by the U.S. groups comes at a time that Afghan allies are coming to the United States as refugees for their own safety. The report details trends from the groups that have been 'framing the activities of the Taliban as a success,' and saying that it could be a model for their efforts to create a civil war in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Intelligence and Analysis chief John Cohen cited the 'great replacement' conspiracy theory that has been promoted recently by Fox News host Tucker Carlson as fuel for these white supremacists. 'So we're getting it and if history is any guide — and it's always a guide — we will see many refugees from Afghanistan resettle in our country in coming months, probably in your neighborhood,' Carlson said during a recent broadcast. 'And over the next decade, that number may swell to the millions. So first we invade, and then we're invaded. It is always the same.' 'There are concerns that those narratives may incite violent activities directed at immigrant communities, certain faith communities, or even those who are relocated to the United States,' said Cohen. A recent analysis from SITE Intelligence Group said that far-right extremist groups have been 'invigorated' by Afghanistan. Either they want to emulate the Taliban or they want to fight back against 'invasions' by the refugees. 'These farmers and minimally trained men fought to take back their nation back from globohomo. They took back their government, installed their national religion as law, and executed dissenters ... If white men in the west had the same courage as the Taliban, we would not be ruled by Jews currently,' read one post from a fascist Proud Boys Telegram group that SITE found."
September 1, 2021 - Posing as a Conservative, Lauren Windsor, the executive producer of the liberal political web show The Undercurrent, and also of Project Veritas Exposed, asked Republican Senator Ron Johnson about the 2020 election results in Wisconsin. Johnson's response:
"There's nothing obviously skewed about the results. There isn't. Collectively, Republicans got 1.661 million votes, 51,000 votes more than Trump got. Trump lost by 20,000. If Trump got all the Republicans, if all the Republicans voted for Trump the way they voted for the Assembly candidates ... he would have won. He didn't get 51,000 votes that other Republicans got. And that's why he lost." NOTE: Ron Johnson has publicly spoke about election "irregularities" that critics say have amplified election disinformation.
News surfaced that Joe Rogan, a popular podcaster with over 13 million followers, who has stated on his podcast: "People say, do you think it's safe to get vaccinated? I've said, yeah, I think for the most part it's safe to get vaccinated. I do. I do. But if you're like 21 years old, and you say to me, should I get vaccinated? I'll go no. Are you healthy? Are you a healthy person? If you're a healthy person, and you're exercising all the time, and you're young, and you're eating well, like, I don't think you need to worry about this," has been diagnosed with covid-19. Rogan explained on Instagram that he is treating his condition with "Monoclonal antibodies, ivermectin, Z-Pak, prednisone, everything. And I also got an NAD drip and a vitamin drip." NOTE: The FDA has warned regarding ivermectin that "treating human medical conditions with veterinary drugs can be very dangerous. The drug may not work at all, or it could worsen the illness and/or lead to serious, potentially life-threatening health complications."
According to the Guardian, an extreme abortion law goes into effect in Texas today. From the story:
"The most restrictive abortion law since Roe v Wade will go into effect today in Texas, making illegal abortions once embryonic cardiac activity is detected, typically six weeks after conceptions. The law offers no exceptions for rape or incest. The law allows any private citizen to sue an abortion provider, leaving clinics in the state vulnerable to lawsuits. Multiple challenges against the law were brought to court but have so far seen no actions. The US supreme court has not acted on an made against the law. The court is expected to take up a Mississippi abortion ban in its next term, though its lack of action around this Texas law signals the risk Roe v Wade is in with the court's anti-choice majority. 'Abortion access will be thrown into absolute chaos,' Amanda Williams, executive director of the abortion support group the Lilith Fund, told the Guardian. 'It is unbelievable that Texas politicians have gotten away with this devastating and cruel law that will harm so many.'"
Notable reactions to Texas' new anti-abortion law:
"Under the cover of darkness, by choosing to do nothing, the Supreme Court allowed an unconstitutional abortion ban in Texas to go into effect. Their decision doesn't change the fact that reproductive rights are human rights." - Hillary Clinton
"This extreme Texas law blatantly violates the constitutional right established under Roe v. Wade and upheld as a precedent for nearly half a century. Outrageously, it deputizes private citizens to bring lawsuits against anyone who they believed has helped another person get an abortion, which might even include family members, health care workers, front desk staff at a health clinic, or strangers with no connection to the individual." - Joe Biden
"It's very sad to see, and it is so heart-wrenching that so many people in Texas have had a fundamental human right taken away from them today" - Paxton Smith, Valedictorian of Lake Highland High School Class of 2021
"We have never seen a law like this one before. This 'sue thy neighbor' provision means that it's not just going to be impossible for people to get an abortion but it really creates, almost, this vigilante, where they can go after anyone they suspect of having helped someone to get an abortion." - Erica Sackin, Political Communications Director for Planned Parenthood
According to the Washington Post, James Whitfield, the principal of Colleyville Heritage High School in Texas, was suspended after a parent accused him of promoting critical race theory. Initially, a man at a school board meeting accused Whitfield of promoting "the conspiracy theory of systemic racism". Whifield, who is Black, responded to his suspension saying: "I was not given any clear reasoning behind the decision and was not given a timetable regarding further steps. I was simply told that it was in the best interest of the school district."
According to the AP, Capitol Police are "closely monitoring" a rally planned for September 18 in support of the January 6th insurrectionists. From the story:
"Far right extremist groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are planning to attend a rally later this month at the U.S. Capitol that is designed to demand 'justice' for the hundreds of people who have been charged in connection with January's insurrection, according to three people familiar with intelligence gathered by federal officials. As a result, U.S. Capitol Police have been discussing in recent weeks whether the large perimeter fence that was erected outside the Capitol after January's riot will need to be put back up, the people said. The officials have been discussing security plans that involve reconstructing the fence as well as another plan that does not involve a fence, the people said. They were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The decision on whether or not to erect the fence again will likely be considered by the Capitol Police Board, according to a House aide familiar with the matter and granted anonymity to discuss it. No decisions have been made. The board consists of the Sergeant at Arms of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the U.S. Senate, and the Architect of the Capitol."
Writing for the Guardian, Lois Beckett offers the following analysis of journalists being attacked at Los Angeles protests:
"Los Angeles has seen volatile protests almost every weekend this summer over trans rights, political opposition to masks and vaccines, and the recall of the Democratic governor. At least seven journalists have been physically assaulted while covering these rallies, six of them by rightwing demonstrators. Attacks on the press are just one part of escalating rightwing street violence in the city, which has included multiple stabbings, people being sprayed in the face with bear Mace, an assault on a breast cancer patient outside a clinic, and repeated physical brawls with leftwing protesters in the streets. In another sign of growing tensions, protesters rallying against vaccine mandates showed up at the homes of two Los Angeles city council members on Sunday. Several Los Angeles journalists said the violence was like nothing they had seen before, and that some of the attacks had taken place with police officers standing nearby. The Los Angeles police department and the Los Angeles county sheriff's department did not respond to requests for comment about whether there had been any arrests so far in any of the incidents, even as some of the journalists have publicly identified the people they believe attacked them and at least three have made official police reports. The documentary film-maker Rocky Romano said he was hit over the head with a lead-filled baton at an anti-trans protest on 3 July while wearing a vest clearly marked 'press'."
August 31, 2021 - According to the Biden White House, approximately 122,000 people were evacuated out of Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul.
Speaking to Good Morning America, Jake Sullivan, a national security adviser, had this to say about the withdrawal from Afghanistan:
"[Joe Biden] got a unanimous recommendation from his secretary of state, his secretary of defense, all of his civilian advisors, all of his commanders on the ground, and all of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that the best way to protect our forces and the best way to help those Americans was to transition this mission."
According to the Pew Research Center, Republican trust in national news organizations has dropped from 70% in 2016 to 35% today.
Tucker Carlson, a Fox News primetime host, targeted White House and militry leaders regarding the Afghanistan withdrawal saying: "When leaders refuse to hold themselves accountable over time, people revolt. That happens. We need to change course immediately and start acknowledging our mistakes. The people who made them need to start acknowledging them or else the consequences will be awful".
Angelo Carusone, the president and chief executive of Media Matters for America, responded to Carlson's "revolt" comments saying:
"When there's another big violent rightwing flashpoint that captures attention, way too many in media will wonder out loud: 'How did this happen?' 'Were there signs?' You don't need to wade into the online fever-swamps to see the cauldron of extremism simmering. Fox News is ratcheting up heat and legitimising nightly ... Fox News, not Facebook, will be the driver of the next insurrection. Plain and simple."
The Virginia Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that a PE teacher was exercising free speech when he told a school board the following regarding his refusal to follow a rule requiring teachers to address transgender students according to their gender identity:
"I'm a teacher, but I serve God first. And I will not affirm that a biological boy can be a girl and vice versa, because it is against my religion. It's lying to a child. It's abuse to a child."
Speaking on his Fox News show, Tucker Carlson made the following statement:
"Over the past week this same administration has overseen the evacuation of tens of thousands of unvetted Afghan nationals. Many of whom will now be moved into neighborhoods around the United States and stay permanently. They didn't seem to encounter any problems in doing this. Thanks to meticulous and thoughtful planning, operation change America forever came off precisely according to plan. It worked flawlessly."
Speaking to CNN, Larry Elder, the leading GOP candidate vying to replace California Governor Gavin Newsom in a recall election, made the following statement:
"I don't believe the science suggests that young people should be vaccinated. I don't believe the science suggests that young people should have to wear masks at school ... young people are not likely to contract the coronavirus, and when they do, their symptoms are likely to be mild, and they're not likely to be hospitalized, and certainly not likely to die ... I think the science is all over the place about young people ... I would have to dispute your notion that young people are dying." NOTE: Young people are at less risk of severe illness and death, however, nearly 500 children younger than 18 have died from Covid-19. More than 3,000 between the ages of 18 and 29 have died from Covid-19.
August 30, 2021 - The US has evacuated 116,700 people from Kabul since August 14th.
According to the Guardian, lawyers for hundreds of survivors and families of people killed in Yemen's civil war have called on the International Criminal Court to investigate military forces led by Saudi Arabia and backed by the US for alleged war crimes.
Due to surging coronavirus infections, the European Union (EU) has removed the US from a Covid-19 'white list' of places from which tourists are permitted entry without restrictions that include mandatory quarantine.
Writing for the Guardian, Martin Pengelly offers the following analysis of efforts by the January 6 commission to preserve the phone records of some Republicans:
"More news to make some leading Republicans sweat, as Reuters and CNN report that the 6 January committee intends to make a third round of requests for records as it investigates the deadly assault on the US Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to overturn the election result. More than 600 people have been arrested over the assault, around which five people died. The records in question may include those of Donald Trump himself, and his family members. Last week the House panel, predominantly Democratic but with two Republican members in the Trump critics Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, ordered federal agencies and social media companies to hand over records related to the violence. The committee also intends, Reuters reports an anonymous source as saying, to ask telephone companies to preserve records of people involved in organizing the rally that preceded the riot. That was a 'Stop the Steal' event near the White House which was addressed by, among others, Trump and his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. As Reuters puts it: 'The source on Monday confirmed a CNN report that the committee's request is expected to include preservation of phone records of then-President Donald Trump, his daughter Ivanka, and his sons Eric and Donald Jr. CNN said the list of individuals whose records the committee is asking phone companies to preserve also includes Republican members of Congress who were strong supporters of Trump and his false claims that Joe Biden's victory over Trump in the November 2020 election was tainted by fraud.' The committee hasn't commented but one person who has is Sidney Blumenthal, the Clinton aide-turned Lincoln biographer who is also a Guardian contributor. In two pieces this summer, Blumenthal has concentrated on what Jim Jordan of Ohio, a leading rabble-rouser on the right in the House, knew about the assault and when, and on a possible precedent for compelling Jordan to testify in front of the 6 January committee. The latter follows at the end of this post. On Sunday, Politico reported that Jordan had a hitherto undisclosed second conversation with Donald Trump as the riot unfolded: 'After a group of lawmakers were evacuated from the House chamber to a safe room ... Jordan was joined by Matt Gaetz (of Florida) for a call during which they implored Trump to tell his supporters to stand down, per a source with knowledge of that call. The source declined to say how Trump responded to this request.' The plot, as they say, thickens."
According to the Guardian, the US education department has opened civil rights investigations into five states for banning mask mandates in public schools. From the story:
"The states under investigation are Iowa, South Carolina, Utah, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Regarding other high-profile battles over mask mandates and attempts to ban them, the department said it had 'not opened investigations in Florida, Texas, Arkansas, or Arizona because those states' bans on universal indoor masking are not currently being enforced as a result of court orders or other state actions. Due to these rulings and actions, districts should be able to implement universal indoor masking in schools to protect the health and safety of their students and staff. However, the department will continue to closely monitor those states and is prepared to take action if state leaders prevent local schools or districts from implementing universal indoor masking or if the current court decisions were to be reversed. Miguel Cardona, the education secretary, said: 'It's simply unacceptable that state leaders are putting politics over the health and education of the students they took an oath to serve. The department will fight to protect every student's right to access in-person learning safely and the rights of local educators to put in place policies that allow all students to return to the classroom full-time in-person safely this fall.'"
A new Morning Consult poll shows that Joe Biden's approval rating is at a record low of 48%.
The US has completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan after nearly 20 years.
August 29, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Simon Tisdall offers the following analysis of the 20 year war in Afghanistan:
"It is, perhaps, dreadfully apt that an invasion which began 20 years ago as a counter-terrorism operation has ended in the horror of a mass casualty terrorist attack. The US-led attempt to destroy al-Qaida and rescue Afghanistan from the Taliban was undercut by the Iraq war, which spawned Islamic State. Now the circle is complete as an Afghan IS offshoot emerges as America's new nemesis. The Kabul airport atrocity shows just how difficult it is to break the cycle of violence, vengeance and victimisation. Joe Biden's swift vow to hunt down the perpetrators and 'make them pay' presumably means US combat forces will again be in action in Afghanistan soon. If the past is any guide, mistakes will be made, civilians will die, local communities will be antagonised. Result: more terrorists. It is an obvious irony that US military chiefs in Kabul are collaborating with the Taliban, their sworn enemy, against the common IS foe as the evacuation ends. This suggests negotiators, on both sides, could have tried harder to reach a workable peace deal. It may augur well for future cooperation, for example on humanitarian aid. But the Taliban has many faces – and many cannot be trusted."
According to Pajhwok, Afghanistan's largest news agency, the Taliban has banned the airing of music and women's voices in Kandahar province.
According to the AP, the US has carried out a strike in Kabul, which targeted a suspected ISIS-K car bomb that was targeting the airport. According to the story, a significant secondary explosion indicated a substantial amount of explosive material was present in the vehicle. The Pentagon confirmed that the strike took out an "imminent ISIS-K" threat to Kabul airport.
Speaking to a local GOP gathering in Macon County, N.C., Madison Cawthorn, a freshman Republican congressman, raised eyebrows with some of his comments. Here are some highlights:
- Cawthorn echoed Trump's lies about election fraud stating that Trump won the 2020 election.
- Cawthorn called the defendants in the Capitol insurrection "political hostages" and vowed to "bust them out".
- Cawthorn was asked by a supporter when he plans to "call us to Washington again". Cawthorn responded: "We are actively working on that one."
- Cawthorn brandished a shotgun while saying: "The Second Amendment was not written so that we could go hunting ... the Second Amendment was written so that we could fight against tyranny".
Cawthorn told the crowd that if elections "continue to be stolen" it will "lead to one place, and that's bloodshed" adding that he is "willing to defend liberty at all costs" and would dread taking "arms against a fellow American."
- Cawthorn expressed skepticism about coronavirus vaccines, calling them "experimental". NOTE: The FDA granted full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine last week.
Notable responses to Cawthorn's comments:
"This is exactly the kind of thing DHS, FBI & intel agencies warned 'will almost certainly' spur domestic extremists to try to engage in more violence" - Zachary Cohen, CNN National Security Reporter
"[Cawthorn] was clearly advocating for violence not to occur over election integrity questions" - Luke Ball, a spokesperson for Madison Cawthorn
Robert David Steele, a former CIA officer who spread baseless QAnon theories, and who spread COVID-19 misingormation online, has died from complications due to COVID-19.
August 28, 2021 - The US launched a drone strike against the terrorist group ISIS-K killing two Islamic State "planners and facilitators".
Caleb Wallace, a 30-year-old father of three, whose wife is currently pregnant with their fourth child, died today. Wallace, who helped organize the Freedom Rally in San Angelo on July 4th to protest the wearing of masks, business closures, the science behind Covid-19, and the liberal media, and who demanded the San Angelo school district rescind all Covid-19 protocols, died from complications due to Covid-19. According to Wallace's wife Jessica, Caleb began experiencing Covid symptoms on July 26th, but refused to get tested or go to the hospital, and chose instead to treat his symptoms with high doses of Vitamin C, zinc, aspirin, and ivermectin.
Marc Bernier, a 65-year-old conservative radio host from Daytona Beach, Florida, who questioned the need for vaccines, and even characterized himself as "Mr Anti-Vax" while also assuring his listeners "I'm not taking it", has died after nearly a month-long battle with Covid-19. Bernier once accused the US government of "acting like Nazi's" because officials were urging people to get vaccinated.
August 27, 2021 - The US has now evacuated more than 100,000 people out of Afghanistan since August 14.
During a press briefing, John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, warned regarding the airport in Kabul:
"We still believe there are credible threats. In fact, I’d say specific, credible threats. And we want to make sure we're prepared for those."
Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, held a press conference, here are some highlights:
- McCarthy stated: "Why would we ever depend on the Taliban?. Why would you negotiate with the Taliban?" NOTE: Donald Trump negotiated with the Taliban, which did not at the time concern Kevin McCarthy.
- McCarthy stated that he was opposed to sending more troops into Afghanistan, then argued that the US military should have maintained control of Bagram Air Base, which would have required a larger troop presence.
Several Republican lawmakers in the House and the Senate have suggested that Joe Biden should step down over his handling of the Kabul evacuation.
According to the AP, a Florida judge has ruled that Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor, cannot block schools from imposing mask mandates to limit spread of coronavirus. From the story:
"Leon County Circuit Judge John C Cooper agreed with a group of parents who claimed in a lawsuit that DeSantis' order is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced. The governor's order gave parents the sole right to decide if their child wears a mask at school. Cooper said DeSantis' order 'is without legal authority.' His decision came after a three-day virtual hearing, and after at least 10 Florida school boards voted to defy DeSantis and impose mask requirements with no parental opt-out."
The White House is warning that another terror attack in Kabul is likely.
The Texas House of representatives has passed a sweeping elections bill that would prohibit 24-hour drive-through voting, block election officials from sending out absentee ballot applications, set new restrictions on providing assistance to voters, impose new identification requirements on mail-in ballots, and give more leeway to partisan poll watchers at voting sites.
According to the Guardian, there is "broad agreement" among the US intelligence community that Covid-19 "was not developed as a biological weapon" and that "Chinese officials did not have foreknowledge" of it prior to the initial outbreak.
Sirhan Sirhan, the man who assassinated Robert F Kennedy in 1968, has been granted parole.
Daniel Darling, an evangelical author and spokesman for National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) was fired by the NRB after he refused to sign a statement saying his pro-vaccine messaging amounted to insubordination. Darling had recently penned an op-ed in USA Today about his decision to get the Covid-19 vaccine, and had also appeared on MSNBC. NOTE: The NRB, which calls itself the largest association of Christian communicators, claims that part of its purpose is to advocate for the "free speech rights of our members."
August 26, 2021 - The US has begun warning crowds outside the Kabul airport to leave the area, citing a "high threat" of terrorist attack. From the US State Department warning:
"Those at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, or North Gate now should leave immediately"
The US has now helped to evacuate more than 95,000 people out of Afghanistan since August 14.
Seven Capitol Police officers have filed a lawsuit against Trump, the Trump election campaign, Roger Stone, and members of far-right extremist groups the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. In the suit, the officers allege that Trump "worked with white supremacists, violent extremist groups, and campaign supporters to violate the Ku Klux Klan Act, and commit acts of domestic terrorism in an unlawful effort to stay in power"
A suicide bomber blew himself up outside the Abbey Gate at the Kabul airport, killing 13 US troops, and injuring 15 others. As of this writing, Afghan casualties exceed 170.
Responding to the attack outside the airport, president Biden stated:
"To those who carried out these attacks today – as well as anyone who wishes America harm – know this: We will not forgive, we will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay ... I've also ordered my commanders to develop operational plans to strike Isis key assets, leadership, and facilities. We will respond with force and precision at our time at a place we choose in a moment of our choosing."
Michael Byrd, the Capitol Police officer who shot Ashli Babbitt, was interviewed by Lester Holt of NBC News. During the interview Byrd stated that he has received a flood of death threats and racist attacks after his name was leaked on right-wing forums and websites. Regarding the threats, Byrd stated:
"They talked about killing me, cutting off my head. It's all disheartening, because I know I was doing my job."
August 25, 2021 - The US military has now helped to evacuate more than 80,000 people out of Kabul since the Taliban took control of the city. According to the Pentagon, flights are leaving Kabul every 39 minutes.
According to a US intelligence report on the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, officials were unable to definitively conclude whether the virus jumped to humans via animals or escaped a highly secure research facility in Wuhan, China.
The select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection has issued requests for documents from numerous agencies regarding the Trump administration's preparations for and response to the Capitol attack, which includes communications between Trump White House officials as the attack unfolded. The agencies affected by the requests are:
National Archives (White House records)
Department of Justice
Department of Defense
Department of the Interior
Department of Homeland Security
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)
National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC)
The select committee is also seeking White House communications as the Capitol attack unfolded. Here's a partial list of those whose communications the committee is interested in:
Hope Hicks
Mark Meadows
Dan Scavino
Stephan Miller
Kayleigh McEnany
Ivanka Trump
Eric Trump
Lara Trump
Donald Trump, Jr.
Jared Kushner
Melania Trump
Kimberly Guilfoyle
Steve Bannon
Michael Flynn
Rudy Giuliani
Speaking to the press, Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, warned that the current operation in Kabul is very risky saying:
"It's hard to overstate the complexity and 'the danger of this effort. We’re operating in a hostile environment in a city and country now controlled by the Taliban with the very real possibility of an Isis-K attack. We’re taking every precaution, but this is very high risk."
Writing for the Guardian, George Monbiot offers the following analysis of efforts to attribute blame for the chaos in Afghanistan:
"Everyone is to blame for the catastrophe in Afghanistan, except the people who started it. Yes, Joe Biden screwed up by rushing out so chaotically. Yes, Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab failed to make adequate and timely provisions for the evacuation of vulnerable people. But there is a frantic determination in the media to ensure that none of the blame is attached to those who began this open-ended war without realistic aims or an exit plan, then waged it with little concern for the lives and rights of the Afghan people: the then US president, George W Bush, the British prime minister Tony Blair and their entourages. Indeed, Blair's self-exoneration and transfer of blame to Biden last weekend was front-page news, while those who opposed his disastrous war 20 years ago remain cancelled across most of the media. Why? Because to acknowledge the mistakes of the men who prosecuted this war would be to expose the media's role in facilitating it. Any fair reckoning of what went wrong in Afghanistan, Iraq and the other nations swept up in the 'war on terror' should include the disastrous performance of the media. Cheerleading for the war in Afghanistan was almost universal, and dissent was treated as intolerable. After the Northern Alliance stormed into Kabul, torturing and castrating its prisoners, raping women and children, the Telegraph urged us to 'just rejoice, rejoice', while the Sun ran a two-page editorial entitled 'Shame of the traitors: wrong, wrong, wrong ... the fools who said Allies faced disaster'. In the Guardian, Christopher Hitchens, a convert to US hegemony and war, marked the solemnity of the occasion with the words: 'Well, ha ha ha, and yah, boo. It was ... obvious that defeat was impossible. The Taliban will soon be history.' The few journalists and public figures who dissented were added to the Telegraph's daily list of 'Osama bin Laden's useful idiots', accused of being 'anti-American' and 'pro-terrorism', mocked, vilified and de-platformed almost everywhere. In the Independent, David Aaronovitch claimed that if you opposed the ongoing war, you were 'indulging yourself in a cosmic whinge'."
Linda Parker, a District Judge, has ruled that Sidney Powell and other Trump lawyers should have more thoroughly investigated voter fraud claims before suing and that the lawyers: "have scorned their oath, flouted the rules, and attempted to undermine the integrity of the judiciary along the way". Parker requested that a disciplinary body look into whether Powell and her colleagues should be disbarred for abusing "the well-established rules applicable to the litigation process by proffering claims not backed by law".
August 24, 2021 - Since August 14, approximately 59,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan. Since the end of July approximately 64,000 have been evacuated.
During a press conference, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary responded to Republican criticism that Biden had capitulated to the Taliban's demands by sticking to an August 31 deadline for Kabul evacuations saying:
"The Taliban's deadline was May 1st, struck in a deal with the prior administration. The president's timeline was August 31st. That's the timeline he set and a period of time he needed in order to operationalize our departure from Afghanistan."
Writing for the Guardian, Mary Kaldor, the director of conflict and civil society research unit at London School of economics, offers the following analysis of the main lesson learned from the invasion of Afghanistan, which is that the "war on terror" does not work:
"I opposed the initial invasion of Afghanistan on the grounds that terrorism is a heinous crime but not a war, and that we needed to use the techniques of policing and intelligence, while tackling the underlying causes of terrorism, rather than military methods to deal with the problem. Many of us said at the time that the attacks of 9/11 should have been viewed as a crime against humanity, not as an attack by a foreign state. The terrorists should have been designated as criminals not enemies. As the distinguished war historian Michael Howard said, the phrase 'war on terror' accorded the 'terrorists a status they seek and do not deserve'. Indeed there were considerable gains in women's rights and education as well as democratic consciousness, as exemplified by the recent protests in Jalalabad. The fundamental reason was that the security of Afghans was continually undermined by the way that the US prioritised counter-terror operations, by which it meant military targeting of the Taliban and al-Qaida, and more recently, Islamic State. Actually, there was no insurgency until five years after the invasion. The insurgency began for two main reasons. First, night raids, drone attacks and bombing produced a counterreaction. Second, the US allies in the counter-terror endeavour were the so-called warlords, many of the same people or their children that the CIA recruited to fight the Soviets in the 1980s. It was the continued presence of these criminalised and predatory warlords within the Afghan government that explains its systemic corruption and lack of legitimacy. Civil society groups were vocal and persistent in their demands for justice and an end to corruption. But their demands were ignored."
August 23, 2021 - The US has now evacuated 37,000 people from Afghanistan since August 14.
The FDA has granted full approval to the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. NOTE: As of today, more than 630,000 Americans have died from Covid-19 with the overwhelming majority of hospitalizations and deaths among the unvaccinated. Officials are hoping the full approval will spur an increase in vaccinations among the portions of the population, particularly in Republican-led states, that have thus far been resistant to doing so.
Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York, announced that all New York public school employees must be vaccinated.
According to the Guardian, the US Capitol Police have issued the results of an internal investigation into the shooting of Ashli Babbitt on January 6th inside the US Capitol, which concluded that the shooting "was lawful". NOTE: Babbitt, a QAnon adherent, was shot by a Capitol Police officer as she tried to enter through a broken window in a barricaded door. Donald Trump has called for "justice" for Babbitt saying she "was murdered at the hands of someone who should have never pulled the trigger of his gun".
The Capitol Police released the following statement:
"After interviewing multiple witnesses and reviewing all the available evidence, including video and radio calls, the United States Capitol Police has completed the internal investigation into the fatal shooting of Ms. Ashli Babbitt, which occurred in the Speaker's Lobby on January 6. USCP's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) determined the officer's conduct was lawful and within Department policy, which says an officer may use deadly force only when the officer reasonably believes that action is in the defense of human life, including the officer's own life, or in the defense of any person in immediate danger of serious physical injury. The officer in this case, who is not being identified for the officer's safety, will not be facing internal discipline. The actions of the officer in this case potentially saved Members and staff from serious injury and possible death from a large crowd of rioters who forced their way into the U.S. Capitol and to the House Chamber where Members and staff were steps away. USCP Officers had barricaded the Speaker's Lobby with furniture before a rioter shattered the glass door. If the doors were breached, the rioters would have immediate access to the House Chambers. The officer's actions were consistent with the officer's training and USCP policies and procedures ... This officer and the officer's family have been the subject of numerous credible and specific threats for actions that were taken as part of the job of all our officers: defending the Congress, members, staff and the democratic process."
In response to misinformation spreading on social media and on Right-Wing media sites that ivermectin, a medicine used to deworm livestock, can be used as a substitute for getting a Covid shot, the FDA released the following statement:
"You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y'all. Stop it."
Following the Pfizer vaccine's full approval, Joe Biden called "on more companies ... in the private sector to step up with vaccine requirements".
Igor Fruman, a one time associate of Rudy Giuliani, changed his plea from not guilty to guilty in a campaign finance case that accuses him of being a part of a scheme to evade campaign finance laws that prohibit contributions from foreign nationals. NOTE: Fruman was charged along with Lev Parnas over a $325,000 campaign contribution to support former-president Donald Trump in 2020.
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following analysis of a voting rights case in North Carolina:
"People with felony convictions can vote in North Carolina as long as they are not physically incarcerated, a state court said on Monday, a consequential decision that could impact as many as 56,000 people in the state. The ruling blunts a state statute that has racist origins. White lawmakers enacted the initial state statute disenfranchising those convicted of a felony in the second half of the 19th century amid fears African Americans were getting too much power in the state. An 1898 Democratic handbook openly talked about 'protecting the white vote.' The law continues to have a disproportionate effect on Black voters, challengers in the case noted. At the end of 2016, African Americans comprised 46% of those on parole or probation and 22% of registered voters in the state. The ruling, which a 3-judge panel issued from the bench on Monday, is an extension of a preliminary injunction from the panel that came just before the 2020 election. The previous ruling said that people on parole and probation could not be blocked from voting if all that was holding up completion of their sentence was outstanding debt. Republicans in the state legislature, who are defending the law, plan to appeal, according to the Raleigh News and Observer."
The release of a report detailing the findings of a Republican-backed "audit" of Arizona's election results has been delayed after officials announced that the CEO of Cyber Ninjas and two other members of his 5-person audit team were "quite sick" with covid-19. NOTE: The audit report was initially promised to the public within 60 days. That promise was made in late March.
August 21, 2021 - According to CNN, Phil Valentine, a Nashville-based conservative radio talk show host, who downplayed the importance of getting vaccinated against covid-19 by advising those who are not in the "high-risk" demographic to not get the vaccine, and bet that his odds of dying from Covid-19 were "way less than one percent," has died from his battle with the coronavirus. NOTE: Cumulus Media, which owns the station Valentine worked for, quietly issued a company-wide vaccine mandate less than two weeks after Valentine's Covid-19 diagnosis.
August 20, 2021 - According to the AP, Texas Republicans are on track to pass sweeping new voter restrictions. From the story:
"The sudden end of Texas Democrats' 38-day walkout has put Republicans back on a fast track to pass a sweeping voting bill and is causing rifts among some Democrats who said Friday they felt 'betrayed' by colleagues who returned to the state Capitol. Texas is the last big GOP-controlled state that has not passed more restrictive voting laws driven by former President Donald Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. But it is now likely only a matter of weeks after enough Democratic lawmakers ended their holdout Thursday to restore a quorum — by the slimmest of margins — in the state House of Representatives. It broke a stalemate that brought the Texas Capitol to a standstill, and already Republicans are working fast to advance a sweeping bill to the House floor as early as Monday. The collapse of Democrats' holdout frustrated a faction that appeared ready to torpedo the bill for a third time in Texas, even though a commanding GOP majority in the Texas statehouse made it unlikely that Democrats could permanently stop the bill from passing."
Marjorie Taylor Greene, the QAnon embracing Republican congresswoman from Georgia, introduced three impeachment resolutions against President Joe Biden. Those resolutions are: The chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan, illegal immigration through the US-Mexico border, and the unclear constitutionality of Biden's new eviction moratorium. NOTE: This is the second time Greene has introduced articles of impeachment against Joe Biden.
According to the Mississippi State Department of Health, at least 70% of recent calls to poison control have been related to ingestion of livestock or animal formulations of ivermectin purchased at livestock supply centers. NOTE: Ivermectin is a horse de-wormer that has been promoted by Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson as a therapeutic for covid-19.
August 19, 2021 - A new AP-NORC survey finds that only 35% of Americans believe the war in Afghanistan was worth fighting. 62% say it was not. Among the 62% are 67% of Democrats and 57% of Republicans.
According to the Pentagon, there are more then 5,200 troops on the ground at the Kabul international airport with more on the way, and approximately 7,000 people have been evacuated since August 14.
Floyd Ray Roseberry, from Grover, North Carolina, parked his truck outside the Library of Congress in Washington DC, then claimed to have a bomb inside his vehicle. Roseberry was taken into custody without incident and charged with threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to use an explosive device.
Roger Wicker, a Republican US Senator, has tested positive for Covid-19.
Pressley Stutts, chair of the Greenville Tea Party, and Republican conservative leader, who spread false information about COVID-19 online, and who cheered on unvaccinated doctors and nurses, has died from complications brought about by COVID-19.
August 18, 2021 - According to Politico, the Biden administration is now recommending coronavirus vaccine booster shots. From the story:
"The evidence, compiled by federal scientists over the past several months, showed a decline in the initial round of protection against Covid-19 infection that's coincided with a resurgence in cases driven by the more contagious Delta variant. The data looked at vaccine effectiveness in individuals across age groups, with varying medical conditions and who received the shot at different times. It was presented to White House Covid-19 task force officials at a meeting Sunday. 'This is what moved the needle,' one senior administration official said, describing the CDC data and the decision to urge boosters. That data — which is set to be made public later this week — brought a swift end to a debate over when to administer boosters that has raged within the administration for months, and spurred the buildout of a plan for distributing the additional shots in a matter of weeks."
The US Embassy in Kabul has warned that: "THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT CANNOT ENSURE SAFE PASSAGE TO THE HAMID KARZAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT" NOTE: Concerns are being raised about potential terror atacks at the airport from groups like ISIS-K, as well as reports that some people are being beaten at Taliban checkpoints near the airport.
Speaking to reporters, Mark Milley, the joint chiefs chairman, stated:
"There was nothing that I or anyone else saw that indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days."
According to the Guardian, Biden has directed the education secretary to take "legal action if appropriate" over mask bans. From the story:
"Joe Biden fiercely criticized Republican governors who are attempting to ban mask mandates in classrooms, even though many children are not yet eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine. 'They're setting a dangerous tone,' Biden said of the governors. 'This isn't about politics. It's about keeping our children safe.' The president said he will direct his education secretary, Miguel Cardona, to use all of his oversight power, including 'legal action if appropriate,' against governors who try to overrule school leaders on masking policies. Biden added that money from the American Rescue Plan can be used to reimburse the salaries of teachers who are financially punished for trying to enforce mask mandates."
News surfaced that the Ted Cruz campaign spent more than $150,000 at US book chain Books-A-Million in the months following the publication of Cruz's book "One Vote Away: How a Single Supreme Court Seat Can Change History". Forbes speculated that the money was used to buy copies of Cruz's book to boost book sales.
According to Politico, many on the far right are claiming the Taliban's victory as their own. From the story:
"The Taliban have some unlikely cheerleaders: the far right in Europe and the United States. White supremacists, QAnon followers and others in extremist online communities praised the group for their overthrowing of liberal values in the days following their victory across Afghanistan, according to a review of encrypted Telegram channels, online message boards and posts within more mainstream social networks like Twitter by Digital Bridge, POLITICO's transatlantic newsletter. While far-right groups have typically railed against the Islamification of the West, they were quick to piggyback on the Taliban's rise to power in Afghanistan to promote their own anti-LGBTQ+, anti-women and anti-liberal agenda — one that shares many tenets with that of Afghan militants ... 'The extreme far right-Taliban nexus is particularly worrying and probably surprising to many,' said Adam Hadley, director of Tech Against Terrorism, a nonprofit that works with smaller social networks in combating the rise of extremist content online. 'I suppose it makes sense given their shared bigotry.'"
August 17, 2021 - Speaking to the nation, Joe Biden said regarding the Afghan people:
"We gave them every chance to determine their own future. What we couldn't provide them was the will to fight for that future."
Biden also warned the Taliban:
"If they attack our personnel or disrupt our operation, the US presence will be swift and the response will be swift and forceful. We will defend our people with devastating force if necessary."
Biden also stated:
"The buck stops with me."
According to John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, the US military will evacuate somewhere between 5,000 and 9,000 people a day from the Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKAI) in Kabul.
Writing for the Guardian, Jason Burke offers the following analysis of the Taliban's resumption of power in Afghanistan:
"Last time the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan – in 1996 – there was never any question of what form of government they would install and who would rule the country. They were filling a vacuum, and Mullah Mohammed Omar, the reclusive cleric who had led the movement since its beginnings two years earlier, took charge. Then, Kabul was a shattered husk, with a tiny hungry, scared population, almost no economic activity, no telephones and public transport provided by ancient Russian-made cars or 1970s buses once driven from Germany. The Taliban could impose whatever they wanted. But circumstances are different today. Since the Taliban were ousted by a US-led military coalition after the 9/11 attacks of 2001, Afghanistan's capital has been transformed into a bustling, crowded, traffic-choked metropolis of 5 million. The rest of the country has changed immensely too. The task facing the new de facto head of state is vastly more challenging and complex. But who will this ruler be? The most likely candidate is the current supreme leader of the Taliban, Haibatullah Akhundzada, a 60-year-old Islamic legal scholar who took over when his predecessor, Akhtar Mansour, was killed in a US drone strike near the Afghan-Pakistan border in 2016."
Speaking to NBC, HR McMaster, Donald Trump's second national security adviser, criticized the "capitulation agreement" the Trump administration reached with the Taliban, and its implementation by the Biden administration saying:
"The Taliban violated this so-called agreement. It was an agreement between us and the Taliban that was embarrassing. It was basically, you know, 'If you don't fire on us, we will not take action against you.' And so we left kind of our Afghan allies hanging ... Remember, after we signed that capitulation agreement, the Taliban intensified an assassination campaign, killing journalists, killing any women political leaders and judges, bombing, you know, girls' schools, attacking a maternity hospital. I mean, do we really think that the Taliban was adhering to the agreement? Of course they weren't. And we've seen that in dramatic fashion now ... So, of course, I think it's a false claim, right, that we had no other option but to withdraw ... War is a contest of wills. And we did everything we could, it seemed, really across the last two administrations to deliver psychological blows to the Afghans that landed, I think, even harder than the Taliban's physical blows landed on them. Telling them that we're going to withdraw, making concession after concession with the Taliban, not even allowing the Afghan government to participate in what became our capitulation agreement with the Taliban. You know, forcing the Afghanistan government to release 5,000 of the some of the most heinous people on Earth who immediately went back to terrorising the Afghan people."
According to Reuters, a judge "appeared skeptical" of efforts to dismiss a $2.7bn lawsuit against Fox News and two guests. From the story:
"During oral arguments, New York state judge David Cohen made comments sympathetic to Smartmatic, a small company that sued Fox and two of Donald Trump's former lawyers, Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, after the attorneys falsely accused it of rigging votes against the former president. The judge questioned whether there was any basis whatsoever for claims Powell and Giuliani made about Smartmatic on Fox News, such as that the company was banned in Texas. 'How is that not defamatory?,' the judge said. 'Did any evidence ever come to light that Smartmatic was banned in Texas?' The judge asked whether former host Lou Dobbs ever attempted to ascertain proof of this claim. For Fox Corp, the lawyer Paul Clement responded that those allegations were made during an interview Dobbs conducted with Giuliani, and that Fox News had a constitutional right to report on newsworthy claims made by Trump's lawyers. The judge noted that experts have rejected the conspiracy theory that the election was hacked, adding that even Fox News host Tucker Carlson blasted Powell for failing to back the theory with evidence. The judge asked whether that should have made Fox News reconsider the accuracy of its reporting. Clement said Fox was merely reporting on newsworthy claims made by Trump's legal teams, not endorsing the theories. Fox News, Giuliani and Powell have all separately been sued for defamation by another voting software company, Dominion Voting Systems. Last week, a judge denied a bid by Powell and Giuliani to dismiss the claims against them. Smartmatic's technology was only used in one place for the presidential election: Los Angeles county, which Biden won."
According to the Guardian, Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, has tested positive for Covid-19. NOTE: Abbott, who has fought against mask mandates, recently attended a packed, indoor GOP event, where an estimated 600 people were in attendance.
Writing for the Guardian, Danielle Renwick offers the following analysis of the delta variant:
"The Covid-19 vaccine was supposed to bring life back to normal. Then came the Delta variant. Real-world data collection continues, but it's clear that the vaccines do offer significant protection against becoming infected by Delta. They offer even greater protection against severe illness: Among states that are reporting breakthrough cases of Covid-19, fully vaccinated people made up no more than 5% of overall hospitalizations. Nonetheless, doctors and public health experts are now urging even the fully vaccinated to resume mask wearing and some social distancing measures. What those measures should look like may vary from person to person, depending on personal circumstances and community rates of vaccination and transmission."
August 16, 2021 - A crisis is taking place in Afghanistan as video surfaced of Afghans clinging to the outside of US military planes as they take off from the Kabul international airport, some people later seen falling to their deaths as the planes gained altitude.
Writing for the Guardian, David Smith offers the following analysis of the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan:
"Joe Biden was facing the biggest crisis of his presidency on Monday after the stunning fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban caught his administration flat-footed and raised fears of a humanitarian catastrophe. Recriminations were under way in Washington over the chaotic retreat from Kabul, which one Biden opponent described as 'the embarrassment of a superpower laid low'. Bowing to pressure, officials said the president would leave his country retreat, Camp David, to address the nation from the White House on Monday afternoon. The Taliban swept into Kabul on Sunday after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, ending two decades of a failed experiment to import western-style liberal democracy. Diplomatic staff were flown to safety but thousands of Afghans who worked with US forces were stranded and at risk of deadly reprisals. As harrowing scenes played out on television – including desperate Afghans clinging to a US transport plane before takeoff – the White House scrambled to explain how the government collapsed so quickly. Last month Biden, pointing to the Afghan military's superior numbers and technology, predicted: 'The likelihood there's going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely.' Unrepentant, the president issued a statement on Saturday, insisting the sudden withdrawal had been the only possible choice. But the response by Biden, who ran for election promising unrivalled foreign policy credentials after 36 years in the Senate and eight as Barack Obama’s vice-president, was jarring to many. A headline in the Washington Post read: 'Defiant and defensive, a president known for empathy takes a cold-eyed approach to Afghanistan debacle.'"
Writing for the Guardian, Dan Sabbagh offers the following analysis of the swift takeover by the Taliban:
"Joe Biden could not have been clearer: a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was 'not inevitable', the US president said on 8 July. Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, was equally confident – 'there is no military path to victory for the Taliban' – he told MPs earlier that day, five weeks ago. The president said he trusted 'the capacity of the Afghan military', who were better trained, better equipped and 'more competent in terms of conducting war'. The prime minister agreed: 'I do not believe that the Taliban are guaranteed the kind of victory that we sometimes read about.' The high-speed collapse of the Afghan government and armed forces, and the fall of Kabul, a city of more than 4 million people, with barely a shot fired, demonstrates how badly wrong these assessments were. Yet they were not just the over-optimistic statements of politicians seeking to justify an exit made for domestic political reasons. They were echoed by military and intelligence planners, even as the Taliban were making rapid advances across the Afghan countryside, in preparation for the well-telegraphed US-led withdrawal. 'It is unlikely that the Taliban would ever get to full authority if it chose to fight to the end over the whole of Afghanistan,' Gen Sir Nick Carter, head of the British armed forces, said on the same day, highlighting a range of other possible scenarios, including the survival of the Kabul government – whose president fled over the weekend – or a negotiated deal between it and the Taliban. It was an opinion to which the leading British general stuck, even as the provincial capitals began to fall. Just over a week ago he argued in the Times that the ousted government's 'military strategy is to achieve a stalemate” and that the key was to hold cities such as Herat and Kandahar, both of which fell within days. 'There are increasing signs that moderate Afghans in support of the government and its security forces are beginning to show the sort of defiance that's needed,' the chief of defence staff added. US intelligence sources were not quite as sure, but even their judgments were still more optimistic than what transpired."
August 15, 2021 - Jimmy DeYoung, an 81 year-old Christian radio broadcaster who spread disinformation about Covid-19 vaccines on his radio show "Prophecy Today", saying the Pfizer vaccine would make women sterile and that world governments were using the virus and vaccine to centralize power, and who asked during a segment on his show "Could this vaccine be another form of government control of the people?", has died from a short battle with Covid-19. NOTE: After frequent guest Sam Rohrer stated on his show in February that the vaccines had "potential problems" and said they wouldn't deliver on the promises national leaders put forth, DeYoung called it "very, very important information."
August 13, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Julian Borger offers the following analysis of the ongoing fall of Afghanistan:
"As one provincial capital after another has fallen to the Taliban, the message from Washington to the Afghans facing the onslaught has been that their survival is in their own hands. 'They've got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation,' Joe Biden said. Jen Psaki, the White House spokeswoman, added: 'They have what they need. What they need to determine is whether they have the political will to fight back.' But despite more than $80bn in US security assistance since 2002 and an annual military budget far in excess of other developing nations, Afghan military resistance to the Taliban is collapsing with greater speed than even most pessimists had predicted. There is talk among US officials of Kabul falling in months – if not weeks. Interviews with former officials who have been intimately involved in US policy in Afghanistan point to an interconnected webs of factors behind the implosion, some of them long in the making, some a result of decisions taken in the past few months. While there is consensus that a failure of leadership and unity in Kabul has played an important part in the domino-fall of defeats, there is also agreement that the attempt to put all the blame on the Afghans obscures the share of responsibility of the US and its allies for the military disaster."
According to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), July was the world's hottest month ever recorded. The global land and ocean surface temperature in July was one degree Celsius, 0.9C (1.6F), hotter than the 20th-century average of 15.8C (60.4F), making it the hottest month since modern record keeping began 142 years ago.
August 12, 2021 - According to the Guardian, there have been more than 9,000 anti-Asian incidents reported in the US since the beginning of the pandemic. From the story:
"More than 9,000 anti-Asian incidents have been reported across the United States since the coronavirus pandemic began, according to a report released on Thursday. Stop AAPI Hate, a national coalition that tracks and responds to racially motivated hate crimes towards Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, received 9,081 reports between 19 March 2020 and this June. A total of 4,548 hate crimes occurred in 2020 and another 4,533 occurred in 2021. Since the coronavirus was first reported in China, members of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities across the US have faced bigotry in the form of verbal harassment and physical attacks. Many blame Donald Trump for helping to stir anti-Asian sentiment by using racist terms when referring to the virus, such as 'Chinese virus' and 'kung flu'. According to the report, 63.7% of the incidents involved verbal harassment and 16.5% involved shunning – the deliberate avoidance of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. About 13.7% of the reports were of physical assault, the third-largest category of total reported incidents. Civil rights violations accounted for 11% of the incidents while online harassment made up 8.3%. Incidents reported by women made up 63.3% of all reports. The number of seniors – 60 years old and older - reporting hate crimes increased from 6.5% in 2020 to 7.2% in 2021. Since the pandemic began, the majority of the headline-making attacks have involved senior Asians across the country, with many being beaten, kicked, shoved or stabbed. 'When you encourage hate, it's not like a genie in a bottle where you can pull it out and push it back in whenever you want,' said Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and executive director of the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council. 'There's too much perpetuating these belief systems to make them go away.'"
August 11, 2021 - According to the Guardian, US officials believe Afghanistan's government could fall in 90 days as the Taliban is making tremendous progress in its current offensive.
Donald Trump made the following statement during an interview:
"I spoke to the wonderful mother and devoted husband of Ashli Babbitt, who was murdered at the hands of someone who should never have pulled the trigger of his gun. We know who he is. If that happened to the 'other side,' there would be riots all over America and yet, there are far more people represented by Ashli, who truly loved America, than there are on the other side. The Radical Left haters cannot be allowed to get away with this. There must be justice!" NOTE: Babbitt was killed while participating in a violent insurrection to overturn the results of a free and fair election.
YouTube has suspended Republican Senator Rand Paul over a video claiming masks are ineffective against Covid-19. From a statement released by YouTube:
"We removed content from Senator Paul's channel for including claims that masks are ineffective in preventing the contraction or transmission of Covid-19, in accordance with our Covid-19 medical misinformation policies. This resulted in a first strike on the channel, which means it can't upload content for a week, per our longstanding three strikes policy"
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, was asked about a New York Post headline that reads: "Team Biden's war on DeSantis is all about kneecapping a successful GOP governor". Psaki's response:
"Our war is not on DeSantis, it's on the virus, which we're trying to kneecap. He does not seem to want to participate in that effort."
Tod Tucker, a pro-Trump radio programmer, who wrote in a March facebook post "Please stop bragging that you got your COVID vaccine. What do you want us to say? 'Congratulations lab rat?!'" has died from a battle with coronavirus.
August 10, 2021 - Dominion Voting Systems has filed lawsuits against One America News (OAN) and Newsmax, two far-right news networks, for their coverage of the 2020 presidential election. According to the suits, the networks "manufactured, endorsed, repeated, and broadcast a series of verifiably false yet devastating lies" that caused irreparable damage to the voting machine company. The lawsuit goes on to say:
"OAN helped create and cultivate an alternate reality where up is down, pigs have wings, and Dominion engaged in a colossal fraud to steal the presidency from Donald Trump by rigging the vote"
Dominion is also suing Patrick Byrne, the former chief executive of Overstock.com. In the lawsuit, Byrne is accused of amplifying views about widespread fraud in the presidential election, which harmed Dominion's reputation. NOTE: The company is seeking billions of dollars in damages to make up for lost profits and other costs incurred by fighting back against the election lies.
In a vote of 69 to 30, the Senate passed a $1.2tn bipartisan infrastructure bill. All 50 Senate Democrats were joined in passing the legislation by 19 Republicans.
Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida, threatened to take away teachers' salaries if they enforce the mandatory wearing of masks in schools.
The Texas supreme court has ruled that Democrats who left the state to block voting restrictions can be arrested.
According to the Guardian, a federal judge in Indiana has declared that several of Indiana's laws restricting abortion are unconstitutional. From the story:
"The US district court judge Sarah Evans Barker issued a permanent injunction against a ban on telemedicine consultations between doctors and women seeking abortions. The judge also ruled against state laws mandating in-person examinations by a doctor before medication abortions and against a requirement that women seeking abortions be told human life begins when the egg is fertilized. Attacks on reproductive rights in the US have accelerated in the last decade with Republicans using aggressive new tactics to ban abortion and anti-abortion extremists continuing to gain ground on the right. Last month, Mississippi urged the supreme court to overturn Roe v Wade, which legalized abortion in the US, and a federal judge blocked an Arkansas law banning nearly all abortions."
August 9, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Fiona Harvey offers the following analysis of the most recent IPCC report on climate change:
"Human activity is changing the Earth's climate in ways 'unprecedented' in thousands or hundreds of thousands of years, with some of the changes now inevitable and 'irreversible', climate scientists have warned. Within the next two decades, temperatures are likely to rise by more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, breaching the ambition of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, and bringing widespread devastation and extreme weather. Only rapid and drastic reductions in greenhouse gases in this decade can prevent such climate breakdown, with every fraction of a degree of further heating likely to compound the accelerating effects, according to the International Panel on Climate Change, the world's leading authority on climate science. The comprehensive assessment of climate science published on Monday, the sixth such report from the IPCC since 1988, has been eight years in the making, marshalling the work of hundreds of experts and peer-review studies. It represents the world's full knowledge to date of the physical basis of climate change, and found that human activity was 'unequivocally' the cause of rapid changes to the climate, including sea level rises, melting polar ice and glaciers, heatwaves, floods and droughts. World leaders said the stark findings must force new policy measures as a matter of urgency, to shift the global economy to a low-carbon footing. Governments from 197 countries will meet this November in Glasgow for vital UN climate talks, called Cop26."
Joe Biden reacted to the latest IPCC report saying:
"We can't wait to tackle the climate crisis. The signs are unmistakable. The science is undeniable. And the cost of inaction keeps mounting."
Lloyd Austin, the defense secretary, announced that beginning next month, coronavirus vaccines will be mandated for all members of the military. From Austin's announcement:
"To defend this Nation, we need a healthy and ready force. I strongly encourage all DoD military and civilian personnel - as well as contractor personnel - to get vaccinated now and for military Service members to not wait for the mandate"
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who was sexually abused by the late Jeffrey Epstein, filed a lawsuit against Prince Andrew accusing him of sexually abusing her at Epstein's mansion in Manhattan, and at other locations in 2001.
August 6, 2021 - According to the latest jobs report, the US economy added 943,000 jobs last month, bringing the unemployment rate to 5.4%, which is down from 5.9% a month earlier. This increase in employment is the largest rise since August 2020.
Joe Biden sent the following in a tweet:
"More than 4 million jobs created since we took office. It's historic — and proof our economic plan is working."
According to the AP, an Arkansas judge has temporarily blocked the state from enforcing its ban on mask mandates. From the story:
"Pulaski County Circuit judge Tim Fox issued a preliminary injunction against the law that Governor Asa Hutchinson signed in April banning mask requirements by governmental entities. The ban was being challenged by two lawsuits, including one from a district where more than 800 staff and students are quarantining because of a coronavirus outbreak. Fox ruled against the measure on multiple grounds, including the argument that it discriminated between public and private schools. Fox issued the ruling hours after lawmakers adjourned a special session that Hutchinson had called to consider rolling back the ban for some schools. Hutchinson had said the change was needed to protect children under 12 who can't get vaccinated as the state's virus cases and hospitalizations skyrocket. A House panel on Thursday rejected two measures that would have allowed some school districts to issue mask requirements. There had been growing calls to lift the ban before school starts statewide later this month. 'I think we're going to come to really regret not taking action,' Democratic Senator Keith Ingram, the chamber's minority leader, said. 'I just hope the consequences aren't fatal for children or staff or teachers in this state.' Pediatricians and health officials have said masks in schools are needed to protect children, as the delta variant and Arkansas' low vaccination rate fuels the state's spiraling cases. The state on Monday reported its biggest one-day increase in Covid-19 hospitalizations since the pandemic began, and the Department of Health on Thursday said only 36 intensive care unit beds were available in the state. But Hutchinson faced heavy opposition from fellow Republicans, who had been inundated with calls and messages from opponents of masks in schools."
According to the AP, the Florida Board of Education approved an emergency rule that allows children to use private school vouchers if parents feel their children are being harassed by a school district's Covid-19 safety policies, including mask requirements. From the story:
"Parents could request the vouchers under provisions that are usually used to protect children who are being bullied. 'Covid-19 harassment' means any threatening, discriminatory, insulting, or dehumanizing verbal, written or physical conduct an individual student suffers in relation to, or as a result of, school district protocols for Covid-19, including masking requirements, the separation or isolation of students, or Covid-19 testing requirements, that have the effect of substantially interfering with a student's educational performance,' the rule reads. The meeting was scheduled a week after Republican governor Ron DeSantis ordered the department to come up with ways of having school districts that mandate mask-wearing provide other alternatives for parents, saying they had the legal right to make decisions about their children's health and education. DeSantis said in his order that the rules could include withholding money from school districts or other actions allowed under Florida law. At a news conference today he reiterated his general opposition to restrictions, such as lockdowns, business closures and mask mandates."
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, held a daily briefing. Here are some highlights:
- Psaki addressed Republican governor's efforts to block local officials from enacting coronavirus-related precautions saying: "We do have concern of course about restrictions that are being put in place in a handful of states, or have been put in place around the country, that make it more difficult for localities, for schools, for businesses in some places to implement public health guidelines ... Our message continues to be that, if you don't want to abide by public health guidelines, don't want to use your role as leaders, elected officials, then you should get out of the way."
- Psaki confirmed that the Biden administration is considering requiring nearly all foreign travelers to the US to be fully vaccinated.
The following statistics are being reported by the Miami Herald today:
- Florida reported 22,783 new coronavirus cases from Thursday, which is 1,100 cases higher than the state's previous single-day record.
- Florida contains 6.5% of the U.S. population, but accounted for nearly 19% of new cases on Thursday
- In the past month, the seven-day average of new cases increased 664%.
August 5, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Hugo Lowell offers the following analysis of Republican attempts to re-write history:
"Top Republicans in Congress are embarking on a new campaign of revisionism seven months after the attack on the Capitol, absolving Donald Trump of responsibility and blaming the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, for the 6 January insurrection perpetrated by a mob of Trump supporters. Some House and Senate Republican leaders stated in the charged moments immediately following the attack that Trump was squarely to blame, and amid blood and shattered glass at the US Capitol, some even considered his removal. 'The president bears responsibility,' the House Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, said of Trump at the time, demanding that he 'accept his share of responsibility'. But after nearly 200 House Republicans voted to clear Trump in his unprecedented second impeachment and Senate Republicans scuttled a 9/11-style commission to investigate the events of 6 January, the Republican party made a call to shift all blame away from Trump. The move to protect Trump from the fallout of the Capitol attack, at any cost, reflects the party leaders loyalty to a defeated former president, as well as the political self-interest of Republicans desperate to distance themselves from an insurrection they helped stoke with lies of a stolen election."
The US women's national soccer team won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics while playing against Canada. Donald Trump reacted to the news of the bronze medal victory by releasing a statement which read in part:
"If our soccer team, headed by a radical group of Leftist Maniacs, wasn't woke, they would have won the Gold Medal instead of the Bronze. Woke means you lose, everything that is woke goes bad, and our soccer team certainly has ... The woman with the purple hair played terribly and spends too much time thinking about Radical Left politics and not doing her job!" NOTE: Megan Rapinoe, who has purple hair, scored two goals during the final game. NOTE2: The entire Canadian team knelt during their national anthem to protest racism.
Richard Trumka, the president of the AFL-CIO labor union died, age 72.
Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, has called for another special legislative session to allow lawmakers to put into place controversial voting restrictions. Abbott declared:
"I will continue to call special session after special session to reform our broken bail system, uphold election integrity, and pass other important items that Texans demand and deserve."
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, was asked about Abbott's call for another special sessiion. Her response:
"Our question is, what are you afraid of here? Are you afraid of more people getting out to vote, or what’s the concern?"
NOTE: Democratic legislators fled the state to prevent their Republican colleagues from passing voting restrictions in the last special session. Those lawmakers are still outside the state of Texas.
Merrick Garland, the attorney general, announced that the department of justice is launching an investigation into the city of Phoenix and the Phoenix police department saying: "The investigation will determine whether the Phoenix police department engages in a pattern or practice of violations of the constitution or federal law ... The investigation will also seek to determine whether PhxPD engages in retaliatory activity against people for conduct protected by the First Amendment; whether PhxPD engages in discriminatory policing; and whether PhxPD unlawfully seizes or disposes of the belongings of individuals experiencing homelessness ... In addition, the investigation will assess the City and PhxPD’s systems and practices for responding to people with disabilities." NOTE: The justice department has also launched investigations into the police departments of Minneapolis following the murder of George Floyd, and the Louisville, Kentucky police department after the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor.
Joe Biden signed an executive order requiring half of all new US cars to be electric by 2030.
Following a statement by Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida, who said that his action of banning mask mandates in schools is to protect his state from federal overreach, Biden was asked to respond to DeSantis' comments. His response:
"Governor who?"
Capitol police officials announced that two more officers who were present at the Capitol on January 6th have taken their own lives. The total number of officers who have committed suicide since the January 6th insurrection is now 4.
The AP has an in-depth look at the political strategy of Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida. Fromm the story:
"As coronavirus cases rise across the Sun Belt, President Joe Biden asked GOP governors to 'get out of the way' of efforts to contain the virus. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis fired back that he did not want to 'hear a blip about COVID from you, thank you,' adding, 'Why don't you do your job?' The exchange was unusually direct and bitter, particularly for politicians dealing with a crisis that is killing Americans in rising numbers ... DeSantis is up for reelection next year and is frequently mentioned as a 2024 presidential contender. His national profile has risen in large part because he spent the early part of the pandemic pushing a message that prioritized his state's economy over sweeping restrictions to stop the spread of the coronavirus. But his state is now an epicenter of the latest surge. Florida has repeatedly broken records for hospitalized patients this week, and it and Texas accounted for a third of all new cases nationwide last week, according to the White House. DeSantis has responded by banning mask mandates in schools and arguing that vaccines are the best way to fight the virus while new restrictions amount to impediments on liberty. 'Florida is a free state, and we will empower our people,' DeSantis said in a fundraising email keying off his hitting back at the president. 'We will not allow Joe Biden and his bureaucratic flunkies to come in and commandeer the rights and freedoms of Floridians.'"
August 4, 2021 - Donald Trump's legal team is attempting to block House Democrats from accessing Trump's tax returns in a new court filing, arguing that the request should be denied because the request is politically motivated.
Writing for the Guardian, David Agren offers the following analysis of lawsuits filed by Mexico against US gunmakers:
"The Mexican government has launched legal action against US gunmakers in an unprecedented attempt to halt the flow of guns across the border, where US-made weapons are routinely used in cartel gun-battles, terror attacks on civilians – and increasingly to challenge the state itself. The Mexican government is suing six gunmakers in a Massachusetts court, alleging negligence in their failure to control their distributors and that the illegal market in Mexico 'has been their economic lifeblood'. Announcing the suit on Wednesday, foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard alleged that units of Smith & Wesson, Barrett Firearms, Colt’s Manufacturing Company, Glock and Sturm, Ruger have catered to the tastes and needs of Mexican drug cartels and depend on illegal Mexican sales to boost their bottom lines. The lawsuit alleges that gun companies openly pandered to Mexican criminals, citing Colt's special edition .38 pistol, engraved with an image of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata. One such weapon was used in the 2017 murder of Chihuahua journalist Miroslava Breach, who investigated links between politicians and organized crime and was shot dead while taking her son to school. 'We're going to litigate in all seriousness and we're going to win at trial and we're going to drastically reduce the illegal weapons trafficking to Mexico, which cannot remain unpunished with respect to those who produce, promote and encourage this trafficking from the United States,' Ebrard said. 'The companies must immediately stop negligent practices, which cause damage in Mexico and cause deaths in Mexico.'"
Dick Farrel, a 65-year-old conservative radio host from Florida, who also worked as an anchor on Newsmax, and who often criticized vaccines on facebook, calling them "Bogus Bull [Shit]", and who referred to the pandemic as a "SCAM DEMIC", has died from a battle with Covid-19. Farrel, who referred to Democrats as "dummy craps" once stated "why take a vax promoted by people who lied 2u all along about masks, where the virus came from and the death toll?" Farrel had also called Dr Anthony Fauci, the leading infectious disease expert in the United States, a "power tripping lying freak".
H. Scott Apley, a Texas Republican who was a staunch conservative and devout Christian, died today. Apley, who in May of this year invited his facebook friends to a public "mask burning", and who compared mask mandates to Nazism, and who called Baltimore health commissioner Leana Wen "an absolute enemy of a free people" for celebrating the efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine, died from complications due to COVID-19.
August 3, 2021 - Many large companies across the US have begun requiring their employees get vaccinated. Among those are Tyson Foods, which is paying a $200 bonus to employees after their vaccinated status is confirmed.
During a press conference, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, criticized Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida for pushing back against local ordinances aimed at limiting the spread of coronavirus, including mask requirements saying: "Most Republican governors are doing exactly the right thing. But if you aren't going to help, if you aren't going to abide by public health guidance, then get out of the way."
Speaking of the coronavirus delta variant, Joe Biden called it "a largely preventable tragedy that will get worse before it gets better". Biden also noted that Florida and Texas account for one-third of all covid cases nationwide saying: "I say to these governors: please help. But if you aren't going to help, at least get out of the way of the people who are trying to do the right thing. Use your power to save lives."
Writing for the Guardian, Amanda Holpuch offers the following analysis of covid hospitalizations:
"Covid-19 hospitalizations are surging across the US and stretched hospitals are warning that the overwhelming majority of coronavirus patients are unvaccinated and their serious sickness preventable. More than 50,000 people were hospitalized across the US as of Monday, according to the US health department. This is significantly fewer people than during the peak in cases, deaths and hospitalizations this January, but similar to the rates last summer when coronavirus vaccines were still in development. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr Rochelle Walensky, said on Monday: 'While we desperately want to be done with this pandemic, Covid-19 is clearly not done with us, and so our battle must last a little longer.' At least 70% of adults in the US have now received at least one Covid-19 vaccination shot, a threshold Joe Biden had hoped to reach by 4 July, when he had declared that America could expect to enjoy. The president was scheduled to discuss continued US vaccination efforts on Tuesday afternoon at the White House. The CDC said 99.99% of people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 have not had a breakthrough case that resulted in hospitalization or death. As of 26 July, there were 6,587 known breakthrough cases, according to the CDC. Most of the cases, about 74%, occurred in adults 65 and older. The US is seeing more new Covid-19 infections a day than it did last summer, with an average of 72,000 cases a day this month. Cases are still much lower than in January, when there were 250,000 new cases a day in the US. Health officials are especially concerned about Florida, where cases are the highest they have been since the pandemic began. On Monday, there were more Covid-19 hospitalizations in Florida than at any time in the pandemic. The chief executive of the Florida Hospital Association, Mary Mayhew, told MSNBC that about 95% of those hospitalized were unvaccinated. In Louisiana, hospital workers are also warning that the increase in Covid-19 patients is overwhelming their facilities. One of the state's largest hospitals, Our Lady of the Lake medical center in Baton Rouge, enlisted the help of a 33-person federal disaster medical team to cope with the increase in patients. On Monday, the hospital said it was treating 155 Covid-19 patients and that each hour a person was being admitted with the infection. 'Our beds are full of patients with Covid-19 who are predominately unvaccinated,' said the hospital's chief operating officer, Stephanie Manson, in a statement. 'In the past two weeks, we have seen a rapid influx of younger patients under the age of 50 come into our hospitals with the Delta variant.'"
August 2, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Peter Stone offers the following analysis of Donald Trump's political action committee called "Save America" which Trump claimed would be used to challenge election results in court:
"Critics note Trump has built an arsenal of political committees and nonprofit groups, staffed with dozens of ex-administration officials and loyalists, which seem aimed at sustaining his political hopes for a comeback, and exacting revenge on Republican congressional critics. These groups have been aggressive in raising money through at times misleading appeals to the party base which polls show share Trump's false views he lost the White House due to fraud. Just days after his defeat last November, Trump launched a new political action committee, dubbed Save America, that together with his campaign and the Republican National Committee quickly raked in tens of millions of dollars through text and email appeals for a Trump 'election defense fund', ostensibly to fight the results with baseless lawsuits alleging fraud. The fledgling Pac had raised a whopping $31.5m by year's end, but Save America spent nothing on legal expenses in this same period, according to public records. Run by Trump's 2016 campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, Save America only spent $340,000 on fundraising expenses last year."
According to the CDC, 70% of adults have gotten at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. The number of all Americans who are fully vaccinated stands at 49.7%.
August 1, 2021 - Speaking to a crowd in Largo, Florida, Matt Gaetz mocked health officials who have been warning about Covid-19 mutations saying:
"You've had all the experts say look out for the Delta variant or the Lambda variant. Well next it'll be the Chi Omega variant or the Pi Kappa Psi variant. I got the Florida variant. I got the freedom variant. It affects the brain. It gets you to think for yourself where you don't just surrender to the truth that they're trying to create in corrupt big media."
NOTE: Scientists and health officials have been sounding the alarm about coronavirus variants for months. Anthony Fauci, the leading infectious disease expert in the United States has referred to the Delta variant as "formidable".
July 30, 2021 - According to the notes of Richard Donoghue, the former deputy attorney general, which were obtained by the House oversight committee, Donald Trump pressed senior officials at the justice department to declare the 2020 presidential election was corrupt. According to the notes, which were taken during a December 27 call with Trump, Trump told Donoghue and Jeffrey Rosen, the acting attorney general, to "just say that the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me" and congressional Republicans. According to the notes, Trump named Republican congressman Jim Jordan as a "fighter" who would help promote this false narrative. The notes also state that Trump stated: "We have an obligation to tell people that this was an illegal, corrupt election." Also, according to the notes, in an attempt to justify his claims, Trump told the men: "You guys may not be following the internet the way I do."
Carolyn Maloney, a Democratic congresswoman and chair of the House oversight committee responded to Donoghues notes saying:
"These handwritten notes show that President Trump directly instructed our nation's top law enforcement agency to take steps to overturn a free and fair election in the final days of his presidency. The Committee has begun scheduling interviews with key witnesses to investigate the full extent of the former President's corruption, and I will exercise every tool at my disposal to ensure all witness testimony is secured without delay."
Writing for the Guardian, David Litt, a former speech-writer for Barack Obama, offers the following commentary on the Republican party and attitudes about personal responsibility:
"'It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions,' declared Ronald Reagan at the 1968 Republican National Convention. By the time he became president 12 years later, this idea – that individuals can be trusted to act wisely and should be held accountable when they don't – was firmly entrenched in Republican rhetoric. Reagan even included 'personal responsibility' in his list of America's bedrock values, right up there with faith in God, honesty, and caring for others. But those days are long over – and the conservative movement's nationwide anti-vaccination effort proves it. Political parties are large; there are plenty of responsible Republican voters, and a handful of responsible Republican politicians. But the conservative movement no longer argues that individuals are better than the government at promoting the greater good. Instead, the movement encourages its members to make objectively selfish, harmful choices, then uses the tools of government to shield them from accountability when they do."
Writing for the Guardian, Martin Pengelly offers the following analysis of a DOJ order for the IRS to give Trump's tax returns to a House committee after they "invoked sufficient reasons" for obtaining them:
"Double trouble for Donald Trump. The US Department of Justice has ordered the Internal Revenue Service to hand over his tax returns to a House committee, saying the panel has invoked 'sufficient reasons' for requesting it. There are also further developments in the saga of Trump's attempt to overturn his election defeat by Joe Biden, in the shape of the news that Trump pressured top justice department officials to falsely claim the 2020 election was corrupt so he and his allies in Congress could subvert the results and return him to office, according to newly released memos. As Hugo Lowell puts it for us from Washington: ''Just say that the election was corrupt [and] leave the rest to me,' the former president told former acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen and his deputy, Richard Donoghue, memos obtained by the House oversight committee showed. The notes were taken by Donoghue, who documented a 27 December call with Trump and Rosen. The documentation of Trump's demand to the justice department represented an extraordinary instance of a president seeking to weaponise an agency that is supposed to operate independently of the White House, to advance his own personal interests and political agenda. It is also the latest example of the far-reaching campaign mounted by Trump over the final weeks of his presidency to falsely cast doubt on the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden in a contest devoid of any widespread voter fraud.'"
Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, reacted to news that the IRS has been ordered to turn over Donald Trump's tax returns to the House ways and means committee saying:
"Today, the Biden Administration has delivered a victory for the rule of law, as it respects the public interest by complying with Chairman Neal's request for Donald Trump's tax returns ... Access to former President Trump's tax returns is a matter of national security. The American people deserve to know the facts of his troubling conflicts of interest and undermining of our security and democracy as president."
According to Reuters, the US Department of Justice has sued Texas Governor Greg Abbott over his order to stop migrants from entering the state or being transported through it, unless by law enforcement officials. From the story:
"The order, which Abbott signed on Wednesday, permits only 'law enforcement officials' to provide ground transport for migrants detained for illegally crossing the southern border. It also gives the state's public safety department the authority to stop any vehicle suspected of carrying migrants and send it back to its point of origin. The order would interfere with the U.S. government's ability to transport migrants between facilities, including unaccompanied children, according to the lawsuit. The government regularly employs contractors and other non-law enforcement personnel to transfer migrants."
In a letter to Governor Abbott regarding his order, Merrick Garland, the US attorney general, wrote:
"The order violates federal law in numerous respects, and Texas cannot lawfully enforce the executive order against any federal official or private parties working with the United States."
Governor Abbott responded to the lawsuit by claiming the Biden administration had created a "constitutional crisis" between state and federal government, and argued that the order was needed to stop migrants from bringing in additional risks of Covid. NOTE: Abbott did not offer any evidence to back his claim that migrants pose a greater pandemic risk, in addition, coronavirus cases in have risen 200% in the last two weeks in Texas where the vaccination rate is only 44% among its residents.
July 29, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Daniel Strauss offers the following analysis of the shift among some Republicans who are now trying to convince unvaccinated Americans to get vaccinated:
"Almost like a switch had been flipped, a set of high-profile Republican political figures and conservative media personalities recently shifted their stance on the Covid-19 shots and became more outspoken and proactive in urging Americans to get vaccinated. Governor Kay Ivey of Alabama, the state with the lowest proportion of fully vaccinated people in the country, said last week it was time to shame vaccination holdouts. Commentator Sean Hannity, who had previously called the pandemic a hoax, offered an on-air argument for viewers to get vaccinated. In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis, who had been selling merchandise mocking the use of masks, said the anti-Covid vaccines 'are saving lives'. All together it's a shift among some of the most prominent voices within the Republican party and among conservatives toward encouraging vaccine use rather than leaving it up to personal choice. Polls have shown that conservative Americans are much more likely to be unvaccinated and hesitant to get the shot. Some observers have welcomed the recent shift by high-profile Republicans, but others warn it may be too little, too late. But in interviews with half a dozen Republican pollsters, including ones who have held focus groups on encouraging holdouts to get vaccinated, they say that there is still a block of Americans who won't be moved even if it's a Republican urging them to get the shot."
Writing for the Guardian, Adam Gabbatt offers the following analysis of the efforts by some to get vaccinated in the midst of all the politicization around the coronavirus:
"The increasing polarization and disinformation around the Covid-19 vaccine has led to some people attempting to 'disguise their appearance' and get vaccinated in secret, according to a Missouri doctor. Dr Priscilla Frase, a hospitalist and chief medical information officer at Ozarks Healthcare in West Plains, said physicians had experienced a number of people who have asked to covertly receive the vaccine to avoid conflict with vaccine skeptical family, friends and co-workers. In a video produced by Ozarks Healthcare, Frase said one pharmacist reported that several people: 'Even went so far as to say: 'Please, please, please don't let anybody know that I got this vaccine.' Some 41% of people in Missouri are fully vaccinated. Nationwide 49.8% of Americans are fully vaccinated, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Last week the White House said Missouri, Florida and Texas account for 40% of new coronavirus cases in the US. Vaccine hesitancy in the US has been fueled by social media disinformation and rightwing media personalities, who have repeatedly questioned the efficacy and even safety of the vaccine."
Writing for the Guardian, Adam Gabbatt offers the following analysis of donations to the Republican-backed "audit" taking place in Arizona:
"The firm leading a widely criticized, Republican-backed audit of election ballots in Arizona has received $5.7m in donations, the majority from supporters of Donald Trump, it revealed on Wednesday. Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based company with no prior experience in election audits, said it had received $3.25m from Patrick Byrne, the CEO of the furniture sales company Overstock, who has falsely described the 2020 election as 'rigged', with more money pouring in from figures who have peddled lies about the legitimacy of the vote. The firm was hired by Arizona's GOP-led senate to review the 2020 election in Maricopa county, home to Phoenix and most of the state of Arizona's registered voters. Doug Logan, Cyber Ninjas' CEO, released the detail on the company's donors after the congressional House oversight and reform committee demanded the information, citing the Cyber Ninjas' 'lack of experience in conducting election-related audits' and 'sloppy and insecure audit practices'. The Arizona senate allowed Cyber Ninjas to collect private donations even though the company was being paid $150,000 for the audit. Information from Cyber Ninjas showed that it has collected $976,512.43 from America's Future, a rightwing non-profit organization chaired by the Trump ally and QAnon devotee Michael Flynn. The company received $605,000 from Voices and Votes led by Christina Bobb, a correspondent for the hard-right media organization One America News Network."
Speaking on his radio show, Mark Levin, a conservative radio host stated: "So now, the vaccinated could be the carriers of the delta variant, and as carriers of the delta variant you could spread it to someone who's not vaccinated. Now, I'll tell you why this makes no sense to me. If you are vaccinated and you get the delta variant, then theoretically, I guess, even the vaccinated will get the delta variant. Right, mister producer? So, what's the point of being vaccinated? Now, I'm not arguing against vaccination, what I'm arguing is they make no sense, because they're not using data. This isn't a data-based argument. This is illogical, this is not a data based argument, this is a group of people sitting around, struggling, trying to come up with ideas, their idea is let us justify that everyone has to wear a mask, even if they're vaccinated."
July 28, 2021 - Dr Brian Monahan, the attending physician of the Capitol, responded to new CDC mask guidance by issuing a new order that masks are once again required in the House office buildings, during meetings, and while in the House Chamber.
Republicans have begun criticizing the new CDC mask guidance. Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader sent the following in a tweet:
"Make no mistake—The threat of bringing masks back is not a decision based on science, but a decision conjured up by liberal government officials who want to continue to live in a perpetual pandemic state."
Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration under Donald Trump, weighed in on the new CDC mask guidance saying:
"I don't think we're going to get enough bang for our buck by telling vaccinated people they have to wear masks at all times to make it worth our while. I think we're further into this Delta wave than we're picking up. I think you know in another two or three weeks, we'll be through this. This new guidance will have a negligible impact on that."
Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, was asked by a reporter about Kevin McCarthy's criticism of the new mask guidance. Pelosi responded:
"He's such a moron."
According to witnesses in the House, Lauren Boebert, a Republican congresswoman from Colorado, was observed throwing a mask back at a House staffer who offered her one as she tried to walk onto the House floor. NOTE: House members who do not follow the new mask rule can be fined.
According to the Guardian, the justice department has sent a warning to states considering post-election reviews of the 2020 ballots, reminding them of federal laws that prohibit voter intimidation and require officials to maintain control of ballots.
Michael Fanone, one of the officers who testified before the Select Committee, said today he had received a vulgar voicemail threatening his life while he was testifying. Fanone added: "This is what happens when you tell the truth in Trump's America."
July 27, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Adam Gabbatt offers the following analysis of efforts to investigate January 6:
"The investigation into the 6 January attack has become a fiercely partisan issue in Washington. The House voted in May for an independent investigation that would have been evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, but the Senate blocked the move. Late last month, the House voted mostly along party lines to form the select committee. Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House minority leader, picked five Republicans to sit on the committee, but speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected Jim Jordan and Jim Banks' nominations, prompting McCarthy to withdraw all five nominees. Liz Cheney, a Republican congresswoman from Wyoming, had already been named to the panel by Pelosi, and on Sunday Pelosi went around McCarthy again to appoint Representative Adam Kinzinger, who like Cheney is a critic of Donald Trump, to the committee. Pelosi said Kinzinger 'and other Republicans have expressed an interest to serve on the select committee. And I wanted to appoint three of them that Leader McCarthy suggested. But he withdrew their names. The two that I would not appoint are people who would jeopardise the integrity of the investigation, and there's no way I would tolerate their antics as we seek the truth.'"
In a Washington Post op-ed, Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the select Committee, wrote the following regarding officers who will be testifying today on Capitol Hill:
"Fanone voluntarily rushed to the Capitol with his partner when he heard about the attacks. As a result of his bravery that day, he suffered a traumatic brain injury and a heart attack. In a video that has now been shared widely, Hodges can be seen being crushed by the mob as he and his fellow officers sought to defend a narrow hallway leading to a Capitol entrance. Dunn was one of the first officers to speak publicly about what law enforcement encountered when the rioters stormed the Capitol and the racial epithets he and others faced. Gonell, a veteran who had been deployed to Iraq, defended the Capitol against rioters who hurled chants of 'traitor.' While pulling an officer who had fallen to the ground away from the rioters, Gonell was beaten with a pole carrying an American flag. The officers' testimony will bring into focus individual acts of heroism by law enforcement that day. The officers will also speak to how, more than six months after the attack, law enforcement officers continue to deal with the physical, mental and emotional effects of that day. This conversation is an important step, as we look to bolster protection of the Capitol and our democracy."
Four law enforcement officers testified today before the Select Committee, those officers are:
Aquilino Gonell and Harry Dunn of the USCP
Daniel Hodges and Michael Fanone of the MPD
From their testimony:
- In his opening statement, Bennie Thompson, the Democratic chair of the select committee stated: "You held the line that day, and I can't overstate what was on the line: our democracy ... And while our institutions endured, and while Joe Biden is the legitimately elected president of the United States, a peaceful transfer of power didn't happen this year. It did not happen. Let that sink in ... We need to know minute by minute how January 6 unfolded. And we need to figure out how to fix the damage ... We cannot allow ourselves to be undone by liars and cheaters. This is the United States of America."
- In her opening statement, Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney stated: "We must know what happened here at the Capitol ... We must also know what happened every minute of that day in the White House -- every phone call, every conversation, every meeting leading up to, during and after the attack. Honorable men and women have an obligation to step forward ... If those responsible are not held accountable, and if Congress does not act responsibly, this will remain a cancer on our constitutional republic, undermining the peaceful transfer of power at the heart of our democratic system ... Our children will know who stood for truth, and they will inherit the nation we hand to them: a republic, if we can keep it."
- US Capitol Police sergeant Aquilo Gonell told the committee that: "For most people, January 6 happened for a few hours. But for those of us who were in the thick of it, it has not ended. That day continues to be a constant trauma for us."
- Metropolitan Police Department officer Michael Fanone told the committee: "I was grabbed, beaten, tased, all while being called a traitor to my country. I was at risk of being stripped of and killed with my own firearm, as I heard chants of 'Kill him with his own gun.' I can still hear those words in my head today."
- Officer Fanone went on to describe how a fellow officer later transported him to a nearby hospital, where he was told he had suffered a mild heart attack and was diagnosed with a concussion, a brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.
- Officer Fanone condemned those who are attempting to downplay the violence of January 6th saying: "The indifference shown to my colleagues is disgraceful!"
- Officer Hodges testified about how the insurrectionists tried to gouge out his right eye and stated: "To my confusion, I saw the thin blue line flag, a symbol of support for law enforcement more than once, being carried by the terrorists as they ignored our commands and continued to assault us."
- Officer Hodges said he heard some insurrectionists saying “Do not attack us, we're not Black Lives Matter!”
- US Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn testified that he was repeatedly called the "n" word while defending the Capitol from the pro-Trump insurrectionists saying: "Nobody had ever, ever called me a nigger while wearing the uniform of a Capitol Police officer."
- Officer Gonell testified that "All of them were telling us 'Trump sent us.'"
- Officer Fanone testified: "I believe they would have trampled us to death" had they succeeded in breaking the police line.
- Officer Fanone testified: "They tortured me, they beat me, I was struck with a Taser device at the base of my skull numerous times. They continued to do so until I yelled out that I have kids. And I said that hoping to appeal to those individuals' humanity. Fortunately a few did step in and assist me."
- Officer Gonell testified that: "Common things were used as weapons. Like a baseball bat, a hockey stick, rebar, a flagpole including the American flag ... those are weapons. No matter if it is a pen. The way they were using these items, it was to hurt these officers."
- Officer Gonell criticized some of those who were being protected that day who are now attacking their protectors and putting party before country. NOTE: That includes most of the Republican party in Congress, and especially including Louie Gohmert, Paul Gosar, Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene who staged a press conference today asking that some of the arrested insurrectionists be released from custody.
- Officer Hodges was asked why he has called the attack a white nationalist insurrection. He responded that the crowd was overwhelmingly white and male and hostile to officers who were not white. Hodges added that "People who follow Donald Trump are more likely to subscribe to that kind of belief system."
- Officer Hodges was asked about Republican claims that the rioters were "not terrorists but tourists". Hodges responded: "Well, if that's what American tourists are like I can see why foreign countries don't like American tourists."
- Representative Jamie Raskin described the insurrectionists saying: "Those who attacked you and beat you are fascist traitors to our country."
- In video played by the committee, you can rioters calling the officers "traitors", some in the crowd are chanting "fuck the blue". A woman can be heard yelling: "You can't even call yourself an American. Fuck you, you broke your oath today, 1776."
- Officer Fanone testified that: "it's disgraceful that members of our government were responsible for inciting that behavior and continue to propagate those statements. Things like this was 1776 and that police officers who fought and sometimes gave their lives were redcoats and traitors."
According to Axios, a swastika was found etched into a State Department elevator. According to the story, the vandalism was found in an elevator near the office of the special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism.
Tony Blinken, the secretary of state, released a statement about the discovery of a swastika carved into an elevator at the state department. From the statement:
"As this painfully reminds us, antisemitism isn't a relic of the past, it's still a force in the world, including close to home. And it's abhorrent. It has no place in the United States, at the state department or anywhere else, and we must be relentless in standing up and rejecting it. We also know from our own history and from the histories of other nations that antisemitism often goes hand-in-hand with racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia and other hatreds. None of those ideologies should have a home in our workplace or our nation. To our Jewish colleagues, please know how grateful we are for your service and how proud we are to be your colleagues. And that goes for our entire diverse and dedicated team in Washington and around the world."
Tom Manger, the new chief of the US Capitol Police, released the following statement:
"I am proud of the officers who had the courage to share their stories in front of the House Select Committee and our entire country to describe the horrors and heroism on January 6. I am equally proud of everyone in this Department and our partner agencies who fought like hell to preserve our democracy."
While four law enforcement officers testified about their experiences on January 6th, a group of House Republicans held a press conference where they falsely described Capitol insurrectionists as "political prisoners". The lawmakers were met with a loud group of protesters who blew whistles and heckled the Republicans as they tried to speak. Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the Republican lawmakers, told the protesters "We are not deterred ... We will not back down. We will not stop asking questions. We are looking for the truth." The press conference ended abruptly as protesters continued to blow whistles and yell at the Republicans.
Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announced that Americans, "in areas with substantial and high transmission" of Covid should wear masks indoors. This includes vaccinated Americans. NOTE: The US is experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases among the unvaccinated as the highly transmissible delta variant spreads across the country. Walensky also pointed out that almost all of the transmission in the US is occurring among the unvaccinated. Walensky also warned that if the delta variant continues to spread at a high rate, the world may be "just a few mutations away" from a variant that renders the vaccines useless.
Joe Biden was asked if he is considering a vaccine mandate for federal employees. Biden responded: "That's under consideration right now, but if you're not vaccinated, you're not really as smart as I thought you were."
Writing for the Guardian, Hugo Lowell offers the following analysis of Trump officials testifying about Trump's role in the insurrection:
"Former Trump administration officials can testify to Congress about Donald Trump's role in the deadly January attack on the Capitol and his efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 election, the justice department (DoJ) has said in a letter obtained by the Guardian. The move by the justice department declined to assert executive privilege for Trump's acting attorney general, Jeffrey Rosen, clearing the path for other top former Trump administration officials to also testify to congressional committees investigating the Capitol attack without fearing repercussions. The justice department authorised witnesses to appear specifically before the two committees. But a DoJ official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said they expected that approval to extend to the 6 January select committee that began proceedings on Tuesday. Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the House select committee, told the Guardian in a recent interview that he would investigate both Trump and anyone who communicated with the former president on 6 January, raising the prospect of depositions with an array of Trump officials. Rosen and Trump administration witnesses can give 'unrestricted testimony' to the Senate judiciary and House oversight committees, which are scrutinising the attempt by the Trump White House to stop Congress certifying Joe Biden's 2020 election win, the letter said. The justice department's decision marks a sharp departure from the Trump era, when the department repeatedly intervened on behalf of top White House officials to assert executive privilege and shield them from congressional investigations into the former president."
In an op-ed piece in the Arkansas Democrat Chronicle, Sara Huckabee Sanders, Trump's former White House press secretary, offered the following commentary to her fellow citizens about getting vaccinated: "To anyone still considering the merits of vaccination, I leave you with this encouragement: Pray about it, discuss it with your family and your doctor. Filter out the noise and fear-mongering and condescension, and make the best, most informed decision you can that helps your family, community, and our great state be its very best." Sanders also pointed out that she "had a lot of misinformation thrown at me by politicians and the media during the pandemic." NOTE: Donald Trump, Sander's former boss, was prominent among those spreading misinformation. Sanders also stated: "Dr Fauci and the 'because science says so' crowd of arrogant, condescending politicians and bureaucrats were wrong about more than their mandates and shutdowns that have inflicted incalculable harm on our people and economy."
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following analysis of Republican gerrymandering:
"Ten years ago, Republicans pulled off what would later be described as 'the most audacious political heist of modern times'. It wasn't particularly complicated. Every 10 years, the US constitution requires states to redraw the maps for both congressional and state legislative seats. The constitution entrusts state lawmakers with the power to draw those districts. Looking at the political map in 2010, Republicans realized that by winning just a few state legislative seats in places like Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, they could draw maps that would be in place for the next decade, distorting them to guarantee Republican control for years to come. Republicans executed the plan, called Project Redmap, nearly perfectly and took control of 20 legislative bodies, including ones in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Then, Republicans set to work drawing maps that cemented their control on power for the next decade. Working behind closed doors, they were brazen in their efforts. In Wisconsin, lawmakers signed secrecy agreements and then drew maps that were so rigged that Republicans could nearly hold on to a supermajority of seats with a minority of the vote. In Michigan, a Republican operative bragged about cramming 'Dem garbage' into certain districts as they drew a congressional map that advantaged Republicans 9-5. In Ohio, GOP operatives worked secretly from a hotel room called 'the bunker', as they tweaked a congressional map that gave Republicans a 12-4 advantage. In North Carolina, a state lawmaker publicly said he was proposing a map that would elect 10 Republicans to Congress because he did not think it was possible to draw one that would elect 11. This manipulation, called gerrymandering, 'debased and dishonored our democracy', Justice Elena Kagan would write years later. It allowed Republicans to carefully pick their voters, insulating them from the accountability that lies at the foundation of America's democratic system. Now, the once-a-decade process is set to begin again in just a few weeks and Republicans are once again poised to dominate it. And this time around things could be even worse than they were a decade ago. The redistricting cycle arrives at a moment when American democracy is already in peril. Republican lawmakers in states across the country, some of whom hold office because of gerrymandering, have enacted sweeping measures making it harder to vote. Republicans have blocked federal legislation that would outlaw partisan gerrymandering and strip state lawmakers of their authority to draw districts."
July 26, 2021 - According to the Guardian, nearly 60 medical groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, are now calling for mandatory coronavirus vaccinations of all health care workers in the US. From the statement:
"Due to the recent Covid-19 surge and the availability of safe and effective vaccines, our health care organizations and societies advocate that all healthcare and long-term care employers require their workers to receive the Covid-19 vaccine ... This is the logical fulfillment of the ethical commitment of all healthcare workers to put patients as well as residents of long-term care facilities first and take all steps necessary to ensure their health and wellbeing ... As the healthcare community leads the way in requiring vaccines for our employees, we hope all other employers across the country will follow our lead and implement effective policies to encourage vaccination ... The health and safety of US workers, families, communities and the nation depends on it."
While speaking to reporters, Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, called Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, the two Republicans who accepted positions on the January 6 Select Committee, "Pelosi Republicans".
Tom Barrack, who played a key role in fundraising for Donald Trump's inauguration in 2017, pleaded not guilty to seven counts, which include secretly lobbying the Trump administration for the UAE between 2016 and 2018, and lying to investigators.
Clay Higgins, a Republican congressman from Louisiana, who criticized mask mandates and other public health measures during the pandemic, announced that he, his wife, and his son all have contracted Covid-19.
July 24, 2021 - Phil Valentine, a conservative radio host in Tennessee, who urged listeners not to get vaccinated, is now urging his followers to get vaccinated after being admitted to the hospital in "very serious condition" after contracting Covid-19. In a statement, Valentine's family stated that Valentine had "never been an 'anti-vaxer'" and "regrets not being more vehemently 'pro-vaccine' and looks forward to being able to more vigorously advocate that position as soon as he is back on the air". NOTE: In December, Valentine wrote on his blog: "the vaccine isn't for everyone ... If I decide not to get vaccinated, I'm not putting anyone else's life in danger except perhaps people who have made the same decision. With this thing being 95% effective, there's really no way I'm going to infect someone who's had the shot. That's if I even get the virus ... not an anti-vaxxer. I'm just using common sense. What are my odds of getting Covid? They're pretty low. What are my odds of dying from Covid if I do get it? Probably way less than 1%. I'm doing what everyone should do and that's my own personal health risk assessment ... If you have underlying health issues you probably need to get the vaccine. If you're not at high risk of dying from Covid then you're probably safer not getting it. That evokes shrieks of horror from many, but it's true. I'm weighing the known versus the unknown." Valentine also tried to draw comparisons between hospital workers who had to indicate their Covid-19 vaccination status on their ID badges with Jews forced to wear yellow stars in Nazi Germany.
In a survey by the Kaiser Foundation vaccine monitor, 23% of Republicans say they definitely will not get vaccinated, while 16% of independents and 2% of Democrats said the same.
July 23, 2021 - A bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was a "brutal" confederate general, and one of the first grand wizards of the KKK, was removed from the Tennessee capitol today. Forrest had a "reputation for killing Black soldiers after they had surrendered" during the Civil War.
Kay Ivey, the Republican governor of Alabama, stated the following during a press conference:
"The new cases of Covid are because of unvaccinated folks. Almost 100% of the new hospitalizations are with unvaccinated folks. And the deaths are certainly occurring with the unvaccinated folks. These folks are choosing a horrible lifestyle of self-inflicted pain ... Folks are supposed to have common sense. But it's time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the vaccinated folks. It's the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down. I've done all I know how to do. I can encourage you to do something but I can’t make you take care of yourself."
According to the AP, mixed messages from Republicans is adversely affecting the ability to increase vaccinations among the hesitant. From the story:
"In recent news conferences and statements, some prominent Republicans have been imploring their constituents to lay lingering doubts aside. In Washington, the so-called Doctors Caucus gathered at the Capitol for an event to combat vaccine hesitancy. And in Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis this week pointed to data showing the vast majority of hospitalized Covid-19 patients hadn't received shots. 'These vaccines are saving lives,' said DeSantis, who recently began selling campaign merchandise mocking masks and medical experts. The outreach comes as Covid-19 cases have nearly tripled in the US over the last two weeks, driven by the explosion of the new delta variant, especially in pockets of the country where vaccination rates are low. Public health officials believe the variant is at least twice as contagious as the original version, but the shots appear to offer robust protection against serious illness for most people. Indeed, nearly all Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. are now people who haven't been vaccinated. Nonetheless, just 56.2% of Americans have received at least one vaccine dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overall, only 51% of Republicans said in mid-June that they had received at least one vaccine dose, versus 83% of Democrats, according to an AP-NORC poll. And many appeared to have made up their minds. Forty-six percent of those who had not been vaccinated said they definitely would not. Among Republicans, even more 53% said they definitely wouldn't; just 12% said they were planning to. 'I think they've finally realized that if their people aren't vaccinated, they're going to get sick, and if their people aren't vaccinated, they're going to get blamed for Covid outbreaks in the future,' said GOP pollster Frank Luntz, who has been working with the Biden administration and public health experts to craft effective messaging to bring the vaccine hesitant off the fence. But Luntz, who conducted another focus group Wednesday evening with vaccine holdouts, said there has been a discernible shift in recent weeks as skepticism has calcified into hardened refusal. 'The hesitation has transformed into opposition. And once you are opposed, it is very hard to change that position. And that's what's happening right now,' he said. For months now, many conservative lawmakers and pundits have been actively stoking vaccine hesitancy, refusing to take the shots themselves or downplaying the severity of the virus. Republican governors have signed bills protecting the unvaccinated from having to disclose their status and tried to roll back mask mandates. And on social media, disinformation has run rampant, leading President Joe Biden to claim platforms like Facebook were 'killing people' a claim he later walked back. At a recent conservative gathering, attendees cheered the news that the Biden administration was falling short of its vaccination goals. Invoking the nation's top infectious-disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., warned, the government: 'Don’t come knocking on my door with your Fauci Ouchie! You leave us the hell alone.' ... But there were signs that messaging was changing this week, as conservative leaders advocated for the shots. On Fox News, host Sean Hannity implored his viewers to 'please take Covid seriously,' saying, 'Enough people have died.' Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley on Twitter encouraged 'ALL eligible Iowans/Americans to get vaccinated. The Delta variant scares me so I hope those that haven't been vaccinated will reconsider,' he wrote. Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, the House Republican whip, distributed pictures of himself receiving his first dose of the vaccine last weekend after months of holding out. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, a polio survivor who has consistently advocated on behalf of the COVID-19 shots, this week urged the unvaccinated to ignore 'all these other voices that are giving demonstrably bad advice.' But the news conference convened by House GOP leaders on Thursday highlighted Republicans’ competing messages on the virus. Initially billed as an event where Republican doctors in Congress would address the rapidly spreading delta variant, the group instead spent most of its time railing against China and making unverified claims that the coronavirus came from a lab leak in Wuhan, a theory initially popular in far-right circles but now being seriously considered by scientists. They also attacked Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Biden administration, for not doing more to get to the bottom of the lab leak theory. 'The question is, Why are Democrats stonewalling our efforts to uncover the origins of the COVID virus?' said New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, the No. 3 Republican in the House. Eric Ward, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center who studies extremism, blamed vaccine reluctance on 'nearly a year-and-a-half of right-wing rage machine rhetoric.' 'Even conservative leaders now are having a hard time figuring out how to rein in what had primarily been a propaganda campaign, and they are now realizing their constituencies are particularly vulnerable,' he said."
Dr Peter Hotez, a vaccine researcher and the dean of the national school of tropical medicine at Baylor University, urged his fellow Texans to get vaccinated saying:
"When you've got this as the dominant variant, if you're unvaccinated and you've been lucky enough not to get COVID so far, you have to recognize there's a good chance your luck's about to run out, and you will likely get COVID. You should get vaccinated yesterday, right? This is not the time to wait, because the spread of delta is accelerating very quickly."
NOTE: 43% of Texans are vaccinated. The national average for vaccinations is 49%.
According to the Guardian, a new AP poll underscores the challenges public health officials face in trying to get people vaccinated. From the story:
"The poll shows most Americans who haven't been vaccinated against the coronavirus say they are unlikely to get the shots. About 16% say they probably will get the vaccine. Most also doubt they would work against the aggressive delta variant, despite evidence they do. Those findings underscore the challenges facing public health officials as soaring infections in some states threaten to overwhelm hospitals. The poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found 35% of adults who have not yet received a vaccine say they probably will not, and 45% say they definitely will not. That means 'that there will be more preventable cases, more preventable hospitalizations and more preventable deaths,' said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins University."
According to the Guardian, the Brennan Center for Justice has released a new report that found that at least 18 states in the US have enacted laws that restrict voting access. From the story:
"The report found that the 30 laws that have been passed since 1 January 'make mail voting and early voting more difficult, impose harsher voter ID requirements, and make faulty voter [roll] purges more likely, among other things'. The laws were among the more than 400 bills introduced in 49 states during this year's legislative session that would make voting more difficult. Such proliferating and restrictive legislation contrasted sharply, however, with the report's finding that no states produced evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 elections, despite continued claims by Donald Trump, backed by numerous Republican leaders, that he was not beaten by Joe Biden in the race to the White House. In fact, officials at local, state and national level declared last November's the most secure election in US history, while Trump fought in vain through the courts to overturn the result."
July 22, 2021 - Bob Dole, a former Republican Senator from Kansas, and a former Republican presidential nominee, had the following to say about Trump's 2020 election loss:
"He lost the election, and I regret that he did, but they did. He had Rudy Giuliani running all over the country, claiming fraud. He never had one bit of fraud in all those lawsuits he filed and statements he made ... I'm a Trumper ... I'm sort of Trumped out, though."
According to CNN, half of all Republicans in the House of Representatives won't say whether they've been vaccinated or not. From the story:
"Nearly half of House Republicans still won't say publicly whether they are vaccinated against Covid-19, even as new cases rise nationwide. Some of the 97 Republicans who aren't sharing their vaccination status told CNN they don't have a responsibility to model behavior to their constituents. 'I don't think it's anybody's damn business whether I'm vaccinated or not,' Republican Rep Chip Roy of Texas told CNN. 'This is ridiculous, what we're doing. The American people are fully capable of making an educated decision about whether they want to get the vaccine or not.' Over the past few months, CNN has sent multiple inquiries to members of Congress and reviewed public statements but is unable to confirm the vaccination status of almost half the Republican conference. Still a few of them offered some explanations during hallway interviews with CNN this week. Republican Rep Matt Gaetz of Florida told CNN 'that's very nosy of you,' when CNN started asking about his vaccination status, but the congressman cut off the question before it got to whether or not he was vaccinated."
Lynn Fitch, the attorney general of Mississippi, urged the supreme court to overturn Roe v Wade in support of a new controversial law in Mississippi that bans abortions after 15 weeks. According to Fitch:
"The conclusion that abortion is a constitutional right has no basis in text, structure, history, or tradition ... The constitution does not protect a right to abortion. The constitution's text says nothing about abortion. Nothing in the constitution's structure implies a right to abortion or prohibits states from restricting it."
Writing for the Guardian, Sarah Betancourt offers the following analysis of those who are stll dying from the pandemic:
"What the US government is calling 'the pandemic of the unvaccinated' is playing out in painful ways as some realize too late that they wish they had had the shot, while others hold out even as they suffer in hospital amid a national surge of new Covid-19 infections, primarily caused by the Delta variant. At least 99% of those in the US who died of coronavirus in the last six months had not been vaccinated, Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has said. Meanwhile vaccination rates have slowed down nationwide and are especially low in some of the more conservative, southern parts of the country, despite more than 610,000 people in the US dying of the virus since the pandemic hit in early 2020. In places such as Alabama, only 33% of people who can receive the vaccine had been fully vaccinated, as of 20 July. On Monday, a doctor in a Birmingham, Alabama, hospital, Brytney Cobia, said that all but one of her Covid patients at Grandview medical center didn't receive the vaccine, with the one who had expected to make a full recovery after receiving oxygen, she told the Birmingham News. Several others are dying. 'I'm admitting young, healthy people to the hospital with very serious Covid infections,' wrote Cobia in a Facebook post on Sunday. 'One of the last things they do before they're intubated is beg me for the vaccine. I hold their hand and tell them that I'm sorry, but it's too late,' she added, referring to patients who have to be put on a ventilator. Alabama public health officials recently reported 96% of Alabamians who have died of Covid since April were not fully vaccinated. Among the people succumbing to the deadly disease are those who are increasingly catching the Delta variant of the coronavirus, which is far more contagious than the original. The variant now makes up 83% of new cases in the US, according to Walensky. 'This is a dramatic increase, up from 50% for the week of July 3,' she said."
Sean Hannity, of Fox News, made the following statement on his show Hannity:
"I pelted them with questions about covid-19 and the vaccine and therapeutics; hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin..."
July 21, 2021 - Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, has rejected two of Kevin McCarthy's picks for the Select Committee investigating January 6. Those picks are:
Representative Jim Banks
Representative Jim Jordan
Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, reacted to Pelosi's rejection of two of his picks calling it "an egregious abuse of power and will irreparably damage this institution". McCarthy also stated:
"Unless Speaker Pelosi reverses course and seats all five Republican nominees, Republicans will not be party to their sham process and will instead pursue our own investigation of the facts."
Kevin McCarthy has removed all 5 of his picks for the January 6 Select Committee.
Liz Cheney, the Republican congresswoman who was removed from her leadership position over her refusal to lie for Trump, reacted to McCarthy's action saying:
"The American people deserve to know what happened. The people who did this must be held accountable, it must be an investigation that is sober and gets to the facts ... at every turn the minority leader has tried to get the people not to know what happened ... This investigation must go forward. The idea that anybody would be playing politics with an attack on the United States Capitol is despicable and disgraceful."
According to the AP, coronavirus cases have nearly tripled over the past two weeks. From the story:
"In Louisiana, health officials reported 5,388 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday — the third-highest daily count since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020. Hospitalizations for the disease rose to 844 statewide, up more than 600 since mid-June. Utah reported having 295 people hospitalized due to the virus, the highest number since February. The state has averaged about 622 confirmed cases per day over the last week, about triple the infection rate at its lowest point in early June. Health data shows the surge is almost entirely connected to unvaccinated people. 'It is like seeing the car wreck before it happens,' said Dr. James Williams, a clinical associate professor of emergency medicine at Texas Tech, who has recently started treating more COVID-19 patients. 'None of us want to go through this again.' He said the patients are younger — many in their 20s, 30s and 40s — and overwhelmingly unvaccinated. As lead pastor of one of Missouri's largest churches, Jeremy Johnson has heard the reasons congregants don't want the COVID-19 vaccine. He wants them to know it's not only OK to get vaccinated, it's what the Bible urges."
July 20, 2021 - The following exchange occurred between Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Anthony Fauci, the chief White House medical adviser, and leading infectious disease expert in the US:
PAUL: "Viruses that in nature only infect animals were manipulated in the Wuhan lab to gain the function of infecting humans. This research fits the definition of the research that the [National Institutes of Health] said was subject to the pause in 2014 to 2017, a pause in funding on gain of function, but the NIH failed to recognize this, defines it away, and it never came under any scrutiny. Dr Fauci, knowing that it is a crime to lie to Congress, do you wish to retract your statement of 11 May where you claimed that the NIH never funded gain of function research?"
FAUCI: "Senator Paul, I have never lied before the Congress, and I do not retract that statement. This paper that you're referring to was judged by qualified staff, up and down the chain, as not being gain of function. Senator Paul, you do not know what you are talking about, quite frankly, and I want to say that, officially, you do not know what you are talking about."
PAUL: "The evidence is pointing that [the virus] came from the lab, there will be responsibility for those who funded the lab, including yourself."
FAUCI: "You are implying that what we did was responsible for the deaths of individuals. I totally resent that. If anybody is lying here, Senator, it is you."
TINA SMITH: "Anything more that you would like to say to counteract these attacks on your integrity that we’ve all just witnessed?"
FAUCI: "Well, Senator, thank you ... this is a pattern that Senator Paul has been doing now at multiple hearings based on no reality. He was talking about gain of function, this has been evaluated multiple times by qualified people to not fall under the gain of function definition. I have not lied before Congress. I have never lied. Certainly not before Congress. CASE CLOSED."
According to a statement released by the Department of Justice, Tom Barrack, a close ally of Donald Trump who played a leading role in Trump's 2017 inauguration, has been arrested on charges he was acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, specifically the United Arab Emirates. From the statement:
"A seven-count indictment was unsealed today in a New York federal court relating to the defendants' unlawful efforts to advance the interests of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the United States at the direction of senior UAE officials by influencing the foreign policy positions of the campaign of a candidate in the 2016 US presidential election and, subsequently, the foreign policy positions of the US government in the incoming administration, as well as seeking to influence public opinion in favor of UAE interests. Thomas Joseph Barrack, 74, of Santa Monica, California; Matthew Grimes, 27, of Aspen, Colorado; and Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, aka Rashid Al Malik and Rashid Al‑Malik, 43, a UAE national, are accused of acting and conspiring to act as agents of the UAE between April 2016 and April 2018. The indictment also charges Barrack with obstruction of justice and making multiple false statements during a June 20, 2019, interview with federal law enforcement agents."
Here are some key details from the 46 page indictment of Barrack:
- Barrack allegedly repeatedly refers to the UAE as "the home team" in his communications with unnamed Emirati officials.
- In March 2017, with Trump in office, Barrack allegedly sent a message to one of his co-defendants that he had briefed Trump "regarding the meeting with the senior official from the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia" and "force(d)" the White House to "elevate" the senior official "for protocol purposes"
- In that same message, Barrack also allegedly said he had arranged for a senior US government official to speak to an Emirati official on the phone.
- "Our ppl wants u to help. They were hoping you can officially run the agendas," co-defendant and UAE national Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi allegedly texted Barrack in May 2017 when discussing Barrack's role in helping the UAE navigate. the new administration. "I will!" Barrack responded.
- Barrack allegedly told his co-defendant and UAE contact Alshahhi that the US was considering convening a summit at Camp David with senior officials from the UAE, Qatar and other Middle Eastern governments to discuss issues with the Qatar blockade. in 2017.
According to the CDC, the Delta variant of the coronavirus now accounts for 83% of new cases in the US.
According to the Guardian, a federal judge has blocked an Arkansas law banning nearly all abortions, which prevents enforcement of the law while its constitutionality is challenged. According to the judge:
"Since the record at this stage of the proceedings indicates that women seeking abortions in Arkansas face an imminent threat to their constitutional rights, the court concludes that they will suffer irreparable harm without injunctive relief"
July 19, 2021 - During a press briefing, Joe Biden responded to the latest job growth numbers saying:
"Six months into my administration, the US economy has experienced the highest economic growth rate in almost 40 years. And now the forecasters have doubled their projections for growth in the economy to 7% or higher. In fact, the US is the only developed country in the world where growth projections today are stronger than they were before the pandemic hit." NOTE: The US economy is now creating more than 600,000 jobs per month.
Biden also addressed the pandemic saying:
"The data couldn't be clearer: If you're unvaccinated, you are not protected. Please, please get vaccinated. Get vaccinated now. It's safe. It's free. It's convenient. This virus doesn't have to hold you back any longer. It doesn't have to hold our economy back any longer. The only way we put it behind us is if more Americans get vaccinated."
According to the AP, Wilbur Ross, Donald Trump's commerce secretary, misled Congress about why he wanted to add a question about citizenship to the 2020 Census. Ross had told congress that the reason for adding the question was to enforce federal voting rights law, but an inspector general's investigation concluded that this "misrepresented the full rationale". The Trump administration was actually trying to influence districting for elections by adding the question about citizenship to the census, since that would cause undocumented people to avoid the survey and cities with high populations of such people, which tend to vote Democratic, could potentially lose seats. From the story:
"According to critics, the citizenship question was inspired by Republican redistricting expert Tom Hofeller, who had previously written that using citizen voting-age population instead of the total population for the purpose of redrawing of congressional and legislative districts could be advantageous to Republicans and non-Hispanic whites."
Paul Hodgkins, a Trump supporter who participated in the Capitol insurrection, was the first rioter to be sentenced for his role in the attack. Hodgkins was sentenced to 8 months in prison.
Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, pleaded guilty to burning a Black Lives Matter banner stolen from a historic Black church in Washington DC. Tarrio also pleaded guilty to possessing a large-capacity ammunition feeding device.
Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, appointed the following Republicans to the House Select Committee investigating the violent attempt to overthrow the 2020 election:
Jim Jordan
Troy Nehls
Jim Banks
Rodney Davis
Kelly Armstrong
NOTE: Jordan, Nehls and Banks all voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election, with Jordan being especially fervent in the anti-democratic propaganda campaign to undermine faith in the election results.
July 16, 2021 - According to the Washington Post, Ian Benjamin Rogers and Jarrod Copeland, who are both members of a right-wing militia group, were arrested for planning to firebomb the California Democratic Party's headquarters in Sacramento. According to the story, both men were "prompted by the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election" and hoped to start a "movement" with their plans. In a search of Rogers' home, federal officials found a collection of pipe bombs and at least 45 firearms.
JB Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, signed into law a bill that bars the police from lying as an interrogation tactic when questioning minors under 18 years old.
Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stated regarding rising cases of Covid-19:
"There is a clear message that is coming through: This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated ... We are seeing outbreaks of cases in parts of the country that have low vaccination coverage because unvaccinated people are at risk. Communities that are fully vaccinated are generally faring well."
According to a recent study, 12 people are responsible for 65% of the vaccine misinformation found online. All 12 are stull active on facebook.
According to an excerpt from an upcoming book, Gen Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, did his best to stop Trump from launching an attack on Iran:
"In the months after the election, with Trump seemingly willing to do anything to stay in power, the subject of Iran was repeatedly raised in White House meetings with the president, and Milley repeatedly argued against a strike. Trump did not want a war, the chairman believed, but he kept pushing for a missile strike in response to various provocations against US interests in the region. Milley, by statute the senior military adviser to the president, was worried that Trump might set in motion a full-scale conflict that was not justified. Trump had a circle of Iran hawks around him and was close with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who was also urging the administration to act against Iran after it was clear that Trump had lost the election. “If you do this, you're gonna have a fucking war,' Milley would say."
According to the AP, Arizona had less than 200 cases of possible voter fraud identified by election officials out of more than 3m votes cast during the 2020 election. From the story:
"An Associated Press investigation found 182 cases where problems were clear enough that officials referred them to investigators for further review. So far, only four cases have led to charges, including those identified in a separate state investigation. No one has been convicted. No person's vote was counted twice. While it's possible more cases could emerge, the numbers illustrate the implausibility of Trump's claims that fraud and irregularities in Arizona cost him the state's electorate votes. In final, certified and audited results, Biden won 10,400 more votes than Trump out of 3.4 million cast."
According to the New York Times, a US Commerce Department security unit spent a decade acting as a "rogue, unaccountable police force" by conducting unauthorized surveillance of the agency's employees of Chinese and Middle Eastern descent. From the story:
"Senate investigators painted a picture of a unit that routinely engaged in unethical or unsafe activities that were beyond the scope of its mandate and that its employees were not trained to do. The report indicated that the bulk of those efforts were driven over the course of multiple administrations by one official: George Lee, the unit's longtime director, who has since been placed on leave. Mr. Lee could not be reached for comment on Friday."
According to the Washington Post, Gary D Fielder and Ernest John Walker, two Colorado attorneys who filed a federal lawsuit last December claiming to represent 160m American voters in a dispute over the results of the 2020 election, could face ramifications for filing a frivolous suit. From the story:
"The two attorneys from Colorado were chastised by federal magistrate judge N Reid Neureiter today, during a hearing to consider whether the pair should face sanctions. 'Did that ever occur to you? That, possibly, [you're] just repeating stuff the president is lying about?' Neureiter asked, questioning whether they knowingly became a 'propaganda tool' for the former president. Both argue that they acted in good faith and believed the election had been stolen."
July 15, 2021 - According to the Guardian, leaked Kremlin documents appear to show Putin's plot to put Trump in the White House. From the story:
"Vladimir Putin personally authorised a secret spy agency operation to support a 'mentally unstable' Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election during a closed session of Russia's national security council, according to what are assessed to be leaked Kremlin documents. The key meeting took place on 22 January 2016, the papers suggest, with the Russian president, his spy chiefs and senior ministers all present. They agreed a Trump White House would help secure Moscow's strategic objectives, among them 'social turmoil' in the US and a weakening of the American president's negotiating position. Russia's three spy agencies were ordered to find practical ways to support Trump, in a decree appearing to bear Putin's signature. By this point Trump was the frontrunner in the Republican party's nomination race. A report prepared by Putin's expert department recommended Moscow use 'all possible force' to ensure a Trump victory. Western intelligence agencies are understood to have been aware of the documents for some months and to have carefully examined them. The papers, seen by the Guardian, seem to represent a serious and highly unusual leak from within the Kremlin. The Guardian has shown the documents to independent experts who say they appear to be genuine. Incidental details come across as accurate. The overall tone and thrust is said to be consistent with Kremlin security thinking."
Speaking to the press, Dr Vivek Murthy, the US surgeon general, called health misinformation "an imminent and insidious threat to our nation's health ... Simply put, health misinformation has cost us lives".
July 14, 2021 - According to the Guardian, Planned Parenthood has filed a lawsuit against Texas' abortion ban. From the story:
"In a highly anticipated move, Texas abortion providers filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday against the state's draconian six-week abortion ban, Senate Bill 8 that would empower private citizens to enforce the law. 'The Texas legislature's well-documented hostility to the rights of pregnant people has gone to a new extreme,' reads the lawsuit, filed by groups including Whole Woman's Health and Planned Parenthood, along with abortion support fund groups, doctors, health clinic staff, and clergy members. 'Senate Bill 8 flagrantly violates the constitutional rights of Texans seeking abortion and upends the rule of law in service of an anti-abortion agenda.' The extreme anti-abortion law, which offers no exception for rape or incest, bars the procedure when embryonic cardiac activity is detected, which is around six weeks – before most women even know they are pregnant – amounting to a near-total ban. It also allows any private citizen, including anti-choice activists unrelated to the patient, the right to sue an abortion provider, rather than tasking the state with enforcement. In fact, any person that 'aids or abets' abortion care, such as a friend or family member that pays for abortion or a sexual assault counselor who calls a clinic on behalf of a patient, could be targeted, potentially opening the floodgates to harassing lawsuits that could push abortion clinics into forced closure. 'It is unthinkable that anti-abortion extremists could be allowed to stand in the way of people accessing essential health care,' said Melaney A Linton, president of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast."
According to excerpts from a new book called "I Alone Can Fix This" by Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, General Mark Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, told his aides the US was facing a "Reichstag moment" because Donald Trump was preaching "the gospel of the Fuhrer". Milley is also reported to have responded to a friend who told him that Trump and his allies were trying to "overturn the government" that "They may try, but they're not going to fucking succeed. You can't do this without the military. You can't do this without the CIA and the FBI. We're the guys with guns."
July 13, 2021 - Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, reacted to the Democratic legislators who fled the state saying:
"As soon as they come back in the state of Texas, they will be arrested, they will be cabined inside the Texas capitol until they get their job done."
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following analysis of Republican voter suppression efforts in Texas:
"Texas Republicans are intent on a radical overhaul of voting laws in the state in ways that many Democrats and civil rights experts say will directly affect voters of color in a state that is becoming more Democratic. The laws include outlawing 24-hour polling places, banning ballot drop boxes and empowering partisan poll watchers. Democrats are determined to stop them. Earlier this summer, Democrats scuppered the reforms by walking out of the state house of representatives and denying the session a quorum. But now the Republican governor, Greg Abbott, has convened a special legislative session to pass the reforms. This second revolt also denies a quorum but, with Democrats literally fleeing the state, also significantly ups the ante. It's not really clear how the face-off will end. The Texas constitution requires two-thirds of a legislative body to be present to conduct business. If there's no quorum, the constitution authorizes the legislature to 'compel' the attendance of missing members. The rules of the Texas house of representatives make it clear that those who flee the state could be arrested and brought back to Texas. The special session of the legislature can only last up to 30 days. But even if Democrats were able to remain out of the state for that long, the governor could continue to call special sessions until lawmakers return. Even though Democrats cannot stop the Republican legislation, bringing the legislature to a halt might give them some kind of leverage in negotiating over the bills."
Stephen Calk, a Chicago banker, was convicted of financial institution bribery and conspiracy charges, for enabling Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign manager, to obtain $16 million in loanshe was not entitled to in the hopes that Calk could secure a high-level post with the Trump administration.
While speaking at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center, Joe Biden called out Trump on the "big lie" saying:
"no other election has ever been held under such scrutiny and such high standards. The big lie is just that, a big lie ... Make no mistake, bullies and merchants of fear, peddlers of lies are threatening the very foundation of our country. I'm not saying this to alarm you; I'm saying this because you should be alarmed ... the most significant test to our democracy since the Civil War ... The Confederates back then never breached the Capitol, as the insurrectionists did on January the 6th."
July 12, 2021 - According to Reuters, US district judge Linda Parker in Detroit, blasted Sidney Powell, a former campaign lawyer for Donald Trump, Lin Wood and other attorneys who peddled Trump's lies that he won the 2020 presidential election. From the story:
"'Should an attorney be sanctioned for his or her failure to withdraw allegations the attorney came to know were untrue?,' Parker said. 'Is that sanctionable behavior?' She said she thought affidavits in the case had been submitted in 'bad faith.' Parker held a hearing to determine whether Powell, Lin Wood and other pro-Trump lawyers should be disciplined for a lawsuit they filed last November that made baseless claims of widespread voter fraud in the US presidential election in Michigan. Parker dismissed the Michigan lawsuit last December, saying in a written decision that Powell's voter fraud claims were 'nothing but speculation and conjecture' and that, in any event, Powell waited too long to file her lawsuit. Parker did not rule in the hearing's initial hours whether she would impose judicial sanctions on Powell and her co-counsel, or refer them to a regulatory body for disbarment proceedings."
A court filing against the Trump team by Michigan's attorney general reads:
"It was never about winning on the merits of the claims, but rather (the) purpose was to undermine the integrity of the election results and the people's trust in the electoral process and in government."
Making the case for the city of Detroit against Trump's legal team, is David Fink. According to Fink:
"What they filed was an embarrassment to the legal profession. This was a sloppy and careless effort"
Writing for the Guardian, Martin Pengelly offers the following analysis of Democrats fleeing the state of Texas to beat Republican voter restriction efforts:
"Extraordinary news from Texas, where a source has told NBC News that 58 Democrats will leave the state, mostly bound for Washington DC on private planes, in an attempt to stall Republican attempts to use a special legislative session to pass a restrictive voting law. The Associated Press has also confirmed the plan. In late May, Democrats stopped the bill by walking out of the state capitol late at night. Now they reportedly plan to leave the state entirely, a tactic last used in 2003. The lawmakers will risk arrest – the Texas state constitution says that while a two-thirds quorum is required for legislation to pass, lawmakers absenting themselves deliberately can be apprehended and returned, potentially by the famous Texas Rangers. The law in question is pushed by a party dominated by former president Donald Trump and his lie about electoral fraud in his defeat by Joe Biden. When first introduced, repressive proposed measures included making it easier for judges to overturn election results; pushing back the start of Sunday voting, when many Black churchgoers go to the polls; empowering poll-watchers; and eliminating drive-thru voting and 24-hour poll centers. Last week, as Republicans prepared to advance the bill again, one Texan told the Guardian why she was traveling to Austin to testify against the legislation. 'It shouldn't be scary to vote,' Hailee Mouch said. 'And I worry that this will make it scary to vote.'"
NOTE: In addition to pushing for more voter restrictions in their special session, Texas Republicans are also pushing through anti-transgender bills as part of the session. Senate Bill 2 would ban trans students from participating in college sports, and Senate Bill 32 would ban trans students from participating in k-12 sports. More than 100 anti-trans bills were proposed in states across the US this year, with 13 of them being signed into law by Republican governors.
July 9, 2021 - According to the Washington Post, ICE has enacted a new policy to avoid detaining pregnant women. From the story:
"ICE's new policy is even more expansive than it was during the Obama era, when President Biden was vice president. The Obama administration generally exempted pregnant women from immigration detention, but the Biden administration is also including women who gave birth within the prior year and those who are nursing, which could last longer than a year. The policy adds to the growing list of immigrants exempt from arrest or deportation for violating civil immigration laws. Critics have said that Biden is abandoning his responsibility to enforce U.S. laws, but the president has said he wants a more humane approach to immigration, especially for parents and children arriving in increasing numbers from regions such as Central America. ... The policy revokes a 2017 Trump administration directive that 'ended the presumption of release for all pregnant detainees.' ICE detained nearly 2,100 pregnant women the following year, a 52 percent jump over the last calendar year of the Obama administration, according to a Government Accountability Office report."
Henry McMaster, the Republican governor of South Carolina, has called on local officials in his state to prohibit door-to-door vaccination outreach efforts in his state.
According to the Washington Post, Joe Biden has fired Andrew Saul, the Social Security Commissioner. From the story:
"Saul was fired after refusing a request to resign, White House officials said. His deputy, David Black, who was also appointed by former president Donald Trump, resigned Friday upon request. Biden named Kilolo Kijakazi, the current deputy commissioner for retirement and disability policy, to serve as acting commissioner until a permanent nominee is selected. But Saul said in an interview Friday afternoon that he would not leave his post, challenging the legality of the White House move to oust him. As the head of an independent agency whose leadership does not normally change with a new administration, Saul's six-year term was supposed to last until January 2025. The White House said a recent Supreme Court ruling gives the president power to replace him. Saul disputed that. 'I consider myself the term-protected Commissioner of Social Security,' he said, adding that he plans to be back at work on Monday morning, signing in remotely from his New York home. He called his ouster a 'Friday Night Massacre.' 'This was the first I or my deputy knew this was coming,' Saul said of the email he received from the White House Personnel Office Friday morning. 'It was a bolt of lightning no one expected. And right now it's left the agency in complete turmoil.' Saul's firing came after a tumultuous six-month tenure in the Biden administration during which advocates for the elderly and the disabled and Democrats on Capitol Hill pressured the White House to dismiss him. He had clashed with labor unions that represent his 60,000 employees, who said he used union-busting tactics. Angry advocates say he dawdled while millions of disabled Americans waited for him to turn over files to the Internal Revenue Service to release their stimulus checks — and accused him of an overzealous campaign to make disabled people reestablish their eligibility for benefits."
July 8, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Lauren Aratani offers the following analysis of the spread of the Covid-19 delta variant:
"More than nine out of 10 Americans who died from Covid-19 in the US in June were unvaccinated, according to Anthony Fauci – a statistic that health officials say is especially concerning given the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy in some regions and the rise of the Delta variant. Maryland reported this week that 100% of those who died from coronavirus there in June had not been vaccinated, while more than 93% of those with new cases or who were hospitalized were similarly unprotected. Cases are rising in nearly half the states as low vaccination rates are being met with the more transmissible and severe Delta or B.1.617.2, variant, identified in India in December 2020. Vaccinations administered in the US have shown to be effective against the Delta variant, though it poses serious risks to those who remain unvaccinated. The variant is already the dominant strain of Covid-19 in the country, accounting for more than 50% of all new US cases and up to 80% of cases in some regions, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data released Tuesday."
According to the Guardian, because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic: "Olympic organisers have decided to ban spectators from the Tokyo Games after Japan's prime minister declared a state of emergency in the host city".
Writing for the Guardian, Adam Gabbatt offers the following analysis of efforts to push back against right-wing disinformation:
"A group of prominent communications specialists has urged Democrats to go on the offensive against Republican and right-wing disinformation, by creating a year-round campaign to sell Democratic Party achievements and combat lies told to the American public. In a public letter to the Democratic National Committee and Democratic funders, the communications experts warned that the right-wing is successfully pushing regular 'purposeful and highly effective disinformation attacks across digital media'. By contrast, the experts said, Democrats and the left is suffering from a 'lack of competitive counter-measures of sufficient scale' – and risk allowing the right-wing to dominate the narrative and cement conspiracy theories among Americans which will hamper Democrats come election time. 'Stop waiting until the last minute to persuade Americans about the issues that decide elections. Build campaign infrastructure that is always-on, rather than stood up and taken down between election cycles,' said the Persuasion USA Coalition, which is made up of former creative director at MoveOn.org Laura Dawn, Front Page Live CEO Stacy Whittle, and Meidas Touch founder Ben Meiselas, among others. 'The lack of consistent, long-term messaging and media campaigns between election cycles continues to be one of the most critical gaps in communications capabilities - a gap that contributed to the razor thin outcome in 2020, a gap that is giving bad actors in the disinformation opposition a competitive edge as 2022 approaches, and a gap that may be one of the primary reasons why the great United States slides towards autocracy in 2024.' The group said Democrats need to build long-term marketing strategies that 'look beyond the next election and plan ahead decade by decade towards the country we hope to have 30 years from now', to tackle a 'one-sided advantage that favors purveyors of untruths'. 'Let's not abandon millions of the hearts and minds of this nation to weaponized disinformation,' Persuasion USA Coalition wrote. 'The time has come for funders, decision-makers, and even corporations to spend more money and resources on programs that bridge echo chambers and bring all of us, black, white or brown, closer together.'"
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following analysis of a special session in Texas to curtail voting rights:
"The partisan battle over voting rights and democracy in the US continues apace. Texas is rapidly hurtling towards a showdown on voting rights as Republicans in the state are moving aggressively ahead with efforts to pass new voting restrictions in the state. Today marks the start of a special session for the Texas legislature. Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, has designated 'election integrity' as one of the items for the legislature to address. The push comes after Texas Democrats thwarted an earlier attempt to pass sweeping new restrictions. A new bill filed in the state House of Representatives revives many of the provisions in the earlier bill - it would impose new identification requirements on mail-in ballots, prohibit local election officials from sending out unsolicited mail-in ballots, empower poll watchers to have expanded access at the polls, create new regulations for 3rd party collection of absentee ballots, and prohibit 24 hour drive-thru voting. Many of the regulations appear aimed at Harris County, the state’s most populous, where election officials moved to expand voting access amid the pandemic last year. Texas is already one of the hardest places to vote in the US and was among the states with the lowest voter turnout in 2020. It also severely restricts mail-in voting to people who are age 65 or older, people with disabilities, and other few select groups. The bill does not contain two significant provisions that were in the legislation that failed earlier this year. Those measures would have curtailed early voting on Sundays, a time traditionally utilized by Black voters, and allowed judges to more easily overturn elections."
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following analysis of efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Arizona:
"Arizona's top election official is asking the state's attorney general to investigate whether Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and Kelly Ward, the chair of the Arizona GOP, committed a criminal offense by attempting to interfere in the 2020 election. The request from Arizona secretary of state Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, comes after the Arizona Republic obtained telephone and text messages from Giulani and Ward in which the two pressured officials in Maricopa county to try and get favorable results for Trump. As votes were still being counted, Ward sent a Maricopa county supervisor a text message saying 'we need you to stop the counting.' In December, Giuliani left a voicemail for another supervisor saying 'I have a few things I'd like to talk over with you. Maybe we can get this thing fixed up. You know, I really think it's a shame that Republicans sort of are both in this kind of situation. And I think there may be a nice way to resolve this for everybody.' Trump also tried to reach at least one Maricopa county supervisor from the White House. In her letter, to attorney general Mark Brnovich, a Republican running for US senate, Hobbs requests a probe into whether those actions amounted to election interference. 'Arizona law protects election officials from those who would seek to interfere with their sacred duties to ascertain and certify the will of the voters,' Hobbs, who is running for governor, wrote to Brnovich."
Writing for the guardian, Maya Yang offers the following analysis of Trump continuing to charge the Secret Service thousands each month to use his properties:
"Trump charged the Secret Service nearly $10,200 for its use of guest rooms at his New Jersey golf club in May, newly released records indicate. The May charges at the Trump National golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey totaled $10,199.52 for an 18-day stay – about $566 per night at the resort. The Secret Service also released documents including a 'hotel request' form that covered the period from 28 May to 1 July, as well as bills indicating $3,400 worth of resort charges for January, February and early May. The agency has not disclosed the reason behind those charges, which were placed before Trump's arrival. Charging rent from his government-provided security detail is not novel, as Trump has frequently charged the Secret Service for rooms used by its agents, even during his presidency, according to the Washington Post. Currently, there are no laws that prevent Trump and his company from demanding the Secret Service pay rent at his properties, and rates are at the Trump Organization's discretion. The Secret Service is required by law to pay whatever is required to rent rooms near its clients."
According to the Guardian, Toyota put out a statement saying they "have decided to stop contributing to those members of Congress who contested the certification of certain states in the 2020 election".
Writing for the Guardian, Jessica Glenza offers the following analysis of the radicalization of the anti-abortion movement:
"The president and chief executive of an international reproductive rights non-profit has warned that the American anti-abortion movement has significantly radicalized and is working to spread its ideology around the world. The comments came as pro-gun anti-abortion theocratic militant groups who seek to prosecute women who have abortions under murder statutes have gained increasing legislative influence in the US. 'In the 90s we saw groups like Operation Rescue and Operation Save America, and they were quite violent,' said Anu Kumar of Ipas, an international non-governmental organization that works to expand access to contraception and abortion. 'This recent uptick is really an even more radicalized version of what we saw back then, and in some ways it's not your mother's anti-choice groups.' Operation Save America denies condoning violence, though leaders of affiliated groups such as Defy Tyrants, led by Matt Trewhella, were signatories to a statement which described murdering abortion providers as 'justifiable homicide'. Since Donald Trump left office, and as the US suffered among the worst Covid outbreaks in the world, Republican legislatures have worked to make 2021 the most hostile year for abortion since the procedure was legalized nationally in 1973. States enacted 90 abortion restrictions in 2021, breaking the previous record of 89 in 2011. These restrictions stand in contrast to the 'unmistakable trend toward the liberalization of abortion laws' globally, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Since 2000, more than 28 nations have liberalized their abortion laws. Only one, Nicaragua, expanded legal grounds for abortion."
According to the Guardian, civil rights leaders released a statement urging Joe Biden to be more aggressive against Republican voter suppression efforts. From the story:
"The civil rights leaders expressed their very serious concern over the dangerous anti-voter efforts by some who are intent on taking the nation backwards through voting barriers for Black, Brown, Indigenous, and new Americans. They made clear that these severely harmful efforts are a historic and existential crisis of democracy that requires urgent attention. The leaders expressed their thanks to the president and vice president for their support so far and asked them to do even more in pushing Congress to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in order to make real the promise of our democracy for all. The civil rights leaders also discussed the urgent need to provide meaningful changes to hold police accountable for misconduct and ensure the safety of all community members, including Black and Brown people who disproportionately face violence and abuse at the hands of police. The leaders urged the president and vice president to do everything possible to ensure legislation like the George Floyd Justice In Policing Act is passed into law."
July 7, 2021 - Jovenel Moise, the president of Haiti, was assassinated.
According to Axios, Donald Trump intends to file a class-action lawsuit against Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. From the story:
"It's the latest escalation in Trump's yearslong battle with Twitter and Facebook over free speech and censorship. Trump is completely banned from Twitter and is banned from Facebook for another two years. ... Trump's legal effort is supported by the America First Policy Institute, a non-profit focused on perpetuating Trump's policies. ... Class action lawsuits would enable him to sue the two tech CEOs on behalf of a broader group of people that he argues have been censored by biased policies. To date, Trump and other conservative critics have not presented any substantial evidence that either platform is biased against conservatives in its policies or implementation of them."
Trump confirmed the Axios story when he announced the lawsuit at his golf club in Bedminster, NJ. From his announcement:
"We’re asking the US district court for the southern district of Florida to order an immediate halt to social media companies’ illegal, shameful censorship of the American people ... We're demanding an end to the shadow banning, a stop to the silencing, a stop to the blacklisting, banishing and canceling that you know so well. Our case will prove this censorship is unlawful. It's unconstitutional, and it's completely un-American. We all know that. We know that very, very well."
Writing for the Guardian, Joanna Walters offers the following commentary on Trump's big tech lawsuit announcement:
"He is standing alongside members of the relatively new America First Policy Institute (AFPI) think tank, a group that news website Axios describes as a 'constellation of Trump administration stars', who launched a 35-person nonprofit group in April with the mission of perpetuating the former president's populist policies. A statement from AFPI said it: 'applauds the class action lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida by Donald J. Trump, the 45th President of the United States, and other brave patriots representing Americans who have had their First Amendment rights violated by Defendants Facebook, Inc., Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter, Inc., Jack Dorsey, Google LLC, and Sundar Pichai.' The statement continued that 'these elites and their firms ride roughshod over some of the most fundamental American rights: the right to speak, the right to be heard, and the right to democratic representation. This lawsuit is not the end of that fight: it is a beginning.' However, Trump was banned from the platforms because he and his behind-the-scenes cohorts were posting dangerous misinformation and using language that could insight violence. He was initially suspended from Facebook in January for 24 hours, then the ban was to be indefinite and, on the latest decision from the company's oversight board, the ban will remain until at least two years after it began. Zuckerberg said Trump's suspension came as a consequence of his support for the rioters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6. In a post to Facebook at the time, Zuckerberg said: 'The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden.' After spreading lies and insults via his Twitter account throughout his presidency, Trump was banned by the platform in February of this year, with the company saying it is a permanent ban."
Notable reaction to Trump's lawsuit:
"The First Amendment does *not* apply to non-government actors. Full stop." - Steve Vladeck
In a new exerpt from the upcoming book "Frankly. We Did Win This Election" by Wall Street Journal columnist Michael Bender, Donald Trump told his then chief of staff, John Kelly: "Well, Hitler did a lot of good things." According to Bender, Kelly was "stunned" by the comment, which followed a history lesson in which Kelly "reminded the president which countries were on which side during the conflict" and "connected the dots from the first world war to the second world war and all of Hitler's atrocities". According to the book, Kelly pushed back against the statement only to have Trump emphasize the economic recovery under Hitler during the 1930's. Kelly then told Trump that "the German people would have been better off poor than subjected to the Nazi genocide". Kelly also told Trump that even if his claims about the German economy were true, "you cannot ever say anything supportive of Adolf Hitler. You just can't."
Shortly after Trump's lawsuit announcement, the Republican National Committee began a fund raising campaign with the tag line:
"It's time for the American People to take a stand against the Radical Left's attempts to silence conservatives. Are you with us? Please contribute ANY AMOUNT RIGHT NOW to show your support for President Trump's lawsuit against Big Tech."
Writing for the Guardian, Peter Gleick, the co-founder of the Pacific Institute, a hydrologist and climatologist, and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, offers the following commentary on current heatwaves:
"The unprecedented heatwaves sweeping over the planet recently are harbingers of the heatwaves of the future. The US National Climate Assessment noted that the period since 1950 in the south-western US has been hotter than any comparable period in the past 600 years, and temperatures continue to rise. Heat stress is already the leading weather-related cause of death in the United States, worse than hurricanes, tornadoes or floods. In Europe, more than 20,000 people, mostly elderly, are already estimated to die annually from exposure to extreme heat. This problem is most severe in poorer communities that lack shade trees, air conditioning and cooling shelters. Every one of these changes shows the fingerprints of human-caused climate change. In response, humans that can move will move. Just as millions migrated over the past half-century from the colder north to sunny, warm communities in Florida, Arizona, New Mexico and southern California, we will certainly see a massive reverse migration in the coming half century away from the coasts, extreme heat and water shortages to places thought to be more favorable. We're already seeing refugees on the southern border of the US fleeing countries suffering from drought and disasters. If greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated, some models suggest that more than a million climate refugees may move from Central America and Mexico to the United States. In April, the UN high commissioner for refugees released a report showing that climate- and weather-related disasters already displace more than 20 million people a year, and a report from the Australian Institute for Economics and Peace suggests that more than a billion people could be displaced by climate and weather disasters by 2050. How bad will it get? I don’t know because I don’t know how long our politicians will dither before finally dealing with the climate crisis. I don't know because there are natural factors that could slightly slow or, more likely, massively speed up, the rate of change, causing cascading and accelerating disasters faster than we can adapt. But we know enough now to invest in reducing the emissions of climate-changing gases and to begin to adapt to those impacts we can no longer avoid. These changes are coming and the costs, especially to those left behind, will be beyond anything our disaster management systems have had to deal with in the past."
Rudy Giuliani, former president Trump's personal lawyer, has been suspended from practicing law in Washington DC over his "demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public".
July 6, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, David Smith writes about Republican efforts to deny the January 6 Capitol insurrection:
"It has been described as America's darkest day since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. But whereas 9/11 is solemnly memorialised in stone, a concerted effort is under way to airbrush the US Capitol insurrection from history. Six months on from the mayhem on 6 January, when a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the heart of American democracy to disrupt the confirmation of Joe Biden's election victory, Republicans and rightwing media have variously attempted to downplay the attack or blame it on leftwing infiltrators and the FBI. Interviews with diehard Trump fans suggest that the riot denialism is working. Many refuse to condemn the insurrectionists who beat police officers, smashed windows and called for then Vice-President Mike Pence to be hanged. The swirl of conspiracy theories, combined with Trump's deluded claims of a stole election, raise fears of a replay that could be even more violent. 'Rightwing media and some Republicans, including Republicans in the Senate and the House, are trying to make it seem as though what was a siege on the Capitol was not actually a siege on the Capitol,' said Monika McDermott, a political science professor at Fordham University in New York. 'We all saw it. We saw them breaking down doors. We saw our members of Congress running for cover and trying to get away. We saw Mike Pence being shuttled out of the chamber. All of these frightening things that we saw happen are now being denied or being laid at the feet of Antifa or the FBI or some other source, which just seems at this point ludicrous.'"
According to Bloomberg, the Republican National Committee's computer systems have been breached by Russian hackers. From the story:
"The government hackers were part of a group known as APT 29 or Cozy Bear, according to the people. That group has been tied to Russia's foreign intelligence service and has previously been accused of breaching the Democratic National Committee in 2016 and of carrying out a supply-chain cyberattack involving SolarWinds Corp., which infiltrated nine U.S. government agencies and was disclosed in December. It's not known what data the hackers viewed or stole, if anything. An RNC spokesman on Tuesday denied its systems were breached and referred to a statement citing IT provider Synnex Corp. released on Saturday. 'Microsoft informed us that one of our vendors, Synnex, systems may have been exposed,' Mike Reed, a spokesman for the RNC, said in the earlier statement. 'There is no indication the RNC was hacked or any RNC information was stolen. We are investigating the matter and have informed DHS and the FBI.'"
July 3, 2021 - Trump told a crowd in Sarasota, FL: "They go after good hard-working people for not paying taxes on a company car. Company car. You didn't pay tax on the car, or a company apartment, you used an apartment because you need an apartment, because you have to travel too far where your house is, didn't pay tax, or education for your grandchildren. I don't even know. Do you have to, does anybody know the answer to that stuff? OK? But they indict people for that."
July 2, 2021 - Stocks have hit a new record high following a positive employment report that shows the economy added 850,000 jobs last month.
Ronald Klain, Joe Biden's chief of staff sent the following in a tweet:
"Trump's first year jobs record: 1.8 million new jobs. Biden's first FIVE months: 3 million new jobs."
During an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press, Dr Anthony Fauci was asked if he believed the delta variant of coronavirus could cause another surge in cases in the US. Fauci's answer:
"I don't think you're going to be seeing anything nationwide. Because fortunately, we have a substantial proportion of the population vaccinated. So it’s going to be regional. We're going to see, and I've said, almost two types of America. You know, those regions of America which are highly vaccinated and we have a low level of dynamics of infection. And in some places, some states, some cities, some areas, where the level of vaccination is low and the level of virus dissemination is high. That's where you're going to see the spikes."
A new Marist poll has found that two-thirds of Americans believe democracy in the United States is under threat. NOTE: A previous poll of 50,000 people from 53 countries around the world found that nearly half of the respondents believed the United States itself threatened democracy in their home countries. That poll also found that the US was seen as a greater threat to democracy than Russia or China.
A story in the Guardian reveals new details on White House interference in Arizona during the 2020 election. From the story:
"During the 2020 election, Clint Hickman, a 56-year-old lifelong Republican, was the chair of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which oversees elections in the most populous county in Arizona. In the wake of the election, the Arizona Republic reports, he twice let calls from the White House trying to connect him with the president go to his voicemail, as Donald Trump and his allies tried a range of tactics to try to influence the local elections process in Arizona and other swing states. One of the voicemails to the Arizona Republican official came the very same night that news broke about Trump's call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump asked the Georgia elections official to 'find' enough votes there to overturn Joe Biden's win in the state. The call was recorded, and the Washington Post published the full audio. Hickman, the Arizona official, said he was appalled by Trump's attempt to interfere in Georgia, and that he did not want to be the target of similar interference or record his own conversation with Trump, so he did not return the White House voicemail. 'I'm not going to tape a president, so I'm not going to talk to a president,' he said."
Pearson Sharp, a One America News Network (OANN) personality, made the following statements during a June broadcast:
"How many people were involved in these efforts to undermine the election? Hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands? How many people does it take to carry out a coup against the presidency? And when all the dust settles from the audit in Arizona and the potential audits in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Wisconsin, what happens to all these people who are responsible for overthrowing the election? What are the consequences for traitors who meddled with our sacred democratic process and tried to steal power by taking away the voices of the American people? What happens to them? Well, in the past, America had a very good solution for dealing with such traitors: Execution ... The bottom line is that no one is above the law. And let this be a warning to anyone who thinks they are. The consequences are clear. And those responsible will be brought to justice for their role in undermining America's democracy."
Notable reactions to Pearson Sharp's commentary:
"There's a real fascist vibe to this One America News personality calming calling for the execution of potentially tens of thousands of Americans over fake voter fraud claims." - Will Somer
"It's Happening. Huge Red Pill! OAN is prepping the masses for Treason. I've yet to see anything like this on television up to this point" - Teresa AnnMarie
According to the Guardian, a new voting law in Kansas has prompted the League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan group, to suspend voter registration drives. From the story:
"A new Republican-backed Kansas voting law has prompted the nonpartisan League of Women Voters and other get-out-the-vote groups in Kansas to say they are going to suspend voter registration drives for fear of criminal prosecution, two local media outlets report. 'We are legitimately concerned that our staff and volunteers might face criminal charges if someone at the farmers market subjectively thinks they might be impersonating an election official and reports them,' said Caleb Smith, a voter engagement campaign director for Kansas Appleseed, told the Kansas Reflector. 'Because [the law] is so broad it can be applied arbitrarily and discriminatory,' Davis Hammet, the director of Loud Light, a youth voter registration group, told the Kansas City Star. 'These are people who would be registering voters and they'd have to take a very real risk that they’d lose their right to vote.' The groups have filed a lawsuit against the new law and have asked a judge for a temporary injunction to block implementation of the law until the case is resolved."
July 1, 2021 - Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's chief financial officer, surrendered to the Manhattan district attorney's office for alleged tax violations related to benefits the company gave top executives.
In a 6-3 decision, falling along ideological lines, the Supreme Court ruled in Brnovich v Democratic National Committee that voting restrictions in Arizona do not violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
Sean Morales-Doyle, the acting director of the voting rights and elections program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, responded to the ruling saying:
"Today the Supreme Court made it much harder to challenge discriminatory voting laws in court ... The justices stopped short of eviscerating the Voting Rights Act, but nevertheless did significant damage to this vital civil rights law and to the freedom to vote. Congress must act now to strengthen voting rights by passing the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act." NOTE: The For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act have both stalled in the Senate due to widespread Republican opposition.
Nancy Pelosi announced her picks for the select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection. They are:
Bennie Thompson
Zoe Lofgren
Adam Schiff
Pete Aguilar
Stephanie Murphy
Jamie Raskin
Elaine Luria
Liz Cheney
NOTE: Kevin McCarthy, who is allowed to put members on the group, has threatened to strip House Republicans of their committee assignments if they join the commission.
Joe Biden responded to the Supreme Court decision upholding voter restrictions in Arizona saying:
"While this broad assault against voting rights is sadly not unprecedented, it is taking on new forms. It is no longer just about a fight over who gets to vote and making it easier for eligible voters to vote. It is about who gets to count the vote and whether your vote counts at all."
Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that a Covid-19 variant called the delta variant, is spreading across the US, and is a "threat to unvaccinated Americans".
Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's chief financial officer, pleaded not guilty to tax related crimes. Weisselberg is accused of failing to properly report company perks, including rent-free apartments, school fees and cars.
According to the Guardian, Allen Weisselberg is charged with a scheme to defraud in the first degree. From the story:
"'Beginning from at least 2005 to on or about June 30, 2021, the defendants and others devised and operated a scheme to defraud federal, New York State, and New York City tax authorities,' the indictment says. 'The scheme was intended to allow certain employees to substantially understate their compensation from the Trump Organization, so that they could and did pay federal, state, and local taxes in amounts that were significantly less than the amounts that should have been paid.'"
Notable reaction to the charges against Allen Weisselberg:
"It is hard to overstate how big a deal this is. Criminal charges against corporations are exceedingly rare. For the Trump Organization and one of its top executives to face 15 counts on a scheme to defraud that goes back at least 15 years is extraordinary. These are serious charges, and they may be just the beginning. Donald Trump, both as president and in his private life, has a long record of ignoring the law for his personal benefit. Today's indictment is a much-needed step toward accountability for these abuses, and we hope and trust there will be more accountability to come." - Noah Bookbinder, the President of the Watchdog Group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)
Writing for the Guardian, Erin McCormick offers the following analysis of the staggering rise in hate crimes against Asians in 2020:
"Hate crimes against Asians in California more than doubled in 2020, as part of an overall 31% surge in hate-based crimes, according to a pair of new reports by California's attorney general. The increase in anti-Asian crimes was fueled by rhetoric, including that of Donald Trump, blaming Asian communities for the spread of Covid-19 in the United States, the reports said. 'For too many, 2020 wasn't just about a deadly virus, it was about an epidemic of hate,' said the attorney general, Rob Bonta. 'The facts here are clear: there was a surge in anti-Asian violence correlated with the words of leaders who sought to divide us when we were at our most vulnerable.' While the reports highlighted the stunning increase in often-overlooked violence against Asians, hate crimes against Black people in California increased by 87% as well, and made up the largest number of events counted in the report – 456 of the total 1,330 hate crimes reported in 2020. The number of anti-Asian crimes jumped from 43 in 2019 to 89 in 2020 – a total increase of 107%. Hate crimes against transgender people in the state also rose from 29 in 2019 to 54 in 2020, the reports said, while the number of crimes based on religious bias fell."
According to the AP, when the Trump administration resumed executions after a 17-year hiatus, 13 people were put to death using lethal injections, which prison officials characterized as a process of putting people to sleep. From the story:
"The AP witnessed every execution. Secrecy surrounded all aspects of the executions. Courts relied on those carrying them out to volunteer information about glitches. None of the executioners mentioned any. Lawyers argued that one of the men put to death last year, Wesley Purkey, suffered 'extreme pain' as he received a dose of pentobarbital. Purkey was the second inmate put to death. The court papers were filed by another inmate, Keith Nelson, in an effort to halt or delay his execution. But it went forward."
Merrick Garland, the attorney general, has imposed a moratorium on federal executions.
Donald Trump responded to the indictment of Allen Weisselberg saying:
"Do people see the Radical Left prosecutors, and what they are trying to do to 75M+++ Voters and Patriots, for what it is?"
June 30, 2021 - In a vote of 222 to 190, the House passed approved a resolution to from a select committee to investigate the January 6 Capitol insurrection. Only two Republicans joined the Democrats in passing the measure. Those Republicans are Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.
Writing for the Guardian, Julia Carrie Wong offers the following analysis of the panic of critical race theory fueled by rightwing media:
"Viral videos of impassioned parents denouncing critical race theory at school board hearings have become a cornerstone of the movement to ban its teaching. In one such video, a mother declares critical race theory (CRT) to be 'a tactic used by Hitler and the Ku Klux Klan on slavery very many years ago to dumb down my ancestors so we could not think for ourselves'. In another, a woman calls CRT 'the American version of the Chinese cultural revolution'. A third mother says she has proof that her local school board is 'teaching our children to go out and murder police officers'. The videos, and their spread online, are emblematic of the way the campaign to ban CRT has combined genuine grassroots anger, institutional backing, and a highly effective rightwing propaganda machine to propel critical race theory from academic obscurity to center stage in the US political debate. That movement has gained tremendous ground at great speed. Legislation seeking to limit the teaching of CRT has been introduced in at least 22 states this year, and enacted in six: Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. Statewide resolutions against CRT have also been passed in Florida, Georgia and Utah. 'This was a massive campaign that has borne fruit in very dramatic fashion,' said Emerson Sykes, a first amendment lawyer with the ACLU, which is exploring litigation to combat these bills. 'It's going to take a massive campaign to try to push back against that.'"
June 29, 2021 - According to the Daily Beast, Fox News has reached a settlement with the New York Commission on Human Rights to pay $1m after "effectively admitting" misconduct including "sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation against victimised employees" which the commission said showed "a pattern of violating the NYC Human Rights Law".
Tucker Carlson, of Fox News, made the following statement on his show Tucker Carlson Tonight:
"On June 5th, Weinstein discussed the benfits of a drug called ivermectin which can and is around the world used to treat and prevent the spread of coronavirus."
June 28, 2021 - According to an excerpt from an upcoming book by Jonathan Karl, called Betrayal, William Barr, the former attorney general, stated:
"My attitude was: It was put-up or shut-up time. If there was evidence of fraud, I had no motive to suppress it. But my suspicion all the way along was that there was nothing there. It was all bullshit."
Donald Trump responded to the exerpt about Bill Barr saying:
"It's people in authority like Bill Barr that allow the crazed Radical Left to succeed."
In a victory for transgender rights, the Supreme Court refused to hear a case that would decide whether schools must allow students to use the bathroom that match their gender identities. Last August, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that the school board had practiced sex-based discrimination and violated Gavin Grimm's 14th Amendment rights by prohibiting him from using the boy's restroom. This ruling leaves the lower court ruling in place.
Speaking at a virtual fundraiser, Barack Obama referred to Trump's efforts to overturn the election as "a whole bunch of hooey". Obama also said that Trump violated "that core tenet that you count votes and then declare a winner". Obama added:
"Here's the bottom line. If we don't stop these kinds of efforts now, what we are going to see is more and more contested elections ... We are going to see a further de-legitimizing of our democracy."
Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, introduced legislation to form a select committee to investigate the January 6 insurrection, with 8 members chosen by Pelosi, and 5 selected by McCarthy, the House minority leader.
June 25, 2021 - Mike Pence, the former vice president, spoke at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley where he stated:
"I will always be proud that we did our part on that tragic day to reconvene the Congress and fulfilled our duty under the constitution and the laws of the United States. The truth is, there is almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president."
In his speech, Pence also made the following comment about Donald Trump:
"He challenged the establishment. He invigorated our movement and set a bold new course for America."
According to CNN, an excerpt from the upcoming book "Frankly We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost" includes details about Trump's use of increasingly violent language. From the story:
"...the book reveals new details about how Trump's language became increasingly violent during Oval Office meetings as protests in Seattle and Portland began to receive attention from cable new outlets. The President would highlight videos that showed law enforcement getting physical with protesters and tell his administration he wanted to see more of that behavior, the excerpts show. 'That's how you're supposed to handle these people,' Trump told his top law enforcement and military officials, according to Bender. 'Crack their skulls!' Trump also told his team that he wanted the military to go in and 'beat the f--k out' of the civil rights protesters, Bender writes. 'Just shoot them,' Trump said on multiple occasions inside the Oval Office, according to the excerpts. When Milley and then-Attorney General William Barr would push back, Trump toned it down, but only slightly, Bender adds. 'Well, shoot them in the leg—or maybe the foot,' Trump said. 'But be hard on them!' The new details about how Milley and a handful of other senior officials were forced to confront Trump's increasingly volatile behavior during the final months of his presidency only add to an already detailed portrait of dysfunction inside the White House at that time. It also underscores the level of tension between Trump and top Pentagon officials leading up to the presidential election last November. CNN has reached out to Trump about the claims in Bender's book. A spokesperson for Milley declined to comment. At times, Milley also clashed with top White House officials who sought to encourage the then-President's behavior. During one Oval Office debate, senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller chimed in, equating the scenes unfolding on his television to those in a third-world country and claiming major American cities had been turned into war zones. 'These cities are burning,' Miller warned, according to the excerpts.The comment infuriated Milley, who viewed Miller as not only wrong but out of his lane, Bender writes, noting the Army general who had commanded troops in Iraq and Afghanistan spun around in his seat and pointed a finger directly at Miller. 'Shut the f--k up, Stephen,' Milley snapped, according to the excerpts."
According to Politico, the Justice Department is suing Georgia over its restrictive voting rights law. From the story:
"The Justice Department is suing the state of Georgia over its controversial voting rights bill, a person familiar with the department's plans confirmed. Republican state legislators around the country have pushed a host of provisions that would make it more challenging for people to vote — moves that have targeted Democratic-leaning voters and disproportionately affect people of color. Georgia's Election Integrity Act, which was passed on a party-line vote and signed into law by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in late March, contained a slew of changes to election laws in the state. Perhaps most notably, it stripped Georgia's secretary of state of power on the state elections board, making the board majority-appointed by the state legislature. Brad Raffensperger, the Republican secretary of state, clashed repeatedly with former President Donald Trump following the 2020 election. Trump tried to pressure Raffensperger into trying to overturn the results in the state, but Raffensperger pushed back privately and publicly, insisting the election was a free and fair one. The state elections board is also now able to remove local election administrators from their posts. The new law also changed how voters can cast their votes. It replaced the state's signature verification system for absentee ballots with an ID-based system and tightens the window that those ballots can be requested. It codified the use of dropboxes in state law, while severely restricting their use in and around the Democrat stronghold of Atlanta, compared to the emergency authorization during the 2020 election. The law also drastically shortened the runoff period in Georgia, after Republicans lost a pair of high-profile Senate races earlier this year. The law does expand in-person early voting in many smaller counties in the state, while maintaining the status quo in larger counties that already had more expansive options."
Brian Kemp, Georgia's Republican governor, reacted to the Justice Department's lawsuit saying:
"This lawsuit is born out of the lies and misinformation the Biden administration has pushed against Georgia's Election Integrity Act from the start. Joe Biden, Stacey Abrams, and their allies tried to force an unconstitutional elections power grab through Congress – and failed. Now, they are weaponizing the US Department of Justice to carry out their far-left agenda that undermines election integrity and empowers federal government overreach in our democracy. As secretary of state, I fought the Obama justice department twice to protect the security of our elections – and won. I look forward to going three for three to ensure it's easy to vote and hard to cheat in Georgia."
Merrick Garland, the Attorney General, held a press conference regarding the DOJ lawsuit against Georgia saying:
"Our complaint alleges that recent changes to Georgia's election laws were enacted with the purpose of denying or abridging the right of Black Georgians to vote on account of their race or color in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act."
Scott Perry, a Republican congressman from Pennsylvania, and a member of the Freedom Caucus, made the following statements to state conservatives regarding Democrats:
"They are not the loyal opposition, they are the opposition to everything you love and believe in. Go fight them. We can acknowledge that maybe not every one of them is that way, but that doesn't matter. We've seen this throughout history, right? Not every citizen in Germany in the 1930s and 40s was in the Nazi party. They weren't. But what happened across Germany? That's what's important. What were the policies? What was the leadership? That's what we have to focus on ... It wasn't a government in Germany that took the people's rights away immediately. It was fascism. Fascism took it away, because the government put the heavy hand on the companies and the companies did the government's work. Well look around, ladies and gentlemen ... We support big business, but not if it's anti-America, not if it's anti-American, and we shouldn't be afraid to say it ... Ladies and gentlemen, there's a plan. They'll tell you they're patriots. But the patriots like the patriots in this room must acknowledge that things are different now. They want to destroy the country that you grew up in. They want to destroy the country that the founders made. That is their plan. That is their goal. That's why they're doing these things."
Donald Trump, the twice impeached, one term, disgraced former president, released the following statement:
"Biden's Department of Justice just announced that they are suing the great state of Georgia over its Election Integrity Act – actually it should be the other way around. The people of Georgia should sue the state and their elected officials for running a corrupt and rigged 2020 presidential election – and for trying to suppress the vote of the American people in Georgia. If we don't address these issues in the 2020 election head on and we allow the radical left Democrats to continue to politicise the DoJ and law enforcement, we will lose our country. Save America!"
Members of the white nationalist hate group Patriot Front, a group that formed in the wake of the "Unite the Right" Charlottesville rally, defaced statues/memorials to George Floyd in New York and New Jersey this week.
Tom Cotton, a Republican Senator from Arkansas, tweeted the following response to the DOJ lawsuit against Georgia:
"President Biden packed the Department of Justice with left-wing ideologues like Merrick Garland, Vanita Gupta, and Kristen Clarke. Now they're suing to block Georgia from making it easy to vote but hard to cheat. This baseless lawsuit is a reminder that bad things happen when Democrats use our institutions to push their radical agenda."
Derek Chauvin, the white Minneapolis police officer who killed George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for nearly 9 minutes, was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison.
According to the New York Times, Donald Trump considered deploying active-duty troops in Washington last summer to repress protests following the killing of George Floyd. According to the story, aids drafted a proclamation to invoke the Insurrection Act on June 1, 2020. From the article:
"Mr. Trump, enraged by the demonstrations, had told the attorney general, William P. Barr, the defense secretary, Mark T. Esper, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley, that he wanted thousands of active-duty troops on the streets of the nation's capital, one of the officials said. Mr. Trump was talked out of the plan by the three officials. But a separate group of White House staff members wanted to leave open the option for Mr. Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act to call in the military to patrol the streets of the capital. They decided it would be prudent to have the necessary document vetted and ready in case the unrest in Washington worsened or the city's mayor, Muriel Bowser, declined to take measures such as a citywide curfew, which she ultimately put in place."
June 24, 2021 - A New York court has suspended Rudy Giuliani's law license, effective immediately, over his false claims of election fraud. From the ruling:
"We conclude that there is uncontroverted evidence that [Giuliani] communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J Trump and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump's failed effort at reelection in 2020. These false statements were made to improperly bolster respondent's narrative that due to widespread voter fraud, victory in the 2020 United States presidential election was stolen from his client. We conclude that respondent's conduct immediately threatens the public interest and warrants interim suspension from the practice of law."
Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, announced that she will create a committee to investigate the January 6 insurrection. From Pelosi's statement:
"January 6 was one of the darkest days in our nation's history ... It is imperative that we establish the truth of that day, and ensure that an attack of that kind cannot happen and that we root out the causes of it all ... The select committee will investigate and report on the facts and the causes of the attack and it will make report recommendations for the prevention of any future attack."
According to Merrick Garland, the US attorney general, 500 people have been arrested for their role in the capitol insurrection. Among those 500 are 100 who are charged with assaulting federal law enforcement officers.
June 23, 2021 - According to the AP, Michigan state senate Republicans have completed their investigation of the Michigan 2020 presidential election, and concluded that there was no widespread or systemic fraud. From the story:
"The GOP-led state senate oversight committee said in a 55-page report released today that citizens should be confident that the election's outcome represents the 'true results.' Democrat Joe Biden defeated the then-president Donald Trump by about 155,000 votes, or 2.8 percentage points, in the battleground state. Trump and his allies have pushed debunked conspiracy theories and unfounded information about voter fraud. 'The committee strongly recommends citizens use a critical eye and ear toward those who have pushed demonstrably false theories for their own personal gain,' the panel wrote days after Republican activists requested an Arizona-style 'forensic' audit of the election. The committee's three Republicans did recommend legislation that would close 'real vulnerabilities' in future elections. Election-related bills are pending, including proposed tougher photo ID rules that the Senate passed last week, but Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer will veto them if they reach her desk. Election night results in northern Michigan's rural Antrim County, which has roughly 23,000 residents, initially erroneously showed a local victory for Biden over Trump. But it was attributed to human error, not any problems with machines, and corrected. A hand recount turned up no signs of shenanigans. 'We will review the report in its entirety in order to determine if a criminal investigation is appropriate,' Lynsey Mukomel, spokeswoman for Attorney General Dana Nessel, said of the call to probe individuals who have lied about what happened in Antrim. People mentioned in the report include Mike Lindell, the MyPillow creator-turned-conspiracy peddler; lawyer Matthew DePerno, who unsuccessfully sued the county on behalf of a resident, and ex-state senator Patrick Colbeck. The report also criticized Texas-based Allied Security Operations Group, a company that worked with Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani to raise baseless allegations of fraud and counting errors. The report dismissed various allegations that many dead people voted, that hundreds of thousands of unsolicited absentee ballots were mailed to Michigan voters, that absentee ballots were counted multiple times, that tens of thousands of fraudulent absentee ballots were 'dumped' at Detroit's counting center after the polls closed. 'The committee's report goes into considerable detail ... and I hope the public is reassured by the security and protections already in place, motivated to support necessary reforms to make it better and grateful for our fellow citizens who do the hard work of conducting our elections,' said state senator Ed McBroom, a Republican who chairs the panel. The lone Democrat on the committee, state senator Jeff Irwin of Ann Arbor, said: 'It is unfortunate that the Michigan Legislature participated in the circus, parading witnesses who were not credible or who pressed obvious falsehoods in order to promote the lie that Michigan's results were tainted.'"
Anna Morgan-Lloyd, a 49-year-old Trump supporter from Indiana, was sentenced today for her role in the Capitol insurrection, where she was sentenced to 3 years probation, 120 hours of community service and a $500 fine. During sentencing, Morgan-Lloyd tearfully apologized saying:
"I went there to support and show support for President Trump and I'm ashamed that it became a savage display of violence that day."
During the sentencing of Morgan-Lloyd, judge Royce C Lambeth stated that videos of the insurrection that have recently been released "will show the attempt of some congressman to rewrite history that these were tourists walking through the capitol is utter nonsense".
Rodney Scott, the head of the US border patrol, resigned today. Scott, who had been in his position since February 2020, was a member of a border patrol group on Facebook that published racist, sexist content. The Biden administration gave Scott 60 days to decide if he wanted to relocate, resign, or retire.
June 22, 2021 - Mark Grenon, the "archbishop" of the Genesis II "church", claims it was he who was the source of Trump's fixation on bleach as a possible cure for Covid. According to Grenon, he was able to provide Trump with his "miracle cure" bleach product shortly before Trump made his notorious remarks about injecting "disinfectant" to treat the disease. NOTE: Grenon is currently in jail in Columbia where he awaits extradition to the US to face criminal charges that he fraudulently sold bleach as a Covid cure.
Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, vetoed a bill today, known as the Safe Outdoor Dogs Act, which would have made unlawful restraint of a dog a criminal offense. The veto of the bipartisan legislation angered animal rights activists and spurred the hashtag #AbbotHatesDogs.
Senate Republicans successfully blocked debate on the For the People Act, which would have advanced voting rights reform.
US deaths from Covid-19 have dropped below 300 a day for the first time since March of last year. Approximately 45% of the US population has been vaccinated.
More than 150 healthcare workers who refused to abide by Houston Methodist hospital's Covid-19 vaccine mandate have resigned or been fired. A US district judge appointed by Ronald Reagan ruled that the vaccine mandate was permissible.
June 21, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Peter Stone offers the following commentary regarding new revelations of the rogue justice department under Donald Trump:
"More political abuses have emerged, with revelations that – starting under attorney general Jeff Sessions in 2018 – subpoenas were issued in a classified leak inquiry to obtain communications records of top Democrats on the House intelligence committee. Targets were Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, who were investigating Kremlin election meddling, and also several committee staffers and journalists. Democrats in Congress, as well as Garland, have forcefully denounced these Trumpian tactics. Garland has asked the department's inspector general to launch his own inquiry, and examine the subpoenas involving members of Congress and the media. Congressional committees are eyeing their own investigations into the department's extraordinary behavior. 'There was one thing after another where DoJ acted inappropriately and violated the fundamental principle that law enforcement must be even-handed. The DoJ must always make clear that no person is above the law,' said Donald Ayer, deputy attorney general in the George HW Bush administration."
According to a new book called Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration Response to the Pandemic That Changed History, by Washington Post journalists Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta, Donald Trump suggested using Guantanamo Bay as a quarantine location for Americans abroad who were infected with Covid-19.
According to the Wall Street Journal, New York prosecutors are investigating whether Matthew Calamari, a top Trump Organization executive, received tax-free fringe benefits. From the story:
"The scrutiny of Calamari, who also used to be Trump's bodyguard, suggested that authorities were not just concerned with possible tax avoidance by Allen Weisselberg, the company's chief financial officer, and his family, the Journal reported. Calamari is currently the Trump Organization's chief operating officer. Prosecutors have advised him and his son, Matthew Calamari Jr, who is the company's corporate director of security, to hire their own lawyer, according to the Journal's report, citing people familiar with the matter. The case has to do with whether the men received benefits from the company, such as subsidized housing, without paying taxes on those benefits. The paper reported that the older Calamari has lived in a Trump luxury building for years and also has driven a Mercedes leased through the company."
June 18, 2021 - An article in the Hill speaks to the 40-year fight to make Juneteenth a federal holiday:
"The march from unofficial holiday to a formal day off for most federal employees started in Texas, more than a century after Union Gen. Gordon Granger issued an 1865 order freeing the remaining 250,000 or so Black people who were still enslaved in the state, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. It took until 1979 for Texas to formally recognize the holiday, after legislators approved a measure introduced by state Rep. Al Edwards (D), a veteran civil rights activist who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. Edwards introduced the bill in the first of his thirteen terms in office. ... Every president since former President Clinton's administration has taken the opportunity to issue statements or remarks honoring the holiday. And for the last dozen years, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), who represents the same Houston area that Edwards represented in the Texas legislature, has introduced a measure in Congress to make the day the nation’s [12th] official holiday. Other states slowly followed Texas' lead: Florida adopted a Juneteenth holiday in 1991, Oklahoma in 1994 and Minnesota in 1996. Thirty-one states adopted the holiday between 2000 and 2009, and another 13 did so in the decade that followed."
Writing for the Guardian, Adam Gabbatt offers the following commentary on Trump's refusal to accept defeat:
"On 7 November 2020, after several days of vote-counting, Donald Trump lost the US presidential election. More than 60 unsuccessful lawsuits and one insurrection later, Trump has still lost the election, but the former president refuses to accept defeat. Egged on by a group of sycophants and fantasists, including a small-time Pennsylvania politician, a host on a far-right news network, and the CEO of a pillow company, Trump now plans to hold rallies at the end of June where he is likely to continue his fraudulent claims of a stolen election. Despite the election having been repeatedly investigated and declared 'the most secure in American history' by a group of experts, the former president is said to be convinced the election result will be overturned. As are those in his close circle fighting a series of quixotic battles on his behalf. Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow and a Trump confidant who claims to have evidence that shows voting machines were hacked by China, told the Guardian Trump would be returned to office by August or – at the latest – September. 'With me they just keep saying: 'It’s a conspiracy, Mike Lindell – he's crazy, blah blah blah,' all this stuff,' Lindell said. 'But I think it gives the whole country hope because they know me and they know I wouldn’t be out there if I wasn’t 100%.'"
Mike Pence, the former vice president, spoke at the Faith & Freedom Coalition summit, where he told the crowd: "It is great to be back with so many patriots, dedicated to faith and freedom and the road to the majority." About 30 seconds into his speech, some in the crowd started chanting "traitor!"
According to the AP, 11 mayors across the US have pledged to pay some reparations for slavery to Black residents in their cities. From the story:
"This group of mayors, dubbed Mayors Organized for Reparations and Equity (MORE), is led by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock. Their stated goal is for these reparations programs to 'serve as high-profile demonstrations for how the country can more quickly move from conversation to action on reparations for Black Americans,' according to the group's website. 'Let me be clear: Cities will never have the funds to pay for reparations on our own,' Garcetti said during a news conference on Friday to announce the group. 'When we have the laboratories of cities show that there is much more to embrace than to fear, we know that we can inspire national action as well.' The other mayors are Jorge Elorza of Providence, Rhode Island; Steve Adler of Austin, Texas; Steve Schewel of Durham, North Carolina: Esther Manheimer of Asheville, North Carolina: Quinton Lucas of Kansas City; Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento, California; Melvin Carter of St. Paul, Minnesota; and Keisha Currin of Tullahassee, Oklahoma. Tullahassee — a small town of fewer than 200 people in northeast Oklahoma — is the oldest of the surviving all-Black towns in the states that were founded after the U.S. abolished slavery."
Marco Rubio, a Republican Senator from Florida, sent the following in a tweet:
"Remember when freezing military aid to Ukraine was an impeachable offense?"
Notable response to Rubio's tweet:
"I understood it was less about the holdup of military aid and more about the quid pro quo extortion, but what do I know?" - Alexander Vindman
Writing for the Guardian, Joan E Greave offers the following commentary on how the Republican assault on voting rights could backfire:
"As the coronavirus wreaked havoc around the world, lawmakers in the US were faced with a monumental task: carrying out a presidential election in the middle of a once-in-century pandemic. Concerned about the possibility of virus spread at polling places, Democrats pushed the federal government to approve more funding for states to expand absentee and early-voting options. But Donald Trump was against the idea for a single reason: he thought it would make it harder for Republicans to win. Trump said in a Fox News interview in March of last year that, if early and absentee voting options were expanded as Democrats wanted, 'you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again.' Other Republicans have echoed Trump's argument in recent months, as the party has pushed hundreds of bills to restrict voting access in dozens of states. But voting experts now say the restrictions being approved in Republican-led states may not help the party's chances in future elections, and in some cases, the laws may even prevent their own supporters from going to the polls. Put simply, in seeking to suppress the vote, Republicans may be shooting themselves in the foot. Republican legislators across the country have taken aggressive action to restrict access to the ballot box this year, as Trump has continued to spread the 'big lie' that there was widespread fraud in the presidential election. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, at least 389 bills with restrictive voting provisions have been introduced in 48 states this year, and 22 of those bills have already been enacted. The Republican bills take particular aim at mail-in voting, after Joe Biden's supporters used the voting method at disproportionately high rates in the 2020 election. However, it is unclear whether restricting mail-in voting will aid Republicans in future elections. A recent study conducted by a team at the Public Policy Institute of California found that, while making mail-in voting easier did increase overall turnout, it did not necessarily result in better electoral outcomes for Democrats. In fact, many models indicated that easy access to mail-in voting resulted in slightly better outcomes for Republican candidates."
June 17, 2021 - The supreme court dismissed a challenge to the Affordable Care Act, finding that the Republican-led states who challenged the act did not have standing to bring their case, which preserves healthcare coverage for millions of Americans.
During an appearance on Fox News, Donald Trump stated: "We were supposed to win easily, 64m votes. We got 75m votes and we didn't win, but let's see what happens on that."
Joe Biden signed into the law the bill that makes Juneteenth a federal holiday.
According to new research from NASA and Noaa, the earth is trapping nearly twice as much heat as it did in 2005, which doubled Earth's "energy imbalance".
Michael Fanone, a Capitol police officer who suffered a heart attack after he was beaten and tased on the Capitol steps by the Trump mob, described to CNN an interaction he had with Republican congressman Andrew Clyde, who is among the group of Republican congressman who have been downplaying the January 6 Capitol insurrection. Fanone said he encountered Clyde in an elevator and "extended my hand to shake his hand. He just stared at me. I asked if he was going to shake my hand, and he told me that he didn't know who I was, so I introduced myself. I said that I was Officer Michael Fanone. That I was a DC Metropolitan police officer who fought on 6 January to defend the Capitol and, as a result, I suffered a traumatic brain injury as well as a heart attack after having been tased numerous times at the base of my skull, as well as being severely beaten. At that point, the congressman turned away from me ... pulled out his cellphone and started thumbing through the apps, then once the elevator doors opened the congressman ran as quickly as he could, like a coward".
Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple who made headlines in 2020 after they pointed guns at protesters who were walking past their home, have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges. Mark pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault and faces a $750 fine. Patricia pleaded guilty to second degree harassment and must pay a $2,000 fine. As part of a plea agreement, the couple agreed to surrender their handgun and semi-automatic rifle.
June 16, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following analysis of the rise in threats against election officials:
"One in three election officials feel unsafe in their jobs, according to a new report released Wednesday by the Brennan Center for Justice. One in five election workers said threats to their lives were a concern related to their job. Nearly 8 in 10 of the election officials surveyed said social media, a hotbed of disinformation about elections, made it harder to to do their jobs. More than half said they believed social media had made their jobs more dangerous. The findings were based on a survey of 233 election officials with an overall margin of error of 6.4%. The report underscores the enormous pressure election officials across the country came under both during the 2020 election and in its aftermath. As Donald Trump and allies fueled baseless conspiracy theories about the election, the officials responsible for overseeing election administration often became the target of supporters' rage. Workers were followed, faced death threats, and were harassed at home. The Brennan Center report recommends that the Justice Department set up a task force specifically focused on protecting election workers. Attorney General Merrick Garland signaled the department was paying attention to the issue during a speech last week. 'We have not been blind to the dramatic increase in menacing and violent threats against all manner of state and local election workers, ranging from the highest administrators to volunteer poll workers,' he said. 'Such threats undermine our electoral process and violate a myriad of federal laws.' The Brennan Center report also recommends states pass new laws and allocate funding towards protecting election workers. States should also prioritize investigating threats against election officials and pass new laws that protect officials from undue partisan interference, the report says."
The justice department announced that it is dropping a lawsuit against former national security adviser John Bolton over his tell-all book. The lawsuit, which was initiated by the Trump administration accused Bolton of disclosing classified information in his book.
Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, signed a bill into law allowing residents to carry handguns without a license or training starting in September.
The House passed a bill to establish Juneteenth as a federal holiday. There were fourteen no votes, all from Republicans. Here are the names of the fourteen Republicans who voted no:
Andy Biggs of Arizona.
Mo Brooks of Alabama.
Andrew Clyde of Georgia.
Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee.
Paul Gosar of Arizona.
Ronny Jackson of Texas.
Doug LaMalfa of California.
Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
Tom McClintock of California.
Ralph Norman of South Carolina.
Mike Rogers of Alabama.
Matt Rosendale of Montana.
Chip Roy of Texas.
Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin.
June 15, 2021 - Liz Harrington, a former national spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, far-right activist, and long time supporter of Donald Trump, is replacing Jason Miller as a Trump spokesperson. Trump released a statement saying "Liz Harrington is a fighter. She was an important part of our receiving more votes than any incumbent President in U.S. history, far more than we received the first time we won." NOTE: Trump critics were quick to point out that Harrington played a key role in spreading Trump's voter fraud lies during the 2020 presidential election.
The US has now surpassed 600,000 deaths from coronavirus. There are currently about 240 deaths per day in the US, down from a high of more than 3,400 in mid-January. Worldwide, the Covid-19 confirmed death toll stands at 3.8 million. The actual totals are believed to be significantly higher. As of today, 14 states have reached the milestone of 70% of adults being at least partially vaccinated.
Merrick Garland, the attorney general, confirmed that more than 480 people have been arrested in connection with the Capitol insurrection.
Writing for the Guardian, David Smith offers the following analysis of Trump's efforts to overturn the election:
"Donald Trump tried to enlist top US law enforcement officials in a conspiracy-laden and doomed effort to overturn his election defeat, a campaign they described as 'pure insanity', newly released emails show. The documents reveal Trump and his allies' increasingly desperate efforts between December and early January to push bogus conspiracy theories and cling to power – and the struggle of bewildered justice department officials to resist them. 'These documents show that President Trump tried to corrupt our nation's chief law enforcement agency in a brazen attempt to overturn an election that he lost,' said Carolyn Maloney, chair of the House of Representatives' oversight committee, which released the emails on Tuesday. At least five times, the documents show, the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, instructed justice department officials to investigate false allegations of voter fraud, including a conspiracy theory called 'Italygate' which claims electoral data was changed from Europe by means including military satellites and with the knowledge of the CIA. On 1 January Meadows, a fierce Trump loyalist, sent Jeffrey Rosen, then acting attorney general, a link to a YouTube video detailing the 'Italygate' theory. Rosen forwarded the email to the then acting deputy attorney general, Richard Donoghue, who replied: 'Pure insanity.' The documents also show that Trump pressured Rosen to make the justice department take up election fraud claims."
Donald Trump claims he is writing "the book of all books".
The US Senate passed a measure to establish Juneteenth as a federal holiday. The vote was unanimous.
June 14, 2021 - According to the AP, the supreme court has left in place convictions of two Charlottesville rioters. From the story:
"The high court said Monday that it would not take the case of Michael Miselis or Benjamin Daley, who participated in the rally as members of the 'Rise Above Movement,' or 'RAM.' Both pleaded guilty to federal rioting charges in connection with the Virginia rally. As is typical, the high court didn't comment in turning away their cases. Miselis and Daley admitted they punched and kicked demonstrators who showed up to protest against white nationalists during the 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville in August 2017. ... Miselis and Daley had challenged their convictions by arguing that the Anti-Riot Act, a law they pleaded guilty to violating, is overbroad under the First Amendment's free speech clause. A federal appeals court had ruled against them. Daley was sentenced to 37 months in prison. Miselis was sentenced to 27 months."
Reality Winner, the former intelligence contractor who was convicted of leaking a report about Russian interference in the US election in 2016, has been released from prison for good behavior.
Kayleigh McEnany, the former White House press secretary, who now works as a Fox News contributor, addressed a group in Dallas where she explained her role in the White House:
"And then there was the question, 'Will you ever lie to us?', and I said without hesitation, 'No', and I never did, as a woman of faith. As a mother of baby Blake, as a person who meticulously prepared at some of the world's hardest institutions, I never lied. I sourced my information, but that will never stop the press from calling you a liar."
In a bulletin distributed to members of congress, the FBI warned that followers of QAnon could again engage in violence against political opponents out of frustration the the theory's predictions have not come true. Based on posts to QAnon websites and bulletin boards, many of the adherents believe they can "no longer trust the plan".
Jerry Nadler announced that the House judiciary committee will investigate the justice department surveillance during the Trump administration.
Marjorie Taylor Greene apologized today for comments comparing mask mandates to the Holocaust, saying in part:
"I have made a mistake ... this afternoon I visited the Holocaust Museum. The Holocaust is - there's nothing comparable to it."
June 11, 2021 - According to the New York Times, the justice department under Donald Trump subpoenaed Apple for data from the accounts of Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, two Democrats on the House intelligence committee. The subpoenaes also included the records of aides, former aides and family members, including one who was a minor. All in all, the records of at least 12 people were sought.
Notable responses to the news of the subpoenaes:
"Trump repeatedly demanded the DOJ go after his political enemies. It's clear his demands didn't fall on deaf ears. This baseless investigation, while now closed, is yet another example of Trump's corrupt weaponization of justice. And how much he imperiled our democracy." - Adam Schiff, Democratic Representative
"On tonight's DOJ news, it is outrageous but not surprising. We have a former president with no regard for the rule of law or for those who enforce the laws. We need to conduct a thorough investigation and hold everybody responsible accountable." - Val Demings, Democratic Representative
"The revelation that the Trump Justice Department secretly subpoenaed metadata of House Intelligence Committee Members and staff and their families, including a minor, is shocking. This is a gross abuse of power and an assault on the separation of powers ... This appalling politicization of the Department of Justice by Donald Trump and his sycophants must be investigated immediately by both the DOJ Inspector General and Congress ... This issue should not be partisan; under the Constitution, Congress is a co-equal branch of government and must be protected from an overreaching executive, and we expect that our Republican colleagues will join us in getting to the bottom of this serious matter." - Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin, Democratic Senators in a Joint Statement
According to Brad Rafensperger, the Georgia secretary of state:
"The continuing false claims of a stolen election have led to violent/death threats, intimidation, and claims of prison time coming for elections workers. They keep coming. Real leaders need to take steps to stop it. So far they haven't."
Oregon state lawmakers have voted to expel Republican representative Mike Nearman, after security footage surfaced showing him opening the doors for far-right agitators which gave them access to the Oregon State Capitol in December. Once inside, the agitators assaulted law enforcement officers, spraying them with bear spray and breaking doors. Outside, the group assaulted reporters. NOTE: The state legislator was in special session and closed to the public while they worked out coronavirus-related public health measures.
According to the AP, Lisa Monaco, the Deputy Attorney General, has called on the Justice Department's inspector general to open an internal investigation into the Trump-era seizure of phone data from House Democrats in 2018.
Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department's inspector general, announced that he would look into news that the department under Donald Trump subpoenaed Apple data for the accounts of Democratic members of the House intelligence committee.
The Guardian writes today about efforts by Merrick Garland, the attorney general, to protect the right to vote. From the story:
"The justice department will double the number of lawyers working on enforcing protections for the right to vote in the next 30 days, the attorney general, Merrick Garland, announced on Friday. The announcement came as Republicans have launched an unprecedented effort to restrict voting access across the US. Under Donald Trump, the justice department did not file a single major case aimed at protecting voting rights. Many civil rights groups are closely watching to see how the department, which has unmatched resources and enforcement authority, will wield its power under Biden. Garland also expressed concern about post-election reviews of ballots, a growing interest among Republican lawmakers, as well as escalating threats against election officials. The former appellate judge also condemned the supreme court's 2013 decision in Shelby County v Holder, which gutted a core protection of the Voting Rights Act and, making it harder for the justice department to protect voting rights. 'Since that opinion, there has been a dramatic rise in legislative efforts that will make it harder for millions of citizens to cast a ballot that counts. So far this year, at least 14 states have passed new laws that make it harder to vote,' he said. 'And some jurisdictions, based on disinformation, have utilized abnormal post-election audit methodologies that may put the integrity of the voting process at risk and undermine public confidence in our democracy.' Garland also called for the passage of the For the People Act, a sweeping voting rights package, that has stalled in the US Senate in recent days as some Democrats express concerns about the bill. He also called on Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore the pre-clearance provision in the Voting Rights Act the supreme court struck down in 2013."
Jerry Nadler, the chair of the House judiciary committee, released a statement regarding reports that the justice department under Donald Trump targeted members of congress and journalists in its leak investigations. From the statement:
"It is outrageous that the Department of Justice may have used a criminal investigation as pretext to spy on journalists, Members of Congress, their families, and Congressional staff. Sadly, after four years of Donald Trump's corrupting influence at the Department of Justice, we have every reason to believe that these reports are true. Indeed, my concern at this hour is that the corruption may run deeper than has already been reported. We know that the Department, under Attorneys General Sessions and Barr's leadership, tried to secretly seize data from the accounts of these reporters and of my colleagues on the Intelligence Committee—but we do not yet know how these two efforts were connected, or whether there were additional targets of this gross abuse of power. I am grateful that Inspector General Horowitz has committed to investigating both cases. His work here will be invaluable. An investigation by his office is, however, no substitute for swift action by the Department of Justice. The Committee has been in communication with DOJ, and we have made our position clear. The Department has a very short window to make a clean break from the Trump era on this matter. We expect the Department to provide a full accounting of these cases, and we expect the Attorney General to hold the relevant personnel accountable for their conduct. If the Department does not make substantial progress towards these two goals, then we on the Judiciary Committee will have no choice but to step in and do the work ourselves.”"
The Biden administration announced that it will "repeal or replace" the Trump administration's plan to allow logging and road-building in Alaska's Tongass national forest.
June 10, 2021 - The Florida Board of Education has approved guidelines for teaching US history in public schools which prohibits teachers from discussing critical-race theory or the 1619 project. NOTE: Critical-Race Theory and the 1619 Project are non-whitewashed versions of American history which don't downplay the role of slavery and racism in the founding of the country, something conservatives have long opposed.
Notable response to Florida's ban on non-whitewashed versions of American history:
"History classes in Florida now will just be students coloring in a picture of white Jesus carrying an American flag while gazing upon a bald eagle soaring through the fireworks-filled sky. Class concludes with a rousing rendition of Lee Greenwood's 'Proud to be an American.'" - Travis Akers
Christopher Wray, the FBI director testified before the House judiciary committee, where he was asked if there was any evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Wray's response:
"We didn't see evidence of fraud sufficient to change the outcome of the presidential election."
Marco Rubio, a Republican senator from Florida, introduced the Terrorism Survivors Student Loan Deferment Act, which would "provide a one-year pause for victims" on their student loans and allow them to "get back on their feet". NOTE: According to data assembled by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the number of victims killed annually in US domestic terrorism attacks in recent years has ranged from 22 to 66.
Notable response to Rubio's proposal for helping students with their loan debt:
"Congratulations to Marco Rubio for literally doing the least that he could possibly do to address the student loan crisis."
June 9, 2021 - Senate Republicans blocked the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would have required employers to demonstrate that any gap in pay between a man and a woman was due to performance rather than gender. The act would have built on the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Fair Labor Standards Act. The act was blocked using the filibuster. Mitch McConnell defended the Republican position calling the act is among "extreme, left-wing provisions" that no Republican could ever support. McConnell also announced that "the era of bipartisanship is over".
According to CNBC, the family of Ashli Babbitt, who was shot by Capitol police during the Capitol insurrection, are suing to force Washington, D.C to hand over records revealing the identity of the police officer who fatally shot her durig the January 6 invasion. The family is also expected to file a lawsuit demanding $10 million from the US Capitol police.
Joe Biden issued an executive order which revokes a series of orders issued by Donald Trump seeking to ban new downloads of WeChat and TikTok.
House Democrats wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland urging the Justice Department to reverse its decision to represent Donald Trump in a defamation lawsuit brought by E Jean Carroll.
Jerry Nadler, the House Judiciary Committee Chairman, released a transcript of a June 4th interview with former White House Counsel Don MGahn. Nadler summed up McGahn's testimony saying:
"Mr. McGahn provided the Committee with substantial new information — including firsthand accounts of President Trump's increasingly out of control behavior, and insight into concerns that the former President's conduct could expose both Trump and McGahn to criminal liability. Mr. McGahn also confirmed that President Trump lied when he denied the accuracy of the Mueller report, and admitted that he was the source for a Washington Post report that confirmed Trump's direction to McGahn to remove the Special Counsel. All told, Mr. McGahn's testimony gives us a fresh look at how dangerously close President Trump brought us to, in Mr. McGahn's words, the 'point of no return.'"
Louie Gohmert, a Republican congressman from Texas, raised eyebrows today while speaking to Jennifer Eberlien, the associate deputy chief of the National Forest Service:
GOHMERT: "I understand from what's been testified to the Forest Service and the BLM [Bureau of Land Management], you want very much to work on the issue of climate change ... We know there's been significant solar flare activity, and so ... is there anything that the National Forest Service or BLM can do to change the course of the moon's orbit, or the Earth's orbit around the sun? Obviously that would have profound effects on our climate."
EBERLIEN: "[I'll] follow up with you on that one, Mr Gohmert."
GOHMERT: "Well, if you figure out a way that you in the Forest Service can make that change, I'd like to know."
June 8, 2021 - Appearing on CNN, Barack Obama leveled criticizm at Republicans for having been "cowed into accepting" a series of positions that "would be unrecognizable and unacceptable even five years ago or a decade ago". Highlights from the interview:
- Obama stated: "Suddenly you have large portions of the elected Congress going along with the falsehood that there were problems with the election."
- Obama stated: "I didn't expect that there would be so few people who would say, 'I don't mind losing my office because this is too important. America is too important. Our democracy is too important'. We didn't see that."
- Obama stated: "I'm still the hope and change guy. My hope is the tides will turn, but that does require each of us to understand that this experiment in democracy is not self-executing. It doesn't happen just automatically. It happens because each successive generation says 'these values, these truths, we hold self-evident. This is important. We're going to invest in it and sacrifice for it, even when it's not politically convenient'."
The Senate released a bipartisan report on the Capitol insurrection that found failings on many fronts before the attack as well as breakdowns between intelligence agencies and a lack of preparation by the Capitol police. The report also details how calls for violence on social media weren't deemed credible by intelligence agencies, and that seven deaths were ultimately connected to the riot.
The justice department announced that it will represent Donald Trump in a defamation lawsuit brought by E Jean Carroll.
June 7, 2021 - Eric Swalwell, a Democratic Representative from California, filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr, Rudy Giuliani and Alabama Representative Mo Brooks. Up until today, the lawsuit had been served to all but Brooks, as Brooks was actively avoiding being served. Today, Swalwell's legal team was able to serve the lawsuit to Brooks' wife. Mo Brooks took offense to the serving of the lawsuit, tweeting the following:
".@EricSwalwell Well, Swalwell FINALLY did his job, served complaint (on my WIFE). HORRIBLE Swalwell's team committed a CRIME by unlawfully sneaking INTO MY HOUSE & accosting my wife! Alabama Code 13A-7-2: 1st degree criminal trespass. Year in jail. $6000 fine. More to come!"
Attached to Brooks' tweet was a photo of his computer, and on a sticky note attached to the computer, Mo Brooks' gmail passwords and pin number. NOTE: Doh!
Philip Andonian, an attorney for Representative Swalwell, responded to Brook's accusation saying:
"No one entered or even attempted to enter the Brooks' house. That allegation is completely untrue. A process server lawfully served the papers on Mo Brooks' wife, as the federal rules allow. This was after her initial efforts to avoid service. Mo Brooks has no one but himself to blame for the fact that it came to this. We asked him to waive service, we offered to meet him at a place of his choosing. Instead of working things out like a civilized person, he engaged in a juvenile game of Twitter trolling over the past few days and continued to evade service. He demanded that we serve him. We did just that. The important thing is the complaint has been served and Mo Brooks can now be held accountable for his role in inciting the deadly insurrection at the Capitol."
A new poll by the German Marshall Fund and the Bertelsmann Foundation found that the US handling of the pandemic diminished many European's views of the United States, mostly in France and Germany.
According to ABC News, the Family Reunification Task Force, which was created by the Biden administration in February, found that more than 3,900 migrant children were separated from their families at the border under the Trump Administration. From the story:
"The report cites the unfolding humanitarian crisis and the benefits of having behavioral health services available in the United States for allowing those family members to come into the United States, the source said. Asked why so few families are currently in the process of being reunited, the Homeland Security official noted that it is a 'giant task,' requiring coordination across several U.S. government agencies. But the 'biggest hurdle' for the Biden administration has been getting parents 'to trust the government again,' the official said."
Video surfaced showing Mike Nearman, a Republican representative from Oregon, letting violent far-right protesters into the state capitol last year who went on to attack police officers and journalists. Lawmakers were inside the statehouse at the time discussing how to respond to the Covid crisis. Many of the protesters were also among the mob that stormed the US Capitol on January 6. Members of both parties are calling on Nearman to resign.
Audio surfaced of a 2019 phone call between Rudy Giuliani, US diplomats and a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In the audio, Giuliani can be heard pushing the Ukrainians to publicly announce unfounded investigations into Joe Biden. From teh audio:
"All we need from the President [Zelenskiy] is to say, 'I'm gonna put an honest prosecutor in charge, he's gonna investigate and dig up the evidence that presently exists, and is there any other evidence about involvement of the 2016 election ... and then the Biden thing has to be run out ... could be a good thing for having a much better relationship."
June 4, 2021 - Facebook has announced that the suspension of Donald Trump from its platform will last two years, and that Trump will only be reinstated "if conditions permit".
Donald Trump responded to the news of the extent of the facebook suspension by saying through a spokesperson: "Facebook's ruling is an insult to the record-setting 75M people, plus many others, who voted for us in the 2020 Rigged Presidential Election." NOTE: Trump received 74,223,251 votes in the 2020 election, which does not round to 75M.
Donald Trump released n official statement in response to facebook's announcement saying: "Next time I'm in the White House there will be no more dinners, at his request, with Mark Zuckerberg and his wife. It will be all business!"
According to Reuters, JPMorgan and Chase will not contribute to the campaigns of Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election. From the story:
"JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) will resume making political donations to U.S. lawmakers but will not give to Republican members of Congress who voted to overturn President Joe Biden's election victory, according to an internal memo on Friday seen by Reuters. The bank was among many corporations that paused political giving following the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riots when supporters of former president Donald Trump tried to stop Congress from certifying the election. Just hours later, 147 Republicans, the vast majority of them in the House of Representatives, voted to overturn the Electoral College results which Trump falsely claimed were tainted by fraud. Following a review, the country's largest lender will this month resume giving through its Political Action Committee (PAC) but will continue its freeze on donations to a 'handful' of the 147 lawmakers whom it had previously supported, the bank said. The pause will last through the 2021-2022 election cycle, which includes November's midterm elections, after which JPMorgan will review whether to resume contributions to the lawmakers concerned on an individual basis, it said. 'This was a unique and historic moment when we believe the country needed our elected officials to put aside strongly held differences and demonstrate unity,' the bank wrote of the Jan. 6 vote to certify Biden's win. JPMorgan noted that its PAC is an important tool for engaging in the political process in the United States. PACs are political committees organized for the purpose of raising cash to support or in some cases oppose election candidates."
Writing for the Guardian, Jessica Glenza offers the following analysis of money intended for needy families being diverted to fund anti-abortion efforts:
"At least 10 US states have siphoned millions of dollars from federal block grants, meant to provide aid to their neediest families, to pay for the operations of ideological anti-abortion clinics. These overwhelmingly Republican-led states used money from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (Tanf), better known as welfare or direct cash aid, to fund the activities of anti-abortion clinics associated with the evangelical right. The clinics work to dissuade women from obtaining abortions. In all cases, the states used these funds even as Covid-19 caused the worst economic upheaval in nearly a century, left one in four families without enough to eat, and resulted in mass layoffs that had a disproportionate effect on low-income and racial minority Americans. 'They're not a replacement for Tanf, by any stretch of the imagination,' said Andrea Swartzendruber, an associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Georgia College of Public Health, whose research has focused on how crisis pregnancy centers operate. Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Texas have used federal Tanf funds to support anti-abortion clinics."
June 3, 2021 - According to the New York Times, Donald Trump has been telling a number of people that he expects he "will get reinstated by August."
Writing for the Guardian, Julia Carie Wong offers the following analysis of the Republican movement against teaching Critical Race Theory:
"The laborious project of establishing truth in the face of official lies is one that Americans embraced during the racial reckoning of the summer of 2020, whether it was individuals speaking out about their experiences of racism at work, or institutions acknowledging their own complicity in racial injustice. For a time, it seemed that America was finally ready to tell a more honest, nuanced story of itself, one that acknowledged the blood at the root. But alongside this reassessment, another American tradition re-emerged: a reactionary movement bent on reasserting a whitewashed American myth. These reactionary forces have taken aim at efforts to tell an honest version of American history and speak openly about racism by proposing laws in statehouses across the country that would ban the teaching of 'critical race theory', the New York Times's 1619 Project, and, euphemistically, 'divisive concepts'. The movement is characterized by a childish insistence that children should be taught a false version of the founding of the United States that better resembles a mythic virgin birth than the bloody, painful reality. It would shred the constitution's first amendment in order to defend the honor of those who drafted its three-fifths clause. 'When you start re-examining the founding myth in light of evidence that's been discovered in the last 20 years by historians, then that starts to make people doubt the founding myth,' said Christopher S Parker, a professor of political science at the University of Washington who studies reactionary movements. 'There's no room for racism in this myth. Anything that threatens to interrogate the myth is seen as a threat.' Legislation seeking to limit how teachers talk about race has been considered by at least 15 states, according to an analysis by Education Week."
June 2, 2021 - The month-old "From the Desk of Donald J Trump" website has been discontinued. Jason Miller, a former Trump aid, told CNBC: "It was just auxiliary to the broader efforts we have and are working on."
According to the Washington Post, Trump ordered his blog shuttered because of its poor readership and the ridicule it was attracting. From the story:
"Former president Donald Trump's blog, celebrated by advisers as a 'beacon of freedom' that would keep him relevant in an online world he once dominated, is dead. It was 29 days old. Upset by reports from The Washington Post and other outlets highlighting its measly readership and concerns that it could detract from a social media platform he wants to launch later this year, Trump ordered his team Tuesday to put the blog out of its misery, advisers said. On its last day, the site received just 1,500 shares or comments on Facebook and Twitter — a staggering drop for someone whose every tweet once garnered hundreds of thousands of reactions. Trump still wants to launch some other platform — timing not yet determined — and didn't like that this first attempt was being mocked as a loser, according to a Trump adviser who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk frankly about the former president's plans."
According to the Guardian, Paxton Smith, the valedictorian of Lake Highlands high school's class of 2021, veered away from her scripted remarks and decried abortion restrictions in a speech that went viral online. From the story:
"School administrators had signed off on her pre-written address on how TV and media have shaped her worldview. But, on graduation day, 'in light of recent events, it feels wrong to talk about anything but what is currently affecting me and millions of other women in this state,' she said, her voice shaking as she began. ''Starting in September, there will be a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, regardless of whether the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest,' Smith said. The state's governor, Greg Abbott, signed into law a bill last month a near-total ban on abortions, prohibiting the procedure at six weeks, when most people do not even know that they are pregnant. The extreme ban also allows private citizens to sue any abortion provider or anyone who 'aids and abets' an abortion that violates the restriction – opening the floodgates to harassment and frivolous lawsuits. 'I have dreams, hopes and ambitions,' Smith said. 'Every girl here does. We have spent our whole lives working towards our futures, and without our consent or input, our control over our futures has been stripped away from us.' 'I am terrified that if my contraceptives fail me, that if I'm raped, then my hopes and efforts and dreams for myself will no longer be relevant,' she added. 'I hope you can feel how gut-wrenching it is, how dehumanizing it is, to have the autonomy over your own body taken from you.' The speech has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on TikTok. Smith told D Magazine that the viral fame has felt 'weird for me personally,', though she's pleased that the issues she raised are getting attention. She also urged people to vote, 'and to stay involved in local elections because those have more power than I think the media gives them credit for'"
June 1, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following analysis of continuing efforts by conservatives to sow doubt about the 2020 election:
"Conservative activists across America are pushing efforts to review the 2020 vote more than six months after the election, a move experts say is a dangerous attempt to continue to sow doubt about the results of the 2020 election that strikes at the heart of America's democratic process. Encouraged by an ongoing haphazard review of 2.1m ballots in Arizona, activists are pushing to review votes or voting equipment in California, Georgia, Michigan, and New Hampshire. Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, the powerful speaker of the state house of representatives recently hired ex-law enforcement officers, including one with a history of supporting Republicans, to spend the next three months investigating claims of fraud. At least one of the officers hired has a history of supporting GOP claims. The announcement also came after state officials announced they found just 27 cases of potential fraud in 2020 out of 3.3m votes cast. The reviews are not going to change the 2020 election results or find widespread fraud, which is exceedingly rare. Nonetheless, the conservative activists behind the effort – many of whom have little election experience – have championed the reviews as an attempt to assuage concerns the 2020 election was stolen. If the probes don't turn up anything, they will only serve to increase confidence in elections, proponents say."
Mitch McConnell, the senate minority leader, defended efforts by Republicans to block a January 6 commission saying:
"I don't think anybody's going to get away with anything. I think we'll know everything we need to know. We were all witnesses, we were right there when it happened. And I simply think the commission is not necessary."
According to the AP, Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, signed a bill into law that bans transgender females from girls' sports in schools. From the story:
"The new law inflames an already contentious discussion as Republican-controlled states move to limit the rights of LGBTQ people. It also could impose severe financial consequences on Florida. The NCAA, which oversees college athletics, has threatened to relocate key games from states that discriminate against athletes. When the Florida legislature was considering the measure in April, the NCAA said it would commit championship games to 'locations where hosts can commit to providing an environment that is safe, healthy and free of discrimination'. The measure approved by the GOP-led legislature takes effect 1 July. Human Rights Campaign president Alphonso David said: 'All Floridians will have to face the consequences of this anti-transgender legislation - including economic harm, expensive taxpayer-funded legal battles and a tarnished reputation.' Democrats and LGBTQ advocates said the law will be challenged in court. 'This is yet another hate-driven attack from the governor and Republican legislators, and it's insulting that they've staged this morning's photo-op on the first day of Pride Month,' said state senator Shevrin Jones. 'At the end of the day, transgender kids are just kids.' The Florida law mirrors an Idaho law, the first of its kind when enacted last year, that is now mired in legal challenges. Republican governors in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee recently signed similar measures."
Joe Biden issued a proclamation marking the beginning of LGBTQ+ Pride Month, saying:
"This Pride Month, we recognize the valuable contributions of LGBTQ+ individuals across America, and we reaffirm our commitment to standing in solidarity with LGBTQ+ Americans in their ongoing struggle against discrimination and injustice"
The Biden administration has suspended oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that were issued in the final days of Trump's presidency.
The Biden administration formally ended the Trump-era "remain in Mexico" policy.
May 28, 2021 - Senate Republicans successfully blocked the Senate from taking up the bill to form a bipartisan commission to study the Capitol insurrection. The final vote was 54-35, with six Republicans joining 48 Democrats in supporting the motion to advance the bill.
Notable reactions to the Senate Republican effort to defeat the January 6 commission bill:
"The Republican minority just prevented the American people from getting the full truth. Shame on the Republican Party for trying to sweep the horrors of that day under the rug because they're afraid of Donald Trump." - Chuck Schumer, Senate Majority Leader
"If Senate Republicans can block an independent commission investigating a deadly armed attack on the Capitol because it might hurt their poll numbers with insurrectionists, then something is badly wrong with the Senate. We must get rid of the filibuster to protect our democracy." - Elizabeth Warren, US Senator
"Mitch McConnell asked Senate Republicans to do him a 'personal favor' and vote against the January 6th Commission. In doing so, Mitch McConnell asked them to be complicit in his undermining of the truth of January 6th. In bowing to McConnell's personal favor request, Republican Senators surrendered to the January 6th mob assault." - Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker
"Choosing to put politics and political elections above the health of our Democracy is unconscionable, and the betrayal of the oath we each take is something they will have to live with" - Joe Manchin, US Senator
Kamala Harris, the vice president, became the first woman to deliver a commencement address to the Naval Academy at Annapolis Maryland.
May 27, 2021 - Speaking on the Senate floor regarding the proposed January 6 commission, Mitch McConnell stated:
"I do not believe the additional, extraneous commission that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts, or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to do that."
Chuck Schumer took to the Senate floor where he criticized Republican legislators in Arizona for "chasing a bananas-crazy right-wing internet conspiracy" that China tampered with ballots to swing the election. Schumer also stated:
"We need to stand up to the big lie. We must get at the truth and do everything in our power to restore Americans faith in our elections and this grand, ongoing, noble experiment of democracy."
News surfaced that numerous Republicans touted the benefits of the coronavirus relief package to their constituents after they unanimously opposed it. Joe Biden responded to the news saying "I mean, some people have no shame". Here are a few of those "no shame" Republicans:
Senator Roger Wicker
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy
House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik
According to the New York Times, Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating whether Ukrainian officials attempted to interfere in the 2020 presidential election to undermine Biden and help Trump, including by using Rudolph Giuliani to spread misinformation.
May 26, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Alexandra Villarreal offers the following analysis of the demographic mismatch in the US political system:
"From county officials and sheriffs to governors and senators, white male minority rule pervades politics in the United States, according to a new report published on Wednesday. White men represent 30% of the population but 62% of officeholders, dominating both chambers of Congress, 42 state legislatures and statewide roles across the nation, the analysis shows. By contrast, women and people of color constitute 51% and 40% of the US population respectively, but just 31% and 13% of officeholders, according to the research by the Reflective Democracy Campaign, shared exclusively with the Guardian. 'I think if we saw these numbers in another country, we would say there is something very wrong with that political system,' said Brenda Choresi Carter, the campaign's director. 'We would say, 'how could that possibly be a democratic system with that kind of demographic mismatch?''"
Joe Biden has requested that the US intelligence community "redouble" efforts to study the origins of coronavirus. Biden said he received a report earlier this month, and asked for a follow-up within 90 days. Biden also noted that the US intelligence community has not yet coalesced around a common theory regarding whetehr coronavirus came about from human contact with an infected animal, or from a laboratory accident.
While testifying before a Senate appropriations subcommittee, Dr Anthony Fauci stated: "I feel the likelihood is still high that this is a natural occurrence, but since you cannot know 100% whether it is or is not -- other possibilities exist -- and for that reason, I and my colleagues have been saying that we are very much in favor of a further investigation."
After walking up to the podium in the White House briefing room, Karine Jean-Pierre, the principal deputy press secretary, became the first openly gay person to address reporters on behalf of the US president.
According to a new AP/NORC poll, 57% of Asian Americans feel unsafe in public because of their race, which is also true of 63% of Black Americans, and 44% of Hispanic Americans. Only 16% of White Americans feel the same way.
During an interview with the AP, Jocelyn Benson, Michigan's Democratic secretary of state, addressed what she sees as a sustained attack on American democracy. From the story:
AP: "Across the country, we are seeing several GOP-controlled legislatures seeking to exert more control over election officials. How concerned are you that we could end up seeing more of these outside ballot reviews like in Arizona or even takeovers of local election offices?"
BENSON: "I feel very strongly that the battles that we saw around 2020's election ... was just the beginning of what is clearly turning out to be a multi-year, strategic, nationally coordinated, partisan assault on the vote in our country and on our democracy. And we will see another battle in the 2022 elections around that truth and around the security of the vote, around access to the vote. But it's also all going to culminate, I believe, in an effort to try again in 2024 what those democracy deniers attempted to do in 2020 but failed. And in 2024, the bad actors, I believe, will be more coordinated, more strategic, better funded and will have the benefit of doing this work for a number of years. I'm deeply concerned about the future health of our democracy."
Molly Hennessy-Fiske, a Los Angeles Times reporter, along with a Times photographer, have filed a lawsuit against Minnesota state patrol troopers over injuries they received while covering protests over George Floyd's murder by police. According to the suit, the two are seeking "information and accountability" for the state patrol "attacking us while we were covering protests a year ago."
May 25, 2021 - Four days after Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene compared coronavirus-related restrictions to the genocide of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust, Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, issued a statement condemning her comments, saying in part that "comparing the horrors of the Holocaust with wearing masks is appalling".
Other notable reactions to Marjorie Taylor Greene's mask/Holocaust comparison:
"Just stop. This is demented and dangerous. There is no comparison. I've said this before and I'll say it again: while we cannot stop her from calling herself a Republican, we can and should refuse to let her caucus with the @HouseGOP." - Adam Kinzinger, Illinois Republican Congressman
"She should stop this vile language immediately" - Chuck Schumer, Senate Majority Leader
"Equating mask wearing and vaccines to the Holocaust belittles the most significant human atrocities ever committed. We must all work together to educate our fellow Americans on the unthinkable horrors of the Holocaust. #NeverAgain" - Elise Stefanik, House Republican Conference Chair
Today is the one year anniversary of the death of George Perry Floyd, who was suffocated under the knee of police officer Derek Chauvin. NOTE: The official police account of George Floyd's death stated that a man died after a "medical incident during police interaction" in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The man was suspected of forgery and "believed to be in his 40s". He "physically resisted officers" and, after being handcuffed, "appeared to be suffering medical distress". He was taken to the hospital "where he died a short time later". Video of the encounter shows that most of this police account is a lie.
According to the White House, 50% of Americans have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Brad Schneider, an Illinois Democrat, announced that he is drafting a resolution to censure Marjorie Taylor Greene, saying:
"Marjorie Taylor Greene continues to debase not only the memory of 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis, but all those who fought and died defending Democracy against Hitler and his evil. It is shameful that the Republican Conference continues to let her define their party, and dangerous that they refuse to expel her. There should be no room for such unapologetic hate and antisemitism in our politics or our government."
The Department of Justice announced that it will not release a 24 March 2019 memo in full that Bill Barr claimed to have relied upon to determine that there was not enough evidence to support an obstruction of justice prosecution of the president. Noah Bookbinder, the president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) reacted to the news saying:
"We are deeply disappointed ... the Department of Justice had an opportunity to come clean, turn over the memo, and close the book on the politicisation and dishonesty of the past four years. Last night it chose not to do so. In choosing to fight Judge Jackson's decision, the DoJ is taking a position that is legally and factually wrong and that undercuts efforts to move past the abuses of the last administration. We will be fighting this in court ... [The] part of the memo that the DoJ did turn over may have been more revealing than they intended it to be ... [It] provides further evidence that Attorney General Barr's efforts were not aimed at making any real legal determination, but were instead aimed at publicly spinning the damning findings of the Mueller Report into a vindication of Donald Trump. The deception needs to end now."
Wake TSI, a company that had been hired by a non-profit linked to Sidney Powell, a Trump ally who spread lies about the 202 election, has let its contract expire in the Republican led ballot recount taking place in Maricopa county in Arizona. Wake TSI was involved with overseeing the portion of the "audit" that dealt with a hand recount of the presidential vote and US senate race. StraTech solutions will be taking over where Wake TSI left off.
A group of defense lawyers who are representing some of the individuals who are charged in the Capitol insurrection, including "Proud Boy" Dominic Pezzola, argued in court that the conditions at a DC jail are "psychologically damaging" and conditions are "unheard of" and so their clients should be released.
According to NBC's Scott MacFarlane, "at least two US Capitol riot defendants are accused of carrying guns amid the mob on Jan 6."
According to the Washington Post, Republican lawmakers in Nevada are calling on the state party's leadership to resign after it was revealed that a self-described Proud Boy took part in a censure vote against the Republican secretary of state who investigated and concluded the 2020 election was not fraudulent.
May 24, 2021 - According to the Washington Post, Gordon Sondland, the former ambassador to the EU, who testified in the first impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump, has filed suit against Mike Pompeo and the US government for $1.8 million in legal fees. From the story:
"The suit, filed Monday in federal court in the District of Columbia, alleges that Pompeo reneged on his promise that the State Department would cover the fees after Sondland delivered bombshell testimony accusing Trump and his aides of pressuring the government of Ukraine to investigate then presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter in exchange for military aid. ... The complaint alleges that Pompeo told Sondland that government lawyers would not be made available to represent him but that if he hired his own counsel, his attorney fees would be covered by the U.S. government. Top aides to Pompeo also acknowledged this commitment, the suit alleges, but 'everything changed' after Sondland delivered his testimony alleging a 'quid pro quo' and then refused to resign despite a request from one of Pompeo's most trusted aides, Ulrich Brechbuhl."
Writing for the Guardian, Hugo Lowell offers the following analysis of the reason Republicans oopose a January 6 commission:
"Top Senate Republicans are making a concerted effort to quash the creation of a 9/11-style commission to investigate the Capitol attack, deeply endangering the bill's passage amid fears about what a high-profile inquiry into the events of 6 January might uncover. The Republican Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, has said he opposes the commission bill in its current form and several Republicans who have previously expressed support said they could no longer back it. McConnell's opposition brings into sharp relief the treacherous path ahead for the legislation, which Senate Democrats could introduce as soon as this week, according to a source briefed on the matter. The reasons publicly offered by Republicans for rejecting the creation of a commission are myriad: it might impede existing congressional and justice department investigations into 6 January. It might become politicized. It might make pro-Trump rioters 'look bad'. But in the end, the stance reflects the fear from McConnell and top Senate Republicans that extending their support to an inquiry likely to find Donald Trump at fault for inciting the Capitol attack could be used as a cudgel against Republicans ahead of the 2022 midterm elections."
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levin offers the following analysis of the power of police unions:
"Police unions grew in the US in the 1960s as the civil rights movement was increasing scrutiny of officer misconduct. In the decades since, law enforcement associations have dramatically expanded their powers through their contracts. 'It's hard for me to think of police as traditional workers,' said Veena Dubal, a University of California, Hastings law professor and labor expert, and former Berkeley police review commissioner. 'They are the only people in our country who have the right to take away life and to do so with immunity. They are unequivocally forces that seek to insulate police from any kind of accountability, and that's very different than what a union does.' The unions have negotiated a wide range of exceptional rights for officers, including requiring departments to erase misconduct records from officers' files, giving them a clean slate. Union contracts have also mandated that abuse investigations remain secret; allowed officers found to be intoxicated at work to go home without discipline; created huge obstacles to firing police; and ensured that when police officers kill civilians, they can wait several days before they have to give a statement. The impact of those contracts, experts say, is deadly."
According to the AP, a new Department of Homeland Security Inspector General report confirms that the Trump administration forced migrant parents to leave the country without their children. According to the report, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) knowingly deported parents who had asked to be allowed to take their children with them. From the story:
"That contradicted assertions by senior DHS officials that parents were choosing to leave their children in the U.S. to stay with family or for other reasons while they were deported in 2017 and 2018 as the administration sought to enforce a hard-line approach to immigration enforcement. The findings, issued by Trump-appointed Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, provide new insight into a policy that became a significant political crisis for the previous administration and a continuing challenge for the current one, which is working to reunite children who remain separated even now."
According to CNN, Trump's unfounded accusations of voter fraud have caused some Republicans to continue to question the results of the 2020 election. From the story:
"Trump's falsehoods have been embraced by a swath of GOP primary voters and by party officials eager to placate the former president and his supporters. Republican state lawmakers have introduced hundreds of bills across the nation this year that would make voting more difficult — and many of those bills have advanced or already been signed into law in states where Republicans control both the legislature and the governor's office, including Georgia, Florida, Arizona and Texas. Audits have yet to uncover any wrongdoing, and cannot change the election's results months after votes were certified, the electoral college voted and Biden was inaugurated."
According to a new poll from Reuters/Ipsos, 53% of Republicans think Trump is the "true president". The poll also found that 87% of Republicans want more restrictions put in place to protect elections in the future.
May 22, 2021 - Marjorie Taylor Greene, the QAnon embracing Georgia Representative, appeared on The Water Cooler with David Brody on the Real America's Voice network, where she criticized House speaker Nancy Pelosi for continuing to enforce a mask mandate on the House floor because a high number of members have not been vaccinated. Greene said of Pelosi: "This woman is mentally ill". Greene continued:
"You know, we can look back in a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star, and they were definitely treated like second-class citizens — so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany and this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about."
May 21, 2021 - Katie Hobbs, the Democratic secretary of state of Arizona, sent a letter to Maricopa county officials urging them to replace the voting machines involved in the county's controversial Republican backed recount of the November election results. In her letter, Hobbs stated:
"I have grave concerns regarding the security and integrity of these machines, given that the chain of custody, a critical security tenet, has been compromised."
Hobb's sent the following in a tweet:
"This equipment was accessed by amateur, uncertified 'auditors' with zero transparency. I support election integrity, and therefore can't support the continued usage of these machines."
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following analysis of the unfolding spectacle in Maricopa county:
"The [Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum] is where the Arizona senate, controlled by Republicans, is performing its own audit of the 2020 election in Maricopa county, home of Phoenix and most of the state's registered voters. The effort, which comes after multiple audits affirming the results of the November election in the county in favor of Joe Biden, includes an examination of voting equipment, an authentication of ballot paper, and a hand recount of the nearly 2.1m ballots cast there. Republicans in the state legislature are simultaneously considering measures that would make it harder to vote in Arizona, which Biden carried by about 10,000 votes in November. The review – unprecedented in American politics – may also be one of the clearest manifestations to date of Donald Trump's false claims of fraud and the conspiracy theories that spread after the election (the former president and allies have loudly cheered on the Arizona effort). Far-right conspiracy theorists appear to be connected to the effort and the firm hired to lead the charge, a Florida-based company called Cyber Ninjas, has little experience in elections. The firm's CEO has voiced support for the idea that the election was stolen from Trump. Election experts are watching the unfolding effort with deep alarm, pointing out that officials are not using a reliable methodology – they hesitate to even label it an audit – and will produce a result that will give more fodder for conspiracy theorists. More troublingly, they worry the Arizona audit could be a model for Republicans to try elsewhere. 'There's not gonna be a valid result,' said the Arizona secretary of state, Katie Hobbs, a Democrat who is the state's top election official. 'They're writing the playbook here to do this around the country.'"
Donald Trump released a statement regarding the Republican-backed recount in Maricopa county saying in part:
"A devastating letter written by Arizona Senate President Karen Fann on voting irregularities, and probably fraud, in Maricopa County during the 2020 Presidential Election. The Fake News and Lamestream Media is doing everything they can not to cover this major story. They just refuse to talk or report about it. They don't want the United States or World to see what is going on with our corrupt, third world election."
According to the Washington Post, the Maricopa county recount has inspired Trump supporters in other states. From the story:
"At a public meeting last week in Cheboygan County, Mich., a lawyer from Detroit told county commissioners that the voting machines they used in 2020 could 'flip' votes and throw an election. She offered to send in a 'forensic team,' at no charge to the county, to inspect ballots and scanners. In Windham, N.H., supporters of former president Donald Trump showed up to a town meeting this month chanting 'Stop the Steal!' and demanding that officials choose their preferred auditor to scrutinize a 400-vote discrepancy in a state representative race. And at a board of supervisors meeting May 4 in San Luis Obispo County, on California’s Central Coast, scores of residents questioned whether election machines had properly counted their votes, with many demanding a 'forensic audit.' The ramifications of Trump's ceaseless attacks on the 2020 election are increasingly visible throughout the country: In emails, phone calls and public meetings, his supporters are questioning how their elections are administered and pressing public officials to revisit the vote count — wrongly insisting that Trump won the presidential race."
Jennifer Morrell, one of the Arizona secretary of state's official observers of the Maricopa county "audit", wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post where she stated:
"In more than a decade working on elections, audits and recounts across the country, I’ve never seen one this mismanaged ... Each table had three volunteers tallying the ballots, and their tally sheets were considered 'done' as long as two of the three tallies matched, and the third was off by no more than two ballots ... The volunteers only recounted if their tally sheets had three or more errors — a threshold they stuck to, no matter how many ballots a stack contained, whether it was 50 or 100. This allowed for a shocking amount of error ... This is not an audit, and I don't see how this can have a good outcome."
According to the AP, two groups have filed a lawsuit challenging the new voter restrictions in Arkansas. From the story:
"The League of Women Voters of Arkansas and Arkansas United filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging the four election measures approved by the Republican Legislature and governor. An historic number of voting restrictions has advanced in statehouses across the country, fueled by former President Donald Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud in the 2020 election. Lawsuits have also been filed challenging new restrictions recently enacted in Georgia and Florida. The measures being challenged in Arkansas include a change to the state's voter ID law that removes the ability for someone without identification to cast a ballot if they sign an sworn affidavit. The groups are also challenging a law preventing anyone other than voters from being within 100 feet of a polling place, and another requiring an absentee voter's signature on a ballot to match the signature on their voter registration application. Backers of the measures have said they're needed to protect the integrity of the vote, but the lawsuit says there's been no evidence presented of fraud in last year's election that would necessitate the restrictions."
Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, confirmed today that the US has no plans to buy Greenland.
According to spending records obtained by the Washington Post through a public records request, Trump's Palme Beach resort has charged the Secret Service $396.15 every night starting January 20th. The cost through April 30th: more than $40,000.
According to a new book titled: Battle for the Sould: Inside the Democrat's Campaigns to Defeat Donald Trump by Edward-Isaac Dovere, who writes for the Atlantic, Barack Obama called Trump a "madman", a "racist, sexist pig", "that fucking lunatic" and a "corrupt motherfucker".
According to the Guardian, Louisiana police say they will release all video associated with the death of Ronald Greene, a black man who died in police custody in 2019. From the story:
"The 46-minute clip shows one trooper wrestling Greene to the ground, putting him in a chokehold and punching him in the face while another can be heard calling him a 'stupid motherfucker'. Greene wails 'I'm sorry!' as another trooper delivers another stun gun shock to his backside. Another trooper can be seen briefly dragging the man face down after his legs had been shackled and his hands cuffed behind him. Instead of rendering aid, the troopers leave the man unattended, face down and moaning for more than nine minutes, as they use sanitizer wipes to wash blood off their hands and faces."
The ACLU sent out the following message in a tweet regarding the death of Ronald Greene:
"Two years ago, Louisiana State Police said Ronald Greene was killed in a car crash. They lied. Bodycam footage just released to the public clearly shows Greene was tortured to death by officers who denied him life-saving aid."
May 20, 2021 - President Joe Biden signed into law the anti-Asian hate crimes bill.
May 19, 2021 - Viola Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre, testified before the judiciary subcommittee about her experience the night a white mob ransacked and burned the thriving African American community of Greenwood, also known as "Black Wall Street" in 1921, causing an estimated 300 deaths. According to Fletcher, who was 7:
"I will never forget the violence of the white mob when we left our house. I still see Black men being shot, and Black bodies lying in the street. I still smell smoke and see fire. I still see Black businesses being burned. I still hear airplanes flying overhead. I hear the screams. I live through the massacre every day. Our country may forget this history. I cannot. I will not. The other survivors do not. And our descendants do not. When my family was forced to leave Tulsa, I lost my chance at an education. I never finished school past the fourth grade. I have never made much money. My country, state, and city took a lot from me. Despite this, I spent time supporting the war effort in the shipyards of California. But for most of my life, I was a domestic worker serving white families. I never made much money. To this day, I can barely afford my everyday needs."
Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, announced that he will oppose the bipartisan bill to form a September 11-style commission to study the Capitol insurrection. McConnell called the bill "slanted and unbalanced" despite the fact that the bill being voted on is a compromise bill negotiated by Republican John Katko, which calls for a commission to be evenly divided among the two parties. McConnell also stated that existing investigations render the commission unnecessary.
Notable response to McConnell's opposition to the January 6th commission:
"In case you were wondering as McConnell makes the case that the two existing congressional investigations into the Jan. 6 attacks are sufficient and nothing new could be learned by a bipartisan commission, the number of congressional investigations conducted about Benghazi: 10" - Ginger Gibson
Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, signed into law one of the most extreme six-week abortion bans in the US, despite strong opposition from the medical and legal communities. There are no exceptions in the law. NOTE: Most women are not aware they are pregnant at six weeks.
Mark McCloskey, who along with his wife Patricia, became famous last year when they stood on their front lawn and pointed guns at peaceful protesters, has announced that he is running for the US Senate in Missouri. Notable response to McClosky's announcement:
"Mark McCloskey's only qualifying characteristic is that he irresponsibly pointed a loaded assault weapon at unarmed peaceful protestors, mostly young people of color, ignoring the trigger discipline taught by nearly every firearm instructor in America. That he has capitalized on that notoriety is shameful and we hope that the people of Missouri recognize the need for common-sense candidates who will keep their communities safe and advance the interests of all of the state's residents." - Christian Heyne, of Brady: United Against Gun Violence
The family of US Capitol Police Officer Howard Liebengood - who committed suicide days after the insurrection - released a statement supporting the January 6th commission saying:
"We believe a thorough, non-partisan investigation into the root causes of and the response to the January 6th riot is essential for our nation to move forward. Howie's death was an immediate outgrowth of those events. Every officer who worked that day, as well as their families, should have a better understanding of what happened. Uncovering the facts will help our nation heal and may lessen the lingering emotional bitterness that has divided our country. We implore Congress to work as one and establish the proposed Commission."
Seven lawmakers were issued warnings by the House sergeant-at-arms that they would be fined if they did not put face masks on, as required by current House rules. The seven lawmakers were the following Republicans:
Lauren Boebert of Colorado
Thomas Massie of Kentucky
Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia
Chip Roy of Texas
Bob Good of Virginia
Louie Gohmert of Texas
Mary Miller of Illinois
The House voted to establish a January 6th commission with a vote of 252 to 175. The Democrats were joined by 35 Republicans to pass the bill.
May 18, 2021 - Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House minority leader, released a statement announcing he will oppose the bipartisan bill to form a September 11-style commission to study the Capitol insurrection, calling it "duplicative and potentially counterproductive".
While delivering remarks on infrastructure, Joe Biden offered the following criticism of the Trump administration:
"They announced infrastructure week. And they announced it and announced it and announced it and announced it. Every week for four years, didn't do a damn thing."
Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, criticized Kevin McCarthy's opposition to a January 6 commission bill saying:
"In his February 22 letter, he made three requests to be addressed in Democrats' discussion draft. Every single one was granted by Democrats, yet he still says no."
The House approved the anti-Asian hate crimes bill with a vote of 364 to 62. All of the opposing votes came from Republicans. Biden said he will sign it when it reaches his desk.
May 14, 2021 - Elise Stefanik, a GOP congresswoman from New York, was elected to replace ousted House conference chair Liz Cheney.
According to the House Committee on Homeland Security, House Democrats and Republicans have made a bipartisan deal to establish a commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection on the US Capitol. According to the announcement, the 10-person bipartisan commission will study the insurrection and "the influencing factors that may have provoked the attack on our democracy". Bennie Thompson, the homeland security chairman stated that he was "pleased that after many months of intensive discussion, Ranking Member Katko and I were able to reach a bipartisan agreement". NOTE: John Katko was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump.
A video surfaced of Marjorie Taylor Greene taunting Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in February 2019. In the video, Greene can be seen talking through the mail slot of Ocasio-Cortez's door saying "You need to stop being a baby and stop locking your door and come out and face the American citizens that you serve". Greene goes on to call Cortez "crazy eyes" and tells her to "get rid of your diaper" through the mail slot.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was asked about Marjorie Taylor Greene's provocations to which she Cortez responded: "This is a woman that's deeply unwell. And clearly needs help. And her kind of fixation has lasted for several years now. At this point I think the depth has raised concerns for other members as well".
Scott Wong, a reporter for the Hill, recounts an incident he saw between Nick Dyer, a spokesperson for Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Democratic representative Eric Swalwell. According to Wong, Dyer approached Swalwell and said "Biden says you can take off your mask" to which Swalwell responded "You don't tell me what to fucking do!". Swalwell was asked about the confrontation, his response: "I told the bully what I thought of his order” and “I regret I wasn’t more explicit".
According to the justice department, Joel Greenberg, a Florida tax collector, and close friend of representative Mat Gaetz, has plead guilty to paying a 17-year-old girl for sex, introducing her to others who also "engaged in commercial sex acts" and providing her with drugs. Greenberg also admitted to identity theft and defrauding the federal government.
Louie Gohmert, a Republican representative from Texas, took to the House floor today where he called the insurrectionists "peaceful Americans" and claimed the imprisonment of the rioters, of which about 440 have been arrested, makes them "political prisoners held hostage by their own government ... You could call it a conspiracy because these people are working to silence anybody who supports Donald Trump".
May 13, 2021 - Nancy Pelosi condemned comments made yesterday by Republican congressman andrew Clyde that the Capitol insurrection looked like "a normal tourist visit" saying:
"I don’t know a normal day around here when people are threatening to hang the vice-president of the United States or shoot the speaker in the forehead. I don’t consider that normal. Multiple people were killed ... It was beyond denial. It fell into the range of sick."
Congressman Andrew Clyde was asked by reporters about his comments which downplayed the insurrection. Clyde responded: "You didn't take what I said in context at all. So you go listen to what I said."
According to the Washington Post, Marjorie Taylor Greene confronted Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the steps of the Capitol yesterday. From the story:
"Two Washington Post reporters witnessed Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) exit the House chamber late Wednesday afternoon ahead of Greene (Ga.), who shouted 'Hey Alexandria' twice in an effort to get her attention. When Ocasio-Cortez did not stop walking, Greene picked up her pace and began shouting at her and asking why she supports antifa, a loosely knit group of far-left activists, and Black Lives Matter, falsely labeling them 'terrorist' groups. Greene also shouted that Ocasio-Cortez was failing to defend her 'radical socialist' beliefs by declining to publicly debate the freshman from Georgia. 'You don't care about the American people,' Greene shouted. 'Why do you support terrorists and antifa?' Ocasio-Cortez did not stop to answer Greene, only turning around once and throwing her hands in the air in an exasperated motion. The two reporters were not close enough to hear what the New York congresswoman said, and her office declined to discuss her specific response."
Reuters is reporting on new developments regarding congressman Matt Gaetz. From the story:
"A former Florida official central to the federal investigation of Republican US Representative Matt Gaetz in connection with possible sex trafficking of a minor will plead guilty on Monday, a court filing showed, in a potentially troublesome development for the congressman. The plea deal in a federal court in Orlando, Florida, will resolve some charges against Joel Greenberg, a former tax collector in Florida's Seminole County, Greenberg's attorney Fritz Scheller said in an interview on Thursday. Greenberg has been accused of sex trafficking of a child, aggravated identity theft and wire fraud, among other federal charges. Greenberg, 37, is a friend of staunch Donald Trump supporter Gaetz, who also faces a federal investigation into a relationship with an underage girl, a law enforcement source has said. Gaetz has not been charged with any crimes and has denied any wrongdoing. Gaetz spokesman Harlan Hill questioned Greenberg's credibility. 'The first indictment of Joel Greenberg alleges that he falsely accused another man of sex with a minor for his own gain. That man was apparently innocent. So is congressman Gaetz,' Hill said. The charges Greenberg faces include having letters sent to a school where a political rival worked, falsely accusing the man of sexual misconduct with a student, according to federal prosecutor. At an April 8 court hearing, prosecutors indicated that a plea deal with Greenberg was imminent, according to local media reports. Asked at the time by reporters whether Gaetz should be worried about a Greenberg plea, Greenberg attorney Scheller replied, 'I'm sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today.' Scheller may have been referring to media reports that Greenberg might cooperate with federal investigators in their investigation of Gaetz."
According to the New York Times, there have been more than 130 incidents of unexplained brain injury known as Havana syndrome among US diplomats, spies and defense officials.
May 12, 2021 - Liz Cheney addressed an upcoming vote by House Republicans to remove her from her leadership position saying in part:
"Today we face a threat America has never seen before. A former president, who provoked a violent attack on this capital in an effort to steal the election, has resumed his aggressive effort to convince Americans that the election was stolen from him. He risks inciting further violence. This is not about policy. This is not about partisanship. This is about our duty as Americans. Remaining silent and ignoring the lie emboldens the liar. I will not participate in that."
As Republicans were preparing to vote Liz Cheney out of her role as conference chair, Donald Trump issued a statement saying in part:
"The Republicans in the House of Representatives have a great opportunity today to rid themselves of a poor leader, a major Democrat talking point, a warmonger, and a person with absolutely no personality or heart ... As a representative of the Great State of Wyoming, Liz Cheney is bad for our Country and bad for herself. Almost everyone in the Republican Party, including 90% of Wyoming, looks forward to her ouster — and that includes me!"
Following a voice vote, Liz Cheney was removed from her role as conference chair.
Following the vote, Liz Cheney told the press that she is committed to push back against "the very dangerous lies of a former president ... We must go forward based on truth. We cannot both embrace the big lie and embrace the Constitution ... I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office".
Some notable reactions to Liz Cheney's ouster from her leadership position in the Republican party:
"Liz Cheney is a bitter, horrible human being. I watched her yesterday and realized how bad she is for the Republican Party. She has no personality or anything good having to do with politics or our Country. She is a talking point for Democrats, whether that means the Border, the gas lines, inflation, or destroying our economy." - Donald Trump
"Liz Cheney was canceled today for speaking her mind and disagreeing with the narrative that President Trump has put forth." Ken Buck, a Republican congressman, and a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus in the House
"Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye Liz Cheney" - Madison Cawthorn, a Freshman Republican Congressman
"Congresswoman Liz Cheney has been a solid conservative and strong voice on national security. However, in my view, she has taken a position regarding former President Trump which is out of the mainstream of the Republican Party." - Lindsey Graham, Republican Senator
"Congresswoman Liz Cheney is a leader of great courage, patriotism and integrity. Today, House Republicans declared that those values are unwelcome in the Republican party ... The Republican denial of the truth presented by Congresswoman Cheney is reflected in their denial of the need to seek the truth in a January 6th commission and to repair the damage of January 6th with a security supplemental immediately ... For the sake of our democracy, reasonable Republicans across the country must take back their party.”" - Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Speaker of the House
"Congresswoman Cheney spoke truth to power, and for that, she's been fired. Make no mistake, the congresswoman and I disagree on so many policy issues, but we both agree that truth matters." - Chuck Schumer, Democratic Senate Majority Leader
"Our nation's Capitol was attacked. Our democracy was attacked, and six people lost their lives. It's disturbing to see any leader, regardless of party, being attacked for simply speaking the truth." - Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary
Speaking outside the White House, Kevin McCarthy stated:
"I don't think anybody is questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election. I think that is all over with. We are sitting here with the president today."
During a hearing on the Capitol insurrection, Republican representative Andrew Clyde stated that it was a "boldfaced lie" to describe the events of January 6 as an "insurrection". Clyde continued: "Watching the TV footage of those who entered the Capitol and walked through Statuary Hall showed people in an orderly fashion staying between the stanchions and ropes, taking videos, pictures. You know, if you didn't know the TV footage was a video from January the 6th, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit."
May 11, 2021 - During a Senate rules committee hearing to mark up the For the People Act, an election reform bill introduced by Democrats, Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, addressed actions by Republicans to restrict voting saying:
"Don't tell us these laws are about voter fraud. You are more likely in America to be struck by lightning than to commit voter fraud. These laws are about one thing, and one thing alone: making it harder for Americans to vote. They are reprehensible in my judgment. They are anti-democratic in the judgment of most. And they carry the stench of oppression."
Responding to Senator Schumer's comments, Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, stated:
"The truth is simple. Our democracy is not in crisis, and we aren't going to let one party take over our democracy under the false pretense of saving it."
During a Senate committee hearing on the coronavirus pandemic, Republican Senator Rand Paul clashed with Dr Anthony Fauci by suggesting the NIH funds "gain of function" research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Here's some of that exchange:
PAUL: “For years, Dr Ralph Baric, a virologist in the US, has been collaborating with Dr Shi Zhengli from the Wuhan Virology Institute, sharing his discoveries about how to create superviruses. This gain-of-function research has been funded by the [National Institutes of Health (NIH)] ... Dr Fauci, do you still support funding of the NIH lab in Wuhan?”
FAUCI: “With all due respect, you are entirely and completely incorrect. The NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”
PAUL: “Do you fund Dr Baric's gain-of-function research?”
FAUCI: “Dr Baric is not doing gain-of-function research, and if he is, it is according to the guidelines and is being conducted in North Carolina.”
And…
PAUL: “Will you categorically say that the Covid-19 could not have occurred through serial passage in a laboratory?”
FAUCI: “I do not have any accounting of what the Chinese may have done, and I am fully in favor of any further investigation of what went on in China. However, I will repeat again, the NIH and [National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)] categorically has not funded gain-of-function research to be conducted in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”
According to a new book by Pulitzer-winning Washington Post reporter Carol Leonnig called Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service, two Trump family members got "inappropriately - and perhaps dangerously - close" to agents protecting them while Trump was president. One family member, Vanessa Trump, the wife of Donald Trump Jr, who filed for divorce in March of 2018, began dating one of the agents assigned to the family. The other family member, Tiffany Trump, "began spending an unusual amount of time alone with a Secret Service agent on her detail".
NBC files the following report on Trump's new online platform - From the Desk of Donald J Trump:
"The ex-president's blog has drawn a considerably smaller audience than his once-powerful social media accounts, according to engagement data compiled with BuzzSumo, a social media analytics company. The data offers a hint that while Trump remains a political force, his online footprint is still dependent on returning to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The Desk of Donald J Trump is limited – users can't comment or engage with the actual posts beyond sharing them to other platforms, an action few people do, according to the data. Trump's new blog has attracted a little over 212,000 engagements, defined as backlinks and social interactions – including likes, shares and comments – across Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Reddit. Before the ban, a single Trump tweet was typically liked and retweeted hundreds of thousands of times."
Republicans in Windham, New Hampshire announced that the 2020 election results will be audited after a recount of four legislative seats found discrepancies in the number of votes cast.
Donald Trump reacted to the Windham, New Hampshire audit story with the following press release:
"Congratulations to the great Patriots of Windham, New Hampshire for their incredible fight to seek out the truth on the massive Election Fraud which took place in New Hampshire and the 2020 Presidential Election. The spirit for transparency and justice is being displayed all over the Country by media outlets which do not represent Fake News. People are watching in droves as these Patriots work tirelessly to reveal the real facts of the most tainted and corrupt Election in American history. Congratulations Windham—look forward to seeing the results."
May 7, 2021 - According to the AP, the language of "unity" is being used to justify ousting Liz Cheney from her role as House GOP conference chairwoman. From the story:
"The House GOP, led by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, is moving toward stripping Rep. Liz Cheney of her leadership post for her frequent criticism of former President Donald Trump. The unusual step, they say, is necessary to unify a party whose base still reveres the former president four months after he incited a deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. ... With Republicans close to reclaiming control of the House next year, the treatment of Cheney suggests GOP leaders will do almost anything to rally the party's base, even if that means sweeping the events of Jan. 6 under the rug and embracing — or refusing to confront — Trump's ongoing lie that he won the 2020 election, a campaign that he actually lost by a wide margin. Those backing Cheney's ouster argue she has become a distraction by continuing to criticize Trump, who remains the dominating force in the party. They want to move forward, they say, and focus on policy ideas and providing a clear contrast with Democrats. But critics see the fight as a larger distraction. 'My unsolicited advice would be: Talk about the future and what you offer to Americans,' said Alyssa Farah, the former Trump White House communications director. 'I do worry that this is sort of showing that we're going to continue more the politics of personality as opposed to the politics of policy and deliverables to the American public.'"
As of today, 150 million Americans have had at least one vaccine shot, with 110 million fully vaccinated, according to the White House Pandemic Response team.
The AP reports on the latest attempts by Texas to subvert the ability to vote:
"The key vote at 3 a.m. Friday in the Texas House followed hours of debate that started the day before, with lawmakers now negotiating the final version of the legislation that will need approval before heading to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who has broadly defended the measures. From Florida to Georgia, Iowa and now Texas, Republican lawmakers have used unsubstantiated claims by former President Donald Trump and his allies to justify new voting restrictions. They argue the new limits, which largely target mail voting, are needed to boost public confidence and improve security. In some cases, the rules also create onerous requirements and penalties for local election officials. 'It is old Jim Crow dressed up in what our colleagues are calling election integrity,' said Democratic state Rep. Jessica Gonzalez. Friday's early morning vote was less than 24 hours after Florida Gov. Rick DeSantis signed a wide-ranging list of new voting restrictions into law. New voting limits have also been signed into law in Georgia and Iowa. Elsewhere, Republicans in Ohio and Michigan are also pressing ahead with overhauls of various election procedures. 'We are seeing the strong effect of President Trump's big lie. We are seeing the Republican Party go all-in on supporting him and his lies,' said Sylvia Albert, voting and elections director for Common Cause, which advocates for expanded voter access. 'We are seeing them use this opportunity to create deliberate barriers to voting for Black and brown voters. It's un-American. In Texas, Democrats had no path to stop the bill in the GOP-controlled state Capitol, but they deployed various technical challenges and used hours of questioning that the bill's author, Republican state Rep. Briscoe Cain, appeared unprepared at times to answer. Finally, an agreement was reached between Republicans and Democrats leaving the bill with 20 amendments that significantly watered down some of what advocates called the most problematic aspects of the bill as it passed the key vote 81-64. The session ends May 31."
Keisha Lance Bottoms, the mayor of Atlanta, announced that she will not seek reelection in 2022 saying:
"There was last summer. There was a pandemic. There was a social justice movement. There was a madman in the White House ... I don't know what's next for me personally and for our family. But what I do know is that this is a decision made from a position of strength and not weakness."
Anthony Antonio, who was involved in the Capitol insurrection and is facing charges that include violent entry, disorderly conduct and impeding law enforcement during civil disorder, is arguing through his lawyer that he is a victim of persistent lies abut the co-called "stolen election" being spread daily by Donald Trump and rightwing news media. According to his lawyer: "Fox television played constantly. He became hooked with what I call 'Foxitis' or 'Foxmania', and became interested in the political aspect and started believing what was being fed to him."
Greg Gianforte, the Republican governor of Montana, signed a bill that bans transgender athletes from competing on sports teams that correspond with their gender.
According to the Washington Post, the Trump administration "secretly obtained" phone records for three Washington Post journalists who covered the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. According to the story:
"Those reporters wrote a story about classified U.S. intelligence intercepts indicating that in 2016, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) had discussed the Trump campaign with Sergey Kislyak, who was Russia's ambassador to the United States. Justice Department officials would not say if that reporting was the reason for the search of journalists' phone records. Sessions subsequently became President Donald Trump's first attorney general and was at the Justice Department when the article appeared. About a month before that story published, the same three journalists also wrote a detailed story about the Obama administration's internal struggles to counter Russian interference in the 2016 election."
May 6, 2021 - Donald Trump released a statement attacking Liz Cheney and endorsing Elise Stefanik to replace her. Trump's statement:
"Liz Cheney is a warmongering fool who has no business in Republican Party Leadership. Elise Stefanik is a far superior choice, and she has my COMPLETE and TOTAL Endorsement for GOP Conference Chair. Elise is a tough and smart communicator!"
Liz Cheney published an op-ed in the Washington Post saying in part:
"History is watching. Our children are watching. We must be brave enough to defend the basic principles that underpin and protect our freedom and our democratic process. I am committed to doing that, no matter what the short-term political consequences might be."
While speaking to the press, Joe Biden stated: "It seems as though the Republican party is trying to identify what it stands for. They’re in the midst of a significant sort of mini-revolution."
The editorial board of the National Review, a conservative media outlet, weighed in on efforts to oust Liz Cheney from her leadership position writing:
"Of course, at the end of the day, the problem isn't that Cheney is making controversial statements; the problem is that Republicans consider her obviously true statements to be controversial ... It isn't Cheney who is preventing Republicans from moving on and repairing the wounds from the 2020 election. It is Trump himself. Six months after being defeated, he still won't drop it — in statements, in TV appearances, and in impromptu speeches to small crowds at Mar-a-Lago ... But unlike Cheney, Stefanik stood with Trump by peddling his mendacious claims and voting against certification of President Biden's Electoral College victory ... It's a sad commentary on the state of the House GOP that this has now become a condition of advancement."
Hillary Clinton has called for a "global reckoning" with disinformation saying:
"They’ve got to rid themselves of both-sidesism. It is not the same to say something critical of somebody on the other side of the aisle and to instigate an attack on the Capitol and to vote against certifying the election. Those are not comparable, and it goes back to the problem of the press actually coming to grips with how out of bounds and dangerous the new political philosophy on the right happens to be ... The technology platforms are so much more powerful than any organ of the so-called mainstream press, and I do think that there has to be not just an American reckoning but a global reckoning with the disinformation, with the monopolistic power and control, with the lack of accountability that the platforms currently enjoy."
Twitter suspended the account @DJTDesk, which has been tweeting statements from Donald Trump, who is stll banned from the platform. NOTE: Twitter has a policy against accounts whose intent is to replace or promote content affiliated with a suspended account.
According to the AP, Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, has signed a bill restricting voting access in that state. From the story:
"The Republican governor signed the freshly passed legislation ahead of his impending announcement that he'll run for reelection in the nation's largest battleground state. Aiming for a broad impact among Donald Trump's party base, he staged the signing on a live broadcast of Fox & Friends Thursday morning, flanked by a small group of GOP legislators in Palm Beach County. Other media organizations were shut out. DeSantis said the new law puts Florida ahead of the curve in preventing any potential fraud. 'Right now I have what we think is the strongest election integrity measures in the country,' the governor said as he signed it. 'We're also banning ballot harvesting. We're not going to let political operatives go and get satchels of votes and dump them in some drop box.' Republicans have previously said they know of no such problems in Florida, and elections supervisors across the state did not ask for any of the changes, warning that some of the new rules may prove cumbersome and expensive to implement."
Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House deputy press secretary, criticized the Florida bill resticting voting access saying:
"There is no legitimate reason to change the rules right now to make it harder to vote. The only reason to change the rules right now is if you don't like who voted. And that should be out of bounds."
Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican congressman, responded to Elise Stefanik's appearance on the Steve Bannon's show to promote unity, saying:
"I'm gonna just go ahead and say this ain't unity. It's capitulation to crazy, and it seems most have."
The Florida branch of the NAACP, the government watchdog group Common Cause, and Disability Rifgts Florida filed a joint lawsuit against the new Florida law that restricts voting. The lawsuit argues that the law "creates barriers and burdens that impact all Florida voters and disproportionately impacts the ability of Black voters, Latino voters, and voters with disabilities to cast their ballot."
The League of Women Voters of Florida, Black Voters Matter and the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans have sued to block the new Florida voter restriction law.
Bernie Sanders sent the following in a tweet:
"Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) will likely be voted off the House Republican Leadership. Her crime: acknowledging the reality that Trump lost the election. The Republican Party is no longer a 'conservative' party. It is an anti-democratic cult pushing the Big Lie and conspiracy theories."
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following analysis of the ongoing partisan ballot audit taking place in Arizona:
"Arizona Republicans are examining whether there is bamboo fiber in ballots that were used in the 2020 election, an activist assisting with the ongoing audit of the ballots told reporters this week. The latest claim underscores how rightwing conspiracy theories continue to fuel doubt about the results of the election. 'There's accusation that 40,000 ballots were flown in to Arizona and it was stuffed into the box and it came from the south-east part of the world, Asia, and what they're doing is to find out whether there's bamboo in the paper,' John Brakey, a longtime election audit advocate, told reporters. Brakey told reporters he didn't personally believe auditors would find bamboo fibers. 'I do think it's somewhat of a waste of time, but it will help unhinge people,' Brakey said on Wednesday. 'They’re not gonna find bamboo ... If they do, I think we need to know, don't you?' The search for bamboo fibers illustrates how the latest GOP audit of all 2.1m ballots cast in Maricopa county, home to a majority of Arizona voters, is elevating absurd claims about the 2020 election. After election day, rightwing activists falsely claimed that China had imported ballots to tip the election for Joe Biden and that those ballots could be identified because there was bamboo in the paper. Earlier, workers were using UV lights to examine ballots; while the purpose of doing so was never clear, there was a conspiracy theory after the election that Donald Trump had watermarked ballots (the UV examinations have stopped)."
Writing for the Guardian, Alexandra Vilarreal offers the following analysis of efforts by Texas lawmakers to restrict voting access:
"Texas lawmakers are racing against the clock this month to ram through legislation that would further restrict voting access, leaning on procedural moves to avoid public testimony and keep 11th-hour negotiations behind closed doors. 'No rules are going to contain them. No norms are going to protect us. They're gonna do whatever they want to, and whatever they can, to get these bills through,' said Emily Eby, staff attorney at the Texas Civil Rights Project. 'Specious talking points about whether last year's presidential contest was stolen – propagated and disseminated by Texas's top Republicans – have created an army of voters who falsely believe that widespread election fraud is a real issue. That, in turn, has ostensibly given politicians a pretext for trumped up reforms at the ballot box, in a state already infamous for being the hardest place to vote nationwide.' 'There’s not really a big problem with election fraud, right? That's not actually a huge problem that we need to solve. But the public thinks it is, because they've been told that it is,' said Clare Brock, an assistant professor of political science at Texas Woman's University."
The Texas senate has passed a bill that allows Texans to open carry without a license, a bill that Charles Schwertner, a Republican state senator, call "a restoration of the belief in and trust of our citizens". According to a University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll, 59% of Texans oppose the policy. Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, said he supports the bill and will sign it into law once it reaches his desk.
Writing for the Guardian, Mike Jordan offers the following analysis of Idaho efforts to restrict the teaching od critical race theory in that state:
"Idaho's governor, Brad Little, has a bill signed into law that aims to restrict critical race theory from being taught as a subject in schools and universities. The bill, H377, prevents teachers from 'indoctrinating' students into belief systems that claim that members of any race, sex, religion, ethnicity or national origin are inferior or superior to other groups. Signed into law last week, H377 also makes it illegal to make students 'affirm, adopt or adhere to' beliefs that members of these groups are today responsible for past actions of the groups to which they claim to belong. Critical race theory is a concept developed by academics and leading scholars of jurisprudence, with intellectual origins in the 1960s which were organized officially in the late 1980s. The theory states that racism is embedded both in US history and modern American law. It holds that legal institutions in the US are inherently racist. Often abbreviated as CRT, it seeks to challenge racism and improve equitable racial power through legal reform. Equitable treatment under the law for all races, according to the theory, renders the law incapable of recognizing systemic and indirect racist practices. In the bill's transmittal letter to Idaho's Republican house speaker, Scott Bedke, Little, who is also a Republican, cited the undermining of 'trust and local governance of our public schools' and 'popular support for public education in Idaho' as concerns. 'We must be focused on facts and data, not anecdotes and innuendo,' Little wrote in the letter. Since the publication of The 1619 Project in the New York Times, a number of school districts and school boards across the US have begun to adopt elements of critical race theory in their curricula. As a result, Republican state legislatures have begun to push back, sending bills through statehouses that attempt to quell the momentum of teaching slavery and other such moments of American history as dark periods of the country's past that continue to affect American life today. Bills to ban or restrict the teaching of critical race theory and other subjects deemed 'divisive' have been drafted in Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, West Virginia and other states. Bills have already passed in Utah, Arkansas and Tennessee."
May 5, 2021 - An oversight board set up to review facebook's decision to indefinitely suspend Donald Trump from its platform said today "it is not permissible for Facebook to keep a user off the platform for an undefined period, for no criteria for when the account will be restored". The board specifically called out two instances on January 6th in which Trump's posts to the platform violated the platform's community guidelines. The first was when he told those participating in the insurrection "We love you. You’re very special." The second was when he referred to that group as "great patriots" and told them to "remember this day forever". Regarding those posts "The Board found that, in maintaining an unfounded narrative of electoral fraud and persistent calls to action, Mr. Trump created an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible. At the time of Mr. Trump's posts, there was a clear, immediate risk of harm and his words of support for those involved in the riots legitimized their violent actions". The board went on to say "Given the seriousness of the violations and the ongoing risk of violence, Facebook was justified in suspending Mr. Trump's accounts on January 6 and extending that suspension on January 7. However, it was not appropriate for Facebook to impose an 'indefinite’ suspension.'" The board then instructed Facebook to complete a review of whether to restore Trump's account within six months.
Notable reactions to facebook's oversight board decision:
"This morning, Facebook banned Trump permanently. Facebook will pay the price. Mark my words" - Lauren Boebert, Colorado Republican Congresswoman
"In an OUTRAGEOUS decision: Facebook's 'oversight committee' upholds permanent ban on President Trump's right to free speech" - Kelli Ward, Chair of Arizona Republican Party
Donald Trump released the following statement:
"Warmonger Liz Cheney, who has virtually no support left in the Great State of Wyoming, continues to unknowingly and foolishly say that there was no Election Fraud in the 2020 Presidential Election when in fact, the evidence, including no Legislative approvals as demanded by the U.S. Constitution, shows the exact opposite. Had Mike Pence referred the information on six states (only need two) back to State Legislatures, and had gutless and clueless MINORITY Leader Mitch McConnell (he blew two seats in Georgia that should have never been lost) fought to expose all of the corruption that was presented at the time, with more found since, we would have had a far different Presidential result, and our Country would not be turning into a socialist nightmare! Never give up!"
Donald Trump released the following statement:
"What Facebook, Twitter, and Google have done is a total disgrace and an embarrassment to our Country. Free Speech has been taken away from the President of the United States because the Radical Left Lunatics are afraid of the truth, but the truth will come out anyway, bigger and stronger than ever before."
According to Law and Crime, the governor of Wisconsin has asked a judge to sanction Sidney Powell without re-litigating her "mish-mash mess" of a lawsuit. From the story:
"Facing down a billion-dollar lawsuit from Dominion, multiple sanctions motions, and bar complaints, lawyer Sidney Powell asked a federal judge last month to set up an evidentiary hearing in Wisconsin on election-fraud claims that were rejected by every court that heard them. Lawyers for Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) depicted that gambit as unnecessary and desperate in a new legal brief asking the judge to sanction her without all the fuss. 'The motion is not a vehicle for re-litigating this court's numerous rationales for dismissing the amended complaint,' the governor's lawyer Jeffrey A. Mandell wrote in an eight-page brief on Wednesday. 'Nor is it a request for a guided tour through the scattershot of supposed evidence that they flung at the wall here, in the vain hope that something would stick, or even leave a mark. The question at the heart of Governor Evers's motion for fees is whether their lawsuit was filed in a proper way for a proper purpose. It was not.' U.S. District Judge Pamela Pepper, who presided over Powell's case, dismissed the lawsuit last December in a ruling characterizing it as an attempt to achieve through the judiciary what Donald Trump's supporters could not through the ballot. 'Federal judges do not appoint the president in this country,' Pepper wrote in 45-page ruling late last year. 'One wonders why the plaintiffs came to federal court and asked a federal judge to do so. After a week of sometimes odd and often harried litigation, the court is no closer to answering the 'why.' But this federal court has no authority or jurisdiction to grant the relief the remaining plaintiff seeks.' Filed on behalf of would-be Trump elector William Sheehan, Powell's team misspelled their lead plaintiff's name as 'Meehan,' but they insisted that their complaint could have been a winner if Judge Pepper only allowed the case to reach the merits."
May 4, 2021 - Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, appeared on Fox News today, where he was asked about efforts by some House Republicans to push Liz Cheney out of her role as Republican conference chairwoman. McCarthy responded:
"I have heard from members concerned about her ability to carry out the job as conference chair, to carry out the message. We all need to be working as one if we're able to win the majority."
A spokesperson for congresswoman Liz Cheney responded to McCarthy's comments on Fox saying:
"This is about whether the Republican Party is going to perpetuate lies about the 2020 election and attempt to whitewash what happened on Jan 6. Liz will not do that. That is the issue."
According to Politico, Elise Stefanik has been making calls to GOP members in a bid to replace Liz Cheney as conference chair should she be ousted.
According to the Guardian, a federal judge has ordered the justice department to release a legal memo cited as justification for clearing Donald Trump of obstruction of justice charges following the Mueller investigation. From the story:
"The 2019 memo was cited by former attorney general Bill Barr, who said that Trump was cleared of obstruction based on 'consultation with the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) and other department lawyers'. A liberal watchdog group Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to have the OLC's memo released. Following the Mueller investigation, which looked into Russian interference in the 2016 US elections, Barr sent Congress a four-page summary of the investigation which has been widely criticized for spinning its findings. At the time, he also told Congress he had consulted with the OLC and concluded there was no justification for obstruction of justice charges against Trump. The memo has been partially released, with redactions. The DOJ said the redacted portions should remain so due to attorney-client privilege. Judge Amy Berman Jackson disagreed. In her decision, she said: 'not only was the attorney general being disingenuous then, but DOJ has been disingenuous to this court with respect to the existence of a decision-making process that should be shielded by the deliberative process privilege.'"
According to a new report from the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Black Lives Matter LA and Centro Community Service Organization, Los Angeles sheriff deputies frequently harass the families of people they have killed. The report provides detailed accounts of harrasment from the families of Paul Rea and Anthony Vargas. From the report:
- LASD deputies regularly drive by or park in front of the Rea and Vargas families' homes and workplaces and at times have taken photos or recorded them for no reason.
- Deputies have repeatedly pulled over relatives, searched their cars and detained and arrested them without probable cause, allegedly in retaliation for their protests.
- Officers have shown up to vigils and family gatherings, at times mocking and laughing at them or threatening to arrest them, and have also damaged items at memorial sites.
Donald Trump rolled out a new website, which is being described by many as a blog, entitled "From the Desk of Donald Trump".
May 3, 2021 - According to the Guardian, the Biden administration has reunited four immigrant families that were separated under Donald Trump. From the story:
"The reunited families include mothers who were separated from their children in late 2017, one Honduran and another Mexican, Alejandro Mayorkas, the Homeland security secretary said. Mayorkas described them as children who were 3 years old at the time and 'teenagers who have had to live without their parent during their most formative years'. Parents will return to the United States on humanitarian parole while authorities consider other longer-term forms of legal status, Michelle Brane, executive director of the administration’s Family Reunification Task Force, said, according to Associated Press. The children are already in the US. More than 5,400 children were separated from their parents during the Trump administration going back to July 1, 2017, according to the ACLU. As of October last year, lawyers were still struggling to find the parents of 545 children separated from them under Trump's 'zero-tolerance' immigration policy. The Biden administration believes more than 1,000 families remain separated."
Donald Trump sent the following statement out today: "The Fraudulent Presidential Election of 2020 will be from this day forth, known as THE BIG LIE!" NOTE: Trump's baseless claim about massive election fraud has come to be known as the big lie since election day.
According to Reuters, the Senate judiciary committee is pressing the FBI to explain why it failed to anticipate the Capitol insurrection despite close contact with the Proud Boys in the months leading up to the event. From the story:
"Committee chair, Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, wrote to Federal Bureau of Investigation director Christopher Wray today asking whether the agency had adequately pushed its sources in the extremist group, in order to understand their plans before the Capitol attack that sought to block the certification of Joe Biden's election as president. Durbin's letter came after Reuters reported last week that the FBI had received information from at least four sources in the Proud Boys over the years since 2019. The Judiciary Committee has oversight of the FBI. 'Given the FBI's apparent relationship with Proud Boys sources,' the Illinois senator asked Wray, 'why did the FBI fail to detect the threat that the Proud Boys and other similar militia violent extremists posed to the Capitol on January 6?' The FBI did not immediately respond to media questions today about the letter. In court filings, prosecutors have described the Proud Boys as among the instigators of the fatal riot on January 6, in which extremists sought to keep Donald Trump in office despite his electoral defeat. At least 18 Proud Boys have been arrested on charges ranging from conspiracy to assaulting police officers. At least six others associated with or accompanying the group have been charged. As Reuters reported last week, Proud Boys leader Joseph Biggs declined to discuss his plans for January 6 when the news agency interviewed him two days before the Capitol attack. But he said he would have told an FBI agent he knew, if he'd been asked. Citing that report, Durbin asked Wray: 'Did the FBI ask its Proud Boys sources for their plans for January 6? If not, why not?' Even before January 6, the Proud Boys had become a well-known right-wing group that calls itself 'Western chauvinist' and often engages in street fighting and violence."
During an appearance on Fox News, Rudy Giuliani claimed the FBI is "trying to frame" him, and claimed the investigation is driven by "hatred of President Trump". NOTE: Federal officials are looking at whether Giuliani violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) which makes it a federal crime to try to influence or lobby the US government at the request of a foreign official without informing the justice department.
Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican Representative, who voted to impeach Donald Trump, sent the following in a tweet:
"The 2020 presidential election was not stolen. Anyone who claims it was is spreading THE BIG LIE, turning their back on the rule of law, and poisoning our democratic system."
April 30, 2021 - Some Republicans are upset with Congresswoman Liz Cheney, as she was observed fist bumping Joe Biden when he addressed a joint session of congress on the eve of his 100th day in office. Cheney responded to the criticism tweeting:
"I disagree strongly w/@JoeBiden policies, but when the President reaches out to greet me in the chamber of the US House of Representatives, I will always respond in a civil, respectful & dignified way. We're different political parties. We're not sworn enemies. We're Americans."
Writing for the Guardian, Ed Pilkington offers the following commentary on efforts in Florida to restrict voting:
"The Florida legislature has passed tight new voting restrictions, placing the crucial swing state at the forefront of a nationwide wave of Republican efforts to suppress turnout on the back of Donald Trump's lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. The bill, which closely mirrors similar Republican ploys in Georgia and Michigan, is likely to make it more difficult for millions of voters to have their democratic say. The new barriers to voting are expected to particularly impact minority communities. The legislation introduces a plethora of new hurdles to voting by mail in the wake of the surge in mail-in voting by Democrats in the 2020 election. It also imposes restrictions on providing water to citizens standing in line to cast their ballot."
According to the Hill, Merrick Garland, the attorney general, is working to reverse a number of Trump-era policies. From the story:
"Attorney General Merrick Garland has rescinded a Trump-era memo blocking so-called sanctuary cities from receiving funding from the Department of Justice. A memo limiting $250 million in funding to local police departments if they didn’t agree to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials was issued by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions in 2017 following an executive order by former President Trump. Garland rescinded that in a memo signed two weeks ago, and a new memo obtained by Reuters Wednesday directs the Justice Department to reinitiate the process on any pending grants that would have required cooperation with immigration authorities. 'The Department informed grant recipients and applicants that they will continue receiving certain Department grants without making certifications,' the Justice Department writes on its community-oriented policing page. 'The Department will also cease giving priority consideration to grant applicants that accept conditions similar to those requirements.'"
The AP has more information on the federal investigation into Rudy Giuliani. From the story:
"Federal authorities investigating Rudy Giuliani are seeking information related to a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who was ousted from her job two years ago on orders of then-President Donald Trump, a lawyer for Giuliani said Friday. Robert Costello confirmed via text message that a search warrant served this week on Giuliani made reference to Marie Yovanovitch, who as a central player in the first impeachment case against Trump detailed a smear campaign by Giuliani and other Trump allies that preceded her 2019 removal from the job. Costello said the warrant also referenced Ukraine's former top prosecutor Yuri Lutsenko, who met with Giuliani and was also part of efforts to remove Yovanovitch from her position. The fact that the warrant makes mention of Yovanovitch, and that it seeks communication between Giuliani and several Ukrainians, suggests authorities are attempting to determine whether Giuliani's efforts to remove the ambassador were being done at the behest of Trump or of Ukrainians. That distinction matters because federal law requires anyone lobbying the U.S. on behalf of a foreign country or entity to register their work with the Justice Department. Giuliani has denied any wrongdoing. The New York Times was first to report on the warrant's reference to Yovanovitch."
The Department of Defense announced that it is cancelling all contracts for border wall construction on the US-Mexico border that used funds originally intended for military missions and functions.
Mitch McConnell, along with 38 additional Republican legislators, released a letter arguing that a proposal to teach students more about both slavery and the ways in which Black Americans have contributed throughout the country's history is too "divisive". From the letter:
"Americans do not need or want their tax dollars diverted from promoting the principles that unite our nation toward promoting radical ideologies meant to divide us"
Reuters has more on what concerns the Republican legislators:
"A spokesman for the U.S. Education Department said that institutions are acknowledging America's 'legacy of systemic inequities' and noted that the department welcomes comments on the proposal until May 19. The lawmakers zeroed in on the proposal's mention of the New York Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning 1619 Project. The initiative, which traces U.S. history from the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in colonial Virginia, was a frequent target for former President Donald Trump, who sought instead to promote 'patriotic' education."
According to a new CNN poll, 70% of Republicans do not believe Biden won enough votes to become president. 50% of Republicans believe there's solid evidence to back this belief up.
April 29, 2021 - Today is Joe Biden's 100th day in office.
Donald Trump phoned into Fox Business with Maria Bartiromo to complain about Biden't first 100 days. During the interview, Trump told Bartiromo "I'll tell you what, that election was won by us. It was not won by Biden." Trump also claimed that if he "wasn't president, you wouldn't have a vaccine".
According to the Guardian, the CIA, state department and Pentagon are investigating the possible use of a directed energy device that led to two US officials in the DC area contracting "Havana syndrome" which is a mysterious brain trauma that American diplomats and spies abroad have suffered. From the story:
"CNN reported on Thursday that two possible incidents on US soil are part of the investigation. One took place in November last year near the Ellipse, the large oval lawn on the south side of the White House, in which an official from the national security council suddenly fell sick. The other was in 2019 and involved a White House official walking her dog in a Virginia suburb of Washington. That incident was reported in GQ magazine last year. Officials cautioned that the investigations into these and other incidents have not reached a conclusion. 'The health and wellbeing of American public servants is a paramount priority for the Biden administration. We take all reports of health incidents by our personnel extremely seriously,' a White House spokesperson said."
According to the Washington Post, Donald Trump has become obsessed with the unprecedented audit of the 2020 election ballots taking place in Arizona. From the story:
"In what many see as a thinly veiled effort to continue calling the presidential election results into question, Republicans in the state have handed over 2.1m ballots and the machines that counted from Maricopa county to private company Cyber Ninjas, whose chief executive has shared unfounded conspiracy theories that the election was stolen. Given that Trump was on Fox Business this morning claiming that he won the election, it comes as no surprise that the audit in Arizona has caught his attention. The former president asks aides for updates multiple times a day, according to the Post, and 'he talks about it constantly, one source told the newspaper. There has been no evidence of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election, and voting rights groups have expressed concern that Arizona's actions will deepen the political divide on election integrity."
Writing for the Guardian, Richard Luscombe offers the following commentary on a bill passed by lawmakers in Florida that bans trans women and girls in school sports:
"Transgender women and girls will be banned from participating in school sports in Florida, if the state's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, signs what critics call a 'cruel and horrific' bill rushed through by state legislators in a controversial late-night session. The politicians revived, then passed, the bill that prohibits trans athletes competing in high school and college sports in short order on Wednesday, employing what opponents have called 'shady, backroom tactics' to bind it to unrelated legislation on charter schools. A previous, standalone bill passed the Florida house earlier this month, but died in the state senate after warnings from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) that it would not stage championship games and tournaments in states with discriminatory policies. 'It's horrific,' said Gina Duncan, the director of transgender equality at Equality Florida. 'This bill shows not only their lack of humanity but their astounding ignorance about the transgender community, not understanding that trans girls are girls and transgender women are women. Despite impassioned pleas by legislators who have gay and transgender kids and grandkids imploring supporters of this bill to understand the harm that it will do, Republicans followed their marching orders to implement this orchestrated culture war and move this bill forward.' The move in Florida, where both chambers are controlled by Republicans, is part of a wave of anti-trans legislation sweeping across the nation, with dozens of measures proposed or passed in numerous states."
April 28, 2021 - According to the Guardian, Michael Fanone, a DC police officer, sat down with CNN and described his reaction to Republican attempts to downplay the events of January 6th:
"A Washington DC police officer injured that day at Capitol said it has been 'difficult' to hear politicians downplay the events that day in an interview last night with CNN. DC police officer Michael Fanone described how he was dragged down the Capitol steps, beaten and suffered a mild heart attack and a concussion by a mob which supported Trump. 'It's been very difficult seeing elected officials and other individuals kind of whitewash the events of that day or downplay what happened,' Fanone told CNN. 'Some of the terminology that was used, like 'hugs and kisses' and 'very fine people,' is very different from what I experienced and what my co-workers experienced on the 6th.' Last month, Trump lied and said rioters were 'hugging and kissing' police during the attack. CNN host Don Lemon asked Fanone about Trump's comments and the officer responded: 'I think it’s dangerous,' Fanone, 40, said. 'It is very much not the experience I had on the 6th. I experienced a group of individuals who were trying to kill me to accomplish their goal.' Fanone joined the police after Sep 11. While defending the Capitol on 6 Jan, a rioter shocked Fanone with a stun gun, triggering the mild heart attack. He said he has also experienced PTSD because of the events that day. 'I experienced the most brutal, savage hand-to-hand combat of my entire life, let alone my policing career, which spans almost two decades' Fanone said. 'This was nothing I had ever thought would be a part of my law enforcement career.'"
Writing for the guardian, Sam Levine offers the following commentary on Republican efforts to make it harder to vote:
"Even as attacks on voting rights have escalated in recent years, the Republican effort since January marks a new, more dangerous phase for American democracy, experts say. From the moment Biden was elected, Republicans have waged an unprecedented effort to undermine confidence in the results in the election, thrusting the foundation of American democracy to the center of American politics. An alarming peak in that effort came on 6 January, when Republican lies about the election fomented the attack on the US capitol and several GOP senators tried to block certification of the electoral college vote. Biden was inaugurated on 20 January, but the Republican project to undermine the vote has only grown since then. The effort has been staggering not only in its volume – more than 360 bills with voting restrictions have been introduced so far – but also in its scope."
According to the New York Times, federal investigators searched the apartment of Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, and Donald Trump's personal lawyer. From the story:
"Executing a search warrant is an extraordinary move for prosecutors to take against a lawyer, let alone a lawyer for a former president, and it marks a major turning point in the long-running investigation into Mr Giuliani. The federal authorities have been largely focused on whether Mr Giuliani illegally lobbied the Trump administration in 2019 on behalf of Ukrainian officials and oligarchs, who at the same time were helping Mr Giuliani search for dirt on Mr Trump's political rivals, including president Biden, who was then a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination."
Some notable reactions to news that Rudy Giuliani's apartment was searched:
"Here we go folks!!" - Michael Cohen, Former lawyer for Donald Trump
"Oh my -- Giuliani's apartment searched based on his nasty doings in Ukraine, which were plainly dishonest and based on wild lies -- but this means that a magistrate judge has found probable cause to believe that they were also criminal. very major development." - Harry Litman
According to Reuters, the justice department is adding new charges in the domestic terrorism plot to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan. The new charge is conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and adds federal firearms violations for two of the defendants. From the story:
"Adam Fox, 40, of Wyoming, Michigan; Barry Croft Jr., 45, of Bear, Delaware; and Daniel Joseph Harris, 23, of Lake Orion, Michigan, were charged with knowingly conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction against persons or property, the department said, in addition to a kidnapping conspiracy charge in October. The superseding indictment today alleges that the three planned to destroy a nearby bridge, which would have harmed and hindered Whitmer's security detail and any responding law enforcement officers, a Justice Department statement said. The new indictment also alleged that Croft and Harris possessed a 'destructive device' that was not registered as required by U.S. federal law. It said Harris also possessed an unregistered semiautomatic assault rifle. Fourteen men were accused of taking part in a plot by right-wing militia extremists to abduct Whitmer. One of them broke ranks with his co-defendants in January and pleaded guilty to a federal kidnapping conspiracy charge. Prosecutors have said all 14 suspects targeted Whitmer in retribution for public health orders she imposed placing restrictions on a wide range of social and business activity to reduce the spread of the coronavirus."
According to the Justice Department, the three men charged in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery will be charged with hate crimes.
Joe Biden addressed a joint session of congress today. Here are some highlights:
- For the first time in history, two women were seated behind the president addressing a joint session of congress. Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker and Kamala Harris, the vice president.
- Biden walked up to the podium and turned towards Kamala Harris and said: "Madame Vice President -- no president has ever said those words from this podium. No president has ever said those words, and it's about time"
- Ted Cruz was spotted sleeping during the address.
- Biden stated: "Everyone is now eligible to get vaccinated. Right now, right away, go get vaccinated, America."
- Biden stated: "Wall Street didn't build this country. The middle class built this country. And unions build the middle class." NOTE: One notable response to Biden's claim that the middle class built this country by Jackie Vimo: "Actually, slaves, Black workers, immigrants, unpaid domestic work, + indigenous genocide built this country. Or was that slave who built the White House just laying bricks on the way to the office?"
- Biden promoted his "families plan" which includes funding for universal preschool, two years of free community college, and a national childcare program among other provisions.
- Biden told the transgender community: "I want you to know that your president has your back"
- Biden stated that "Health care should be right, not a privilege in America." NOTE: One notable response by Ilhan Omar: "If you say you believe healthcare is a right and not a privilege, than support Medicare 4 All."
Tim Scott, the lone black Republican senator, gave the Republican response to Biden's speech. Here are some highlights:
- Scott declared that "America is not a racist country". NOTE: Scott followed this statement with a description of discrimination he's faced, like being followed in shops, being stopped by the police, and being called racist slurs.
- Scott defended new voting restrictions in Georgia, saying those changes will make it easier to vote early in the state. NOTE: According to experts, the policies will make it harder to vote. Here's a description of the new law from Sam Levine of the Guardian:
"It requires voters to submit ID information with both an absentee ballot request and the ballot itself. It limits the use of absentee ballot drop boxes, allows for unlimited challenges to a voter's qualifications, cuts the runoff election period from nine to four weeks, and significantly shortens the amount of time voters have to request an absentee ballot. The legislation also empowers the state legislature, currently dominated by Republicans, to appoint a majority of members on the five-person state election board. That provision would strip Georgia's secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who stood up to Trump after the election, from his current role as chairman of the board. The bill creates a mechanism for the board to strip local election boards of their power."
- Scott claimed the Biden administration "inherited a tide that had already turned". NOTE: Joe Biden took office in the midst of the most deadly phase of the pandemic.
- Scott stated "Just before Covid, we had the most inclusive economy in my lifetime. The lowest unemployment ever recorded for African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans. The lowest for women in nearly 70 years" NOTE: Unemployment rates were falling before Trump took office, and those declines didn't pick up speed after Trump took office. There were also no notable changes in relative unemployment rates for any group following Trump taking office.
April 27, 2021 - A group of human rights experts from 11 countries looked into police brutality in the US, and concluded that the systematic killing and maiming of defenseless African Americans by police amount to crimes against humanity, which should be investigated and prosecuted under international law. The group has called on the prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) in the Hague to pen an immediate investigation saying: "This finding of crimes against humanity was not given lightly, we included it with a very clear mind. We examined all the facts and concluded that there are situations in the US that beg the urgent scrutiny of the ICC."
According to the Guardian, Doug Ducey, the governor of Arizona, signed a bill that:
"criminalizes abortions based on genetic conditions and implements a raft of anti-abortion measures opposed by medical groups and women’s health advocates. The bill confers civil rights to unborn children, requires fetal remains to be cremated or buried, prohibits educational institutions from performing abortions unless the mother's life is in jeopardy, forbids the mailing or delivery of abortion-inducing drugs (which doctors use to manage miscarriages as well as to induce abortion) and prevents public money from being used to support research involving abortions. Yesterday, the Republican governors of Oklahoma and Montana signed laws severely limiting abortions."
April 26, 2021 - Lora Reinbold, a Republican lawmaker from Alaska, has been banned from flying on Alaska Airlines for repeatedly refusing to wear a face mask. The ban means that Reinbold's trek to work now takes 14 hours as Alaska Airlines is the only airline option to and from the capital.
Josh Hawley, a Republican senator from Missouri, will be releasing a new book next week called the Tyranny of Big Tech. In the book, Hawley claims to be a victim of cancel culture over his actions around the Capitol insurrection.
Rick Santorum, a former Republican senator, caused outrage among Native Americans when he told a group at a rightwing students' conference that European colonists came to America and "birthed a nation from nothing". Santorum continued: "There was nothing here. I mean, yes we have Native Americans but candidly there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture." Nick Estes, a citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux tribe and host of the Red Nation podcast, responded to Santorum's comments saying: "The erasure of Native people and histories, which existed before and survived in spite of a white supremacist empire, is a foundational sin of a make-believe nation."
According to Reuters, the Department of Homeland Security plans to scrutinize whether any of its employees have ties to extremist groups. From the story:
"The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will initiate an internal review of possible domestic violent extremism within its ranks, Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Monday. A group of senior DHS officials 'will immediately begin a comprehensive review of how to best prevent, detect, and respond to threats related to domestic violent extremism within DHS,' the department said in a news release. President Joe Biden singled out U.S. immigration enforcement agencies in his first budget proposal released earlier this month, calling for funding to investigate complaints of white supremacist beliefs at the agencies. The White House did not say what prompted the request. Mayorkas said in a statement on Monday that domestic violent extremism 'poses the most lethal and persistent terrorism-related threat to our country today,' adding such acts 'will not be tolerated.'"
April 23, 2021 - Robert Chapman of New York, found a possible match on the dating app Bumble. He then told her about how he "did storm the Capitol" on January 6th. The person he matched then told him "we are not a match" then turned him into the FBI. From a story in the Guardian:
"Prosecutors said the user then quickly reached out to the FBI and provided screenshots of the conversation. Investigators said in court filings that they corroborated Chapman's claims by comparing his Bumble profile picture to body camera footage from police officers who were inside the Capitol. Chapman was charged with four misdemeanors, including disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. He hasn't entered a plea and his lawyer didn't respond to a request for comment on the charges. According to screenshots in court filings, Chapman also posted to Facebook before the January 6 insurrection that he was traveling to the 'District of Criminality,' referring to Washington, DC. And on the day of the attack, he allegedly posted, 'I'M F---IN INSIDE THE CRAPITOL.' Incriminating social media posts like these have become a hallmark of the Capitol riot investigation. In dozens of cases, prosecutors quoted rioters' posts from Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Parler, Snapchat, and other sites where they bragged about their alleged crimes. More than 390 people have been charged with federal crimes in connection with the attack. According to court records, Chapman was arrested on Thursday and released by a federal magistrate judge in the Southern District of New York. Most Capitol riot defendants who aren't charged with violent crimes -- including Chapman -- have been released from jail before trial."
According to the AP, a New York man has pleaded not guilty to charges that he engaged in a campaign that called for the killing of lawmakers. From the story:
"Hunt, 37, an analyst for the New York court system, has pleaded not guilty to charges alleging, in part, that he called for the killings of lawmakers, including House Speaker and California Democrat Nancy Pelosi, New York Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York Democratic Senator and majority leader Chuck Schumer. Prosecutors say it was part of a monthlong online campaign to urge violence against members of Congress that culminated on January 8 in an 88-second video titled: 'Kill your senators. Slaughter them all.' Prosecutors allege Hunt was trying to inspire violence against members of Congress on Inauguration Day (Jan 21) as a follow up to the Jan. 6 attack. Defense attorneys have called the charges overblown and argued that there's no proof that Hunt was a legitimate threat."
According to the Washington Post, Senator Ted Cruz has ties with a far-right extremist group. From the story:
"On Aug. 4, 2019, the day after a gunman who had posted a hateful diatribe against Hispanics fatally shot 23 people at an El Paso Walmart, a leader of a tea party group in Texas said on Facebook: 'You're not going to demographically replace a once proud, strong people without getting blow-back.' His wife, the founder of the group, in the Fort Worth suburbs of Tarrant County, added in a comment: 'I don’t condone the actions, but I certainly understand where they came from.' Ten days later, amid a brewing backlash over the comments by Fred and Julie McCarty, the Northeast Tarrant Tea Party posted an undated testimonial from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) wishing the group a happy 10th anniversary as it rebranded itself as True Texas Project. 'Thank you for the incredible work you do,' Cruz said, in the only on-camera endorsement from an elected official posted on the group's Facebook and YouTube pages to mark the occasion. 'Julie, Fred, thank you for your passion.' A Washington Post review of True Texas Project's activities and social media shows that Cruz has continued to embrace the group, even as its nativist rhetoric and divisive tactics have alienated some other conservative elected officials. Cruz's father, a frequent campaign surrogate for his son, spoke at a meeting of the group shortly after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, at a time when the group's leadership was defending the pro-Trump mob on social media. A spokeswoman did not respond to a request for an interview with the senator or to specific questions about TTP. 'The Senator is not aware of every tweet, post, or comment of activists in the state of Texas,' the spokeswoman, Erin Perrine, said in a statement. 'If you want to know what he thinks on any issue — feel free to look at his decades-long record. Sen. Cruz is unequivocal in his denunciation of any form of racism, hatred, or bigotry.' In 2019, Cruz condemned the El Paso shooting as 'a heinous act of terrorism and white supremacy.' The gunman's manifesto had railed against a 'Hispanic invasion of Texas,' and many of those killed or wounded were Hispanic. Cruz's ongoing ties to TTP contrast with the group's fraught relationship with much of the Republican establishment in Texas."
According to the Guardian, Chris Carr, Georgia's state attorney general, has resigned as chairman of the national Republican Attorneys General Association due to a "fundamental difference of opinion" with some of the other 24 members regarding the Capitol insurrection. From the story:
"His letter cited the departure of the group's executive director, Adam Piper, who resigned shortly after it was revealed that RAGA's policy arm paid for robocalls urging supporters of then-President Donald Trump to march on the Capitol to press for overturning the outcome the election the day of the riot. 'The fundamental difference of opinion began with vastly opposite views of the significance of the events of January 6 and the resistance by some to accepting the resignation of the executive director,' Carr wrote in the April 16 letter obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 'The differences have continued as we have tried to restore RAGA's reputation internally and externally and were reflected once again during the process of choosing the next executive director.' Carr's spokeswoman has repeatedly said he had no knowledge or involvement in the robocalls, which were promoted by the Rule of Law Defense Fund. He's also condemned the violence and joined other AGs who declared that 'such actions will not be allowed to go unchecked.' It's not immediately clear what led to his resignation, as Carr previously indicated he would stay in his leadership post and work to overhaul the organization from within. But the decision to distance himself from RAGA comes as Carr weighs a challenge to U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a newly elected Democrat who is up for reelection in November 2022."
Jen Fifield, a reporter for the Arizona Republic, signed up to work as an election worker for the GOP election audit of Maricopa county. During the audit, Fifield tweeted about how those who were counting the ballots had pens with blue ink, which is a huge no-no among election officials, because voters usually use black or blue ink to mark ballots. Fifield was later banned from tweeting updates.
Kay Ivey, the Republican governor of Alabama, signed a bill today which restricts trans students from participating in K-12 sports.
April 22, 2021 - The US House of Representatives passed a bill to make the District of Columbia the 51st US state in a vote that fell along party lines.
The Senate passed the anti-Asian hate crimes bill in a vote of 94 to 1. The lone opposition vote came from Missouri Republican Josh Hawley. The bill now moves on the House.
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following analysis of an effort by Arizona Republicans to undermine the 2020 election results:
"Nearly five months after Joe Biden was declared the official winner of the presidential race in Arizona, state Republicans are set to begin their own audit of millions of ballots, an unprecedented move many see as a thinly-veiled effort to continue to undermine confidence in the 2020 election results. The GOP-controlled state senate ordered the audit, set to formally get underway this week, which may be one of the most absurd and alarming consequences to date of Donald Trump's baseless lies about the 2020 election. It will be executed by a private Florida-based company. It also reportedly will be supported from far-right lawyer Lin Wood and observers from the far-right news network One America News Network. The audit will be solely focused on Maricopa county, the largest in the state and home to a majority of Arizona’s voters. Biden narrowly defeated Trump in the county, a crucial battleground that helped the president win Arizona by around 10,000 votes. The audit will include a hand recount of all 2.1m ballots cast in the county, a process expected to take months. Trump and allies have claimed, without evidence, there was fraud in Maricopa county. But the county has already conducted two separate audits of the 2020 election and found no irregularities. The Republican decision to continue to investigate the results, months after they were certified by both county and state officials, extends the life of election conspiracy theories. The audit also comes as Arizona Republicans are advancing legislation in the state that would make it harder to vote by mail. 'They're trying to find something that we know doesn't exist,' said Arizona secretary of state Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, who serves as the state's top election official. 'It's ludicrous that people think that if they don't like the results they can just come in and tear them apart.' David Becker, an election administration expert and the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said the effort was so shoddy he was hesitant to acknowledge it as a legitimate investigation."
A newly released report by the housing department's office of the inspector general found that Trump delayed more than $20bn in hurricane relief aid for Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. According to the report, aid was "unnecessarily delayed by bureaucratic obstacles".
April 21, 2021 - The Siena College Research Institute, which has conducted a sweeping survey of historians, political scientists and presidential scholars since 1982, in order to rank presidents based on 20 categories ranging from integrity to ability to compromise, has released its latest results. Ranked number 1 among the presidents is George Washington, who ranked high for moral authority, economic management, and overall performance within the context of his times. Other notable rankings:
10th - John F Kennedy
13th - Ronald Reagan
15th - Bill Clinton
17th - Barack Obama
21st - George H W Bush
26th - Jimmy Carter
29th - Richard Nixon
33rd - George W Bush
42nd - Donald Trump
44th - Andrew Johnson
April 20, 2021 - House minority leader Kevin McCarthy introduced a resolution to censure congresswoman Maxine Waters for comments she made yesterday about the Derek Chauvin trial. Here's what Waters said that has upset Republicans:
"We're looking for a guilty verdict ... we've got to stay on the street. And we have got to get more active. We've got to get more confrontational. We've got to make sure that they know that we mean business."
McCarthy's censure resolution, which accused Waters of raising the potential for violence, failed as representatives voted along party lines. Following the vote, McCarthy sent the following tweet:
"Speaker Pelosi, and every other House Democrat, had the opportunity to condemn the violent rhetoric of our colleague Representative Waters. Instead, they condoned it. And the House and our justice system are worse off because of it."
Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all counts of murder and manslaughter for the killing of George Floyd.
April 19, 2021 - According to Bloomberg News, Mike Lindell (a.k.a. the MyPillow guy) is now suing Dominion Voting Systems Inc. From the story:
"MyPillow sued Monday in federal court in Minnesota, where the company is based, doubling down on Lindell's discredited claims of fraud against Dominion, saying 'the adverse impact of electronic voting systems on the 2020 election was significant. Dominion's purpose is to silence debate; to eliminate any challenge to the 2020 presidential election; and to cancel and destroy anyone who speaks out against Dominion's work on behalf of the government in administering the election,' MyPillow said in its complaint. Dominion sued Lindell and MyPillow in February in federal court in Washington, seeking $1.3 billion in damages. It claimed the pillow company boosted sales by as much as 40% by echoing former President Donald Trump's false claims that the election was rigged against him. 'This is a meritless retaliatory lawsuit, filed by MyPillow to try to distract from the harm it caused to Dominion,' Dominion lawyer Stephen Shackelford said in a statement."
A judge has ordered Proud Boys leaders Ethan Nordean and Joe Biggs jailed pending trial over the Capitol insurrection. The Guardian has some background information:
"Joseph Biggs, one of four Proud Boys organizers charged in one of the Justice Department's biggest cases stemming from the Capitol siege, said the bureau regularly turned to him for advice on antifa — a loosely affiliated collection of violent leftists that the bureau has described as adherents to an ideology rather than part of an organized group. 'In late July 2020, an FBI Special Agent out of the Daytona Beach area telephoned Biggs and asked Biggs to meet with him and another FBI agent at a local restaurant. Biggs agreed,' according to a late Monday court filing issued by Biggs' attorney in an effort to keep Biggs out of pretrial detention. 'Biggs learned after he traveled to the restaurant that the purpose of the meeting was to determine if Biggs could share information about Antifa networks operating in Florida and elsewhere. They wanted to know what Biggs was 'seeing on the ground.' Biggs' claims, not immediately corroborated by the FBI, nevertheless are likely to sharpen concerns that law enforcement has tolerated violence by the Proud Boys, who have long styled themselves as allies of the police in a fight against leftists. Like Biggs, Proud Boys national chair Enrique Tarrio has said in media interviews that he had long proactively communicated with law enforcement about Proud Boys' plans in various cities — plans that routinely led to violent confrontations with leftist protesters."
April 16, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Lois Beckett offers the following analysis of the propensity for violence among those Trump supporters who have been radicalized:
"Three months after an insurrection at the US capitol, an estimated 50 million Republicans still believe the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, according to a recent national survey. But it’s far from clear how many Americans might still be willing to take violent action in support of that belief. Early research on the continued risk of violence related to Trump's 'big lie' has produced a wide variety of findings. One political scientist at the University of Chicago estimated, based on a single national survey in March, that the current size of an ongoing 'insurrectionist movement' in the US might be as large as 4% of American adults, or about 10 million people. Other experts on political violence cautioned that survey results about what Americans believe provide virtually no insight on how many of them will ever act on those beliefs. Researchers who have interviewed some of Trump's most loyal supporters over the past months say that many of them appear to be cooling down – still believing the election was stolen, but not eager to do much about it. The handful of attempts by far-right extremist groups to mobilize nationwide protests after 6 January have mostly fizzled. 'Lots of people talk the talk, but very few walk the walk,' Michael Jensen, a senior researcher who specializes in radicalization at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (Start), told the Guardian. 'Only a tiny fraction of the people who adhere to radical views will act on them.'"
According to the AP, Jon Ryan Schaffer, a heavy metal guitarist, and founding member of the Oath Keepers, became the first defendant to plead guilty to federal charges related to the Capitol insurrection. Schaffer stands accused of storming the Capitol and spraying police officers with bear spray. From the story:
"Schaffer has agreed to cooperate with investigators in hopes of getting a lighter sentence, and the Justice Department will consider putting Schaffer in the federal witness security program."
According to Politico, the state department's inspector general's office concluded in a report that there were more than 100 instances in which Mike or Susan Pompeo "asked State Department staffers to handle tasks of a personal nature, from booking salon appointments and private dinner reservations to picking up their dog and arranging tours for the Pompeos' political allies. Employees told investigators that they viewed the requests from Susan Pompeo, who was not on the federal payroll, as being backed by the secretary."
April 15, 2021 - The following exchange took place today between Jim Jordan, a Republican congressman, and Dr Anthony Fauci, Joe Biden's chief medical adviser:
JORDAN: "What measure, what standard, what objective outcome do we have to reach before Americans get their liberty and freedoms back?"
FAUCI: "You know, you're indicating liberty and freedom. I look at it as a public health measure to prevent people from dying and going to the hospital."
JORDAN: "You don't think Americans' liberties have been threatened the last year, Dr. Fauci? They've been assaulted. Their liberties have."
FAUCI: "I don't look at this as a liberty thing, Congressman Jordan."
After Jordan's time expired, he continued shouting questions at Fauci while ignoring subcommittee chairman Jim Clyburn as he tried to get the hearing back on track. At that point Maxine Waters, a Democratic congresswoman told Jordan: "Your time expired, sir. You need to respect the chair and shut your mouth."
April 14, 2021 - Kim Potter, the police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright, has been charged with manslaughter.
Hundreds of companies joined together to publish a statement in the New York Times and the Washington Post condemning "discriminatory legislation" designed to hinder voting rights in the US. From the statement:
"We Stand for Democracy. Voting is the lifeblood of our democracy and we call upon all Americans to take a nonpartisan stand for this basic and most fundamental right of all Americans."
April 13, 2021 - According to a study from the Williams Institute at UCLA, 45,000 young transgender people could lose access to gender-affirming healthcare if proposed legislation in several states is made law. Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levin offers the following analysis of the bills:
"The bills are part of an escalating culture war involving trans kids. As Joe Biden has vowed to protect LGBTQ+ people and a 2020 supreme court ruling protected trans rights in the workplace, conservative legislators have introduced more than 80 bills restricting trans rights – most that would either block trans kids' use of gender-affirming care or limit their access to certain sports teams. It is the highest number of anti-trans legislative proposals ever filed in a single year. Supporters of gender-affirming healthcare, including major medical associations, human rights groups and affected families, say that the treatments are well established and part of a gradual process that has been shown to dramatically improve the mental health of the most vulnerable kids. The bills, they argue, misrepresent the care model with false and fearmongering narratives. Trans teens who have received treatments say they would suffer serious harm if they were stripped of the care. 'We're talking about criminalizing doctors for providing best-practice medical care to their patients, and making it child abuse for parents to support access for their children,' said Kasey Suffredini, CEO of Freedom for All Americans, an LGBTQ+ rights group. 'These bills are very, very extreme ... and these are life and death issues.'"
April 12, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Adam Gabbatt offers the following analysis of Republican efforts to restrict protesting:
"After a year where Black Lives Matter demonstrations saw Americans begin to re-address and rethink racial inequality in the nation, a pushback from predominantly Republican lawmakers is on the horizon, with 29 states in the US moving to introduce draconian anti-protest laws. Florida is the most recent state to bring in legislation which critics say would crack down on demonstrations, infringe free speech rights and potentially disproportionately target people of color, while other states have pursued anti-protest bills which could even prevent those convicted from receiving public benefits. Republicans in Florida's house of representatives passed the controversial Combating Violence, Disorder, and Looting and Law Enforcement Protection Act at the end of March. The law would increase penalties for participating in broadly defined 'violent' protests – the vast majority of Black Lives Matter protests have been peaceful – and make it a felony to deface monuments if damage is more than $200. That bill is likely to pass the Florida senate – and be signed into law by the governor – in the coming weeks, with Republican politicians in many other states pursuing similar legislation. There are 71 laws pending at the state and federal level which would impinge on Americans' right to protest, according to the International Center for Not-For-Profit Law, in 29 states."
The National Republican Senatorial Committee awarded Donald Trump its inaugural "Champion for Freedom Award," which recognizes "conservative leaders who have worked tirelessly to create good jobs, protect the values that make our country great, and stop the Democrats' socialist agenda."
Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, announced a state of emergency and put into place a 7 pm to 6 am curfew in anticipation of violent protests as a result of the police killing of Daunte Wright.
Tucker Carlson, a Fox News host, told his audience that immigration would "dilute the political power" of Americans. Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive and national director fo the Anti-Defamation league, called the comments a reflection of "white replacement," which is a racist theory that has been used as motivation for eugenics discrimination and deadly assaults. Greenblatt appeared on CNN where he said "I think we've really crossed a new threshold when a major news network dismisses this or pretends like it isn't important. Tucker has got to go."
Will Smith, an American actor, announced that he will not film his new movie in Georgia after the state passed a "racist" voting law there. In a joint statement, Smith and director Antoine Fuqua stated: "We cannot in good conscience provide economic support to a government that enacts regressive voting laws that are designed to restrict voter access."
April 11, 2021 - Daunte Wright, a black resident of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, was shot when an officer mistakenly pulled out her gun instead of her taser. Wright told his mom during a phone call as he was being pulled over that he had been pulled over for having an air freshener hanging from his mirror.
April 9, 2021 - Congressman Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, has called on Congressman Matt Gaetz to resign. This comes in the wake of a report by the Daily Beast that details Venmo transactions between Gaetz and accused sex trafficker Joel Greenberg in 2018. According to the New York Times, there is a growing list of allegations against Gaetz, including the following:
- NBC News reported that prosecutors are examining Gaetz and Greenberg's relationship, and whether they 'used the internet to search for women they could pay for sex'. Also under investigation is whether Gaetz paid women to travel to the Bahamas for sex, according to NBC News.
- CNN reported that Gaetz would occasionally show other lawmakers naked pictures of women he claimed to have slept with.
- Accusations have also re-emerged that Gaetz had created a game with a point-scoring system for sleeping with 'aides, interns, lobbyists, and married legislators.'
- The New York Times reported that in the waning days of Trump's presidency, Gaetz sought 'blanket pre-emptive pardons' for himself and other allies in Congress.
According to the Washington Post, Trump appointees at the Health and Human Services department worked to undermine and alter scientists' reports on the coronavirus pandemic to better reflect Trump's rosy public commentary. From the story:
"Then-science adviser Paul Alexander wrote to then-HHS public affairs chief Michael Caputo on Sept. 9, 2020, touting two examples of where he said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had bowed to his pressure and changed language in their reports, according to an email obtained by the House's select subcommittee on the coronavirus outbreak. Pointing to one change — where CDC leaders allegedly changed the opening sentence of a report about spread of the virus among younger people after Alexander pressured them — Alexander wrote to Caputo, calling it a 'small victory but a victory nonetheless and yippee!!!' In the same email, Alexander touted another example of a change to a weekly report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that he said the agency made in response to his demands. The weekly Morbidity and Mortality Reports, which offer public updates on scientists' findings, had been considered sacrosanct for decades and untouchable by political appointees in the past. Two days later, Alexander appealed to then-White House adviser Scott Atlas to help him dispute an upcoming CDC report on coronavirus-related deaths among young Americans."
The House Ethics Committee announced that it will open an investigation into Republican congressman Matt Gaetz. In the announcement the committee stated that there are allegations that Gaetz may have engaged in "sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct."
Seth Aaron Pendley, who was involved in the January 6th attack on the Capitol, was arrested after he allegedly sought materials for explosives from an undercover FBI agent with plans to bomb the Amazon Web Services building in Ashburn, Virginia, to disable internet access in key government agencies.
April 8, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Oliver Milman offers the following commentary regarding Michael Regan, the new EPA chief:
"Michael Regan has perhaps the most fiendishly challenging job within Joe Biden's administration. As the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Regan not only has to grapple with the unfolding cataclysm of the climate crisis, he must do so at the helm of a traumatized, shrunken institution still reeling from the chaos of the Donald Trump era. 'I was deeply concerned as I watched the previous administration,' Regan told the Guardian. 'We all witnessed a mass exodus of scientists and qualified people the agency needs. I was really concerned coming into the job as to how morale would be and how much of a setback it would be to tackle the challenges before us.' Trump vowed to reduce the EPA to 'little bits', and although his plans to wildly slash the agency's budget were largely rejected by Congress, the environmental regulator is now left with its fewest employees since the mid-1980s, during which time the US population has grown by nearly a third. Scientists were routinely sidelined, with an average of three a week fleeing the agency during Trump's term. 'It was a sort of painful hell,' said one career official, who weighed up leaving but decided to stay. There were plenty of sources for angst. Trump's EPA laid siege to dozens of environmental regulations – from limits on pollution from cars and trucks to rules designed to stop coal plants dumping toxins into rivers to a ban on a pesticide linked with brain damage in children – often contrary to scientific advice and sometimes shortly after meetings with industry lobbyists. Mentions of climate change were not only scrubbed from the EPA website, the Trump administration mulled holding a televised debate as to whether it existed at all. Scientific panels were purged of various experts and replaced with industry representatives who appeared to hold sway. Andrew Wheeler, Regan's predecessor, is a former coal lobbyist who said acting on climate change was merely 'virtue signaling to foreign capitals'. Scott Pruitt, Trump's first EPA chief, was embroiled in an extravaganza of scandals, including living in an apartment paid for by a lobbyist, using his position to get his wife a job at Chick-fil-A, spending agency funds on foreign trips and even deploying staff to obtain a cut-price mattress from Trump's Washington hotel. 'It was incredibly frustrating,' is how Regan sums up watching the agency unravel. 'I was incredibly frustrated.' Regan, the first black man to lead the EPA in its half-century of existence, previously worked at the agency during Bill Clinton and George W Bush's administrations. 'I worked here for a decade and I knew the staff were not being utilized properly,' he said. 'I know the people, I know the quality of work they can do.'"
April 7, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Tom McCarthy offers the following commentary on one of the Republican Party's new additions to Conservative orthodoxy:
"At campaign rallies, Donald Trump specialized in crafting political slogans whose catchiness obscured the lack of actual policy behind them: lock her up, America First, build the wall, drain the swamp. But there was one Trump slogan that turned out to have a shocking amount of policy behind it – hundreds of pieces of legislation nationwide in just the last three months, in fact, constituting the most coordinated, organized and determined Republican push on any political issue in recent memory. The slogan was 'stop the steal,' a tendentious reference to Trump's big lie about the November election result. And the policy behind it was aggressive voter suppression, targeting people of color, urbanites, low-income communities and other groups whose full participation in future elections is seen by Republicans as a threat. For decades, conservatives have made limited government, lower taxes, 'family' values, religious freedom, public safety, national security and restrictions on abortion the centerpiece of their pitch to voters. In 2021, those issues have been joined on the party platform by – and sometimes seem to be eclipsed by – a bold new policy proposal: prevent voting. Since the November election, Republican state legislatures across the country have introduced more than 250 bills creating barriers to voting, cutting early voting, purging voter rolls, limiting absentee options and now, in Georgia, outlawing giving someone stuck in a 10-hour line a bottle of water."
April 6, 2021 - According to the Guardian, Arkansas lawmakers overrode governor Asa Hutchinson's veto to enact the country's first ban on gender-affirming treatment for transgender youth. From the story:
"The law, which has been opposed by medical groups and child welfare groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics, would punish healthcare providers who offer treatments like hormone therapy and puberty blockers to trans children. The treatments are part of a gradual process that can vastly improve mental health in young people, and can be life-saving, experts say. Arkansas' Republican-controlled legislature overrode Republican governor Asa Hutchinson's veto of the measure. Hutchinson held that the law went too far in interfering with parents' decisions, and would cut off care for young people already receiving treatment."
Writing for the Guardian, Jason Wilson offers the following analysis of a far-right group's plans to harass political enemies:
"Revealed: online chats indicate some members are threatening to unleash harassment tactics on officials and government workers. A national online network of thousands of rightwing, self-described 'Oath Enforcers' is threatening to unleash harassment tactics on elected officials and government workers around the country, the Guardian can reveal. While the network's founder insists that the group is neither violent nor a militia, internal chats indicate that some members are planning for confrontations with law enforcement and their perceived political enemies. The chats also indicate that white supremacists and others connected with the militia movement are aiming to leverage the group's success in recruiting disillusioned supporters of Donald Trump and the 'QAnon' conspiracy movement, who are being exposed to a wide range of conspiracy theories, white nationalist material and rightwing legal theories inside the groups. The group's founder, who makes videos and organizes under the name Vince Edwards, lives off-grid in a remote corner of Costilla county, in Colorado's high desert region. Arrest records from 2016 indicate that he has also used the name Christian Picolo, and other public records associate him with the name Vincent Edward Deluca. Experts say that Edwards' personal history reflects the potential danger in the spread of 'sovereign citizen' ideology – along with voluminous online propaganda, that history includes an armed standoff with Costilla county sheriff's deputies in 2016."
John Boehner, the former Republican House speaker from 2011 to 2015, is publishing a memoir of his time in Congress, but has weighed in on Donald Trump's obsession with the Deep State conspiracy theory saying "That's horseshit."
Greg Gianforte, the governor of Montana, who attacked a Guardian reporter in 2017 named Ben Jacobs, has tested positive for coronavirus.
April 5, 2021 - According to the Guardian, Republicans continue to heap criticism towards Anthony Fauci, much of which Fauci describes as "bizarre". From the story:
"The infectious disease expert who has led the US effort against Covid-19 was forced to defend himself after a former Trump official called him 'the father of the actual virus' and the senator Lindsay Graham followed other Republicans in urging Fauci – Joe Biden's chief medical adviser and the head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to travel to the US-Mexico border. Speaking to Fox News, Fauci said he had become a scapegoat for rightwing figures. 'I've been a symbol to them of what they don't like about anything that has to do with things that are contrary to them, anything outside of their own realm,' he said. In a flurry of tweets on Friday, Graham, from South Carolina, told Fauci: 'You need to go to the southern border and witness in person the biggest super-spreader event in the nation.' 'It's a little bit bizarre, I would say,' Fauci said. 'I mean ... Lindsey Graham, who I like, he's ... you know, he's a good person, I've dealt with him very, very well over the years, you know, equating me with things that have to do at the border? I mean, I have nothing to do with the border.'"
According to a survey by Gallup, just 47% of the US population are members of a church, mosque or synagogue. This is down from 70% two decades ago. According to David Campbell, professor and chair of the University of Notre Dame's political science department and co-author of American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us, one reason for the decline is political in nature, as an "allergic reaction to the religious right. Many Americans – especially young people – see religion as bound up with political conservatism, and the Republican party specifically. Since that is not their party, or their politics, they do not want to identify as being religious. Young people are especially allergic to the perception that many – but by no means all – American religions are hostile to LGBTQ rights."
According to the Guardian, the Arkansas governor has vetoed the anti-trans bill. From the story:
"The Republican governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson, has vetoed a controversial bill which would have stopped anyone under the age of 18 getting treatment involving gender reassignment surgery or medication in the southern state. Arkansas would have been the first state to take such a move. Its Republican-controlled legislature could still enact the measure, however, since it only takes a simple majority to override an Arkansas governor's veto. The bill, known to supporters as the SAFE Act, would prohibit doctors from providing gender-confirming hormone treatment, puberty blockers or surgery to anyone under 18, or from referring them to other providers for the treatment. Hutchinson's veto followed pleas from pediatricians, social workers and parents of transgender youth who said the measure would harm a community already at risk for depression and suicide. A number of measures targeting transgender people have advanced in states controlled by Republicans this year. The governors of Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee have signed laws banning transgender girls and women from competing on school sports teams consistent with the gender identity. Hutchinson recently signed a measure allowing doctors to refuse to treat someone because of moral or religious objections, a law opponents have said could be used to turn away LGBTQ patients. Last month, the Guardian interviewed a number of young transgender Americans about such threats to their rights and what they can do to fight them. Corey Hyman, 15 and from Missouri, said: 'It's going to take a lot of us to stop these bills. It's going to take a lot out of us, out of our parents, out of our supporters. [This fight will] probably go on for many years. 'I'm worried and I'm scared that even more bills are going to be put through. Sometimes we don't get notice about the bills until 24 hours before. It's like, 'By the way, tomorrow's a Senate hearing that could quite literally end your life.' 'They just don't care.'"
The bankruptcy trial for the NRA started today.
Writing for the Guardian, David Smith offers the following analysis of Mitch McConnell's response to corporate America's reaction to voter suppression legislation:
"Republicans' standing as the party of corporate America appears to be under threat after Mitch McConnell, the minority leader in the Senate, told chief executives critical of new voting restrictions in Georgia to 'stay out of politics'. Last week Coca-Cola, Delta and dozens of other companies condemned a new election law in Georgia while Major League Baseball announced it would move the All-Star Game from the state in protest. 'I found it completely discouraging to find a bunch of corporate CEOs getting in the middle of politics,' McConnell told a press conference in his home state of Kentucky on Monday. 'My advice to the corporate CEOs of America is to stay out of politics. Don't pick sides in these big fights.' He warned companies against giving into advocacy campaigns. 'It's jaw-dropping to see powerful American institutions not just permit themselves to be bullied, but join in the bullying themselves,' he said. In a separate written statement, McConnell warned of 'serious consequences' if companies 'keep dabbling in behaving like a woke parallel government.' 'From election law to environmentalism to radical social agendas to the second amendment, parts of the private sector keep dabbling in behaving like a woke parallel government. Corporations will invite serious consequences if they become a vehicle for far-left mobs to hijack our country from outside the constitutional order.'"
April 2, 2021 - According to the Guardian, Major League Baseball has pulled the All-Star Game from Georgia in response to that state's new voting law. From the story:
"Major League Baseball will not hold the annual All-Star Game in Atlanta this year after Georgia passed a new law that makes it significantly harder to vote. The announcement is perhaps the most consequential action taken since Georgia governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed the measure into law. Delta Airlines and Coca-Cola spoke out against the bill this week, but faced criticism for not doing so earlier, when their influence could have had a significant impact on the legislation. 'I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year's All-Star Game and MLB draft,' Rob Manfred, the league's commissioner, said in a statement. 'Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.' The Georgia law implements new requirements for mail-in voting, a process voters in the state used in record numbers without evidence of fraud in 2020."
Republicans have begun railing against "Vaccine Passports" and accusing the Biden administration of wanting to impose them, even though the Biden administration has no plans to require them or issue them. Once such example:
"President Biden and the Democrats want to force Americans to present a 'vaccine passport' upon demand, yet they oppose presenting an ID to cast a vote. Vaccine passports will have no place in South Carolina. The very idea is un-American to its core." - Governor Henry McMaster
Luke Ball, the communications manager for Representative Matt Gaetz, has resigned.
April 1, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following analysis of new bills aimed at voting restrictions:
"There are now 361 bills to restrict voting pending across the country, an increase from the 253 that were pending in February, according to a new analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice. A small portion of those bills, 55, are advancing through state legislatures, meaning lawmakers have taken some sort of action on them. About half of those measures deal with new restrictions to voting by mail, which Americans used in record numbers in 2020. Eight deal with new voter ID requirements, while others deal with blocking same-day registration and putting new voter registration hurdles in place. The new tally highlights measures in Arizona and New Hampshire, which it says have the highest number of restricting bills that are advancing. A suite of bills in Arizona would impose new hurdles to voting by mail, making it easier for lawmakers to remove people from a permanent early voting list and requiring additional information on mail-in ballots. Another measure would prohibit voter registration drives off of government property. New Hampshire also has 10 advancing restrictive measures, including efforts to make it harder for college students to vote and to place new hurdles for same-day registration."
According to the AP, the Virginia supreme court has ruled that Confederate statues in Charlottesville can come down. From the story:
"The Virginia state supreme court overturned a circuit [appeal] court decision that had previously ruled in favor of a group of residents who sued to block the city from taking down the Lee statue and a nearby monument to fellow general Thomas J. 'Stonewall' Jackson. Charlottesville's city council had voted to remove both. White supremacist and neo-Nazi organizers of the August 2017 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville said at the time they went to the city to defend the statue of Lee. They clashed with counter-protesters in extraordinarily chaotic and violent battles before a man plowed his car into a crowd of people, killing a woman. The Jackson statue was erected in Jackson Park in 1921 and the Lee statue was erected in Lee Park in 1924. In 1918, the city had accepted a resident's offer to donate land for parks for both statutes. In today's decision, state supreme court Justice Bernard Goodwyn said both statues were erected long before the passage of a law regulating the 'disturbance of or interference with' war memorials or monuments. 'In other words, (the law) did not provide the authority for the City to erect the Statues, and it does not prohibit the City from disturbing or interfering with them,' Goodwyn wrote."
According to CNN, Matt Gaetz, the Republican representative from Florid who is being investigated for sex trafficking allegations, has a seedy reputation among his colleagues for bragging about his sexual exploits, which included sharing nude photographs of women. From the story:
"Behind the scenes, Gaetz gained a reputation in Congress over his relationships with women and bragging about his sexual escapades to his colleagues, multiple sources told CNN. Gaetz allegedly showed off to other lawmakers photos and videos of nude women he said he had slept with, the sources told CNN, including while on the House floor. The sources, including two people directly shown the material, said Gaetz displayed the images of women on his phone and talked about having sex with them. One of the videos showed a naked woman with a hula hoop, according to one source. 'It was a point of pride,' one of the sources said of Gaetz."
March 31, 2021 - James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby, both of whom are US Capitol Police officers, have filed suit against Donald Trump, accusing him of inciting the January 6 insurrection that caused them both emotional and physical injuries. Hemby suffered neck and back injuries and being sprayed by chemicals. Blassingame also suffered from neck and back injuries. The men are seeking damages of at least $75,000 each. According to the suit:
"This is a complaint for damages by US Capitol Police officers for physical and emotional injuries caused by the defendant Donald Trump's wrongful conduct inciting a riot on January 6, 2021, by his followers trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election."
March 30, 2021 - According to the New York Times, Matt Gaetz, a Republican representative from Florida, is being investigated to determine if he had been involved in a sexual relationship with a minor and whether he violated sex trafficking laws by paying her to travel with him. From the story:
"Investigators are examining whether Mr. Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking laws, the people said. A variety of federal statutes make it illegal to induce someone under 18 to travel over state lines to engage in sex in exchange for money or something of value. The Justice Department regularly prosecutes such cases, and offenders often receive severe sentences. It was not clear how Mr. Gaetz met the girl, believed to be 17 at the time of encounters about two years ago that investigators are scrutinizing, according to two of the people. The investigation was opened in the final months of the Trump administration under Attorney General William P. Barr, the two people said. Given Mr. Gaetz's national profile, senior Justice Department officials in Washington — including some appointed by Mr. Trump — were notified of the investigation, the people said. The three people said that the examination of Mr. Gaetz, 38, is part of a broader investigation into a political ally of his, a local official in Florida named Joel Greenberg, who was indicted last summer on an array of charges, including sex trafficking of a child and financially supporting people in exchange for sex, at least one of whom was an underage girl. Mr. Greenberg, who has since resigned his post as tax collector in Seminole County, north of Orlando, visited the White House with Mr. Gaetz in 2019, according to a photograph that Mr. Greenberg posted on Twitter. No charges have been brought against Mr. Gaetz, and the extent of his criminal exposure is unclear."
Matt Gaetz responded to the report that he is under investigation stating: "The allegations against me are as searing as they are false. I believe that there are people at the Department of Justice who are trying to criminalize my sexual conduct, you know when I was a single guy."
March 29, 2021 - A coalition of civil rights groups, including the Georgia state chapter of the NAACP, and the Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda, filed a federal lawsuit against the Georgia voter suppression law saying it violates the 14th and 15th amendments of the constitution as well as the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
According to the AP, a judge has ordered three men to stand trial regarding a foiled plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer over her coronavirus restrictions. From the story:
"Jackson county district court Judge Michael Klaeren ruled there was enough evidence and bound over Paul Bellar, Joe Morrison and Pete Musico to circuit court to stand trial. Arguments were heard by Klaeren about whether the men should face trial following three days of testimony. They are accused of aiding six other men charged in federal court with conspiring to kidnap Whitmer. Five more people are also charged in state courts. The FBI in October said it broke up a plot to kidnap Whitmer by anti-government extremists upset over her coronavirus restrictions. Klareen said there was enough evidence for trial on charges of providing material support for terrorist acts, gang membership and using a firearm during a felony. The judge dismissed a charge of threat of terrorism against Musico and Morrison. Bellar did not face that charge."
Following a CNN special that featured interviews with Dr Deborah Birx and Dr Anthony Fauci, two prominent figures in Trump's Coronavirus Task Force, Trump released a rambling, insult-ridden statement about the two doctors. Here are some highlights from Trump's statement:
- Called the doctors "two self-promoters trying to reinvent history".
- Gave himself all the credit for the development of the vaccine.
- Derided Fauci for his opening pitch at a Washington Nationals game last year.
- Called Fauci "king of flip-flops" because Fauci changed his opinion as medical experts learned more about Covid-19.
- Called Birx a "proven liar with very little credibility left".
- Said he only kept Fauci and Birx on because they had a long track record of public service.
March 26, 2021 - According to the AP, Dominion Voting has filed a $1.6bn defamation lawsuit against Fox News, arguing the cable news company falsely accused the voting company of rigging the 2020 election. From the story:
"It's the first defamation suit filed against a media outlet by the voting company, which was a target of misleading, false and bizarre claims spread by President Donald Trump and his allies in the aftermath of Trump's election loss. Dominion argues that Fox News, which amplified inaccurate assertions that Dominion altered votes, 'sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion in the process,' according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by the Associated Press. Colleen Long notes for the AP that some Fox News on-air reporting segments have debunked some of the claims targeting Dominion. There was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Nearly all the legal challenges from Trump and his allies were dismissed by judges. Still, some Fox News employees elevated false charges that Dominion had changed votes through algorithms in its voting machines that had been created in Venezuela to rig elections for the late dictator Hugo Chavez. On-air personalities brought on Trump allies Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, who spread the claims, and then amplified those claims on Fox News' massive social media platforms. Dominion said in the lawsuit that it tried repeatedly to set the record straight but was ignored by Fox News. The company argues that Fox News, a network that features several pro-Trump personalities, pushed the false claims to explain away the former president's loss. The cable giant lost viewers after the election and was seen by some Trump supporters as not being supportive enough of the Republican. Attorneys for Dominion said Fox News' behavior differs greatly from that of other media outlets that reported on the claims. 'This was a conscious, knowing business decision to endorse and repeat and broadcast these lies in order to keep its viewership,' said attorney Justin Nelson, of Susman Godfrey LLC."
Park Cannon, a Georgia state representative, was released from jail today, after having been arrested yesterday for knocking on the door of the room where a private signing ceremony was being held by the governor for the newly passed voter suppression bill.
Mitt Romney, a Republican US Senator from Utah, was awarded the Profile in Courage Award. The award, which is given to public figures who risk their careers by embracing unpopular positions for the greater good, was awarded by the family of the late President John F. Kennedy. Romney received the award for being the only Republican to break with his party to vote for conviction in Trump's first impeachment trial.
Dr. Robert Redfield, the former CDC Director, told CNN that he believes the novel coronavirus may have originated in a lab in China.
Fox News issued a response to the $1.6bn defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems saying:
"FOX News Media is proud of our 2020 election coverage, which stands in the highest tradition of American journalism, and will vigorously defend against this baseless lawsuit in court."
Raphael Warnock, a Democratic US Senator from Georgia, responded to Georgia's voter suppression legislation saying: "So what's the purpose behind all of this? So you're literally going to make public policy based on a lie? Based on the feeling that some people have that things didn't turn out the way they should have turned out? Is that how we make public policy? Democracy is in a 911 emergency."
The New Georgia Project and Black Voters Matter, two voting rights groups, have filed a federal lawsuit challenging SB202, the Georgia voter suppression law saying the law violates the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the US constitution and note that provisions in the law "serve no legitimate purpose other than to make absentee, early, and election-day voting more difficult – especially for minority voters."
According to research by Cornell University and the national advocacy group Food & Water Watch (FWW), a national moratorium on water shutoffs could have prevented almost half a million Covid infections and saved at least 9,000 lives. According to Wenonah Hauter, FWW's executive director: "This research clearly shows us that the pain and suffering caused by the pandemic was exacerbated by political leaders who failed to take action to keep the water flowing for struggling families."
March 25, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Murray Waas offers the following analysis on a scandal involving Jason Miller, a former Trump aid:
"A top aide to Donald Trump was secretly re-engaged by a leading political strategy firm after being forced to step down after a social media scandal, the Guardian can reveal. The company, Washington-based Teneo, wanted access to top Republicans in the then president's inner circle, and to conceal his ongoing work. Jason Miller – who remains close to Trump, and who today serves as a senior adviser to the former president – also later appears to have misled a Florida court about this employment status, asserting in a sworn statement that he could no longer comply with a court order requiring him to pay child-support payments because of an alleged 'major financial setback' and was effectively out of work. Miller cited his termination as a reason he could not meet court-mandated payments – even though he had secretly agreed to a new contract with Teneo that meant doing the same work for the same fee. Miller resigned as a managing editor of Teneo, the powerhouse corporate advisory firm, on 21 June 2019, after posting a series of obscenity-laced tweets about Democratic congressman Jerrold Nadler, the chairman of the House judiciary committee. 'I have parted ways with Teneo by mutual consent and look forward to ... my next move,' Miller said in a statement he provided to the New York Times and other news outlets. But Miller's departure from Teneo was a sham. Previously undisclosed confidential records from inside Teneo show that on the same day Miller signed a formal 'separation agreement and general release' from Teneo, he signed a new contract with the firm, whereby Teneo agreed to secretly engage Miller as a consultant, through a hastily formed LLC, at the very same base compensation of nearly $500,000 doing the very same work. Only three days after his resignation and the signing of his new employment agreement with Teneo for the same base pay, according to state court records in Miami-Dade county, Florida, Miller asked the court to 'abate and modify' his support payments and swore he could no longer make his child support payments because the 'petitioner's unemployment is public knowledge'."
Brian Kemp, the Republican governor of Georgia, signed into law sweeping voting restrictions that were approved by legislators only hours earlier. According to the Guardian: "The legislation requires voters to provide ID information when they vote by mail, limits the availability of absentee drop boxes and gives the state legislature more power to meddle in local election boards, among other measures. It is part of a wave of GOP bills to restrict voting".
Joe Biden released a statement condemning the Georgia voter suppression bill stating:
"This is Jim Crow in the 21st Century. It must end. We have a moral and Constitutional obligation to act."
Joe Biden called on Congress to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to make it easier for all Americans to cast their ballots.
Asa Hutchinson, the Republican governor of Arkansas, signed into law legislation that bans transgender girls from participating on girl's sports teams. According to the Guardian: "The Arkansas bill bans trans girls from extracurricular and school sports teams at the elementary, middle, high school and collegiate level. Mississippi's governor signed into law a similar ban earlier this month, though conservative governors in South Dakota and Utah have rejected parallel proposals."
During a phone interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham, Donald Trump claimed the Capitol insurrection "was zero threat, right from the start, it was zero threat." Trump went on to say "Some of them went in and they're, they're hugging and kissing the police and the guards. You know, they had great relationships. A lot of the people were waved in and then they walked in and they walked out." NOTE: 5 people, including a police officer died. One police officer committed suicide days after the insurrection. More than 140 police officers were injured. Pipe bombs were found outside Democratic and Republican headquarters near the Capitol.
March 24, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following analysis of how the US ranks among the world's democracies:
"The US has fallen to a new low in a global ranking of political rights and civil liberties, a drop fueled by unequal treatment of minority groups, damaging influence of money in politics, and increased polarization, according to a new report by Freedom House, a democracy watchdog group. The US earned 83 out of 100 possible points this year in Freedom House's annual rankings of freedoms around the world, an 11-point drop from its 94 ranking a decade ago. The US's new ranking places it on par with countries like Panama, Romania and Croatia and behind countries such as Argentina and Mongolia. It lagged far behind countries like the United Kingdom (93), Chile (93), Costa Rica (91) and Slovakia (90). 'Dropping 11 points is unusual, especially for an established democracy, because they tend to be more stable in our scores,' Sarah Repucci, Freedom House's vice-president for research and analysis, told the Guardian. 'It's significant for Americans and it's significant for the world because the United States is such a prominent, visible democracy, one that is looked to for so many reasons.' While Freedom House has long included the US in its global ranking of freedoms, it traditionally has not turned an eye inward and focused on US democracy. But this year, Repucci authored an extensive report doing just that, a move motivated by increasing concern over attacks on freedoms in the US. The report details the inequities that minority groups, especially Black people and Native Americans face when it comes to the criminal justice system and voting. It also illustrates that public trust in government has been damaged by the way rich Americans can use their money to exert outsize influence on American politics. And it points out that extreme partisan gerrymandering – the manipulation of electoral district lines to boost one party over the other – has contributed to dramatic polarization in the US, threatening its democratic foundations. Gerrymandering, the report says, 'has the most corrosive and radicalizing effect on US politics'."
Writing for the Guardian, Kari Paul offers the following analysis of the rise of online hate in 2020 against Asian and Black Americans:
"Asian Americans and Black Americans experienced major rises in online hate in the past year, a new report has found, despite recent steps that social media firms have taken to address harassment. A survey released on Wednesday by the Anti-Defamation League, an anti-hate speech organization founded in 1913, discovered that in 2020 Asian Americans experienced the largest single rise in severe online hate and harassment year-over-year in comparison to other groups, with 17% reporting having experienced sexual harassment, stalking, physical threats, swatting, doxing or sustained harassment, compared to 11% last year. The survey's release comes as the Asian American community grapples with an increase in real-world violence, most recently the murders of six Asian women working at massage parlors in Georgia, and a 75-year-old man from Hong Kong who died after being robbed and assaulted by a man police said had a history of victimizing elderly Asian people. Stop AAPI Hate, a group dedicated to tracking crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, documented 3,800 hate-related incidents targeting Asian Americans in 2020. 'Not surprisingly, after a year where national figures including the president himself routinely scapegoated China and Chinese people for spreading the coronavirus, Asian-Americans experienced heightened levels of harassment online, just as they did offline,' said Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive officer of the Anti-Defamation League. The study also noted a rise in hate speech against other minority groups, including African Americans, who saw a sharp rise in race-based harassment – a different category than the record increase for Asians – from 42% last year to 59% this year. That jump came as protests over the killing of Black Americans, sparked by the deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and others in 2020, put America's anti-Black racism at the forefront once again. For the third consecutive year, LGBTQ+ respondents reported higher rates of overall harassment than all other demographics, with 64% saying they have been harassed online due to their identities."
During an interview with the Guardian, Stacey Abrams said the following:
"The coordinated onslaught of voter suppression bills is not the norm. What's happened over the last 15 years has been a steady build where we've seen bills passing in multiple state legislatures over time. It was absolutely voter suppression, but it was this slow boil. It's that terrible analogy of the frog in the water as the water starts to boil. Unless this is what you do and unless this is what you pay attention to, folks like me were watching, but it was fairly invisible to the untrained eye that voter suppression was sweeping across the country, especially beyond the boundaries of the south. What is so notable about this moment, and so disconcerting, is that they are not hiding. There is no attempt to pretend that the intention is not to restrict votes. The language is different. They use the veil, they used the farce of voter fraud to justify their actions. Their new term of art is election integrity. But it is a laughable word or phrase to use. It is designed based on anything but a question of integrity. The truth of the matter is there is no voter fraud. The truth of the matter is we had the most secure election that we’ve had. And therefore, their integrity is really insincerity. They are responding to the big lie, to the disproven, discredited and, sadly, the blood-spilled lie of voter fraud. And they are responding to it by actually doing what the insurrectionists sought, doing what the liars asked for. I would say it's inexorably linked to race, but I want to be really clear. Black voters are of course at the center of the target, but what is happening in Arizona, what is happening in Florida is also attacking Latino voters. They are attacking the energy and enthusiasm of Native American voters. They are attacking Asian American voters. While Black voters are of course at the center because of the historical animus that seems to exist towards our participation in elections, this is also about attacking other communities of color. And we are seeing it being done with an assiduousness and an attention to detail that is, as we said before, unparalleled, except for when you look at the actions of Jim Crow."
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following analysis of the dangers facing democracy in the coming months:
"Seizing on Donald Trump's lies about fraud in the 2020 election, Republicans have launched a brazen attack on voting, part of an effort to entrench control over a rapidly changing electorate by changing the rules of democracy. As of mid-February, 253 bills were pending to restrict voting in 43 states. Many of those restrictions take direct aim at mail-in and early voting, the very policies that led to November's record turnout. 'The fragility of democracy has been exposed at levels that I think even white America was blind to,' said Brown, a co-founder of Black Voters Matter. Republicans have openly talked about their intentions. 'Everybody shouldn't be voting,' John Kavanagh, a Republican in the Arizona state legislature, told CNN earlier this month. 'Quantity is important, but we have to look at the quality of votes, as well.' Some Republicans say that their efforts to put new voting restrictions in place are part of an effort to restore confidence in elections and prevent voter fraud, which is extremely rare. But others have shown that their motivation is anti-democratic. Trump dismissed proposals to make it easier to vote last year by saying: 'You'd never have a Republican elected in this country again.' And this month, Michael Carvin, a lawyer representing the Arizona Republican party, said something similar when Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked him what interest the party had in defending two Arizona voting restrictions. Lifting those restrictions, Carvin said, 'puts us at a competitive disadvantage relative to Democrats. Politics is a zero-sum game.' More danger lies ahead. Later this year, Republicans in many states will redraw electoral districts for both congressional and state legislative offices across the country, something the constitution mandates once per decade. This will give Republicans an opportunity to pack GOP-friendly voters into certain districts while spreading Democratic voters thin across others, further distorting democracy and ensuring their re-election. And all of this comes at a moment when the US supreme court appears wholly uninterested in protecting voting rights. The increasingly conservative supreme court has signaled in recent years that it is not going to stand in the way of lawmakers who make it harder to vote, issuing significant decisions that gutted the Voting Rights Act while also giving the green light to aggressive voter purging and extreme partisan redistricting."
According to the CDC, 84 million Americans have received at least one vaccine dose.
For the first time in a year, North Korea test fired two ballistic missiles. The missiles fell into the Sea of Japan, outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.
March 23, 2021 - According to the Washington Post, some unfinished business left over from the Trump era is a number of oversight investigations. From the story:
"Across the government, at least nine key oversight investigations were impeded by clashes with the White House or political appointees, people familiar with inspector general offices and public documents show. Long-anticipated reports were released only this month on two senior Trump officials. One found evidence that Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao may have misused her position by repeatedly deploying her staff on personal business. A second concluded that former White House physician Ronny Jackson bullied his staff and drank on the job. The timing meant their damaging disclosures emerged only after the former president left office and Jackson, a former Navy rear admiral, was elected to Congress from Texas. Tensions between federal watchdogs and the administration they monitor are not uncommon. But 11 inspectors general or their senior aides who served under Trump, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal government deliberations, said hostility to oversight reached unprecedented levels during his time in office. The result, they said, was that government hid wrongdoing from the public and important reforms to improve government efficiency were ignored. With Trump now out of office, advocates for government accountability predict other damaging revelations may only now begin to emerge. 'IGs under Trump faced an angry, account-settling president who had no compunction about removing those who threatened to reveal bad things about him,' said Gordon Heddell, a former inspector general at the Defense and Labor departments who served under Republican and Democratic presidents."
Writing for CNN, Stephen Collinson offers the following analysis on Donald Trump's 2022 influence:
"The former President's effort to turn 2022 polls into a personal revenge mission and to replenish his personality cult got a big boost Monday when a comrade-in-arms, Rep Mo Brooks, launched an Alabama US Senate run. Brooks is the latest Republican to seek to leverage his efforts to thwart a democratic election as a springboard for higher office. He led a push in the House to block the certification of President Joe Biden's victory after telling Trump supporters at the 'Stop the Steal' rally that turned into the Capitol insurrection on 6 January: 'Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.' He built the foundation for his run on proven falsehoods. 'In 2020, America suffered the worst voter fraud and election theft in history,' Brooks said, claiming no other candidate for the US Senate had stood as strongly as he had alongside Trump. Channeling his hero, he slammed 'weak-kneed RINOs,' the 'fake news media' and 'radical socialists.' Former Missouri Gov Eric Greitens, who also fanned false claims about election fraud, and who had resigned amid allegations of sexual and campaign misconduct, announced a bid for the seat of retiring Sen Roy Blunt. Trump on Monday endorsed GOP Rep Jody Hice for Georgia secretary of state – after attacking the incumbent, Brad Raffensperger, who had stood firm against Trump's pressure on local officials to rig vote counts."
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levin offers the following analysis regarding Republican efforts to legislate against transgender children:
"Trans youth represent just a fraction of the US population – recent estimates suggest they make up 0.7% to 2% of youth. But conservative lawmakers have introduced more than 80 bills regulating their lives in the first three months of 2021, the highest-ever number of anti-trans legislative proposals filed in a single year. The volume of bills, which have spread in nearly every region of the country, and the coordinated campaigns behind some of them, suggests trans kids' lives have become a central focus of the GOP culture war following the 2020 presidential election. 'They are acting like we aren't humans, that we don't deserve the same things as them,' said Kris Wilka, a 13-year-old football player and trans boy in South Dakota, where lawmakers have passed legislation that would prohibit trans students from playing on the sports teams that correspond with their gender. 'Trans rights have been turned into a wedge issue,' said Jules Gill-Peterson, professor of gender, sexuality, and women's studies at the University of Pittsburgh, who has researched the history of trans children in the US. 'The Republican party is hardly interested in defending women's sports. This is a purely calculated political play,' Gill-Peterson said. 'And it's really easy to use children as a political football, because we don't grant children the privilege to speak for themselves and defend their own interests.' The bills have largely focused on two issues: sports and healthcare. The sports bills seek to ban trans kids from competing on teams that correspond with their gender. The healthcare bills block their access to gender-affirming medical treatments, and in some cases and criminalize doctors and parents who support them."
According to the Guardian, Facebook allowed many groups tied to QAnon, boogaloo and militia movements to glorify violence during the 2020 election and in the weeks leading up to the Capitol insurrection. From the story:
"Avaaz, a nonprofit advocacy group that says it seeks to protect democracies from misinformation, identified 267 pages and groups on Facebook that it says spread violence-glorifying material during the 2020 election to a combined following of 32 million users. Barbara Ortutay for the Associated Press writes that the report found more than two-thirds of the groups and pages had names that aligned with several domestic extremist movements. The first, boogaloo, promotes a second US civil war and the breakdown of modern society. The second is the antisemitic QAnon conspiracy. The rest are various anti-government militias. Since 2020 Facebook claims to have largely banned them. But despite what Avaaz called 'clear violations' of Facebook's policies, it found that 119 of these pages and groups were still active on the platform as of March 18 and had just under 27 million followers. Facebook acknowledged that its policy enforcement 'isn’t perfect,' but said the report distorts its work against violent extremism and misinformation. The company said in a statement that it has done more than any other internet company to stanch the flow of harmful material, citing its bans of 'nearly 900 militarized social movements' and the removal of tens of thousands of QAnon pages, groups, and accounts. It added that it is always improving its efforts against misinformation. According to the report, the social network provided a 'fertile ground' for misinformation and toxicity that contributed to radicalizing millions of Americans, helping create the conditions in which the storming of the Capitol became a reality. On Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai are slated to testify before Congress about extremism and misinformation on their platforms."
Writing for the Guardian, Tom McCarthy offers the following analysis of the defense offered by Sydney Powell, who is defending herself against a billion-dollar defamation lawsuit for her role in trying to help Donald Trump steal the 2020 election:
"In a motion to dismiss a complaint by the large US-based voting machine company Dominion, lawyers for Sidney Powell argued that elaborate conspiracies she laid out on television and radio last November while simultaneously suing to overturn election results in four states constituted legally protected first amendment speech. 'No reasonable person would conclude that the statements were truly statements of fact,' argued lawyers for Powell, a former federal prosecutor from Texas who caught Trump's attention through her involvement in the defense of his former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Thousands of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on 6 January in an effort to stop the certification of an election they considered invalid, killing a police officer in violent clashes in which four others died. But lawyers for Powell argued her false statements about election fraud in the months preceding the Capitol insurrection were unmistakably not presented as true facts. 'It was clear to reasonable persons that Powell's claims were her opinions and legal theories on a matter of utmost public concern,' her legal motion says. The filing brought expressions of disbelief from Trump critics. 'This is her defense. Wow,' tweeted the Republican representative Adam Kinzinger. 'Bad argument!' tweeted Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen. '[Powell] should have gone with an insanity defense due to #TrumpDerangementSyndrome.'"
March 22, 2021 - Representative Tom Reed, the New York Republican who was accused of rubbing a female lobbyist's back and unhooking her bra without her consent in 2017, has announced that he will not be running for reelection next year.
Writing for the Guardian, Peter Stone offers the following analysis of fresh scrutiny in Roger Stone's role in the Capitol insurrection:
"As the federal investigation of the 6 January Capitol insurrection expands, scrutiny of Donald Trump's decades-long ally Roger Stone is expected to intensify, given his links to at least four far-right Oath Keepers and Proud Boys who had been charged, plus Stone's incendiary comments at rallies the night before the riot and in prior weeks, say ex-prosecutors and Stone associates. Although Stone was not part of the attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob that shocked America, the self-styled 'dirty trickster' – who was convicted on seven counts in the Russia investigations into the 2016 elections but later pardoned by Trump – had numerous contacts with key groups and figures involved in the riot in the weeks before and just prior to its start. The night before the riot, Stone spoke at a Washington DC 'Rally to Save America' where the former president's unfounded claims that the election was stolen by Democrats were pushed and Stone urged an 'epic struggle for the future of this country, between dark and light, between the godly and the godless, between good and evil'. Early on 6 January, Stone was seen in cellphone videos near a Washington hotel hanging out with six members of the far-right militia Oath Keepers serving as his 'bodyguards', including three who have been charged in the federal investigation. Stone, according to Mother Jones, also raised funds for 'private security' events on 5 January and 6 January before the Capitol attack, which included a rambling talk by Trump urging his supporters to 'fight like hell'. Congressional investigators looking into the far-right Proud Boys, including some charged in the riot, have also reportedly been looking into ties that Stone had with their leaders Enrique Tarrio and Ethan Nordean, who were seen in a video in contact with Stone at another demonstration in DC the night before the December 12 rally, according to Just Security."
Writing for the Guardian, Martin Pengelly offers the following analysis of the investigation of Trump's role in the Capitol riot:
"Departing acting US attorney for the District of Columbia Michael Sherwin confirmed that the former president is still under investigation over the 6 January putsch in an interview with CBS 60 Minutes on Sunday. 'Maybe the president is culpable,' he said. Sherwin also said there were now more than 400 cases against participants in the riot and said that if it is determined Brian Sicknick, the Capitol police officer who died, did so because he was hit with bear spray, murder charges would likely follow. 'It's unequivocal that Trump was the magnet that brought the people to DC on 6 January,' Sherwin said. 'Now the question is, is he criminally culpable for everything that happened during the siege, during the breach? ... Based upon what we see in the public record and what we see in public statements in court, we have plenty of people – we have soccer moms from Ohio that were arrested saying, 'Well, I did this because my president said I had to take back our house.' That moves the needle towards that direction. Maybe the president is culpable for those actions. But also, you see in the public record too militia members saying, 'You know what? We did this because Trump just talks a big game. He's just all talk. We did what he wouldn't do.' Trump addressed a rally outside the White House on 6 January, telling supporters to 'fight like hell' to stop Congress certifying his election defeat by Joe Biden, which he falsely claims was the result of voter fraud. A mob broke into the Capitol, leading to five deaths including a Trump supporter shot by law enforcement. Trump was impeached for inciting an insurrection but acquitted when only seven Republican senators could be convinced to vote him guilty. Lawsuits over the insurrection, one brought by the Democratic congressman Bennie Thompson under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, are among proliferating legal threats to Trump now he has lost the protections of office. More than 100 police officers were allegedly assaulted during the riot. Sicknick died the next day. Cause of death has not been released. But two men have been charged with assaulting the 42-year-old officer with a spray meant to repel bears."
Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, who lifted a statewide mask mandate earlier this month despite warnings from health experts, warned that a recent increase in migrants at the border could lead to "an explosion of Covid in the locations where the Biden administration is putting migrants. The Biden administration is importing Covid into the state of Texas, exposing more Texans to that, and who knows what we’re going to see." NOTE: Abbott's warning fits into a long history of xenophobic warnings that migrants bring disease into the country.
March 19, 2021 - According to the Washington Post, a study has found that racist anti-Asian hashtags spiked after Trump first tweeted "Chinese virus". From the story:
"On March 16, 2020, Trump first tweeted the phrase 'Chinese virus.' That single tweet, researchers later found, fueled exactly the kind of backlash the World Health Organisation had feared: It was followed by an avalanche of tweets using the hashtag #chinesevirus, among other anti-Asian phrases. 'The week before Trump's tweet the dominant term [on Twitter] was #covid-19,' Yulin Hswen, an epidemiology professor at the University of California San Francisco and a co-author of the study told the Washington Post. 'The week after his tweet, it was #chinesevirus.' Hswen is among a group of researchers who analyzed hundreds of thousands of #covid-19 and #chinesevirus hashtags drafted the week before and after Trump first referred to the coronavirus as the 'Chinese virus' on the social media platform. Not only did more people use the #chinesevirus hashtag days after Trump's tweet, but those who did were more likely to include other anti-Asian hashtags in their tweets, according to the peer-reviewed study published by the American Journal of Public Health."
Jimmy Gomez, a Democratic Congressman, introduced a resolution to expel Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, citing her "repeated endorsements of sedition, domestic terrorism, and political violence."
According to the AP, four men linked to the Proud Boys have been charged with plotting to attack the US Capitol. From the story:
"The four men, described as leaders of the Proud Boys have been charged in the US Capitol riots, as an indictment ordered unsealed today presents fresh evidence of how federal officials believe group members planned and carried out a coordinated attack to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's electoral victory. So far, at least 19 leaders, members or associates of the neo-fascist Proud Boys have been charged in federal court with offenses related to the January 6 insurrection. The latest indictment suggests the Proud Boys deployed a much larger contingent in Washington, DC, with over 60 users 'participating in' an encrypted messaging channel for group members that was created a day before the riots. The Proud Boys abandoned an earlier channel and created the new 'Boots on the Ground' channel after police arrested the group's top leader, Enrique Tarrio, in Washington. Ethan Nordean and Joseph Biggs, two of the four defendants charged in the latest indictment, were arrested several weeks ago on separate but related charges. The new indictment also charges Zachary Rehl and Charles Donohoe. Members of the Proud Boys met at the Washington Monument around 10am. on January 6 and marched to the Capitol before then-president Donald Trump finished addressing thousands of supporters near the White House. They breached barricades and entered the Capitol, as windows and doors were smashed by rioters. 'This was not simply a march. This was an incredible attack on our institutions of government,' Assistant US attorney Jason McCullough said during a recent hearing for Nordean’s case."
According to the Washington Post, a former lobbyist has accused Republican congressman Tom Reed of sexual misconduct. From the story:
"Nicolette Davis said she was 25, on her first networking trip as a junior lobbyist for an insurance company, when she felt the 45-year-old congressman's hand on her back. She and other lobbyists had gathered at an Irish pub in Minneapolis after a day of ice fishing, Davis told The Washington Post, and Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y) was seated to her left. 'A drunk congressman is rubbing my back,' she texted a friend and co-worker at Aflac that evening in 2017, adding later, 'HELP HELP.' Reed, his hand outside her blouse, briefly fumbled with her bra before unhooking it by pinching the clasp, Davis told The Post. He moved his hand to her thigh, inching upward, she said. Frozen in fear, she said, she asked the person sitting to her right for help. He obliged by pulling the congressman away from the table and out of the restaurant, Davis said. Reed declined to be interviewed for this story. In response to a detailed list of questions, he said in a statement provided by his office: 'This account of my actions is not accurate.'"
The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan resolution condemning a military coup in Myanmar, and calling for the release of those detained. 14 House Republicans voted against the resolution, many of whom also objected to the electoral certification of Joe Biden's presidential landslide. Here is a list of the Republicans who voted against condemning the Myanmar coup:
Lauren Boebert
Andy Biggs
Matt Gaetz
Tom Massie
Ken Buck
Mary Miller
Chip Roy
Jodey Hice
Alex Mooney
Scott Perry
Andy Harris
Ted Budd
Barry Moore
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Mar-a-Lago, Trump's club and hotel, where Trump has been living since losing the 2020 election, has been partially shut down due to a Covid-19 outbreak there.
March 18, 2021 - According to the Washington Post, there are currently 29 outstanding lawsuits against Donald Trump. From the story:
"The sheer volume of these legal problems indicates that — after a moment of maximum invincibility in the White House — Trump has fallen to a point of historic vulnerability before the law. He has lost the formal immunities of the presidency and the legal firepower of the Justice Department, but he is also without some of the informal shields that protected him even before he was president: his reputation for endless wealth and his clout as a political donor in New York. Now, prosecutors roam free in his financial records. New lawsuits keep arriving. Some of his key lawyers have quit. A man who once used the law to swamp his enemies, overwhelming them with claims and legal bills, is finding himself on the other side of the wave, unable to control what comes next."
The FBI has released a stockpile of footage from the Capitol insurrection as they request help from the public in identifying people who were involved. As of today, over 300 people have been arrested, of which 65 are accused of assaulting law enforcement officers.
According to the AP, the US House of Representatives passed a bill to give undocumented immigrants, including Dreamers, a path to citizenship. Republicans in the Senate have vowed to block the proposal with the filibuster. From the story:
"The 'Dreamer' bill would grant conditional legal status for 10 years to many immigrants up to age 18 who were brought into the U.S. illegally before this year. They'd have to graduate from high school or have equivalent educational credentials, not have serious criminal records and meet other conditions. To attain legal permanent residence, often called a green card, they'd have to obtain a higher education degree, serve in the military or be employed for at least three years. Like all others with green cards, they could then apply for citizenship after five years. The measure would also grant green cards to an estimated 400,000 immigrants with temporary protected status, which allows temporary residence to people who have fled violence or natural disasters in a dozen countries. The other bill would let immigrant farm workers who've worked in the country illegally over the past two years — along their spouses and children — get certified agriculture worker status. That would let them remain in the U.S. for renewable 5 1/2-year periods. To earn green cards, they would have to pay a $1,000 fine and work for up to an additional eight years, depending on how long they've already held farm jobs. The legislation would also cap wage increases, streamline the process for employers to get H-2A visas that let immigrants work legally on farm jobs and phase in a mandatory system for electronically verifying that agriculture workers are in the U.S. legally."
March 17, 2021 - Writing for CNN, Stephen Collinson offers the following commentary on a report by US intelligence officials regarding the spread of Russian disinformation during the 2020 election:
"The real bombshell it contains is not the confidence of the spy agencies that Russia hoped to subvert American democracy. It is that US intelligence experts effectively confirmed that for the second election in a row, Trump acolytes repeatedly used, knowingly or otherwise, misinformation produced by the spies of one of America's most sworn foreign adversaries to try to win a US election. The readiness of the former President's men to use Russian misinformation in 2020 – while denying collusion in 2016 – was but one prong of the assault on the integrity of US elections. After all, it came as Trump was challenging democratic customs that form the bedrock of American freedoms. It ought to be concerning that the sentiments of many Republicans who falsely decry the fairness of the current US electoral system appear to coincide with those of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ultimately, the most alarming implication of the release of Tuesday's report is that it may not be necessary for Russia to interfere in the 2024 presidential election in the same way as in 2016 and 2020. From Trump's lies about a stolen second term to claims by some Republican governors that making it harder to vote makes an election more democratic, some Americans are already doing far more themselves to damage the US system than Moscow can."
According to the Guardian, a new report from the Anti-Defamation League says that white supremacist propaganda reached alarming levels across the US in 2020. From the story:
"Aaron Morrison writes for the AP that according to the report, there were 5,125 cases of racist, anti-Semitic, anti-LGBTQ and other hateful messages spread through physical flyers, stickers, banners and posters during the final year of the Trump presidency. That's nearly double the 2,724 instances reported in 2019. Online propaganda is much harder to quantify, and it's likely those cases reached into the millions, the anti-hate organization said. The ADL said that last year marked the highest level of white supremacist propaganda seen in at least a decade. Its report comes as federal authorities investigate and prosecute those who stormed the US Capitol in January, some of whom are accused of having ties to or expressing support for hate groups and antigovernment militias. 'As we try to understand and put in perspective the past four years, we will always have these bookends of Charlottesville and Capitol Hill,' group CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said. 'The reality is there's a lot of things that happened in between those moments that set the stage.' Christian Picciolini, a former far-right extremist who founded the deradicalization group Free Radicals Project, said the surge in propaganda tracks with white supremacist and extremist recruiters seeing crises as periods of opportunity. 'They use the uncertainty and fear caused by crisis to win over new recruits to their 'us vs. them' narrative, painting the 'other' as the cause of their pain, grievances or loss,' Picciolini told the AP. 'The current uncertainty caused by the pandemic, job loss, a heated election, protest over extrajudicial police killings of Black Americans, and a national reckoning sparked by our country's long tradition of racism has created a perfect storm in which to recruit Americans who are fearful of change and progress.' Propaganda, often distributed with the intention of garnering media and online attention, helps white supremacists normalize their messaging and bolster recruitment efforts, the ADL said in its report. Language used in the propaganda is frequently veiled with a patriotic slant, making it seem benign to an untrained eye. According to the report, at least 30 known white supremacist groups were behind hate propaganda. But three groups NJEHA, Patriot Front and Nationalist Social Club were responsible for 92% of the activity. The propaganda appeared in every state except Hawaii. Greenblatt acknowledged that free speech rights allow for rhetoric that 'we don’t like and we detest.' But when that speech spurs violence or creates conditions for normalizing extremism, it must be opposed, he said. 'There's no pixie dust that you can sprinkle on this, like it's all going to go away,' Greenblatt said. 'We need to recognize that the roots of this problem run deep.'"
George Stephanopoulos interviewed Joe Biden, and asked him if he thought Russia's Putin was a killer. Biden responded: "Mmmhmm, yes I do."
The House of Representatives reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act, which lapsed in 2018. All the Democrats voted for it, and were joined by only 29 Republicans. The bill faces an uphill battle in the Senate where Republicans oppose some of the provisions, including one to bar people with misdemeanor convictions of domestic abuse or stalking from buying guns, and a provision to protect trans women's access to women's shelters and right to serve sentences in women's prisons.
According to the Guardian, a new intelligence report confirms that racist extremists pose the most deadly terrorist threat to the US. From the story:
"Racially motivated extremists pose the most lethal domestic terrorism threats to the US, according to an unclassified intelligence report that warned that the threats could grow this year. The blunt assessment, in a report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, echoes warnings made by US officials, including the FBI director, Christopher Wray, who testified earlier this month that the threat from domestic violent extremism was 'metastasizing' across the country. Merrick Garland, the attorney general, has also described it as a top priority as his justice department works to prosecute hundreds of people who participated in the mob attack on the US Congress in January. The riot laid bare the threat posed by domestic extremists and led Joe Biden to assign his intelligence officials the task of studying the scope of the problems. A brief and unclassified summary of that threat assessment was made public Wednesday; a full classified report was presented to the White House and Congress. 'Today’s report underscores how we face the greatest threat from racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists, especially white supremacists, and militia violent extremists,' said the Democratic representative Adam Schiff of California, the chair of the House intelligence committee. Intelligence officials said in their assessment that extremists seen as risks for violence are motivated by a range of ideologies."
March 16, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Stephanie Kirchgaessner offers the following analysis of a request by a Democratic Senator for an investigation into the FBI's investigation of Brett Kavanaugh:
"The FBI is facing new scrutiny for its 2018 background check of Brett Kavanaugh, the supreme court justice, after a lawmaker suggested that the investigation may have been 'fake'. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democratic senator and former prosecutor who serves on the judiciary committee, is calling on the newly-confirmed attorney general, Merrick Garland, to help facilitate 'proper oversight' by the Senate into questions about how thoroughly the FBI investigated Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing. The supreme court justice was accused of sexual assault by Christine Blasey Ford and faced several other allegations of misconduct following Ford's harrowing testimony of an alleged assault when she and Kavanaugh were in high school. Kavanaugh denied the claims. The FBI was called to investigate the allegations during the Senate confirmation process but was later accused by some Democratic senators of conducting an incomplete background check. For example, two key witnesses – Ford and Kavanaugh – were never interviewed as part of the probe. Among the concerns listed in Whitehouse's letter to Garland are allegations that some witnesses who wanted to share their accounts with the FBI could not find anyone at the bureau who would accept their testimony and that it had not assigned any individual to accept or gather evidence. 'This was unique behavior in my experience, as the Bureau is usually amenable to information and evidence; but in this matter the shutters were closed, the drawbridge drawn up, and there was no point of entry by which members of the public or Congress could provide information to the FBI,' Whitehouse said. He added that, once the FBI decided to create a 'tip line', senators were not given any information on how or whether new allegations were processed and evaluated. While senators' brief review of the allegations gathered by the tip line showed a 'stack' of information had come in, there was no further explanation on the steps that had been taken to review the information, Whitehouse said. 'This 'tip line' appears to have operated more like a garbage chute, with everything that came down the chute consigned without review to the figurative dumpster,' he said."
A new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 42% of Republicans say they probably or definitely will not get vaccinated for Covid-19. The same is true of 17% of Democrats.
According to Reuters, a new report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, states that Russia sought to influence the 2020 election by planting "misleading or unsubstantiated allegations" against Joe Biden. From the story:
"…underscores allegations that Trump's allies were playing into Moscow's hands by amplifying claims made against Biden by Russian-linked Ukrainian figures. US intelligence agencies found other attempts to sway voters, including a 'multi-pronged covert influence campaign' by Iran intended to undercut Trump's support. The report also punctures a counter-narrative pushed by Trump's allies that China was interfering on Biden's behalf, concluding that Beijing 'did not deploy interference efforts'. 'China sought stability in its relationship with the United States and did not view either election outcome as being advantageous enough for China to risk blowback if caught,' the report said. US officials said they also saw efforts by Cuba, Venezuela and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to influence the election, although 'in general, we assess that they were smaller in scale than those conducted by Russia and Iran.'"
The Guardian has additional information from the report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence:
"Russia made efforts that were intended to result in 'denigrating President Biden's candidacy and the Democratic Party, supporting former President Trump, undermining public confidence in the electoral process, and exacerbating sociopolitical divisions in the US,' the report said. It adds: 'Unlike in 2016, we did not see persistent Russian cyber efforts to gain access to election infrastructure.' And the report noted that there were 'no indications that any foreign actor attempted to alter any technical aspect of the voting process in the 2020 US elections, including voter registration, casting ballots, vote tabulation, or reporting results ' ... Russian state and proxy actors who all serve the Kremlin's interests worked to affect US public perceptions in a consistent manner. A key element of Moscow's key strategy this election cycle was its use of proxies linked to Russian intelligence to push influence narratives - including misleading or unsubstantiated allegations against President Biden - to US media organizations, US officials, and prominent US individuals, including some close to former President Trump and his administration."
According to Reuters, Georgia officials have hired a racketeering expert for their Trump election interference case. From the story:
"The district attorney investigating whether the former US president Donald Trump illegally interfered with Georgia's 2020 election has hired an outside lawyer who is a national authority on racketeering, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis has enlisted the help of Atlanta lawyer John Floyd, who wrote a national guide on prosecuting state racketeering cases. Floyd was hired recently to 'provide help as needed' on matters involving racketeering, including the Trump investigation and other cases, said the source, who has direct knowledge of the situation. The move bolsters the team investigating Trump as Willis prepares to issue subpoenas for evidence on whether the former president and his allies broke the law in their campaign to pressure state officials to reverse his Georgia election loss. Willis has said that her office would examine potential charges including 'solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to state and local governmental bodies, conspiracy, racketeering' among other possible violations. A representative for Trump did not respond to requests for comment. Floyd's appointment signals that racketeering could feature prominently in the investigation. It's an area of law where Willis has extensive experience - including a high-profile Atlanta case where she won racketeering convictions of 11 public educators for a scheme to cheat on standardized tests. The investigation of Trump focuses in part on his phone call to Georgia's secretary of state, asking the secretary to 'find' the votes needed to overturn Trump's election loss, based on false voter-fraud claims. Floyd declined to comment when asked about the appointment but spoke to Reuters about his past experiences working with Willis. While racketeering is typically pursued by prosecutors in cases involving such crimes as murder, kidnapping, and bribery, the Georgia statute defines racketeering more broadly to include false statements made to state officials. The federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) was originally passed in 1970 to help tie Mafia bosses to the crimes of their underlings by allowing prosecutors to argue they conspired together in a 'criminal enterprise.' Over the years, however, its reach has grown to include businesses and other organizations as enterprises subject to the law. Willis specifically listed racketeering and lying to public officials in detailing the possible crimes her office intended to investigate in a Feb. 10 letter to four Republican state officials, asking them to preserve records related to the case. 'That letter was really a signal to the public that she was going after a number of possibilities,' said Clark Cunningham, a Georgia State University law professor. Georgia lawyers familiar with the state RICO law said Willis may be considering whether it would apply to alleged false statements made by Trump and his allies as they sought to influence state officials to reverse his election loss. 'It's not a stretch to see where she's taking this,' said Cathy Cox, the dean of Mercer University's law school in Macon, Georgia and a former Georgia secretary of state. 'If Donald Trump engaged in two or more acts that involve false statements - that were made knowingly and willfully in an attempt to falsify material fact, like the election results - then you can piece together a violation of the racketeering act.' Racketeering, a felony in Georgia, can carry stiff penalties including up to 20 years in prison and a hefty fine. 'There are not a lot of people who avoid serving prison time on a racketeering offense,' said Cox."
According to the Guardian, a 21-year-old Michigan man has been charged with one count of terrorism and one count of using a computer to commit a crime after he made threats against Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer. From the story:
"'Threatening elected officials is against the law and my office will prosecute those who attempt to intimidate or terrorize our state and federal leaders,' said attorney general Dana Nessel. 'I appreciate the thorough investigative work by the FBI and Michigan state police on this case, and I consider it another excellent example of showcasing the dedication that those working in law enforcement have to protect the public.' The man had made direct death threats on social media in January, and said he would 'be the catalyst' for revolution. He also had information for making a bomb and procuring the necessary materials on his phone."
According to the AP, Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican who represents the state of Alaska, was censured by the state's Republican party for her decision to convict Donald Trump. From the story:
"The Alaska Republican party has censured Senator Lisa Murkowski for voting to convict Donald Trump at his impeachment trial and now doesn't want her to identify as a GOP candidate in next year's election, a member of the party's state central committee said on Tuesday. 'The party does not want Lisa Murkowski to be a Republican candidate,' said Tuckerman Babcock, the immediate past chair of the state party. The vote to censure Murkowski was 53-17 at a Saturday meeting in Anchorage, he said. The decision has not been publicly announced by the party. 'It went further than censure, which was strong,' Babcock said. 'But it also directed the party officials to recruit an opponent in the election and to the extent legally permissible, prevent Lisa Murkowski from running as a Republican in any election,' he said. It's a watershed moment for Republican politics in Alaska. Murkowski has been in the US Senate since 2002, when her father, Frank Murkowski, selected her to finish his unexpired Senate term after he was elected governor. A Murkowski has represented Alaska in the Senate since 1981."
During an interview with CNN, Adm Brett Giroir, Trump's former Covid tsar, urged the former president to address vaccine hesitancy among Republicans. NOTE: Trump urged his followers to get vaccinated during a speech at CPAC in February, but has been more muted than the other living former presidents.
March 15, 2021 - Julian Elie Khater, of Pennsylvania, and George Pierre Tanios, of West Virginia, have both been charged for their role in the attack on Brian Sicknick, the police officer who died after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol. The two men are accused of assaulting Sicknick with bear spray.
Deb Haaland was confirmed today as secretary of the interior, making her the first Native American cabinet secretary in US history.
March 14, 2021 - Ron Johnson, a Republican Senator from Wisconsin, told a radio host regarding the Capitol insurrection: "I never really felt threatened". Johnson explained that the insurrectionists were mostly "people that love this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break a law." Johnson continued: "Had the tables been turned and President Donald Trump won the election and those were thousands of Black Lives Matter and antifa protesters I would have been concerned ... This didn’t seem like an armed insurrection to me. I mean 'armed', when you hear 'armed' don't you think of firearms?"
Notable responses to Johnson's radio interview:
"If he runs again, Johnson must be opposed in both the primary and general elections by people who care enough about democracy to support and defend it" - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"No, Senator Ron Johnson, the truth is that the January 6 insurrectionists did break the law, they hurt and killed law enforcement officers, and they were trying to overturn the elected government of the United States. To say that the opposite is true about this group of insurrectionists, but that you would have been worried if they had been Black Lives Matters protesters, is racist, dangerous and unbecoming a United States senator." - Noah Bookbinder, President of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
"Everybody in the country and the world saw the insurrectionists beat up, injure and kill law-enforcement at the Capitol and they saw them break the law over and over as they smashed windows and soiled the citadel of democracy. Everybody except Sen. Ron Johnson. He needs to go." - Barbara Boxer, former Democratic Senator
March 12, 2021 - Ted Cruz, a Republican senator from Texas, sent out a fund raising letter that rails against "cancel culture" and offers signed copies of "Green Eggs & Ham", a book Cruz did not write. The fund raiser message calls the signed book a "cancel culture collectible". NOTE: Green Eggs and Ham is not among the list of books that Dr Seuss Enterprises decided it would no longer publish.
The city of Minneapolis has reached a $27m settlement with the family of George Floyd in their lawsuit over his killing while in police custody. According to attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family of George Floyd: "This is the largest pre-trial settlement in a civil rights wrongful death cae in U.S. history."
According to HuffPost, the FBI has made its first arrest for the assault against officer Mike Fanone, a DC metropolitan police officer who was beaten and tasered during the Capitol insurrection. Thomas Sibick, who stole Fanone's radio and badge and buried them in his backyard, faces five charges, including obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder, assaulting or impeding officers, and taking a thing of value by force or intimidation.
March 11, 2021 - News surfaced that Donald Trump requested a mail-in ballot for Palm Beach county's municipal election in Florida earlier this week. NOTE: This is the third instance of Trump voting by mail since he changed his residency from New York to Florida in October 2019, each of which undermine his talking point that mail-in ballots cost him the November election.
During an interview with CNN, John Kavanaugh, an Arizona Republican lawmaker, explained that there is a "fundamental difference between Democrats and Republicans" when it comes to voting. According to Kavanaugh: "Democrats value as many people as possible voting, and they're willing to risk fraud. Republicans are more concerned about fraud, so we don't mind putting security measures in that won't let everybody vote – but everybody shouldn't be voting. Quantity is important, but we have to look at the quality of votes, as well."
Notable response to Kavanaugh's "quality of votes" comment:
"This is an appalling, dog-whistle idea that runs in the background of a lot of anti-voting measures. Barriers aren't such a big deal because they will sort out people who don't really want to vote. The people who want to vote will find a way to cast a ballot" - Sam Levine
Joe Biden signed into law the $1.9tn coronavirus relief package, also known as the "American Rescue Plan", which is the first major legislative victory of his presidency.
During an interview with Vice on Showtime, Chris Miller, Trump's acting defense secretary, stated: "Would anybody have marched on the Capitol, and tried to overrun the Capitol, without the president’s speech? I think it's pretty much definitive that wouldn't have happened."
Merrick Garland has been sworn in as the new attorney general.
March 10, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Peter Stone offers the following analysis regarding money making efforts by far-right extremist groups:
"Dozens of extremist groups and individuals, including some involved in the Capitol attack, have used social media platforms, cryptocurrencies, tax-exempt status and other fundraising tools to rake in about $1.5m in the last year, according to experts. Two recent studies by groups that track extremist financing, the Global Disinformation Index (GDI) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), underscore the growing threat posed by far-right extremists, including those who attacked Congress to stop the certification of the 2020 election results. The recent studies and testimony delivered to a House committee by representatives from the SPLC and GDI in late February showed that the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and others with white supremacist and anti-immigrant bias, reaped windfalls via the streaming platform DLive, cryptocurrencies and other fundraising methods. Megan Squire, a computer science professor at Elon University and a senior fellow at the SPLC, found that from 15 April to early February, 55 extremist individuals and groups used the video streaming platform DLive, which allows cryptocurrency-based donations for content, to pull in just under $866,700. 'The idea that multiple hate groups could raise tens of thousands of dollars a month from bleeding-edge technology and a tiny donor pool should be terrifying, not ho-hum,' Squire said in an interview. 'This is the canary in the coalmine, and we ignore it at our peril.' In a statement, DLive noted its guidelines prohibit hate speech and inciting violence, and that after the Capitol attack it 'indefinitely suspended the accounts of the individuals who used DLive to livestream from the riots,' and their access to any 'tokens given to them by community members'. According to GDI co-founder Daniel Rogers, 44% of the 73 hate groups he has studied have benefited by securing tax exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service."
Writing for the AP, Alexandra Jaffe lists the accomplishments of Joe Biden at this point in his presidency:
- Prioritized addressing the coronavirus pandemic during his first weeks in office. He’s on pace to hit his goal of 100 million vaccine doses administered in his first 100 days.
- Several early actions fulfilled pledges on climate policy. He signed an executive order on Inauguration Day that revoked the permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, halted development of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and ordered the review of Trump-era rules on the environment, public health and science.
- Delivered on top campaign pledges that involved rolling back Trump administration moves. The Biden administration rejoined the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Accord, halted construction of the border wall, ended travel restrictions on people from a variety of Muslim-majority countries and created a task force to reunite families separated at the US-Mexico border.
- Biden pledged to deliver a comprehensive immigration reform bill to Congress within his first 100 days, and it was unveiled last month.
- He made early moves to deliver on a pledge to tighten ethical standards in his administration, including a 20 January executive order imposing an ethics pledge on appointees.
In an attempt to delay voting on the Covid relief package, Marjorie Taylor Green made a motion to adjourn the House, which forces members to return to the floor for an extra vote in order to keep the House in session. Taylor then sent the following tweet:
"I just made a motion to adjourn to stop Congress from passing the $1.9 trillion dollar massive woke progressive Democrat wish list. The GOP has messaged against this ridiculous bill. We should do everything to stop it. Pay attention if Rs vote to adjourn. Or with the Dems."
40 Republicans joined the Democrats to defeat Greene's motion to adjourn.
According to analysis by the Urban Institute, the Covid relief package will reduce US poverty for 2021 by more than on-third.
Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, spoke against the Covid relief package saying to the Democrats: "I've watched socialism grow in this country; I've watched it grow in this body. I see it within your own party."
John Yarmuth, the House budget committee chairman dismissed McCarthy's comments saying: "If Democrats had a potluck picnic, the Republicans would call it socialism."
Lauren Boebert, the Republican congresswoman who has voiced support for the anti-semitic theory QAnon, called the Covid relief package a "trashy spending spree" that would do nothing to help Americans who have "suffered the most from this China virus". NOTE: An analysis by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism found that the significant rise in anti-Asian hate crimes this last year could be partly attributed to the use of terms like "China virus" by Donald Trump and other Republican allies. Anti-Asian hate crimes rose last year by nearly 150%.
During debate over the Covid relief package, Republican representative Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin, argued the legislation would result in a tax penalty for married couples. Grothman then stated: "I bring it up because I know the strength that Black Lives Matter had in this last election. I know it's a group that doesn't like the old fashioned family. I'm disturbed that we have another program here where we're increasing the marriage penalty."
Stacey Plasket, a Democratic congresswoman, responded to Grothman's comments saying: "How dare you? How dare you say that Black Lives Matter, Black people do not understand old fashioned families? We have been able to keep our families alive for over 400 years. That is outrageous. That should be stricken down." NOTE: Plaskett's Democratic colleagues applauded her.
The House passed the $1.9tn coronavirus relief bill (American Rescue Plan) with a final vote of 220 to 211. Not a single Republican voted for the bill. NOTE: The bill includes $1400 direct payments to most Americans, and unlike the relief bill passed during Trump's reign, this one will not include a presidential signature.
After the American Rescue Plan passed, the Dow closed at 32,297.02, marking the first time the market has closed above 32,000.
Following the passage of the American Rescue Plan, Senator Roger Wicker, who criticized the plan, and voted against it, sent the following tweet in an attempt to take credit for it: "Independent restaurant operators have won $28.6 billion worth of targeted relief. This funding will ensure small businesses can survive the pandemic by helping to adapt their operations and keep their employees on the payroll."
According to the Guardian, Jamie Raskin, a Democratic congressman, has requested the FBI investigate the infiltration of police agencies by white supremacists. From the story:
"The FBI must develop a strategy to respond to white supremacist infiltration of law enforcement agencies and address its past failures to take the issue seriously, a prominent Democratic congressman has argued in a letter to the FBI director, Christopher Wray. Multiple internal FBI reports over the past 15 years have labeled white supremacist infiltration of police departments as a serious threat. But last year, FBI officials refused to testify in a hearing about the topic, repeatedly telling congressional staffers that 'it did not believe that this threat was supported by evidence' and 'that there would not be any utility in the bureau offering testimony', the Maryland congressman Jamie Raskin wrote in a letter to Wray on Tuesday. The presence of current and former police officers in the violent insurrection at the Capitol on 6 January was 'irrefutable proof of this threat', the congressman argued. 'Given the FBI's refusal just last year to admit that extremist police officers posed a serious threat to our nation's security, I am now concerned that the bureau lacks an adequate strategy to respond to this clear and present danger to public safety,' Raskin, the chair of a subcommittee on civil rights and civil liberties, wrote. Raskin requested a briefing on the issue for members of Congress by 26 March. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter. In February, a confidential intelligence assessment from the FBI's San Antonio division warned that white supremacists and other far-right groups would 'very likely seek affiliation with military and law enforcement entities' in order to advance their ideology, attack racial minorities, and gain insider information and tactical training, according to ABC News, which obtained a copy of the report."
March 9, 2021 - After being delayed, jury selection got under way today for the Derek Chauvin trial.
During a press briefing, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, responded to reports that more than 3,000 migrant children are currently being detained by the US along the southern border, saying "We are still digging our way out of a dismantled and immoral and ineffective immigration policy that was being implemented by the last administration. It's going to take us some time."
Donald Trump put out a statement asking his supporters to send money to him directly, rather than to the RNC. This statement comes days after Trump's lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter to the RNC and the National Republican Congressional Committee to stop using his name and likeness for fundraising and merchandise sales.
A $1.9tn Covid-19 relief bill is making its way through congress, which prompted Republican Senator Tom Cotton to attack the Democrats who voted for it, because it gives money to "murderers and rapists" in prison. NOTE: Tom Cotton voted twice while Trump was president for Covid bills that provided payments to prisoners.
Jimmy Carter responded to analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice that new voting measures under consideration in Georgia would harm Black voters the most, saying:
"As our state legislators seek to turn back the clock through legislation that will restrict access to voting for many Georgians, I am disheartened, saddened, and angry. Many of the proposed changes are reactions to allegations of fraud for which no evidence was produced – allegations that were, in fact, refuted through various audits, recounts and other measures. The proposed changes appear to be rooted in partisan interests, not in the interests of all Georgia voters."
According to a Pew research poll, 70% of Americans approve of the coronavirus relief package. 30% say the legislation is too costly. 40% of those supporting the legislation are Republican and Republican-leaning independents. 94% of Democrats support it.
March 8, 2021 - The trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who killed George Floyd, is scheduled to begin today.
Writing for the Guardian, Amudalat Ajasa and Jackie Renzetti offer the following commentary on the upcoming Minneapolis trial:
"Minneapolis and its adjacent 'twin city' St Paul, followed by cities and towns all across the United States and overseas burst into civil rights protest last May, where millions demanded radical change after a video went viral showing a cop kneeling on Floyd's neck for eight minutes and forty-six seconds as he begged, in vain, for his life. The since-fired officer, Derek Chauvin, who is white, is charged with second degree murder and second degree manslaughter and has been in hiding while out on bail. Three other, also now-ex, officers charged with aiding and abetting stand trial together in August. 'I feel kind of scared that we won't see [what] we want to see. And we'll be in the streets, like we were the whole summer,' said Zarieah Graves, an activist in Minneapolis. If the officers are acquitted, or convicted but lightly punished 'we are going to be upset,' Graves added. When Floyd, 46, a father from Houston who moved to Minneapolis for work, was killed his name joined that of Jamar Clark, Philando Castile and many others less well known. More than 200 people have suffered police-involved deaths in Minnesota in the last 20 years, a database compiled by the Minneapolis Star Tribune calculated. While only 7% of Minnesotans are Black they accounted for 26% of those deaths. 'That's what people need to know is that there are hundreds of George Floyds out there in the state of Minnesota alone, that people just don't seem to know anything about,' Toshira Garraway told the Guardian. Garraway started the activist group Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence when Justin Teigen, her fianc̩ and the father of her child, ended up suffocated in a recycling truck after he fled from a police stop in St Paul in 2009 and was pursued, with the authorities and the family disagreeing over how he came to meet his death. But only one Minnesota police officer has been convicted of murder РMohamed Noor, who shot dead Australian life coach Justine Damond after she called police saying she had witnessed an assault in 2017. Damond was white and Noor is Somali American. 'Why is it that only the white woman got true justice?' Garraway asked."
Senator Lindsey Graham, who stated after the Capitol insurrection that the US could "count [him] out" from backing Trump, told Axios that Trump has "a dark side ... what I'm trying to do is harness the magic". Graham also said Trump's grip on the Republican party could make it "bigger, he can make it stronger, he can make it more diverse. And he also could destroy it."
The CDC announced today that fully vaccinated people can visit indoors with others who are fully vaccinated without wearing masks.
The Derek Chauvin trial has been delayed.
According to BuzzFeed, the Supreme Court has rejected Trump's final case challenging the election results. From the story:
"Trump and his Republican allies lost more than 60 lawsuits in state and federal courts challenging President Joe Biden's wins in Wisconsin and a handful of other key states. They petitioned the Supreme Court to hear a small number of these cases, and the justices either rejected them right away or didn't take any action before Biden was sworn in on January 20, a clear sign that they wouldn't interfere. Even after leaving office, Trump continued to press a case he'd brought against state election officials in Wisconsin. He filed a brief on February 9 that argued the fight wasn't moot now that Biden was in the White House because the challenges he'd raised to how the state expanded absentee and mail-in voting during the pandemic could come up again in the future; a federal appeals court had tossed the case on December 24. It found Trump's legal arguments lacking and also concluded that he'd waited too long to file the case in the first place. The supreme court justices didn't address any of Trump's arguments."
Roberto Minuta was arrested today for his role in the Capitol insurrection. Minuta, who according to the FBI was wearing "military-style attire and gear, including apparel emblazoned with a crest related to the Oath Keepers", served as a bodyguard for Trump confidant Roger Stone in the hours before the assault on the Capitol.
Laura Ingraham, of Fox News, made the following statement on her show The Ingraham Angle:
"We know that our FDA has in many ways failed us, by not allowing for the use of ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, both of which are used around the world to reduce covid hospitalizations and deaths."
March 5, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Kari Paul offers the following commentary on the primary sources of misinformation during the 2020 election:
"A handful of rightwing 'super-spreaders' on social media were responsible for the bulk of election misinformation in the run-up to the Capitol attack, according to a new study that also sheds light on the staggering reach of falsehoods pushed by Donald Trump. A report from the Election Integrity Partnership (EIP), a group that includes Stanford and the University of Washington, analyzed social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok during several months before and after the 2020 elections. It found that 'super-spreaders' – responsible for the most frequent and most impactful misinformation campaigns – included Trump and his two elder sons, as well as other members of the Trump administration and the rightwing media. The study’s authors and other researchers say the findings underscore the need to disable such accounts to stop the spread of misinformation. 'If there is a limit to how much content moderators can tackle, have them focus on reducing harm by eliminating the most effective spreaders of misinformation,' said said Lisa Fazio, an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University who studies the psychology of fake news but was not involved EIP report. 'Rather than trying to enforce the rules equally across all users, focus enforcement on the most powerful accounts.' The report analyzed social media posts featuring words like 'election' and 'voting' to track key misinformation narratives related to the the 2020 election, including claims of mail carriers throwing away ballots, legitimate ballots strategically not being counted, and other false or unproven stories. The report studied how these narratives developed and the effect they had. It found during this time period, popular rightwing Twitter accounts 'transformed one-off stories, sometimes based on honest voter concerns or genuine misunderstandings, into cohesive narratives of systemic election fraud'. Ultimately, the 'false claims and narratives coalesced into the meta-narrative of a 'stolen election', which later propelled the January 6 insurrection', the report said. 'The 2020 election demonstrated that actors – both foreign and domestic – remain committed to weaponizing viral false and misleading narratives to undermine confidence in the US electoral system and erode Americans' faith in our democracy,' the authors concluded."
Writing for NBC, Joyce Vance, a former US Attorney, offers the following commentary regarding Republican lies about voter fraud:
"We're living in a time where one political party openly believes it's more important to win elections than it is to let Americans choose their own representatives in free and fair elections. And whether they're going to get away with it is shaping up to be one of the most important issues the country faces in the post-Trump presidency era. The Supreme Court isn't a venue where you typically expect to hear the quiet part said out loud. But that was what happened Tuesday, when an attorney for the Arizona Republican Party, Michael Carvin, advised the court that provisions that made it easier for eligible Americans to vote put 'us at a competitive disadvantage relative to Democrats.' He was implicitly characterizing laws that make voting more difficult for likely Democratic voters, often people of color, as the difference between winning and losing elections. Historically, restrictive voting measures have been justified as necessary to keep a shadowy group of people who are allegedly intent on casting fraudulent ballots from stealing elections. But those people never seem to materialize. It's clear that Republican operatives and legislatures have adopted voter suppression through restrictive legislation as a political strategy. Now that a lawyer has confirmed before the Supreme Court that it's really just about winning elections, what's a constitutional republic to do?"
Writing for the Guardian, Martin Pengelly offers the following commentary regarding a new lawsuit filed by Eric Swalwell:
"Donald Trump's post-presidency legal jeopardy is a favourite subject among liberals traumatised by his four years in power, and today Eric Swalwell, a California congressman who briefly ran for his party's presidential nomination but more memorably served as a House manager in both impeachment trials, has sought to add to the pile. In a lawsuit filed in Washington DC, the Democrat accused Trump, his lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Mo Brooks, an Alabama congressman, of making 'a clear call to action' before the Capitol riot on 6 January, to which Trump supporters responded by storming the halls of Congress. Here's some of what the suit says: 'Trump directly incited the violence at the Capitol that followed and then watched approvingly as the building was overrun. As Trump was instructing them to go to the Capitol, insurgents were already forcing their way through barricades, attempting to breach the building, while blasting Trump's speech on a bullhorn.' Trump aide Jason Miller responded, telling ABC News: ;After failing miserably with two impeachment hoaxes, [Swalwell is] attacking our greatest president with yet another witch hunt. It's a disgrace that a compromised member of Congress like Swalwell still sits on the House intelligence committee.' Trump has already been sued over the riot by a Democrat in Congress, Bennie Thompson, who was joined in the action by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The former president was served in that case this week. Other cases to worry Trump include investigations into his financial affairs in New York and his attempts to overturn his election defeat in Georgia."
The following exchange took place between Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, and a reporter:
REPORTER: "A lot of Americans are saying that, you know, the surges are happening under President Biden's watch after he reversed some previous policy. So does the administration take any accountability for what's happening?"
PSAKI: "Who are the Americans?"
REPORTER: "Well, I know you don't want to answer to him, but the former President just released a statement saying that, 'The Biden Administration must act immediately to end the border nightmare that they have unleashed onto our nation.'"
PSAKI: "Former President Trump?"
REPORTER: "Yes"
PSAKI: "We don't take our advice or counsel from former President Trump on immigration policy, which was not only inhumane but ineffective over the last four years. We're going to chart our own path forward, and that includes treating children with humanity and respect, and ensuring they're safe when they cross our borders."
March 4, 2021 - Writing for the New York Times, Eric Lipton and Michael Forsythe offer the following commentary regarding a report by the Transportation Department's inspector general about Elaine Chao, who served as the Secretary of Transportation under Trump, and who is the wife of Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell:
"The investigation of Chao came after a 2019 report that detailed her interactions with her family while serving as transportation secretary, including a trip she had planned to take to China in 2017 with her father and sister. The inspector general's report confirmed that the planning for the trip, which was canceled, raised ethics concerns among other government officials. As transportation secretary, Chao was the top Trump administration official overseeing the American shipping industry, which is in steep decline and is being battered by Chinese competitors. 'A formal investigation into potential misuses of position was warranted,' Mitch Behm, the Transportation Department's deputy inspector general, said to House lawmakers on Tuesday in a letter accompanying a 44-page report detailing the investigation into 'use of public office for private gain.' The inspector general referred the matter to the Justice Department in December for possible criminal investigation. But in the weeks before the end of Trump administration, two Justice Department divisions declined to do so."
According to CNN, federal forces are on high alert today due to threats against the government based on QAnon conspiracy theories about Trump being swept back into power on March 4th. From the story:
"US Capitol Police acting chief Yogananda Pittman told Congress earlier Wednesday that her department had 'concerning intelligence' regarding the next few days in Congress -- but said it wouldn't be 'prudent' of her to share the 'law-enforcement sensitive' intelligence in a public hearing or public format. Pittman assured lawmakers, though, that her department is in an 'enhanced' security posture and that the National Guard and Capitol Police have been briefed on what to expect in the coming days. In a clear sign federal agencies are working to avoid the same communication failures for which they have been roundly criticized since the Capitol attack, DHS officials are stressing that law enforcement should not view intelligence solely through the lens of whether a threat qualifies as 'credible and specific,' but use the warnings coming from DHS, FBI and other partner agencies to inform decisions about their security posture, even if the information provided falls short of pointing to an imminent attack or violence, the sources said. Violent extremists also discussed plans to persuade thousands to travel to Washington, DC, to participate in the March 4 plot, according to the joint intelligence bulletin. One source noted to CNN that it is mostly online talk and not necessarily an indication anyone is coming to Washington to act on it."
According to the Guardian, the US Capitol Police asked the National Guard to extend its mission at the Capitol by two months.
Writing for the Guardian, Lois Beckett offers the following commentary on the people involved in the Capitol insurrection:
"Nearly 90% of the people charged in the Capitol riot so far have no connection with militias or other organized extremist groups, according to a new analysis that adds to the understanding of what some experts have dubbed the 'mass radicalization' of Donald Trump's supporters. A report from George Washington University's Center on Extremism has analyzed court records about cases that have been made public. It found that more than half of people facing federal charges over the 6 January attack appear to have planned their participation alone, not even coordinating with family members or close friends. Only 33 of the 257 alleged participants appear to have been part of existing 'militant networks', including the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers anti-government militia. The dominance of these 'individual believers' among the alleged attackers underscored the importance of understanding the Capitol violence as part of a 'diverse and fractured domestic extremist threat', and highlighted the ongoing risk of lone actor terror attacks, the George Washington researchers concluded. Other analysts have argued the Capitol attackers should be understood as 'not merely a mix of rightwing organizations, but as a broader mass movement with violence at its core'."
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following commentary on efforts to restrict voting:
"An effort to restrict voting is under way across America, but there are few places where that assault is more clear, and more urgent, than in Georgia. I know we've talked about Georgia before, but this week, I want to dig in to exactly what Georgia lawmakers are proposing to make it harder to vote right now and why it matters. On Monday, the Georgia house of representatives approved a bill, HB531, that would implement sweeping changes to the state's voting system. Among other measures, the bill would:
- Require voters to provide identification information both with their absentee ballot application and the ballot itself.
- Limit election officials to offer just two days of early voting on the weekends, one of which is required to be a Saturday.
- Restrict early voting from 9am. to 5pm, with an option for election officials to extend hours from 7am to 7pm.
- Give voters less time to request an absentee ballot.
- Shorten the period for a runoff election from nine weeks to four.
In the state senate, there are also proposals to get rid of the state's policy of automatically registering voters and to only allow voters to cast a ballot by mail if they are 65 or older or have a valid excuse. That would eliminate the so-called no-excuse absentee voting system Georgia Republicans – yes Georgia Republicans – enacted in 2005. While proposals in states across the country are deeply alarming, the efforts in Georgia matter significantly for a few reasons:
1. They come after an election in which there was record turnout in the state, including surges among Black and other minority voters, which helped power Democrats to stunning upsets.
2. Georgia officials, including top Republicans, loudly dismissed allegations of fraud and there were statewide recounts and audits to back them up.
3. They evoke Georgia's well-documented and ugly history of passing laws designed to make it harder for Black people to vote."
March 3, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Jason Wilson offers the following commentary on the recruiting sources for an anti-government militia group:
"A Guardian investigation of a website leak from the American Patriots Three Percent shows the anti-government militia group have recruited a network across the United States that includes current and former military members, police and border patrol agents. But the leak also demonstrates how the radical group has recruited from a broad swath of Americans, not just military and law enforcement. Members include both men and women, of ages ranging from their 20s to their 70s, doing jobs from medical physics to dental hygiene and living in all parts of the country. Experts say the revelations of the broad scope of the movement's membership shows the mainstreaming of the radical politics of militia and so-called 'Patriot Movement' groups during the Trump era and beyond. There has been a particular focus on the militia movement after the 6 January attack on the Capitol in Washington DC, in which a rampaging pro-Trump mob included militia members and others from far-right organizations. According to members who spoke to the Guardian, the website from which the list was leaked was set up by national leaders of Patriot Movement group, which is affiliated with the broader Three Percenter movement. Names, phone numbers and even photographs of members were obtained by activists who then posted the data to an internet archiving site, and the Guardian cross-referenced these with public records and other published materials. One of the activists who discovered the leak, whose name has been withheld due to safety concerns, said that the Wordpress site's poorly configured membership plugin left those details exposed to public view. Additional materials seen by the Guardian confirm that claim, and show that the materials were obtained by a simple search technique. Many of the members revealed by the leak have extensive armed forces experience, including some who are still serving in branches of the US military."
Writing for Politico, Kyle Cheney offers the following commentary on congressional attempts to access Donald Trump's tax records:
"Congressional investigators fighting to access former President Donald Trump's financial records are planning for a lengthy battle that stretches deep into 2021, according to a proposed legal schedule unveiled by House counsel Doug Letter on Tuesday. In a filing on Tuesday with the federal District Court in DC, Letter revealed that the House Oversight Committee had reissued a subpoena for Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA, late last month. And he outlined a briefing and argument schedule — already agreed to by Trump's legal team — that would carry the case into June, with a decision unlikely before mid-summer. Any appeals by either Trump or the House could extend that timeline much further. Letter's filing is the first window into the House's plans for a lengthy slog in a battle that has already stretched two years in federal courts. Democrats say they need access to Trump's records — which they suspect will show improper foreign ties and potential conflicts of interest — in order to craft financial disclosure legislation to restrain future administrations. But the effort also has renewed relevance after Trump reemerged over the weekend, vowing vengeance upon his political adversaries and pledging to retain his stranglehold on GOP politics. Under Letter's schedule, Trump's first brief would be due 5 April, with the committee's reply a month later. Additional briefs would be filed on 19 May and 2 June. Oral argument would be scheduled 'as soon as practicable' after that."
Writing for the New York Times, Giovanni Russonello's On Politics newsletter offers the following commentary from Wendy Weiser, the director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU's law school regarding the actions Republicans are making to impose voting restrictions across the US:
"[There are] seven times the number of restrictive voting bills we saw at the same time last year. So it is a dramatic spike in the push to restrict access to voting. It's not brand-new this year, it wasn't invented by Donald Trump, but it was certainly supercharged by his regressive attack on our voting systems. Many of these bills are fueled by the same rhetoric and grievances that were driving the challenges to the 2020 election. In addition to expressly referencing the big lie about widespread voter fraud and that Trump actually won the election, they're targeting the methods of voting that the Trump campaign was complaining about. So, for example, the single biggest subject of regressive voter legislation in this session — roughly half the bills — is mail voting. That is new this year. We've been tracking efforts to restrict access to voting for a very long time, and absentee voting has not been the subject of legislative attack before. It was the politicization of that issue in the 2020 election, principally by the Trump campaign and allies, that I think helped elevate that issue to a grievance level that would cause it to be the subject of legislative attack."
Weiser goes on the describe the For the People Act, which is the federal legislation Democrats are pushing in an attempt to fight back:
"It would create a baseline level of voter access rules that every American could rely on for federal elections. So, for example, in many states we're seeing attempts to eliminate no-excuse absentee voting. This would require all states to offer no-excuse absentee voting. Every state would then offer that best practice of voting access, and it would no longer be manipulated, election by election, by state legislators to target voters they don't like."
According to the Guardian, the social network Parler has dropped its lawsuit against Amazon. From the story:
"Parler, the social media app popular among American right-wing users, has dropped its case against Amazon for cutting off its web-hosting services, court documents from late last night showed. Reuters report that the app went dark in January as many service providers pulled back support, accusing it of failing to police violent content related to the attack on the US Capitol, the nation's legislative seat, by followers of Donald Trump. Google removed the application from its Play Store and Apple from App Store. Parler sued Amazon, accusing it of making an illegal, politically motivated decision to shut it down to benefit Twitter. A US judge rejected its demand that Amazon restore services for the platform later in January. A month later, Parler re-launched its services online and said the new platform was built on 'sustainable, independent technology' – albeit apparently from Russia. Amazon has said that Parler ignored repeated warnings to effectively moderate the growth of violent content on its website, including calls to assassinate prominent Democratic politicians, leading business executives and members of the media. Parler, however, has said there was no evidence apart from anecdotes in the press that it had a role in inciting the riots in US Capitol and argued that it was unfair to deprive millions of law-abiding Americans a platform for free speech. It should be noted that the 'anecdote in the press' that Parler refers to were the media quoting what Parler had allowed to be published on its website."
The Senate homeland security committee and the Senate rules committee conducted their second joint hearing today on the security failures that occurred during the Capitol insurrection. Here are some highlights:
- William J Walker, the commanding general of the DC National Guard described how it took army leaders more than three hours to approve a request for guard troops to be deployed to the Capitol:
"At 1:49pm I received a frantic call from then chief of US Capitol Police, Steven Sund, where he informed me that the security perimeter at the Capitol had been breached by hostile rioters. Chief Sund, his voice cracking with emotion, indicated that there was a dire emergency on Capitol Hill and requested the immediate assistance of as many guardsmen as I could muster. Immediately after the 1.49pm call with Chief Sund, I alerted the army senior leadership of the request. The approval for Chief Sund's request would eventually come from the acting secretary of defense and be relayed to me by army senior leaders at 5.08pm – three hours and 19 minutes later. We already had guardsmen on buses ready to move to the Capitol. Consequently, at 5.20pm (in under 20 minutes) the District of Columbia National Guard arrived at the Capitol. We helped to re-establish the security perimeter at the east side of the Capitol to facilitate the resumption of the joint session of Congress."
- William Walker stated that his ability to deploy a quick-reaction force was restricted by acting defense secretary Christopher Miller on January 5th, the day before the insurrection.
March 2, 2021 - According to NBC News, the George Washington University's Program on Extremism examined the court documents for over 200 people involved in the Capitol insurrection, and concluded that over half were not connected to extremist groups or to one another. From the story:
"[The study] concluded that 33 of those charged were involved with militant networks and that 82 were connected with others through networks of like-minded believers. But the remaining 142 planned to go to the Capitol on their own, 'inspired by a range of extremist narratives, conspiracy theories, and personal motivations.' The authors said the findings show that 'conspiracy communities' are playing an expanding role in right-wing extremism that leads to violence, as followers of online theories mobilize in the real world. While only about three dozen of those charged were part of extremist groups, their participation 'was likely a necessary precondition for the escalation of violence from an angry riot into a breach of Capitol security,' the report said. Prosecutors have accused members of three groups — the Oath Keepers, the Three Percenters and the Proud Boys — of conspiring to come to Washington and stage violent protests."
According to CNN, Donald Trump is currently facing five separate legal challenges. From the story:
"Five independently elected investigators have turned their attention to former president Donald Trump, a sign his legal woes are mounting as he no longer enjoys the protections once afforded to him by the Oval Office. Trump is now facing inquiries run by elected officials from Georgia to New York to Washington with only their constituents to answer to. Most are Democrats, but one key investigation was launched by a Georgia Republican who has faced heavy criticism from Trump since the election. And the former President's actions on his way out of office, including his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and to stir up his supporters with baseless claims of fraud until they stormed the US Capitol on a harrowing January day, have only added to his legal problems."
Christopher Wray, the FBI director, testified before the Senate judiciary committee today. Here are some highlights:
- Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the committee, used his opening statement to condemn the antifa movement saying the federal government must confront extremism "wherever it falls on the political spectrum".
- Regarding the Capitol attack, Wray stated: "That attack, that siege, was criminal behavior, plain and simple, and it's behavior that we, the FBI, view as domestic terrorism. It's got no place in our democracy, and tolerating it would make a mockery of our nation's rule of law."
- Committee chairman Dick Durbin asked Wray if the insurrection was carried out by "fake Trump protesters". Wray's response: "We have not seen evidence of that at this stage."
- Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, asked Wray if there was evidence of antifa involvement in the insurrection. Wray's response: "We have not to date seen any evidence of anarchist violent extremists or people subscribing to antifa in connection with the 6th."
- Wray stated that white supremacist extremism is a "persistent, evolving threat" that has grown since he took control of the FBI in 2017.
- Wray stated that white supremacists make up "the biggest chunk of our domestic terrorism portfolio overall."
- Wray stated that white supremacists "have been responsible for the most lethal attacks over the last decade."
The governors of Texas and Mississippi, both Republicans, announced that they are rescinding statewide mask mandates and allowing businesses to reopen at full capacity next week, despite concerns about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Dr Seuss Enterprises announced that it would discontinue publishing 6 of its books because of racist and insensitive imagery. According to the announcement, the decision was made based on "feedback from our audiences including teachers, academics and specialists in the field as part of our review process. We then worked with a panel of experts, including educators, to review our catalog of titles". NOTE: Conservatives railed against the move, calling it part of "cancel culture".
March 1, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Martin Pengelly offers the following CPAC update:
"Calls for a boycott of Goya beans, chickpeas and other foodstuffs have grown louder after chief executive Robert Unanue made a series of false claims about the presidential election in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, in Florida on Sunday. Unanue has previously courted controversy with praise for Donald Trump, which last year prompted Ivanka Trump to pose, infamously, with a can of Goya beans. Onstage in Orlando, Unanue called Donald Trump 'the real, legitimate and still actual president of the United States'. He also falsely claimed the presidential election that Trump lost conclusively to Joe Biden and the state contest in Georgia, which Biden won narrowly, were 'not legitimate', and claimed mail-in ballots were fraudulent. 'We still have faith,' Unanue said, 'that the majority of the people of the United States voted for the president ... I think a great majority of the people in the United States voted for President Trump, and even a few Democrats.' Biden won more than 81m votes, or 51.3% of the total cast, to more than 74m for Trump. The Democrat won the electoral college 306-232, a margin Trump called a landslide when it was in his favour over Hillary Clinton."
During a daily White House briefing, Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, accused the Trump administration of having "dismantled our nation's immigration system in its entirety." Mayorkas also said his department will "replace the cruelty of the past administration with an orderly, humane and safe immigration process."
Youtube announced that it has suspended Rudy Giuliani for the second time in two months for spreading lies about the 2020 presidential election.
According to the New York Times, Donald and Melania Trump received coronavirus vaccines before leaving the White House in January. Both chose not to receive the vaccines on camera. NOTE: Yesterday at CPAC, Trump said for the first time that "everyone" should get the coronavirus vaccine.
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following commentary on a new bill in Georgia that will make it harder to vote:
"The Georgia house of representatives passed a major bill with new sweeping voting restrictions on Monday that limits ballot drop boxes and early voting, and requires voters to provide identification information when they vote by mail. The measure, which passed on a party line vote of 97-72, comes months after the state saw record turnout that helped Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock win stunning upsets in two US Senate races and Joe Biden carry the presidential vote. The measure, one of several that would restrict voting in Georgia, is a thinly veiled effort to make it harder to cast a ballot for minority voters, voting advocates say. One of the most notable provisions in the law would cut back significantly on the amount of weekend early voting in the state. It would allow county officials to offer just one additional day of weekend early voting in addition to the one on Saturday that's required by law. Counties can currently offer up to four days of early voting and many have noted that Sundays ahead of an election are traditionally popular dates for early voting among Black voters as churches use 'Souls to the Polls' efforts to encourage voters to cast a ballot. It would also require election officials to reject provisional ballots entirely that are cast in the wrong precinct and shorten the runoff election period from nine weeks until just four. The measure also shortens the window voters have to cast an absentee ballot and requires them to present ID information when they request a ballot and when they turn it in. The measure also places new limits on ballot drop boxes, restricting where election officials can place them and the hours they can be accessible to the public. During a two hour debate on Monday, Barry Fleming, the bill's sponsor, and fellow Republicans defended the measure as commonsense changes needed to restore confidence in elections. State officials, including Georgia's top election official, a Republican, have said repeatedly there was no evidence of fraud. 'House Bill 531 is designed to bring back the confidence of our voters back into our election system. A main component of that effort is by enacting several revisions which will make the administration of elections easier by our local election officials,' Fleming said. The legislation would only allow officials to have ballot drop boxes inside early voting locations and only operational during early voting hours. Several Republicans also pointed for the need to have uniform election processes across the state. But several Democrats said that was weak justification for a measure that would make it harder to vote. They noted that the current bill leaves room for neighboring counties to offer different weekend early voting days, which was likely to cause confusion. 'It's pathetically obvious to anyone paying attention that when Trump lost the November election and Georgia flipped control of the US Senate to Democrats – shortly after, Republicans got the message that they were in a political death spiral,' said state representative Renitta Shannon, a Democrat. 'And now they're doing anything they can to silence the voices of black and brown voters specifically because they largely powered these wins.' The bill now moves to the Georgia senate."
According to ABC News, the World Health Organization is officially advising against the use of hydroxychloroquine. According to a panel of experts, there is "high certainty evidence" that it did not stop Covid deaths or hospitalizations but actually increased problems for patients.
February 26, 2021 - Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, a homeland security adviser, stated that Texas' lack of energy regulation played a role in its energy grid failure during a recent cold snap saying: "Texas has chosen not to make the kinds of decisions that would provide for the supplies that you would keep for an emergency, that is, to invest in a kind of resilience that other states which are regulated are required to invest in."
Writing for the Guardian, David Smith offers the following update on this year's CPAC:
"Speakers at CPAC continue to pledge fealty to former president Donald Trump. Matt Gaetz, a congressman from Florida, told the audience: 'My fellow patriots, don't be shy and don't be sorry, join me as we proudly represent the pro-Trump America first wing of the conservative movement. We're not really a wing; we're the whole body. We're the main attraction in the greatest show on earth.' Gaetz, a self-proclaimed 'Florida man' wearing blue jacket and purple tie, lashed out at 'cancel culture' and 'lockdown governors' including Democrat Andrew Cuomo of New York. He also defended Republican senator Ted Cruz of Texas. 'It was awful the way the media treated Ted Cruz,' he said. 'I mean, the left and the media were more worried about Ted Cruz going to Mexico to spend his own money than about the caravans coming through Mexico to take ours.' If Congresswoman Liz Cheney, who voted for Trump's impeachment after the 6 January insurrection at the US Capitol, were on the CPAC stage she would be booed, he predicted. The party's true leadership was not in Washington, Gaetz said. He also described the biggest threats to freedom as big government and big business, in particular big tech. 'There are no checks and balances when they can control-alt-delete anyone for any reason,' the congressman warned."
More fom David Smith on the applause Josh Hawley received at CPAC when he bragged about his role in trying to overturn Joe Biden's election victory:
"'On January the 6th, I objected during the electoral college certification - maybe you heard about it,' Hawley told the conservative gathering in Orlando, Florida. 'I did. I stood up and I said we ought to have a debate about election integrity. I said it is the right of the people to be heard and my constituents in Missouri want to be heard on this issue.' The senator continued: 'So I did that. I said I want to have a debate on election integrity. And what was the result of that? You know what the result was. I was called a traitor. I was called a seditionist. The radical left said I should resign and, if I wouldn't resign, I should be expelled from the United States Senate. Well, as I said a moment ago, I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying right here. I'm going to stand up for you because if we can't have free and open debate in this country, we're not going to have a country left. If we can't have free and open debate according to the laws in the United States Senate, what good is the United States Senate? Why do you send anybody to Washington at all? I thought it was an important stand to take and for that the left has come after me. They tried to silence me. They cancelled a book I was writing called The Tyranny of Big Tech. These people have no sense of irony. Still going to get published, by the way. It'll be out soon.' Hawley and other Republicans loyal to Donald Trump have perpetuated the lie of a stolen election despite state election officials, numerous courts and Trump's own attorney general, William Barr, finding no significant evidence of voter fraud. Hawley and colleague Ted Cruz are facing an investigation from the Senate ethics committee over their conduct before the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January."
Another report from David Smith at CPAC, this time regarding Donald Trump Jr's speech:
"Donald Trump Jr used his CPAC speech on Friday to draw battle lines in the Republican party, insisting that it should not go back to the era before his father. 'If there's one thing the Republican party has been really good at over the last two decades, it's snatching defeat from the jaws of victory,' the former president's son said. 'They caved to every special interest, they caved to corporate America, they caved and bowed to the radical left that hates their guts, hates their values and hates their freedom.' His singled out Liz Cheney, the number three Republican in the House of Representatives, who voted for Trump's impeachment after the 6 January insurrection. Cheney, daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, this week also criticised Trump's appearance at CPAC. In his remarks, Trump Jr compared her to the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group of current and former Republican consultants. 'Lincoln Project Liz, as I like to call her, is the leader of that failed movement, and if we want to go back to losing, if we want to go back to an America last policy, we should be following that,' he said. 'But I don't and I don't think anyone in this room does either.' The pugnacious Trump Jr reserved some of his barbs for Joe Biden, telling CPAC: 'The first 30 days have been a disaster. The lies the media told you wouldn't happen are all happening. But hey, at least they have a diverse cabinet! It's very diverse. That's what we saw, right. What is the policy of the FDA? 'Well, first and foremost, we appointed a woman.' Well, that's wonderful. Is she competent? Because there's competent women and there's incompetent women, just like there are competent men and incompetent men. We've seen that. We know that to be a fact. But when you don't have policy to address the incompetent and think you can get away with it by just talking about diversity blindly, it's sort of a problem, isn't it?' Trump's own administration was notoriously dominated by white men, many of whom were criticised as incompetent. His son was cheered as he concluded with a preview of the ex-president's speech: 'So we're looking forward to Sunday. I imagine it will not be what we call a low energy speech, and I assure you that it will solidify Donald Trump and all of your feelings about the Maga movement as the future of the Republican party.'"
February 25, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, David Smith offers the following commentary on the upcoming CPAC:
"Speakers include his allies such as Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state; Ben Carson, the ex-housing secretary; Sarah Sanders, a former White House press secretary; Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota; Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host; Jon Voight, an ardently pro-Trump actor; and Donald Trump Jr, the 45th president's son. There are also slots for Senate Republicans including Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Cynthia Lummis and Rick Scott, and House Republicans such as Kevin McCarthy, Mo Brooks, Madison Cawthorn, Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan, all of whom voted to challenge Joe Biden's victory. The 'big lie' of a stolen election is expected to thrive at CPAC. That is not least because the conference will culminate on Sunday with Trump himself. In his first post-presidential speech, he is expected to promise to back Maga candidates in next year's midterm elections, condemn Biden's reversal of his immigration policies and reserve particular venom for his foes within the Republican party. Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, which hosts CPAC, told the Reuters news agency: 'Donald Trump is going to stay in the game and will be involved in primaries and he's going to opine and he's going to give speeches, and for establishment Republicans it puts shivers down their spine. They're very concerned he's going to continue to have an impact. My advice to them is to get used to it.' Among the talking points will be a straw poll of attendees on their preferences for the Republican nomination in 2024. Given the section of the party that now rules CPAC, there is little doubt that Trump will emerge the winner. Tim Miller, former political director of Republican Voters Against Trump, said: 'He’s gonna speak right after the 2024 straw poll, which presumably will show him with a landslide victory, and so I think it's set up for him speak in a way that will signal that he sees himself as the leader of the party, as the frontrunner for 2024. He will attack those who have questioned him in that regard. 'I'm sure he'll be received overwhelmingly positively by the crowd in those appeals. The Republicans are doing this to themselves. They had an opportunity to put a stake in his heart, they didn't take it and he's in charge of the party right now.'"
Writing for the Guardian, Miranda Bryant offers the following commentary on Marjorie Taylor Greene's latest stunt in congress:
"The Republican extremist congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene attracted widespread condemnation – from transgender groups, Democrats and her own party – after she hung a transphobic sign outside her office in response to fellow congresswoman Marie Newman raising a transgender pride flag. The Georgia congresswoman put up the poster – which read 'There are TWO genders: Male & Female. Trust The Science!' – after Newman, whose daughter is transgender and whose office is opposite Greene's, hung the flag on Wednesday following an impassioned debate on the Equality Act, which Greene tried to block. She has also called the bill 'an attack on God's creation' and refused to refer to Newman's daughter as female. Despite Greene's attempts to delay a vote on the legislation, which would extend civil rights protections to LGBTQ+ people, it is expected to pass in the House, after which it will move on to the Senate, where it could face a filibuster. Joe Biden has said if it passes he will sign it into law. Speaking on the House floor this week, Newman, who represents Illinois, said: 'The best time to pass this act was decades ago. The second best time is right now. I'm voting yes on the Equality Act for Evie Newman, my daughter and the strongest, bravest person I know.' After the debate, Newman tweeted a video of herself putting out the flag. She wrote: 'Our neighbour, @RepMTG, tried to block the Equality Act because she believes prohibiting discrimination against trans Americans is 'disgusting, immoral, and evil'. Thought we'd put up our Transgender flag so she can look at it every time she opens her door.' Greene, who has a history of supporting dangerous conspiracy theories, including QAnon, wrote in response: 'Our neighbour, @RepMarieNewman, wants to pass the so-called 'Equality' Act to destroy women's rights and religious freedoms. Thought we'd put up ours so she can look at it every time she opens her door' The incident was widely condemned, with the Illinois Democrat Sean Casten branding the poster 'sickening, pathetic, unimaginably cruel'. He added: 'This hate is exactly why the #EqualityAct is necessary.'"
Hasbro, the maker of Mr Potato Head, announced that it was dropping "Mr" from the name of the product in order to "promote gender equality and inclusion" so all could feel "welcome in the Potato Head world". NOTE: Conservatives railed against the move, calling it part of "cancel culture".
February 24, 2021 - According to CNN, yesterday's testimony regarding the Capitol insurrection shone a light on the role of white supremacy in the riot:
"Videos from the attack and court documents in cases against rioters have clearly demonstrated that some people with White supremacist views attended the pro-Trump rally and breached the Capitol. The hearing Tuesday gave top security officials a chance to affirm these findings. All four witnesses said 'yes' when asked by Sen Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, 'would you agree that this attack involved White supremacists and extremist groups?' Carneysha Mendoza, a Capitol Police captain, reminded lawmakers that 'multiple White supremacist groups, including the Proud Boys and others' came to DC for the first two pro-Trump rallies after the November election. Many members of groups returned for the 6 January rally and were at the frontlines of the mob that stormed the Capitol. This testimony undercut attempts by some influential Republicans to downplay or deny the role that racist right-wing groups played in the insurrection. For example, the conservative Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed on his show Monday night that 'there is no evidence that White supremacists were responsible for what happened on 6 January. That's a lie.'"
Writing for the Guardian, Oliver Milman offers the following commentary on how misinformation about a winter storm in Texas is finding a home in the culture wars:
"The frigid winter storm and power failure that left millions of people in Texas shivering in darkness has been used to stoke what is becoming a growing front in America's culture wars – renewable energy. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (Ercot), which oversees the Texas grid, has been clear that outages of solar and wind energy were only a minor factor in blackouts which, at their peak, left 4 million Texans without electricity. Crucially, the supply of natural gas, which supplies about half of Texas's electricity, seized up due to frozen pipes and a lack of standby reserves. The grid failed after about a third of Ercot’s total capacity – supplied by coal, nuclear and gas – went offline as demand for heating dramatically surged. Regardless, the Republican leadership in Texas has sought to pin the crisis on wind turbines and solar panels freezing when the Lone Star state needed them most. 'The Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America,' Greg Abbott, Texas's governor, told Fox News last week, in reference to a plan to rapidly transition the US to renewable energy that currently only exists on paper. 'Our wind and our solar got shut down ... It just shows that fossil fuel is necessary.' Abbott subsequently walked backed these comments but others have been less hesitant to use the crisis to attack renewables. Fox News blamed renewables for the blackouts 128 times in just a 48-hour period last week, according to Media Matters. The scorn heaped on renewables has echoes of the blackouts suffered by California during devastating wildfires last year, which caused several prominent Texas Republicans such as Dan Crenshaw, a member of Congress, and Senator Ted Cruz, who last week fled his stricken home state for sunny Cancún, to mock California’s shift to cleaner energy. The expansion of wind and solar, a key policy goal of Joe Biden, is now developing into yet another cultural battle line, despite strong public support for renewables. Jesse Keenan, an expert in climate adaptation at Tulane University, said the use of ;targeted disinformation' and conspiracy theories is obscuring the more pressing issue of how states like Texas cope with the challenges of extreme weather linked to the climate crisis."
During a news conference by Republican House leadership, Kevin McCarthy was asked by a reporter if he believed Donald Trump should be speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference this coming weekend. McCarthy responded: "Yes, he should". A reporter then asked Liz Cheney the same question. Her response: "That’s up to CPAC. I don’t believe that he should be playing a role in the future of the party or the country." After an awkward silence, McCarthy told the gathered reporters: "On that high note, thank you very much" then he and the rest of the Republican leaders walked away.
According to the AP, Palm Beach defied Florida governor Ron Desantis' order to lower courthouse flags to half staff to honor Rush Limbaugh, the right-wing agitator who reveled in racist, sexist and homophobic talk on his popular radio show. From the story:
"The county's courthouse flags remained at full staff, ignoring DeSantis' Tuesday order directing its US and Florida state flags to be flown at half-staff. He also ordered the Town of Palm Beach and the State Capitol in Tallahassee to fly their flags at half-staff from sunrise to sunset today. Those flags were lowered. Palm Beach County would only say it followed 'normal protocols', but commissioner Melissa McKinlay posted a statement on Twitter saying, 'The lowering of flags should be a unifying gesture during solemn occasions, such as in remembrance of the young lives lost during the Parkland High School massacre or first responder line of duty deaths.' She was referring to the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas in nearby Parkland that left 17 dead. McKinlay continued: 'Although Rush Limbaugh was a significant public figure, he was also an incredibly divisive one who hurt many people with his words and actions.' Officials in the Town of Palm Beach, the wealthy island enclave where Limbaugh lived for two decades, issued a statement saying its policy is to comply with governor's orders to lower the flags. Limbaugh, 70, died of lung cancer last week. DeSantis called Limbaugh a legend during a news conference. But many Democrats objected. Nikki Fried, Florida's agriculture commissioner and the only statewide Democratic officeholder, said Monday that she would not abide by the Republican governor's orders. She said she would notify all state officers she oversees to disregard the governor's order. St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman posted on Twitter that his city would not honor hatred, racism, bigotry, homophobia or anything else Limbaugh has spewed over the years. The governor's order does not apply to any of the offices controlled by Fried or the city of St. Petersburg."
According to CNN, Cyrus Vance, the Manhattan district attorney, has subpoenaed financial records related to Steve Bannon's crowd-funding US-Mexico border wall effort. From the story:
"Prosecutors sent the subpoenas after Trump pardoned Bannon in late January for federal conspiracy crimes tied to the southern border-wall project, making Bannon among the Trump world figures -- including the former president -- subjects of criminal investigations by Vance. The grand jury subpoenas were sent to Wells Fargo, one of the financial institutions that handled some of the accounts used in the fundraising effort, and to GoFundMe, the crowdfunding platform where Bannon's project, 'We Build the Wall,' once operated to drum up private funds for the wall project, the people said. The state grand jury investigation revives the possibility that Bannon, the conservative and outspoken political strategist, could face state criminal charges after shedding the federal case last month. In addition to the criminal investigation, the New Jersey attorney general's office has launched a civil inquiry into We Build the Wall. In September, the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs subpoenaed We Build the Wall for documents seeking a wide range of records, according to court filings. The move by Vance comes as he is investigating Trump and the Trump Organization for potential financial crimes, including insurance fraud and tax fraud, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump has called the investigation a witch hunt and fishing expedition."
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testified before the House oversight committee today. During questioning, DeJoy was asked by Representative Jim Cooper: "How much longer are you planning to stay?" DeJoy's response: "A long time. Get used to me."
Through executive actions, Joe Biden reversed the following Trump executive actions today:
- Biden revoked policy requiring federal agency heads to submit a report to the Office of Management and Budget on funds sent to Seattle, Portland New York and DC – which Trump had labeled 'lawless zones'.
- He did away with an order mandating that federal buildings 'should uplift and beautify public spaces, inspire the human spirit, ennoble the United States, and command respect from the general public.'
- Biden removed bans on issuing H-1B visas, H-2B visas, H-4 visas, L-1 visas and certain J-1 visas.
- Biden lifted a ban on people moving to the US on new green cards.
February 23, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, David Smith offers the following commentary regarding Trump's current losing steak:
"Donald Trump used to promise his supporters that they would be winning so much, they would get sick and tired of winning. But the former US president is now on a seemingly endless losing streak. He lost the presidential election, lost more than 60 legal challenges to the result, lost his bid to overturn the electoral college, lost control of the Senate and lost an impeachment trial 43-57, though he was spared conviction on a technicality. On Monday, Trump lost yet again – with potentially far-reaching consequences. The supreme court rejected an attempt by his lawyers to block Cyrus Vance, the Manhattan district attorney (DA) in New York, from enforcing a subpoena to obtain eight years of his personal and corporate tax records. The ruling did not mean the public will get to see Trump's tax returns, which have gained near mythical status due to him being the first recent president to conceal them, any time soon. But it did remove an important obstacle from Vance's dogged investigation. The DA has said little about why he wants Trump's records but, in a court filing last year, prosecutors said they were justified in seeking them because of public reports of 'possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization' – Trump's family business empire – thought to include bank, tax and insurance fraud. Now that investigation is gathering momentum. Vance, who earlier this month hired a lawyer with extensive experience in white-collar and organised crime cases, will be able to find out whether the public reports were accurate by studying actual financial records, spreadsheets and email correspondence between the Trump Organization and accounting firm Mazars USA. If wrongdoing is established, it raises the spectre of Trump some day in the future standing in the dock in a New York courtroom and even facing a potential prison term. No wonder he fought so hard to cling to power and the immunity from prosecution that it conferred. The threat, however real or remote, casts a shadow over Trump's chances of making a political comeback. On Sunday he is due to make his first speech since leaving office at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, reasserting his command of the Republican party and teasing a new run for president in 2024."
The Senate homeland security committee held a hearing today regarding the security failures during the Capitol insurrection. Here are some highlights:
- Senator Rob Portman, a Republican, noted that three law enforcement officers have died since the Capitol insurrection, 2 from suicide.
- Captain Carneysha Mendoza, of the US Capitol Police, testified that she saw "countless rioters" banging on doors of the Capitol when she arrived, and that she "received chemical burns" to her face from weapons used by the insurrectionists "that still have not healed to this day".
- Robert Contee, the acting chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington said he was "surprised" by the reluctance from the department of the army to deploy the National Guard after the Capitol was breached.
- Steven Sund, the former chief of the US Capitol Police, who resigned the day after the Capitol insurrection, stated that "these criminals came prepared for war".
- Michael Stenger, the former Senate sergeant at arms, who resigned following the Capitol insurrection, called the assault "a violent, coordinated attack where the loss of life could have been much worse."
- Paul Irving, the former House sergeant at arms, who resigned following the Capitol insurrection, stated that "Based on the intelligence, we all believed that the plan met the threat, and we were prepared. We now know we had the wrong plan."
- Steven Sund said he did not see an FBI report warning about potential right-wing violence at the Capitol. NOTE: Here's an excerpt from the Washington Post regarding the FBI report:
"A situational information report approved for release the day before the U.S. Capitol riot painted a dire portrait of dangerous plans, including individuals sharing a map of the complex's tunnels, and possible rally points for would-be conspirators to meet in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and South Carolina and head in groups to Washington. 'As of 5 January 2021, FBI Norfolk received information indicating calls for violence in response to 'unlawful lockdowns' to begin on 6 January 2021 in Washington, D.C.,' the document says. 'An online thread discussed specific calls for violence to include stating 'Be ready to fight. Congress needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in, and blood from their BLM and Pantifa slave soldiers being spilled. Get violent. Stop calling this a march, or rally, or a protest. Go there ready for war. We get our President or we die. NOTHING else will achieve this goal.'"
- Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican, used his questioning period to read from a story in the Federalist to raise baseless doubts about who was involved in the insurrection. According to the Federalist piece: there were "agents-provocateurs" and "fake Trump supporters". NOTE: There is no evidence to support the claims Johnson read from the Federalist.
Notable response to Johnson's baseless claim during the hearing:
"As our hearing concludes, I want to make one thing clear: 'provocateurs' did not storm the Capitol. They were not 'fake Trump protestors.' The mood on January 6th was not 'festive.' That is disinformation." - Amy Klobuchar
Deb Haaland, who was nominated to be the Interior Secretary, and if confirmed would be the first Native American to hold a cabinet position, was criticized during her confirmation hearing for sending a tweet in October 2020 that stated "Republicans don't believe in science." John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican took offense to the tweet calling it: "concerning to those of us who have gone through training, believe in science, and yet with a broad brush, we're all disbelievers." NOTE: Barrasso is on record saying the role of human activity in climate change is "not known" and that the Green New Deal would mean "cheeseburgers and milkshakes would become a thing of the past".
Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican who flew to Cancun while some residents in his state were quite literally freezing to death, offered the following advice to his critics today: "Here's a suggestion. Just don't be assholes. Just, you know, treat each other as human beings, have to some degree some modicum of respect."
According to the Guardian, Liz Cheney, a representative from Wyoming and third highest ranking House Republican, says her party needs to distance itself from white supremacy and Donald Trump. From the article:
"Speaking at a virtual event with the Reagan Institute, Cheney - who voted with Democrats to impeach Trump – said, 'These ideas are just as dangerous today as they were in 1940, when isolationists launched the America First movement to appease Hitler and prevent America from aiding Britain in the fight against the Nazis.' On the Capitol Hill riot, she said it was important not to 'look away'. 'It's very important, especially for us as Republicans, to make clear that we aren't the party of white supremacy,' she said. 'You saw the symbols of Holocaust denial, for example, at the Capitol that day; you saw the Confederate flag being carried through the rotunda, and I think we as Republicans in particular, have a duty and an obligation to stand against that, to stand against insurrection.' The ultra-conservative daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney has found herself in the odd position of being in opposition to many in her own party. Trump allies were furious that Cheney voted to impeach, and the Wyoming GOP called on her to resign. But Cheney showed no sign of backing away from her criticisms of Trump and Trumpism."
February 22, 2021 - More than 500,000 Americans have died from coronavirus, which is the highest death toll in the world. NOTE: The total deaths from coronavirus in the US now equals the combined totals of Americans lost in the second world war (405,000), Vietnam (58,000) and Korea (36,000).
Joe Biden ordered flags to be flown at half-staff to honor the vicims of coronavirus. Nancy Pelosi held a moment of silence in the House.
Writing for the Guardian, Daniel Strauss and Tom McCarthy offer the following commentary on how Republican members of the House and Senate are being targeted if they do not have sufficient loyalty to Donald Trump:
"Some state parties have hit out at Republican senators for voting to convict Trump in his impeachment trial. Others have taken steps to reaffirm their loyalty to Trump in the aftermath of his re-election campaign loss, as other prominent Republicans look to assume larger roles at the head of the party. Republicans are divided on whether these moves are a good idea. Some argue that Trump is still the key conduit to grassroots support within the Republican party. Others say these fights distract from what Republicans need to do to win elections with the broader electorate. 'Some of the actions by state parties – Arizona and Oregon come to mind – are just not helpful to winning elections,' said Henry Barbour, a Republican National Committee member from Mississippi. The most recent such move came from the North Carolina Republican party which censured the state's senior senator, Richard Burr, for voting to convict Trump at his impeachment trial. Burr joined six other Republicans and every Senate Democrat in voting for conviction. That vote failed to pass the two-thirds threshold needed to convict the former president. Even though it was unsuccessful, the impeachment vote inflamed intra-party tensions between those who remain steadfastly loyal to Trump and those who are tired of having to swear fealty to the one-term president or feel he was guilty of inciting the mob riot at the United States Capitol on 6 January. In Louisiana, the state party censured Senator Bill Cassidy for voting to impeach Trump. The chair of the Louisiana Republican Caucus also warned Cassidy to not 'expect a warm welcome when you come home to Louisiana'. In Alaska, local Republican party chapters have voted to censure Senator Lisa Murkowski. In Nebraska, Senator Ben Sasse has been slapped with local party censures and the state party is poised to vote on censuring him during a meeting in March. Other senators are facing the possibility of censures as well, such as the retiring Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania and Susan Collins in Maine. Some Republicans in Utah want to censure Senator Mitt Romney as well. The censures are largely symbolic, but they underscore the deep divide between the Republican political infantry and some of its elite."
Writing for the Guardian, Lois Beckett offers the following commentary on some of the history of white mob violence in American politics:
"Hours after Georgia elected its first-ever Black and Jewish senators, a mob of white Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol. They set up a gallows on the west side of the building and hunted for lawmakers through the halls of Congress. As he monitored the attack from his home in South Carolina, the local historian Wayne O’Bryant was not surprised. He recognized the 6 January attack as a return to the political playbook of white mob violence that has been actively used in this country for more than a century. Mobs of white Americans unwilling to accept multi-racial democracy have successfully overturned or stolen elections before: in Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1898, in Colfax, Louisiana, in 1873 and New Orleans in 1874, and, in Hamburg, South Carolina, in 1876. O'Bryant, who lives just five miles from the ruins of Hamburg, once a center of Black political power in South Carolina, has become an expert on the 1876 massacre. He has relatives on both sides of the attack: one of his ancestors, Needham O'Bryant, was a Black Hamburg resident who survived the violence, while another, Thomas McKie Meriwether, was a young white man killed while participating in the mob. O'Bryant has spent years researching how the Hamburg massacre unfolded, and how, despite national media coverage and a congressional investigation, the white killers were never held accountable. Now, he is watching history repeat itself. The attack on the Capitol, he said, was 'almost identical' to the way white extremists staged a riot in Hamburg during the high-stakes presidential election of 1876. The Hamburg attack and other battles successfully ended multi-racial democracy in the south for nearly a century. Black Americans, who had filled the south's state legislatures and served in Congress after the civil war, were forced out of power, then barred from voting almost altogether, as white politicians reinstituted a full system of white political and economic rule. The south became a one-party state for decades. It would take Black Americans until the 1960s to win back their citizenship. Now, as Republicans have shut down any attempt to hold Trump and other politicians accountable for inciting the attack, historians like O'Bryant are warning of the known dangers of letting white mob violence go unchecked, and about the fragility of democracy itself."
Harry Dunn, a Capitol police officer was interviewed by ABC News about his experience during the Capitol insurrection on January 6th. Here are some highlights:
"I got called a [N-word] a couple dozen times today protecting this building. Is this America? They beat police officers with Blue Lives Matter flags. They fought us, they had Confederate flags in the US Capitol. ... The rotunda ... you just look up and it just goes up forever – it's just an amazing architectural building. It's hard to not be in awe of it when you see it. This time you look up, it's just a cloud of smoke, fire extinguishers have been going off. The floors are covered in white dust, water bottles, broken flagpoles, mask, empty canisters of pepper spray, helmets, Trump flags, everything in the rotunda, just laying there on the floor. ... They were terrorists. They tried to disrupt this country's democracy – that was their goal. And you know what? Y'all failed because later that night, they went on and they certified the election."
Writing for the Washington Post, Rosalind Helderman offers the following commentary on the consequences of the Capitol insurrection:
"The state of Michigan and the city of Detroit have asked a federal judge to sanction attorneys who filed lawsuits that falsely alleged the November presidential vote was fraudulent, the first of several similar efforts expected around the country. An Atlanta-area prosecutor has launched a criminal investigation into whether pressure that President Donald Trump and his allies put on state officials amounted to an illegal scheme to overturn the results of the election. And defamation lawsuits have been filed against Trump's allies — the start of what could be a flood of civil litigation related to false claims that the election was rigged and to the subsequent riot. Although Trump was acquitted by the Senate on a charge that his rhetoric incited the deadly Capitol siege, public officials and private companies are pursuing a multi-front legal effort to hold him and his allies accountable in other ways. The actions target the former president and numerous others — including elected officials, media pundits and lawyers — who indulged and echoed his falsehoods that President Biden did not win the election."
Writing for Forbes, Alison Durkee offers the following commentary on the latest lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting against MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell:
"The $1.3 billion lawsuit alleges Lindell 'sells the lie' involving the company's voting machines fraudulently flipping votes to Joe Biden knowing it is false, 'because the lie sells pillows.' MyPillow sponsored rallies that pushed election fraud claims, offered discount codes related to the conspiracy theory and advertised on right-wing news networks where the claims were being pushed, the lawsuit notes, alleging Lindell 'knowingly lied about Dominion to sell more pillows to people who continued tuning in to hear what they wanted to hear about the election.' Dominion had previously sent Lindell three letters warning of potential litigation after he started spreading the conspiracy theory, saying his 'smear campaign against Dominion has been relentless' and harmed the company. Lindell doubled down on his attacks against Dominion in response to their threats, releasing a documentary pushing his election fraud claims that included allegations about their voting machines."
Megan Meier, a Dominion attorney released a statement saying in part:
"Lindell advertised 'absolute proof,' but he delivered absolute nonsense and fake documents sourced from the dark corners of the internet. The cartoonish evidence that he offered in his video cannot be reconciled with any level of logic or truth. Mike Lindell needs to be held accountable for defaming Dominion and undermining the integrity of our electoral system all the while profiting from it."
The Supreme Court has rejected a request to shield Donald Trump's tax returns from the Manhattan District Attorney. Trump responded by releasing a statement saying in part: "This investigation is a continuation of the greatest political Witch Hunt in the history of our Country. It just never ends!"
The Supreme Court has rejected Trump's challenge of Pennsylvania election rules which added three more days for mail-in ballots. The rule change caused about 10,000 additional ballots to be added into vote tallies, which was not enough to overcome Biden's margin of victory in that state.
Svanta Myrick, the mayor of Ithaca, NY, released a detailed plan which abolishes the city police department, and replaces it with a "Department of Community Solutions and Public Safety" which would be staffed with both armed "public safety workers" and unarmed "community solution workers".
Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, reacted to the grim milestone of 500,000 dead from coronavirus saying that political divisiveness contributed significantly to the "stunning" Covid-19 death toll.
Martin Gugino, a 75-year-old man who suffered brain injuries after being shoved to the ground by Buffalo, NY police, has filed a lawsuit against the city of Buffalo, the officers involved, mayor Byron Brown, and police commissioners Byron Lockwood and Joseph Gramaglia. The lawsuit claims that several of Gugino's constitutional rights were violated, and seeks to hold the city accountable for "concealing, excusing and/or condoning the unlawful use of force."
February 19, 2021 - The United States has officially re-joined the Paris climate agreement.
February 18, 2021 - Amid an unfolding crisis in Texas where temperatures have plunged to historic lows, and power outages are causing people to freeze to death in their homes, Ted Cruz, a Republican Senator from Texas, was spotted on a plane headed for Cancun. Some notable responses to Cruz's Cancun getaway during a crisis in his home state:
"Texans are dying and you're on a flight to Cancun." - Texas Democrats
"As 3 million Texans shivered in the dark, Sen. Ted Cruz jetted off to Cancun with his family, outed instantly by fellow vacationers and berated by critics for abandoning constituents during an epic statewide power crisis." - Dallas Morning News
Ted Cruz responded to criticism that he flew to Cancun during an epic crisis by releasing a statement which read in part: "With school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends. Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon." NOTE: Cruz was photographed on his return trip with luggage that defied his explanation that he only went for one night. Notable response to Cruz's excuse:
"Big suitcase for just dropping off his girls" - Seung Min Kim
According to NBC News, Cruz had originally booked a longer trip, but booked a return trip early this morning in response to public outrage.
Some notable nicknames have surfaced online for Ted Cruz: "Cancun Cruz" and "Flyin' Ted".
According to the AP, Henry Mcmaster, the governor of South Carolina, signed the "South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act" which outlaws almost all abortions. From the story:
"The law was one of the governor, Henry McMaster's top priorities since he took office more than four years ago. Planned Parenthood immediately sued, effectively preventing the measure from taking effect. The 'South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act' is similar to abortion restriction laws that a dozen states have previously passed. All are tied up in court. Federal law, which takes precedence over state law, allows abortion. 'There's a lot of happy hearts beating across South Carolina right now,' McMaster said during a signing ceremony at the statehouse attended by lawmakers who made the bill a reality. The House passed its bill by a 79-35 vote Wednesday after hours of emotional testimony from both supporters and opponents, and gave the measure final approval on Thursday. Moments after the second vote Thursday, Planned Parenthood announced that it was filing a lawsuit, saying the law was invalid. Like other similar laws currently being challenged, it is 'blatantly unconstitutional,' said Jenny Black, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. Supporters of restrictive abortion laws are trying to get the issue before the US Supreme Court in the hopes that with three justices appointed by Republican former president Donald Trump to the court could overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision supporting abortion rights. The Supreme Court has previously ruled that abortion is legal until a fetus is viable outside the womb months after a heartbeat can be detected, Black noted. State bills to restrict or ban abortion 'are plainly absurd,' Black said. 'There is no other way around it.' South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson issued a statement Thursday saying that his office 'will vigorously defend this law in court because there is nothing more important than protecting life.' The law would not punish a pregnant woman for getting an illegal abortion, but the person who performed the abortion could be charged with a felony, sentenced up to two years and fined $10,000 if found guilty."
According to Politico, Nikki Haley, the former UN ambassador under Trump, requested a meeting with the former president at Mar-a-Lago, which Trump refused to grant. From the story:
"Nikki Haley reached out to former President Donald Trump on Wednesday to request a sit-down at Mar-a-Lago, but a source familiar tells Playbook that he turned her down. The two haven't spoken since the insurrection on Jan. 6, when Haley blasted Trump for inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol."
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following commentary on new voting legislation being introduced in Georgia:
"Georgia Republicans unveiled new legislation on Thursday that would make it dramatically harder to vote in the state following an election with record turnout and surging participation among Black voters. The sweeping measure would block officials from offering early voting on Sundays, a day traditionally used by Black churches to mobilize voters. It would place new limits on the use of mail-in ballot drop boxes, restrict who can handle an absentee ballot, and require voters to provide their driver's license number or a copy of photo identification with their application for a mail-in ballot. It would also require voters to provide the same driver's license information on the mail-in ballot itself or the last four digits of their Social Security Number if they do not have acceptable ID. The bill also gives voters less time to request and return mail-in ballots and bans organizers from offering food or water to voters standing in line to cast a ballot. Republicans pledged the changes after Joe Biden narrowly carried the state in November and Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock, both Democrats, won stunning upsets over Republican incumbents in November. State officials, including Republicans, have said repeatedly there was no evidence of fraud in the elections, but Republicans have vowed to impose new restrictions anyway."
February 17, 2021 - Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, appeared on Fox News where he told host Sean Hannity that renewable energy was to blame for power outages caused by an unusually cold winter storm. According to Abbott: "This shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America. Our wind and our solar got shut down, and they were collectively more than 10 percent of our power grid, and that thrust Texas into a situation where it was lacking power on a statewide basis. ... It just shows that fossil fuel is necessary." NOTE: The power outages are the result of failures at natural gas and coal-powered plants due to subfreezing temperatures, and a failure to winterize those resources.
Notable response to Abbotts false attribution of blame for the outages:
"You're the governor of a state where millions don't have power, where people are literally dying of exposure, and you go on Fox news to talk about... the Green New Deal? You are the governor. Your party has run Texas for 20 years. Accept responsibility & help us get out of this." - Beto O'Rourke
Rush Limbaugh, the conservative radio host whom Trump bestowed last year with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, died today from stage four lung cancer. Limbaugh was a vocal advocate of cigar smoking.
Donald Trump called into Fox News to talk about Rush Limbaugh. During the call, he explained that he had spoken with Limbaugh recently, and they spoke about the election. According to Trump: "Rush thought we won, and so do I, by the way. I think we won substantially." NOTE: By Trump's own standard, he lost in a landslide.
According to the AP, the South Carolina House has passed a bill banning nearly all abortions in the state. From the story:
"The proposal passed the state senate on Jan. 28. It faces a final procedural vote in the House on Thursday that likely won't change the outcome and will then be sent to the governor for his signature. Republican governor Henry McMaster has promised to sign the measure as soon as possible. The House voted 79-35 in favor of the bill after nearly all members of the Democratic caucus walked out in protest at one point. A few Democrats stayed behind as Republicans wiped out more than 100 proposed amendments. After holding a news conference to speak against the bill, several other Democrats returned to express their opposition to the measure, which has come up for debate in the legislature numerous times over the past decade. Nearly all House members were later present for the vote. 'You love the fetus in the womb. But when it is born, it's a different reaction,' said Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter of Orangeburg, the House's longest serving member at 29 years. Numerous Republican lawmakers spoke in favor of the bill. Rep. Melissa Lackey Oremus said plenty of women have mixed feelings when they get pregnant, especially when they aren't where they want to be in their life. 'They don't deserve to die just because their mother made a bad choice one night,' Oremus said. The bill requires doctors to perform ultrasounds to check for [preliminary signs of] a heartbeat in the fetus. If such a pulse is detected, the abortion can only be performed if the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest or the mother's life is in danger. About a dozen other states have passed similar or more restrictive abortion bans, which could take effect if the supreme court with three justices appointed by Republican former president Donald Trump were to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 court decision supporting abortion rights. Lawsuits will follow if the bill becomes law."
February 16, 2021 - According to a new Politico-Morning Consult poll, 59% of Republican voters want Trump to play a prominent role in their party. That's up 18 points since the last such poll, taken in the aftermath of the Capitol riot.
Writing for Bloomberg, Ryan Teague Beckwith offers the following commentary on Republican state legislature's efforts to make it harder to vote:
"State legislatures across the country are considering more than a hundred bills that would increase voter ID requirements, tighten no-excuse vote-by-mail, and ban ballot drop boxes, among other changes. That's more than three times the number of bills to restrict voting that had been filed by this time last year. This flood of legislation comes despite research showing that voter ID laws passed over the last decade not only don't hamper minority turnout, but may even boost it by motivating angry Democrats and spurring stronger get-out-the-vote efforts. Kathleen Unger, president of the nonpartisan voter ID assistance group VoteRiders, said that the new proposals sweep up a different set of voters. She said the photocopied ID requirement would be particularly onerous for people who don't have a valid photo ID or easy access to a copy machine or a printer. That would include many rural, lower-income and older voters – three groups that are now a big part of the Republican base – as well as those with disabilities and college students who lean Democratic. David Becker, director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research, said the number of proposed restrictions is a sign Republicans are worried about demographic trends in those states. 'When you see a party trying to change the rules with as much intensity as they are, that tells you they have lost confidence in the power of their ideas to persuade voters,' he said."
Democratic congressman Bennie Thompson is suing Donald Trump over his role in the Capitol insurrection. Also named in the lawsuit, which was filed by the NAACP, is Rudy Giuliani, the Proud Boys, and the Oath Keepers. The lawsuit accuses Trump and his allies of violating the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, which prohibits violence that disrupts Congress' ability to carry out its constitutional duties. From the lawsuit:
"On and before January 6, 2021, the Defendants Donald J. Trump, Rudolph W. Giuliani, Proud Boys, and Oath Keepers conspired to incite an assembled crowd to march upon and enter the Capitol of the United States for the common purpose of disrupting, by the use of force, intimidation and threat, the approval by Congress of the count of votes cast by members of the Electoral College as required by Article II, Section 1 of the United States Constitution. In doing so, the Defendants each intended to prevent, and ultimately delayed, members of Congress from discharging their duty commanded by the United States Constitution to approve the results of the Electoral College in order to elect the next President and Vice President of the United States. ... Defendants conspired to prevent, by force, intimidation and threats, the Plaintiff, as a Member of Congress, from discharging his official duties to approve the count of votes cast by members of the Electoral College following the presidential election held in November 2020."
Family members of Republican representative Adam Kinzinger wrote an open letter regarding Kinzinger's vote to impeach Trump. From the letter:
"Oh my, what a disappointment you are to us and to God! You go against your Christian principles and join the 'devil's army' (Democrats and the fake news media)."
Donald Trump released a statement in response to the criticism Mitch McConnell levied against him on the floor of the Senate:
"Mitch is a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack, and if Republican Senators are going to stay with him, they will not win again. He will never do what needs to be done, or what is right for our Country. Where necessary and appropriate, I will back primary rivals who espouse Making America Great Again and our policy of America First. We want brilliant, strong, thoughtful, and compassionate leadership." NOTE: News surfaced that aides convinced Trump to remove from the final draft some of the nastier personal attacks against McConnell.
Leo Brent Bozell IV, the son of conservative activist L Brent Bozell III, who founded rightwing organizations like the Media Research Center and NewsBusters, is facing charges of disorderly conduct, obstructing an official proceeding, and entering a restricted building, for his role in the Capitol riot.
February 14, 2021 - Writing for the Washington Post, Dana Milbank offers the following commentary on the impeachment trial:
"In the end, the darkest truth of Donald Trump's crime came to light. As his marauders sacked the Capitol on 6 January in their bloody attempt to overturn the election, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy called the then-president and pleaded for Trump to call off the attack. Trump refused, essentially telling McCarthy he got what he deserved. Trump was, in effect, content to let members of Congress die. Trump's lawyers, in their slashing, largely fictitious defense, claimed that Trump was 'horrified' by the violence, hadn't known that vice president Mike Pence was in danger and took 'immediate steps' to counter the rioting. But Herrera Beutler revealed such claims to be a lie. When McCarthy 'finally reached the president on January 6 and asked him to publicly and forcefully call off the riot, the president initially repeated the falsehood that it was antifa that had breached the Capitol,' she wrote. McCarthy, she continued, 'refuted that and told the president that these were Trump supporters. That's when, according to McCarthy, the president said: 'Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.''"
Writing for Reuters, John Whitesides offers the following commentary on the backlash against the Republican Senators who voted to convict:
"Representative Liz Cheney, the third-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives and one of 10 who voted for Trump's impeachment, quickly faced an effort by conservatives to remove her from her leadership post. She survived it, but Trump has vowed to throw his support behind a primary challenger to her. In Arizona, which backed Biden and elected a Democratic senator in November, the state party censured three prominent Republicans who had clashed with Trump while he was in office - Governor Doug Ducey, former Senator Jeff Flake and Cindy McCain, widow of the late Senator John McCain. When Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska was threatened with censure by his state party for criticizing Trump, he suggested it was down to a cult of personality. 'Let's be clear about why this is happening. It is because I still believe, as you used to, that politics isn't about the weird worship of one dude,' Sasse said in a video addressed to the party leadership in Nebraska. He was one of the seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump on Saturday. The fissures have led to an open debate in conservative circles over how far right to lean. At Fox News, the cable news network that played a key role in Trump's rise to power, Fox Corp Chief Executive Lachlan Murdoch this week told investors the outlet would stick to its 'center right' position. Trump tore into the network after its early, and ultimately accurate, election-night projection that he lost in Arizona, presenting an opportunity for further-right video networks to draw disaffected Trump supporters. 'We don't need to go further right,' Murdoch said. 'We don’t believe America is further right, and we're obviously not going to pivot left.' While Trump maintains control over the party for now, several Republican senators said during the impeachment trial that the stain left by the deadly siege of the Capitol and Trump's months of false claims about widespread election fraud would cripple his chances of winning power again in 2024. 'After the American public sees the whole story laid out here ... I don't see how Donald Trump could be reelected to the presidency again,' Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, who also voted for a conviction, told reporters during the trial. With Trump out of office and blocked from Twitter, his favorite means of communication, some Republicans said his hold on the party could fade as new issues and personalities emerge. Republican Senator John Cornyn, a Trump ally, said the former president's legacy had suffered permanent damage. 'Unfortunately, while President Trump did a lot of good, his handling of the post-election period is what he's going to be remembered for,' Cornyn said. 'And I think that's a tragedy.'"
Writing for the Guardian, Amanda Holpuch offers the following commentary regarding the vote to acquit Donald Trump:
"In his speech before the riot, Trump exhorted his followers to 'fight' the vote and called his mostly white audience 'the people that built this nation'. His efforts to overturn the election results concentrated in cities with large populations of Black voters who drove Biden’s win. Kimberly Atkins, a senior opinion writer at the Boston Globe, tweeted that the mob was trying to stop the votes of Black people like her from being counted. Atkins said: 'When this is done at the urging of the president of the United States, the constitution provides a remedy – if members of the House and Senate abide by their oaths. A republic, if you can keep it. Is it a republic for me?' The Washington Post's global opinions editor, Karen Attiah, said: 'White supremacy won today. History will reflect that leaders on both sides of the aisle enabled white extremism, insurrection and violence to be a permissible part of our politics, Attiah added. America is going to suffer greatly for this.' Trump's lawyer, Michael van der Veen, in his closing statement equated the Capitol insurrection with Black Lives Matter protests last summer, repeatedly referring to those demonstrators as a 'mob'. 'Black people can't object to a knee on our necks or kids getting pepper-sprayed, but whiteness protects its own,' the Rev Jacqui Lewis tweeted after the vote. 'This is who America is, and it's who we've always been. And we need to decide if we want to be something different.'"
Michael W. McConnell, a former federal appeals court judge, offered the following commentary on how Democrats could have framed the charges differently to secure a conviction:
"By charging Trump with incitement, the House unnecessarily shouldered the burden of proving the elements of that crime. The House should have crafted its impeachment resolution to avoid a legalistic focus on the former president's intent. This could have been done by broadening the impeachment article. The charges should have encompassed Trump's use of the mob and other tactics to intimidate government officials to void the election results, and his dereliction of duty by failing to try to end the violence in the hours after he returned to the White House from the demonstration at the Ellipse. Whether or not Trump wanted his followers to commit acts of violence, he certainly wanted them to intimidate vice president Mike Pence and members of Congress. That was the whole point of their 'walk,' as Trump put it, to the Capitol. The mob was not sent to persuade with reasoning or evidence."
According to CNN, Trump faces legal issues on three fronts:
1. Georgia Election Results: "Georgia officials announced that the former President faces two new investigations over calls he made to election officials in an attempt to overturn the state's election results. A source familiar with the Georgia secretary of state's investigation confirmed they are investigating two calls, including one Trump made to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger."
2. Business Dealings in New York: "Trump also faces a criminal investigation in New York where the Manhattan District Attorney's office is looking into whether the Trump Organization violated state laws, such as insurance fraud, tax fraud or other schemes to defraud. The scope of the investigation is broad, with prosecutors looking into, among other things, whether the Trump Organization misled financial institutions when applying for loans or violated tax laws when donating a conservation easement on its estate called Seven Springs and taking deductions on fees paid to consultants."
3. The Insurrection in Washington, DC: "In Washington, federal prosecutors have signaled that no one is above the law, including Trump, and have stressed that nothing is off the table when asked if they were looking at the former President's role in inciting violence. In the flurry of court proceedings after more than 200 people were charged with federal crimes, Trump's influence on rioters has been mentioned both by prosecution and defendants looking to defray responsibility. In a case filed Thursday against a member of the Oath Keepers, prosecutors alleged the woman was awaiting direction from Trump, which is the first time they have made that direct of an allegation."
Writing for the Guardian, Lloyd Green offers the following commentary about the future of the Republican party:
"What was once the proud party of Lincoln and Reagan is now a Trump family rag – something to be used and abused by the 45th president like his bankrupt companies, namesake university and hapless vice-president, Mike Pence. If the impeachment trial established anything, it is that Trump risked turning Pence into a corpse and ultimately went unpunished. That hangman's noose was built to be used. Yet even the former vice-president has remained mum and his brother, Greg Pence, a congressman from Indiana, voted against impeachment. Talk about taking one for the team. In the end, devotion to a former reality show host literally trumped life itself. The mob belongs to Trump – as the Capitol police can attest. So much for the GOP's embrace of 'law and order'. When it mattered most, it counted least."
Writing for the Guardian, Lawrence Douglas offers the following commentary on where the line for impeachment is with Senate Republicans:
"Whatever else we might think about the Republicans’ vote of acquittal, it answers a question that millions of Americans have been pondering since Donald Trump took office four years ago. At what point would congressional Republicans say 'enough'? Having first indulged and then endorsed Trump's trampling of constitutional norms and abuse of the presidency, when would Republican lawmakers say, 'No more'? Now we have our answer. Never. If Trump's act of inciting a mob to attack the Capitol in an attempt to subvert the certification of a fair and democratic election does not constitute impeachable conduct, then it's hard to imagine what does. Still, history will record that the vast majority of Republican senators voted to acquit, a group that included eleven lawmakers who, two decades ago, agitated for President Clinton's removal."
Writing for CNN, Ronald Brownstein offers the following commentary on the future of the GOP:
"Congressional Republicans have crystallized an ominous question by rejecting consequences for Donald Trump over the January 6 riot in his impeachment trial and welcoming conspiracy theorist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia into their conference: Has the extremist wing of the GOP coalition grown too big for the party to confront? Sanctioning Trump or Greene offered the party an opportunity to draw a bright line against extremist groups and violence as a means of advancing political goals. But the vast majority of congressional Republicans conspicuously rejected the opportunity to construct such a barrier through their decisions to oppose impeachment or conviction for Trump over his role in the US Capitol attack and to support Greene during the recent Democratic effort to strip her of her committee assignments. ... While Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has called conspiracy theorists like Greene a 'cancer' on the party and denounced Trump's role in the riot, the recent decision by House Republicans to accept the Georgia Republican into the conference, and the overwhelming refusal by House or Senate Republicans -- including McConnell -- to sanction Trump, suggests the party has very limited appetite at this point for any serious effort to excise that disease. And that could provide more oxygen to the White nationalist extremist groups that have viewed Trump as a galvanizing figure and already gained strength during his presidency."
February 13, 2021 - Writing for the Atlantic, David Frum offer the following commentary about Trump's legal team:
"A few hours [after the trial session ended], van der Veen erupted in the well of the Senate about the day he was having. 'We aren't having fun here,' he said. 'This is about the most miserable experience I've had down here in Washington, DC' I watched this self-pity party from my own house, and I thought: How on earth could a former president of the United States possibly have hired a team of boobs this bad at law? Trump advertises himself as a billionaire. Certainly he has raised tens of millions of dollars for his legal-defense fund. Why did he not have good lawyers at his second impeachment trial? Yes, he is an unattractive defendant in many ways. But good lawyers regularly accept unattractive defendants. The problem seems to be that Trump affirmatively prefers bad lawyering. Or rather, that he values good lawyering less than he values aggressive and truculent lawyering. Over more than 20 hours, the trial offered a sharp contrast between people who excelled at their jobs and people who floundered in their jobs. In that, the trial aptly symbolized so much that has occurred over four Trump years. Along with the corruption and the authoritarianism, the brutality and the bigotry, the Trump presidency was characterized by a persistent drip, drip, drip of slovenliness and carelessness: matters as minor as the frequent spelling errors in White House press releases and as deadly as the horrifying mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic. The Trump administration was staffed from top to bottom by people who were bad at stuff."
Writing for USA Today, Jeanine Santucci offers the following commentary on Trump's lawyers repeating Trump's false election claims:
"Bruce Castor defended Trump's recorded call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, which is now part of a criminal investigation and was used by House prosecutors in their presentation. The defense lawyer defended baseless and widely debunked claims of election fraud by suggesting that Trump was taken out of context in the call. Trump urged Raffensperger in the call to 'find' the number of votes required to overtake Biden in the state. Castor repeated a false claim about Georgia's mail-in ballot rejection rate, and said Trump was within his authority in the call. 'There was nothing untoward with President Trump, or any candidate for that matter, speaking with a lead elections officer of a state. That's why the Georgia secretary of state took a call along with members of his team.' Trump referenced his phone call with Raffensperger during the 6 January rally that preceded the Capitol attack. 'In Georgia, your secretary of state ... I can't believe this guy's a Republican,' Trump told the crowd. 'He loves recording telephone conversations. You know ... I thought it was a great conversation personally. So did a lot of other. People love that conversation because it says what's going on.'"
The United States Senate voted to acquit Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial. The final vote was 57 to impeach, and 43 to acquit. 67 votes were needed to find Trump guilty. NOTE: This was the most bipartisan impeachment vote in Senate history. Here are the Republicans who joined with Democrats to convict:
Richard Burr of North Carolina
Bill Cassidy of Louisiana
Susan Collins of Maine
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
Mitt Romney of Utah
Ben Sasse of Nebraska
Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania
Donald Trump reacted to the vote by releasing a statement that included: "Our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun. In the months ahead, I have much to share with you, and I look forward to continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all of our people. There has never been anything like it".
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer reacted to the acquittal saying: "He deserves to be convicted, and I believe he will be convicted in the court of public opinion. He deserves to be permanently discredited, and I believe he has been discredited in the eyes of the American people and in the judgment of history."
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, who voted to acquit, reacted to the vote saying: "There's no question, none, that President Trump is practically, and morally, responsible for provoking the events of the day." McConnell went on to argue that it is not appropriate to hold an impeachment trial for a president who hs already left office.
Nancy Pelosi denounced the "cowardly group of Republicans" who voted to acquit. Pelosi responded to discussions about a possible censure of Trump saying: "We censure people for using stationery for the wrong purpose. We don't censure people for inciting insurrection". Pelosi also criticized Mitch McConnell saying "It is so pathetic that Senator McConnell kept the Senate shut down so that the Senate could not receive the Article of Impeachment and has used that as his excuse for not voting to convict Donald Trump."
The Republican party of Louisiana voted unanimously to censure Senator Bill Cassidy over his vote to convict Donald Trump.
February 12, 2021 - More than 475,000 Americans have died from coronavirus.
NBC News offers the following analysis of yesterday's closing arguments from the House impeachment managers in Donald Trump's second impeachment trial:
"'He didn't react to the violence with shock or horror or dismay, as we did. He didn't immediately rush to Twitter and demand in the clearest possible terms that the mob disperse, that they stop it, that they retreat,' Rep Joe Neguse said. 'Instead, he issues messages in the afternoon that sided with them, the insurrectionists, who had left police officers battered and bloodied.' The managers made the case that the mob believed they were acting at the direction of president, citing many of the rioters' own statements. They also cited the words of Republicans who publicly pleaded with Trump to call off his supporters as the siege was underway to bolster their argument that Trump was in control. The House managers previewed likely arguments from Trump's attorneys. The First Amendment would not protect Trump's exhortations for the crowd to 'fight' the acceptance of the presidential electoral votes before his supporters marched on the Capitol, the Democrats argued, comparing him not to the proverbial private citizen who falsely shouts 'fire' in a crowded theater but to a fire chief who incites a mob to set the theater ablaze and then lets it burn."
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following commentary on efforts by Georgia officials to investigate groups that mobilized Black voters in their state:
"The Georgia state election board referred two cases to prosecutors on Wednesday connected to organizations that helped mobilize a record number of voters in the state during the 2020 election, a move critics say is an intimidation effort. One case involves the New Georgia Project (NGP), the group founded by Stacey Abrams in 2014, that helps mobilize voters of color. In 2019, investigators allege, the group violated state law by not handing in 1,268 voter registration applications within the 10 days required under state rules. The named respondent in the matter is Senator Raphael Warnock, who the group says was serving as the chairman of its board at the time, but was incorrectly listed on documents as the group's CEO, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 'The February 10th State Election Board meeting was the first time NGP heard about the allegations regarding NGP's important voter registration work from 2019,' Nse Ufot, who has served as the group's CEO since 2014, said in a statement. 'We have not received any information on this matter from the Secretary or any other Georgia official so we will have no further comment on the investigation.' The episode marks the latest example of Republicans targeting the group. In 2014, Brian Kemp, then the state's top election official, announced an investigation into allegations of forged registration materials but found no widespread wrongdoing. Late last year, the secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, accused the group of soliciting people from outside of Georgia to register in the state – which the group denied. Those investigations force the organization to allocate resources towards lawyers it says could otherwise be invested in voter registration. 'Every dollar that we have to spend to defend ourselves against the nuisance and partisan investigations is a dollar that we aren't able to put into the field to register new voters and have high quality conversations about the power of their vote and the importance of this moment,' Ufot told the Guardian last year."
Writing for the Guardian, Jessica Glenza offers the following analysis on efforts by Republicans to restrict access to abortion:
"In states across the US legislation from Republican lawmakers seeking to undermine abortion rights is on the move. For anti-abortion activists, the goal has long been to challenge the supreme court decision that gave pregnant people the right to abortion 48 years ago: the landmark Roe versus Wade. Each spring, especially in the last decade, Republicans have introduced restrictive abortion laws tailored to challenge that supreme court precedent by creating test cases. In 1973, Roe versus Wade provided women with a right to abortion up to the point the fetus can survive outside the womb, generally understood to be 24 weeks. Abortion restrictions investigate the outer limits of that right, by creating laws that provoke reproductive rights advocates to sue, and for courts to consider their legitimacy. 'The more ambitious a restriction the court upholds, that will greenlight even more restrictions in the states,' said Mary Ziegler, a Florida State University law professor whose recent book, Abortion in America: A Legal History, tracked the history of the nation's most important abortion cases. 'What we've been seeing is not what anti-abortion lawmakers want, but it's been tailored to what they think the supreme court wants,' said Ziegler. This effort is not meant to reflect the will of the majority of Americans, 77% of whom believe the supreme court should uphold Roe v Wade. The effort is meant to please a motivated, religious voter base, who have helped power Republican victories since the Reagan era. Trump played for the same 'social conservatives' when vowing to appoint supreme court justices who would overturn Roe. But since Trump rose to power, exactly how to do that has become a vexing question for the Republican party. Bills that ban abortion, demand doctors perform the impossible and 'reimplant' ectopic pregnancies, punish women and doctors under murder statutes and whose authors believe the fundamental legal principle of precedent should not apply to their cases have all shown up in state legislatures in the last couple years. Bans in recent sessions have been 'extremely aggressive', said Hillary Schneller, a senior staff attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, and who is now fighting a Mississippi law that could ban abortion at 15 weeks. The state has appealed to the supreme court. Recent bans have been, 'saying the quiet part out loud – that they're not just restriction abortion, they want to end access to abortion entirely', said Schneller."
Today is day four of Trump's second impeachment trial. Here are some highlights:
- Michael Van der Veen, a Trump lawyer, argued that the trial is an "unjust and blatantly unconstitutional act of political vengeance." NOTE: A vote that included 6 Republicans, decided that the trial is constitutional.
- Michael Van der Veen, claimed "One of the first people arrested was the leader of Antifa." NOTE: According to the FBI, there is no evidence of antifa involvement in the January 6 Capitol Riot. Additionally, there is no formal oragnization, and therefore, antifa does not have a "leader".
- Michael Van der Veen called the trial "constitutional cancel culture".
- David Schoen, a Trump lawyer, stated that he wanted to discuss the "hatred" and "vitriol" that Democrats have for Trump. He then proceeded to discuss neither.
- Trump's legal team played a video that showed a number of Democrats using the word "fight" during political interviews and rallies. NOTE: The context left out of the video was that the word "fight" was used to talk about fighting for policy changes or for healthcare coverage, etc. None of the "fight" references in the video led to an assault on the US Capitol.
- Bruce Castor, a Trump lawyer, stated "Clearly, there was no insurrection." NOTE: The US Department of Justice released a statement on January 14th which read in part: "The crimes charged in the indictment involve active participation in an insurrection attemptig to violently overthrow the United States Government."
Notable responses to Trump's legal team's defense:
"Donald Trump was told that if he didn't stop lying about the election people would be killed. He wouldn't stop, and the Capitol was attacked and seven people are dead who would be alive today." - Tim Kaine, US Senator
Trump's legal team is "trying to draw a false, dangerous and distorted equivalence. And I think it is plainly a distraction from Donald Trump's inviting the mob to Washington, knowing it was armed; changing the route and the timing so as to incite them to march on the Capitol; and then reveling, without remorse, without doing anything to protect his own vice president and all of us" - Richard J Blumenthal, US Senator
During the impeachment trial, a plane circled Mar-a-Lgo pulling a sign that said "CONVICT TRUMP AND LOCK HIM UP!"
According to CNN, Trump berated the House Republican leader during a phone call while the Capitol was under seige. From the story:
"In an expletive-laced phone call with House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy while the Capitol was under attack, then-President Donald Trump said the rioters cared more about the election results than McCarthy did. 'Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are,' Trump said, according to lawmakers who were briefed on the call afterward by McCarthy. McCarthy insisted that the rioters were Trump's supporters and begged Trump to call them off. Trump's comment set off what Republican lawmakers familiar with the call described as a shouting match between the two men. A furious McCarthy told the President the rioters were breaking into his office through the windows, and asked Trump, 'Who the f--k do you think you are talking to?' according to a Republican lawmaker familiar with the call. The newly revealed details of the call, described to CNN by multiple Republicans briefed on it, provide critical insight into the President's state of mind as rioters were overrunning the Capitol. The existence of the call and some of its details have been previously reported and discussed publicly by McCarthy. The Republican members of Congress said the exchange showed Trump had no intention of calling off the rioters even as lawmakers were pleading with him to intervene. Several said it amounted to a dereliction of his presidential duty."
February 11, 2021 - Writing for the Washington Post, Aaron Blake offered the following commentary on yesterday's impeachment trial:
"'The evidence shows clearly that this mob was provoked over many months by Trump,' Rep Joaquin Castro said. 'And if you look at the evidence, his purposeful conduct, you’ll see that the attack was foreseeable and preventable.' Castro pointed to Trump's tweets and comments saying that the only way he would lose the election was if it was rigged — despite polls at the time repeatedly showing his loss was likely. He played clips of Trump supporters who took that at face value. He also played clips of people, even as the votes were being counted, rising up in protest. Trump's response was delayed, even by the accounts of GOP senators and some former White House aides. He also offered words of praise for the rioters, expressing 'love' for them as it was happening and later saying it would be a day for them to remember. But he did, in the same 'love' video, tell them to go home peacefully. Trump often mixes his messages like this, giving himself plausible deniability while seeming to send a deliberate message. His team will focus on the 'go home' stuff rather than the 'We love you' stuff. It's up to Democrats to argue that his encouragement and negligence outweighed those messages."
Jackie Speier, a Congresswoman and Jonestown survivor, was interviewed by the Guardian. From the story:
"'Jim Jones was a religious cult leader, Donald Trump is a political cult leader,' Speier told the Guardian. 'As a victim of violence and of a cult leader, I am sensitive to conduct that smacks of that. We have got to be wary of anyone who can have such control over people that they lose their ability to think independently.' Speier stood for her first election soon after the Jonestown massacre. Since 2008 the Democratic congresswoman has represented most of the district in California that her gunned-down mentor, Leo Ryan, served before his death. The formative experience that gave rise to her political career gives Speier an unusually sharp perspective on the danger posed by the Capitol insurrection. She thinks of it as 'groupthink', saying that 'when the groupthink is about overthrowing the government, then we've got a serious problem.' In her Guardian interview, Speier said that the current crisis of white supremacy and the military has been brewing for many years. 'I thought it was urgent a year ago when I held a hearing on violent extremism in the military and was astonished at the number of service members who are recruited in part because of their training to these extremist groups.' She added: 'It's not as though we haven’t been given a heads-up.' A recent analysis by CNN of the first 150 people to be arrested for participating in the Capitol insurrection found that at least 21 had military experience. Some were still serving, and eight were former marines with elite training in the art of warfare. Speier said that such training spelled trouble for the nation. 'With military training you become skilled at the use of lethal weapons and to ambush and gain control. The training is important to fight our enemies, but now it is being used as a recruitment tool for organisations engaged in violent extremism.'"
Writing for the Guardian, Ed Pilkington offers the following commentary on Jonestown survivor Jackie Speier:
"On 6 January, Jackie Speier was one of scores of members of Congress threatened by the mob of violent Trump supporters and white supremacists who stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to overthrow the results of the presidential election. Along with her peers, she was told to wear a gas mask and ordered to lie prostrate on the marble floor as the baying crowd pounded on the chamber door and the sound of gunfire rent the air. The terror of that day induced in her a flashback, to the events that brought her into politics in the first place when she lay bleeding from five gunshot wounds in the Guyana jungle, not knowing whether she would live or die. It was 18 November 1978, and she had travelled to Guyana as part of a congressional investigation into the Jonestown settlement and its cult leader, Jim Jones. The fact-finding group of 24 were ambushed by cult members on a jungle airstrip; the congressman for whom Speier then worked, Leo Ryan, and four others were murdered. Speier, shot five times and left for dead, had to wait 22 hours for help to arrive. She told herself as she lay on the tarmac that if she survived the ordeal she would devote herself to public service. That devotion, born of her bullet wounds, can be traced in a direct line from the Jonestown massacre, through the insurrection at the Capitol on 6 January, to her renewed efforts today to protect the United States from the threat of violent extremism. She is determined to strengthen safeguards against cults – whether of the Jonestown or Donald Trump variety and the white supremacist sedition he unleashed. 'Jim Jones was a religious cult leader, Donald Trump is a political cult leader,' Speier told the Guardian. 'As a victim of violence and of a cult leader, I am sensitive to conduct that smacks of that. We have got to be wary of anyone who can have such control over people that they lose their ability to think independently.' Speier stood for her first election soon after the Jonestown massacre. Since 2008 the Democratic congresswoman has represented most of the district in California that her gunned-down mentor, Ryan, served before his death. The formative experience that gave rise to her political career gives Speier an unusually sharp perspective on the danger posed by the Capitol insurrection. She thinks of it as 'groupthink', saying that 'when the groupthink is about overthrowing the government, then we’ve got a serious problem.' Since 6 January, Speier has used her political muscle as a member of the House armed services and intelligence committees to press for urgent reforms designed to shore up protections against white supremacist and extremist violence. Last month she wrote to Joe Biden and his newly confirmed defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, calling for a 'new sense of urgency' following the 'appalling events at the Capitol'. In her letter, Speier told the president and defense secretary that she had become 'increasingly alarmed' about the connections between violent extremist groups and military personnel. She warned them that current efforts to contain the problem were 'insufficient to the threat from these extremist movements'. In her Guardian interview, Speier said that the current crisis of white supremacy and the military has been brewing for many years. 'I thought it was urgent a year ago when I held a hearing on violent extremism in the military and was astonished at the number of service members who are recruited in part because of their training to these extremist groups.' She added: 'It's not as though we haven't been given a heads-up.'"
The Washington Post editorial board is calling on Republicans to convict Donald Trump. From the editorial:
"Before Donald Trump's second Senate impeachment trial, members of both parties wondered whether it was worth the effort. Two days in, it is clear that the proceedings are essential for the nation, even if they do not end in a formal verdict against Trump. The House impeachment managers' presentation before the Senate has crystallized in graphic and compelling detail the horror of the 6 January Capitol riot — and Trump's deep responsibility for it. On Wednesday, the managers demonstrated that the violence was predictable. Trump planned the rally with the organizers of the second Million MAGA March, a previous pro-Trump event that had turned violent. House members detailed how Trump fanatics openly planned the Capitol invasion on pro-Trump websites that the White House reportedly monitored, and how government officials warned about the threat of extremist violence. And they showed how Trump nevertheless told his mob, 'If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.' His acolytes, the presentation documented, had been primed by his previous support for violent acts, such as a Trump caravan's attempt to run a bus of Biden supporters off a Texas highway. Most Republican senators nevertheless appear determined to acquit Trump, based on a flawed constitutional argument that former officials cannot be impeached. Senators will bring disgrace upon their chamber if they fail to hold the former president accountable. No reasonable listener this week could fail to find him culpable for the Capitol assault."
Writing for NBC News, Jonathan Allen offers the following commentary on yesterday's impeachment trial:
"If Republican senators will not put the republic over their party, House impeachment trial managers suggested Wednesday, they should convict former President Donald Trump because of the personal threats he posed to their safety. And by implication, their suggestion went further. Unless the Senate finishes off Trump with a conviction, their argument went, Trump will remain a threat to his party and the senators' political futures. Their daylong presentation of the case against Trump tilted heavily toward reminding Republican senators that Trump targeted them for years — showing the actual tweets that did so — and making it clear if he is not convicted and disqualified from holding future federal office, he will continue to dominate them politically and potentially with violence. Rep Eric Swalwell, reminded senators that 'you were just 58 steps from where the mob was amassing.'"
Writing for the Hill, Max Greenwod offers the following commentary on the road forward for Georgia Republicans:
"Georgia Republicans are pushing a series of new voting rules that would clamp down on or roll back many of the policies that helped drive Democratic turnout in recent elections. The measures being introduced in the GOP-controlled state legislature include efforts to ban automatic voter registration and the use of drop boxes for returning absentee ballots. Another proposal seeks to do away with a state law that allows voters to cast absentee ballots without an excuse for doing so. Some calls for stricter voting requirements have already won support from top Republicans in the state, who argue they're necessary to fight voter fraud and election malfeasance — despite the fact that Georgia officials, including Republican secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, have repeatedly debunked claims of systemic irregularities in the election. One of the proposals recommended by the Georgia GOP's election confidence task force calls for the state Elections Division to be placed under the purview of the state Elections Board, effectively stripping the secretary of state's office of its elections oversight duties. Raffensperger ran afoul of Trump and his allies after defending the state's handling of its elections and pushing back against the former president's assertions that the presidential contest had been stolen from him."
According to the Guardian, a Lancet commission tasked with assessing Donald Trump's health policy record found that 40% of the deaths in the US from Covid-19 could have been averted, had the country's death rates corresponded with the rates in other high-income G7 countries. They didn't pin all the blame on Trump however, saying the failures were also caused by societal failures.
Today is day three of Trump's second impeachment trial. Here are some highlights:
- Ted Lieu stated: "A violent mob murdered a police officer. It took Pres. Trump three days before he lowered the flag. And Pres. Trump, who was commander-in-chief at the time, did not attend and pay respects to the officer who lay in state in the very building he died defending."
- Ted Lieu pointed out that dozens of senior Trump administration officials resigned in the days following the January 6 insurrection. Lieu then asked: "Why did they all resign if Trump's rhetoric had nothing to do with it?"
- Ted Lieu stated: "I'm not afraid of Donald Trump running again in four years. I'm afraid he's going to run again and lose – because he can do this again."
- Diana DeGette stated: "We are not here to punish Donald Trump. We are here to prevent the seeds of hatred that he planted from bearing any more fruit."
- Joe Neguse stated: "To hear his lawyers tell it, he was just some guy at a rally expressing unpopular opinions. They would have you believe that this whole impeachment is because he said things that one may disagree with. Really?"
- Jamie Raskin quoted Voltaire saying: "Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
- Jamie Raskin stated: "If you think this is not impeachable, what is? What would be? If you don't find this a high crime and misdemeanor today, you have set a new, terrible standard for presidential misconduct in the United States of America."
- Joe Neguse stated: "When President Trump stood up at that podium on January 6, he knew that many in that crowd were inflamed, were armed, were ready for violence."
- Joe Neguse stated: "He issued messages in the afternoon that sided with them. The insurrectionists who left police officers battered, bloodied. He reacted exactly as someone would react if they were delighted."
According to the AP, Derek Chauvin, the police officer who knelt on George Floyd's neck, killing him, was going to plead guilty to murder until Trump'd Justice Department stepped in. From the story:
"Chauvin was prepared to plead guilty to third-degree murder in George Floyd's death before then-Attorney General William Barr personally blocked the plea deal last year, officials said. The deal would have averted any potential federal charges, including a civil rights offense, as part of an effort to quickly resolve the case to avoid more protests, after protests damaged a swath of south Minneapolis, according to two law enforcement officials with direct knowledge of the talks. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks. Barr rejected the deal in part because he felt it was too soon, as the investigation into Floyd's death was still in its relative infancy, the officials said. That Chauvin had been in plea talks has been previously reported, and those talks appear to have delayed a May 28 news conference called by the US attorney in Minneapolis for nearly two hours as they were ongoing. But the detail on Chauvin agreeing to plead guilty to a specific charge are new and was first reported late Wednesday by The New York Times. Floyd, a Black man who was in handcuffs at the time, died May 25 after the white officer kneeled on his neck for [many] minutes even as Floyd cried out that he couldn't breathe. Widely seen bystander video sparked protests in the city, including violence, arson and theft, and quickly spread around the country. Chauvin was fired soon after Floyd's death. He is scheduled for trial March 8 on charges including second-degree murder and manslaughter. Three other officers at the scene, also since fired, are scheduled for trial later this year."
According to Reuters, the anti-government group Oath Keepers had in place elaborate plans to have an armed "quick reaction force" in place outside Washington DC, ready to fight if called to do so by Donald Trump. From the story:
"In a 21-page court filing, prosecutors offered more details than previously known about the alleged planning, training and coordination that some members of the Oath Keepers undertook after Trump lost the November election. In it, they ask a federal judge to detain Jessica Watkins, whom they describe as the leader of an Ohio-based militia tied to the Oath Keepers, saying she harbors extreme views that the Biden presidency poses an 'existential threat' and actively recruited people to participate in a coup. Prosecutors quote her on November 17, days following the election as telling a recruit that if Biden was president, then 'our Republic would be over. Then it is our duty as Americans to fight, kill and die for our rights.' More than 200 people have been charged in connection with the riots. Thursday's detention memo for Watkins suggests that some of Trump's most fervent supporters believed he sought to signal them into action. In the memo, prosecutors say Watkins exchanged texts with another co-defendant and other unidentified contacts about coordinating a 'quick reaction force' (QRF) which would be there as back-up with guns if needed on Jan. 6. '(W)e can have mace, tasers, or night sticks. QRF staged, armed, with our weapons, outside the city,' she wrote, noting the armed team would be 'outside DC with guns, await ... orders to enter DC under permission from Trump.' Watkins is imprisoned awaiting trial, has yet to enter a plea and could not be reached for comment. The court docket does not list a lawyer for her. FBI investigations have focused on members of far-right extremist groups who may have plotted to take over the Capitol and stop the election certification process."
According to the New York Times, Trump was affected more by Covid-19 than his administration let on. From the story:
"Trump was sicker with Covid-19 in October than publicly acknowledged at the time, with extremely depressed blood oxygen levels at one point and a lung problem associated with pneumonia caused by the coronavirus, according to four people familiar with his condition. His prognosis became so worrisome before he was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that officials believed he would need to be put on a ventilator, two of the people familiar with his condition said. The people familiar with Mr. Trump's health said he was found to have lung infiltrates, which occur when the lungs are inflamed and contain substances such as fluid or bacteria. Their presence, especially when a patient is exhibiting other symptoms, can be a sign of an acute case of the disease. They can be easily spotted on an X-ray or scan, when parts of the lungs appear opaque, or white. Mr. Trump's blood oxygen level alone was cause for extreme concern, dipping into the 80s, according to the people familiar with his evaluation. The disease is considered severe when the blood oxygen level falls to the low 90s."
February 10, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, David Smith offers the following commentary on yesterday's opening day of the second Trump impeachment trial:
"For the senators riveted to their seats, forced to relive the nightmarish quality of that day, there was something especially spooky about watching the mob rampaging through the very building where they were sitting, smashing windows, crushing police officers in doors, waving far-right regalia and chanting 'Fight for Trump!' For Republicans, it must have been uniquely stomach-churning to see what their champion had unleashed – knowing that most of them will continue to defend them during this trial for fear of angering his 'base'. Never can they have been so relieved to have been wearing masks that concealed their expressions from the press gallery. The video Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin showed ended with a tweet from Trump from that day insisting this is what happens when an election is stolen (it wasn't stolen). He told his fans: 'Go home with love & peace! Remember this day forever!' The montage was an early indication that, whereas Trump's first impeachment trial a year ago – which turned on a phone call seeking political favours from Ukraine – was like a white-collar criminal case, this time is more akin to a mob trial with Trump cast as the instigator of violent thugs. It was a dramatic, roaring start to the trial that promises to plant a giant exclamation mark at the end of the Trump presidency. Raskin and his eight fellow House impeachment managers want to make sure that 6 January will become the operatic climax of America's four years of living dangerously. They also want to send a message. They are aware that the world's faith in America has been badly shaken by the election and presidency of a reality TV star who thrives on petty insults and breaking rules. And they are aware that the 6 January riot may have been breaking point for some. But Joe Biden likes to say that betting against America is always a bad bet. His election and orderly inauguration last month sent a signal to the world that it should not write off the young republic yet."
Writing for the Washington Post, Robin Givhan offers the following commentary on yesterday's impeachment proceedings:
"Lawyers argued the law, which is a good and necessary thing. And even if the former president is acquitted, which will most likely be the case with so many partial senators, the impeachment process will have gone forward. Justice might not be served, but at least justice will still have a place at the table. The case to the American people watching from home was not so much legal as it was emotional. 'I hope this trial reminds Americans how personal democracy is,' said Rep Raskin, the lead impeachment manager. The breaching of the US Capitol on 6 January still resonates as a dire moment for the country. Democracy was on a precipice and was miraculously pulled back from the edge by heroism, determination and sheer luck. The impeachment managers wanted the American people to sit with that reality for a bit. And so their opening statement was accompanied by a graphic video that showed the manner in which the Capitol riot unfolded. Excerpts from Trump's speech earlier on that day on the Ellipse, as well as his tweets, served as time stamps and guide posts. The video was not to remind the senators of what happened, because surely the chaotic and terrifying day is embedded in their memory. It was really aimed at the public. It was meant to tug on every heart string, to elicit every fear, to horrify the public."
According to the New York Times, prosecutors in Fulton county, Georgia have launched a criminal investigation into Donald Trump's phone call to Brad Raffensperger, the Republican secretary of state. From the story:
"On Wednesday, Fani Willis, the recently elected Democratic prosecutor in Fulton County, sent a letter to numerous officials in state government, including Mr. Raffensperger, requesting that they preserve documents related to Mr. Trump's call, according to a state official with knowledge of the letter. The letter explicitly stated that the request was part of a criminal investigation, said the official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal matters. The inquiry makes Georgia the second state after New York where Mr. Trump faces a criminal investigation. And it comes in a jurisdiction where potential jurors are unlikely to be hospitable to the former president; Fulton County encompasses most of Atlanta and overwhelmingly supported President Biden in the November election. The Fulton County investigation comes on the heels of a decision Monday by Mr. Raffensperger's office to open an administrative inquiry."
Today is day two of second impeachment trial of Donald J Trump. Here re some highlights.
- Joe Neguse, an impeachment manager, said his team's argument would be broken down into three parts:
1. The Big Lie: The Election Was Stolen
2. Stop The Steal
3. Fight Like Hell To Stop The Steal
- Joaqin Castro, an impeachment manager, stated "This mob was provoked over many months by Donald J Trump, by his personal conduct, this attack was foreseeable and preventable ... He wanted his supporters to believe the election would be stolen from him, from them ... Trump was behind in the polls but he truly made his base believe that the only way he could lose was if the election was rigged ... it was dangerous for our country ... the most combustible thing you can do in a democracy is convince people their voice does not count."
- Ted Lieu, an impeachment manager stated: "Finally, in his desperation, he turned on his own vice-president. President Donald J Trump ran out of non-violent options to maintain power."
- Madeleine Dean, an impeachment manager, stated: "This attack never would have happened but for Donald Trump. And so they came, draped in Trump's flag, and used our flag, the American flag, to batter and to bludgeon."
- David Cicilline, an impeachment manager stated: "On 6 January Donald Trump did not once condemn this attack. He did not once condemn the attackers. In fact, on 6 January, the only person he condemned was his own vice-president, Mike Pence, who was hiding in this building, with his family, in fear for his life."
February 9, 2021 - Writing for CNN, Stephen Collinson offers the following commentary on the constitutionality of Trump's impeachment:
"The simple question posed by Donald Trump's second impeachment trial is whether a president who loses reelection can get away with a violent coup attempt in a desperate bid to stay in power. The answer contained in the former commander-in-chief's likely acquittal for inciting a deadly mob assault on the Capitol will echo through generations and may influence the outcome of some unknowable future test of US democracy. By arguing that the trial is unconstitutional, politically motivated and an infringement of his free speech rights, Trump's defense will resurface a core theme of his tenure that a president is all-powerful and immune from censure for anti-democratic behavior rooted in a volcanic, autocratic temperament. A majority of Senate Republicans have indicated that they will not wrestle with Trump's behavior but will take refuge in a questionable argument that a President who was impeached while in office for seditious behavior cannot be tried after returning to private life. But Democratic House impeachment managers will argue that if whipping up a rebellion against the peaceful transfer of US power is not an impeachable offense, nothing is. The prosecution case will unveil evidence of the horror unfolding in the Capitol that will make clear that the US political system was forced right to the brink. While the managers will likely fail to secure a prohibition on Trump serving in federal office in future, they hope to so damn him in public perception that a political comeback in 2024 will be impossible."
Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was recently removed from her committee assignements for spreading conspiracy theories, sent the following in a tweet:
"If the #Jan6 organizers were Trump supporters, then why did they attack us while we were objecting to electoral college votes for Joe Biden? The attack RUINED our objection that we spent weeks preparing for, which devastated our efforts on behalf of Trump and his voters."
The election arm of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) released its report on the US presidential election. According to the report "early voting was generally well organised and implemented professionally ... The number and scale of substantiated cases of fraud associated to absentee ballots were negligible". Problems that were found according to the report: "On many occasions, President Trump created an impression of refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer of power, claiming that the electoral process was systematically rigged. Such statements by an incumbent president weaken public confidence in state institutions and were perceived by many as increasing the potential for politically motivated violence after the elections."
The second impeachment trial of Donald John Trump began today.
February 8, 2021 - Writing for CNN, Daniella Diaz offers the following commentary on the upcoming impeachment trial:
"The House impeachment managers haven't made a final decision on whether they will call witnesses for the trial. They're preparing for the possibility they won't have any witnesses – but they may decide to use them if they find a witness willing to voluntarily step forward, according to sources. The managers want to avoid any kind of court fight over witnesses like the House had to deal with during the first impeachment of Trump, which would delay the trial further. Even without witnesses, Democrats are preparing to use evidence from video and social media to help illustrate how Trump's words, actions and tweets incited the rioters to attack the Capitol. The trial is sure to be compelling. While Republicans are relying on a procedural argument as reason to dismiss the impeachment charge against Trump – avoiding a judgment on his conduct – the House's presentation will catapult senators – and the public – back to the harrowing events of 6 January when senators were forced to flee the chamber. For Democrats, the trial is likely to be as much about holding Trump and the Republican lawmakers who pushed his false claims of election fraud accountable in the public eye than it is the all-but-impossible task of flipping 17 Republican votes."
The Biden administration announced that it will reengage with the United Nations Human Rights Council, which the Trump administration quit in 2018.
Writing for the Hill, Juan Williams offers the following commentary on Senator Josh Hawley and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene:
"There is no way to say this politely. Josh Hawley is making money by telling lies. So is Marjorie Taylor Greene. Both are playing the grievance game by complaining that they are victims of 'cancel culture,' and a 'radical mob' seeking their 'silence.' Their lies work. Last week, the senator announced he fooled enough people to get donations of $969,000 in January. That is more money than he has raised in any single month since coming to the Senate. The total included about $300,000 pulled in for Hawley by the Senate Conservatives Fund, according to Axios, after the deadly attack on the Capitol. Greene claims to have raised $325,000 in just two days last week, even as the House voted to take away her committee assignments. So even as former President Trump is impeached for telling lies about a stolen election, Hawley and Greene are stuffing their campaign pockets by pushing more lies. ... Outrageous fake news attracts eyeballs. So, do calls for violence, mocking the weak and hate speech. Three weeks into the Biden presidency, it is becoming clear that the biggest impediment to unifying the country is the presence of 'lies told for power and profit.'"
Writing for the Wall Street Journal, Chuck Cooper, a leading conservative attorney, offers this analysis of Trump's impeachment defense:
"The strongest argument against the Senate's authority to try a former officer relies on Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution, which provides: 'The president, vice president and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.' The trial's opponents argue that because this provision requires removal, and because only incumbent officers can be removed, it follows that only incumbent officers can be impeached and tried. But the provision cuts against their interpretation. It simply establishes what is known in criminal law as a 'mandatory minimum' punishment: If an incumbent officeholder is convicted by a two-thirds vote of the Senate, he is removed from office as a matter of law. If removal were the only punishment that could be imposed, the argument against trying former officers would be compelling. But it isn't. Article I, Section 3 authorizes the Senate to impose an optional punishment on conviction: 'disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.' Thus a vote by the Senate to disqualify can be taken only after the officer has been removed and is by definition a former officer. Given that the Constitution permits the Senate to impose the penalty of permanent disqualification only on former officeholders, it defies logic to suggest that the Senate is prohibited from trying and convicting former officeholders."
Ron Wright, a Republican Congressman from Texas, died at Baylor Hospital in Dallas after a two week battle with coronavirus.
According to Reuters, the Georgia secretary of state has opened a formal investigation into Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. From the story:
"The investigation comes after Trump was recorded in a 2 January phone call pressuring Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to overturn the state's election results based on false voter fraud claims. 'The Secretary of State's office investigates complaints it receives,' said Walter Jones, a spokesman for the office, describing the investigation as 'fact finding and administrative'."
Following years of allowing vaccine misinformation to proliferate on its platform, facebook announced today that it will remove posts containing misinformation about vaccines.
February 5, 2021 - Writing for the New York Times, Giovanni Russonello offers the following commentary on the move by the House to strip Marjorie Taylor Greene from her positions on committees:
"While party caucuses have from time to time stripped their own members of their committee assignments as a disciplinary measure, yesterday's vote was the first time in modern US politics that the majority party had used a chamber-wide vote to depose a member from the minority. Greene called her previous comments 'words of the past' that 'do not represent me' and said she should be given an opportunity to learn from her mistakes. 'I was allowed to believe things that weren't true, and I would ask questions about them and talk about them, and that is absolutely what I regret,' she said. But Democrats were unimpressed, and some pointed out in speeches of their own that Greene had not apologized at any point in her eight-minute address. The Democratic caucus voted unanimously to remove Greene from her posts, arguing in particular that she did not belong on the Education Committee given her history of claiming that the school shooting in Parkland, Florida was a hoax."
Writing for the New York Times, Alan Feuer offers the following commentary on the coordinated efforts of groups like the Proud Boys in their assault on the Capitol:
"In a flurry of court papers filed in recent days federal officials have [been] assembling the first draft of a narrative that suggests the Proud Boys brought some coordination to the Capitol attack. While prosecutors have not issued an overarching indictment accusing the group of a detailed conspiracy to storm the halls of Congress, they have left hints in the record that they believe a measure of planning went into disrupting the certification of the presidential vote. In a criminal complaint released on Wednesday night, prosecutors said that days before the Capitol attack, Ethan Nordean, the 'sergeant of arms' for the Seattle Proud Boys, issued a call on social media asking for donations of 'protective gear' and declared during his podcast, 'We are in a war.' In previous filings, the government has said that some group members went to the Capitol with communication equipment and that leaders ordered subordinates to show up undercover, not in their typical black-and-yellow shirts. Prosecutors say, in late December, chairman of the group, Enrique Tarrio, apparently planning for a pro-Trump 'Save America' rally in Washington 6 January, posted a message on Parler, telling the Proud Boys to attend the event in small teams and 'incognito,' instead of in their trademark polo shirts. Two days before the march, prosecutors noted Nordean posted an episode of his podcast in which he likened the Proud Boys to 'soldiers of the right wing.' He also discussed what he described as 'rampant voter fraud' in the presidential election, saying that the Proud Boys could not afford to be complacent, but had to 'bring back that original spirit of 1776 of what really established the character of what America is.'"
Writing for the Guardian, Adam Gabbatt offers the following commentary on the movement of Fox News further to the right:
"For two decades, Fox News has reigned supreme as America’s number one cable news channel. Until January, that is. Nielsen numbers, published this week, found that Fox News ranked third out of the three main cable news channels. It was the first time since 2001 that Fox News found itself in third place, and continued a pattern from the end of 2020, when Donald Trump urged his supporters to abandon Fox News in favor of even more rightwing rivals like NewsMax and One America News.The response from Fox News has not been a period of sombre self-reflection. Instead, the network seems to have made a chaotic lunge towards the right wing. ''Fox News has led in the ratings for two decades. They have historically been unrivaled in attracting an audience,' said Matthew Gertz, a senior fellow at the progressive media watchdog Media Matters. Gertz said he had detected a shift at Fox as the network attempts to win back 'the most hard-edge' Trump supporters. Tucker Carlson, whose show is the most watched in cable news, is among those leading the charge. After Democrats called for a crackdown on white nationalists and domestic terrorism following a wave of extremist attacks, Carlson had an interesting, and revealing, take for his audience. 'They're talking about you,' Carlson told his viewers on 26 January. A day earlier, Carlson had defended QAnon, a racist and antisemitic conspiracy theory linked to multiple violent acts, including alleged kidnappings, the derailing of a train and arrests over threats to politicians. Carlson played a series of clips from left-leaning networks, in which analysts described QAnon as a dangerous, 'frightening' conspiracy theory. The FBI has agreed with that sentiment, and warned of its dangers. Carlson, however, was having none of it. He proceeded to stand up for QAnon supporters, as he claimed that believing in and espousing QAnon ideas is an issue of free speech. 'No democratic government can ever tell you what to think. Your mind belongs to you. It is yours and yours alone,' Carlson said."
According to the Washington Post, lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems have asked facebook, Youtube, Twitter and Parler to preserve posts about the company. From the story:
"The posts need to be kept 'because they are relevant to Dominion's defamation claims relating to false accusations that Dominion rigged the 2020 election,' according to the demand letters from Dominion's law firm Clare Locke. Dominion sued Rudolph W. Giuliani and Sidney Powell for more than $1.3 billion each in January, alleging that the lawyers defamed Dominion by saying the machines were used to steal the election from President Donald Trump. Dominion asked each company to keep posts from slightly differing lists of people. Those included right-wing pundit Dan Bongino, Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and Powell. It also included news organizations Fox News, One America News Network and Newsmax and — in Twitter's case — Trump. Dominion warned in its letters to the social media companies that more lawsuits would be coming."
According to CBS News, the FBI has raided the home of Rachell Powell, a Capitol riot suspect who has become known as the "bullhorn lady" or "pink hat lady". From the story:
"Agents swarmed the house searching for any evidence to help build a case against Powell and any clues that may indicate where she may have gone. Neighbors say Powell and some of the younger children haven't been seen for a week or more and are apparently in hiding. Powell can clearly be seen in videos taking a battering ram to the Capitol. She's become known as 'the bullhorn lady' who seemed to have knowledge of the Capitol building's floor plan. She was seen on video instructing insurrectionists on where to go. Powell is of special concern to federal investigators because if she had that knowledge, it could indicate the assault was pre-planned."
Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was recently stripped of her committee assignments in Congress, held a news conference where she stated regarding Trump: "The party is his – it doesn't belong to anyone else." Greene went on to say: "I woke up early this morning literally laughing thinking about what a bunch of morons the Democrats (+11) are for giving some one like me free time ... In this Democrat tyrannical government, Conservative Republicans have no say on committees anyway. Oh this is going to be fun!"
According to ABC News, newly obtained video shows Roger Stone interacting with members of the Oath Keepers on the morning of the January 6 Capitol insurrection. From the story:
"In the video, which was obtained and reviewed by ABC News, Stone takes pictures and mingles with supporters outside a D.C. hotel as Oath Keepers hover around him, one wearing a baseball hat and military-style vest branded with the militia group's logo. 'So, hopefully we have this today, right?' one supporter asks Stone in the video, which was posted just after 10 a.m. on the morning of the rally. 'We shall see,' Stone replies. It is not known to what they were referring. Stone has maintained that he played 'no role whatsoever in the Jan. 6 events' and has repeatedly said that he 'never left the site of my hotel until leaving for Dulles Airport' that afternoon. He has also decried attempts to ascribe to him the motives of the people around him. 'I had no advance knowledge of the riot at the Capitol,' Stone on Friday told ABC News about the video. 'I could not even tell you the names of those who volunteered to provide security for me, required because of the many threats against me and my family.'"
According to the Guardian, the Texas Republican party has endorsed legislation that would allow state residents to vote whether to secede from the United States. Allen West, the party chair, stated: "Texans have a right to voice their opinions on [this] critical issue. I don’t understand why anyone would feel that they need to prevent people from having a voice in something that is part of the Texas constitution. You cannot prevent the people from having a voice."
According to CNN, Louie Gohmert and Andrew Clyde, two House Republicans, have been fined $5,000 for ignoring metal detectors that were set up outside the House chamber after the January 6 insurrection. New House rules set up last week fines members $5,000 for their first offense, and $10,000 for their second.
News surfaced that Kyle Rittenhouse, the 18-year-old who is accused of shooting three people and killing two during protests against police brutality in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was spotted at a bar last month wearing a shirt with the slogan "Free as Fuck". Rittenhouse was also observed flashing white power hand signs, and posing for photos with the far-right group the Proud Boys.
144 First Amendment lawyers released an open letter criticizing the Trump team's planned defense in the upcoming Senate impeachment trial. From the letter:
"We all agree that the First Amendment does not prevent the Senate from convicting President Trump and disqualifying him from holding future office." The letter also calls the defense :legally frivolous".
The Lou Dobbs Tonight show, hosted by Fox News, has been cancelled. Lou Dobbs, the host, was a major contributor to the false narrative that the election was stolen. NOTE: The cancellation comes in the wake of a lawsuit against Dobbs, the Fox Corporation, the Fox News Channel, and two other network anchors, by Smartmatic for $2.7bn. The lawsuit claims the network launched a "disinformation campaign" against the company, whose voting machines were only used in Los Angeles county.
February 4, 2021 - More than 450,000 Americans have died from coronavirus.
According to the Guardian, Reuters published the results of a survey that tried to determine the extent that House Republicans believe the narrative that Joe Biden stole the election. From the story:
"As a reminder, on 6 January, only hours after the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol, 147 Republican lawmakers voted the way then-president Donald Trump and the rioters had demanded - to overturn his election loss. A month later, Reuters report, the Republican party remains paralyzed by that false narrative. Fully 133 of those lawmakers, or 90%, are now declining to either endorse or repudiate Trump's continuing insistence that he was cheated by systemic voter fraud. Just two of those lawmakers told Reuters they believed the election was stolen through fraud; two others who did not respond to repeated inquiries made similar public statements previously. Ten of the 147 lawmakers told Reuters they do not believe the stolen-election narrative; they cited unrelated reasons for their failed attempt to invalidate millions of votes. The refusal by the vast majority of the 147 lawmakers to take a firm stand on the truth of Trump's central claim underscores the political peril they face as they struggle to appease voters on both sides of a rift in the Republican Party. Many Republican lawmakers believe they can't survive challenges in party primary elections without the votes of Trump supporters who are enraged at any suggestion that he lost a fair election to Democrat Joe Biden, Republican strategists said. The lawmakers also fear losing general elections against Democrats without the votes of more moderate Republicans and independents who are repelled by Trump's false fraud claims and incitement of the Capitol insurrection. The Reuters survey illuminates a semantic sleight-of-hand many Republican lawmakers have adopted to avoid taking a firm position on stolen-election claims that were discredited by judges in more than 60 lawsuits that failed to overturn the election result. Many lawmakers tried instead to thread a rhetorical needle - saying, for instance, that they would 'stand with' Trump to protect 'election integrity' or 'the Constitution' - while avoiding any mention of Trump's debunked fraud claims, the Reuters review of their public statements reveals. Most lawmakers cited legal arguments that some states' expansions of mail-in or early voting during the coronavirus pandemic violated the US Constitution – a contention rejected by multiple courts in Trump's failed challenges to the election result. The lawmakers who declined to provide a yes-or-no answer to the Reuters survey included some of the most strident backers of Trump's bid to overturn the election, such as Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama. Brooks spoke at Trump's rally before the Capitol riots and encouraged 'patriots' in attendance to start 'taking down names and kicking ass.' In a 4 January public statement explaining his vote to overturn the election results, Brooks railed against 'the largest voter fraud and election theft scheme in American history.' But when asked directly by Reuters if Trump lost because of fraud, Brooks avoided a clear answer. He instead relied on technical arguments involving some states' voting process changes, saying in a statement that Trump lost because some votes, in his view, were not 'Constitution-compliant' and 'lawful.' While the vast majority of the 147 lawmakers never endorsed Trump's outlandish fraud allegations, their support of his bid to overturn the election played a crucial role in perpetuating the stolen-election myth that has become a central flashpoint in American politics. The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll on the subject, taken 20-21 January, shows that 61% of Republicans still believed Trump lost because of election-rigging and illegal voting. The lawmakers' attempt to appease newly polarized camps of voters within the Republican Party 'won’t fly' with voters on either side of that divide, said Gabriel Sterling, a top Georgia election official – and a Republican – who has been debunking what he called 'nonsensical' election fraud claims since the 3 November. 'They were trying to have their cake and eat it, too,' he said of the lawmakers. That won’t work, Sterling said, because future voters will form their opinions on the lawmakers' actions – their vote to overturn the election – rather than their words explaining their reasons. Both pro- and anti-Trump voters, he said, are going to see '147 people who agree with Trump that the election was stolen.'"
Writing for the Guardian, Oliver Milman offers the following commentary on the Republican backlash to Biden's plans to combat the climate crisis:
"Republican lawmakers in Congress have denounced Biden's flurry of executive orders on climate and have even introduced legislation to bypass the president and approve the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline. Republican-led states are also joining the fray with Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, who is vowing to use the courts to block Biden's move to halt oil and gas drilling on public lands. 'Texas is going to protect the oil and gas industry from any type of hostile attack launched from Washington DC,' Abbott said. While some younger, more moderate Republicans want to reform the party's position on climate, the criticism of Biden has wandered into bizarre territory, such as Texas senator Ted Cruz tweeting that the president has shown he is 'more interested in the views of the citizens of Paris than in the jobs of the citizens of Pittsburgh' by rejoining an international agreement to cut emissions that happened to be signed in Paris. John Kennedy, another Republican senator, mocked Biden's plan to boost take-up of electric cars by telling Fox News on Tuesday that 'my car doesn't run off fairy dust, it doesn't run off unicorn urine'. The Republican onslaught has been amplified and fueled by Fox News, which has aired a string of misleading claims over the Paris agreement and the economic impact of addressing the climate crisis. Much of this has centered upon the Keystone pipeline project, lamenting the loss of 10,000 temporary jobs that don't actually exist yet. Meanwhile, despite Facebook's attempt to promote accurate climate science, the platform is still routinely used by conservative entities such as Prager University, a non-profit media company, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute to spread dozens of climate disinformation adverts to millions of people. This range of opposition 'is pretty much the standard Republican message to any sort of climate proposals', said Robert Brulle, an academic at Brown University whose own research has found fossil fuel companies spent $2bn lobbying lawmakers over climate change between 2000 and 2016. 'This argument certainly resonates in areas with a large presence of fossil fuel employment.' It's also a line of attack the Biden administration has prepared for, with the early salvo of executive orders framed as a job creation opportunity for millions of workers. 'Unfortunately workers have been fed a false narrative, they'd been fed the notion that somehow dealing with climate has come at their expense. No, it hasn't,' said John Kerry, Biden's climate envoy, last week. Kerry noted that the solar industry was rapidly adding jobs prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, while the coal industry has entered a steep decline."
Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin wrote a letter to Trump asking him to testify under oath before or during the impeachment trial. In the letter Raskin stated: "You denied many factual allegations set forth in the article of impeachment. You have thus attempted to put critical facts at issue."
According to the AP, Smartmatic USA, a voting technology company, is suing Fox News, three of its top hosts, as well as Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani, and Sidney Powell, for $2.7 billion. From the story:
"On January 25, a rival election-technology company, Dominion Voting Systems, which was also ensnared in Trump's baseless effort to overturn the election, sued Guiliani and Powell for $1.3 billion. Unlike Dominion, whose technology was used in 24 states, Smartmatic's participation in the 2020 election was restricted to Los Angeles County, which votes heavily Democratic. Smartmatic's limited role notwithstanding, Fox aired at least 13 reports falsely stating or implying the company had stolen the 2020 vote in cahoots with Venezuela's socialist government, according to the complaint. This alleged 'disinformation campaign' continued even after then-Attorney General William Barr said the Department of Justice could find no evidence of widespread voter fraud. For instance, a Dec. 10 segment by Lou Dobbs accused Smartmatic and its CEO, Antonio Mugica, of working to flip votes through a non-existent backdoor in its voting software to carry out a 'massive cyber Pearl Harbor,' the complaint alleged. 'Defendants' story was a lie,' the complaint stated. 'But, it was a story that sold.' The complaint also alleges that Fox hosts Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro also directly benefitted from their involvement in the conspiracy. The lawsuit alleges that Fox went along with the 'well-orchestrated dance' due to pressure from newcomer outlets such as Newsmax and One America News, which were stealing away conservative, pro-Trump viewers. Fox, Giuliani and Powell did not immediately respond to requests for comment. For Smartmatic, the effects of the negative publicity were swift and devastating, the complaint alleges. Death threats, including against an executive's 14-year-old son, poured in as Internet searches for the company surged, Smartmatic claims. No evidence has emerged that the company rigged votes in favor of the anti-American firebrand, and for a while the Carter Center and other observers held out Venezuela as a model of electronic voting. Meanwhile, the company has expanded globally."
Marjorie Taylor Greene, the QAnon supporting Republican representative, has bee stripped of her committe assignments. The House voted 230-199 in favor of removing Greene from the House budget committee and the House education and labor committee. 11 Republicans joined the Democrats in voting to remove Greene. The vote by the full House came about because Republicans refused to remove her. Prior to the vote, Greene delivered a speech where she admitted that the September 11 attack and the Parkland massacre were not staged. She also claimed she did not talk about QAnon during her campaign, despite evidence that she did so on facebook, and later removed the post. During her speech, Greene did not apologize for her many racist, anti-Muslim and antisemitic comments, or her threats of violence against Democrats in Congress, including speaker Nancy Pelosi.
February 3, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Vivian Ho offers these thoughts from Dr Richard Pan, who has worked to improve access to vaccines, and in response, has faced off with increasingly violent ant-vaxers:
"I was outraged, certainly, that people had tried to block other people from getting access to vaccines [at Dodger Stadium this weekend]. I think that event demonstrated a lie that anti-vaxxers often proclaim, that it’s about choice and freedom – yet here they were denying people their choice to get the vaccine and denying our community and our country the opportunity to be free from this terrible disease that has killed more people than world war two at this point. When I first did my bill on educating people about vaccines back in 2010, they would put forth their myths, but generally, you could have a conversation. When it came to 2015 [when Pan sought to get rid of personal belief exemptions and allow only medical exemptions for vaccinations – legislation that ultimately passed], they engaged in death threats. You had death threats coming not just to me, but my staff and other legislators. Some legislators actually had to close their district offices because they worried about the safety of their staff. You had Robert F Kennedy come and call vaccines the Holocaust and use violent imagery. He did apologize for that, but then he subsequently used that analogy in other venues. Then you move ahead to 2019, when I introduced senate bill 276 (which required medical exemptions be approved by the California department of public health, and ultimately passed). They stepped it up. Not only do they show up in large numbers, which is fine, that's their right to do so, but then they engaged in things like pounding on the walls, basically sounding like they're trying to break into the legislative chambers during debate. They would try to interfere with the legislature by standing on chairs and screaming, or screaming in the galleries not just when we’re discussing the vaccine bill, but overall, just trying to stop the legislature from doing its business. They invited a militia to come join them at the state capitol, so they demonstrated an open tie to other extremist groups, and the death threats continued. But then one of the anti-vaxxers actually assaulted me on the street and livestreamed it on Facebook."
According to Politico, negotiations are taking place behind the scenes for the removal of Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committee assignments. From the story:
"Tuesday night with Greene, House minority leader McCarthy explained to the QAnon supporter that her controversial past statements were coming to a head. The problem, McCarthy told her: Democrats are threatening to force a vote to remove her from her committees — and that puts the entire GOP Conference in a bad spot. McCarthy tried to give Greene options, according to a person familiar with their talk: She could denounce QAnon and apologize publicly for espousing hurtful conspiracy theories and endorsing violence on Democrats. She could remove herself from the panel to spare her colleagues a vote on the matter. Or, she could face removal from her own GOP peers. It must not have gone as well as McCarthy hoped, because he then called a late-night meeting with the panel that designates committee assignments to discuss removing Greene. According to our sources, the room agreed that a House vote on this issue would be catastrophic politically for their members who are already angry at being associated with Greene’s crazy statements. That must be avoided, they concurred. McCarthy told the room he would speak with House majority leader Steny Hoyer to try to broker a deal. McCarthy would offer to remove Greene from one committee — Education and Labor — if Democrats back off a House floor vote to remove her from both. It is unclear whether Hoyer will go for this."
According to the New York Times, Trump's impeachment defense is to argue that a former president cannot be impeached. From the story:
"Trump’s lawyers denied that his statements in advance of the Capitol riot on 6 January amounted to an incitement of violence. But they also argued that the whole case was moot, saying that the Senate lacked the authority to try a former president. In the filing, the lawyers did not repeat or seek to defend Trump's baseless claims that the November election had been 'stolen' from him and marred by widespread fraud. Instead, it fell back on a First Amendment defense, saying that Trump had been exercising his right to 'express his belief that the election results were suspect.' The filing also said that the Constitution disallowed the Senate from trying a former president after he has left office. This argument has been disputed by many constitutional scholars, and it runs counter to history: During Ulysses S. Grant's administration, the Senate tried a cabinet official on impeachment charges after he had left office."
370 members of Congressional staff have written an open letter to Senators urging them to convict Donald Trump. From the statement:
"We are staff who work for members of the US Senate and the US House of Representatives, where it is our honor and privilege to serve our country and our fellow Americans. We write this letter to share our own views and experiences, not the views of our employers. But on 6 January, 2021, our workplace was attacked by a violent mob trying to stop the electoral college vote count. That mob was incited by former president Donald J. Trump and his political allies, some of whom we pass every day in the hallways at work. On 6 January, the former President broke America's 230-year legacy of the peaceful transition of power when he incited a mob to disrupt the counting of electoral college votes. Six people died. A Capitol Police officer—one of our co-workers who guards and greets us every day—was beaten to death. The attack on our workplace was inspired by lies told by the former president and others about the results of the election in a baseless, months-long effort to reject votes lawfully cast by the American people. As Congressional employees, we don't have a vote on whether to convict Donald J. Trump for his role in inciting the violent attack at the Capitol, but our Senators do. And for our sake, and the sake of the country, we ask that they vote to convict the former president and bar him from ever holding office again."
A memorial service was held today inside the Capitol for Brian Sicknick, who died during the Capitol insurrection.
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar sent the following in a tweet regarding Republican leadership's role in "fanning the "flames" of Marjorie Taylor Greene's racist and antisemitic beliefs by failing to hold her accountable:
"Let's be clear: this is a desperate smear rooted in racism, misogyny, and Islamophobia. Marjorie Taylor Greene has incited violence against her fellow Members of Congress, repeatedly singling out prominent women of color. She actively encouraged the insurrection on the Capitol that threatened my life and the life of every Member of Congress, and resulted in multiple deaths. She ran a campaign ad holding an assault rifle next to my face. She came to the Capitol demanding that me and Rep. Tlaib swear in on the Christian bible instead of the Quran. The House Republican Caucus, instead of holding her accountable, is now fanning the flames. Republicans will do anything to distract from the fact that they have not only allowed but elevated members of their own caucus who encourage violence. It's time to stop whitewashing the actions of the violent conspiracy theorists, who pose a direct and immediate threat to their fellow Members of Congress and our most fundamental democratic processes."
Canada has designated the far-right Proud Boys group as a terrorist organization alongside Isis and al-Qaida. Other groups added to their list: Atomwaffen Division, the Base, and the Russian Imperial Movement.
During an interview with Steve Bannon, Matt Gaetz, a Florida congressman, stated: "I love my district I love representing them. But I view this cancellation of the Trump presidency and the Trump movement as one of the major risks to my people, both in my district and all throughout this great country ... Absolutely, if the president called me and wanted me to go defend him on the floor of the Senate, that would be the top priority in my life. I would leave my House seat, I would leave my home, I would do anything I had to do to ensure that the greatest president in my lifetime ... got a full-throated defense."
House Republicans voted on whether to to keep or remove Liz Cheney, the third most powerful Republican in the House of Representatives, from a leadership position. The vote came about because of Cheney's vote to impeach Donald Trump. Republicans voted by secret ballot 145-61 to let her keep her position as House Republican conference chair.
February 2, 2021 - Writing for the New York Times, Miriam Jordan offers the following analysis regarding efforts by the Biden administration to reunite migrant families that were separated by the Trump administration:
"More than 1,000 migrant children still in the United States likely remain separated from their parents, and another 500 or more were taken from their parents who have yet to be located, according to the latest estimates from lawyers working on the issue. One of the continuing obstacles to reunification is that hundreds of parents have been deported to their home countries — places they had fled because of the danger there — and are fearful of having their children sent home to them. And some children are being deported even though their parents are still in the United States trying to obtain legal residence. Even Trump officially rescinded the policy, border authorities removed more than 1,000 children from their families, sometimes for reasons as minor as committing a traffic infraction or failing to change a baby's diaper, according to court documents."
Writing for Axios, Alayna Treene offers the following commentary on Trump's split with his legal team:
"The notoriously stingy former president and his lead lawyer, Butch Bowers, wrangled over compensation during a series of tense phone calls, sources familiar with their conversations said. The argument came even though Trump has raised over $170 million from the public that could be used on his legal defenses. The two initially agreed Bowers would be paid $250,000 for his individual services, a figure that 'delighted' Trump, one of the sources said. However, Trump didn’t realize Bowers hadn't included additional expenses — including more lawyers, researchers and other legal fees that would be accrued on the job. He was said to be livid when Bowers came back to him with a total budget of $3 million. Trump called the South Carolina attorney and eventually negotiated him down to $1 million. All of this infuriated Trump and his political team, who think the case will be straightforward, given 45 Republican senators already voted to dismiss the trial on the basis it is unconstitutional to convict a former president on impeachment charges."
Writing for NBC News, Rebecca Shabad offers the following commentary on efforts to censure Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene:
"A group of House Democrats introduced a resolution Monday to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from her two committee assignments as a consequence for her inflammatory and false statements. The resolution, sponsored by Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Ted Deutch, both of Florida, and Jahana Hayes of Connecticut, would remove Greene from the House Education & Labor Committee and the House Budget Committee. The Rules Committee said it would consider the resolution on Wednesday afternoon, the first step in getting it to a vote on the floor. 'Reducing the future harm that she can cause in Congress, and denying her a seat at committee tables where fact-based policies will be drafted, is both a suitable punishment and a proper restraint of her influence,' Wasserman Schultz said during a virtual news conference. 'If Republicans won't police their own, the House must step in.' Wasserman Schultz, whose district is near Parkland, said that if Greene 'cannot be entrusted to make education and budget policy' if she is unwilling to accept the reality of mass school shootings."
The House impeachment managers filed a brief outlining their argument for Donald Trump's conviction:
"In a grievous betrayal of his Oath of Office, President Trump incited a violent mob to attack the United States Capitol during the Joint Session, thus impeding Congress's confirmation of Joseph R. Biden, Jr. as the winner of the presidential election. President Trump's responsibility for the events of January 6 is unmistakable ... President Trump's pursuit of power at all costs is a betrayal of historic proportions. It requires his conviction ... President Trump falsely asserted that he won the 2020 election and then sought to overturn its results ... The only honorable path at that point was for President Trump to accept the results and concede his electoral defeat. Instead, he summoned a mob to Washington, exhorted them into a frenzy, and aimed them like a loaded cannon down Pennsylvania Avenue ... As will be shown at trial, President Trump endangered our Republic and inflicted deep and lasting wounds on our Nation ... President Trump's incitement of insurrection requires his conviction and disqualification from future federal officeholding."
Donald Trump's legal team filed a brief defending Trump's actions. Here are some notable statements taken from their brief:
"Insufficient evidence exists upon which a reasonable jurist could conclude that the 45th President's statements were accurate or not, and he therefore denies they were false ... It is denied he betrayed his trust as President to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Rather, the 45th President performed admirably in his role, at all times doing what he thought was in the best interests of the American people". NOTE: Trump not only incited the violence, but later commended the rioters, saying in a video produced on January 6 that the rioters were "very special" and "we love you". The brief also includes a misspelling of United States, which the briefing calls "Unites States".
Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, has been sentenced to two years and eight months in a prison colony in Russia.
According to the Detroit News, Michigan's three top office-holders (The governor, Gretchen Whitmer, the state's attorney general, Dana Nessel, and secretary of state Jocelyn Benson) are calling for the disbarment of four lawyers (Greg Rohl, Scott Hagerstrom, Stefanie Junttila and Sydney Powell) who sought to invalidate the state's presidential election results. From the story:
"Nessel said the attorneys were involved in a suit 'based on falsehoods, used their law license in an attempt to disenfranchise Michigan voters and undermine the faith of the public in the legitimacy of the recent presidential election, and lent credence to untruths that led to violence and unrest.' 'The 2020 general election was the most secure in our nation's history, and these lawyers abused their authority by filing meritless, frivolous lawsuits for the sole purpose of undermining public faith in the election,' Benson said in a press release. 'They must be held accountable for this unprecedented attack on our democracy and prevented from replicating such harm in the future.' Rohl, Hagerstrom, Junttila and Powell were involved in the King v. Whitmer lawsuit, which asked federal courts to overturn President Joe Biden's win in Michigan based on a bevy of conspiracy theories and claims contradicted by election experts. Biden, a Democrat, won Michigan by 154,000 votes, but supporters of Republican Donald Trump sought to question the result based on unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. Nationally, Powell is the most well known of the four attorneys. She was involved in failed election challenges in multiple swing states. She once described her legal effort as releasing the 'kraken.' On Dec. 7, Detroit U.S. District Court Judge Linda Parker of Michigan's Eastern District rejected the Michigan lawsuit, saying the effort aimed to 'ignore the will of millions of voters.' The suit seemed 'less about achieving the relief' the GOP plaintiffs sought and 'more about the impact of their allegations on people's faith in the democratic process and their trust in our government,' the judge wrote. Junttila declined to comment on the suggestion that she be disbarred. The City of Detroit and Nessel have already sought legal sanctions against the attorneys in the Eastern District of Michigan."
According to WSBTV, Georgia's secretary of state is investigating whether Lin Wood, a pro-Trump attorney who baselessly alleged voter fraud, voted illegally. From the story:
"The Georgia Secretary of State's Office has launched an investigation into whether Wood was eligible to vote in Georgia, whether he broke the law by casting his ballot and whether he was actually a Georgia resident. Sources at the secretary of state's office say an email that Wood sent to [WSBTV reporter Justin] Gray caused them to launch an official investigation. In the email, Wood confirmed he moved to South Carolina, writing 'I have been domiciled in South Carolina for several months after purchasing property in the state in April.' Now state election investigators are looking into whether that means Wood legally should not have been able to vote in the November election. They cite a section of Georgia code that reads, 'If a person removes to another state with the intention of making it such person's residence, such person shall be considered to have lost such person's residence in this state.'"
February 1, 2021 - Donald Trump has replaced his legal team lead by Butch Bowers due to a disagreement regarding defense strategy.
Writing for the Guardian, Joan E Greve offers the following commentary on the Republican party in the shadow of Donald Trump:
"The 50 Republicans in the Senate are grappling with how to appease Trump's supporters, who still make up a hefty share of the party's base, while acknowledging that the former president incited the 6 January attack on the US Capitol. The senators' quandary underscores how Republican lawmakers remain tethered to Trump, even after his term in office has ended, and it raises questions about in which direction the party will move forward when so much of its base is still loyal to a president who oversaw the loss of both chambers of Congress and the White House. Trump's continued power over Republican lawmakers was on full display last week, as 45 senators voted to pre-emptively dismiss the impeachment trial. The senators avoided defending Trump's behavior on 6 January, instead arguing that it was unconstitutional to impeach a former president. Tara Setmayer, a conservative commentator who left the Republican party in November, described the senators' support for dismissing the trial as 'the most craven example' of Republican lawmakers' unwillingness to stand up to Trump. 'It really is mind-boggling when you look at how many opportunities the party has had to take the exit ramp and get away from Trumpism,' Setmayer said. 'The result has become that the Republican party now is an anti-democratic, illiberal, pro-seditionist party.'"
Writing for the New York Times, Shane Goldmacher and Rachel Shorey offers the following analysis of where the money went that was raised with Trump's voter fraud claims:
"Trump and the Republican Party entered this year having stockpiled more than $175 million from fund-raising in November and December based on his false claims of voter fraud. The picture that emerges in Federal Election Commission reports is of Trump mounting a furious public relations effort to spread the lie and keep generating money from it, rather than making a sustained legal push to try to support his conspiracy theories. His campaign's single biggest expense in December was a nearly $5 million media buy paid to the firm that bought his television advertisements. His second-largest payment, $4.4 million, was for online advertising. And the Republican National Committee pocketed millions of dollars in donations — collecting 25 cents for every dollar Trump raised online — in the final weeks of the year as it spent relatively little on legal costs. Trump's campaign spent only $10 million on legal costs — about one-fifth of what it spent on advertising and fund-raising."
Twitter has officially suspended the My Pillow account. This action comes one week after it's CEO, Mike Lindell, was suspended.
Without mentioning Marjorie Taylor Greene by name, Mitch McConnell slammed her in a statement to the Hill saying: "somebody who's suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr's airplane ... is not living in reality ... loony lies and conspiracy theories ... cancer for the Republican party". McConnell also praised the embattled Representative Liz Cheney, saying: "Liz Cheney is a leader with deep convictions and the courage to act on them. She is an important leader in our party and in our nation. I am grateful for her service and look forward to continuing to work with her on the crucial issues facing our nation."
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Capitol police officer who shot Ashli Babbitt, the QAnon supporting Trump supporter who was shot during the Capitol insurrection, will not be charged with wrongdoing.
January 29, 2021 - According to the Guardian, Russia cultivated Trump as an asset for 40 years. From the story:
"Donald Trump was cultivated as a Russian asset over 40 years and proved so willing to parrot anti-western propaganda that there were celebrations in Moscow, a former KGB spy has told the Guardian. Yuri Shvets, posted to Washington by the Soviet Union in the 1980s, compares the former US president to 'the Cambridge five', the British spy ring that passed secrets to Moscow during the second world war and early cold war. Now 67, Shvets is a key source for American Kompromat, a new book by journalist Craig Unger, whose previous works include House of Trump, House of Putin. The book also explores the former president's relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. 'This is an example where people were recruited when they were just students and then they rose to important positions; something like that was happening with Trump,' Shvets said by phone on Monday from his home in Virginia ... Unger describes how Trump first appeared on the Russians' radar in 1977 when he married his first wife, Ivana Zelnickova, a Czech model. Trump became the target of a spying operation overseen by Czechoslovakia's intelligence service in cooperation with the KGB. Three years later Trump opened his first big property development, the Grand Hyatt New York hotel near Grand Central station. Trump bought 200 television sets for the hotel from Semyon Kislin, a Soviet émigré who co-owned Joy-Lud electronics on Fifth Avenue. According to Shvets, Joy-Lud was controlled by the KGB and Kislin worked as a so-called 'spotter agent' who identified Trump, a young businessman on the rise, as a potential asset. Kislin denies that he had a relationship with the KGB. Then, in 1987, Trump and Ivana visited Moscow and St Petersburg for the first time. Shvets said he was fed KGB talking points and flattered by KGB operatives who floated the idea that he should go into politics. The ex-major recalled: “For the KGB, it was a charm offensive. They had collected a lot of information on his personality so they knew who he was personally. The feeling was that he was extremely vulnerable intellectually, and psychologically, and he was prone to flattery. 'This is what they exploited. They played the game as if they were immensely impressed by his personality and believed this is the guy who should be the president of the United States one day: it is people like him who could change the world. They fed him these so-called active measures soundbites and it happened. So it was a big achievement for the KGB active measures at the time.' Soon after he returned to the US, Trump began exploring a run for the Republican nomination for president and even held a campaign rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. On 1 September, he took out a full-page advert in the New York Times, Washington Post and Boston Globe headlined: 'There's nothing wrong with America's Foreign Defense Policy that a little backbone can't cure.' The ad offered some highly unorthodox opinions in Ronald Reagan's cold war America, accusing ally Japan of exploiting the US and expressing scepticism about US participation in Nato. It took the form of an open letter to the American people 'on why America should stop paying to defend countries that can afford to defend themselves'. The bizarre intervention was cause for astonishment and jubilation in Russia. A few days later Shvets, who had returned home by now, was at the headquarters of the KGB's first chief directorate in Yasenevo when he received a cable celebrating the ad as a successful 'active measure' executed by a new KGB asset. 'It was unprecedented. I am pretty well familiar with KGB active measures starting in the early 70s and 80s, and then afterwards with Russia active measures, and I haven't heard anything like that or anything similar – until Trump became the president of this country – because it was just silly. It was hard to believe that somebody would publish it under his name and that it will impress real serious people in the west but it did and, finally, this guy became the president.' Trump's election win in 2016 was again welcomed by Moscow. Special counsel Robert Mueller did not establish a conspiracy between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians. But the Moscow Project, an initiative of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, found the Trump campaign and transition team had at least 272 known contacts and at least 38 known meetings with Russia-linked operatives. Shvets, who has carried out his own investigation, said: 'For me, the Mueller report was a big disappointment because people expected that it will be a thorough investigation of all ties between Trump and Moscow, when in fact what we got was an investigation of just crime-related issues. There were no counterintelligence aspects of the relationship between Trump and Moscow.' He added: 'This is what basically we decided to correct. So I did my investigation and then got together with Craig. So we believe that his book will pick up where Mueller left off.' Unger, the author of seven books and a former contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine, said of Trump: 'He was an asset. It was not this grand, ingenious plan that we're going to develop this guy and 40 years later he'll be president. At the time it started, which was around 1980, the Russians were trying to recruit like crazy and going after dozens and dozens of people.' 'Trump was the perfect target in a lot of ways: his vanity, narcissism made him a natural target to recruit. He was cultivated over a 40-year period, right up through his election.'"
Writing for CNN, Manu Raju offered the following analysis of Missouri Senator Josh Hawley's vote to throw out the 2020 election results:
"In the aftermath of pro-Trump rioters storming the Capitol seeking to stop the January 6 certification of Biden's win, the first-term Missouri Republican senator has faced a barrage of criticism over his decision to contest the results of Pennsylvania. But Hawley has said he has 'no' regrets, telling CNN: 'I was very clear from the beginning that I was never attempting to overturn the election.' Yet before January 6, Hawley didn't rule out the possibility that Congress could throw out the electoral results and keep Trump in office. On January 4, Hawley was asked by Fox News: 'Are you trying to say that as of January 20th that President Trump will be president?' He responded to anchor Bret Baier: 'Well, Bret that depends on what happens on Wednesday. I mean this is why we have the debate. This is why we have the votes.' Hawley repeatedly declined to say Congress wouldn't be able to change the results of Biden's win. On Thursday, CNN pressed Hawley on the discrepancy between his claim that he never attempted to overturn the election and his 4 January comments that Trump could still be President depending 'on what happens' on 6 January and his refusal then to rule out Congress could change the outcome. Hawley contended he's been consistent on the point that 6 January was the final day of the electoral process, arguing his sole intention behind objecting was aimed at sparking debate over Pennsylvania's voting system."
Writing for CNN, Michael Warren offers the following analysis of Trump's efforts to oust House Republican conference chairwoman Liz Cheney, who was the highest ranking member in her chamber that voted to impeach him. From the story:
"Former President Donald Trump is focusing his political energy on targeting Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-ranking House Republican, who voted for Trump’s impeachment earlier this month. According to one source, Trump has repeatedly questioned his Republican allies about efforts to remove Cheney from her leadership position and run a primary candidate against her. He has also been showing those allies a poll commissioned by his Save America PAC that purports to show that Cheney's impeachment vote has damaged her standing in Wyoming, even urging them to talk about the poll on television. Trump's push comes as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is working to shore up his relationship with the ex-president, including meeting with Trump at his Palm Beach resort Mar-a-Lago on Thursday. McCarthy and Trump discussed the midterm elections in 2022, according to a readout provided by Save America. The statement claimed Trump 'has agreed to work with Leader McCarthy' on retaking the majority in the House for the GOP. McCarthy confirmed Thursday that Trump 'committed to helping elect Republicans in the House and Senate in 2022.' But it's clear Trump does not want Cheney to be a part of that House majority. Cheney, the chair of the House Republican Conference, was one of 10 Republicans to vote for Trump's impeachment on January 13. Trump's allies within the GOP conference are helping to punish Cheney. Some in the pro-Trump Freedom Caucus are circulating a petition designed to oust Cheney from her leadership position. One Freedom Caucus member, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, was in Wyoming Thursday to rally against Cheney. Gaetz told the hundreds of rallygoers that he had spoken to Trump 'yesterday,' and he publicly shared some of Trump's material."
During a press briefing, Dr Anthony Fauci stated the following:
"The fundamental principle of getting people vaccinated as quickly and as efficiently as you possibly can is because it's the best way to prevent the further evolution of any mutation, like concerning new Covid variants that are emerging in places with spread."
According to the Washington Post, the pipe bombs found near the Capitol on January 6th, were planted the night before. From the story:
"The two pipe bombs that were discovered on Jan. 6 near the U.S. Capitol shortly before a mob stormed the building are believed to have been planted the night before, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation and video footage obtained by The Washington Post. The explosive devices, which were placed blocks from one another at the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national committees, have been largely overshadowed by the violent insurrection at the Capitol. But finding the person suspected of planting both bombs remains a priority for federal authorities, who last week boosted the reward for tips leading to the person’s arrest from $50,000 to $75,000. The FBI said its agents are 'using every tool in our toolbox' and have interviewed more than 1,000 residents and business owners in the neighborhood where the devices were found. On Friday morning, the FBI released additional information that confirmed The Post's reporting about the timing of the placement of the bombs and raised the reward offered to $100,000."
Cori Bush, a Democratic congresswoman from Missouri, sent the following in a tweet:
"A maskless Marjorie Taylor Greene & her staff berated me in a hallway. She targeted me & others on social media. I'm moving my office away from hers for my team's safety. I've called for the expulsion of members who incited the insurrection from Day 1. Bring H.Res 25 to a vote."
A New York judge has ordered disgraced former President Trump's tax firm to turn over documents to the New York Attorney General.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Marjorie Taylor Greene, the QAnon supporting Republican Congresswoman, posted a conspiracy theory on facebook which claimed that Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) started the 2018 "Camp Fire" with space lasers during a clean-energy experiment that went bad. Greene has since deleted the post.
The Republican Jewish Coalition has released the following statement regarding Marjorie Taylor Greene:
"The Republican Jewish Coalition has always spoken out strongly against antisemitic comments from individuals on both sides of the political aisle, and we do not hesitate to do so again in the case of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The RJC does not usually get involved in primary races between Republicans, but in 2020 we did so twice. First, we took the unprecedented step of supporting the challenger to a Republican incumbent when we supported Randy Feenstra over Rep. Steve King in Iowa. We were pleased that Feenstra won that race and removed King from the US Congress. The second time, we supported Greene's primary opponent, John Cowan, in Georgia. We did so because we found Greene's past behavior deeply offensive. She repeatedly used offensive language in long online video diatribes, promoted bizarre political conspiracy theories, and refused to admit a mistake after posing for photos with a long-time white supremacist leader. It is unfortunate that she prevailed in her election despite this terrible record. The RJC has never supported or endorsed Marjorie Taylor Greene. We are offended and appalled by her comments and her actions. We opposed her as a candidate and we continue to oppose her now. She is far outside the mainstream of the Republican Party, and the RJC is working closely with the House Republican leadership regarding next steps in this matter."
The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations released the following statement regarding Marjorie Taylor Greene:
"Congressional leaders must hold their members accountable for their words and deeds. It is unacceptable for Members of Congress to spread baseless hate against the Jewish people. We are outraged by the statements, past and present, of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. She routinely traffics in unfounded conspiracy theories that are often antisemitic in nature. As an avid supporter of QAnon, Representative Greene espouses antisemitic canards, such as placing blame on 'the Rothschilds' for recent wildfires in California and declaring that 'Zionist supremacists' are behind supposed nefarious plots. There must be a swift and commensurate response from Congressional leadership making clear that this conduct cannot and will not be allowed to debase our politics."
January 28, 2021 - More than 428,000 Americans have died from coronavirus.
Writing for the Washington Post, Rachel Siegel and Andrew Van Dam offer the following commentary on the Trump economy:
"The economy shrank by 3.5 percent last year as the novel coronavirus upended American business and households, making 2020 the worst year for economic growth since 1946. It is the first time the economy has contracted for the year since 2009, when Gross Domestic Product shrank by 2.5 percent during the depths of the Great Recession. This is the last GDP report from former president Donald Trump's tenure. Until the pandemic, Trump was on track for an economic record that put him near the middle of the pack among recent presidents. But the covid-19 crisis has ensured that he is likely to have overseen the slowest economic growth of any president in the period since the Second World War."
Survivors of the 2018 mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, are asking congressional Republicans to publicly censure Marjorie Taylor Greene, after she claimed the school shooting was a "false flag", and for harassing David Hogg, one of the teenage survivors.
Earlier this week, House Republicans appointed Marjorie Taylor Greene to the House Education and Labor Committee. Some notable responses to this appointment:
"Assigning her to the education committee when she has mocked the killing of little children at Sandy Hook, when she mocked the killing of teenagers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas - what could they be thinking?" - Nancy Pelosi, Democratic House Speaker
"House Republican ledership is responsible for appointing Republican members to the Education and Labor Committee who can make a positive contribution to our work. These appointments are supposed to reflect their commitment to serving students, parents, and educators. House Republicans have appointed someone to this committee who claimed that the killing of 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a hoax. House Republicans have appointed someone to this committee who claimed that the killing of 14 students and three teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was staged. House Republicans have appointed somoeone to this committee who chased and berated a 17-year-old survivor of a mass school shooting, and then celebrated this behavior by posting it on social media." - Bobby Scott, Democratic House Education and Labor Committee Chair
Chris Stirewalt, a former Fox News politics editor, who came under fire for calling Arizona for Joe Biden on election night, and was later "fired", defended his role in the drama saying: "I was proud of our being first to project that Joe Biden would win Arizona, and very happy to defend that call in the face of a public backlash egged on by former President Trump. Being right and beating the competition is no act of heroism; it's just meeting the job description of the work I love. The rebellion on the populist right against the results of the 2020 election was partly a cynical, knowing effort by political operators and their hype men in the media to steal an election or at least get rich trying. But it was also the tragic consequence of the informational malnourishment so badly afflicting the nation. When I defended the call for Biden in the Arizona election, I became a target of murderous rage from consumers who were furious at not having their views confirmed."
Joe Biden signed an executive order that ends the Mexico City policy, also known as the "global gag rule". The policy bans foreign non-government groups that receive US funding from providing abortions or from providing information about abortions. This policy gets put into place whenever a Republican administration comes into office, and gets rescinded when a Democratic administration takes office. Notable reaction to Biden's executive order:
"we see the harmful impacts these types of policies have on limiting women's access to essential health care. In 2019, MSF treated more than 25,800 women and girls with abortion-related complications, many of which resulted from unsafe attempts to end a pregnancy. We've seen women who have used pens, broken glass, or sticks to try to induce an abortion. We've seen women who drank chlorine or poisons. We have treated women who received medicines from private pharmacies but weren't given the correct pills, or the right information or appropriate support they needed. These are examples of what women will turn to when they don't have access to safe abortion care." - Dr Manisha Kumar, the head of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) task force on safe abortion care
After Senator Ted Cruz agreed with a tweet by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez about regulations, Ocasio-Cortez then responded to Cruz tweeting: "I am happy to work with Republicans on this issue where there's common ground, but you almost had me murdered 3 weeks ago so you can sit this one out. Happy to work w/ almost any other GOP that aren't trying to get me killed. In the meantime if you want to help, you can resign."
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following analysis of Republican plans to restrict voting access:
"After an election filled with misinformation and lies about fraud, Republicans have doubled down with a surge of bills to further restrict voting access in recent months, according to a new analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice. There are currently 106 pending bills across 28 states that would restrict access to voting, according to the data. That's a sharp increase from nearly a year ago, when there were 35 restrictive bills pending across 15 states. Among the Brennan Center's findings: More than a third of the bills would place new restrictions on voting by mail. Pennsylvania has 14 pending proposals for new voter restrictions, the most in the country. It's followed by New Hampshire (11), Missouri (9), and Mississippi, New Jersey and Texas (8). There are seven bills across four states that would limit opportunities for election day registration. There are also 406 bills that would expand voting access pending across 35 states, including in New York (56), Texas (53), New Jersey (37), Mississippi (39) and Missouri (21). The restrictions come on the heels of an election in which there was record turnout and Democrat and Republican election officials alike said there was no evidence of widespread wrongdoing or fraud. There were recounts, audits and lawsuits across many states to back up those assurances. Federal and state officials called the election 'the most secure in American history'."
According to the AP, Donald Trump is living at his Mar-a-Lago resort, in violation of an agreement. From the story:
"Donald Trump has been living at his Mar-a-Lago club since leaving office more than a week ago — a possible violation of a 1993 agreement he made with the Town of Palm Beach that limits stays to seven consecutive days. Town Manager Kirk Blouin said in an email Thursday that Palm Beach is examining its options and the matter might be discussed at the town council's February meeting. The South Florida town last month received a letter from an attorney representing a Mar-a-Lago neighbor demanding it enforce the agreement's residency clause — something it rarely if ever did when Trump was president or before. The unnamed neighbor believes Trump's residency would decrease property values, according to Reginald Stambaugh's letter. Stambaugh did not return a call or email Thursday asking whether he has received a response."
January 27, 2021 - More than 425,000 Americans have died from coronavirus.
Writing for the Guardian, Andrew Gawthorpe offers the following commentary on what Democrats must do going forward:
"The case for the Democratic Party to commit itself to a radical pro-democracy agenda is simple. The last four years have shown the horrors of minority rule. Political institutions like the Electoral College, the Senate and gerrymandered House districts reward Republicans for appealing to a narrow minority of the population. They take this easily-won power and use it not for the good of the country as a whole but to push through extremist policies and fight culture wars. When they abuse their power, as Donald Trump did, little can be done to stop them. As inheritors of this situation, it is the duty of Democrats to do what they can to alter it. This is no time for incrementalism. Only a radical program aimed at strengthening American democracy and preventing the return of rightwing minority rule in the future will rise to the moment. The specifics of such a program have already been spelled out. Many of them are contained in the For The People Act, a bill passed by the Democratic House in 2019. This bill would create apolitical committees to draw House district boundaries, create a national voter registration program, remove barriers to voting enacted by states, enforce transparency in campaign finance, and much more besides. It died in the Senate when Mitch McConnell declined to bring it up for a vote – but the Senate is now under new management. Democrats should not stop there. Though important, these reforms would not alone save America from minority rule. There is a need to be bolder still – firstly, by admitting new states to the union, and secondly, by abolishing the Senate filibuster."
According to Reuters, the Department of Homeland Security issued a warning to Americans that the nation could see increased threats from domestic terrorists in the coming weeks. From the story:
"The US could face a heightened threat of domestic extremist violence for weeks from people angry at Donald Trump's election defeat and inspired by the deadly storming of the US Capitol, the Department of Homeland Security warned on Wednesday. The advisory, which said there was no specific and credible threat at this time, comes as Washington remains on high alert after hundreds of Trump supporters charged into the Capitol on 6 January, as Congress was formally certifying President Joe Biden's election victory. Five died in the violence. 'Information suggests that some ideologically motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence,' the department said in a national terrorism advisory. Biden's inauguration last week occurred under heavy security, with more than 20,000 National Guard troops on duty. Officials have said about 5,000 troops will remain in Washington for the next few weeks, when Trump will face his second impeachment trial in the Senate on a charge of inciting insurrection. Trump spent two months peddling the false narrative that his defeat in November's presidential election was the result of widespread voter fraud. He urged a crowd of thousands of his followers to 'fight' in a fiery speech before the 6 January violence. The DHS advisory said domestic violent extremists were motivated by issues including anger over COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 election results, and police use of force. It also cited 'long-standing racial and ethnic tension – including opposition to immigration' as drivers of domestic violence attacks. White supremacist groups have posed 'the most persistent and lethal threat' of violent extremism in the United States in recent years, Trump's acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told a congressional hearing in September. DHS warned that the attack on the Capitol could inspire domestic extremists to attack other elected officials or government buildings. DHS typically issues only one or two advisory bulletins in a year. The bulletins have mostly warned of threats from foreign terrorist groups. The last one, issued by the Trump administration in January 2020, declared Iran a state sponsor of terrorism and designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization. Biden last week directed his administration to conduct a full assessment of the risk of domestic terrorism. The assessment will be carried out by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in coordination with the FBI and DHS, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters. 'The January 6th assault on the Capitol and the tragic deaths and destruction that occurred underscored what we have long known: the rise of domestic violent extremism is a serious and growing national security threat. The Biden administration will confront this threat with the necessary resources and resolve, Psaki said."
Footage surfaced of Marjorie Taylor Greene, the QAnon supporting Republican representative from Georgia, harassing David Hogg, a Parkland shooting survivor who campaigns for gun control reform. The footage was posted to Greene's YouTube channel in January of 2020, and shows Greene following Hogg near the US Capitol building while shouting questions like: "Why are you supporting Red Flag laws that attack our second amendment rights?", "Why are you using kids as a barrier?", "Do you not know how to defend your stance?" Hogg did not take the bait.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists released a statement that the election of Joe Biden could be a step towards a "safer and saner world" but the planet remains dangerously close to nuclear and climate change catastrophe. The group also announced that the hands of its "Doomsday Clock" remain at "100 seconds to midnight". The group added that "The election of a US president who acknowledges climate change as a profound threat and supports international cooperation and science-based policy puts the world on a better footing to address global problems."
A bipartisan majority of the Virginia state Senate voted to censure Senator Amanda Chase, who praised the Capitol riot crowd as "patriots."
More details are emerging regarding injuries to Capitol police officers during the Capitol insurrection. One officer was stabbed. One officer lost an eye. One officer suffered two cracked ribs and two smashed spinal disks, and some suffered brain injuries because they did not have helmets available to them. Two officers have committed suicide.
Josh Hawley, a Senator from Missouri, was interviewed by KMOX News Radio in St Louis. During the interview, KMOX host Mark Rerdon stated: "You're just gonna have to answer the question. There seems to be a disagreement. So there are some people that feel like you lead them down the path that would lead some Trump supporters to ... interpret some of the things you were doing as the feeling that he was still going to be sworn into office." Hawley responded: "That's just a lie. That is a lie told by the leftwing mob that now wants to silence me and Ted Cruz and 140 House members and 13 senators and anybody who would dare stand up to them. Anyone who is a Trump supporter who refuses to bow the knee. And I'm just not gonna be silenced. It is a lie that I was trying to overturn an election ... It is a lie that I incited violence."
Notable response to Hawley's repeated claims that he is being silenced and/or muzzled:
"For somebody who claims he's been consistently muzzled, Hawley is somehow in my face in major media outlets all the time. I would think muzzling would mean I wouldn't have to listen to this treason weasel anymore, but apparently not." - Elizabeth Spiers
January 26, 2021 - Mike Lindell, the founder and CEO of My Pillow, has been permanently suspended from Twitter for repeated violations of the company's policies against promoting election misinformation.
According to Reuters, Google announced that it will no longer make contributions from its political action committee this cycle to any Congress member who voted against certifying the results of the presidential election.
According to the Guardian, approximately 150 people have now been charged in connection with the 6 January Capitol riot.
An argument against impeaching Donald Trump is beginning to make the rounds among Republicans. The argument, which was first made by Jonathan Turley, the lone expert brought in by Republicans in Trump's first impeachment trial, goes something like this: impeaching a president is at odds with the language of the constitution since Trump is no longer in office. This argument has been countered by a bipartisan coalition of constitutional experts that includes members of the conservative Federalist Society legal group. The bipartisan group published an open letter that states: "our carefully considered views of the law lead all of us to agree that the Constitution permits the impeachment, conviction, and disqualification of former officers, including presidents." Also countering Turley's argument is Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, who argues: "It makes no sense whatsoever that a president—or any official—could commit a heinous crime against our country and then defeat Congress’ impeachment powers by simply resigning, so as to avoid accountability and a vote to disqualify them from future office."
Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, responded to talk that Democrats may move to eliminate the flibuster saying:
"When I could have tried to grab this power, I turned it down. I am grateful that's been reciprocated by at least a pair of our colleagues across the aisle. I'm glad we've stepped back from this cliff. Taking that plunge would not be some progressive dream. It would be a nightmare. I guarantee it."
According to the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Kayleigh McEnany, the former White House press secretary, has joined Fox News as a contributor.
A Fox News spokesperson denied that McEnany is employed by Fox saying:
"We do not discuss the details behind contracts with any personnel, but we are open to hiring her in the future given we do not condone cancel culture."
Yogananda Pittman, the acting chief of the US Capitol Police, offered lawmakers the following apology:
"On January 6th, in the face of a terrorist attack by tens of thousands of insurrectionists determined to stop the certification of Electoral College votes, the Department failed to meet its own high standards as well as yours. Although the Department fulfilled its mission of protecting Members and democracy ultimately prevailed, the insurrectionists' actions and the Department's inability to immediately secure the US Capitol emboldened the insurrectionists and horrified millions of Americans. We fully expect to answer to you and the American people for our failings on January 6th ... I am here to offer my sincerest apologies on behalf of the Department."
According to the AP, the justice department has rescinded a Trump administration memo establishing a "zero tolerance" policy for migrants at the US-Mexico border. From the story:
"Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson issued the new memo to federal prosecutors across the nation, saying the department would return to its longstanding previous policy and instructing prosecutors to act on the merits of individual cases. 'Consistent with this longstanding principle of making individualized assessments in criminal cases, I am rescinding – effective immediately – the policy directive,' Wilkinson wrote. Wilkinson said the department's principles have 'long emphasized that decisions about bringing criminal charges should involve not only a determination that a federal offense has been committed and that the admissible evidence will probably be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction, but should also take into account other individualized factors, including personal circumstances and criminal history, the seriousness of the offense, and the probable sentence or other consequences that would result from a conviction.' The 'zero tolerance' policy meant that any adult caught crossing the border illegally would be prosecuted for illegal entry. Because children cannot be jailed with their family members, families were separated and children were taken into custody by Health and Human Services, which manages unaccompanied children at the border."
According to CNN, Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican representative from Georgia, and QAnon supporter, liked posts on facebook indicating support for executing Democratic politicians. From the story:
"Greene, a backer of QAnon, liked posts including one that said 'a bullet to the head would be quicker' to remove House speaker Nancy Pelosi, CNN reports. In response to a Facebook commenter on her page asking, 'Now do we get to hang them ?? Meaning H & O ???' referring to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, she responded: 'Stage is being set. Players are being put in place. We must be patient. This must be done perfectly or liberal judges would let them off.' Greene said she had a team managing her Facebook page. 'Many posts have been liked. Many posts have been shared,' she said in a statement, accusing CNN of being out to get her because she is a 'conservative Republican'. Screenshots posted by Media Matters for America last week showed that Greene also agreed with Facebook comments falsely claiming that the school shooting in Parkland, Florida was staged. She was suspended from Twitter for spreading election misinformation."
According to YouTube, Donald Trump's ban from the platform will be indefinite. From their statement:
"In light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, the Donald J Trump channel will remain suspended. Our teams are staying vigilant and closely monitoring for any new developments."
The members of the US Senate were sworn in as jurors for Donald Trump's second impeachment trial. Following the proceedings, Senator Rand Paul challenged the legitimacy of the trial and called for a vote. Forty five Republican Senators voted with Paul.
January 25, 2021 - Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the former press secretary under Donald Trump, has launched a bid to become the next governor of Arkansas. From her announcement:
"With the radical left now in control of Washington, your governor is your last line of defense. In fact, your governor must be on the front line. So today I announce my candidacy for governor of Arkansas."
Dominion Voting Systems filed a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani for having "manufactured and disseminated" a conspiracy theory related to their voting machines. According to Thomas A. Claire, a lawyer representing Dominion:
"From a defamation law perspective, it just demonstrates the depth to which these statements sink in to people. That people don't just read them and tune them out. It goes to the core of their belief system, which puts them in a position to take action in the real world."
Spike Lee, a film director, spoke of Trump while accepting an award for the short film New York, New York. From the speech:
"the whole world is laughing at the United States ... We are living in a very serious time in America. This president, President Agent Orange, will go down in history with the likes of Hitler ... all his boys, they are going down on the wrong side of history."
According to Reuters, Joe Biden issued an executive order to reverse a Trump policy that largely bars transgender individuals from joining the military. NOTE: In 2019 all four military chiefs testified before Congress that there were no known negative effects during the three years that followed Barack Obama's order to allow trans people to serve.
Joe Biden sent the following tweet:
"Today, I repealed the discriminatory ban on transgender people serving in the military. It's simple: America is safer when everyone qualified to serve can do so openly and with pride."
According to the New York Times, the US Department of Justice's internal watchdog, Inspector General Michael Horowitz, is launching an investigation into whether any department officials engaged in an improper attempt to alter the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. According to the alegations, Trump plotted with Jeffrey Clark, a former assistant attorney general, to fire the acting attorney general, then force Georgia Republicans to overturn his defeat in that state by falsely suggesting there had been widespread voter fraud. The plan collapsed after senior justice department leaders pledged to resign in protest.
Notable reaction to the Times story:
"Unconscionable a Trump Justice Department leader would conspire to subvert the people's will." - Chuck Schumer. Democratic Senate Majority Leader
According to the Guardian, Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy will preside over Donald Trump's second impeachment trial as president pro tempore when the trial begins next month. NOTE: Senators preside over impeachment when the person facing trial isn't the current president of the United States.
The Supreme Court dismissed lawsuits that accused Trump of violating the Constitution's emoluments provisions, saying they are now moot since Trump has left office. NOTE: Lower court rulings that went against Trump ruled on the meaning of emoluments for the first time in American history.
Notable reaction to the Supreme Court ruling:
"That's insane. They're not moot. He still has the money. When any other federal employee violates the emoluments clause they have to forfeit the money." - Walter Schaub, Former Top US Government Ethics Watchdog, Who Resigned Early in the Trump Administration
During a news conference, Jen Psaki, the new White House press secretary, stated that the Biden administration is "taking steps to resume efforts" to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. NOTE: The Obama administration had begun efforts to replace Andrew Jackson, a slave owner, with the escaped slave, in 2016. The Trump administration squashed the plan.
The US House impeachment managers marched the articles of impeachmnet against Donald Trump to the Senate. Jamie Raskin read the article to the Senate, which is as follows:
"ARTICLE 1: INCITEMENT OF INSURRECTION
The Constitution provides that the House of Representatives 'shall have the sole Power of Impeachment' and that the President 'shall be removed from Office on Impeachment, for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.' Further, section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution prohibits any person who has 'engaged in insurrection or rebellion against' the United States from 'hold[ing] and office ... under the United States.' In his conduct while President of the United States — and in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, provide, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed — Donald John Trump engaged in high Crimes and Misdemeanors by inciting violence against the Government of the United States, in that: On January 6, 2021, pursuant to the 12th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, the House of Representatives, and the Senate met at the United States Capitol for a Joint Session of Congress to count the votes of the Electoral College. In the months preceding the Joint Session, President Trump repeatedly issued false statements asserting that the Presidential election results were the product of widespread fraud and should not be accepted by the American people or certified by State or Federal officials. Shortly before the Joint Session commenced, President Trump, addressed a crowd at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. There, he reiterated false claims that 'we won this election, and we won it by a landslide.' He also willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — lawless action at the Capitol, such as: 'if you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a country anymore.' Thus incited by President Trump, members of the crowd he had addressed, in an attempt to, among other objectives, interfere with the Joint Session’s solemn constitutional duty to certify the results of the 2020 Presidential election, unlawfully breached and vandalized the Capitol, injured and killed law enforcement personnel, menaced Members of Congress, the Vice President, and Congressional personnel, and engaged in other violent, deadly, destructive and seditious acts. President Trump's conduct on January 6, 2021, followed his prior efforts to subvert and obstruct the certification of the results of the 2020 Presidential election. Those prior efforts included a phone call on January 2, 2021, during which President Trump urged the secretary of state of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, to 'find' enough votes to overturn the Georgia Presidential election results and threatened Secretary Raffensperger if he failed to do so. In all this, President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government. He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore, Donald John Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law. Donald John Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States."
January 22, 2021 - According to the CDC, more than 410,000 Americans have died from coronavirus.
News surfaced that Donald Trump hired South Carolina based lawyer Butch Bowers to defend him at the Senate impeachment trial.
More than 40 lawyers signed on to a letter calling for an investigation into Rudy Giuliani over his actions to overturn the 2020 election. The letter was sent by Lawyers Defending American Democracy to the attorney gievance committee for the New York supreme court. According to the letter: "This complaint is about law, not politics."
According to the CDC, at least 17.5m vaccine shots have been administered in the US.
According to Time magazine, roughly 40 million people watched live coverage of Joe Biden's inauguration, which is a 4% increase on the 38.3m that watched Trump's swearing-in four years ago.
Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar was interviewed about her experience during the insurrection. Some notable comments taken from the interview:
"It was a very traumatizing experience, and all of us will be traumatized by it for a really long time ... The face of the Capitol will forever be changed. They didn't succeed in stopping the functions of democracy, but I do believe they succeeded in ending the openness of our democracy ... Leaders from both sides seemed to be terrorised by what was taking place. I don't think any of them ever expected to be witnessing an insurrection against our government. And I think that watching the response from the president was completely unsettling for them as well ... I think the fear of what we were dealing with grew and you could see that in the faces of all of them ... There's a set of expectations in functioning as a part of a long-existing democracy, and to have allowed a president to degrade our traditions and norms, make a mockery of our laws, our constitution and oaths of office. And then to still deal with people who are 'two-siding' every conversation, who don't have an ability to understand the gravity of what we are dealing with ... is pretty exhausting."
Speaking to CNN, Dr Anthony Fauci stated that a lack of candor and facts from Trump and other officials from his administration "likely did" cost lives last last year.
According to CNN, the odds that Trump will be convicted in a Senate trial are extremely small. From the story:
"After Democratic leaders announced they would kick off the process to begin the impeachment trial on Monday, Republicans grew sharply critical about the proceedings -- and made clear that they saw virtually no chance that at least 17 Republicans would join with 50 Democrats to convict Trump and also bar him from ever running from office again. In interviews with more than a dozen GOP senators, the consensus was clear: Most Republicans are likely to acquit Trump, and only a handful are truly at risk of flipping to convict the former President -- unless more evidence emerges or the political dynamics within their party dramatically change. Yet Republicans are also signaling that as more time has passed since the riot, some of the emotions of the day have cooled and they're ready to move on. 'The chances of getting a conviction are virtually nil,' said Sen. Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican."
January 21, 2021 - Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican, and an apologist for Donald Trump, sent the following in a tweet:
"By rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, President Biden indicates he's more interested in the views of the citizens of Paris than in the jobs of the citizens of Pittsburgh. This agreement will do little to affect the climate and will harm the livelihoods of Americans."
One particularly notable reaction to Cruz's tweet:
"Nice tweet Sen. Cruz! Quick question: do you also believe the Geneva Convention was about the views of the citizens of Geneva? Asking for everyone who believes US Senators should be competent and not undermine our elections to incite insurrection against the United States" - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
According to the AP, Joseph Biggs, a self-described organizer of the Proud Boys, was arrested on charges he took part in the siege of the US Capitol. According to the story, Biggs told followers of his on Parler, prior to the sege, to dress in black to resemble antifa.
Writing for the Guardian, Richard Wolffe offers the following commentary on Trump's departure:
"On a cold January morning in the nation’s capital, a beleaguered world said good riddance to the raging fire of Trump's presidency. It ended in a spasm of garbled thoughts, lies and language that represent the core character of the loser of last year's election. Trump was always a caricature of the 1980s, trapped in an amber world where greed is still good, conspicuous consumption is always plated in gold, and the mix tape only plays totally inappropriate hits like YMCA. And so it came to pass that the colossal buffoon who pretended to be president for four years spoke to a miserably small crowd of blood relatives and paid help on the concrete at Joint Base Andrews. The TV pundits bravely suggested the scene resembled some campaign-like event, which would be true if the campaign was a jumble sale to repair a leaking roof. Trump shuffled off the presidential stage, showing off his rather large personal collection of lies, big and small. He pretended that his family had toiled in the White House rather than serve itself and watch TV ('People have no idea how hard this family worked'). He pretended that he respected his wife Melania, and that she was not in fact the least popular first lady on record. He fabricated once again his record of war veterans support. And he flat-out invented a performance on job creation that was the very worst since Herbert Hoover. 'The job numbers have been absolutely incredible,' he declared, in ways that are indeed barely credible. He talked about a stock market that rose like 'a rocket ship up' and he talked, confusingly, about vaccine numbers that would 'really skyrocket downward'. A rocket ship that launched and crashed to earth may be the most honest, if least intended, self-description of the Trump era. Perhaps this was finally the day when Trump sounded like the president he was, just a few minutes before he was no longer president he wanted to be."
According to CNN, when it comes to a vaccine distribution plan, the cupboards are bare:
"Newly sworn in President Joe Biden and his advisers are inheriting no coronavirus vaccine distribution plan to speak of from the Trump administration, sources tell CNN, posing a significant challenge for the new White House. In the immediate hours following Biden being sworn into office on Wednesday, sources with direct knowledge of the new administration's Covid-related work told CNN one of the biggest shocks that the Biden team had to digest during the transition period was what they saw as a complete lack of a vaccine distribution strategy under former president Donald Trump, even weeks after multiple vaccines were approved for use in the United States. 'There is nothing for us to rework. We are going to have to build everything from scratch,' one source said. Another source described the moment that it became clear the Biden administration would have to essentially start from 'square one' because there simply was no plan as: 'Wow, just further affirmation of complete incompetence.'"
Writing for the Guardian, Andrew Solomon offers the following commentary on how Trump changed America:
"It's easy and dull to catalogue the president's particular lies and transgressions. What is both harder and more important is to assess a cumulative effect that he has lacked the perspicacity to discern himself. In seeking to undermine stories in the mainstream media case by case, he convinced many Americans that truth itself was conditional. Americans have always been divided about troubling events, but until Trump, there was at least broad agreement about what those events were. Arguing with Trump's supporters, one is presented with narratives that bear as much relationship to what happened as creationism does to the theory of evolution. I never bought into Ronald Reagan's 'shining city on a hill' idea of the US; even at its finest, America remained a deeply flawed, prejudiced, unequal society built on the blood of Native Americans and slaves. But flawed, too, were all the others, and the United States offered a message of hope to beleaguered places where the oppression was worse. We had defeated fascism and stood up to communism, Maoist or Stalinist. We sent aid to countries aligned with our commercial and strategic interests, but at least the glowing tinge of generosity sweetened our cultural imperialism. We entangled ourselves in fruitless wars for misbegotten reasons, but also stood by our allies in tough times. Wealth was unevenly distributed, but we emblematised, for a short while, unprecedented social mobility. We also briefly stood at the acme of invention: technical, medical, artistic, even social. How we were was badly lacking, but it seemed good enough to rationalise our talk about moral leadership. Over the past year, research took me deep into the American hinterlands. In Trump country, I found that ordinary ethics – decency, honesty, generosity, love for one's fellow human beings, tolerance – were not merely undervalued but effectively desecrated by people who thought such ideals corroded strength and that strength was what mattered. I patiently laid out the argument that abandoning basic standards in fact weakened the country, but I might as well have told the bully who tortured me when I was eight years old that I knew a philosophy within which his assertions of dominance constituted evidence of narcissistic inadequacy. That bully would have punched me in the mouth before I finished my sentence, and so, metaphorically, did the Trumpists."
Speaking at a press conference, Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, stated regarding Trump's role in the insurrection: "I don't believe he provoked if you listened to what he said at the rally."
Dr Anthony Fauci spoke during a news conference, here are some highlights:
- Fauci addressed his tenure under Trump saying "It was very clear that there were things that were said, be it regarding things like hydroxychloroquine and other things like that, that really was uncomfortable because they were not based in scientific fact."
- Fauci also stated: "I take no pleasure at all being in a situation of contradicting the president, so it was really something that you didn't feel that you could actually say something and there wouldn't be any repercussions about it. The idea that you can get up here and talk about what you know, what the science is and know that's it, let the science speak – it is something of a liberating feeling."
Marjorie Taylor Greene, the QAnon embracing Georgia Representative, introduced House Resolution 57 which calls for "Impeaching Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States, for abuse of power by enabling bribery and other high crimes and misdemeanors." NOTE: The alleged crimes relate to conspiracy theories surrounding Joe Biden's son Hunter's work for Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, while Biden was vice president.
January 20, 2021 - Donald Trump issued pardons for 143 people. Here are some of the most notable names on the list:
- Steve Bannon. Bannon was charged last year with swindling Trump supporters over an effort to raise private funds to build Trump's border wall with Mexico.
- Sholam Weiss. Weiss fled the United States and was sentenced in absentia in 2000 for bilking $125m from National Heritage Life Insurance and its elderly policyholders.
- Kwame Kilpatrick. Kilpatrick, the former mayor of Detroit, was convicted of racketeering, bribery and extortion.
Writing for CNN, Kevin Liptak offers the following commentary on the end of Trump's presidency:
"The all-consuming, camera-hungry, truth-starved era that fixated the nation and exposed its darkest recesses officially concludes at noon Wednesday. The president, addled and mostly friendless, will end his time in the capital a few hours early to spare himself the humiliation of watching his successor be sworn in. He departs a city under militarized fortification meant to prevent a repeat of the riot he incited earlier this month. He leaves office with more than 400,000 Americans dead from a virus he chose to downplay or ignore. Even many of Trump's onetime supporters are sighing with relief that the White House, and the psychology of its occupant, may no longer rest at the center of the national conversation. At least some of the 74 million Americans who voted for Trump in November are sad to see him go. Scores of them attempted an insurrection at the US Capitol this month to prevent it from happening at all. The less violent view him as a transformative president whose arrival heralded an end to political correctness and whose exit marks a return to special treatment for immigrants, gays and minorities. One thing Trump's presidency undoubtedly accomplished: revealing in stark fashion the racist, hate-filled, violent undercurrents of American society that many had chosen previously to ignore. It became impossible to overlook as Trump's presidency concluded with violent riots of White nationalists and neo-Nazis at the Capitol."
According to CNN, The Biden administration has announced that it will dismantle Trump's 1776 commission. From the story:
"Joe Biden will issue an executive order to dissolve the 1776 commission, a panel stood up by President Donald Trump as a rebuttal to schools applying a more accurate history curriculum around slavery in the US. The commission had been formed as an apparent counter to The New York Times' 1619 Project, a Pulitzer Prize-winning project aimed at teaching American students about slavery that Trump, speaking last fall, had called 'toxic propaganda.' The announcement comes just two days after the commission issued an inflammatory report on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and just hours before Biden will take over from Trump, whose time in office was marked by racist statements and actions. In its report released Monday, the commission asserted that 'the Civil Rights Movement was almost immediately turned to programs that ran counter to the lofty ideals of the founders,' specifically criticizing affirmative action policies and arguing that identity politics are 'the opposite of King's hope that his children would 'live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.'' Larry Arnn, the president of Hillsdale College, who had drawn criticism for his comments in 2013, when he said state officials had visited the college to see whether enough 'dark ones' were enrolled, was chosen to chair the commission. Carol Swain, who once wrote that Islam 'poses an absolute danger to us and our children,' was chosen as vice chair."
Donald Trump, the disgraced, twice impeached, one term president, departed the White House grounds via Marine One on his way to Andrews Air Force base for a send off ceremony. This marks the first time in more than 150 years that a sitting president failed to fulfill his obligation to pass the torch and show respect for an incoming administration by attending their inauguration ceremony.
Notable highlight from Trump's send-off ceremony:
- Trump listed his achievements, which included creating the Space Force, tax cuts, and also the claim that he built the greatest economy the US has ever seen. NOTE: This claim has been debunked repeatedly throughout Trump's term.
Paul Ryan, the former Republican speaker of the House, responded to reporters as he arrived for Joe Biden's inauguration by saying:
"Our institutions were tested this year, and our institutions passed the test. I'm here out of respect for the peaceful transfer of power and for the institutions. Joe Biden is the legitimately elected president of the United States, and I'm here to honor this process."
Mike Pence skipped Donald Trump's farewell event at Joint Base Andrews to attend Joe Biden's inauguration.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn in today as president and vice president. During his inaugural address, Biden stated: "This is America's day. This is democracy's day. ... We've learned again that democracy is precious. And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed. ... This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward"
News surfaced that in his last hour as president, Trump pardoned Albert Pirro Jr., the ex-husband of Fox News host Jeanine Pirro. Pirro was convicted of conspiracy and tax evasion.
Writing for the Guardian, Lauren Aratani offers the following commentary about the disilusionment in the ranks of QAnon adherents:
"Disillusionment has come upon some believers of QAnon, the baseless conspiracy theory that a cabal of Satan-worshipping Democrats, celebrities and billionaires run the world while overseeing a pedophilic human trafficking scheme, as Joe Biden officially become president of the United States Wednesday afternoon. QAnon supporters believed that Wednesday's inauguration ceremonies would bring a type of doomsday that would ultimately end with top Democrats being arrested and Donald Trump starting a second term. But things went peacefully. No Democrats were arrested. Trump, now a former president, is in Palm Beach. Screenshots of confused and disappointed QAnon supporters on online forums were shared on Twitter. One QAnon believer posted a comment titled 'Anyone else feeling beyond let down now?' with a description that said: 'It's like being a kid and seeing the big gift under the tree thinking it is exactly what you want only to open it and realize it was a lump of coal the whole time.' Others said they felt sick and 'sad and confused' as inauguration continued smoothly."
Writing for the Guardian, Bernie Sanders offers the following commentary on what Democrats need to do next:
"A record-breaking 4,000 Americans are now dying each day from Covid-19, while the federal government fumbles vaccine production and distribution, testing and tracing. In the midst of the worst pandemic in 100 years, more than 90 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured and can't afford to go to a doctor when they get sick. The isolation and anxiety caused by the pandemic has resulted in a huge increase in mental illness. Over half of American workers are living paycheck to paycheck, including millions of essential workers who put their lives on the line every day. More than 24 million Americans are unemployed, underemployed or have given up looking for work, while hunger in this country is at the highest level in decades. Because of lack of income, up to 40 million Americans face the threat of eviction, and many owe thousands in back rent. This is on top of the 500,000 who are already homeless. Meanwhile, the wealthiest people in this country are becoming much richer, and income and wealth inequality are soaring. Incredibly, during the pandemic, 650 billionaires in America have increased their wealth by more than $1tn. As a result of the pandemic education in this country, from childcare to graduate school, is in chaos. The majority of young people in this country have seen their education disrupted and it is likely that hundreds of colleges will soon cease to exist. Climate change is ravaging the planet with an unprecedented number of forest fires and extreme weather disturbances. Scientists tell us that we have only a very few years before irreparable damage takes place to our country and the world. And, in the midst of all this, the foundations of American democracy are under an unprecedented attack. We have a president who is working feverishly to undermine American democracy and incite violence against the very government and constitution he swore to defend. Against all of the evidence, tens of millions of Americans actually believe Trump's Big Lie that he won this election by a landslide and that victory was stolen from him and his supporters. Armed rightwing militias in support of Trump are being mobilized throughout the country. In this moment of unprecedented crises, Congress and the Biden administration must respond through unprecedented action. No more business as usual. No more same old, same old. Democrats, who will now control the White House, the Senate and the House, must summon the courage to demonstrate to the American people that government can effectively and rapidly respond to their pain and anxiety. As the incoming chairman of the Senate budget committee that is exactly what I intend to do."
Joe Biden's first act as president, was to sign 17 executive orders. The first was to mandate the wearing of masks on federal property. Additional actions include rejoining the Paris climate agreement, blocking the Keystone XL pipeline, halt gas drilling at Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, end Trump's travel ban aimed at Muslim-majority countries, end emergency funding for Trump's border wall, end Trump administration's efforts to exclude undocumented immigrants from census data, and rejoining the World Health Organization. Biden also outlined the four crises his administration will address - Covid-19, the resulting economic crisis, climate change, and racial inequity.
Writing for the Guardian, Julia Carrie Wong offers the following commentary on what could be next for QAnon:
"Shortly before Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, Dave Hayes – a longtime QAnon influencer who goes by the name Praying Medic – posted a photo of dark storm clouds gathering over the US Capitol on the rightwing social media platform Gab. 'What a beautiful black sky,' he wrote to his 92,000 followers, appending a thunderclap emoji. The message was clear to those well-versed in QAnon lore: 'the Storm' – the day of reckoning when Donald Trump and his faithful allies in the military would declare martial law, round up all their many political enemies, and send them to Guantánamo Bay for execution by hanging – was finally here. 20 January 2021 wouldn't mark the end of Trump's presidency, but the beginning of 'the Great Awakening'. Instead, Trump slunk off to Florida and Biden took the oath of office under a clear blue sky. Now QAnon adherents are left to figure out how to move forward in a world that, time and time again, has proven impervious to their fevered fantasies and fascistic predictions. And while some seem to be waking up to reality, others are doubling down, raising concerns among experts that the movement is ripe for even more extreme radicalization. 'My primary concern about this moment is the Q to JQ move,' said Brian Friedberg, a senior researcher at Harvard's Shorenstein Center, referring to 'the Jewish question', a phrase that white nationalists and neo-Nazis use to discuss their antisemitic belief that Jews control the world. Friedberg said that he had seen clear signs that white nationalists and alt-right figures, who have long disliked QAnon because it focused the Maga movement's energies away from the 'white identity movement', were preparing to take advantage. 'They view this as a great opportunity to do a mass red-pilling,' he said."
January 19, 2021 - Today starts Donald Trump's last day in office. The official diary engagements reads: "President Trump will work from early in the morning until late in the evening. He will make many calls and have many meetings." NOTE: This is the same wording that has been used for almost the entire month of January.
US deaths from coronavirus now exceeds 400,000. The US has the highest death toll of any country in the world. Brazil is a distant second with 210,299 deaths.
Writing for the Guardian, David Smith offers the following commentary on Trump's dark legacy:
"In a cold, sombre, damp Washington four years ago this Wednesday, Donald Trump took the oath of office as the 45th president of the United States and delivered an inaugural address now remembered for two words: American carnage. He delivered, but not as he promised. Trump pledged to end the carnage of inner-city poverty, rusting factories, broken schools and the scourge of criminal gangs and drugs. Instead his presidency visited upon the nation the carnage of about 400,000 coronavirus deaths, the worst year for jobs since the second world war and the biggest stress test for American democracy since the civil war. 'It's not just physical carnage,' said Moe Vela, a former White House official. 'There's also mental carnage and there's spiritual carnage and there's emotional carnage. He has left a very wide swath of American carnage and that is the last way I would want to be remembered by history, but that is how he will be remembered.' Trump campaigned for president as a change agent but millions came to regard him as an agent of chaos. His line-crossing, envelope-pushing, wrecking-ball reign at the White House crashed in a fireball of lies about his election defeat and deadly insurrection at the US Capitol. Future generations of schoolchildren will read about him in textbooks as a twice-impeached one-term president. It all began in earnest in June 2015 when the property tycoon trundled down an escalator at Trump Tower in New York and announced a presidential run based on 'America first' nationalism and building a border wall. Exploiting white grievance, economic dislocation and celebrity culture, he clinched the Republican nomination and promised: 'I alone can fix it.' He lost the national popular vote to Hillary Clinton but lucked his way to victory in the electoral college. The first person elected to the White House with no previous political or military experience, he represented a shock to the system and rebuke to the establishment."
Writing for NPR, Domenico Monanaro offers the following commentary on how Trump will be remembered:
"Most Americans say Donald Trump will go down as either below average or one of the worst presidents in US history, according to an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist survey. Almost half think Trump will be remembered as one of the worst presidents in history. Only about a quarter think he was an above-average president or one of the best. By comparison, when President Barack Obama left office, more Americans thought he would be remembered as above average or one of the best presidents, as opposed to a subpar one. Americans also think Trump has changed the country for the worse, by a 46%-to-38% margin. Usual partisan divides appear here, however, as 8 in 10 Democrats said he changed it for the worse, while 8 in 10 Republicans said he changed it for the better. The poll also found Americans are the most pessimistic they have been in decades about the direction of the country. But they have more positive views of President-elect Joe Biden, how he's handled the transition and whether he will do more to unite than divide the country."
Writing for the Guardian, Arwa Mahdawi offers the following commentary on Ivanka's legacy:
"Ivanka Trump has wound up her time in the White House in the most fitting way possible: with a scandal about a $3,000-a-month toilet. Members of the Secret Service, it was recently reported, were banned from using any of the bathrooms in Jared Kushner and Ivanka's Washington DC mansion and, instead, had to rent an apartment to relieve themselves in (although Jared and Ivanka have denied this). Talk about flushing taxpayers' money down the drain. One imagines Ivanka did not plan to spend her final days in DC dealing with the fallout from a violent insurrection and battling embarrassing leaks about her loos. When she appointed herself special adviser to the president, Ivanka was a handbag and shoe saleswoman bursting with ambition. She was going to empower women everywhere! Little girls around the world would read about Saint Ivanka for decades to come. She would be a role mogul: her branded bags would fly off the shelves. Four years later, Ivanka's clothing line has shut down and her personal brand has been damaged enough for a university to cancel her as a speaker. It seems she is persona non grata in New York and her dad has been banned from parts of the internet for inciting violence. By rights, Ivanka should be sobbing into her sheets wondering how everything has gone so wrong. But Ivanka is a Trump: narcissism and self-delusion are in her DNA. As DC braces for pre-inauguration chaos Ivanka has been blithely tweeting her 'achievements' and retweeting praise in an attempt to convince us she has left an important legacy. According to her Twitter feed, one thing Americans should all be thanking Ivanka for is paid family leave, which has been one of her marquee issues. And, to be fair, if Ivanka is to be praised for anything, it's for pushing Donald Trump to pass a bill giving federal employees 12 weeks of paid parental time off. Would that have happened without Ivanka? I don’t know. But she facilitated it. Does it make up for the many odious things Ivanka also facilitated? No. Another of Ivanka's big projects was the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) initiative, which aims to reach 50 million women in the developing world by 2025 and … well, I'm not sure exactly what's supposed to happen then. The initiative is so buzzword-laden that it's somewhat hard to understand. You get the impression Ivanka launched it via vague instructions to 'empower women in powerful ways via strategic pillars of empowerment'."
Writing for the Louisville Courier Journal, Chris Kenning offers the following commentary on the lasting roots of Trump's baseless fraud claims:
"'Anybody who would stop and use the common sense that God gave them would realize the election was stolen. There's no doubt about it. Too many irregularities. Too many things that just don't happen by chance. And mathematically impossible,' Kentucky pastor John Isaacs said. While few said they felt driven to join far-right groups such as militias or to march on state capitols in protests, many cited uncertainty about the future. Some vowed to stop participating in elections, while others promised primary payback against disloyal conservatives, reflecting the challenges ahead for establishment Republicans in a brewing internecine party battle with Trump's more far-right followers. 'I don’t trust my government after all this crap. I was blind, but my eyes have been opened,' said Dotti Johnson, who wore a cap reading 'Armed Infidel' in her McKee S&T general store. Outside of Inez, in the unincorporated community of Tomahawk, hairdresser Gina Patrick, 60, said she grew up with a father who was a local reporter. 'They're a communist party. They have radicalized to where they make no sense,' she said of Democrats. 'If somebody told you that if you didn't see eye to eye with them they were going to take your kids away from you and put you in a concentration camp, and your children, have you reprogrammed, would you want to join with them?' she said. 'That's what the talk is. So, does that sound like unity to you?'"
According to the AP, some National Guard members have been removed from duty protecting Joe Biden's inauguration because of their connection to far-right militia groups, From the story:
"Two U.S. Army National Guard members are being removed from the security mission to secure Joe Biden's presidential inauguration. A U.S. Army official and a senior U.S. intelligence official say the two National Guard members have been found to have ties to fringe right group militias. No plot against Biden was found. The Army official and the intelligence official spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity due to Defense Department media regulations. They did not say what fringe group the Guard members belonged to or what unit they served in."
Speaking on the floor of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, stated that "the mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people, and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like."
Speaking on the floor of the Senate, Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader, stated that "Donald Trump should not be eligible to run for office ever again. All of us want to put this awful chapter in our nation's history behind us. Healing and unity will only come if there is truth and accountability. ... Let me be clear. There will be an impeachment trial in the US Senate. If the president is convicted, there will be a vote on barring him from running again."
Media Matters uncovered some 2018 posts on Facebook by Marjorie Taylor Greene, the QAnon congresswoman who was recently suspended from twitter for pushing baseless voter fraud conspiracy theories. The posts in 2018 pushed conspiracy theories about the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. One of the posts was in reference to a county sheriff's deputy who opted to stay outside of the school while the shooting took place, and then received a retirement pension. According to one commenter: "It's called a pay off to keep his mouth shut since it was a false flag planned shooting". Greene responded to the comment with "Exactly". Another commenter posted: "Kick back for going along with the evil plan. You know it's not for doing a good job". Greene responded to that comment with "My thoughts exactly!! Paid to do what he did and keep his mouth shut!"
Alice O'Lenick, a Republican member of the Georgia board of election and registration in Gwinnett County, GA, has proposed changing election laws in Georgia so that Republicans "at least have a shot at winning". O'Lenick proposed doing away with no-excuse absentee voting, which Republicans put in place in 2005, and getting rid of drop boxes. A coalition of civil rights groups are calling for O'Lenick to resign for pushing partisan interests saying in part:
"Alice O'Lenick isn't even trying to hide her bias against Democratic voters and voters of color in Gwinnett County. She has made clear that her only motivation in her position is pure partisanship, engaging openly in rhetoric that is more suited for a political party hack than an elections official. County election board members and chairs should celebrate high voter turnout, regardless of outcome, not advocate laws that will benefit one party over the other."
Donald Trump has claimed that he was under investigation even before he took office. The AP offers a fact check of that claim:
"Trump was not under investigation before he took office. In fact, Trump says he was told that directly and repeatedly by then-FBI Director James Comey. Comey has said the same publicly. The FBI counterintelligence investigation dubbed Crossfire Hurricane was underway when Trump took office, but that was into whether his campaign more generally coordinated with Russia to tip the election. Agents were also looking criminally at several Trump aides, but that's different from Trump being under investigation. The situation did change after a matter of months, when Trump fired Comey in May 2017. After that happened, the FBI began looking into whether Trump had criminally obstructed justice. Former FBI acting Director Andrew McCabe has said the FBI also began investigating whether Trump might have been acting on behalf of Russia."
January 18, 2021 - According to CNN, Donald Trump is expected to issue around 100 presidential pardons tomorrow. From the story:
"The final batch of clemency actions is expected to include a mix of criminal justice reform-minded pardons and more controversial ones secured or doled out to political allies. Julian Assange is not currently believed to be among the people receiving pardons, but the list is still fluid and that could change, too. It's also not certain whether Trump's former adviser Steve Bannon will receive a pardon. Trump is still receiving multiple streams of recommendations on pardons from those advisers who remain at the White House, as well as people outside the building who have been lobbying for months for themselves or their clients. The expectation among allies is that Trump will issue pardons that he could benefit from post presidency. 'Everything is a transaction. He likes pardons because it is unilateral. And he likes doing favors for people he thinks will owe him,' one source familiar with the matter said."
The Washington Post has more information about Trump's plans to issue pardons. From the story:
"Trump met Sunday with his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, daughter Ivanka Trump and other aides for a significant amount of the day to review a long list of pardon requests and discuss lingering questions about their appeals. The president was personally engaged with the details of specific cases, one person said. Trump has been particularly consumed with the question of whether to issue preemptive pardons to his adult children, top aides and himself. But it remains unclear whether he will make such a move. Although he has mused about the possibility, no final decisions have been reached, and some advisers have warned against using his pardon power to benefit himself. Neither Trump nor his children have been charged with crimes, and they are not known to be under federal investigation. Some aides think Trump could face criminal liability for inciting the crowd that stormed the Capitol on 6 January. Others think a self-pardon, never before attempted by a president, would be of dubious constitutionality but could anger Senate Republicans preparing to serve as key jurors at Trump's impeachment trial, and would amount to an admission of guilt that could be used against Trump in potential civil litigation related to the Capitol attack."
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine offers the following commentary on Republican ideology:
"For months, Donald Trump has refused to acknowledge Biden as the legitimate winner of the election – a belief shared by legions of his supporters. The inauguration ceremony will have a heavy military presence because of threats of violence. Trump isn't bothering attending. While Trump has accelerated this dangerous moment, it's been shaped by a deliberate Republican strategy to undermine faith in elections to make it harder to vote. The myth of voter fraud and repeated allusions to elections being stolen have moved from fringe theories to the center of Republican ideology over the last several decades. 'Donald Trump was definitely the spark and he had many enablers and facilitators, but the kindling had all been laid,' said Wendy Weiser, director of the Democracy program at the Brennan Center for Justice. 'The strategy has been to slowly, steadily, undermine Americans' faith in the security of elections, increase their belief in the existence of widespread voter fraud so as to enable them to accept what would otherwise be perceived as a really illegitimate and anti-democratic agenda of restricting access to voting.' For years, Republicans have used misleading and faulty data to suggest that elections are at risk of fraud. By 2016, when Trump claimed that voter fraud cost him the popular vote, it fitted neatly into the narrative the Republican party was beginning to embrace. Two years later, there were signs that questioning election results were moving to Republican orthodoxy. Paul Ryan, then serving as speaker of the House, said it was 'bizarre' and 'weird' that Republicans fell behind in California races as more mail-in ballots were counted after election night. When Trump started making similar claims last spring and summer that mail-in ballots would lead to fraud and cost him the election, few Republicans objected. The party began to attack ballot drop boxes and mail-in voting, something Republicans long relied on. When Trump claimed there was something amiss as states continued to count ballots after election day, Republicans – with a few exceptions – supported him too. The rhetoric began to have real consequences, as supporters started protesting at vote counting sites and harassing workers trying to count ballots during November's election. And by the time of electoral college certification, the effort to undermine faith in the vote had gone so far that it made it possible for two-thirds of the House Republican caucus and a dozen senators to back the idea of throwing out the election results entirely."
Writing for NBC News, Julia Ainsley offers the following analysis of Trump's Department of Homeland Security's focus on immigration rahter than domestic terror, and how that helped lead to the events of January 6th:
"As armed rioters overtook police and moved into the Capitol, armed agents from DHS, an agency expressly designed to prevent another terrorist incident like the attacks of 9/11, stood inside a nearby building waiting for a command to deploy that never came. There is also no indication that DHS shared any intelligence with its state and local partners or with US Capitol Police before 6 January that would have indicated that the protests could turn into a riot. It was the four years of inadequately monitoring and communicating the rising threat of right-wing domestic extremists that ultimately led to DHS' failure to prevent the events at the Capitol, former DHS officials said. 'DHS for the last four years has been used to hammer the president's aggressive border security, anti-immigration agenda, and not much else has been a priority for the agency,' said former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who served during the Obama administration."
According to Business Insider, J. Hogan Gidley, a former spokesman for Trump's reelection campaign, says the reason Trump isn't denouncing the Capitol riot is because he no longer has a platform to do so. According to Gidley: "On one hand, he should be censored by Big Tech and not be allowed to talk — he also shouldn't say anything because it's divisive. And then when he doesn't say anything, and can't say anything because the platforms have removed him, they say: 'Where is the president why aren't we hearing from him?' The whole thing's disingenuous." NOTE: Being banned from Twitter and/or Facebook does not prevent a president from being able to call press conferences, release statements or videos on the official White House website, release statements or videos on an official campaign website, or issue proclamations and executive orders.
Kamala Harris, the vice president-elect, wrote an op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle which reads in part:
"The past four years have tested us as a nation. Even before I was sworn in we knew that foreign adversaries had interfered in the 2016 election. Soon thereafter, families were being separated at the border, and our work to combat climate change was being dismantled. Since then, three Supreme Court nominees have come before the Senate Judiciary committee on which I have sat. Wildfires have ravaged our state, racial injustice continues to plague our nation, and COVID-19 plagues the world. This month, we witnessed something I thought I would never see in the United States: A mob breached the U.S. Capitol, trying to thwart the certification of the 2020 election results. The violence made clear that we have two systems of justice — one that failed to restrain the rioters on January 6 and another that released tear gas on non-violent demonstrators last summer. These have not been easy times by any stretch."
According to Buzzfeed, the FBI is looking into whether one of the insurrectionists who stole a laptop from Nancy Pelosi's office was planning to sell it to the Russians. From the story:
"The claim, which is still under investigation, is detailed in an affidavit filed by the FBI on Sunday, outlining the case against Riley June Williams, a Pennsylvania woman who was seen in footage of the insurrection inside the Capitol directing crowds. According to the affidavit, a person identified as Williams' former romantic partner called the FBI tip line to identify Williams. The tipster told the FBI that they had spoken to friends of Williams who showed them a video of the woman taking a laptop or hard drive from Pelosi's office, the affidavit states. The tipster 'stated that Williams intended to send the computer device to a friend in Russia, who then planned to sell the device to SVR, Russia's foreign intelligence service.' It also notes that, 'for unknown reasons,' that sale fell through and that Williams either still has the device or has since destroyed it. The FBI said in the affidavit that the tip remains under investigations. Williams is facing charges related to entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct."
According to a story in Axios, Bill Barr told Donald Trump that his repeated claims of a stolen election were "bullshit". Also, according to the story, Barr called the legal team that Trump has looking into fraud claims "clownish."
The 1776 commission, which was convened by Trump to produce a "pro-American" history curriculum to rebut a narrative that "America is a wicked and racist nation", released a report claiming to be a "definitive chronicle of the American founding". Notable reaction to the 1776 commission report:
"This is basically a taxpayer-funded right-wing blogging dressed up as academic research, including a whole section about why 'progressivism' is bad" - Chris Megerian
January 17, 2021 - According to a CNN poll, 80% of Republicans approve of Trump's presidency. The approval among Republicans in October, prior to the Capitol insurrection, was 94%.
Speaking on Fox News, Asa Hutchinson, the Republican governor of Arkansas, stated that Trump bears responsibility for the violence at the US Capitol saying:
"[Trump] asked all the people to come to Washington for the rally and then he used very aggressive language in the rally itself and he misled people as to what happened during the election, that it was stolen and that our checks and balances are not working."
Writing for the Guardian, Robert Reich offers the following commentary on the Republican party:
"I keep hearing that Joe Biden will govern from the 'center'. He has no choice, they say, because he will have razor-thin majorities in Congress and the Republican party has moved to the right. Rubbish. I've served several Democratic presidents who have needed Republican votes. But the Republicans now in Congress are nothing like those I've dealt with. Most of today's GOP live in a parallel universe. There's no 'center' between the reality-based world and theirs. Last Wednesday, fully 93% of House Republicans voted against impeaching Trump for inciting insurrection, even after his attempted coup threatened their very lives. The week before, immediately following the raid on the Capitol, two-thirds of House Republicans and eight Republican senators refused to certify election results on the basis of Trump's lies about widespread fraud – lies rejected by 60 federal judges as well as Trump's own departments of justice and homeland security. Prior to the raid, several Republican members of Congress repeated those lies on television and Twitter and at 'Stop the Steal' events – encouraging Trump followers to 'fight for America' and start 'kicking ass'. This is the culmination of the growing insanity of the GOP over the last four years. Trump has remade the Republican party into a white supremacist cult living within a counter-factual wonderland of lies and conspiracies."
In response to online threats from right-wing extremists, more than a third of governors have called out National Guard troops to protect their state capitols. Armed protesters showed up to state capitols in Michigan, Ohio and South Carolina.
Twitter has suspended far-right extremist congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene for 12 hours for violating the online platform's rules.
Couy Griffin, a Republican county commissioner from New Mexico, was arrested today near the Capitol. Couy was involved in the Capitol insurrection on January 6th, and had returned today. Earlier in the week, Couy said in a council meeting that he was leaving "tonight or tomorrow" for DC with at least two guns in the car with him. Couy also stated "My vehicle is an extension of my home in regards to the constitutional law and I've got a right to keep those firearms in my car."
Jon Schaffer, a guitar player for heavy metal band Iced Earth, was arrested for his role in the Capitol insurrection. Schaffer faces 6 charges, which include acts of physical violence, and for spraying "bear spray" at Capitol police. Schaffer's bandmates released a statement which read in part:
"We absolutely DO NOT condone nor do we support riots or the acts of violence that the rioters were involved in on January 6th at the US Capitol building. We hope that all those involved that day are brought to justice to be investigated and answer for their actions."
January 15, 2021 - The US death toll from coronavirus now exceeds 388,000.
Corey Johnson became the 12th person to be executed by the US government since the Trump administration restarted federal executions, following a 17-year hiatus.
According to federal prosecutors, some of the US Capitol insurrectionists planned "to capture and assassinate elected officials".
According to the Washington Post, authorities are on high alert over concerns of more political violence. From the story:
"Officials have warned authorities nationwide to be on alert for potential acts of violence at state capitols, as well as a possible second attack on the Capitol or on the White House. Law enforcement authorities have said extremists might use firearms and explosives and are monitoring online calls to rally in cities nationwide beginning Sunday. At the center of the amorphous but increasingly motivated extremist movement sits the current president, now twice impeached, deprived of his social media megaphones but still exerting a powerful influence over his followers who take his baseless claims of election fraud as an article of faith. It remains unclear when and where groups might launch follow-up attacks, but even if they do pull back in the days to come — and experts say there is some reason to think they might — the threat from Trump-inspired extremism is likely to remain and grow. 'It has begun to shift from 'We are going to win this' to 'This fight is going to be a long one,' ' said Rita Katz, executive director of the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist groups. 'The prevalent consensus across the movements involved in or supporting the Capitol siege is that they will keep pushing forward.' 'There are people in our country who want to turn peaceful protests into opportunities for violence,' Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said at a news conference announcing he would call up more than 400 National Guard troops and close state offices in Columbus. FBI Director Christopher Wray told reporters that officials were monitoring 'an extensive amount of concerning online chatter' about events surrounding the inauguration. 'Right now, we're tracking calls for potential armed protests and activity leading up to the inauguration,' Wray said, noting that it was a challenge 'to distinguish what's aspirational versus what's intentional.'"
Writing for the Guardian, Lois Beckett offers the following analysis of the Boogaloo killings of US law enforcement:
"One hundred days before Dave Patrick Underwood was murdered on 29 May, a group of analysts who monitor online extremism concluded that an attack like the one that killed him was coming. An anti-government movement intent on killing law enforcement officers had been growing rapidly on social media, the analysts at the Network Contagion Research Institute warned. Building on the work of other analysts, the researchers had identified Facebook groups where thousands of members obsessed over the idea of an imminent American civil war called 'the Boogaloo', displaying photographs of rifles and combat equipment, sharing advice for making weapons and posting memes about killing police and federal officials. The Facebook groups were particularly dangerous, the researchers concluded, because they were helping to build local connections between nascent domestic extremists. The movement appeared to be successfully recruiting members of the US military. Facebook responded to findings that it was 'studying trends' around the use of the word 'Boogaloo' on its platforms, and that it would remove any content that violated its rules against inciting hatred or violence. Over the next few months, a spokesperson said, it would remove 800 individual Boogaloo-related posts that violated its policies. But it did not ban the Boogaloo movement from its platform, or take the majority of the Boogaloo groups down. Two months later, another report warned of the Boogaloo movement's 'explicit threats of violence to government authorities'. There were now at least 125 Boogaloo groups on Facebook, the Tech Transparency Project said. The groups had added tens of thousands of members in the last 30 days alone, as coronavirus lockdown measures made some Americans furious about what they perceived as government 'tyranny'. More than half of these Facebook groups had been created since February. This time, Facebook said it had removed some groups and pages that used Boogaloo-related terms for violating Facebook policies. But none of the Facebook groups explicitly mentioned in the Tech Transparency report had been taken down, HuffPost reported, even though the online rhetoric was already translating into action: earlier in April, Texas police arrested Aaron Swenson, a man who had reportedly 'liked' more than a dozen Boogaloo-related pages, and who police said had been livestreaming himself on Facebook as he drove around looking for a cop to execute."
Writing for the Guardian, Geoffrey Kabaservice, the director of political studies at the Niskanen Center in Washington, offers the following commentary in why Republicans must repudiate Trump:
"In the view of many party strategists, Republicans might be better off if Trump were prevented from running again. The possibility of a 2024 Trump campaign freezes out potential successors and prevents the party from moving in new and more positive directions. The president arguably cost his party its Senate majority with his lies and conspiracy theories about the election, which depressed Republican turnout in the pivotal Georgia senatorial races. His role in inciting the Capitol riot disgraced his party as well as his legacy. Tellingly, almost no Republicans attempted to defend him during the impeachment hearings. Instead, many warned that impeachment would further enrage Trump's followers when what's needed is national unity and healing. Of course, this come-together plea is rank hypocrisy from those who encouraged Trump's shredding of the social fabric, believing that his attempt to tear the country apart would leave them with the bigger half. The claim that lions would lie down with lambs if Democrats would drop their vindictive harassment of the outgoing president conveniently overlooks the fact that the Capitol invasion happened only because Trump pushed the Big Lie that Democrats, the media, and the Deep State stole the election. And nearly two-thirds of Republicans in Congress made themselves complicit in Trump's lie by voting to overturn the election results, even in the wake of that deluded, destructive and deadly riot. Representative Peter Meijer, a newly elected Republican from Michigan who was one of the 10 Republicans to vote for impeachment, observed that many of his party colleagues argued that since millions of Americans believe the election was stolen, therefore Congress would be justified in preventing Biden from taking the presidency. But, he pointed out, most of the voters who believe in this false reality do so precisely because they have heard it from Trump and his congressional enablers. 'That doesn’t make it right. That doesn’t make it accurate. It means that you lied to them, and they trusted you and they believed your lies.'"
Writing for CNN, Kevin Liptak and Kaitlan Collins offer the following commentary on Trump's final days in office:
"Aides have pleaded with Trump to deliver some type of farewell address, either live or taped, that would tick through his accomplishments in office. But he has appeared disinterested and noncommittal. Trump has been consumed by the unraveling of his presidency. And he has made clear to aides in separate conversations that mere mention of president Richard Nixon, the last president to resign, was banned. He told one adviser during an expletive-laden conversation recently never to bring up the ex-president ever again. During the passing mention of resigning this week, Trump told people he couldn't count on Pence to pardon him like Gerald Ford did Nixon, anyway."
According to a Pew Research Center survey, Trump's approval rating has slipped to 29%, which is the lowest number of his presidency.
According to the Washington Post, the mob that stormed the Capitol was able to get very close to the vice president. From the story:
"The violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 came perilously close to Vice President Pence, who was not evacuated from the Senate chamber for about 14 minutes after the Capitol Police reported an initial attempted breach of the complex — enough time for the marauders to rush inside the building and approach his location, according to law enforcement officials and video footage from that day. Secret Service officers eventually spirited Pence to a room off the Senate floor with his wife and daughter after rioters began to pour into the Capitol, many loudly denouncing the vice president as a traitor as they marched through the first floor below the Senate chamber. About one minute after Pence was hustled out of the chamber, a group charged up the stairs to a second-floor landing in the Senate, chasing a Capitol Police officer who drew them away from the Senate. Pence and his family had just ducked into a hideaway less than 100 feet from that landing, according to three people familiar with his whereabouts, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. If the pro-Trump mob had arrived seconds earlier, they would have been in eyesight of the vice president as he was rushed across a reception hall into the office."
During an interview with CBS News, Lisa Murkowski, a Republican senator from Alaska, stated regarding Trump:
"I have asked that he should resign. He apparently is not taking steps to do that. I have felt that the country would be in a safer place if he were just to leave the White House and turn things over to Vice-President Mike Pence for the duration of this administration."
Nancy Pelosi held a press conference, her are some highlights:
- In response to video of one of the Capitol insurrectionist wearing a shirt that said "Camp Auschwitz", Pelosi stated: "To see this punk with that shirt on and his anti-Semitism that he has bragged about to be part of a white supremacist raid on this Capitol requires us to have an after-action review."
- Responding to concerns that members of Congress "aided and abetted" the attack on the Capitol, Pelosi stated: "If in fact it is found that members of Congress were accomplices to this insurrection, if they aided and abetted the crime, there may have to be actions taken beyond the Congress in terms of prosecution for that."
According to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus research center, the global death toll from coronavirus now exceeds 2 million.
Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow, who is a loyal supporter of Donald Trump, and who helped spread baseless claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election, met with Trump today. This is what Mike Lindell tweeted as the Capitol was under assault by a violent mob: "The riots you're seeing on TV, it's a joke. My nieces were down there. They said, 99.99% was, it was just peaceful protests." After Lindell left the West Wing, a Washington Post photographer captured a picture of the words on a document that Lindell was carrying. Upon close inspection of the document, the phrases "martial law if necessary" and "Move Kash Patel to CIA Acting" can be seen. Kash Patel, the name referenced on the document, currently serves as the chief of staff to Christopher Miller, the acting secretary of defense.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump sought information about the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach him. From the story:
"Mr. Trump, who had feared an even larger number of defections, wanted to know who the lawmakers were and whether he had ever done anything for them, according to people familiar with the meeting. He also inquired who might run against them when they face re-election in two years, the people said. The president has grown increasingly concerned with defections against him within his own party, aides say. Now, he must plot his defense in a second Senate trial that will hinge on his level of GOP support, with far fewer legal and political allies than the last time he was impeached. Mr. Trump has called several Republicans on Capitol Hill in recent days to seek their advice on who he should recruit, as the personal attorneys who defended him last time and White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, have made clear to associates they don't intend to serve on his team, according to people familiar with the discussions. Advisers have urged the president not to tap Rudy Giuliani, his personal attorney who—to the chagrin of several Trump advisers—led the campaign to overturn the results of the election, telling Mr. Trump that he needs a sophisticated attorney who can stick to the facts."
Joe Biden, the president-elect, responded to news that some Republicans refused to wear masks during the Capitol lockdown saying:
"I know it's become a partisan issue, but what a stupid, stupid thing for it to happen. Quite frankly, it was shocking to see members of the Congress, while the Capitol was under siege by a deadly mob of thugs, refuse to wear a mask while they were in secure locations. What the hell's the matter with them? It's time to grow up."
According to the Guardian, the National Rifle Association has filed for bankruptcy.
January 14, 2021 - The National Guard has begun deploying 20,000 troops to the US capital for the presidential inauguration next week.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, the QAnon associated Representative who wore a mask that said censored while making a speech that was broadcast on national television, has declared her intent to impeach Joe Biden. From Greene's statement:
"I would like to announce on behalf of the American people, we have to make sure our leaders are held accountable, we cannot have a President of the United States who is willing to abuse the power of the office of the presidency and be easily bought off by foreign governments, foreign Chinese energy companies, Ukrainian energy companies, so on 21 January, I will be filing articles of impeachment on Joe Biden."
Greene also tweeted:
"On January 21st, I'm filing Articles of Impeachment on President-elect @JoeBiden. 75 million Americans are fed up with inaction. It's time to take a stand. I'm proud to be the voice of Republican voters who have been ignored."
Writing for the Guardian, Lois Beckett offers the following analysis on the likelihood that police will use violence against leftwing protesters:
"In the past 10 months, US law enforcement agencies have used teargas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and beatings at a much higher percentage at Black Lives Matter demonstrations than at pro-Trump or other rightwing protests. Law enforcement officers were also more likely to use force against leftwing demonstrators, whether the protests remained peaceful or not. The statistics, based on law enforcement responses to more than 13,000 protests across the United States since April 2020, show a clear disparity in how agencies have responded to the historic wave of Black Lives Matter protests against police violence, compared with demonstrations organized by Trump supporters. Barack Obama highlighted an earlier version of these statistics on 8 January, arguing that they provided a 'useful frame of reference' for understanding Americans' outrage over the failure of Capitol police to stop a mob of thousands of white Trump supporters from invading and looting the Capitol on 6 January, a response that prompted renewed scrutiny of the level of violence and aggression American police forces use against Black versus white Americans. The new statistics come from the US Crisis Monitor, a database created this spring by researchers at Princeton and the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project (ACLED), a nonprofit that has previously monitored civil unrest in the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America. The researchers found that the vast majority of the thousands of protests across the United States in the past year have been peaceful, and that most protests by both the left and the right were not met with any violent response by law enforcement. Police used teargas, rubber bullets, beatings with batons, and other force against demonstrators at 511 leftwing protests and 33 rightwing protests since April, according to updated data made public this week."
According to the Washington Post, some Democrats put some of the responsibility for the assualt on the Capitol on their colleagues. From the story:
"New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill said in a Facebook Live broadcast that she saw Republicans 'who had groups coming through the Capitol that I saw on 5 January for reconnaissance for the next day.' She said some of her GOP colleagues 'abetted' Trump and 'incited this violent crowd.' 'I'm going to see that they're held accountable and, if necessary, ensure that they don’t serve in Congress,' she said. She and other Democrats sent a letter Wednesday asking congressional security officials to investigate what they called 'suspicious behavior and access given to visitors' the day before the attack. The letter said that Democratic lawmakers and staffers 'witnessed an extremely high number of outside groups' visiting the Capitol, which was unusual because the building has restricted public access since March, when pandemic protocols were enacted. Since then, tourists can enter the Capitol only when brought in by a member of Congress. Among the visitors, according to the Democrats' letter, were some who 'appeared to be associated with the rally.' Sherrill and the other Democrats asked that any logbooks, videos and facial recognition software be examined to identify visitors and determine if they could be matched with those who stormed the Capitol. Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in an interview that 'I do know that, yes, there were members that gave tours to individuals who participated in the riot.' She said an investigation is needed, adding, 'What I don't know is whether they were aware of what their plans were for the next day.'"
Writing for CNN, Sian Cain offers the following reaction that Neal Kirby, the son of Captain America co-creator Jack Kirby, had after noticing that some of the Trump insurrectionists stormed the Capitol in Captain America costumes:
"The son of Captain America co-creator Jack Kirby has strongly condemned insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol last week wearing or brandishing symbols of the Marvel superhero, saying his father would have been 'absolutely sickened' by the sight. In a statement issued to CNN reporter Jake Tapper, Neal Kirby, 72, said he was 'appalled and mortified' to see Trump supporters dressed in Captain America costumes or displaying his iconic star shield on 6 January. His father Jack, along with Joe Simon, created Captain America in 1941, with the comic's first issue famously showing the superhero punching Adolf Hitler in the face. 'Captain America has stood as a symbol and protector of our democracy and the rule of law for the past 79 years,' Kirby wrote. 'He was created by two Jewish guys from New York who hated Nazis and hated bullies. Captain America stood up for the underdog and, as the story was written, even before he gained his strength and process from Army scientists, always stood for what was righteous, and never backed down.' While watching footage of the storming of the Capitol on 6 January, he wrote, 'I thought I noticed someone in a Trump/Captain America T-shirt! I was appalled and mortified. I believe I even caught a quick glance of someone with a Captain America shield. A quick Google search turned up Trump as Captain America on T-shirts, posters, even a flag! These images are disgusting and disgraceful. Captain America is the absolute antithesis of Donald Trump. Where Captain America is selfless, Trump is self-serving. Where Captain America fights for our country and democracy, Trump fights for personal power and autocracy. Where Captain America stands with the common man, Trump stands with the powerful and privileged. Where Captain America is courageous, Trump is a coward. Captain America and Trump couldn't be more different.'"
Writing for CNN, Stephen Collinson offers the following commentary on the moment Republican's find themselves in:
"Trump's disastrous final days in office have brought the Republican Party to an existential moment. How GOP senators decide to deal with the strongman who bullied and manipulated them for five years will show whether their out-of-control party can revive its conservative soul or is destined to race into a conspiratorial, anti-democratic dead end. The reaction to Trump's latest impeachment and acrimonious exit from office will wash across an uneasy, angry nation, traumatized by the Washington insurrection he inspired. The tens of thousands of troops and security forces should be able to secure Biden's inauguration, but FBI warnings of uprisings in 50 states reflect the brittle atmosphere, which the trial could make even more tense. The coming weeks will make clear whether the fury and radicalism inspired by Trump will recede when he is in internal political exile in Florida. Or they will reveal if something more serious is brewing. The first-ever impeachment trial of an ex-president – in itself the final, surreal shattering of norms of the Trump era – will also go a long way toward deciding how quickly America's political institutions and the galvanizing role of truth in public life, which have both been under constant assault from the current President, can be rehabilitated."
According to a new Axios-Ipsos poll, 56% of Americans believe Trump should be removed from office. That total includes around 25% of Republicans.
According to the Guardian, Heidi Stirrup, a White House liaison, sought derogatory information on E Jean Carroll from a Department of Justice official. From the story:
"The White House liaison to the Department of Justice (DoJ), Heidi Stirrup, sought out derogatory information late last year from a senior justice department official regarding a woman who alleges she was raped by Donald Trump, according to the person from whom Stirrup directly sought the information. The revelation raises the prospect that allies of the US president were directly pressing the justice department to try to dig up potentially damaging information on a woman who had accused Trump of sexually attacking her. E Jean Carroll, a journalist and advice columnist, sued Trump in November 2019, alleging he had defamed her when he denied her account of having been raped by him. Carroll alleges Trump sexually assaulted her in a dressing room in Bergdorf Goodman, a high-end Manhattan department store, in either late 1995 or early 1996. Trump at the time responded to her allegations by claiming Carroll was 'totally lying' and attempted to ridicule her by saying 'she's not my type'. Those and similar comments led Carroll to sue him. Stirrup apparently believed the justice department had information that might aid the president's legal defense in the suit. The attorney who Stirrup sought information from regarding Carroll said that Stirrup approached them not long after a judge had ruled the justice department could not take over Trump's defense. Stirrup asked if the department had uncovered any derogatory information about Carroll that they might share with her or the president's private counsel. Stirrup also suggested that she could serve as a conduit between the department and individuals close to the president or his private legal team. Stirrup also asked the official whether the justice department had any information that Carroll or anyone on her legal team had links with the Democratic party or partisan activists, who might have put her up to falsely accusing the president."
Writing for the Guardian, Akin Olla offers the following analysis of possible fallout from the Capitol Riots:
"Republicans have long called for the increased repression of activists, but the chorus has reached a crescendo in the age of Black Lives Matter and climate protests. In the last five years, 116 bills to increase penalties for protests including highway shutdowns and occupations have been introduced in state legislatures. Twenty-three of those bills became law in 15 states. Following the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent uprisings, we've seen another flow of proposals. For example, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida would like to make merely participating in a protest that leads to property damage or road blockage a felony, while granting protections to people who hit those same protesters with their cars. Following the storming of the Capitol, DeSantis, a Trump ally, has expanded these proposals with more provisions and harsher consequences. The only thing preventing the passage of many of these laws thus far has been opposition from Democrats. But now the Democrats have caught the tune and returned to their post-9/11 calls for heightening the 'war on terror'. Joe Biden has already made it clear that he intends to answer these calls. He has named the rioters 'domestic terrorists' and 'insurrectionists', both terms used to designate those whose civil liberties the state is openly allowed to violate. He has declared he will make it a priority to pass a new law against domestic terrorism and has named the possibility of creating a new White House post to combat ideologically inspired violent extremists. These moves are not to be taken as empty threats by Biden. All the pieces are in place for him to attempt to unite the parties by being a 'law and order' president and effectively crush any social movement that opposes the status quo."
Writing for the Guardian, Luke Harding offers the following commentary on Trump's relationship with his inner circle:
"Donald Trump has fallen out with his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and is refusing to pay the former New York mayor's legal bills, it was reported, with the president feeling abandoned and frustrated during his last days in office. Giuliani played a key role in Trump's failed attempts to overturn the results of November's presidential election through the courts. The lawyer mounted numerous spurious legal challenges, travelling to swing states won by Joe Biden, and spread false claims the vote was rigged. According to the Washington Post, relations between Trump and Giuliani have dramatically cooled. Trump has instructed his aides not to pay Giuliani's outstanding fees. The president is reportedly offended by Giuliani's demand for $20,000 a day – a figure the lawyer denies, but which is apparently in writing. White House officials have even been told not to put through any of Giuliani’s calls. The apparent breach with Giuliani – one of Trump's most loyal and sycophantic supporters – has contributed to the president's sense of isolation and betrayal, aides have suggested. Trump is reportedly unhappy that members of his inner circle have failed to defend him following last week's deadly attack on the US Capitol by a mob of his supporters. Many have been silent following Wednesday's vote in the House of Representatives to impeach Trump for a second time. Those who have reportedly failed to step up include Trump's press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, his son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, and his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, responsible for indulging Trump's belief that the election was rigged. 'The president is pretty wound up,' one senior administration official told the Post. 'No one is out there.' Trump's refusal to pay Giuliani's bills is another blow to the former federal prosecutor. Giuliani is already under fire for his own alleged role in inciting Trump supporters to storm the Capitol building."
According to the Guardian, Adriano Espaillat, a Democratic Representative, is now the fourth Democratic House member to test positive for coronavirus after sheltering in place during the Capitol Riots. NOTE: Some of the Republicans who were sheltering refused to wear masks.
According to the Washington Post, the National Mall will be closed for Joe Biden's inauguration due to security concerns. From the story:
"The extraordinary closure is the latest in a series of security measures to harden the city against the type of violence that rocked the Capitol on Jan. 6. Local and federal officials had already established a downtown security zone and called up more than 20,000 National Guard troops to protect the presidential swearing in on Jan. 20. The move is significant because the Mall has been the traditional site where much of the general public has gathered to view the inauguration at the Capitol in person and on large jumbotrons. 'That means no one will be able to get into the Mall,' one of the officials [familiar with the matter] said. 'I would think about it as if you are going to watch, you are not going to be able to see anything. You would maybe be able to see the top of the Capitol.'"
Peter Meijer, a Republican congressman who voted to impeach Donald Trump, says he and some of his colleagues are hiring armed escorts and acquiring body armor out of fear for their safety. According to Meijer: "Our expectation is that somebody may try to kill us."
Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, has filed a lawsuit against the New York City Polic Department over its treatment of BLM protesters during last year's demonstrations. From James' statement:
"There is no question that the NYPD engaged in a pattern of excessive, brutal, and unlawful force against peaceful protesters. Over the past few months, the NYPD has repeatedly and blatantly violated the rights of New Yorkers, inflicting significant physical and psychological harm and leading to great distrust in law enforcement. With today's lawsuit, this longstanding pattern of brutal and illegal force ends. No one is above the law — not even the individuals charged with enforcing it."
According to the Guardian, the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General released a report regarding the zero tolerance policy the Trump administration used at the US border with Mexico. From the story:
"In response to a damning report published today by the US Justice department's internal watchdog on the 'zero tolerance' policy which made family separation possible, former deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, said the policy 'should have never been proposed or implemented.' The Justice Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) long-awaited report said department leadership knew the zero tolerance policy would result in children being separated from their families and that the former US attorney general Jeff Sessions 'demonstrated a deficient understanding of the legal requirements related to the care and custody of separated children.' 'We concluded that the Department's single-minded focus on increasing immigration prosecutions came at the expense of careful and appropriate consideration of the impact of family unit prosecutions and child separations,' the report said. The OIG said Justice department leadership 'did not effectively coordinate' with the relevant agencies before implementing zero tolerance, despite being aware of the challenges created by increasing prosecutions of adult asylum-seekers under 'zero tolerance.' In a conference call in May 2018, Sessions told prosecutors 'We need to take away children,' according to notes taken by people on the call and provided to the OIG. Rosenstein, who publicly denounced the policy for the first time today, told the OIG he knew the zero tolerance policy would result in family separations. In July 2020, the Guardian reported that Rosenstein had made comments in a conference call with US attorneys charged with implementing the policy that in effect meant that no child was too young to be separated from their parents. In a statement provide to the Guardian on Thursday Rosenstein said he and his colleagues at the Justice department 'faced unprecedented challenges' compared to work he had done as a US attorney under previous presidential administrations. 'Since leaving the Department, I have often asked myself what we should have done differently, and no issue has dominated my thinking more than the zero tolerance immigration policy,' Rosenstein said. 'It was a failed policy that never should have been proposed or implemented. I wish we all had done better.'"
Christine Priola, a former school occupational therapist, who stormed the Capitol with a sign that said "The children cry out for justice," has been arrested. The day after the Capitol Riots, Priola reportedly quit her job saying "I will be switching paths to expose the global evil of human trafficking & pedophilia, including in our govt & children's services agencies".
According to the AP, Kevin Seefried, who stormed the Capitol carrying a Confederate battle flag, has been arrested. From the story:
"Prosecutors say a Delaware man photographed carrying a Confederate battle flag during a deadly riot in the U.S. Capitol has been arrested after authorities used the image to help identify him. Federal prosecutors say Kevin Seefried, who was seen carrying the flag, was arrested in Delaware along with his son Hunter Seefried. Prosecutors say both entered the Senate building through a broken window. They were charged with unlawfully entering a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and degradation of government property. Court documents say the men were identified after the FBI was told by a coworker of Hunter Seefried’s that he had bragged about being in the Capitol with his father."
According to the Guardian, Robert Sanford, a retired firefighter from Pennsylvania, has been charged for allegedly striking three Capitol police officers with a fire extinguisher during last week's riot.
January 13, 2021 - Lisa Montgomery, a Kansas death row inmate, became the first woman to be executed in nearly 7 decades, and the 11th prisoner to receive a lethal injection since Donald Trump resumed federal executions in July. Kelly Henry, Mongomery's attorney released a statement saying in part:
"The craven bloodlust of a failed administration was on full display tonight. Everyone who participated in the execution of Lisa Montgomery should feel shame. The government stopped at nothing in its zeal to kill this damaged and delusional woman. Lisa Montgomery's execution was far from justice."
Writing for the Washington Post, Michael Kranish offers the following commentary on Liz Cheney's decision to impeach Donald Trump:
"The decision marked an extraordinary denouement for Cheney and her potentially precarious perch in the party's leadership. She had feuded for months with Trump and lately had been at odds with the majority of her caucus, even as speculation mounts about whether she might one day seek the speakership. The move was applauded by those in the party who have urged a clean break with Trump. 'It is a remarkable statement that sets a new bar for leadership in the House,' said Brendan Buck, a former aide to House Speaker John A. Boehner. 'She is turning the page on Donald Trump. I think she is doing the right thing in her mind, and when you do the right thing for the right reasons you have to hope the politics work out for you.' ... Cheney was in the House chamber, urging that Republicans reject efforts pushed by Trump and many others in her party to challenge the electoral college results that determined Trump had lost his reelection bid. She did not know she was being attacked by Trump, who was delivering the speech that would incite a mob to storm the Capitol, until her father reached her by phone in the House cloakroom. 'We got to get rid of the weak congresspeople, the ones that aren't any good, the Liz Cheneys of the world,' Trump said in the speech, singling her out as he urged the mob to march to the Capitol. After being informed of the president's tirade by her father, Cheney walked out on the House floor, still hoping to stop the effort backed by Trump to overturn the electoral college votes. Then she heard a mob banging on the chamber's doors and a shot fired, and realized that an attempted insurrection was underway."
Writing for the Guardian, Justin Blake, the uncle of Jacob Blake, offers the following commentary on the "two justice systems in America":
"Last week, I was again reminded that we live under two justice systems. One lets armed white insurrectionists violently attack our nation's seat of government. Another gasses, beats, and shoots rubber bullets at people defending Black lives. And even though I live nowhere near Washington DC, this is personal for me. The day before the attempted insurrection at the US Capitol, Rusten Sheskey got off scot-free. He is the Kenosha cop who shot my nephew, Jacob Blake, seven times in the back. The Kenosha district attorney, Michael Gravely, declined to charge Sheskey, and he faces no consequences. Jacob is now permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Sheskey is just like the thousands of Trump-supporting, white nationalists who laid siege to the US Capitol in broad daylight. They broke windows, stole federal property, and ransacked offices. They endangered lawmakers, their staff, and other employees in the complex. They may have exposed countless people to Covid-19. They had flex cuffs and placed pipe bombs. They were out for blood. This justice system calls these people 'protesters', and they are protected by the first amendment. Sheskey operates under this justice system, and it is unacceptable. He claimed self-defense after he shot Jacob in the back, in front of his kids, also in broad daylight. No plausible explanation exists for this escalated response. The fact that the Capitol insurrection and Jacob's shooting both happened in broad daylight shows how barefaced state-sanctioned violence has become."
Peter Meijer, a House Republican, says he supports impeachment stating: "President Trump betrayed his oath of office by seeking to undermine our constitutional process, and he bears responsibility for inciting the insurrection we suffered last week. With a heavy heart, I will vote to impeach President Donald J. Trump."
Anthony Gonzalez, a House Republican, says he supports impeachment stating: "The president of the United States helped organize and incite a mob that attacked the United States congress in an attempt to prevent us from completing our solemn duties as prescribed by the Constitution."
The House is taking up H.Res. 24 today, a resolution to impeach Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors. Here are some highlights:
- The article of impeachment was read to the House floor, which reads in part:
"In his conduct while President of the United States — and in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, provide, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed — Donald John Trump engaged in high Crimes and Misdemeanors by inciting violence against the Government of the United States ... Donald John Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law. Donald John Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States."
- Nancy Pelosi stated: "He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation we all love ... We know that the president of the United States incited this insurrection, armed rebellion, against our common country"
- Tom Cole, a Republican, called for "healing" and claimed another impeachment would only further divide the nation. NOTE: Cole supported an objection to counting Arizona and Pennsylvania's electoral votes for Joe Biden following the Capitol insurrection.
- Steny Hoyer, the Democratic House majority leader, responded to the claim that impeachment will divide the nation saying: "There are consequences to actions, and the actions of president of the United States demand urgent, clear action by the Congress of the United States."
- Nancy Mace, a Republican, argued against impeachment saying it's "rushed" and "there is violence on both sides of the aisle". Mace also stated: "I hold him accountable for the events that transpired."
- Jim Jordan, a Republican, argued "It's always been about getting the president, no matter what. It’s an obsession, an obsession that has now broadened. It’s not just about impeachment anymore, it’s about canceling, as I’ve said. Canceling the president and anyone that disagrees with them. ... We should be focused on bringing the nation together. Instead, Democrats are going to impeach the president for a second time one week, one week before he leaves office. Why? They want to cancel the president. It won't just be the president of the United States. The cancel culture will come for us all."
- Adam Schiff, a Democrat, argued the riot represented "the most dangerous moment for our democracy in a century ... Today, we invoke the remedy the founders provided for just such a lawless president: impeachment ... More important, today we begin the long road to restoration. ... To preserve this sacred place, this citadel of democracy, for ourselves and for posterity, let us say enough. Enough."
- Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat, stated: "Donald Trump is a living, breathing impeachable offense."
- Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House minority leader, stated: "The president bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob rioters. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding ...Some say the riots were caused by antifa. There is absolutely no evidence of that. Conservatives should be the first to say so ... Let's be clear, Joe Biden will be sworn in as president of the United States in one week because he won the election."
- Cori Bush, a Democrat, argued: "If we fail to remove a white supremacist president who incited a white supremacist insurrection, it's communities like Missouri's 1st district that suffer the most. The 117th Congress must understand that we have a mandate to legislate in defense of Black lives. The first step in that process is to root out white supremacy, starting with impeaching the white supremacist-in-chief."
- Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican, wore a mask that said "CENSORED" on it while she spoke to the House floor. Her speech was also broadcast live on national television. NOTE: WTF?
- Chip Roy, a Republican, stated: "The president of the United States deserves universal condemnation for what was clearly, in my opinion, impeachable conduct, pressuring the vice president to violate his oath to the constitution." NOTE: Roy does not support impeachment.
- Young Kim, a Republican, stated: "The violence we saw last week was disgusting. Our law enforcement was attacked, lives were lost and more were put in danger. These rioters must be held accountable. Words have consequences and I believe the president should also be held accountable." NOTE: Kim followed this statement up with: "However, I believe impeaching the president now will fail to hold him accountable or allow us to move forward once President-elect Biden is sworn in. This process will only create more fissures in our country as we emerge from some of our darkest days."
- Tom McClintock, a Republican, argued: "If we impeached every politician who gave a fiery speech to a crowd of partisans, this Capitol would be deserted. That’s what the president did, that is all he did. He specifically told the crowd to protest peacefully and patriotically. And the vast majority of them did. But every movement has a lunatic fringe."
- Matt Gaetz, a Republican, argued: "I denounce political violence from all ends of the spectrum, but make no mistake, the left in America has incited far more political violence than the right. For months, our cities burned, police stations burned, our businesses were shattered, and they said nothing. Or they cheer-led for it and fund-raised for it and they allowed it to happen in the greatest country in the world. Now some have cited the metaphor that the president lit the flame. Well, they lit actual flames. Actual fires."
Final tally on impeachment vote:
232 supporting impeachment, 10 votes from Republicans.
197 oppose impeachment.
Donald Trump has become the first president in US history to be impeached twice. This impeachment is also the most bipartisan presidential impeachment in US history.
These are the 10 Republicans who joined Democrats to impeach Donald Trump:
John Katko of New York.
Liz Cheney of Wyoming.
Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.
Fred Upton of Michigan.
Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington state.
Dan Newhouse of Washington state.
Peter Meijer of Michigan.
Tom Rice of South Carolina.
Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio.
David Valadao of California.
Notable reactions to Trump's second impeachment:
"In case you weren't clear about the state of today's GOP: Only 10 House Republicans voted to impeach a president who incited an attempted overthrow of the U.S. government." - Robert Reich
"Especially white Americans don't like to hear it, but we got to the 'coup' stage of fascism because we didn't impeach at the concentration camps, cages, family separations, beatings, gassing, disappearances. Fascism's a pattern of escalation and nobody tried to really break it" - @umairh
"The bottom line is that after everything, ten House Republicans voted to impeach Trump, two Cabinet officers quit, Twitter banned Trump, Lindsey Graham got off the train and back on again, and Trump is staying in office. For a week." - Susan Glasser
"We all know that the Republicans are going to try to impeach Biden at some point, right? To do another one of their 'sorry, these are the new rules. See how you like it,' things." - Parker Molloy
Donald Trump released a video statement where he stated: "Those who engaged in the attacks last week will be brought to justice". NOTE: Trump made no mention of the impeachment.
According to CNN, Robert Kieth Packer, a Virginia resident who stormed the Capitol while wearing a sweatshirt that said "Camp Auschwitz" on it, has been arrested. From the story:
"An image of Packer inside the Capitol, whose sweatshirt bore the name of the Nazi concentration camp where about 1.1 million people were killed during World War II, has evoked shock and disbelief on social media. The bottom of his shirt stated, 'Work brings freedom,' which is the rough translation of the phrase 'Arbeit macht frei' that was on the concentration camp's gates. ... One Virginia resident, who spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, described Packer as a long-time extremist who has had run-ins with the law. 'He's been always extreme and very vocal about his beliefs,' the resident said."
According to Axios, Andy Biggs, a Republican congressman from Arizona, is circulating a petition calling on Liz Cheney to resign from her post as House Republican conference chair.
Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator, released a statement claiming that impeachment "will do great damage to the institutions of government and could invite further violence ... To my Republican colleagues who legitimize this process, you are doing great damage not only to the country, the future of the presidency, but also to the party."
Writing for the Guardian, Lois Beckett offers the following commentary about possible violence to come:
"A guillotine outside the state capitol in Arizona. A Democratic governor burned in effigy in Oregon. Lawmakers evacuated as pro-Trump crowds gathered at state capitols in Georgia and New Mexico. Cheers in Idaho as a crowd was told fellow citizens were 'taking the Capitol' and 'taking out' Mike Pence, the vice-president. As a mob of thousands invaded the US Capitol on 6 January, Trump supporters threatened lawmakers and fellow citizens in cities across the country. Compared with the violent mob in Washington, the pro-Trump crowds elsewhere in the country were much smaller, attracting dozens to hundreds of people. But they used the same extreme rhetoric, labeling both Democratic politicians and Republicans perceived as disloyal to Trump as 'traitors'. As the FBI warns of plans for new armed protests in Washington and all 50 state capitols in the days leading up to Biden's inauguration, and fresh calls for extreme violence circulate on social media forums, the intensity of the nationwide pro-Trump demonstrations and attacks last week offer evidence of what might be coming next. Some of the pro-Trump demonstrations on Wednesday did not turn violent. The dozens of Trump supporters who entered the Kansas state capitol remained peaceful, according to multiple news reports. In Carson City, Nevada, hundreds of Trump supporters drank beer and listened to rock music while denouncing the election results, the Reno Gazette Journal reported. But in Los Angeles, white Trump supporters assaulted and ripped the wig off the head of a young black woman who happened to pass their 6 January protest, the Los Angeles Times reported. A white woman was captured on video holding the wig and shouting, 'Fuck BLM!' and, 'I did the first scalping of the new civil war.' In Ohio and Oregon, fights broke out between counter-protesters and members of the Proud Boys, the neo-fascist group Trump directed in September to 'stand back and stand by'. Proud Boys also reportedly demonstrated in Utah, California, Florida and South Carolina. And in Washington state, Trump supporters, some armed, pushed through the gate of the governor's mansion and stormed on to the lawn of Democrat Jay Inslee's house. In Georgia, where lawmakers were evacuated from the state capitol, members of the III% Security Force militia, a group known for its anti-Muslim activism, had gathered outside. Militia members, neo-Nazis, and other rightwing extremists have discussed multiple potential dates for armed protests in the coming days, researchers who monitor extremist groups say, with proposals ranging from rallies or attacks on state capitols to a 'million militia march' in Washington. The FBI's intelligence bulletin has warned of potential armed protests from 16 January 'at least' through inauguration day on 20 January, but researchers say that energy had not yet coalesced around a single event. Public social media forums where Trump supporters have gathered to discuss plans are full of dramatic, contradictory rumors, but experts say that more concrete plans are likely being made in private and in smaller forums that are more difficult to infiltrate."
January 12, 2021 - According to the Washington Post, the Capitol Police is still experiencing fall-out from the Capitol siege. From the story:
"Several US Capitol Police officers have been suspended and more than a dozen others are under investigation for suspected involvement with or inappropriate support for the demonstration last week that turned into a deadly riot at the Capitol, according to members of Congress, police officials and staff members briefed on the developments. Eight separate investigations have been launched into the actions of Capitol officers, according to one congressional aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the status of the internal review. In one of the cases, officers had posted what Capitol Police investigators found to be messages showing support for the rally on Wednesday that preceded the attack on the complex, including touting President Trump's baseless contention that the election had been stolen through voter fraud, the aide said. Investigators in another instance found that a Capitol officer had posted 'inappropriate' images of President-elect Joe Biden on a social media account. The aide declined to describe the photographs."
According to Axios, Donald Trump tried to blame the insurrection on antifa during a call with House minority leader Kevin McCarthy. From the story:
"Despite facing an impeachment vote for an assault he helped incite, the outgoing president is still sticking with his tried-and-true playbook of deflecting and reaching for conspiracies. In a tense, 30-minute-plus phone call with House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, Trump trotted out the Antifa line. McCarthy would have none of it, telling the president: 'It's not Antifa, it's MAGA. I know. I was there,' according to a White House official and another source familiar with the call. The White House official said the call was tense and aggressive at times, with Trump ranting about election fraud and an exasperated McCarthy cutting in to say, 'Stop it. It's over. The election is over.' He told Trump he should call Joe Biden, meet with the president-elect and follow tradition and leave a welcome letter in the Resolute Desk for his successor. The president told him he hadn't decided whether to do so for Biden."
According to NBC News, a second Democratic lawmaker has tested positive for coronavirus following the Capitol Riots. From the story:
"Overnight, a second lawmaker said she had tested positive for Covid-19 after sheltering in place with lawmakers who refused to wear masks during the violent rioting at the US Capitol last week. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington state Democrat, said in a statement early Tuesday that she had been quarantining since the attack and learned of her positive test result Monday night. 'Too many Republicans have refused to take this pandemic and virus seriously, and in doing so, they endanger everyone around them,' she said in a statement. 'Only hours after President Trump incited a deadly assault on our Capitol, our country, and our democracy, many Republicans still refused to take the bare minimum Covid-19 precaution and simply wear a damn mask in a crowded room during a pandemic — creating a superspreader event on top of a domestic terrorist attack.'"
Writing for the Guardian, Malaika Jabali offers the following commentary about the conservative social network called Parler:
"I joined Parler in November, before various tech companies announced plans to take it offline. It didn't take long to find a bevy of hashtags and posts romanticizing civil war. By late November, there were over 10,000 posts that included the hashtag #civilwar and its variants. The person who posted 'Civil war is coming' was replying to a post by Wayne Root, a conservative media personality with more than 100,000 followers on Twitter. Root leveled the same unproven accusations of voter fraud as Donald Trump, using the same calls for battle that white power groups heeded in their storming of the US Capitol the first week of 2021. While some on the far right will probably retreat into the shadows cast by polling booths and hidden by exit polling data that obscures Trump's popularity, many have not. Any perception of progress for Black people, even if this progress does not substantively exist, perpetuates violence against us and our perceived allies like leftists, Marxists and Democrats – all named by Parler posters as opposing parties in this hypothetical civil war. To say that Parler's users, or any Americans who revel in white power tropes and violent memes, are 'extremist' is a bit of a misnomer. What we call extremism is, if anything, a common American tradition. Millions of Americans, if they don't proactively endorse the violence, silently concede to it. They vote for it. They dress it in words like 'tradition' and 'free speech'."
According to the FBI, far-right extremist groups are planning armed protests in all 50 state capitals and in Washington DC.
Writing for USA Today, Elaine S. Povich and Alex Brown offer the following analysis of security at state capitals:
"State capitols around the country remain on high alert following the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and as new threats surface online, but with less than two-thirds of them employing metal detectors, and about 20 statehouses specifically allowing guns inside, there are many security gaps that rioters could exploit. Demonstrators at previous statehouse events spouted the same pro-Trump rhetoric and carried the same kinds of inflammatory banners as their counterparts in Washington, DC. Many capitols already are temporarily inaccessible to the public because of Covid-19 concerns. But even after the violence in Washington, DC, some stayed open, albeit with more screening of visitors or staff. And they can't stay closed forever, even in the face of future mobs in or near capitol buildings. Security measures at state capitols range widely. About 30 state capitols employ metal detectors, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Spokesperson Mick Bullock would not elaborate, citing security concerns. On the flip side, according to the Crime Prevention Research Center, a pro-gun research group, about 20 capitols officially allow carrying legal firearms inside."
According to the New York Times, Deutsche Bank has severed ties with Donald Trump.
Writing for Newsweek, Ewan Palmer offers the following commentary on Charlie Kirk denying the attack on the Capitol was an insurrecton:
"Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative student group Turning Point USA, has dismissed any suggestion that the attack on the Capitol last week was an insurrection and that many of those taking part were merely expressing 'bad judgment.' A video of Kirk downplaying the deadly attack in which far-right extremists and QAnon conspiracy theorists stormed Congress, was shared on Twitter. During the clip, Kirk said while it was 'not wise' to climb the Capitol steps and storm the corridors of the building, it is wrong to compare those who did to terrorists such as the Oklahoma Bomber. 'Not wise does not mean you're an insurrectionist,' Kirk said. 'Just because you do something stupid, does not mean your Timothy McVeigh. Just because you do something that is regrettable does not mean that you are planning an armed insurrection against the United States government' ... A number of people on social media suggested that Kirk was attempting to distance himself from the violence which erupted in the nation's capital after previously claiming that Turning Point Action, the political action committee arm of Turning Point USA, would be sending '80+ buses full of patriots' to attend the capital in a since deleted-tweet. 'The historic event will likely be one of the largest and most consequential in American history,' Kirk tweeted two days before January 6. 'The team at @TrumpStudents & Turning Point Action are honored to help make this happen, sending 80+ buses full of patriots to DC to fight for this president.'"
Writing for the Guardian, J Oliver Conroy offers the following commentary on what the future may look like for Senator Josh Hawley:
"Unlike Donald Trump, Hawley did not directly encourage the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol last Wednesday. But his move to muddy the legitimacy of the election undoubtedly fanned the flames. Now, with five people dead, human excrement smeared on the walls of a building many Americans regard as close to sacred, and widespread calls for Trump to resign or face impeachment, Hawley may have succeeded in casting himself as a mini-Trump – and is facing an accordingly fierce backlash. Although he condemned the violence at the Capitol, Hawley has doubled down on his decision to challenge the election. 'I will never apologize for giving voice to the millions of Missourians and Americans who have concerns about the integrity of our elections,' he said in a public statement after the riot. 'That’s my job, and I will keep doing it.' As blowback builds, the question is whether Hawley – now an overnight pariah in Washington – will suffer politically for his wild gamble to pander to a minority of Americans who are diehard Trump supporters, and include Qanon conspiracy theorists. His decision to cast his lot with would-be insurrectionists, if only indirectly, may have been a bridge too far for many Americans. Hawley's mentor, the Republican former senator John Danforth, recently told the St Louis Post-Dispatch: 'Supporting Josh and trying so hard to get him elected to the Senate was the worst mistake I ever made in my life.' Simon & Schuster has cancelled publication of a forthcoming book by Hawley. Several Democratic members of Congress have called for Hawley and Cruz to resign, as has his home state newspaper, the Kansas City Star."
According to the Guardian, Elise Stefanik, a Republican congresswoman of New York, has been removed from an advisory committee at Harvard University over her role in promoting baseless claims of widespread fraud in the presidential election. The following was taken from a statement by Doug Elmendorf, the dean of Harvard Kennedy School:
"Elise has made public assertions about voter fraud in November's presidential election that have no basis in evidence, and she has made public statements about court actions related to the election that are incorrect. Moreover, these assertions and statements do not reflect policy disagreements but bear on the foundations of the electoral process through which this country's leaders are chosen."
Elmendorf asked Stefanik to step aside, but she refused, so Elmendorf removed her.
Elise Stefanik responded to her removal from the advisory committee saying: "As a conservative Republican, it is a rite of passage and badge of honor to join the long line of leaders who have been boycotted, protested, and canceled by colleges and universities across America."
Trump was asked by a reporter what his role was in what happened at the Capitol and what his personal responsibility is. Trump responded: "If you read my speech ... people thought that what I said was totally appropriate. We want no violence. On the impeachment, it's really a continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics. I think it's causing tremendous danger to our country, and it's causing tremendous anger. I want no violence."
A third Democratic member of the House of Representatives has tested positive for coronavirus following the Capitol Insurrection. Representative Brad Schneider released this statement following his diagnosis:
"Last Wednesday, after narrowly escaping a violent mob incited by the President of the United States to attack the Capitol and its occupants, I was forced to spend several hours in a secure but confined location with dozens of other Members of Congress. Several Republican lawmakers in the room adamantly refused to wear a mask, as demonstrated in video from Punchbowl News, even when politely asked by their colleagues. Today, I am now in strict isolation, worried that I have risked my wife's health and angry at the selfishness and arrogance of the anti-maskers who put their own contempt and disregard for decency ahead of the health and safety of their colleagues and our staff."
The House rules committee held a debate on a resolution calling for Mike Pence to invoke the 25th amendment to remove Trump from office. Republican Representative Jim Jordan argued against the resolution saying: "Congress needs to stop this, this effort to remove the president from office just one week before he is set to leave. These actions will only again continue to divide the nation."
According to the Washington Post, an FBI office in Virginia issued an internal warning a day before the insurrection that extremists were preparing to travel to Washington and commit war. From the story:
"A situational information report approved for release the day before the U.S. Capitol riot painted a dire portrait of dangerous plans, including individuals sharing a map of the complex's tunnels, and possible rally points for would-be conspirators to meet up in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and South Carolina and head in groups to Washington. 'As of 5 January 2021, FBI Norfolk received information indicating calls for violence in response to 'unlawful lockdowns' to begin on 6 January 2021 in Washington. D.C.,' the document says. 'An online thread discussed specific calls for violence to include stating 'Be ready to fight. Congress needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in, and blood from their BLM and Pantifa slave soldiers being spilled. Get violent. Stop calling this a march, or rally, or a protest. Go there ready for war. We get our President or we die. NOTHING else will achieve this goal.'"
While speaking in Alamo, Texas, Donald Trump stated: "Free speech is under assault like never before. The 25th amendment is of zero risk to me but will come back to haunt Joe Biden and the Biden administration. As the expression goes, be careful what you wish for ... It's time for peace and for calm. Respect for law enforcement is the foundation of the MAGA agenda."
Michael Sherwin, the acting US attorney for the District of Columbia, held a press briefing where he explained the "mind-blowing" range of crimes committed by the insurrectionists, which included felony murder, sedition and conspiracy. Sherwin's warning to the lawbreakers: "You will be charged and you will be found."
According to the New York Times, Republican senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has told colleagues that he believes Trump has committed impeachable offenses. From the story:
"[McConnell] has told associates he believes President Trump committed impeachable offenses and that he is pleased that Democrats are moving to impeach him, believing that it will make it easier to purge him from the party, according to people familiar with his thinking. The House is voting Wednesday to formally charge Mr. Trump with inciting violence against the country. At the same time, Representative Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader and one of Mr. Trump's most steadfast allies in Congress, has asked other Republicans whether he ought to call on Mr. Trump to resign in the aftermath of last week’s riot at the Capitol, according to three Republican officials briefed on the conversations. While Mr. McCarthy has said he is personally opposed to impeachment, he and other party leaders have decided not to formally lobby Republicans to vote 'no,' and an aide to Mr. McCarthy said he was open to a measure censuring Mr. Trump for his conduct. In private, Mr. McCarthy reached out to a leading House Democrat to see if the chamber would be willing to pursue a censure vote, though Speaker Nancy Pelosi has ruled it out."
Republican Representative John Katko has announced that he will vote to impeach Donald Trump for inciting the attack on the US Capitol. From his statement:
"To allow the president of the United States to incite this attack without consequence is a direct threat to the future of our democracy. For that reason, I cannot sit by without taking action. I will vote to impeach this president."
Republican Representative Liz Cheney has announced that she will vote to impeach Donald Trump. From her statement:
"The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution ... The president of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the president. I will vote to impeach the president."
Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger has announced that he will vote to impeach Donald Trump. From his statement:
"There is no doubt in my mind that the President of the United States broke his oath of office and incited this insurrection. He used his position in the Executive to attack the Legislative. So in assessing the articles of impeachment brought before the House, I must consider: if these actions -- the Article II branch inciting a deadly insurrection against the Article I branch -- are not worthy of impeachment, then what is an impeachable offense? I will vote in favor of impeachment."
Larry Hogan, the Republican governor of Maryland, sent the following in a tweet:
"I will always be proud of my father for putting our country before party and his own career as the first Republican to support impeaching President Nixon. Shortly after his stand, the president resigned. Tonight, I am proud of @RepLizCheney, @RepKinzinger, and @RepJohnKatko."
House Republicans have introduced a measure to censure Donald Trump. NOTE: A censure is symbolic in nature, and would not result in Trump's removal from office.
News surfaced that Lauren Boebert, a Republican representative from Colorado, who subscribes to the QAnon conspiracy, is refusing to comply with a bag search after setting off newly installed metal detectors at the doors leading into the House chamber.
Mike Pence responded to a letter from Nancy Pelosi asking him to invoke the 25th Amendment saying in part:
"I do not believe that such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our Constitution ... set a terrible precedent."
Manu Raju, a reporter from CNN, sent the following tweet:
"House GOP furious at new mags outside the chamber. Reps. Markwayne Mullin and Steve Womack erupted at Capitol Police as they were forced to go through the mags. Womack shouted 'I was physically restrained!' And Mullin said 'it's my constitutional right' and 'they cannot stop me'"
Debbie Lesko, a Republican congresswoman from Arizona, sent the following tweet:
"For members of Congress to enter the floor of the U.S. House, we now have to go through intense security measures, on top of the security we already go through. These new provisions include searches and being wanded like criminals. We now live in Pelosi's communist America!"
Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, named the impeachment managers for Trump's second impeachment saying:
"Tonight, I have the solemn privilege of naming the managers of the impeachment trial of Donald Trump. It is their constitutional and patriotic duty to present the case for the president's impeachment and removal. They will do so guided by their great love of country, determination to protect our democracy and loyalty to our oath to the constitution. Our managers will honor their duty to defend democracy for the people with great solemnity, prayerfulness and urgency."
The impeachment managers will be:
Jamie Raskin, Diana DeGette, David Cicilline, Joaquin Castro, Eric Swalwell, Ted Lieu, Stacey Plaskett, Joe Neguse and Madeleine Dean.
In the 1st abortion case reviewed since Amy Cony Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court, the court re-instated a Food and Drug Administration rule that Mifeprex, a drug used for abortions early in a pregnancy, must be administered by medical professionals at clinics or hospitals. The American College of Obstetricians had fought against the rule during the pandemic when access to clinics and hospitals became restricted. The 3 liberal justices dissented. In her dissent, Sonia Sotomayor stated:
"Because the FDA's policy imposes an unnecessary, unjustifiable, irrational, and undue burden on women seeking an abortion during the current pandemic, and because the Government has not demonstrated irreparable harm from the injunction, I dissent."
The House of Representatives has approved fines for members who don't comply with a mask-wearing mandate. The fine is $500 for the 1st offense, and $2,500 for a 2nd offense. The vote was split along party lines.
Republican representative Fred Upton announced that he will vote to impeach Donald Trump.
Andy Biggs and Matt Rosendale, two Republican members of the House, have called on Liz Cheney to step down from party leadership saying in a statement that she is "weakening our conference at a key moment for personal political gain and is unfit to lead."
January 11, 2021 - According to a new ABC News/Ipsos survey, 67% of the respondents hold Trump responsible for the Capitol Riots, 56% feel he should be removed form office before January 20th.
News surfaced that two men who were observed carrying "zip tie" handcuffs inside the US Capitol - suggesting plans to kidnap lawmakers - have been arrested.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former governor of California, and movie actor, compared the Capitol Riots to Kristallnacht, the night in November 1938 when Nazi thugs attacked Jewish Germans and their property, a harbinger of horrors to come. According to Schwarzenegger:
"I grew up in Austria and was very aware of Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass. It was a night of rampage against the Jews carried out [by] the Nazi equivalent of the Proud Boys [a quasi-fascist group of Trump supporters]. Wednesday was the Day of Broken Glass right here in the United States. The broken glass was in the windows of the United States Capitol. But the mob did not just shatter the windows of the Capitol. It has shattered the ideals we took for granted. They did not just break down the doors of the building that housed American democracy. They trampled the very principles on which our country was founded ... I have seen firsthand how things can spin out of control. I know there is a fear in this country and all over the world that something like this could happen right here. I do not believe it is. But I do believe that we must be aware of the dire consequences of selfishness and cynicism. President Trump sought to overturn the results of an election. And a fair election. He sought a coup by misleading people with lies. My father and our neighbours were misled also with lies. I know where such lies lead. President Trump is a failed leader. He will go down in history as the worst president ever. The good thing is he soon will be as irrelevant as an old tweet."
Video surfaced of a large group of insurrectionists at the Capitol chanting "Hang Mike Pence!"
According to Reuters, Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington DC, has asked the Department of Homeland Security for increased security around Biden's inauguration.
According to the Covid tracking project, the US has now seen more than 100,000 coronavirus hospitalizations 40 days in a row. There is also growing concern about a new strain imported from the UK which could worsen the situation.
Amazon pulled its hosting services for Parler, the "free speech" social network for conservatives, forcing it offline. From an Amazon letter to Parler:
"Recently, we've seen a steady increase in ... violent content on your website, all of which violates our terms. It also seems that Parler is still trying to determine its position on content moderation. You remove some [content] when contacted by us or others, but not always with urgency. Your CEO recently stated publicly that he doesn’t 'feel responsible for any of this, and neither should the platform'. We cannot provide services to a customer that is unable to effectively identify and remove content that encourages or incites violence against others."
According to the AP, claims that "Antifa" was involved in the Capitol Riots doesn't hold up. From the story:
"The insurrectionist mob that showed up at the president's behest and stormed the US Capitol was overwhelmingly made up of longtime Trump supporters, including Republican Party officials, GOP political donors, far-right militants, white supremacists, and adherents of the QAnon myth. The Associated Press reviewed social media posts, voter registrations, court files and other public records for more than 120 people either facing criminal charges related to the 6 January or who, going maskless amid the pandemic, were later identified through photographs and videos taken during the melee. The AP found that many of the rioters had taken to social media after the November election to retweet and parrot false claims by Trump that the vote had been stolen in a vast international conspiracy. Several had openly threatened violence against Democrats and Republicans they considered insufficiently loyal to the president. During the riot, some livestreamed and posted photos of themselves at the Capitol. Afterwards, many bragged about what they had done."
Melania Trump, the first lady, issued a statement about the insurrection at the Capitol. From her statement:
"I am disappointed and disheartened with what happened last week. I find it shameful that surrounding these tragic events there has been salacious gossip, unwarranted personal attacks, and false misleading accusations on me – from people who are looking to be relevant and have an agenda. This time is solely about healing our country and its citizens. It should not be used for personal gain. Our Nation must heal in a civil manner. Make no mistake about it, I absolutely condemn the violence that has occurred on our Nation’s Capitol. Violence is never acceptable. As an American, I am proud of our freedom to express our viewpoints without persecution ... I would like to call on the citizens of this country to take a moment, pause, and look at things from all perspectives. It is inspiring to see that so many have found a passion and enthusiasm in participating in an election, but we must not allow that passion to turn to violence. Our path forward is to come together, find our commonalities, and be the kind and strong people that I know we are."
Writing for the Daily Beast, Jamie Ross responded to Melania Trump's statement saying:
"In a deeply weird and jarring farewell statement posted by the White House early Monday morning, Melania first paid tribute to those who lost their lives in last week's violence carried out in support of her husband, before going on to settle some scores against unspecified people who she claims have 'attacked' her over the past few days since the riots. It's not exactly clear what she's referring to—it's hard to believe that Melania has really been at the forefront of anyone's mind since last week's unprecedented assault on American democracy. It could be a reference to a CNN report that she was doing a photoshoot at the White House when rioters were laying siege to the Capitol on behalf of her husband. It could also refer to Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who previously served as an aide to the first lady, who condemned her last week saying 'It was an assault on human life and our great democracy. Unfortunately, our president and first lady have little, if any, regard for either.' So there goes Melania, signing off exactly as she served: Complaining about people being mean to her, completely misjudging the mood of the nation, and spouting trite soundbites about morality and good behaviour while saying nothing about the deranged actions of her husband."
As has been the case for many days now, Trump's published schedule for today reads: "will work from early in the morning until late in the evening. He will make many calls and have many meetings."
Writing for the Guardian, Joan Donovan, Brian Friedberg and Emily Dreyfuss, who are researchers at the Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, offer the following analysis of the Capitol siege:
"'The storm' on the Capitol is the result of a new kind of networked conspiracy – a potent brew of disinformation and rumor enabled by platforms, emboldened by politicians and influencers, and defined by a total lack of trust in the news. While those who stormed the Capitol seem to come from all walks of life, one faction of older white people stood out, aided by a viral image of Richard Barnett, 60, of Gravette, Arkansas, sitting at Nancy Pelosi's desk. Online they are called the 'boomerwaffen', a pejorative name for the boomers and normies radicalized by cable news and AM radio, likening their potential for rightwing violence to that of Atomwaffen terrorists. The boomerwaffen showed up cloaked in Trump gear from head to toe, they gave testimonials parroting the claims of their favorite YouTubers and podcasters, referencing QAnon, and describing a conspiracy to steal the election from Trump. Eschewing the risks of the pandemic, they believed 6 January was the last day they could pressure Vice-President Mike Pence and Republicans to reject the results of the election. The boomerwaffen occupy an area of our media ecosystem where Trump still has a chance, QAnon is still leaking privileged government secrets, and Rudy Gulinani is a good lawyer up against a rigged system. Creating and maintaining the boomerwaffen universe requires an incredible amount of resources. Trump's disinformation campaigns are a media spectacle involving a stunning array of political operatives, media pundits, lawyers, and influencers who day-to-day create, publish, and share a cascade of lies and speculation across webspaces, cable news, and radio all at once."
According to the Washington Post, Republican officials are now insisting they knew nothing of a robocall campaign urging supporters to march on Washington DC last Wednesday. From the story:
"The day before a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, an arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association sent out robocalls urging supporters to come to D.C. to 'fight' Congress over President Trump's baseless election fraud claims. 'At 1 pm we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal,' said the message first reported by the watchdog group Documented. 'We're hoping patriots like you will join us to continue to fight to protect the integrity of our elections.' After the attempted insurrection on Wednesday left a police officer and four others dead, several Republican attorneys general have now distanced themselves from the robocalls, insisting they didn't know about the campaign. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, the chairman of the Rule of Law Defense Fund, the nonprofit that sent out the calls, blamed the group's staffers. 'I was unaware of unauthorized decisions made by RLDF staff with regard to this week's rally,' he said in a statement to the Montgomery Advertiser. 'It is unacceptable that I was neither consulted about nor informed of those decisions. I have directed an internal review of the matter.' Those claims fell short for Marshall's Democratic counterparts, who pointed to the number of Republican officials who have repeated the president's unfounded election fraud claims."
According to the Guardian, the New York State Bar Association has launched an investigation to determine whether to expel Rudy Giuliani from its membership.
Steny Hoyer, the House majority leader, introduced a resolution calling on Mike Pence to invoke the 25th amendment to remove Trump from office. The measure was blocked by Alex Mooney, a Republican from West Virginia.
Nancy Pelosi reacted to the blocked resolution saying: "The House Republicans rejected this legislation to protect America, enabling the President's unhinged, unstable and deranged acts of sedition to continue Their complicity endangers America, erodes our Democracy, and it must end."
Ted Liew, David Cicilline and Jamie Rasking, all House Democrats, have formally introduced articles of impeachment against Donald Trump. From the articles of impeachment:
"Resolved, That Donald John Trump, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors. President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government. He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore, Donald John Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law. Donald John Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States."
The FBI put out a warning that an armed group has warned that if Congress attempts to remove Trump via the 25th Amendment, a huge uprising will occur.
Yogannanda Pittman, a long-time Capitol Police officer, has been named as the new acting chief of the force. Pittman is the first woman and first Black American to lead that agency.
Writing for the Washington Post, Hillary Clinton offers the following commentary about white supremacy in America:
"Wednesday's attack on the Capitol was the tragically predictable result of white-supremacist grievances fueled by President Trump. But his departure from office, whether immediately or on Jan. 20, will not solve the deeper problems exposed by this episode. What happened is cause for grief and outrage. It should not be cause for shock. What were too often passed off as the rantings of an unfortunate but temporary figure in public life are, in reality, part of something much bigger. That is the challenge that confronts us all."
Bonnie Watson Coleman, a Democratic congresswoman from New Jersey, sent the following in a tweet: "Following the events of Wednesday, including sheltering with several colleagues who refused to wear masks, I decided to take a Covid test. I have tested positive."
According to the Washington Post, up to 15,000 National Guard troops could be deployed to Washington for Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20. From the story:
"Army Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, said in a call with reporters that about 6,000 guardsmen from six states already are in the nation's capital, and that the military response will expand to about 10,000 by the weekend. Hokanson said the numbers will be determined by the requirements that federal agencies have for support. The National Guard will bring their weapons to Washington and carry them based on discussions with the FBI, police and other agencies. 'Obviously, we're very concerned that we want our individuals to have the right to self-defense,' the general said. 'And so, that will be an ongoing conversation, and if the senior leadership determines that that's the right posture to be in, then that is something that we will do.'"
Hundreds of historians and constitutional scholars have signed an open letter calling for the impeachment and removal of Donald Trump. From the letter:
"Throughout his presidency, Trump has defied the constitution and broken laws, norms, practices, and precedents, for which he must be held accountable now and after he leaves office. No future president should be tempted by the example of his defiance going unpunished ... By fomenting violence against the Congress and seeking to subvert constitutional democracy, which resulted in the killing of a Capitol police officer and the deaths of several rioters, Trump has violated his oath of office to preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States. He is a clear and present danger to American democracy and the national security of the United States ... We urge members of the House of Representatives to conduct a speedy impeachment and the Senate to hold a prompt trial as the constitution stipulates."
According to a new Quinnipiac poll, 73% of Republicans believe Donald Trump is protecting rather than undermining democracy.
Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of the Department og Homeland Security, has resigned. From his resignation letter:
"Effective at 11.59pm today, I am stepping down as your acting secretary. I am saddened to take this step, as it was my intention to serve the Department until the end of this administration. Unfortunately, this action is warranted by recent events, including the ongoing and meritless court rulings regarding the validity of my authority as acting secretary."
Pete Gaynor, the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, will become the acting secretary of DHS.
According to CNN, two capitol police officers have been suspended over their behavior during last week's insurrection. From the story:
"One took a selfie with a rioter, and another was wearing a MAGA hat and 'directing people around,' said Tim Ryan, a Democrat of Ohio, told reporters. Ryan is leading an investigation into the Capitol police's actions during last week's insurrection. He said 15 other officers are being investigated over their actions during the events."
Bill Belichick, head coach of the New England Patriots, stated that he will not accept the presidential medal of freedom, due to the events at the Capitol on January 6th.
January 8, 2021 - Writing for the Guardian, Lois Beckett offers the following commentary on how rightwing impunity fueled the pro-Trump mob at the Capitol:
"The playbook for the Maga invasion of the nation's Capitol building on Wednesday has been developing for years in plain sight, at far-right rallies in cities like Charlottesville, Berkeley, and Portland, and then, in the past year, at state Capitols across the country, where heavily armed white protesters have forced their way into legislative chambers to accuse politicians of tyranny and treason. 'No one should be surprised,' said Sarah Anthony, a Black state lawmaker who was on the legislative floor in Michigan's Capitol on 30 April when hundreds of anti-lockdown protesters, including white militia members with guns, tried to force their way inside. 'This has been escalating in every corner of our country for months.' From screaming matches in the lobby of the state house in Michigan to looting the office of speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi, the demonstrators have grown bolder and their aims more ambitious. But many elements of these incidents repeat each time: the chaotic mix of well-known extremists and unknown Trump supporters who showed up to participate; the strikingly soft and ineffectual response from the police; the expressions of shock from Republican lawmakers that any of their supporters would take action in response to the lies they had been repeating; and of course, the behavior of Trump himself, who first openly incites the violence, and then, when it spirals out of control, praises it instead of condemning it."
Writing for Reuters, Jeff Masons offers the following commentary on what the Capitol Riots might mean long term for Trump:
"'It was a dereliction of duty as commander-in-chief and I think he will be mortally wounded from a political career going forward,' one former White House official who worked for Trump said on Thursday. 'He has blood on his hands from yesterday. A woman died.' 'There's no recovering from what happened. It was sedition. I don't see how there's a future,' said another former administration official, referring to Trump and his top aides. 'I think the Cabinet members that stayed and that aren't speaking out now or even quietly resigning have a stain forever.' Trump's low-key video address on Thursday night is as close as he has come to a concession and it came after intervention from his daughter, Ivanka, according to one current White House official. They noted that the political hit from the week's events would extend to his family members, such as daughter-in-law Lara Trump, a potential candidate for the US Senate in North Carolina ... Trump has raised massive amounts of money in the period since the election, capitalizing on discontent he has fomented by falsely claiming the election was rigged against him through widespread voter fraud. But another former White House official said the president's ability to bring in cash would be inhibited now, too, with the exception of smaller donations from still-ardent supporters in his political base."
Tucker Carlson, a Fox News host, and Trump apologist, offered the following response to the Capitol Riots: "The Trump protests at the Capitol yesterday is already being used as a pretext for an unprecedented crackdown on civil liberties. Just in the last several hours we have heard people in positions of power and authority demand that those who support Donald Trump should no longer be allowed to publish books or use the internet or fly on airplanes." Carlson also criticized Trump saying that he had "recklessly encouraged" the siege of the Capitol.
A picture surfaced of Missouri Representative Josh Hawley raising his fist in a salute to the protesters at the Capitol.
Video surfaced of John Minchillo, an AP reporter, being attacked during the insurrection at the Capitol. Julio Cortez, a colleague of Minchillo, posted the following to Instagram:
"Thankfully, he wasn't injured. He was labeled as an anti protester, even though he kept flashing his press credentials, and one person can be heard threatening to kill him. This is an unedited, real life situation of a member of the press keeping his cool even though he was being attacked. A true professional and a great teammate, I'm glad we were able to get away."
According to CNN, Johns Hopkins university is reporting that in the US, over 4,000 people are dying daily due to coronavirus, which sets a new daily death rate record. From the story:
"The pandemic is not yet showing any signs of slowing down. Rather, across the country, states are reporting an increase in numbers. California reported more than 1,000 Covid-19 deaths in just two days and hospitalizations are at record-high levels, with nearly 23,000 patients admitted with the virus. In Los Angeles County, one person now dies of Covid-19 every eight minutes. Arizona's top health official said Thursday that 'coming out of the Christmas holiday,' the state's Covid-19 numbers are inching upward. 'Cases and percent positivity are rising, as are inpatient and intensive care unit beds occupied by those with Covid-19. Regrettably, deaths from Covid-19 follow these trends,' Dr. Cara Christ, director of the state's Department of Health Services. Texas reported record-high Covid-19 hospitalizations statewide for the fifth day in a row. And while vaccinations are now several weeks in, it will be months before they're widespread enough to make a meaningful impact in the pandemic's course, experts have warned."
Senator Ted Cruz sent the following in a tweet: "Devastating. Heidi and I are lifting up in prayer the family of the U.S. Capitol Police officer who tragically lost his life keeping us safe. He was a true hero. Yesterday's terrorist attack was a horrific assault on our democracy. Every terrorist needs to be fully prosecuted."
Notable response to Cruz's tweet:
"You helped incite this, @TedCruz. Your rhetoric, racism, and 'black ops' led directly to this. You cannot escape responsibility now for the weaponized disinformation you've so gleefully sown." - Brooke Binkowski
LeBron James, basketball player with the Los Angeles Lakers, offered the following commentary on the the Capitol Riots:
"We live in two Americas and a prime example of that was yesterday. If you don’t understand or see that then you need to take a step back. Not just one step but four or five or even 10 steps backward,” James said Thursday night. “How do you want your kids or grandkids to live in this beautiful country? Yesterday was not it. I couldn’t help but to wonder if those were my kind storming the Capitol what would have been the outcome. We all know what would have happened if anyone even got close let alone storm or get in the offices."
Writing for Reuters, Brad Brooks and Nathan Layne offered the following commentary after speaking to Trump supporters about the Capitol Riots:
"A backer of the president in west Texas, Eddie Emerson said he disliked the violence he saw on TV on Wednesday, but echoing a sentiment held by many Trump supporters, Emerson expressed frustration with what he called the hypocrisy of those who condemned the riots but turned a blind eye to violence at Black Lives Matter protests last summer. 'What about Portland?' he asked 'When it's the left behind the violence, then it's just them expressing their voice, their creativity.' In two dozen interviews with Trump backers across deeply conservative slices of Texas and Georgia, they condemned Wednesday's violence, but at the same time did not hold the president responsible. Rather, they said they understood the anger behind it, expressing their own anger with what they believe was a fraudulent election won by Democrat Joe Biden. They blamed the violence on left wing protesters - without any evidence - and expressed little hope that the deeply divided country would unify anytime soon. And none were prepared to abandon Trump. 'Trump isn't a politician,' said Emerson, 67. 'We sent him to Washington to get rid of the swamp, but the swamp got rid of him. And as far as I'm concerned, the swamp now includes the Republican Party, along with the Democrats.' As the threat of a second impeachment loomed, Trump belatedly denounced the violence and finally committed in public to a transition of power. Several administration officials have resigned but Trump's fans appeared to care little about what politicians - even Republicans - had to say in Washington. 'You can't take what happened yesterday and blame it on one person,' said Anslee Payne, a 34-year-old mother of two at her job in Homer, a rural town in northern Georgia. 'None of us believe in the violent aspect of what happened yesterday. People are getting to a point where they feel like - left, right or in between - they are not being listened to,' she said, describing Wednesday's violence as a prelude to a further fraying of society. She said Trump supporters were tired of being wrongly labeled as ignorant, violent or racist. 'I'm sad for our country and for what it is going to come to, but this is just the doorway into what is going to happen because people don't understand what is going on and they don't know what to believe in anymore,' she said. Despite top Republican election officials in Georgia debunking allegations of widespread voter fraud, the interviews in Homer showed an enduring belief among his supporters that their leader was robbed. Linda Mashburn, 39, a waitresses at the Tiny Town Restaurant, said she sympathizes with the frustration behind the violence even if she did not condone it. 'I feel like he was cheated. We just all feel like our votes didn't count,' said Mashburn."
Photos have surfaced of a gallows, complete with hangman's noose, that was erected on Capitol grounds during the riots.
In response to a question from a reporter, Ravinda Shamdasani, the UN's human rights office spokesoman, stated:
"We are deeply troubled by the incitement to violence and hatred by political leaders and we are calling on the president of the United States and other political leaders to disavow, openly disavow, false and dangerous narratives that are being spread."
Shamdasani also expressed concern over displays of symbols representing "white supremacy" that were seen both inside and outside of the Capitol during the insurrection, such as Confederate flags, anti-semitic symbols, and a noose. "We condemn this display of overtly racist symbols" said Shamdasani.
Writing for the Guardian, Peter Beaumont offers the following commentary on the reaction by Trump supporters to Trump's change of tone:
"Donald Trump’s belated 'concession' to a peaceful and orderly transition of power after the storming of the US Capitol has provoked anger and conspiracy theories among some of his most ardent followers. For some of those who flocked to social media channels and chatrooms like Parler and 4chan, where far-right Trumpists have gravitated, as other social media sites have increasingly shut out Trump, some were complaining of betrayal. Trump, claiming he was 'outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem' of the Capitol siege that he incited, said those who 'broke the law will pay' in a move perhaps designed more to protect himself from mounting legal and political hazard than reflecting a newfound sense of contrition and integrity. This promoted an outpouring of anger and grief and denial from his hardline acolytes. 'A punch in the gut,' said one. 'A stab in the back' another railed. From a third: 'I feel like puking.' A widely shared screengrab summed up the sentiment of this group. 'He says it's going to be wild and when it gets wild he calls it a heinous attack and middle-fingers to his supporters he told to be there.' Others turned to conspiracy theories, not least in the dark corners of the online world of 4chan and Parler, where the cult of QAnon holds sway. Many in these places saw not a Trump concession forced on him by his dangerous and insurrectionary behaviour, but either a 'deep fake' video concocted by Trump's enemies, or they scoured for evidence of secret messages that indicated Trump was still on track to deliver on QAnon's deranged promises. 'FAK fake fake He's been locked out of his Twitter he can't get into it he couldn't get into it he couldn't get into today it's been closed out for ever,' opined someone called Magafree, while Brenda amplified the theory. 'He has a plan here President Trump would not back down that easily. We need to stand strong, keep watch and pray. Something big is coming and Gid [God] is going to see it through.' But the reactions of the more mainstream parts of the Trump-era echo chamber have been the most instructive. Sites such as Breitbart and the Daily Caller appear to have swung into line behind an emerging Republican consensus that has become increasingly hostile to Trump, blaming him not only for the storming of Congress, but also for delivering the presidency, the House of Representatives, and, on Tuesday, the Senate to the Democrats."
Speaking to Politco, Alyssa Farah, the former White House communications director, stated the following:
"I made the decision back in December to step down because going back to the day after Election Day, I was scheduled to go on TV and was prepared to deliver a message that I was proud of, which is: It looks like we lost, but Republicans were able to turn out record Hispanic support, record African-American support. And we helped get a record number of women elected to the House of Representatives. But I was advised by the campaign to stand down. That wouldn't be the message. We weren't going to be acknowledging the loss, and they were going to pursue avenues to reconcile that. And I'm of the mind that it's foundational to our democracy that if you think there was fraud or irregularities, the president absolutely should pursue legal recourse to determine if there was. But we're now at a point where we've seen something like 60 cases, and conservative judges ruling against them. And there just has not been compelling evidence of anything to show that the election went any way different than it did. So, long answer short: I made the decision to step down in December because I saw where this was heading, and I wasn't comfortable being a part of sharing this message to the public that the election results might go a different way. I didn't see that to be where the facts lay. Then Wednesday was really a boiling point showing that misleading the public has consequences. And what happened was unacceptable. It was unpatriotic. It was un-American. And I certainly fault the protesters—frankly, we should call them terrorists, but I fundamentally fault our elected leadership who allowed these people to believe that their election was stolen from them. The president and certain advisors around him are directly responsible."
Writing for the Washington Post, David Ignatious offers the following analysis of what went wrong with security operations at the Capitol:
"The FBI underestimated the number of protesters, predicting a maximum of 20,000, which turned out to be less than half the number who showed up. The Capitol Police didn't stand their ground at the perimeter or at the Capitol itself. The mayor was slow to request additional troops from the D.C. National Guard. The acting attorney general was similarly tardy in ordering elite FBI units into the Capitol. And the Pentagon brass worried more about avoiding politicization of the military than about stopping an insurrection. But as we look for who to blame in this catastrophe, let's focus on the real culprits: President Trump, who incited the rioters and urged them toward the Capitol; the 13 Republican senators and 138 House members who challenged President-elect Joe Biden's victory and egged on the insurgents; and the smug, self-appointed patriots who trashed the people's house. Trump should face legal action for fomenting this riot. The members who risked the lives of their colleagues by encouraging the fanatics should be censured. The insurgents who ransacked the Capitol should be arrested and prosecuted ... Trump's ragtag army of sedition has lost big. Their narrative of victimization has turned upside down; their claims of election fraud have been demonstrated to be false. Biden's election has been certified, and leading Republicans such as vice president Pence and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell have finally broken from Trump."
Writing for the Guardian, Emma Brockes offers the following commentary on the Capitol Riots:
"'It can’t happen here' is a phrase that, even as it was used in conjunction with darker warnings about Trump, betrayed a bedrock faith in American democracy that overlooks its savage foundations. The white supremacist project, still going strong as an overt tenet of even liberal government policy well into the 20th century – black Americans were largely cut out of the New Deal – should at least have raised as a possibility a white mob storming the government at the behest of a racist president. The fact that they looked, in their costumes and homemade gas masks, so utterly ridiculous wasn't even out of keeping with precedent: that end of the extra-political spectrum has always gone in for fancy dress and flaming theatrics. From a processing point of view, what was stranger, on Wednesday, was that an event with the force of a foregone conclusion still broke a fundamental rule of superstition: that by anticipating the worst, we invite the universe to pleasantly surprise us. The word 'coup' has been used in relation to Trump plenty of times since November. Prior to the president's incitement of the mob, however, it was, even in sincere contexts, used if not as hyperbole, then at least with the expectation that by naming it we lessened the likelihood it would happen. You could take Trump seriously as a threat to national security, believe wholly in his efforts to corrupt the election and still not get fully behind the notion he would encourage a power grab – not just because he is lazy, chaotic and a fool, but because, as an extremely broad principle, nothing ever tends to unfold as predicted."
According to Bloomberg, Sidney Powell, a former Trump campaign lawyer, is being sued for defamation by the voting-machine company Dominion. From the story:
"The complaint filed Friday by Dominion Voting Systems Inc. seeks $1.3 billion from Powell, who filed numerous unsuccessful court cases seeking to overturn the election results. She was dumped by the Trump campaign not long after a Nov. 19 press conference in which she claimed that agents from Iran and China infiltrated Dominion's voting machines to help Biden, and that the software had ties to Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, who died in 2013 ... Powell's wild accusations are demonstrably false. Far from being created in Venezuela to rig elections for a now-deceased Venezuelan dictator, Dominion was founded in Toronto for the purpose of creating a fully auditable paper-based vote system that would empower people with disabilities to vote independently on verifiable paper ballots."
Speaking to CBS News, Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican of Nebraska, stated the following regarding Trump's responsibility for inciting an insurrection:
"He swore an oath to the American people to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. He acted against that. What he did was wicked."
Donald Trump sent the following in a tweet: "The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way shape or form!!!" NOTE: 74,223,251 people voted for Trump. If one were to employ rounding, the appropriate result would be 74,000,000 not 75,000,000.
According to the AP, House Democrats are discussing swift impeachment of Donald Trump. From the story:
"House Democrats are set to hold a caucus meeting at noon, the first since Wednesday's harrowing events at the Capitol, and could take up articles of impeachment against Trump as soon as next week. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi discussed the prospect of impeachment with her leadership team Thursday night, hours after announcing the House was willing to act if Vice President Mike Pence and other officials did not invoke Section 4 of the 25th Amendment — the forceful removal of Trump from power by his own Cabinet."
Donald Trump sent the following tweet:
"To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th." NOTE: It is considered a hallmark of the peaceful transfer of power for the outgoing president to attend the inauguration of their successor. The last time an outgoing president did not attend his successor's inauguration was in 1869 when Andrew Johnson did not attend the inauguration of Ulysses S Grant.
According to the Guardian, Nancy Pelosi is concerned about Trump's access to the nuclear codes. From the story:
"Nancy Pelosi said she is committed to 'preventing an unhinged president from using the nuclear codes,' in a new letter to her House Democratic colleagues. In the 'Dear colleague' letter, the Democratic speaker notes that she spoke to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Mark Milley, this morning about 'discuss available precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike.' Pelosi writes, 'The situation of this unhinged President could not be more dangerous, and we must do everything that we can to protect the American people from his unbalanced assault on our country and our democracy.' Pelosi also addressed Democratic calls to remove Donald Trump from office, after the president incited a violent mob of his supporters to attack the Capitol. On the possibility of invoking the 25th amendment to oust Trump, Pelosi said, 'Yesterday, Leader Schumer and I placed a call with Vice President Pence, and we still hope to hear from him as soon as possible with a positive answer as to whether he and the Cabinet will honor their oath to the Constitution and the American people.'"
According to a spokesperson for Nancy Pelosi, a laptop was stolen from the speaker's office during the insurrection, which was apparently only used for presentations.
Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, released a video which condemn's Donald Trump. From the video:
"What we witnessed was an assault on democracy by violent rioters, incited by the current president and other politicians."
Richard Barnett, one of the insurrectionists who was famously photographed sitting with his feet on Nancy Pelosi's desk, has been arrested. Barnett spoke to a New York Times reporter shortly after storming the Capitol where he spoke about an envelope he had removed from Pelosi's office saying: "I didn't steal it. I put a quarter on her desk, even though she ain't fucking worth it, and I left her a note on her desk that says, 'Nancy, Bigo was here, you bitch.'"
Patty Murray, a Democratic Senator, has called on Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz to resign. From Murray's statement:
"I come to the Capitol every day to fight for what I believe in. I use my voice to tell people what I believe to be right, and I listen to the other side. We hear each other out, we vote, and whoever has the votes wins. And I accept that. Do I always like the outcome? No, but I accept it, because that is what our democracy requires. As a Senator, I respect every member who disagrees with my ideas. I reserve my right to use my voice to fight for what I believe in. But at the end of the day, our job is to keep this country a democracy where voices win, not brute force. Any Senator who stands up and supports the power of force over the power of democracy has broken their oath of office. Senators Hawley and Cruz should resign."
Joe Biden held a press briefing, here are some highlights:
- Biden was asked if Trump should be impeached. His response: "I’ve thought for a long, long time that President Trump wasn’t fit to hold the job. That’s why I ran ... That's a decision for the Congress to make. I'm focused on my job."
- Regarding Trump's announcement that he will not attend the inauguration, Biden stated: "One of the few things he and I have ever agreed on ... It's a good thing, him not showing up. He has exceeded even my worst notions about him. He's embarrassed us around the world."
News surfaced that Derrick Evans, a newly elected legislator in West Virginia, has been arrested for his role in the Capitol Insurrection.
The White House released a statement regarding talk of impeaching Donald Trump for a second time. From the statement:
"As President Trump said yesterday, this is a time for healing and unity as one nation. A politically motivated impeachment against a president with 12 days remaining in his term will only serve to further divide our great country."
Lisa Murkowski, a Republican Senator from Alaska, called on Trump to resign saying:
"I want him to resign. I want him out. He has caused enough damage ... I think he should leave. He said he's not going to show up. He's not going to appear at the inauguration [of Joe Biden on 20 January]. He hasn't been focused on what is going on with Covid. He's either been golfing or he's been inside the Oval Office fuming and throwing every single person who has been loyal and faithful to him under the bus, starting with the vice-president. He doesn't want to stay there. He only wants to stay there for the title. He only wants to stay there for his ego. He needs to get out. He needs to do the good thing, but I don't think he's capable of doing a good thing." NOTE: Murkowski is the first Republican senator to call on Trump to resign.
According to the Guardian, the House will be introducing articles of impeachment against Trump on Monday. From the story:
"House lawmakers are set to introduce articles of impeachment against Donald Trump on Monday, accusing him of inciting an insurrection after the president encouraged a mob that stormed the Capitol building on Wednesday. The articles of impeachment – written by representatives David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Ted Lieu of California and Jamie Raskin of Maryland – have garnered signatures from more than 150 House Democrats. Though Trump has just less than two weeks left in office, lawmakers say the risk of leaving the volatile leader in office leaves no option but impeachment. The action would mark an unprecedented second impeachment during Trump's presidential term. 'This conduct is so grave and this president presents such a clear and present danger to our democracy, I don't think you can simply say let's just wait it out' Cicilline said in an interview. Pelosi has repeatedly pressured Vice-president Mike Pence to remove Trump using the 25th amendment to no avail. She said in a letter to House Democrats on Friday if Trump does not voluntarily leave office she will move forward with impeachment. 'Today the House Democratic Caucus had an hours-long conversation that was sad, moving, and patriotic,' Pelosi said in a statement. 'It was a conversation unlike any other, because it followed a day unlike any other.' Pelosi said deliberations are continuing. Here are the steps that need to be carried out in order to impeach Trump: The House, reconvening early from its recess, votes with a simple majority to pass articles of impeachment. Articles are then sent to the Senate, triggering an automatic trial that would start at 1 pm the next day. Following the trial, a two-thirds majority vote is needed in the Senate to remove Trump from office. A number of Republicans would need to break allegiance to the party to vote Trump out early. One and a half Republican Senators have indicated they may jump ship and vote for impeachment thus far. (Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has explicitly called for Trump to go; Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said he believed Trump had committed 'impeachable offences' but stopped short of committing himself to an impeachment vote.) Some representatives said impeachment proceedings should be launched more quickly. Ilhan Omar, a Democratic Congresswoman from Minnesota said 'Monday isn't early enough'. 'The nation is waiting for us to respond ASAP,' she tweeted on Friday. She previously strongly condemned Wednesday's attack, saying 'we can't allow Trump to remain in office.' 'It’s a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfill our oath,' she wrote."
Twitter announced that Donald Trunmp's account has been permanently suspended. From their statement:
"After review of Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them – how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter – we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence." NOTE: Trump's Twitter account had over 88 million followers.
According to the Guardian, Civil rights advocates are celebrating Trump's removal from Twitter, but are also saying it's too little too late. From the story:
"Those who have long called for Donald Trump’s removal from Twitter praised the decision to finally disable the president’s account on Friday - but many said the move, which came after years of the president sharing lies and misinformation to his 88 million followers, was too little too late. 'These actions are long past due and appropriate,' said Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters for America, a nonprofit media watchdog. 'But, Twitter (and other platforms) doing this now is a lot like senior administration officials resigning with only days left – too little too late. Trump has repeatedly broken Twitter rules. If only Twitter and other platforms had acted earlier, Wednesday's awful events could have been avoided. It is time for Facebook and other platforms to follow suit.' This is not the first time Trump has used his platform to call for violence. Before his presidency, in 2012, Carusone points out, Trump did the same. He tweeted in May encouraging protestors to be shot, after which the tweet was hidden but his account remained online. There are hard lessons to be learned from these failures, said Joan Donovan, an expert in misinformation at Harvard. 'Tech companies have assumed for far too long that their products are neutral,' Donovan said. 'But political elites and the millionaires behind them, knew this assumption could be weaponized. This is a major failure of those who built this technology and claimed they could secure it.' Cracking down on Trump's accounts does have positive effects on hate speech, however. Daily interactions of right-leaning Facebook pages significantly dropped after Trump's temporary Facebook suspension, research from Media Matters found. It also showed right-leaning, left-leaning, and nonaligned pages each earned roughly a third of total engagement during this time."
Donald Trump Jr, responded to his father's suspension from Twitter saying:
"We are living Orwell's 1984. Free-speech no longer exists in America. It died with big tech and what's left is only there for a chosen few."
Google has removed Parler, an app that postions itself as a conservative "pro-free speech" alternative to mainstream social media, from its app store.
January 7, 2021 - The Washington Post editorial board called for the removal of Trump from office. From the editorial:
"The president is unfit to remain in office for the next 14 days. Every second he retains the vast powers of the presidency is a threat to public order and national security. Vice President Pence, who had to be whisked off the Senate floor for his own protection, should immediately gather the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment, declaring that Mr. Trump is 'unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.' Congress, which would be required to ratify the action if Mr. Trump resisted, should do so. Mr. Pence should serve until President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20."
During an interview with the BBC, Priti Patel, the UK home secretary had this to say about Donald Trump:
"His comments directly led to the violence and so far he has failed to condemn that violence – and that is completely wrong ... He basically has made a number of comments yesterday that helped to fuel that violence and he didn’t do anything to de-escalate that whatsoever."
According to the Guardian, Iran's judiciary has issued an arrest warrant for Donald Trump for the drone strike that killed Gen. Qassim Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The charge is for premeditated murder, which carries the death penalty.
Writing for Slate, Aymann Ismail offers the following first person account of what it was like inside the Capitol during the riots:
"As 'Don't Stop Believin' blared from a speaker somewhere, large crowds chanted 'USA! USA!' A man screamed about the American people's will. The entryway was already messed up. Rioters were smashing the windows, and there was wooden furniture piled up and destroyed. I saw a man in a conference room with his feet up. He and his friends were smoking weed, and when we clocked each other, they offered me a joint. In another room, people were lounging and rummaging through furniture. They put up stickers and scrawled slogans like 'Trump Won' and 'Our House.' Some invited me to take their picture. One young guy put his feet up on one of the desks, posed, and told me, 'Yeah, this is my desk. I paid for this.' At one point, I'm pretty sure I saw Gavin McInnes, the Proud Boys founder, strolling around inside in military-style gear. The mood was giddy, but it was chaos. The people I managed to speak to didn't seem to understand the gravity of what they had done. Inside a building they had broken into, they described themselves as 'peaceful' to me. I talked to a kid from Florida, who must have been no more than 17 or 18. He told me, 'This is nothing compared to what Antifa does. I said, 'Look, they're breaking the glass.' He answered, 'Yeah, but at least they're not destroying the things.' I showed him pictures of things destroyed. It didn't register. On the way up, there was a woman holding a sign saying, 'If we were leftists, we would be rioting.'"
Rudy Giuliani sent the following tweet: "Our cause is to obtain an honest vote and to end voter fraud before it becomes a permanent tactic of the enabled and media protected Democrat Party. Violence is rejected, condemned and counter productive. Antifa involvement is no excuse. It contradicts our values."
Notable response to Giuliani's tweet:
"Giuliani literally called for 'trial by combat' at the Sedition Rally yesterday before the insurrection." - Jake Tapper
Writing for the Guardian, Lawrence Douglas offers the following analysis of Trump's enablers:
"The Trump supporters who stormed the Congress were not the only insurrectionists in the Capitol building yesterday; a sizeable number were already gathered in the lawmakers' chambers well before any barriers were breached. In contrast to the agitators in their MAGA hoodies and army fatigue coats, these insurrectionists were seated in their crisp suits when Nancy Pelosi gaveled the opening of the joint session. They are products of our elite schools: Stanford and Yale Law School, Princeton and Harvard Law. They are fully aware that Trump decisively lost a fair election. Yet they have opportunistically chosen to ally themselves with a potentially mortal attack on our democracy. Yet blaming Trump for the violence is pointless. Those who have followed this president knew he would never concede defeat. For the last two months, Trump has essentially become our subversive-in-chief, working overtime to overturn a democratic election. Yesterday, Mitch McConnell finally said, 'back in your cage'— overlooking the fact that for years he had fed and nurtured the beast. Yet McConnell's belated defense of democracy rings heroic compared to the tinny sounds emerging from Ted Cruz. Cruz is already positioning himself as Trump 2.0; as a smoother, more intelligent and articulate demagogue. Trump lies in gross profusion; Cruz dresses his lies in the mantle of reasoned argument. Yesterday, we heard him speak of a 'better way' that would help lawmakers avoid two 'lousy' choices. The first lousy choice was 'setting aside the election'. Only that choice wasn't lousy, it was seditious – and two-thirds of congressional Republicans were, before the ugly scenes, scurrying to embrace it. The second lousy choice was the one mandated by our constitutional democracy – certifying the results that had been duly ratified by the states and upheld by the courts. What makes that choice lousy? The fact, Cruz said, that 'nearly half the country believes the election was rigged'. Well, yes, but perhaps the senator might have mentioned that this is only because of the disinformation that he and the president have been force-feeding the American people."
Mick Mulvaney, Trump's former chief of staff, and current special envoy to Northern Ireland, has resigned, saying: "I called secretary of state Mike Pompeo last night to let him know I was resigning from that. I can't do it. I can't stay. Those who choose to stay, and I have talked with some of them, are choosing to stay because they're worried the president might put someone worse in."
Donald Trump's twitter account was re-instated.
Writing for the New York Times, Giovanni Russonello offers the following analysis of the Capitol riots:
"If Trump has driven the Republican Party off a political cliff, most of the momentum is still inside the car: Well over half of rank-and-file Republican voters still think that the election was stolen from him. While the Senate's Republican caucus mostly came together to allow Biden's win to be confirmed, some senators logged official objections in the record. And on the House side, well over 100 legislators voted in support of objections that the Democratic majority overruled. While conservative news outlets like Fox News and Newsmax were heavily critical of the rioting at the Capitol, it remains hard to imagine that the coalition Trump has assembled will easily disintegrate or meaningfully change course — even after such a traumatic event. The fact remains that a violent protest was able to delay the adoption of the election's legitimate results, and a president who still holds his followers in thrall garnered significant support in refusing to give up power."
Writing for MSNBC, Steve Benen offers the following prediction about right wing revisionism:
"Lou Dobbs and Rep. Mo Brooks, discussed the possibility of antifa instigators' infiltrating the pro-Trump mob. And former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made the same claim, telling Fox News host Martha MacCallum that it was unclear who was instigating the riots. 'A lot of it is the antifa folks,' Palin said, citing 'pictures' she had seen. Laura Ingraham, one of the channel's primetime hosts, spent much of the hour of her show suggesting without evidence that the Trump protesters had been infiltrated by antifa ... After he incited the violent attack on the Capitol, Trump praised the rioters, offered a justification for their crimes. In a missive that Twitter soon after removed, the president referred to his supporters as 'great patriots,' before adding, 'Remember this day forever!' These were not the words of a man who was disappointed with an attack on his own country's Capitol; these were the words of a man who approved of what he saw and was sympathetic to those who acted at his behest. Which makes the 'antifa' talk that much more bewildering. The rioters are simultaneously patriots who did the right thing and secret leftists to be condemned? The mob is both a source of pride and an embarrassment?"
In a statement to the AP, William Barr, the former attorney general, called Trump's conduct a "betrayal of his office and supporters." Barr also stated that "orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable."
Adam Kinzinger, a Republican congressman from Illinois, sent the following tweet: "It is with a heavy heart I am calling for the sake of our Democracy that the 25th Amendment be invoked." Kinzinger also released a video where he stated: "Here's the truth: The president caused this. The president is unfit, and the president is unwell, and the president must now relinquish control of the executive branch, voluntarily or involuntarily."
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, announced that Trump's account will be suspended indefinitely, and for at least the next two weeks until he leaves office. From Zuckerberg's statement:
"We believe the risks of allowing President Trump to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great, so we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks."
Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, released a statement calling for Trump to be removed from office saying in part:
"What happened at the US Capitol yesterday was an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president. This president should not hold office one day longer. The quickest and most effective way – it can be done today – to remove this president from office would be for the vice-president to immediately invoke the 25th amendment. If the vice-president and the cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president."
Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of Homeland Security, released a statement where he said in part:
"What transpired yesterday was tragic and sickening. While I have consistently condemned political violence on both sides of the aisle, specifically violence directed at law enforcement, we now see some supporters of the President using violence as a means to achieve political ends. This is unacceptable. These violent actions are unconscionable, and I implore the President and all elected officials to strongly condemn the violence that took place yesterday."
Within hours of Wolf releasing his statement, the White House withdrew his nomination to lead the Department of Homeland Security. The White House claims the withdrawl was in the works yesterday, and is not related to Wolf's statement.
According to DC Police Chief Robert Contee, 68 people have thus far been arrested for the Capitol siege.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has called for the resignation of Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley saying on twitter:
"Sen. Cruz, you must accept responsibility for how your craven, self-serving actions contributed to the deaths of four people yesterday. And how you fundraised off this riot. Both you and Senator Hawley must resign. If you do not, the Senate should move for your expulsion."
Chuck Schumer, the current Senate minority leader, has pledged to fire Mike Stenger, the Senate Sergeant-at-arms when Democrats take the majority later this month. Both Stenger and House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving are under pressure to step down following the breach of security at the Capitol.
Elaine Chao, the Transportation secretary, and wife of Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, has resigned.
Joe Biden described the pro-Trump rioters who stormed the Capitol saying: "It was not dissent. It was not disorder. It was not protest. Don’t call them protesters. They were a riotous mob, insurrectionists, domestic terrorists." Biden added: "No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, they wouldn't have been treated very, very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol. We all know that's true, and it is unacceptable. Totally unacceptable."
Nancy Pelosi held a press briefing, here are some highlights:
- Pelosi stated: "I join the Senate Democratic leader in calling on the vice president to remove this president by immediately invoking the 25th Amendment." Pelosi stated that if this is not done, then Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment.
- Pelosi stated that Paul Irving, the House sergeant of arms had resigned.
- Pelosi called on Steven Sund, the chief of the Capitol Police, to resign.
Lindsey Graham was asked if Trump should be removed from office by invoking the 25th Amendment, his response: "I do not believe that is appropriate at this point. I'm looking for a peaceful transfer of power ... I'm telling you as a Republican, I don't support an effort to invoke the 25th amendment. Now, if something else happens, all options would be on the table. But I hear from Schumer and Pelosi just political talk."
Like Joe Biden, Kamala Harris pointed out the different reactions to Black Lives Matter protesters vs Trump rioters saying:
"We witnessed two systems of justice when we saw one that let extremists storm the United States Capitol, and another that released tear gas on peaceful protesters last summer. We know this is unacceptable. We know we should be better than this. I believe we must ask ourselves two questions about what happened yesterday. What went wrong? And how do we make it right?"
According to the New York Times, Trump is considering pardoning himself. From the story:
"In several conversations since Election Day, Mr. Trump has told advisers that he is considering giving himself a pardon and, in other instances, asked whether he should and what the effect would be on him legally and politically, according to the two people. It was not clear whether he had broached the topic since he incited his supporters on Wednesday to march on the Capitol, where some stormed the building in a mob attack. Mr. Trump has shown signs that his level of interest in pardoning himself goes beyond idle musings. He has long maintained he has the power to pardon himself, and his polling of aides’ views is typically a sign that he is preparing to follow through on his aims. He has also become increasingly convinced that his perceived enemies will use the levers of law enforcement to target him after he leaves office."
Michelle Obama released a statement regarding the Capitol riots. From her statement:
"I woke up yesterday elated by the news of Reverend Raphael Warnock's election victory. He'll be Georgia's first Black senator, and I was heartened by the idea that the Senior Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church—the home parish of Dr. King and a spiritual and organizational hub during the Civil Rights Movement—would be representing his state in the United States Senate. In just a few hours, though, my heart had fallen harder and faster than I can remember. Like all of you, I watched as a gang—organized, violent, and mad they'd lost an election—laid siege to the United States Capitol. They set up gallows. They proudly waved the traitorous flag of the Confederacy through the halls. They desecrated the center of American government. And once authorities finally gained control of the situation, these rioters and gang members were led out of the building not in handcuffs, but free to carry on with their days. The day was a fulfillment of the wishes of an infantile and unpatriotic president who can't handle the truth of his own failures. And the wreckage lays at the feet of a party and media apparatus that gleefully cheered him on, knowing full well the possibility of consequences like these. It all left me with so many questions—questions about the future, questions about security, extremism, propaganda, and more. But there's one question I just can't shake: What if these rioters had looked like the folks who go to Ebenezer Baptist Church every Sunday? What would have been different? I think we all know the answer. This summer's Black Lives Matter protests were an overwhelmingly peaceful movement—our nation's largest demonstrations ever, bringing together people of every race and class and encouraging millions to re-examine their own assumptions and behavior. And yet, in city after city, day after day, we saw peaceful protestors met with brute force. We saw cracked skulls and mass arrests, law enforcement pepper spraying its way through a peaceful demonstration for a presidential photo op. And for those who call others unpatriotic for simply taking a knee in silent protest, for those who wonder why we need to be reminded that Black Lives Matter at all, yesterday made it painfully clear that certain Americans are, in fact, allowed to denigrate the flag and symbols of our nation. They've just got to look the right way. What do all those folks have to say now? Seeing the gulf between the responses to yesterday's riot and this summer's peaceful protests and the larger movement for racial justice is so painful. It hurts. And I cannot think about moving on or turning the page until we reckon with the reality of what we saw yesterday. True progress will be possible only once we acknowledge that this disconnect exists and take steps to repair it. And that also means coming to grips with the reality that millions voted for a man so obviously willing to burn our democracy down for his own ego. I hurt for our country. And I wish I had all the solutions to make things better. I wish I had the confidence that people who know better will act like it for more than a news cycle or two. All I know is that now is a time for true patriotism. Now is the time for those who voted for this president to see the reality of what they've supported—and publicly and forcefully rebuke him and the actions of that mob. Now is the time for Silicon Valley companies to stop enabling this monstrous behavior—and go even further than they have already by permanently banning this man from their platforms and putting in place policies to prevent their technology from being used by the nation’s leaders to fuel insurrection. And if we have any hope of improving this nation, now is the time for swift and serious consequences for the failure of leadership that led to yesterday’s shame."
During an interview with CNN, John Kelly, Trump's former chief of staff, answered "yes, I would" to the question "If you were in the cabinet right now, would you vote to remove him from office?"
Kayleigh McEnany delivered the following statement, then abruptly left the briefing room without taking any questions:
"I am here to deliver this message on behalf of the entire White House. Let me be clear. The violence we saw yesterday at our nation's capitol was appalling, reprehensible and antithetical to the American way. We condemn it, the president and this administration, in the strongest possible terms. It is unacceptable and those that broke the law should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I stood here at this podium, the day after a historic church burned, amid violent riots and I said this, 'The first amendment guarantees the right of the people to peaceably assemble. What we saw last night in Washington and across the country was not that.' End quote. Make no mistake, what we saw yesterday afternoon in the halls of our Capitol likewise was not that. We grieve for the loss of life and those injured. And we hold them in our prayers and close to our hearts at this time. We thank our valiant law enforcement officers who are true American heroes. What we saw yesterday was a group of violent rioters undermining the legitimate first amendment rights of the many thousands who came to peacefully have their voices heard in our nation’s capital. Those who violently besieged our Capitol are the opposite of everything this administration stands for. The core value of our administration is the idea that all citizens have the right to live in safety, peace and freedom. Those who are working in this building are working to ensure an orderly transition of power. Now it is time for America to unite to come together to reject the violence that we have seen. We are one American people, under God. Thank you."
News surfaced that it wasn't just lawmakers in the Capitol that were under assault, but also members of the media. The words "Murder the media" was scrawled on a door of the capitol, some members of the press were assaulted, and some had their equipment destroyed by protesters who were screaming "Fuck the mainstream media".
Bruce Brown, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press issued a statement which read in part:
"Rioters at the Capitol called for violence against members of the news media, destroyed news equipment and verbally harassed journalists as the 'enemy of the people' — actions that not only pose a dire threat to those working tirelessly to bring information to our communities, but also to the press freedom that is a bedrock value of our nation. These actions are the direct result of years of this language stoking fear and hate for one of our most vital institutions. Our free press is crucial to democracy, and indeed, one of the pillars that will help keep it standing beyond this moment."
According to the Guardian, Steven Sund, the chief of the US Capitol police, has resigned. Prior to resigning, Sund issued a statement that read in part:
"The violent attack on the US Capitol was unlike any I have ever experienced in my 30 years in law enforcement here in Washington, DC,” he said. “The USCP had a robust plan established to address anticipated First Amendment activities. But make no mistake – these mass riots were not First Amendment activities; they were criminal riotous behavior."
Simon & Schuster announced that it has cancelled a planned publication of a book by Josh Hawley. Hawley is the Republican senator from Missouri supported Trump's unconstitutional efforts to overturn the results of the presidential election. From Simon & Schuster's statement:
"After witnessing the disturbing, deadly insurrection that took place on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., Simon & Schuster has decided to cancel publication of Senator Josh Hawley's forthcoming book, THE TYRANNY OF BIG TECH. We did not come to this decision lightly. As a publisher it will always be our mission to amplify a variety of voices and viewpoints; at the same time we take seriously our larger public responsibility as citizens, and cannot support Senator Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat to our democracy and freedom."
Josh Hawley responded to the cancellation, stating:
"This could not be more Orwellian. Simon & Schuster is cancelling my contract because I was representing my constituents, leading a debate on the Senate floor on voter integrity, which they have now decided to redefine as sedition. Let me be clear, this is not just a contract dispute, it's a direct assault on the First Amendment. Only approved speech can now be published. This is the Left looking to cancel everyone they don't approve of. I will fight this cancel culture with everything I have. We'll see you in court."
The Kansas City Star published an editorial which criticizes Josh Halwey. From the op-ed:
"No one other than President Donald Trump himself is more responsible for Wednesday's coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol than one Joshua David Hawley, the 41-year-old junior senator from Missouri, who put out a fundraising appeal while the siege was underway ... has blood on his hands."
The St Louis Post-Dispatch published an editorial calling for Josh Hawley's resignation. From the editorial:
"These Republican leaders, all having shared a spot on the national stage during the Trump presidency, all had multiple occasions and strong justifications to stand up and condemn Trump's dangerous rhetoric. Yet they waited to speak out until long after armed thugs, instigated by Trump, had rampaged across Capitol Hill, defiling the House and Senate."
Donald Trump released a video statement on Twitter, the one social media platform to which he still has access. From his statement:
"I would like to begin by addressing the heinous attack on the United States Capitol. Like all Americans I am outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem. I immediately deployed the National Guard and federal law enforcement to secure the building and expel the intruders. America is and must always be a nation of law and order. The demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol have defiled the seat of American democracy. To those who engage in the acts of violence and destruction: you do not represent our country. And to those who broke the law: you will pay. We have just been through an intense election and emotions are high, but now tempers must be cooled and calm we start. [sic] We must get on with the business of America. My campaign vigorously pursued every legal avenue to contest the election results. My only goal was to ensure the integrity of the vote. In so doing now is fighting to defend American democracy. I continue to strongly believe that we must reform our election laws to verify the identity and eligibility of all voters and to ensure faith and confidence in all future elections. Now, Congress has certified the results. A new administration will be inaugurated on January 20. My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power ... I know you are disappointed, but I also want you to know that our incredible journey is only just beginning." NOTE: According to multiple media outlets, it was Mike Pence, not Trump, who deployed the National Guard, while Trump actively resisted.
The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal, which has served as a platform for Trump apologists, has published an op-ed calling on Trump to resign. from the op-ed:
"This was an assault on the constitutional process of transferring power after an election,” the paper’s editorial board wrote of Trump’s actions on Wednesday. “It was also an assault on the legislature from an executive sworn to uphold the laws of the United States. This goes beyond merely refusing to concede defeat. In our view it crosses a constitutional line that Mr Trump hasn’t previously crossed. It is impeachable ... If Mr Trump wants to avoid a second impeachment, his best path would be to take personal responsibility and resign. This would be the cleanest solution since it would immediately turn presidential duties over to Mr Pence. And it would give Mr Trump agency, a la Richard Nixon, over his own fate. This might also stem the flood of White House and Cabinet resignations that are understandable as acts of conscience but could leave the government dangerously unmanned. Robert O’Brien, the national security adviser, in particular should stay at his post. We know an act of grace by Mr Trump isn't likely. In any case this week has probably finished him as a serious political figure. He has cost Republicans the House, the White House, and now the Senate. Worse, he has betrayed his loyal supporters by lying to them about the election and the ability of Congress and Mr Pence to overturn it. He has refused to accept the basic bargain of democracy, which is to accept the result, win or lose. It is best for everyone, himself included, if he goes away quietly."
The editorial board of USA Today has called for the removal of Trump via the 25th Amendment. From the op-ed:
"Trump's continuance in office poses unacceptable risks to America ... the question is one of relative risks, and leaving an unpunished Trump in office is the greater threat ... Trump appears mentally incapacitated — living in a fantasy world of voting fraud, unable to accept being labeled a loser, checking out of his job even as thousands of Americans are dying every day from the raging coronavirus ... Now is the time for the vice-president and members of the Cabinet to prove they are patriots."
According to the Guardian, Michael Stenger, the US Senate sergeant at arms, has resigned.
News surfaced that Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer placed a call to Mike Pence to "urge him to invoke the 25th Amendment". The two released a statement which reads in part:
"This morning, we placed a call to Vice President Pence to urge him to invoke the 25th Amendment which would allow the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet to remove the President for his incitement of insurrection and the danger he still poses. We have not yet heard back from the Vice President. The President's dangerous and seditious acts necessitate his immediate removal from office. We look forward to hearing from the Vice President as soon as possible and to receiving a positive answer as to whether he and the Cabinet will honor their oath to the Constitution and the American people."
Betsy DeVos, the Education secretary, has resigned, making her the second cabinet member to resign. The first was Elaine Chao, the Transportation secretary. The following was taken from DeVos' resignation letter:
"We should be highlighting and celebrating your Administration's many accomplishments on behalf of the American people. Instead, we are left to clean up the mess caused by violent protesters overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt undermine the people's business. That behavior was unconscionable for our country. There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me."
The American Federation of Teacher's issued a statement regarding the resignation of Betsy DeVos:
"Good Riddance."
Anthony Ruggiero, Trump's counter-proliferation and biodefense aide on the National Security Council, has resigned.
Additional resignations today:
- Tyler Goodspeed, the acting chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors.
- Mark Vandroff, a senior National Security Council official.
- John Costello, a Senior commerce department appointee.
According to the Independent, at least six Republican state legislators "took part in events surrounding the storming of the US Capitol". They are:
- The West Virginia delegate Derrick Evans, who the New York Times reported had posted a video of himself entering the building before deleting the post.
- The Virginia state senator Amanda Chase, who wrote on Facebook, “These were not rioters and looters; these were Patriots who love their country and do not want to see our great republic turn into a socialist country. I was there with the people; I know. Don't believe the fake media narrative.”
- The Missouri state representative Justin Hill, who marched to the Capitol but did not enter, according to the St Louis Post-Dispatch. Hill missed his own swearing-in ceremony to be there.
- The Pennsylvania state senator Doug Mastriano organized a bus of people to attend the protests but, according to a video he released, did not attend himself.
- The Michigan state representative Matt Maddock.
- The Tennessee state lawmaker Terri Lynn Weaver, who told the Tennessean that she was “in the thick of it” and tweeted a picture from the attack.
The FBI has announced that it is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the "location, arrest and conviction" of the people or person responsible for the two pipe bombs recovered by DC police outside of the DNC and the RNC.
Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz, the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Abuse has resigned. From her statement: "I cannot support language that results in incitement of violence."
Brian Sicknick, a US Capitol Police officer, who fought with the Trump insurrectionists, died from injuries sustained in the assault. Sicknick's death brings the toll from the attack to five. From a Capitol Police statement:
"At approximately 9:30 p.m. this evening (January 7, 2021), United States Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick passed away due to injuries sustained while on-duty. Officer Sicknick was responding to the riots on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol and was injured while physically engaging with protesters. He returned to his division office and collapsed. He was taken to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The death of Officer Sicknick will be investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department's Homicide Branch, the USCP, and our federal partners. Officer Sicknick joined the USCP in July 2008, and most recently served in the Department’s First Responder's Unit. The entire USCP Department expresses its deepest sympathies to Officer Sicknick's family and friends on their loss, and mourns the loss of a friend and colleague. We ask that Officer Sicknick's family, and other USCP officers' and their families' privacy be respected during this time."
January 6, 2021 - Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican congresswoman tweeted: "Today is 1776."
Donald Trump sent the following in a tweet: "If Vice President @Mike_Pence comes through for us, we will win the Presidency." NOTE: Mike Pence's role in presiding over the counting of the electoral college votes is purely ceremonial.
Rev Raphael Warnock, Democrat, defeated Kelly Loeffler, Republican, in a Senate runoff in Georgia, making him the state's first Black US senator ever, and the 11th Black person to serve in the United States Senate in the history of this country.
Kevin Brady, a Republican memebr of the House of Representatives, has tested positive for coronavirus.
Politico has a write up that explains the electoral vote counting process, and how Trump has put Mike Pence in an awkward position. From the story:
"During Wednesday's session, Pence, per the Twelfth Amendment and laws stretching back to 1887, must read the results alphabetically by state, introducing the certified electors and entertaining any challenges raised by lawmakers on hand. But Trump, beginning Monday night, has begun leaning on Pence to adopt a radical interpretation of his power and refuse to count Biden's electors in multiple states — a power Pence does not have. Pence has said little publicly, other than that he expects to entertain Republican challenges to Biden's electors from key states, indicating that he anticipates introducing Biden's electors — a decision Trump has pressed him to refuse to make. People familiar with the vice president's thinking said he will be guided by the Constitution and plans to follow the law as written when he presides over the joint session, suggesting he will ignore calls to unilaterally reject Biden's electors, despite the blow it could deliver to his own presidential ambitions. In years past, the vice president's ceremonial role has barely merited a mention — except for the awkwardness of 2001 and 2017, when Al Gore and Joe Biden were required to certify their rivals' victories. No challenges to electors have ever been upheld. The last time objectors forced a debate came in 2005, when Democrats cited irregularities in Ohio's election results. The challenge was easily swept aside in both chambers. House Democrats also objected to the results in 2001 and 2017 but no senators joined them."
Writing for the Guardian, Lloyd Green offers the following analysis of the lasting harm to US democracy from the coup attempt by Trump and his allies:
"Presidents Hoover, Carter and Bush Sr all suffered rejection at the ballot box after just one term. However painful, they accepted the electorate's verdict. In the end, personal pride took a backseat to the orderly transition of power. The nation had spoken. Likewise, in 2000, Al Gore ultimately acquiesced to a split US supreme court decision, which the late Justice Antonin Scalia later confessed was 'as we say in Brooklyn, a piece of shit', and conceded to George W Bush. Adding insult to injury, Gore, who was then vice-president, presided over the joint session of Congress where the results were announced and certified. Fealty to the American experiment came first. Not any more. The US confronts a president determined to hold on to power past the constitutionally mandated expiration of his term, and congressional Republicans hellbent on aiding and abetting this desperate bid to overturn the election's outcome. Last Thursday, Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, told his caucus that the upcoming votes were the 'most consequential' of his career. It was not hyperbole. More than two centuries of supremacy of consent of the governed and We the People are riding on it."
Donald Trump sent the following in a tweet: "States want to correct their votes, which they now know were based on irregularities and fraud, plus corrupt process never received legislative approval. All Mike Pence has to do is send them back to the States, AND WE WIN. Do it Mike, this is a time for extreme courage!"
Donald Trump and others addressed tens of thousands of Trump supporters in Washington DC at a rally billed as the "Save America Rally". Here are some highlights:
- Rudy Giuliani told the crowd: "If we’re wrong, we will be made fools of, but if we’re right a lot of them will go to jail. So, let’s have trial by combat! I’m willing to stake my reputation, the president is willing to stake his reputation, on the fact that we’re going to find criminality there."
- Donald Trump told the crowd: "We will stop the steal. Today I will lay out just some of the evidence proving that we won this electon, and we won it by a landslide. This was not a close election."
- Donald Trump stated: "After this, we're gonna walk down, and I'll be there with you. We're going to walk down, we're going to walk down to the Capitol!" NOTE: Members of the crowd can be heard shouting "Let's take the Capitol!"
- Donald Trump told the crowd: "The constitution says you have to protect our country, and you have to protect our constitution, and you can't vote on fraud, and fraud breaks up everything, doesn't it. When you catch somebody in a fraud, you're allowed to go by very different rules. So, I hope Mike has the courage to do what he has to do."
- Donald Trump told the crowd: "We will never give up, we will never concede. It doesn't happen. You don't concede when there's theft involved."
- Donald Trump stated: "We're gonna have to fight much harder. Mike Pence is going to have to come through for us, and if he doesn't, that will be a sad day for our country because you're sworn to uphold our Constitution."
- Donald Trump told the crowd "We fight. We fight like hell. If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore. You'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength."
- Donald Trump told the crowd: "We're going to walk down Pennsylvania Ave -- I love Pennsylvania Avenue -- and we're going to the Capitol ... We're going to try and give our Republicans -- the weak ones because the strong ones don't need any of our help -- we're going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country. So let's walk down Pennsylvania Avenue."
-Madison Cawthorn, a newly elected Republican congressman, told the crowd: "But my friends, the Democrats, with all the fraud they have done in this election, the Republicans hiding and not fighting, they are trying to silence your voice ... But my friends, we're not just doing this for Donald Trump, we are doing this for the Constitution. Our Constitution was violated."
Mike Pence, the vice president, released a letter announcing that he will not attempt to block the congressional certification of Joe Biden's victory saying: "Our Founders were deeply skeptical of concentrations of power and created a Republic based on separation of powers and checks and balances. Vesting the VP with unilateral authority to decide presidential contests would be entirely antithetical to that design."
As the electoral vote counting was taking place, hundreds of Trump supporters stormed barriers, clashed with police, and began marching towards the Capitol.
The US Capitol was put into lockdown as Trump supporters clashed with police outside the entrances to the building.
Hundreds of Trump supporters breached the Capitol, and began pushing their way into the building.
Donald Trump sent the following tweet: "Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!"
News surfaced that Mike Pence and others have been evacuated from the floor of the senate chamber to a safe location.
Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington DC issued a citywide curfew in response to the ongoing siege at the Capitol.
Donald Trump sent the following tweet: "Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!"
During an interview on CNN, Charles Ramsey, a former DC police chief, stated: "What I'd want the president to do is shut the hell up and get out of the way. He's like a cancer. This is as close to a coup attempt as this country has ever seen."
Alyssa Farah, Trump's former communications director, sent the following tweet: "Condemn this now, @real/donaldTrump - you are the only one they will listen to. For our country!"
Donald Trump sent the following tweet: "I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order – respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!"
Mick Mulvaney, Trump's former acting chief of staff tweeted: "The President's tweet is not enough. He can stop this now and needs to do exactly that. Tell these folks to go home."
News surfaced that a woman inside the Capitol was shot and killed. Her name was Ashli Babbit. She was a 14-year military veteran, and a Trump supporter. Babbit sent the following in a tweet the day before the siege on the Capitol: "Nothing will stop us... ... they can try and try and try but the storm is here and it is descending upon DC in less than 24 hours... ... dark to light!"
Abby D. Phillip, of CNN, tweeted the following: "The incredible show of force that we saw in DC this summer... Where is it? That was nowhere near what we are seeing happen today as lawmakers in both chambers are in lockdown and unable to continue their duties while violent protestors storm the Capitol."
According to the Washington Post, the defense department, which is led by acting secretary Christopher Miller, has denied a request from DC officials to deploy the national guard at the US Capitol. Miller was appointed in November after Trump fired Mark Esper.
Ralph Northam, the governor of Virginia, sent the following tweet: "My team and I are working closely with @MayorBowser, @SpeakerPelosi, and @SenSchumer to respond to the situation in Washington, D.C. Per the Mayor's request, I am sending members of the Virginia National Guard along with 200 Virginia State Troopers."
Mike Pence sent the following tweet: "The violence and destruction taking place at the US Capitol Must Stop and it Must Stop Now. Anyone involved must respect Law Enforcement officers and immediately leave the building. Peaceful protest is the right of every American but this attack on our Capitol will not be tolerated and those involved will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
Kayleigh McEnany sent the following tweet: "At President @realDonaldTrump's direction, the National Guard is on the way along with other federal protective services. We reiterate President Trump's call against violence and to remain peaceful."
Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, the wife of supreme court justice Clarence Thomas, posted the following message to facebook: "LOVE MAGA people!!!!"
Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary general sent the following tweet: "Shocking scenes in Washington, D.C. The outcome of this democratic election must be respected."
Jonathan Hoffman, a senior spokesperson for the Pentagon, sent the following tweet: "The DC Guard has been mobilized to provide support to federal law enforcement in the District. Acting Secretary Miller has been in contact w Congressional leadership and Secretary McCarthy has been working w DC government. The law enforcement response will be lead by DOJ."
Joe Biden addressed the nation saying: "At this hour, our democracy is under unprecedented assault, unlike anything we've seen in modern times ... I call on President Trump to go on national television now, to fulfill his oath and defend the constitution and demand an end to this siege. It's not a protest; it's insurrection. The world is watching."
Cori Bush, a newly elected congresswoman from Missouri sent the following tweet: "I believe the Republican members of Congress who have incited this domestic terror attack through their attempts to overturn the election must face consequences. They have broken their sacred Oath of Office. I will be introducing a resolution calling for their expulsion."
The AP declared Jon Ossoff the winner of his Senate runoff against David Perdue. His victory puts the US senate at a 50-50 split between Democrats and Republicans, which gives Democrats control of the Senate, the House and the presidency.
Donald Trump released a video in which he stated in part:
"I know your pain, I know your hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election, and everyone knows it, especially the other side. But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order ... We can't play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home. We love you; you're very special."
Ilhan Omar, a congresswoman from Minnesota, sent the following tweet: "I am drawing up Articles of Impeachment. Donald J. Trump should be impeached by the House of Representatives & removed from office by the United States Senate. We can't allow him to remain in office, it's a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfill our oath."
Christopher Miller, the acting secretary of defense, released a statement saying:
"Chairman Milley and I just spoke separately with the Vice President and with Speaker Pelosi, Leader McConnell, Senator Schumer and Representative Hoyer about the situation at the US Capitol. We have fully activated the DC National Guard to assist federal and local law enforcement as they work to peacefully address the situation. We are prepared to provide additional support as necessary and appropriate as requested by local authorities."
Ivanka Trump sent, then deleted the following tweet: "American Patriots - any security breach or disrespect to our law enforcement is unacceptable. The violence must stop immediately. Please be peaceful."
Donald Trump sent the following tweet: "These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!"
Notable reactions to the unfolding siege at the Capitol:
"I join President-elect @JoeBiden in calling for the assault on the Capitol and our nation's public servants to end, and as he said, 'allow the work of democracy to go forward.'" - Kamala Harris
"Tell me again how all of this is just play-acting and Twitter threats and coup is too scary a word to describe what Trump is attempting" - Ezra Klein
"Let's just be clear about something: The reason the Capitol police were slow to respond is because they gave these white people the benefit of the doubt and treated it like a joke. Their reaction isn't the same because they see black people as a threat that needs to be eliminated" - Jemele Hill
"Impeach" - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
"This mob was in good part President Trump's doing, incited by his words and his lies" - Chuck Schumer
"Laura and I are watching the scenes of mayhem unfolding at the seat of our Nation's government in disbelief and dismay. It is a sickening and heartbreaking sight. This is how election results are disputed in a banana republic – not our democratic republic. 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. 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. Insurrection could do grave damage to our Nation and reputation. In the United States of America, it is the fundamental responsibility of every patriotic citizen to support the rule of law. To those who are disappointed in the results of the election: Our country is more important than the politics of the moment. Let the officials elected by the people fulfill their duties and represent our voices in peace and safety. May God continue to bless the United States of America." - George W Bush
"What happened at the U.S. Capitol today was an insurrection, incited by the President of the United States." - Mitt Romney
"I supported President Trump's legal right to contest the election results through the courts, but the courts have now unanimously and overwhelmingly rejected these suits. No evidence of voter fraud has emerged that would warrant overturning the 2020 election. The President bears responsibility for today's events by promoting the unfounded conspiracy theories that have led to this point. It is past time to accept the will of American voters and to allow our nation to move forward." - Richard Burr, Republican Senator from North Carolina
"History will rightly remember today's violence at the Capitol, incited by a sitting president who has continued to baselessly lie about the outcome of a lawful election, as a moment of great dishonor and shame for our nation. But we'd be kidding ourselves if we treated it as a total surprise. For two months now, a political party and its accompanying media ecosystem has too often been unwilling to tell their followers the truth — that this was not a particularly close election and that President-Elect Biden will be inaugurated on January 20. Their fantasy narrative has spiraled further and further from reality, and it builds upon years of sown resentments. Now we're seeing the consequences, whipped up into a violent crescendo. Right now Republican leders have a choice made clear in the desecrated chambers of democracy. They can continue down this road and keep stoking the raging fires. Or they can choose reality and take first steps toward extinguishing the flames. They can choose America. I've been heartened to see many members of the President's party speak up forcefully today. Their voices add to the examples of Republican state and locl election officials in states like Georgia who've refused to be intimidated and have discharged their duties honorably. We need more leaders like these - right now and in the days, weeks, and months ahead as President-Elect Biden works to restore a common purpose to our politics. It's up to all of us as Americans, regardless of party, to support him in that goal." - Barack Obama
"Today's violent assault on our Capitol, an effort to subjugate American democracy by mob rule, was fomented by Mr Trump. His use of the presidency to destroy trust in our election and to poison our respect for fellow citizens has been enabled by pseudo political leaders whose names will live in infamy as profiles in cowardice. Our Constitution and our Republic will overcome this stain and We the People will come together again in our never-ending effort to from a more perfect Union, while Mr Trump will deservedly be left a man without a country." - James Mattis, Former US Secretary of Defense
"Now is the time for the president to be presidential. He can stop this now and needs to do exactly that." - Mick Mulvaney, Special Envoy to Northern Ireland
"Facebook, Twitter and YouTube must terminate Donald Trump's social media accounts. After today's mob violence inside the US Capitol, it is clear that the president's social media accounts are the world's most prominent organizing tool for violent white nationalists. For years, social media companies have done little or nothing at all while President Trump used their platforms to foment violence, spread hate and put people's lives in danger – all in clear violation of the companies' policies. Weak warning labels or a policy of selectively deleting certain posts after the damage has been done will do little to stem the fire hose of hate, violence, conspiracy theories and white nationalism that comes from the president's Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts. What we saw today was not the beginning of this violence and it will not be the end. The only way to protect the public is to permanently terminate Donald Trump's social media accounts." - Eric Naing, Media Relations Officer for American Civil Liberties Group Muslim Advocates
"The voters, the courts, and the states have all spoken. If we overrule them all, it would damage our republic forever. If this election were overturned by mere allegations from the losing side, our democracy would enter a death spiral. We'd never see the whole nation accept an election again. It would be unfair and wrong to disenfranchise American voters and overrule the courts and the states on this thin basis. And I will not pretend such a vote would be a harmless protest gesture while relying on others to do the right thing." - Mitch McConnell, Republican Senate Majority Leader
"Trump and I, we've had a hell of a journey. I hate it to end this way. Oh my god, I hate it... but today, all I can say is Count me out. Enough is enough. I've tried to be helpful They said 66,000 people in Georgia under 18 voted. I said give me ten. Haven't had one. They said 8000 felons in prison in Arizona voted. Give me 10. Haven't got one. I don't buy this. Enough's enough. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are lawfully elected and will become the president and vice-president of the United States on January 20th." - Lindsey Graham, Republican Senator
"What these violent protesters are doing is the opposite of patriotism. It is shameful and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms. Anyone who thinks they are helping the country by participating in this is wrong." - Ronna McDaniel, RNC Chair
"I condemn any of this; this is appalling. This is un-American. This should never happen in our nation and whatever is going on right now has got to stop. I want everybody to take a deep breath and understand we all have some responsibility here. I don't care what we've ever said on Facebook, what we've ever done to one another, we are all Americans, we need to stop. We can disagree with one another, but to take it to how this has gone is beyond anything I've ever envisioned that was possible in this nation." - Kevin McCarthy, Republican House minority leader
"Today lawless domestic terrorists encouraged by the President of the United States attempted to destroy our democracy and prevent the peaceful transfer of power. They will not succeed. No matter how long it takes, we will reconvene to count the votes and respect the results of the free and fair election. In the United States of America, voters decide elections, not politicians or violent mobs. This insurrection is a reminder that the greatest threat to our republic does not come from foreign adversaries, but from within. The perpetrators of this violent attack on our democracy must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. My staff is safe and I will continue to shelter in place until directed to do otherwise by the Capitol Police. Our union, however, is fragile and I will do my part to make sure it endures." - Dina Titus, Democratic Congresswoman
Twitter announced that Donald Trump's account will be locked for at least 12 hours saying:
"As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C., we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy. This means that the account of @realDonaldTrump will be locked for 12 hours following the removal of these Tweets. If the Tweets are not removed, the account will remain locked. Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account."
According to CNN, Stephanie Grisham, Melania Trump's chief of staff, has resigned, effective immediately. From the story:
"[Stephanie] Grisham was one of the longest-serving Trump administration officials, having begun her tenure working for then-candidate Donald Trump in 2015 as a press wrangler on the campaign trail. Grisham entered the White House as deputy press secretary under Sean Spicer, but in March 2017, Melania Trump hired her for her East Wing staff. As East Wing communications director, Grisham quickly became the first lady's most prominent staffer, acting as defender, enforcer and, often, protector."
After the mob had been removed from the Capitol, lawmakers resumed their work on certifying the electoral vote.
Kelly Loeffler, the Georgia Senator who lost re-election to Raphael Warnock, who had planned to object to the Georgia election results, stated: "I cannot now object to the certification of these electors."
News surfaced that a number of White House resignations are taking place, or will be taking place soon:
- Chris Liddell, the White House deputy chief of staff, will resign tomorrow.
- Rickie Niceta, the White House social secretary, has submitted her resignation.
- Sarah Matthews, the White House deputy press secretary, has submitted her resignation saying: "I was honored to serve in the Trump administration and proud of the policies we enacted. As someone who worked in the halls of Congress I was deeply disturbed by what I saw today. I'll be stepping down from my role, effective immediately. Our nation needs a peaceful transfer of power."
Facebook and Instagram announced that they have locked the accounts of Donald Trump for the next 24 hours because of policy violations.
Matt Gaetz, a Representative from Florida, took to the floor of the house where he blamed antifa for the riot on the Capitol.
The Democrats of the House Judiciary Committee are calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th amendment to remove Donald Trump from office saying in part:
"We have seen the fruit of the President's remarks in the violence and chaos unleashed today. Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution provides the Vice President and a majority of sitting Cabinet secretaries with the authority to determine a president as unfit if he 'is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.' Even in his video announcement this afternoon, President Trump revealed that he is not mentally sound and is still unable to process and accept the results of the 2020 election. President Trump's willingness to incite violence and social unrest to overturn the election results by force clearly meet this standard."
News surfaced that four people died during the Capitol Hill riots. Three of the dead died in medical emergencies, and one woman was shot by US Capitol Police as she tried to go through the broken window of a barricaded door.
News surfaced that pipe bombs were found outside of RNC and DNC headquarters, and that a vehicle cooler was found on Capitol grounds that contained a long gun, and was loaded with molotov cocktails.
CNN is reporting that Trump directed aides not to allow Marc Short, Mike Pence's chief of staff, into the White House today.
After some testy exchanges, and near fisticuffs, and after over one hundred Republican members of the House and Senate objected to the results in a few states, Biden's victory was certified by the US Congress, with Mike Pence announcing the final tally, that Biden "has received 306 votes" and Trump "has received 232 votes."
According to the Guardian, there have been 52 arrests associated with the Capitol riots.
Dan Scavino, Trump's social media aide, tweeted the following statement from Donald Trump:
"Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th. I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it's only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again!"
January 5, 2021 - Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, was asked if the world is a safer place than it was a year or more ago. Pompeo's answer indicated that he is aware that his administration is coming to a close. From Pompeo's answer: "I think we are leaving - after four years, I think we're leaving the world safer than when we came in..."
Josh Hawley, a Republican Senator from Missouri, who announced last week that he will formally object to the official certification of the Electoral College vote confirming Joe Biden's victory, was asked by Fox anchor Bret Baier if he was trying to "overturn the election" to keep Donald Trump in power. Here's part of the exchange that followed:
HAWLEY: "Well, that depends on what happens on Wednesday. I mean, this is why we have debate"
BAIER: "No it doesn't. The states, by the constitution, they certify the election, they did certify it by the constitution. Congress doesn't have the right to overturn the certification, at least as most experts read it."
HAWLEY: "Well, Congress is directed under the 12th amendment to count the electoral votes, there's a statute that dates back to the 1800s, 19th century, that says there is a right to object, there's a right to be heard, and there's also [the] certification right."
Donald Trump sent the following in a tweet: "The Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors." NOTE: The following is from the New York Times where they explain why this is false:
"Trump on Tuesday escalated his efforts to force Vice President Mike Pence to overturn President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s victory, falsely asserting that Mr. Pence had the power to unilaterally throw out electoral votes on Wednesday when Congress meets to certify the election results. But there is nothing in the Constitution or the law that explicitly gives a vice president that power, and aides close to Mr. Pence, who concede that he is facing a politically perilous moment, are convinced he will follow the normal procedures and confirm Mr. Biden's election."
Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17 year-old Illinois resident who traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, where he shot three people, two of whom died, has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
Cleta Mitchell, a Republican attorney who has been advising Donald Trump in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and who participated in Trump's phone call with Georgia election officials, has resigned from law firm Foley & Lardner. The law firm released a statement stating that they had "made a policy decision not to take on any representation of any party in connection with matters related to the presidential election results."
Steve Bannon, a former strategist for Donald Trump, stated the following on a podcast called Bannon's War Room: "All hell is gonna break loose tomorrow. Just understand this, all hell is going to break loose tomorrow ... It's all converging and now we're on as they say the point of attack, right, the point of attack tomorrow ... I'll tell you this, it's not going to happen like you think it's going to happen, okay, it's going to be quite extraordinarily different, and all I can say is strap in."
January 4, 2021 - All 10 former US defense secretaries, including two who worked for Donald Trump, signed on to an op-ed in the Washington Post calling on Trump and his supporters to accept the results of the presidential election, and also warned against attempts to involve the military in Trump's increasingly desperate attempts to overturn the results. From the editorial:
"Efforts to involve the US armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory ... Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic."
Donald Trump sent the following in a tweet: "How can you certify an election when the numbers being certified are verifiably WRONG. You will see the real numbers tonight during my speech, but especially on JANUARY 6th. @SenTomCotton Republicans have pluses & minuses, but one thing is sure, THEY NEVER FORGET!"
Ted Lieu and Kathleen Rice, two House Democrats, issued a statement calling on the FBI to investigate Trump's call with Georgia officials. From their statement:
"The President of the United States, in an approximately one-hour long phone call, threatened and berated Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to 'find 11,780 votes' to overturn the President's defeat in the state ... The evidence of election fraud by Mr. Trump is now in broad daylight. Given the more than ample factual predicate, we are making a criminal referral to you to open an investigation into Mr. Trump."
The White House has confirmed reports that Donald Trump has awarding Devin Nunes the presidential medal of freedom. NOTE: During the Mueller Investigation, Nunes rejected intelligence community findings and promoted conspiracy theories.
According to the AP, Washington DC mayor Murial Bowser is urging local residence to avoid downtown over the next couple of days as Trump supporters descend on the city for pro-Trump demonstrations. From the story:
"[Bowser] urged calm Monday as some 340 National Guard troops were being activated while the city prepared for potentially violent protests surrounding Congress' expected vote to affirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory. According to a U.S. defense official, [Bowser] put in a request on New Year's Eve to have Guard members on the streets from Jan. 5-7th, to help with the protests. The official said the D.C. National Guard members will be used for traffic control and other assistance but they will not be armed or wearing body armor. ... The defense official said that there will be no active duty military troops in the city, and the U.S. military will not be providing any aircraft or intelligence. The D.C. Guard will provide specialized teams that will be prepared to respond to any chemical or biological incident. But the official said there will be no D.C. Guard members on the National Mall or at the U.S. Capitol."
During an interview with NBC affiliate 11Alive News, Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, claimed his office made the audio of his phone call with president Trump public because Trump was spreading baseless claims about the conversation. According to Raffensperger: "If President Trump wouldn't have tweeted out anything and would've stayed silent, we would've stayed silent as well. If you're going to put out stuff that we don't believe is true, then we will respond in kind."
Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, was arrested in Washington DC, where he was charged with destruction of property and a firearms offense.
Donald Trump sent the following in a tweet: "The BIG Protest Rally in Washington, D.C., will take place at 11.00 A.M. on January 6th. Locational details to follow. StopTheSteal!"
Donald Trump held a rally in Georgia. Here are some highlights:
- Donald Trump Jr called US Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and the Rev Raphael Warnock "radical leftist socialist commie bastards".
- Donald Trump told the crowd: "They're not taking this White House. We're going to fight like hell."
- Trump told the crowd that Mike Pence should reject the outcome of the election at this Wednesday's certification ceremony saying "And I hope Mike Pence comes through for us. Won't like him quite as much if he doesn't"
- Trump told the crowd "The supreme court has let us down. So far. Who knows? Maybe they'll come back."
- Trump told the crowd: "I'll be here in about a year and a half campaigning against your governor, I'll guarantee you that."
- Trump invited Marjorie Taylor Greene to join him onstage saying: "I love her" and "don't mess with her".
January 3, 2021 - American deaths from coronavirus now exceeds 350,000.
According to the Washington Post, Donald Trump pressured Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger to "find" enough votes to overturn Joe Biden's victory. The hour long call was recorded by Georgia officials. Here is a partial transcript of the call:
TRUMP: "... I think it's pretty clear that we won. We won very substantially in Georgia. You even see it by rally size, frankly. We'd be getting 25-30,000 people a rally, and the competition would get less than 100 people. And it never made sense ..."
... Trump made extensive accusations of voter fraud ...
RAFFENSPERGER: "Well, I listened to what the president has just said. President Trump, we've had several lawsuits, and we've had to respond in court to the lawsuits and the contentions. We don't agree that you have won ... I don't believe that you're really questioning the Dominion machines. Because we did a hand re-tally, a 100 percent re-tally of all the ballots, and compared them to what the machines said and came up with virtually the same result. Then we did the recount, and we got virtually the same result. So I guess we can probably take that off the table. I don't think there's an issue about that."
TRUMP: "... the people of Georgia are angry. And these numbers are going to be repeated on Monday night. Along with others that we're going to have by that time, which are much more substantial even. And the people of Georgia are angry, the people of the country are angry. And there's nothing wrong with saying that, you know, that you've recalculated ..."
RAFFENSPERGER: "Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is, the data you have is wrong ... I guess there was a person named Mr. Braynard who came to these meetings and presented data, and he said that there was dead people, I believe it was upward of 5,000. The actual number were two. Two. Two people that were dead that voted. So that's wrong."
TRUMP: "... We have a new tape that we’re going to release. It’s devastating. And by the way, that one event, that one event is much more than the 11,000 votes that we’re talking about ..."
RAFFENSPERGER: "You're talking about the State Farm video. And I think it's extremely unfortunate that Rudy Giuliani or his people, they sliced and diced that video and took it out of context. The next day, we brought in WSB-TV, and we let them show, see the full run of tape, and what you'll see, the events that transpired are nowhere near what was projected by, you know —"
TRUMP: "... Brad, why did they put the votes in three times? You know, they put 'em in three times."
RAFFENSPERGER: "Mr. President, they did not put that. We did an audit of that, and we proved conclusively that they were not scanned three times."
TRUMP: "... I won this election by hundreds of thousands of votes. There's no way I lost Georgia. There's no way. We won by hundreds of thousands of votes. I'm just going by small numbers, when you add them up, they're many times the 11,000. But I won that state by hundreds of thousands of votes. Do you think it's possible that they shredded ballots in Fulton County? Because that's what the rumor is. And also that Dominion took out machines. That Dominion is really moving fast to get rid of their, uh, machinery. Do you know anything about that? Because that's illegal, right?"
GERMANY: "This is Ryan Germany. No, Dominion has not moved any machinery out of Fulton County."
TRUMP: "But have they moved the inner parts of the machines and replaced them with other parts?"
GERMANY: "No."
TRUMP: "What about, what about the ballots. The shredding of the ballots. Have they been shredding ballots?"
GERMANY: "The only investigation that we have into that — they have not been shredding any ballots. There was an issue in Cobb County where they were doing normal office shredding, getting rid of old stuff, and we investigated that. But this stuff from, you know, from you know past elections."
TRUMP: "It doesn't pass the smell test because we hear they're shredding thousands and thousands of ballots, and now what they're saying, 'Oh, we're just cleaning up the office.' You know."
RAFFENSPERGER: "Mr. President, the problem you have with social media, they — people can say anything."
TRUMP: "Oh this isn't social media. This is Trump media. It's not social media. It's really not; it's not social media. I don't care about social media. I couldn't care less. Social media is Big Tech. Big Tech is on your side, you know. I don’t even know why you have a side because you should want to have an accurate election. And you're a Republican."
RAFFENSPERGER: "We believe that we do have an accurate election."
TRUMP: "No, no you don't. No, no you don't. You don't have. Not even close. You're off by hundreds of thousands of votes ... I think you're going to find that they are shredding ballots because they have to get rid of the ballots because the ballots are unsigned. The ballots are corrupt, and they're brand new, and they don't have seals, and there's a whole thing with the ballots. But the ballots are corrupt. And you are going to find that they are — which is totally illegal — it is more illegal for you than it is for them because, you know, what they did and you're not reporting it. That's a criminal, that's a criminal offense. And you can't let that happen. That's a big risk to you and to Ryan, your lawyer. And that's a big risk. But they are shredding ballots, in my opinion, based on what I've heard. And they are removing machinery, and they're moving it as fast as they can, both of which are criminal finds. And you can't let it happen, and you are letting it happen. You know, I mean, I'm notifying you that you're letting it happen. So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state. And flipping the state is a great testament to our country because, you know, this is — it's a testament that they can admit to a mistake or whatever you want to call it. If it was a mistake, I don't know. A lot of people think it wasn't a mistake. It was much more criminal than that. But it's a big problem in Georgia, and it's not a problem that's going away. I mean, you know, it's not a problem that's going away."
GERMANY: "This is Ryan. We're looking into every one of those things that you mentioned."
TRUMP: "Good. But if you find it, you've got to say it, Ryan."
GERMANY: ". . . Let me tell you what we are seeing. What we're seeing is not at all what you're describing. These are investigators from our office, these are investigators from GBI, and they're looking, and they're good. And that's not what they're seeing. And we'll keep looking, at all these things."
TRUMP: "Well, you better check on the ballots because they are shredding ballots, Ryan. I'm just telling you, Ryan. They're shredding ballots. And you should look at that very carefully. Because that's so illegal. You know, you may not even believe it because it's so bad. But they're shredding ballots because they think we're going to eventually get there . . . because we'll eventually get into Fulton. In my opinion, it's never too late. . . . So, that's the story. Look, we need only 11,000 votes. We have far more than that as it stands now. We'll have more and more. And . . . do you have provisional ballots at all, Brad? Provisional ballots?"
RAFFENSPERGER: "Provisional ballots are allowed by state law."
TRUMP: "... I got like 78 percent of the military. These ballots were all for . . . They didn't tell me overseas. Could be overseas, too, but I get votes overseas, too, Ryan, in all fairness. No they came in, a large batch came in, and it was, quote, 100 percent for Biden. And that is criminal. You know, that's criminal. Okay. That's another criminal, that's another of the many criminal events, many criminal events here. I dont know, look, Brad. I got to get . . . I have to find 12,000 votes, and I have them times a lot. And therefore, I won the state. That's before we go to the next step, which is in the process of right now. You know, and I watched you this morning, and you said, well, there was no criminality. But I mean all of this stuff is very dangerous stuff. When you talk about no criminality, I think it's very dangerous for you to say that ... So what are we going to do here, folks? I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break. You know, we have that in spades already. Or we can keep it going, but that's not fair to the voters of Georgia because they're going to see what happened, and they're going to see what happened ... You know that every single ballot she did went to Biden. You know that, right? Do you know that, by the way, Brad? Every single ballot that she did through the machines at early, early in the morning went to Biden. Did you know that, Ryan?"
GERMANY: "That's not accurate, Mr. President."
TRUMP: "Huh. What is accurate?"
GERMANY: "The numbers that we are showing are accurate."
TRUMP: "No, about [name] . About early in the morning, Ryan. Where the woman took, you know, when the whole gang took the stuff from under the table, right? Do you know, do you know who those ballots, do you know who they were made out to, do you know who they were voting for?"
GERMANY: "No, not specifically."
TRUMP: "Did you ever check?"
GERMANY: "We did what I described to you earlier —"
TRUMP: "... So tell me, Brad, what are we going to do? We won the election, and it's not fair to take it away from us like this. And it's going to be very costly in many ways. And I think you have to say that you're going to reexamine it, and you can reexamine it, but reexamine it with people that want to find answers, not people that don't want to find answers. For instance, I’m hearing Ryan that he's probably, I'm sure a great lawyer and everything, but he's making statements about those ballots that he doesn't know. But he's making them with such — he did make them with surety. But now I think he's less sure because the answer is, they all went to Biden, and that alone wins us the election by a lot. You know, so."
RAFFENSPERGER: "Mr. President, you have people that submit information, and we have our people that submit information. And then it comes before the court, and the court then has to make a determination. We have to stand by our numbers. We believe our numbers are right."
TRUMP: "Why do you say that, though? I don't know. I mean, sure, we can play this game with the courts, but why do you say that? First of all, they don't even assign us a judge. They don't even assign us a judge. But why wouldn't you . . . Hey Brad, why wouldn't you want to check out [name] ? And why wouldn't you want to say, hey, if in fact, President Trump is right about that, then he wins the state of Georgia, just that one incident alone without going through hundreds of thousands of dropped ballots. You just say, you stick by, I mean I've been watching you, you know, you don't care about anything. 'Your numbers are right.' But your numbers aren't right. They're really wrong, and they're really wrong, Brad. And I know this phone call is going nowhere other than, other than ultimately, you know — Look, ultimately, I win, okay? Because you guys are so wrong. And you treated this. You treated the population of Georgia so badly. You, between you and your governor, who is down at 21, he was down 21 points. And like a schmuck, I endorsed him, and he got elected, but I will tell you, he is a disaster. The people are so angry in Georgia, I can't imagine he's ever getting elected again, I'll tell you that much right now. But why wouldn't you want to find the right answer, Brad, instead of keep saying that the numbers are right? Cause those numbers are so wrong?"
HILBERT: "... I sent a letter over to . . . several times requesting this information, and it's been rebuffed every single time. So it stands to reason that if the information is not forthcoming, there's something to hide. That's the problem that we have."
GERMANY: "Well, that's not the case, sir. There are things that you guys are entitled to get. And there's things that under law, we are not allowed to give out."
TRUMP: "Well, you have to. Well, under law, you're not allowed to give faulty election results, okay? You're not allowed to do that. And that's what you done. This is a faulty election result ... you know, the people of Georgia know that this was a scam — and because of what you've done to the president, a lot of people aren't going out to vote. And a lot of Republicans are going to vote negative because they hate what you did to the president. Okay? They hate it. And they're going to vote. And you would be respected. Really respected, if this thing could be straightened out before the election. You have a big election coming up on Tuesday. And I think that it is really is important that you meet tomorrow and work out on these numbers. Because I know, Brad, that if you think we're right, I think you're going to say, and I'm not looking to blame anybody, I'm just saying, you know, and, you know, under new counts, and under new views, of the election results, we won the election. You know? It's very simple. We won the election. As the governors of major states and the surrounding states said, there is no way you lost Georgia. As the Georgia politicians say, there is no way you lost Georgia. Nobody. Everyone knows I won it by hundreds of thousands of votes. But I'll tell you it's going to have a big impact on Tuesday if you guys don't get this thing straightened out fast."
TRUMP: "Well, why don't my lawyers show you where you got the information. It will show the secretary of state, and you don't even have to look at any names. We don't want names. We don't care. But we got that information from you. And Stacey Abrams is laughing about you. She's going around saying these guys are dumber than a rock. What she's done to this party is unbelievable, I tell you. And I only ran against her once. And that was with a guy named Brian Kemp, and I beat her. And if I didn't run, Brian wouldn't have had even a shot, either in the general or in the primary. He was dead, dead as a doornail. He never thought he had a shot at either one of them. What a schmuck I was. But that's the way it is. That's the way it is. I would like you . . . for the attorneys . . . I'd like you to perhaps meet with Ryan, ideally tomorrow, because I think we should come to a resolution of this before the election. Otherwise you're going to have people just not voting. They don't want to vote. They hate the state, they hate the governor, and they hate the secretary of state. I will tell you that right now. The only people that like you are people that will never vote for you. You know that, Brad, right? They like you, you know, they like you. They can't believe what they found. They want more people like you. So, look, can you get together tomorrow? And, Brad, we just want the truth. It's simple. And everyone's going to look very good if the truth comes out. It's okay. It takes a little while, but let the truth come out. And the real truth is, I won by 400,000 votes. At least. That's the real truth. But we don't need 400,000 votes. We need less than 2,000 votes. And are you guys able to meet tomorrow, Ryan?"
Notable reactions to Trump's call to pressure Georgia officials:
"We now have irrefutable proof of a president pressuring and threatening an official of his own party to get him to rescind a state's lawful, certified vote count and fabricate another in its place." - Bob Bauer, Senior Biden Adviser
"inappropriate and contemptible" - Edward B Foley, Ohio State Law Professor
"The president of the United States has been caught on tape trying to rig a presidential election. This is a low point in American history and unquestionably impeachable conduct. It is incontrovertible and devastating. When the Senate acquitted President Trump for abusing his powers to try to get himself re-elected [in February 2020, regarding approaches to Ukraine for dirt on Biden], we worried that he would grow more brazen in his attempts to wrongly and illegally keep himself in power. He has ... Congress must act immediately." - Noah Bookbinder, Executive Director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
"Trump's contempt for democracy is laid bare. Once again. On tape. Pressuring an election official to 'find' the votes so he can win is potentially criminal, and another flagrant abuse of power by a corrupt man who would be a despot, if we allowed him. We will not." - Adam Schiff
"Over the years, we have experienced many challenges in the House, but no situation matches the Trump presidency and the Trump disrespect for the will of the people." - Nancy Pelosi
"You want to investigate election fraud? Start with this." - Chuck Schumer
"This is absolutely appalling. To every member of Congress considering objecting to the election results, you cannot – in light of this – do so with a clean conscience." - Adam Kinzinger
Republican Senator Ted Cruz told a group at a rally in Georgia in defense of Donald Trump "We will not go quietly into the night. We will defend liberty. And we are going to win."
December 19, 2020 - Trump tweeted that it was "statistically impossible" for him to have lost the election. Tells his followers there will be a "big protest in DC" on January 6th, and added, "Be there, will be wild!"
December 18, 2020 - According to Axios, Chris Miller, the acting defense secretary, has ordered Pentagon officials to stop cooperating with Joe Biden's transition team. From the story:
"Behind the scenes: A top Biden official was unaware of the directive. Administration officials left open the possibility cooperation would resume after a holiday pause. The officials were unsure what prompted Miller's action, or whether President Trump approved. Why it matters: Miller's move, which stunned officials throughout the Pentagon, was the biggest eruption yet of animus and mistrust toward the Biden team from the top level of the Trump administration. What happened: Meetings between President Trump's team and the Biden team are going on throughout the government, after a delayed start as the administration dragged its feet on officially recognizing Biden as president-elect. Then on Thursday night, Miller – who was appointed Nov. 9, when Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper right after the election — ordered officials throughout the building to cancel scheduled transition meetings. Pentagon official response: A senior Defense Department official sought to downplay the move, calling it 'a simple delay of the last few scheduled meetings until after the new year.'"
Joesph Epstein, a former adjunct professor at Northwestern University, wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal where he said that Jill Biden's doctorate in eduction from the University of Delaware, did not entitle her to use the honorific "Dr" as she is not medically qualified. Epstein claimed Biden's use of the "Dr" therefore "feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic."
The Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) based at the University of Washington, has estimated that an additional 262,000 Americans could die from coronavirus between 14 December, and 1 April, potentially putting the total deaths at nearly 562,000.
December 17, 2020 - Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has tested positive for coronavirus.
Mike Rogers, a Republican representative from Alabama, has tested positive for coronavirus.
Writing for the Guardian, Kari Paul offers the following analysis of a massive hack into government networks:
"US authorities on Thursday expressed increased alarm about a large and sophisticated hacking campaign affecting government networks. The cybersecurity unit of the Department of Homeland Security warned that the hack 'poses a grave risk to the federal government and state, local, tribal and territorial governments as well as critical infrastructure entities and other private sector organizations'. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa) also warned that it will be difficult to remove the malware inserted through network software. 'Removing this threat actor from compromised environments will be highly complex and challenging for organizations,' the agency said in the statement. Thursday's comments were the most detailed yet from the agency since reports of the hack emerged over the weekend. The US government on Wednesday confirmed that an operation by elite hackers, suspected to be Russian, affected its networks and said the attack was 'significant and ongoing'. 'This is a developing situation, and while we continue to work to understand the full extent of this campaign, we know this compromise has affected networks within the federal government,' said a joint statement issued by the FBI, Cisa, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (Odna) ... The revelation that elite cyber spies in past months conducted the largest hack against US officials in years has put the spotlight on SolarWinds, the Texas-based company whose software was compromised while servicing some of the biggest agencies and companies in the United States. SolarWinds provides computer networking monitoring services to corporations and government agencies around the world, and has become a dominant player since it was founded in 1999. 'They’re not a household name the same way that Microsoft is. That's because their software sits in the back office,' said Rob Oliver, a research analyst at Baird who has followed the company for years. 'Workers could have spent their whole career without hearing about SolarWinds. But I guarantee your IT department will know about it.' The firm was founded by two brothers in Tulsa, Oklahoma, ahead of the feared turn-of-the-millennium Y2K computer bug. On an October earning call, the company's chief executive Kevin Thompson touted how far it had come since. There was not a database or an IT deployment model out there to which the company did not provide some level of monitoring or management, he told analysts. 'We don't think anyone else in the market is really even close in terms of the breadth of coverage we have,' he said. 'We manage everyone's network gear.' That dominance, however, has become a liability. On Sunday, SolarWinds alerted thousands of its customers that an 'outside nation state' had found a back door into its most popular product, a tool called Orion that helps organizations monitor outages on their computer networks and servers. The company revealed that hackers snuck a malicious code that gave them remote access to customers' networks into an update of Orion. The hack began as early as March, SolarWinds admitted, giving the hackers plenty of time to access the customers' internal workings."
December 16, 2020 - During an interview with the New York Times, Kyle McGowan and Amanda Campbell, two former staffers of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), allege that the White House constantly intervened with the CDC's guidance, in attempts to soften public health guidance and updates on Covid-19 the agency was publishing for the public.
Citing internal emails, Politico has published a story about a top Trump appointee who repeatedly urged top health officials to adopt a "herd immunity" approach to Covid-19. From the story:
"'There is no other way, we need to establish herd, and it only comes about allowing the non-high risk groups expose themselves to the virus. PERIOD,' then-science adviser Paul Alexander wrote on July 4 to his boss, Health and Human Services assistant secretary for public affairs Michael Caputo, and six other senior officials. 'Infants, kids, teens, young people, young adults, middle aged with no conditions etc. have zero to little risk ... so we use them to develop herd ... we want them infected...' Alexander added. '[I]t may be that it will be best if we open up and flood the zone and let the kids and young folk get infected' in order to get 'natural immunity ... natural exposure,' Alexander wrote on July 24 to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn, Caputo and eight other senior officials. Caputo subsequently asked Alexander to research the idea, according to emails obtained by the House Oversight Committee's select subcommittee on coronavirus. Senior Trump officials have repeatedly denied that herd immunity — a concept advocated by some conservatives as a tactic to control Covid-19 by deliberately exposing less vulnerable populations in hopes of re-opening the economy — was under consideration or shaped the White House's approach to the pandemic. 'Herd immunity is not the strategy of the U.S. government with regard to coronavirus,' HHS Secretary Alex Azar testified in a House Oversight hearing on October 2. In his emails, Alexander also spent months attacking government scientists and pushing to shape official statements to be more favorable to Donald Trump."
According to the Des Moines Register, an investigation into allegations that managers at a Tyson Foods plant in Waterloo, Iowa, placed bets on how many workers would contract Covid-19 "found sufficient evidence" to fire seven managers. More than 1,000 workers out of around 2,800 tested positive, and at least 6 employees died.
December 15, 2020 - Writing for CNN, Stephen Collinson offers the following commentary on Trump's continued refusal to concede:
"Biden’s statement was a clear effort not just to move the country forward after its most acrimonious modern post-election period. It was also a firm attempt to assert his authority as the incoming president, to create the symbolism of a transfer of power that is being denied by Trump and to begin to establish legitimacy even among Trump supporters. There is no sign that a president who has constantly ignored constitutional norms is moving any closer to accepting the reality of his defeat. But there were signs of a crumbling of the ancient regime, as a few of Trump's Republican allies in the Senate began to grudgingly accept, six weeks after the election, that Biden is indeed president-elect. One source close to Trump told CNN's Jim Acosta that while the President has privately conceded he won't be staying in the White House for a second term, he won't stop trying to discredit the election. Another adviser said it was highly unlikely that the President would show up at Biden's inauguration for a ceremonial tableau that is an emblem of America's mostly unbroken chain of peaceful transfers of executive authority. There is also likely to be no cathartic national moment analogous to then-vice president Al Gore’s graceful December concession speech after a bitter legal battle handed the presidency to George W. Bush in 2000. Trump's behavior is certain to complicate Biden's call for healing. There is still a chance that Republicans in the House – who remain in Trump's thrall – will try to mount a futile rear guard to challenge the election result when Congress holds a joint session on January 6 to tally the results of the Electoral College. The President's malfeasance has convinced many of the more than 70 million people who voted for him that the election was stolen, a dynamic that is likely to continue to be corrosive in the run-up to the midterm elections in 2022."
The Los Angeles Times editorial board offer the following commentary on how Republicans need to come clean with Biden's victory:
"They've done enough damage already with the wild allegations and conspiracy theories they've been peddling relentlessly for weeks. A recent Fox News poll found that almost 70% of Republicans believe that the election was 'stolen' from Trump, evidently buying his claim that he couldn't possibly lose in a fair contest. If Trump cared about the welfare of the nation, he would congratulate Biden and (if that is his choice) prepare to seek the presidency again in 2024. But it's unrealistic to expect that a narcissist like Trump would acknowledge reality after the electoral college vote, any more than he did after a string of losses in the courts. As electors started to meet around the country, White House advisor Stephen Miller told Fox News that 'alternate' slates that backed Trump in the contested states would submit their votes to Congress too. It wouldn't surprise us if Trump continued to cry 'fraud' up to the moment Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20 — and perhaps even after that. Republican members of Congress are in a different position. If they want to be taken seriously — including by the new president — they need to stop giving aid and comfort to Trump's delusions about a rigged election. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has taken refuge in anodyne statements about the need to count every legal vote, while deflecting the question of whether Biden is the president-elect. It's time for McConnell to accept that Trump lost in a free and fair election and to respond positively to any overtures from Biden for bipartisan cooperation. House minority leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield has even more to repent for. McCarthy disgraced himself and California by joining more than 120 House Republicans in endorsing a preposterous and anti-democratic lawsuit by the state of Texas challenging the election results in four states carried by Biden."
Writing for the New York Times, Jeremy W. Peters offers the following commentary on the right-wing media bubble:
"Six weeks after his defeat, the aggressive campaign by Trump and his media boosters to insist with each new setback that the election is far from settled isn't letting up. Inside this bubble, the president's allies present virtually impossible outcomes as completely plausible. And then when they don't meet the bar they set, they move it. This is what the president's senior adviser, Stephen Miller, demonstrated on Monday when he insisted in an interview on Fox & Friends that the electoral college vote was largely irrelevant because all that truly mattered was Inauguration Day, 20 January. 'So we have more than enough time to right the wrong of this fraudulent election result and certify Donald Trump as the winner,' Mr. Miller said, resetting the calendar to another scheme to invalidate the votes of millions of Americans, because the previous one had flopped. Some allies of Trump had hoped the Electoral College vote would end with a different outcome: that Republican legislators in six battleground states would name slates of electors favorable to Mr. Trump. The upheaval failed to materialize and the electors cast their votes on Monday without incident. The few instances of resistance by Republicans were muted and entirely symbolic. All along, Trump-friendly media personalities like Mark Levin, who hosts one of the most popular talk radio shows in the country, have led their audiences to believe that it was possible to pressure state lawmakers to reject Mr. Biden's victory. They have often based their confidence on the wild accusations of people with political motives and diminished credibility. Levin was one of the first to give a national platform to the conspiracy theories of the lawyers Lin Wood and Sidney Powell, whose various claims of fraud involve a multinational network of saboteurs and domestic enemies of the president both dead (Hugo Chávez of Venezuela) and alive ('Never Trump' Republican officials)."
Lin Wood, a pro-Trump lawyer in Georgia, sent the following in a tweet: "President Trump @realDonaldTrump is a genuinely good man. He does not really like to fire people. I bet he dislikes putting people in jail, especially 'Republicans.' He gave @BrianKempGA & @GaSecofState every chance to get it right. They refused. They will soon be going to jail." NOTE: Donald Trump re-tweeted this tweet.
December 14, 2020 - More than 300,000 Americans have died from coronavirus.
According to the Washington Post, the US has detected a cyber espionage operation that has compromised federal agencies, including the Treasury and the Commerce department. From the story:
"Russian government hackers breached the Treasury and Commerce departments, along with other US government agencies, as part of a global espionage campaign that stretches back months, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials were scrambling over the weekend to assess the nature and extent of the intrusions and implement effective countermeasures, but initial signs suggested the breach was long-running and significant, the people familiar with the matter said. The Russian hackers, known by the nicknames APT29 or Cozy Bear, are part of that nation's foreign intelligence service, the SVR, and they breached email systems in some cases, said the people familiar with the intrusions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. The same Russian group hacked the State Department and the White House email servers during the Obama administration. The FBI is investigating the campaign, which may have begun as early as spring, and had no comment Sunday. The victims have included government, consulting, technology, telecom, and oil and gas companies in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, according to FireEye, a cyber firm that itself was breached."
Today is the day the electoral college meets to vote for the president. Writing for the Atlantic, Wilfred Codrington III provides the following analysis of the electoral college's roots:
"The Framers had a number of other reasons to engineer the electoral college. Fearful that the president might fall victim to a host of civic vices—that he could become susceptible to corruption or cronyism, sow disunity, or exercise overreach—the men sought to constrain executive power consistent with constitutional principles such as federalism and checks and balances. The delegates to the Philadelphia convention had scant conception of the American presidency—the duties, powers, and limits of the office. But they did have a handful of ideas about the method for selecting the chief executive. When the idea of a popular vote was raised, they griped openly that it could result in too much democracy. With few objections, they quickly dispensed with the notion that the people might choose their leader. But delegates from the slaveholding South had another rationale for opposing the direct election method: Doing so would be to their disadvantage. The populations in the North and South were approximately equal, but roughly one-third of those living in the South were held in bondage. Because of its considerable, nonvoting slave population, that region would have less clout under a popular-vote system. The ultimate solution was an indirect method of choosing the president, one that could leverage the three-fifths compromise, the Faustian bargain they'd already made to determine how congressional seats would be apportioned ... Critics of the Electoral College are right to denounce it for handing victory to the loser of the popular vote twice in the past two decades. They are also correct to point out that it distorts our politics, including by encouraging presidential campaigns to concentrate their efforts in a few states that are not representative of the country at large. But the disempowerment of black voters needs to be added to that list of concerns, because it is core to what the Electoral College is and what it always has been."
According to the Washington Post, Michigan will be holding the electoral college vote behind closed doors due to credible threats of violence. From the story:
"Gideon D'Assandro, a spokesperson for Republican state House Speaker Lee Chatfield, confirmed on Sunday to the Washington Post that Michigan House and Senate leadership consulted with the state police regarding the threats. The state Capitol, where the vote is set to take place, was already set to be closed to the public Monday. Details about the threats remain unspecified and unconfirmed. D'Assandro declined further comment about the closures, while spokespersons for Whitmer, Michigan State Police and Democratic leaders in the state legislature did not immediately respond to requests for comment late on Sunday. Amber McCann, a spokesperson for Republican Michigan Senate majority leader Mike Shirkey, said in an email to the Post that the decision to close legislative offices 'was not made because of anticipated protests, but was made based on credible threats of violence.'"
Writing for NBC News, Susan Del Percio, a Republican strategist, offers the following commentary explaining what Texas Republicans really want from their attempts to subvert the 2020 US election result:
"Power — trying desperately to attain it or to hold on to it — often motivates morally and politically bizarre behavior. So does the fear of potentially going to jail. It seems even partisan PR stunts are bigger in the Lone Star State. Last month, reports indicated that the FBI is investigating allegations that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton broke the law by using his office to serve the interests of a political donor. This would be a federal crime — a crime that President Donald Trump could pre-emptively pardon Paxton for, even though the attorney general hasn't officially been charged with anything. Against the backdrop of these problems, Paxton filed a lawsuit last week asking the supreme court to overturn the election results in the four key battleground states of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Republican state Rep. Kyle Biedermann announced that he will introduce legislation to allow Texas to secede from the nation. His reason? 'The federal government is out of control and does not represent the values of Texans.' There is no chance that Texas will secede from the United States. Just as with Paxton's supreme court ploy, the law is not on Texas' side. Secession is simply not legal, and Biedermann should know that. But also like Paxton, Biedermann's real goal may be more personal. Perhaps he is looking to raise his profile with a new speaker of the GOP-controlled Texas House of Representatives. By introducing legislation with such fanfare, he further shores up his conservative credentials."
Marco Rubio, a Republican Senator from Florida, sent the following in a tweet: "Remember 4 years ago when the people now lecturing about us on democratic norms wanted the electoral college to overturn the will of the voters" NOTE: The Democrats did not officially legally dispute the election result, and Hillary Clinton conceded.
Notable response to Rubio's tweet:
"I don't remember election officials live's threatened. I don't remember +50 defeated legal actions. I don't remember 18 Democratic AG's and 126 Congresspeople acting like lemmings. I do remember @HillaryClinton conceding on Election Night & attending Trump swearing-in. Do you?" - Anna Navarro-Cardenas
Donald Trump sent the following in a tweet: "'Why did the Swing States stop counting in the middle of the night?' @MariaBartiromo Because they waited to find out how many ballots they had to produce in order to steal the Rigged Election. They were so far behind that they needed time, & a fake 'water main break', to recover!"
The Wisconsin supreme court once again blocked Donald Trump's effort to overturn the election results in that state. In the ruling, the justices pointed out that Trump's objections "come long after the last play or even the last game; the [Trump] Campaign is challenging the rulebook adopted before the season began."
Paul Mitchell, a Republican congressman form Michigan, declared that he is disgusted with Donald Trump's efforts to undermine the election results, and because of it, is leaving the Republican party.
Donald Trump sent the following tweet: "Just had a very nice meeting with Attorney General Bill Barr at the White House. Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job! As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family. Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen, an outstanding person, will become Acting Attorney General. Highly respected Richard Donoghue will be taking over the duties of Deputy Attorney General. Thank you to all!"
Joe Biden was affirmed the president-elect after the electoral college awarded him more than 270 electoral votes, with a grand total of 306. This milestone officially makes Donald Trump the first one-term president of the 21st century, and the first US president to lose the popular vote twice.
Joe Biden spoke to the nation. Here are some highlights:
"We saw something very few predicted, even thought possible, the biggest voter turnout in the history of the United States of America, a number so big that this election now ranks as the clearest demonstration of the true will of the American people, one of the most amazing demonstrations of civic duty we've ever seen in our country. It should be celebrated, not attacked. More than 81 million of those votes were cast for me and vice president-elect Harris. That too is a record, more than any ticket has received in the history of America. It represented a winning margin of more than seven million votes over the number of votes cast for my opponent. Together, vice president-elect Harris and I earned 306 electoral votes, well exceeding the 270 electoral votes needed to secure victory; 306 electoral votes is the same number of electoral votes that Donald Trump and Vice President Pence received when they won in 2016. At that time, President Trump called the Electoral College tally a landslide. By his own standards, these numbers represented a clear victory then, and I respectfully suggest they do so now. If anyone didn't know before, they know now. What beats deep in the hearts of the American people is this, democracy, the right to be heard, to have your vote counted, to choose the leaders of this nation, to govern ourselves. In America, politicians don't take power. People grant power to them. The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago. And we now know nothing, not even a pandemic or an abuse of power, can extinguish that flame. And as the people kept it aflame, so too did courageous state and local officials and election workers. American democracy works because America make it work at a local level. One of the extraordinary things we saw this year was that everyday Americans, our friends and our neighbors, often volunteers, Democrats, Republicans, independents, demonstrating absolute courage, they showed a deep and unwavering faith in and a commitment to the law. They did their duty in the face of a pandemic. And then they could not and would not give credence to what they knew was not true. They knew this election was overseen, was overseen by them, it was honest, it was free, and it was fair. They saw it with their own eyes. And they wouldn't be bullied into saying anything different. It was truly remarkable, because so many of these patriotic Americans were subjected to so much, enormous political pressure, verbal abuse, and even threats of physical violence ... The Trump campaign brought dozens and dozens and dozens of legal challenges to test the result. They were heard again and again. And each of the time they were heard, they were found to be without merit. Time and again, President Trump's lawyers presented arguments to state officials, state legislatures, state and federal courts, and ultimately to the United States Supreme Court twice. They were heard by more than 80 judges across the country. And in every case, no cause or evidence was found to reverse or question or dispute the results. A few states went for recounts. All the counts were confirmed. The results in Georgia were counted three times. It didn't change the outcome. The recount conducted in Wisconsin actually saw our margin grow. The margin we had in Michigan was 14 times the margin President Trump won that state by four years ago. Our margin in Pennsylvania was nearly twice the size of the Trump margin four years ago. And yet none of this has stopped baseless claims about the legitimacy of the results. Even more stunning, 17 Republican attorneys general and 126 Republican members of the Congress actually, they actually signed onto a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas. That lawsuit asked the United States Supreme Court to reject the certified vote counts in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. This legal maneuver was an effort by elected officials in one group of states to try to get the Supreme Court to wipe out the votes of more than 20 million Americans in other states and to hand the presidency to a candidate who lost the Electoral College, lost the popular vote, and lost each and every one of the states whose votes they were trying to reverse. It's a position so extreme, we've never seen it before, a position that refused to respect the will of the people, refused to respect the rule of law, and refused to honor our Constitution. Thankfully, a unanimous Supreme Court immediately and completely rejected this effort. The court sent a clear signal to President Trump that they would be no part of an unprecedented assault on our democracy. Every single avenue was made available to President Trump to contest the results. He took full advantage of each and every one of those avenues. President Trump was denied no course of action he wanted to take. He took his case to Republican governors and Republican secretaries of state, as he criticized many of them, to Republican state legislatures, to Republican-appointed judges at every level. And in a case decided after the Supreme Court's latest rejection, a judge appointed by President Trump wrote — quote — 'This court has allowed the plaintiff the chance to make his case, and he has lost on the merits' — end of quote — 'lost on the merits.' Even President Trump's own cybersecurity chief overseeing our elections said it was the most secure in American history, and summarily was let go. Let me say it again. His own cybersecurity chief overseeing this election said it was the most secure in American history. You know, respecting the will of the people is at the heart of our democracy, even when we find those results hard to accept. But that is the obligation of those who have taken on a sworn duty to uphold the Constitution. Four years ago, when I was a sitting vice president of the United States, it was my responsibility to announce the tally of the Electoral College votes in a joint session of Congress that voted to elect Donald Trump. I did my job."
December 13, 2020 - Pro-Trump groups marched in the states where Trump is trying to overturn the election, and also in Washington DC. After dark, in DC, pro-Trump extremists, i.e. the Proud Boys, clashed with counter protesters. Four people were stabbed in the battles. Twenty three were arrested.
December 11, 2020 - Writign for the Washington Post, Amber Phillips offers the following commentary on the Texas lawsuit:
"Trump has become enamored with the suit. He, through a personal lawyer rather than the administration, has joined in. He talks to his advisers about it; he's tweeted about it. Republican attorneys general from 17 other states have already joined in. Not all Republicans, however, are on board. Sen Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), an occasional Trump critic, singled out Paxton's own legal troubles back home and said this, in part, in a statement about the lawsuit: 'It looks like a fella begging for a pardon filed a PR stunt.' (Paxton is facing indictment on securities fraud charges and says he has not discussed a pardon with the White House). But more than 100 House Republicans signed on to a brief supporting the effort. All these Republicans are setting themselves up for a quick failure." NOTE: The article points out two glaring flaws in the lawsuit:
1.The lawsuit alleges that states counted votes as they came in, and that it was odd that Biden took a late-night lead in states after Trump was initially leading.
2. The lawsuit points out that Biden did better in 2020 than Hillary Clinton did in 2016 in the four states, and claims that "the statistical improbability of Mr. Biden winning the popular vote in these four states collectively is 1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000."
Writing for the New Yorker, Susan Glasser offers the following commentary on Trump's silent accomplices:
"Not only have both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy refused to recognize his win; they both voted against a ceremonial motion of the committee organizing the 20 January handover of power to 'notify the American people' of plans to inaugurate Biden. In the immediate aftermath of the election, McConnell said that Trump 'has every right to look into allegations and request recounts under the law.' Now that Trump has lost the recounts and lost the lawsuits, now that the results have been certified and Trump is openly talking about overturning them, McConnell has been silent. Somehow, that's the part I was not entirely prepared for, even after all the Republican enabling and excuses of the past four years. The ballots that Trump and his allies are attacking, after all, are the same that elected Trump's allies, if not Trump himself. The votes that they want thrown out were cast not only by evil Democrats in faraway cities but by their friends and, in some cases, neighbors. They were counted and recounted and certified by Republican officials in many of the places that sealed Trump's defeat. What came as a gut punch, though, and still, even after all this time, a real surprise to me, was the announcement that seventeen other states—or at least their attorneys general—had filed a brief supporting the spurious Texas lawsuit, representing, from South Carolina to Utah, an array of pro-Trump red states. Eighteen states, in other words, are making the preposterous—and democratically devastating—argument that the Supreme Court should throw out other states’ votes because they do not like the results. So much for federalism and states' rights and all those other previously cherished Republican principles. Up on Capitol Hill, meanwhile, a hundred and six House Republicans filed an amicus brief of their own supporting the Texas lawsuit. Some of these same Trump supporters in Congress are also now considering objecting to the Electoral College results when they are presented to the House, on 6 January, in what is meant to be a purely pro-forma procedural move. Mitt Romney dismissed the idea as 'madness,' but he remains a lonely public voice against Trump, as his fellow-Republicans either fall in line or remain inexcusably silent. This has gone far beyond just humoring Trump for a few days."
Donald Trump sent the following in a tweet: "Now that the Biden Administration will be a scandal plagued mess for years to come, it is much easier for the Supreme Court of the United States to follow the Constitution and do what everybody knows has to be done. They must show great Courage & Wisdom. Save the USA!!!"
According to the New York Times, the Manhattan district attorney has intensified the investigation of Trump. From the story:
"State prosecutors in Manhattan have interviewed several employees of president Trump's bank and insurance broker in recent weeks, significantly escalating an investigation into the president that he is powerless to stop. The interviews with people who work for the lender, Deutsche Bank, and the insurance brokerage, Aon, are the latest indication that once Trump leaves office, he still faces the potential threat of criminal charges that would be beyond the reach of federal pardons. It remains unclear whether the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., will ultimately bring charges. The prosecutors have been fighting in court for more than a year to obtain Trump's personal and corporate tax returns, which they have called central to their investigation. The issue now rests with the supreme court. But lately, Vance's office has stepped up its efforts, issuing new subpoenas and questioning witnesses, including some before a grand jury .The grand jury appears to be serving an investigative function, allowing prosecutors to authenticate documents and pursue other leads, rather than considering any charges. When Trump returns to private life in January, he will lose the protection from criminal prosecution that his office has afforded him."
The Orlando Sentinel, has issued a public apology for endorsing Republican Mike Waltz for Congress. Mike Waltz was one of nine Florida Republican members of Congress who signed up to support a lawsuit brought by Texas to throw out the election results in Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. From the apology:
"We apologize to our readers for endorsing Michael Waltz in the 2020 general election for Congress. We had no idea, had no way of knowing at the time, that Waltz was not committed to democracy. During our endorsement interview with the incumbent congressman, we didn't think to ask, 'Would you support an effort to throw out the votes of tens of millions of Americans in four states in order to overturn a presidential election and hand it to the person who lost, Donald Trump?' Our bad."
Devin Nunes, Republican congressman from California, has tested positive for coronavirus.
According to the Guardian, the Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit from Texas which sought to overturn the election reults in 4 states. From the story:
"Texas was suing the states of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in an unlikely bid, calling changes that the states had made to election procedures amid the coronavirus pandemic unlawful. The suit was backed by Trump and more than 100 Republicans in Congress, including the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy. The court's order marked its second this week rebuffing Republican requests that it get involved in the 2020 election outcome. The justices turned away an appeal from Pennsylvania Republicans on Tuesday. On Thursday, the states named in the lawsuit urged the supreme court to reject it, calling the case a publicity stunt that had no factual or legal grounds and made 'bogus' claims. 'What Texas is doing in this proceeding is to ask this court to reconsider a mass of baseless claims about problems with the election that have already been considered, and rejected, by this court and other courts,' Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s Democratic attorney general, wrote in a filing to the nine justices. The electoral college meets on Monday to formally elect Biden as the next president."
Allen West, the Texas Republican party chairman, reacted to the Supreme Court decision by releasing a statement which includes the following sentence:
"Perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the constitution."
December 10, 2020 - Writing for Business Insider, Kelsey Blamis wrote the following commentary on Sidney Powell's "Kraken" court losses:
"Federal judges in Arizona and Wisconsin on Wednesday dismissed two sweeping lawsuits filed by the pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, which aimed to overturn the election results in both states. Powell's lawsuits, which she has referred to as releasing the 'kraken,' make the unsubstantiated claim that voting machines switched votes from President Donald Trump to President-elect Joe Biden in the 2020 election. In Arizona, US District Judge Diane Humetewa called the requests of Powell's lawsuit extraordinary, saying they would disenfranchise millions of Arizona voters. 'Such a request should then be accompanied by clear and concise facts,' she wrote. 'Yet the Complaint's allegations are sorely wanting of relevant or reliable evidence.' And in the Wisconsin ruling, US District Judge Pamela Pepper said federal courts do not have the jurisdiction to grant what the lawsuit was seeking. 'Federal judges do not appoint the president in this country,' she wrote. 'One wonders why the plaintiffs came to federal court and asked a federal judge to do so.'"
Writing for CNN, Manu Raju wrote about the deafening silence from congressional Republicans over Trump's undemocratic actions to overturn the election:
"A growing number of Senate Republicans are ready to publicly acknowledge what's been widely known for weeks but what they've refused to say: Joe Biden won the presidency and will be sworn in on January 20. What they're less certain about: What President Donald Trump will do after the Electoral College votes on Monday and how they plan to respond if he won't concede after Biden is the official winner. 'Trump’s going to do what Trump is going to do,' said Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who has asserted that Biden will be the President-elect once the Electoral College votes on Monday, but told CNN that it's Trump's call on conceding the race. 'That’s the only answer I'm going to give you.' Many Republican senators have pointed to 14 December as the defining moment – when electors meet in their state capitals to make the results official. Yet they are also confronting a new reality: Biden will officially clinch the necessary electoral votes to assume the presidency and the president is showing no signs of letting up. 'It is unhealthy for the well-being of our country, and our relations around the world if we spend time debating the outcome of the election once the presidential race has been determined,' Sen. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican, said in an interview. Yet a wide swath of Republicans on Capitol Hill are still siding with Trump or ignoring his daily conspiracy theories altogether, emulating a pattern through four years of his presidency, when many GOP lawmakers shrugged as they hoped the latest controversy quickly faded away."
Pete Williams of NBC News, identified five glaring problems with the Texas lawsuit to overturn the 2020 election:
1. It's unconstitutional since it's asking the supreme court to set aside the 14 December electoral college meeting.
2. Texas has no legal right to claim that officials elsewhere didn't follow the rules set by their own legislatures.
3. It is mostly a compilation of "legal claims that have already been chewed over [and mostly rejected] in lower courts.
4. It is asking the supreme court to overturn around 20 million votes on the basis they might be fraudulent without any evidence they are.
5. The lawsuit says the four states that Texas wants to sue have a total of 72 electoral votes. The total is actually 62.
Dick Hinch, the New Hampshire House Speaker, died from Covid-19.
December 9, 2020 - Writing for CNN, Stephen Collinson offers the following commentary on Trump's continued efforts to thwart the will of the American electorate:
"Trump's dangerous delusions about a stolen election represent the most overt attempt in modern history by a President to overthrow the will of the voters. But they have reached the point of no return after the conservative-majority Supreme Court largely crushed what remaining hallucinatory hopes Trump harbored of reversing his defeat. The Court's devastating first response to the post-election fray sent a clear signal that the top bench disdains frivolous and long-shot cases already witheringly rejected by lower courts. The denial of Pennsylvania Republicans' request to block the certification of their state's results, for which there were no noted dissents, was a humiliating repudiation of Trump's fundamental misunderstanding that three justices that he installed on the Court would swing him a disputed election. It also showed that evidence-free conspiracy theories might thrill the President's base and his media propagandists, but they don't cut it in court. The Supreme Court weighed in just hours after the President's latest illusory claims that he won the election, prevailed in swing states and was the victim of a massive, orchestrated operation by Democrats to defraud the electorate. Biden's spokesman Mike Gwin said: 'This election is over. Joe Biden won and he will be sworn in as President in January.'"
According to the Washington Post, more than 1500 lawyers have signed on to a letter condemning Trump's legal team's efforts to reverse the outcome of the election. From the story:
"Coordinated by the nonpartisan group Lawyers Defending American Democracy, the open letter questions the conduct by Rudy Giuliani, as well as current and former Trump legal team members Joseph diGenova, Jenna Ellis, Victoria Toensing and Sidney Powell. The LDAD letter claims that the Trump campaign attorneys have abused the judicial process by making baseless claims of voter fraud in public, only to abandon them in the courtroom in favor of wildly speculative, unsupported claims, before once again doubling down on dishonest arguments in public to appease Trump. 'It's really unusual to see a coalition like this calling for disciplinary action; it takes a lot,' said Deborah Rhode, a Stanford Law School professor and one of the leading American legal ethicists. 'Many of these letters have been crossing the political aisle, and that testifies to both the egregiousness of the conduct and its seriousness for the rule of law and the democratic process.' The signers include a bipartisan coalition of former ABA presidents, state bar presidents, retired federal judges, retired state Supreme Court justices and attorneys in private practice."
Dana Nessel, the attorney general for the state of Michigan, responded to the the Texas attorney general's lawsuit to overturn the election calling it a "publicity stunt, not a serious legal pleading" and adding "The Michigan issues raised in this complaint have already been thoroughly litigated and roundly rejected in both state and federal courts — by judges appointed from both political parties. Paxton's actions are beneath the dignity of the office of attorney general and the people of the great state of Texas ... The erosion of confidence in our democratic system isn't attributable to the good people of Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia or Pennsylvania but rather to partisan officials, like Paxton, who place loyalty to a person over loyalty to their country."
Donald Trump sent the following tweets:
- "We will be INTERVENING in the Texas (plus many other states) case. This is the big one. Our Country needs a victory!"
- "No candidate has ever won both Florida and Ohio and lost. I won them both, by a lot! #SupremeCourt" NOTE: Richard Nixon won Florida and Ohio when he lost the race for the presidency in 1960.
- "#OVERTURN"
- "Wow! At least 17 States have joined Texas in the extraordinary case against the greatest Election Fraud in the history of the United States. Thank you!" NOTE: One of the claims in the suit is that it was illegal for Georgia to process ballots before election day, despite the fact that states where Trump won, and where Trump is not disputing the results, some of those also processed ballots before election day.
"If somebody cheated in the Election, which the Democrats did, why wouldn't the Election be immediately overturned? How can a Country be run like this?"
December 8, 2020 - Jocelyn Benson, the Michigan elections chief, claimed that dozens of armed pro-Trump protesters gathered outside of her home, where they chanted "bogus" claims about electoral fraud. Benson responded to the mob tweeting: "The individuals gathered outside my home targeted me as Michigan's Chief Election officer. But their threats were actually aimed at the 5.5million Michigan citizens who voted in this fall's election, seeking to overturn their will. They will not succeed in doing so."
Bryan Cutler, the Pennsylvania House Speaker, confirmed that Trump phoned him twice last week to put pressure on the state to reverse the result of the election.
The Washington Post offers the following analysis of Trump's continued attempts to overturn the election:
"Trump called the speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives twice during the past week to make an extraordinary request for help reversing his loss in the state. The calls, confirmed by House Speaker Bryan Cutler's office, make Pennsylvania the third state where Trump has directly attempted to overturn a result. He previously reached out to Republicans in Michigan, and on Saturday he pressured Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in a call to try to replace that state's electors. The president's outreach to Pennsylvania's Republican House leader came after his campaign and its allies decisively lost numerous legal challenges in the state in both state and federal court. Trump has continued to press his baseless claims of widespread voting irregularities both publicly and privately. 'The president said, 'I'm hearing about all these issues in Philadelphia, and these issues with your law,' ' said Cutler spokesman Michael Straub, describing the House speaker's two conversations with Trump. ' 'What can we do to fix it?' ' Cutler told the president that the legislature had no power to overturn the state's chosen slate of electors, Straub said. But late last week, the House speaker was among about 60 Republican state lawmakers who sent a letter to Pennsylvania's congressional representatives urging them to object to the state's electoral slate on 6 January when Congress is set to formally accept the results. Although such a move is highly unlikely to gain traction, at least one Pennsylvania Republican, Rep. Scott Perry, said in an interview Monday that he will heed the request and dispute the state's electors."
Writing for USA Today, Joey Garrison explains that today is "safe harbor" day for the 2020 election. From the story:
"The safe harbor protection applies to states that have settled 'any controversy or contest concerning the appointment of all or any of the electors.' States don't have to meet the safe harbor deadline to have their electors counted. But for the states that do, their determination 'shall be conclusive, and shall govern in the counting of the electoral votes', the act reads. 'Meaning that Congress will not second-guess or question the state's own final determination,' said Ned Foley, director of the election law program at Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law. 'With each day that passes, particularly once the safe harbor deadline has passed, the possibility of changing the result becomes more and more remote,' said Rebecca Green, the director of William and Mary School of Law's election law program. 'Without credible evidence to support the idea that there's a problem, it just becomes less and less likely that anyone is going to disrupt the schedule as it unfolds in state statutes and federal law.'"
According to the AP, US district Jjudge Richard Jones, has found the Seattle police department in contempt of court for the indiscriminate use of pepper-filled "blast balls" and pepper spray during Black Lives Matter protests.
According to The Hill, women will hold more than 30% of the seats in state legislatures for the first time in history.
Dr Moncef Slaoui, Operation Warp Speed's chief science adviser, was asked by George Stphanopoulos to explain the meaning of an executive order that Trump will be signing later today which pledges "to ensure that United States government prioritizes getting the vaccine to American citizens before sending it to other nations." Slaoui's response: "Frankly, I don't know. And frankly I'm staying out of this, so I can't comment."
Ken Paxton, the attorney general of Texas, has filed suit against four states - Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisonsin - in the US supreme court to challenge their presidential election results saying "Trust in the integrity of our election processes is sacrosanct and binds our citizenry and the States in this Union together. Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin destroyed that trust and compromised the security and integrity of the 2020 election."
Notable responses to Paxton's lawsuit:
"It looks like we have a new leader in the 'craziest lawsuit filed to purportedly challenge the election' category: The State of Texas is suing Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin *directly* in #SCOTUS. (Spoiler alert: The Court is *never* going to hear this one.)" - Steve Vladeck
Jenna Ellis, a legal adviser to Donld Trump's reelection campaign, has tested positive for coronavirus.
Rudy Giuliani, who is hospitalized with Covid -19, released a statement which reads in part: "Justice Ginsburg recognized in Bush v. Gore that the date of 'ultimate significance' is January 6, when Congress counts and certifies the votes of the Electoral College. The only fixed day in the U.S. Constitution is the inauguration of the President on January 20 at noon ... Despite the media trying desperately to proclaim that the fight is over, we will continue to champion election integrity until every legal vote is counted fairly and accurately."
Trump held an Operation Warp Speed "vaccine summit". Here are some highlights:
- Trump was asked about coordinating with members of Joe Biden's transition team. Trump's response: "Well, we're gonna have to see who the next administration is ... Hopefully the next administration will be the Trump administration because you can't steal hundreds of thousands of votes ... You can't have fraud and deception and all of the things that they did and then slightly win a swing state ... And you just have to look at the numbers, look at what's been on tape, look at all the corruption and we'll see you can't win an election like that. So hopefully the next administration will be the Trump administration, a continuation ... we were rewarded with a victory ..."
- Trump was asked why the White House has been holding Christmas parties with hundreds of unmasked guests despite urgent warninfs from public health experts to avoid indoor gatherings. Trump's response: "Well, they're Christmas parties, and frankly we've reduced the number very substantially, as you know, and I see a lot of people at the parties wearing masks."
December 7, 2020 - Trump's post election legal challenge score:
Wins - 1 Case
Lost - 47 Cases
Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer, has tested positive for coronavirus.
Geoff Duncn, the Republican lieutenant governor of Georfia, stated that Trump's attacks on election integrity "disgust me".
During an interview with the AP regarding the current surge in coronavirus cases, Dr Grant Colfax, director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health stated: "If we'd had a more robust approach and testing was scaled up as one of the tools, I think much of this third surge would have been avoidable."
According to the Guardian, there were multiple failures in the Trump adaministration's approach to coronavirus. From the story:
"Testing was one of the first and most enduring stumbles in the federal government's response to the coronavirus epidemic that hit the nation early this year. In February, the CDC distributed test kits to public health laboratories that initially were faulty. US officials worked with companies to expand testing, but shortages of chemicals, materials and protective equipment meant fewer tests were available than what experts said was necessary. Worse, some experts say, states and cities competed against each other to buy limited testing services and materials, and with little guidance or training on how to best use the tests. And then the president kept falsely complaining that the only reason the US had a high number of cases was because it was doing a high number of tests."
Writing for The Hill, Fox News contributor Juan Williams offers the following commentary on Trump feasting on a dying GOP:
"Watching President Trump's conspiracy-mongering about his defeat in last month's presidential election, I flashed back to something former Republican speaker John Boehner said in 2018. 'There is no Republican Party. There's a Trump Party,' Boehner said. 'The Republican Party is kind of taking a nap somewhere.' Or is it a dying political party? The last rites started a month ago. Trump lost the presidential race to Joe Biden, including a stunning defeat in Georgia, a state dominated by Republicans for nearly 30 years. The wheezing death rattle for the GOP continued this past weekend. Trump arrived in Georgia to campaign for two Senate Republicans facing run-off elections on Jan. 5, Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. But his message twisted his knife into the Republicans. After weeks of saying the presidential election was rigged in Georgia and elsewhere, Trump spent most of his rally ranting his baseless grievances and telling his fans not to accept his loss because Democrats 'steal and rig and lie.' So, why should Republicans vote in those races if they believe Trump's claim that the presidential election was rigged? That makes no sense unless he is trying to get the party to kill itself."
The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) has begun work to remove a prominent statue of Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.
Donald Trump sent the following tweet: "The Republican Governor of Georgia refuses to do signature verification, which would give us an easy win. What's wrong with this guy? What is he hiding?" NOTE: It is not possible to conduct signature verification on absentee ballots at this stage, as absentee ballots are separated from their exterior envelopes once a signature has been verified.
According to the office of special counsel (OSC), Peter Navarro, Trump's senior trade advser, repeatedly violated the Hatch Act. The report states that Navarro "violated the Hatch Act by using his official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the result of the 2020 presidential election through both media appearances and social media" and that "Dr. Navarro's violations of the Hatch Act were knowing and willful". NOTE: More than a dozen of Trump's advisers have faced similar allegations. Noah Bookbinder, the executive director of CREW, responded to the OSC report saying: "In an administration full of people illegally using their government positions to influence an election, Navarro has been one of the worst ... Navarro's blatant violations of the Hatch Act are rivaled only by Kellyanne Conway. This isn’t about not knowing better, it is about a lack of interest in following the law, even when the cost to our democracy is severe."
Rebekah Jones, the former chief data scientist at Florida's health department, who was fired for refusing to manipulate Covid-19 data, claims the police have seized a computer she was using to publish a coronavirus dashboard of her own. According to Jones: "At 8:30 am this morning, state police came into my house and took all my hardware and tech. They were serving a warrant on my computer after [the health department] filed a complaint. They pointed a gun in my face. They pointed guns at my kids." Jones went on to say that Republican governor Ron DeSantis "sent the gestapo".
December 4, 2020 - 276,366 Americans have died from coronavirus.
Trump's post election legal challenge score:
Wins - 1 Case
Lost - 46 Cases
Writing for the Guardian, Sam Levine wrote the following commentary about concerns that Trump's fraud claims may discourage Georgians from voting in a Senate runoff:
"Donald Trump is set to host a Saturday rally in Georgia amid concerns he is discouraging Republicans there from turning out to vote in a critical runoff contest by attacking top GOP officials and falsely claiming fraud and voting-machine irregularities cost him the November election. The event will be Trump's biggest public appearance since losing Georgia, and the presidential race, last month. He will rally on behalf of Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, two Republican senators in runoff contests. Republicans need to win at least one of the contests in order to retain control of the US Senate and maintain a veto over the next four years of Joe Biden's presidency. Trump is urging supporters to vote for Perdue and Loeffler, but some Republicans worry he could be hurting their chances of winning. Even after a hand recount confirmed Trump lost Georgia by about 13,000 votes, the president has continued to falsely claim fraud cost him the election. By undermining confidence in the election, Trump could also be telling his supporters that their votes won't matter. L Lin Wood and Sidney Powell, two prominent conservative attorneys who have filed a spate of baseless pro-Trump lawsuits alleging election malfeasance, encouraged supporters in Georgia on Wednesday not to vote in the runoff election. 'We're not gonna go vote 5 January on another machine made by China. You're not gonna fool Georgians again,' Wood said on Wednesday. 'If Kelly Loeffler wants your vote, if David Perdue wants your vote, they've got to earn it. They've got to demand publicly, repeatedly, consistently, 'Brian Kemp: call a special session of the Georgia legislature.' And if they do not do it, if Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue do not do it, they have not earned your vote. Don't you give it to them. Why would you go back and vote in another rigged election?' Ronna Romney McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, faced skeptical voters in Georgia last weekend and had to reassure them the Senate election was not yet decided."
Writing for the Guardian, Alexander Kirshner and Claudio Lopez offer the followong commentary on what can and must be done to stop Trump from running in 2024:
"Democracies do not sprout spontaneously, like red poppies in a field. They are established by brave democrats: people who struggle, sometimes paying the ultimate price, against the forces of authoritarianism. This is how democracies survive, too. There is no such thing as the inevitability of democratic rule once it is in place. It has to be defended. Donald Trump's post-election maneuvers have, at a minimum, rocked Americans faith in their democracy. And rumors abound that the president will seek the position again in 2024, potentially announcing his run during Biden's inauguration. That possibility requires a proportionate response. Newspapers are teeming with discussions about the wisdom of pursuing criminal prosecutions of Trump after 20 January. But criminal prosecutions are not the only, or even the best mechanism for responding to the Trumpian challenge to self-government. In a society fully committed to democracy, Congress would use this lame-duck period to impeach, convict and disqualify Donald Trump from pursuing public office in the future, as the constitution allows. This might seem undemocratic. It is not. Joseph Goebbels famously said: 'It will always be one of the best jokes of democracy that it gives its deadly enemies the means to destroy it.' But Goebbels was wrong. Well-designed democracies need not turn the other cheek when confronted by aspiring autocrats."
According to the Washington Post, Trump's misleading claims have fuled nearly half a billion dollars in fund raising. From the story:
"President Trump has raised $495 million since mid-October, with $207.5 million of it pouring in after Election Day — an extraordinary haul resulting from Trump's post-election fundraising effort using a blizzard of misleading appeals about the integrity of the vote. The sum raised since 15 October far exceeds fundraising records set by the Trump operation in roughly comparable time periods at the height of the 2020 presidential campaign and is an unusually large amount to raise after the election. That means between 15 October and 23 November, Trump raised an average of nearly $13 million per day — a massive amount fueled by a deluge of email and text fundraising appeals sent out by the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, a joint fundraising committee that raises money for the president's campaign, the Republican Party and Trump's new leadership PAC, Save America. Much of the money raised since the election probably will go into Save America, a political action committee that the president can use for various activities after he leaves office. Since late October, the Trump campaign spent $8.8 million on bringing legal challenges to election results in key states, including recounts. Of that amount, $30,000 in legal consulting fees went to Jenna Ellis, one of the most prominent lawyers on Trump's post-election legal team."
According to an investigation by the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida, influenced a state administration that "suppressed unfavorable facts, dispensed dangerous misinformation, dismissed public health professionals, and promoted the views of scientific dissenters" who supported the governor's ambivalent approach to the disease. The paper also found that attitude struck by state leadership, mimicking the kind of dismissive approach of Donald Trump, whom DeSantis is a loyalist, has helped foster a public culture in which many defiantly shun face masks and readily gather in crowded bars and parties, contrary to federal public health guidelines.
Donald Trump sent the following in tweets: "RIGGED ELECTION!" and "GET TOUGH REPUBLICANS!"
Nicholas Garaufis, a US Judge, has ordered the Trump administration to restore the Daca program to first-time applicants and return the period of protection to two years.
Justice Brian Hagedorn wrote the following for the majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, as they handed the Trump campaign their 45th loss in their desparate attempt to overturn the 2020 pesidential election:
"Nonetheless, I feel compelled to share a further observation. Something far more fundamental than the winner of Wisconsin's electoral votes is implicated in this case. At stake, in some measure, is faith in our system of free and fair elections, a feature central to the enduring strength of our constitutional republic. It can be easy to blithely move on to the next case with a petition so obviously lacking, but this is sobering. The relief being sought by the petitioners is the most dramatic invocation of judicial power I have ever seen. Judicial acquiescence to such entreaties built on so flimsy a foundation would do indelible damage to every future election. Once the door is opened to judicial invalidation of presidential election results, it will be awfully hard to close that door again. This is a dangerous path we are being asked to tread. The loss of public trust in our constitutional order resulting from the exercise of this kind of judicial power would be incalculable. I do not mean to suggest this court should look the other way no matter what. But if there is a sufficient basis to invalidate an election, it must be established with evidence and arguments commensurate with the scale of the claims and the relief sought. These petitioners have come nowhere close. While the rough and tumble world of electoral politics may be the prism through which many view this litigation, it cannot be so for us. In these hallowed halls, the law must rule."
Randall Warner, a Maricopa county superior judge, wrote the following as the Trump campaign was handed their 46th court loss in their desperate attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election:
"Approximately 1.9m mail-in ballots were cast and, of these, approximately 20,000 were identified that required contacting the voter. Of those, only 587 ultimately could not be validated ... Plaintiff has not proven that the Biden/Harris ticket did not receive the highest number of votes."
December 3, 2020 - 273,621 Americans have died from coronavirus.
Writing for the Guardian, Jill Filipovic wrote the following commentary on Trump's pardons:
"Given that Donald Trump treats the office of the presidency like a personal branding tool and deals with adversity like a two-bit mafioso, this moment was perhaps predictable: the president is reportedly considering pre-emptively pardoning three of his children, his son-in-law, and associates including Rudy Giuliani. He has already pardoned or commuted the sentences of several of his friends and associates, which should raise some eyebrows – why do so many people who surround this president wind up charged with a crime, in jail, or bracing themselves for criminal charges? And why is the supposedly law-and-order 'pro-life' Republican party shrugging as this president excuses the criminality of his kin and his cronies while he refuses to intervene to save anyone from execution – and in fact, is using what little time he has left in office to reinstate barbaric practices like death by firing squad? We all know Trump didn't drain the swamp. But in his last two months in office, he is sending a clear message about who and what he and his party value. It's not Christian mercy, or hard-nosed law and order, or even the sanctity of life. It's power, dominance and a thick line between two Americas: one connected, white, power-hungry and lawless, and the other at its mercy. Many expect that the president will issue a flurry of pardons and commutations, and this largesse will be bestowed much like the measly 11 pardons and commutations he's issued so far: on people who worked for him, people who supported him, people could incriminate him and people who personally impress him (sometimes via reality television stars, because we are living in the worst of times)."
Writing for the Washington Post, Philip Bump wrote the following commentary on Trump's 46 minute video of conspiracy theories and baseless election fraud claims:
"Trump read and riffed on a prepared script lambasting those who had the audacity to suggest that receiving fewer votes than his opponent meant he shouldn't serve a second consecutive term in office. It was also clearly no small undertaking; the numerous cuts in the final product suggested that what was offered to the country was a subset of what Trump had to say to the camera. This was a project. Good thing Trump rarely has any official duties on his calendar anymore. What the video wasn't was a compelling argument for the idea that the 2020 presidential contest was somehow marred by fraud. It was, almost literally, a distillation of the past four weeks of rants, allegations and accusations, including countless examples of claims which have already been soundly debunked. That sudden surge of votes seen in Wisconsin, something so compelling in Trump's eyes that he brought a visual aid to demonstrate it? We dispatched that on 11 November: it was just the county of Milwaukee reporting its results. Whether it's more worrisome if Trump knew it had been debunked or if he didn't is up to you to determine. It was a pastiche of so much that we've heard so often. It presented no coherent case for the existence of fraud, instead substituting a volume of accusations for an abundance of proof. Having hundreds of people make unfounded allegations isn't proof of wrongdoing, as any review of those sheaves of affidavits collected by Trump's campaign from various supporters makes clear. Since polls closed 3 November Trump's public response to his loss has been one of exasperation, the spoiled child suddenly told that he can't do something he wants to do. Some part of this is political, an effort to lash out at President-elect Joe Biden and to impose an emotional cost on Democrats broadly. But there's obviously something deeper and more psychological at play, a darker shadow of refusal and frustration and fury that can't as easily be countered with simple rationality."
The Michigan House Oversight Committee held a hearing, in which Rudy Giuliani spoke, and was allowed to question witnesses. The hearing was described by one lawmaker who was present "a farce and a legislative embarrassment". Here are some highlights:
- Giuliani told the lawmakers "You are the final arbiter of how honest or not your election is in your state. And it's your responsibility to stand up to that. If we let them get away with this, I don't know what happens after this."
- A witness who worked as a contractor for Dominion Voting Sytems claimed: "I know for a fact that there was illegal activity going on there." NOTE: A Washington Post investigation determined that the majority of swing-state counties that were using Dominion Voting System machines recorded more votes for Donald Trump.
- One witness stated "The other representative said that you can actually show up and vote without an ID, it's shocking. How can you allow that to happen. A lot of people think all Indians look alike, I think all Chinese look alike, so how would you tell?"
- One witness claimed that she was told to "pre-date" ballots. another claimed that the same ballots were being re-counted "nine or ten times". NOTE: Both witnesses made these claims in court, where judges found their allegations "simply not credible."
According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Michael J Moore, a former US attorney based in Atlanta, has called on the state of Georgia to investigate South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham for pressuring the state's top election official to interfere in the presidential election. From the story:
"'I am particularly concerned that the chairman of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee would make any attempt to interfere with the Georgia secretary of state as he endeavored to lawfully perform his constitutional duties in overseeing the 2020 election and the counting, and re-counting, of the votes cast in the state of Georgia,' Moore wrote. He also requested the board investigate any attempt by Graham to discard lawful ballots cast for the upcoming 5 January Georgia senate runoff election."
According to the AP. Heidi Stirrup, the White House liaison to the justice department, has been banned from access to its buildings. From the story:
"[The] ally of top [Donald] Trump adviser Stephen Miller, was quietly installed at the justice department as a White House liaison a few months ago. She was told within the last two weeks to vacate the building after top justice officials learned of her efforts to collect insider information about ongoing cases and the department's work on election fraud, the people said ... Stirrup had also extended job offers to political allies for positions at some of the highest levels of the justice department without consulting any senior department officials or the White House counsel's office and also attempted to interfere in the hiring process for career staffers, a violation of the government's human resources policies."
Alyssa Farah, the White House communications director, has resigned her position "to pursure new opportunities".
December 2, 2020 - Donald Trump responded on twitter to news of a "bribery-for-pardon scheme" saying: "Pardon investigation is Fake News!"
Christopher Krebs, the former director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), who was fired by Donald Trump after pushing back on his baseless fraud claims, responded to comments made by a Trump lawyer that he should be "taken out at dawn and shot" saying: "I am not going to be intimidated by these threats from telling the truth to the American people ... The 2020 election was the most secure in US history. This success should be celebrated by all Americans, not undermined in the service of a profoundly un-American goal."
Donald Trump released a 46 minute video of himself on social media where he stated:
"This may be the most important speech I've ever made ... update on the efforts to expose the tremendous voter fraud and irregularities." NOTE: The video included many claims of widespread voter fraud, but no evidence of widespread voter fraud was presented in the video. As with most of Trump's twitter posts nowadays, Twitter flagged this one due to misinformation.
According to the AP, Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer, urged Michigan Republican activists to pressure the GOP controlled legislature to "step up" and award the state's 16 electoral votes to Trump, despite Joe Biden's 154,000 vote victory. NOTE: The Michigan legislature passed a law many years ago that allots the state's electoral votes to the popular vote winner.
According to Dr Robert Redfield, the director of the CDC, the coming winter months will be the "most difficult in the public health history of this nation" due to rising coronavirus cases.
December 1, 2020 - Trump's post election legal challenge score:
Wins - 1 Case
Lost - 39 Cases
Writing for the New York Times, Sheryl Gay Stolberg offers the following commentary on the resignation letter written of Dr Scott Atlas:
"Some of Dr. Atlas's Trump administration colleagues would most likely contradict that assessment, citing views starkly different from those put forth by officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and by other government scientists. Dr. Atlas has argued, for example, that the science of mask wearing is uncertain and that children cannot spread the coronavirus. Even more contentious was his libertarian vision of the role of the government in the pandemic. In Dr. Atlas's view, the government's job was not to stamp out the virus but simply to protect its most vulnerable citizens as Covid-19 took its course. Dr. Atlas also railed against anything that smacked of a lockdown or business closure. 'Protect the high-risk; open schools, society,' he tweeted in October. 'Alternative? Confine healthy people, restrict business, close schools ... kills people, destroys families, sacrifices kids. #RationalThinking.' Public health experts were appalled and warned that his ideas were dangerous and would have disastrous results. But that did not stop Dr. Atlas. In mid-November, he called on people in Michigan to 'rise up' against coronavirus restrictions. The state's governor, Gretchen Whitmer, who had faced death threats and a thwarted kidnapping attempt over the restrictions, denounced him as 'incredibly reckless.'"
According to The Hill, Republican lawmakers in Ohio have filed articles of impeachment against GOP governor Mike DeWine. From the story:
"In a statement shared with local news outlets, Becker's office blasted DeWine, alleging 'mismanagement, malfeasance, misfeasance, abuse of power, and other crimes include, but are not limited to, meddling in the conduct of a presidential primary election, arbitrarily closing and placing curfews on certain businesses, while allowing other businesses to remain open.' The group of state Republican lawmakers argues that DeWine violated Ohioans' civil liberties by issuing a stay-at-home order and requiring them to wear masks. They have argued that the face covering rule 'promotes fear, turns neighbors against neighbors, and contracts the economy by making people fearful to leave their homes.'"
The Los Angeles Times editorial board published an op-ed on a census case that is currently before the Supreme Court. From the op-ed:
"He's trying to cook the final numbers sent to the states under a July memo in which Trump asserted that, when it comes to congressional reapportionment, 'it is the policy of the United States to exclude from the apportionment base aliens who are not in a lawful immigration status under the Immigration and Nationality Act.' If the president's scheme is found to be lawful, California, Texas and Florida each might lose at least one seat in the House (with more than 2 million migrants living in the state without authorization, California could lose up to three seats) to which they otherwise would be entitled, while Alabama, Minnesota and Ohio could each gain a seat ... While a change in administrations might make Trump's effort moot, it would still be best for the Supreme Court to put this kind of chicanery to bed by affirming the Constitution's clear language on the breadth of the census, and its use in reallocating House seats, and to reject Trump's reasoning for ignoring historical precedent and clear constitutional language for political reasons. Just because Trump and the immigration hard-liners who support him dislike the Constitution's requirement that apportionment be based on an enumeration of 'the whole number of persons in each State' doesn't mean they get to redefine as they see fit."
Writing for the Guardian, Richard Wolffe offers the following commentary on Trump's legacy:
"Whether he knows it or not – and all the evidence suggests he knows nothing worth knowing – Trump's legacy is the toxic politics of lies: a permanent campaign of fabrications and falsehoods. No matter that he clearly lost the 2020 election by landslide margins in the electoral college and the popular vote. What matters is the never-ending sense of grievance that someone or something, somewhere – liberals, minorities, judges, reporters – have conspired to wrong Trump and oppress his long-suffering fans. This is the narrative of the fascist story forever: you are not to blame for your suffering because it was contrived by others – immigrants and outsiders, wielding wealth and power in the shadows. Trump did not invent this story and likely has no idea where it came from, other than his own obvious genius. He did not invent the notion that brazen lies can buy you a delusional base. He wasn't the first to put the bull in the bully pulpit of the presidency. But he was the first to run a White House like a Joe McCarthy witch hunt, unleashing social media to cower an entire party into a posture of pure cowardice. Trump's Republicans will be with us long after the soon-to-be-ex-president succumbs to the overdue tax bills of the IRS, the calling-in of his massive property debts, and the long-brewing fraud cases of New York state's prosecutors. These Trumpist Republicans are his legacy, as much as a supreme court stacked against the popular vote, science and all good sense."
According to the Washington Post, Donald Trump's false claims help to raise a significant amount of money. From the story:
"President Trump's political operation has raised more than $150 million since Election Day, using a blizzard of misleading appeals about the election to shatter fundraising records set during the campaign, according to people with knowledge of the contributions. The influx of political donations is one reason Trump and some allies are inclined to continue a legal onslaught and public affairs blitz focused on baseless claims of election fraud, even as their attempts have repeatedly failed in court and as key states continue to certify wins for President-elect Joe Biden. Much of the money raised since the election is likely to go into an account for the president to use on political activities after he leaves office, while some of the contributions will go toward what's left of the legal fight. The surge of donations is largely from small-dollar donors, campaign officials say, tapping into the president's base of loyal and fervent donors who tend to contribute the most when they feel the president is under siege or facing unfair political attacks. The campaign has sent about 500 post-election fundraising pitches to donors, often with hyperbolic language about voter fraud and the like. 'I need you now more than ever,' says one recent email that claims to be from the president. 'The Recount Results were BOGUS,' another email subject line reads."
Writing for CNN, Ronald Brownstein offers the following analysis of Trump's baseless election fraud claims:
"In many respects, the congressional GOP response to Trump has paralleled the party's response to McCarthy. Whatever their private concerns about Trump's behavior or values, the vast majority of congressional Republicans have supported Trump since his 2017 inauguration at almost every turn, brushing aside concerns about everything from openly racist language to his efforts to extort the government of Ukraine to manufacture dirt on the eventual Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden. That pattern of deference has continued since the election as Trump has raised unfounded claims that he lost only because of massive voter fraud; as an array of state and federal courts have rejected those claims as lacking any supporting evidence, Trump has only heightened his allegations. In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Trump broadened his claims to suggest that the FBI and Department of Justice were part of a plot to defeat him; after weeks of excoriating Georgia's Republican secretary of state for failing to overturn the state's election results on his behalf, Trump this week extended his criticism to the state's staunchly conservative Republican governor, Brian Kemp. On Monday, Trump added a new Republican target when he fired a volley of attacks against Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey after the state certified Biden's victory there. Through it all, as Trump's charges have grown more and more untethered and vitriolic, Senate Majority Leader McConnell, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other top GOP legislators in both chambers – not to mention the vast majority of Republican governors – have raised not a peep of dissent."
News surfaced that Rudy Giuliani has discussed a "pre-emptibe pardon" with Donald Trump. although it is unclear what federal crime Giuliani believes he needs to be pardoned from.
William Barr, the US attorney general, sat down with the AP for an interview. Here are some highlights:
- Barr stated that "To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election."
- Barr stated "There's been one assertion that would be systemic fraud and that would be the claim that machines were programmed essentially to skew the election results. And the DHS and DOJ have looked into that, and so far, we haven’t seen anything to substantiate that."
Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis, on behalf of the Trump campaign, responded to William Barr's interview with the AP saying: "With all due respect to the attorney general, there hasn't been any semblance of a Department of Justice investigation ... Nonetheless, we will continue our pursuit of the truth through the judicial system and state legislatures, and continue toward the constitution's mandate and ensuring that every legal vote is counted and every illegal vote is not. Again, with the greatest respect to the attorney general, his opinion appears to be without any knowledge or investigation of the substantial irregularities and evidence of systemic fraud."
During a press conference, Gabriel Sterling, Georgia's voting system's manager, and top election official, made the following plea to president Trump:
"Mr President, it looks like you likely lost the state of Georgia. We're investigating, there's always a possibility, I get it. You have the rights to go to the courts. What you don't have the ability to do – and you need to step up and say this – is stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone is going to get hurt, someone is going to get shot, someone is going to get killed, and it's not right. It's not right."
According to CNN, a newly unsealed court document indicates that the Department of Justice is investigating a potentially criminal scheme to lobby and bribe unnamed officials in exchange for a presidential pardon. The names of the individuals involved was redacted. From the story:
"At the end of this summer, a filter team, used to make sure prosecutors don't receive tainted evidence that should have been kept from them because it was privileged, had more than 50 digital devices including iPhones, iPads, laptops, thumb drives and computer drives after investigators raided the unidentified offices. Prosecutors told the court they wanted permission to the filter team's holdings. The prosecutors believed the devices revealed emails that showed allegedly criminal activity, including a 'secret lobbying scheme' and a bribery conspiracy that offered 'a substantial political contribution in exchange for a presidential pardon or reprieve of sentence' for a convicted defendant whose name is redacted, according to the redacted documents. Communications between attorneys and clients are typically privileged and kept from prosecutors as they build their cases, but in this situation, Howell allowed the prosecutors access. Attorney-client communications are not protected as privileged under the law when there is discussion of a crime, among other exceptions."
November 30, 2020 - Writing for the Guardian, Tom McCarthy wrote the following commentary regarding Trump's assault on democracy:
"It is not clear yet whether US democracy 'survived' the 2020 presidential election unscathed. If Donald Trump's playbook of seeking to undermine a legitimate election becomes standard Republican practice for future elections – refuse to concede, make false claims of fraud, fan the flames of conspiracy, sue everywhere and refuse to certify any win by the other side – then American democracy might already have sustained a fatal wound. But Trump has not succeeded in stealing the 2020 election, despite his historic attempt to do so, in what analysts call the most dangerous frontal assault on US democracy since the civil war era. The two states upon which Trump's plot most hinged, Pennsylvania and Michigan, certified their results in Joe Biden's favor earlier this week. The presidential transition is at last under way. But while the election exposed key areas where American democracy is failing, it also highlighted structural features that make national elections in the United States hard to steal, no matter how determined the would-be despot or how complicit his party colleagues."
Writing for the Guardian, Samuel Moyn wrote about the US foreign policy disasters that helped pave the way for Donald Trump:
"Since the shock of 2016, Washington foreign policy elites, both mainstream Democrats out of power and their Never Trump Republican allies, have developed a just-so story about their benevolent role in the world. It goes like this: the US was once isolationist, but then committed after the second world war to leading a 'rules-based international order', a phrase that is increasingly hard to avoid in assessments of the presidential transition. In this story, Trump's election represented atavism and immorality, the return of rightly repressed nationalism and nativism at home and abroad. In response, the agenda has to be to restore US credibility and leadership as the 'indispensable nation' by embracing internationalism again. Trump's boorish attack on traditional pieties understandably makes Washington traditions seem like comfort food after a hangover. The darker truth this response conceals is that generations of foreign policy mistakes both preceded and precipitated Trump – who often went on to continue them anyway. The record of Washington's 'wise men', who coddled dictators, militarised the globe, and entrenched economic unfairness at home and abroad, opened an extraordinary opportunity for any Trump-like demagogue – making his ascendancy less a matter of atavism than another form of the blowback to mistakes that America perpetually made abroad. If his presence shamed US foreign policy elites, it was because they helped make him possible."
A conspiracy theory that is currently mking its rounds on social media is the notion that since Kamala Harris has not yet resigned he position in the Senate, then she must know that her and Joe Biden's victory is not legitimate. Here are some basic facts about other people who have became part of a White House administration, and when they chose to step down from their positions:
- Mike Pence resigned as Governor of Indiana 11 days before being inaugurated in 2017.
- Joe Biden resigned from the Senate 5 days before being inaugurated in 2009.
- Al Gore resigned from the Senate 18 days before being inaugurated in 1993.
- Dan Quayle resigned from the Senate 17 days before being inaugurated in 1989.
During an appearance on CBS 60 Minutes, Chris Krebs, the former head of US election security, stated the following regarding the press conference at RNC headquarters in Washington DC, where Rudy Giuliani and other Trump lawyers pushed Trump's baseless election fraud claims:
"What I saw was an apparent attempt to undermine confidence in the election, to confuse people, to scare people ... It's not me, it's not just Cisa. It's the tens of thousands of election workers out there that had been working nonstop, 18-hour days, for months. They're getting death threats for trying to carry out one of our core democratic institutions, an election. And that was, again, to me, a press conference that ... didn’t make sense. What it was actively doing was undermining democracy. And that's dangerous ... There is no foreign power that is flipping votes,' Krebs said. 'There's no domestic actor flipping votes. I did it right. We did it right. This was a secure election.'"
Trump sent the following in a tweet: "I'm not fighting for me, I'm fighting for the 74,000,000 million people (not including the many Trump ballots that were 'tossed'), a record for a sitting President, who voted for me!"
Trump sent the following in a tweet: "Why won't Governor @BrianKempGA, the hapless Governor of Georgia, use his emergency powers, which can be easily done, to overrule his obstinate Secretary of State, and do a match of signatures on envelopes. It will be a 'goldmine' of fraud, and we will easily WIN the state.... Also, quickly check the number of envelopes versus the number of ballots. You may just find that there are many more ballots than there are envelopes. So simple, and so easy to do. Georgia Republicans are angry, all Republicans are angry. Get it done!"
According to a new Gallup poll, Joe Biden's approval rating is at 55%. Trump's is at 42%.
Joseph diGenova, a Trump campaign attorney, and former federal prosecutor, who is part of Trump's "elite strike force team" stated the following during an interview with Newsmax, a highly partisan far right news organization: "Anybody who thinks the election went well, like that idiot Krebs who used to be the head of cybersecurity [for Trump]. That guy is a class-A moron. He should be drawn and quartered. Taken out at dawn and shot."
Scott Atlas, a neuroradiologist, who used his position as a special adviser to Donald Trump to attack science-based health measures, has resigned. In his resignation letter, Atlas stated: "I always relied on the latest science and evidence, without any political consideration or influence."
November 25, 2020 - Trump's post election legal challenge score:
Wins - 1 Case
Lost - 36 Cases
Writing for the Tampa Bay Times, Leonard Pitts Jr offers the following commentary on Trump's legal charade:
"For there to be disappointment at childish behavior presumes an expectation of adult behavior. No such expectation exists where Trump is concerned. So his weeks of sulking and floating bizarre conspiracy theories since he lost the election, while embarrassing in the extreme, doesn't really let me down so much as confirm what I already knew. One might as well be disappointed in an infant for soiling his diaper as to be disappointed in Trump for soiling his office. But I must admit that prior to this I did harbor some tiny, flickering expectation that, if pushed to the limit, the Republican Party, the party always lecturing the rest of us on patriotism, would stand up for the country. I did expect – or maybe it was just a vestigial hope – that when rubber met road, the GOP would finally put America ... ahem, first. Well, call it expectation or call it hope, but it's dead. And it died, quite literally, in silence. We are a people of notoriously short memories. But one hopes we recall the stink of this cowardice for a very long time."
Speaking to CNN, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a professor of medicine at George Washington University, said the following regarding the 2020 Sturgis bike rally: "One of the ways we think the Midwest was seeded with virus over the summer was with the Sturgis, South Dakota, motorcycle rally, where people were infected and then dispersed out through the Midwest." He then warned that Thanksgiving could be "potentially the mother of all superspreader events" with "people leaving from every airport in the United States and carrying virus with them."
Writing for the Guardian, Julian Borger offered the following commentary on Trump's failed coup attempt:
"In the end, the coup did not take place. In the most grudging manner possible, Donald Trump signalled on Monday night that the transition of power could begin. That, a White House official told reporters, was as close as Trump will probably ever come to concession, but the machinery of transition has gathered momentum. Joe Biden's incoming administration now has a government internet domain, is being briefed by government agencies and is due to receive federal funding. The Pentagon quickly announced it would be providing support for the transfer of power. And one by one, senior Republicans – an especially timid category – are recognising the election result. But there is no doubt US democracy has been given a scare. As the sense of imminent threat begins to fade, the convoluted inner workings of the electoral system are coming under scrutiny to determine whether it was as robust as its advocates had hoped – or whether the nation simply got lucky this time. 'I had long been in the camp of people who believed that the guardrails of democracy were working,' Katrina Mulligan, a former senior official in the justice department's national security division. 'But my view has actually shifted in the last few weeks as I watched some of this stuff play out. Now I actually think that we are depending far too much on fragile parts of our democracy, and expecting individuals, rather than institutions, to do the work the institution should be doing.' Trump made no secret of his gameplan even before the election, and it has come into sharper focus with every madcap day since: cast doubt on the reliability of postal ballots, claim victory on election night before most of them were counted, and then sow enough confusion with allegations, justice department investigations and street mayhem with far-right militias to delay certification of the results. Such a delay would create an opportunity for Republican-run state legislatures to step in and select their own electors to send to the electoral college, which formally decides who becomes president. That would produce a constitutional crisis that would ultimately be settled by the supreme court, which has a 6-3 Republican majority and has become increasingly politicised. For the plan to work it required political fealty to trump over actual votes but, at several crucial decision points, that did not happen."
Writing for Reuters, Jan Wolfe offers the following commentary on the connsequences for Trump's legal team for repeatedly making baseless claims that cannot stand up in court:
"Rep. Bill Pascrell on Friday called for Rudy Giuliani and other members of Trump's legal team to be stripped of their law licenses for bringing 'frivolous' lawsuits, but legal ethics experts say attorney discipline is relatively rare, especially in politically charged disputes. All 50 states and the District of Columbia have legal ethics rules for lawyers that are derived from standards published by the American Bar Association. One ABA rule says that lawyers should only assert a claim in court if 'there is a basis in law and fact for doing so that is not frivolous.' Separately, there are rules prohibiting lawyers from making false statements to third parties and engaging in deceitful conduct. Giuliani has repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims in press conferences and media appearances about electoral fraud. During a 17 November court hearing, he initially told a judge in Pennsylvania that the election had been marred by fraud. But under questioning by Judge Matthew Brann, Giuliani backed away from this unproven claim, acknowledging that 'this is not a fraud case.' Other members of the Trump legal team have generally made narrower allegations in court. Viviane Scott, a lawyer at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz in New York, said there is a reason for this dissonance between what the campaign says in and out of courtrooms. 'We, as lawyers, are officers of the court,' said Scott. 'We're under an obligation make statements that have a basis in truth.' On Twitter and in media appearances, Giuliani and attorney Sidney Powell appeared to have run afoul of rules barring them from making dishonest statements, said Brian Faughnan, a lawyer and ethics specialist in Tennessee. The Trump campaign has since said that Powell is no longer representing it. Faughnan said Giuliani acted unethically by tweeting on 22 November that there were 'PHANTOM VOTERS' in the Detroit area. That tweet appeared to reference a sworn statement by a cybersecurity analyst, submitted in court, that had a major error: it confused data from Minnesota with data from Michigan. Two days previously, the lawyer who filed the affidavit, Lin Wood, conceded that it was mistaken and needed to be corrected. Giuliani either knew his tweet was false, or reasonably should have known it was false, Faughnan said. 'By the time he tweeted that, the screw-up had been publicly discussed,' Faughnan said. President Donald Trump has also subsequently spread this erroneous affidavit on social media. Despite these apparent ethical lapses, Faughnan said he did not expect action against Giuliani and Powell. Faughnan said investigators have limited resources, and will focus on more straightforward violations such as lawyers who steal from clients. Faughnan said investigators would also be wary of disciplining lawyers when its about politics. 'When it is a very politically charged case, you know the first line of defense is going to be 'you are only doing this to us because of our politics,'' said Faughnan."
Brad Raffensperger, the Republican secretary of state in Georgia, wrote an op-ed in USA Today about his disillusionment with Trump and the impotance of running fair elections:
"By all accounts, Georgia had a wildly successful and smooth election. We finally defeated voting lines and put behind us Fulton County's now notorious reputation for disastrous elections. This should be something for Georgians to celebrate, whether their favored presidential candidate won or lost. For those wondering, mine lost — my family voted for him, donated to him and are now being thrown under the bus by him. Elections are the bedrock of our democracy. They need to be run fairly and, perhaps more important, impartially. That's not partisan. That's just American. Yet some don't seem to see it that way ... In times of uncertainty, when the integrity of our political system is most at risk, the integrity of our politicians is paramount. Many of my fellow Republicans are men and women of integrity. They demonstrate it each and every day: fighting for their constituents, fighting for liberty, and fighting for fair and reliable elections. In times like these, we need leaders of integrity to guide us through."
Writing for the Guardian, Amil Niazi wrote the following commentary on the relationship the country has had with Donald Trump:
"There are certainly many parallels between the end of Donald Trump's presidency and a psychologically violent relationship. Think about the temper tantrums, the refusal to accept reality, mood swings, fear of reprisal and a sense of looming danger: all are hallmarks of controlling and abusive behavior. Farrah Khan is a gender-based violence expert and member of the government of Canada's Advisory Council on the Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence – and she echoes how Trump's time in office has often mirrored domestic violence. 'Throughout his time in office, Trump would belittle communities, enact state violence through policies, act out in vengeful ways when he felt slighted and cut off access to supports or protections, isolating communities from each other,' she tells me. 'I feel that under Trump many of us had a collective hypervigilance and anxiety of what he might do next. This has shown up in things like night terrors or constantly scrolling on social media for real or perceived threats from him to your community.'"
The Trump campaign held an event in Gettysburgh, PA that was billed as a "public hearing". Trump was not in attendance, but phoned in. Here are some highlights:
- Trump stated: "This election has to be turned around ... This election was lost by the Democrats. They cheated. It was a fraudulent election." NOTE: The Trump campaign has not presented evidence in court or anywhere else to back up this claim.
- Trump claimed "This is a very important moment in the history of our country."
- Trump called Rudy Giuliani "the greatest mayor in the history of New York" and said that what he is doing now "is going to be the crowning achievement by far".
Notable reaction to Trump's "public hearing":
"History will record the shameful irony that a president who lied to avoid military service staged a bogus event on the hallowed grounds of Gettysburg in a brazen attempt to undermine the Republic for which scores of real patriots had fought & died to preserve since its founding." - Tom Ridge, former governor of Pennsylvania
Donald Trump pardoned Michael Flynn, Trump's first national security adviser. Trump then tweeted: "It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon. Congratulations to @GenFlynn and his wonderful family, I know you will now have a truly fantastic Thanksgiving!"
Some notable reactions to the Flynn pardon:
"The Pardonpalooza has begun!" - David Axelrod
"'law and order' doesn't mean law or order for *them*" - b-boy bouiebaisse
"While President Trump is insisting publicly that the election isn't over yet and he didn't really lose, the Flynn pardon is another sign that he realizes, but won't admit, he's on his way out the door. Sources say more pardons or commutations are expected." - Kaitlan Collins
"We must watch the coming pardons closely. How Trump may someday profit from them--a form of corruption prohibited by law--must be monitored. This is a dirty business to begin with, but count on Trump to make it as dirty as possible." - David Rothkopf
November 24, 2020 - The New York times offers the following analysis of what Trump has been up to in public since his election defeat:
"Between 4 November and 22 November, there were eleven days out of the 19 that Trump had no public or official engagements. During that time all he has done officially is deliver a press conference about the election that was littered with falsehoods on 5 November, participated in the Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington, given an update on Operation Warp Speed in the White House rose garden, and delivered remarks on perscription drug prices. He's also participated in a virtual meeting with Asian leaders, briefly participated in the virtual G20 summit, and had lunch with Mike Pence twice. He has golfed six times. Karen Yourish and Larry Buchanan have also analysed the Trump tweets during this period. They found that in the last three weeks Donald Trump has tweeted some 550 times, about three-quarters of which attempted to undermine the 2020 election results."
Writing for the Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin offers the following commentary on changes needed for future transitions:
"We can add that to the list of belt-and-suspender reforms needed in case — God forbid — another president comes along who’s willing to act in total disregard of applicable law and the national interest. In addition, one can imagine a slew of states will reexamine their own certification procedures. Every state should clarify that bureaucrats are not empowered to overturn the will of the people (and providing stiff criminal penalties if they try it). Now that one national party has demonstrated appalling bad faith and contempt for the will of the voters, we should all be a bit wiser about the need to eliminate loopholes that anti-democracy politicians might try to exploit. We certainly have not seen the last of Trump's efforts to delegitimize the election. I doubt that 2024 contenders and other Trump sycophants will concede that Biden won — let alone that the results were not very close. These Republicans will simply move on, thereby placating the man who will wreak havoc in their party for years while attempting to avoid the impression that they, too, are conspiracy-mongers."
Bob Bauer, a senior adviser to Joe Biden, issued a statement following the certification of Joe Biden as winner of Pennsylvania: "Trump did everything he could to disenfranchise voters and stop the results from being certified in Pennsylvania, including filing over 15 lawsuits - most recently producing one of the more embarrassing courtroom performances of all time, with the judge in the case ruling that their arguments were 'without merit' and 'unsupported by evidence.' Trump did not succeed in Pennsylvania and he will not succeed anywhere else ... and Joe Biden will be sworn in as president on January 20, 2021."
The White House has given formal approval for president-elect Biden to receive the President's Daily Brief (PDB).
November 23, 2020 - Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis, two of Trump's lawyers, issued a statement saying "Sidney Powell is practicing law on her own. She is not a member of the Trump legal team. She is also not a lawyer for the president in his personal capacity."
Writing for CNN, Stephen Collinson offers the following commentary on movement by a small number of Republicans to distance themselves from Trump's attempts to subvert democracy:
"Trump’s effort to overturn the election he lost is being increasingly undermined by the inanity of his legal claims and is causing some high-profile Republicans to peel off even with most of his party mute amid his constitutional arson. The president's legal team, ruining time-honored traditions of a peaceful transfer of power, is firing off long-shot court challenges and heaping pressure on state election officials. The spectacle has some senior Republicans ready to call time. 'It's over,' GOP Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan said on CNN's Inside Politics Sunday. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a frequent Trump critic, said on CNN's State of the Union that Trump's behavior was akin to that seen in a 'banana republic.' And even Trump's friend, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, speaking on ABC News' This Week, branded Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and his cohorts a 'national embarrassment.' A critical point, however, may be nearing in the confrontation between the administration and the president-elect's team over Trump's refusal to initiate a transition, with vote certifications due Monday in Michigan and in most counties in Pennsylvania. If local officials move ahead – despite the interference of a White House flinging baseless claims of mass fraud – they will effectively confirm yet again Biden's capture of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. Trump's position will therefore become less tenable even if he refuses to back away from false claims that he won on 3 November."
Trump sent the following in a tweet: "In certain swing states, there were more votes than people who voted, and in big numbers. Does that not really matter? Stopping Poll Watchers, voting for unsuspecting people, fake ballots and so much more. Such egregious conduct. We will win!"
Writing for the Washington Post, Glenn Kessler offered the following fact-check on the Rudy Giuliani voter fraud claim that there were more votes than voters in Wayne County, Detroit:
"Power Line, a conservative website, pointed out something very odd about the affidavit that made this claim. [It] pointed out that the precincts that were listed in the affidavit were from Minnesota, not Michigan. Someone had apparently mixed up two states that started with 'Mi.' The precincts were not in Wayne County but in some of the reddest parts of Minnesota. Our colleague Aaron Blake further dug into the data and found that even in those Minnesota precincts, the data in the affidavit was off. Minnesota has same-day registration and very high turnout rates. Blake determined that the number of voters matched the number of votes cast. He speculated that the affidavit might have been relying upon incomplete 'estimated voters' data from the Minnesota secretary of state in the days after the election. Finally, the affidavit has a quote from a Princeton University professor raising concerns about a particular type of Dominion voting machine, suggesting this was what was used in Wayne County. But Blake confirmed that the counties in Minnesota in question did not use Dominion machines."
According to NBC News, Trump is threatening to veto a defense bill over proposals to rename military bases that currently honor Confederate military leaders.
Bryan Steil, a Republican congressman from Wisconsin, has tested positive for coronavirus.
Writing for CNN, Nic Robertson offers the following commentary on Trump's weekend at the G20 summit:
"As stage exits go Donald Trump's departure was something of a whimper, the US President leaving the top table of global G20 leaders to play golf. As his time in office draws to a close, despite his refusal to publicly accept the reality of the US election results, the combined unspoken message from the world's leaders is: don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Evidence of the shifting attitude toward the outgoing US administration came from the lips of Saudi's Minister of Investment, Khalid al-Falih. 'When the world needed leadership [to combat Covid-19] there was none,' he said. The G20 had stepped up because some nations 'turned inwards towards nationalism.' Al-Falih didn't mention Trump by name. He didn't need to; his audience understood. As leaders spoke of the importance of sharing and working together to accelerate Covid-19 testing, treatments and vaccines for all, the White House struck a starkly different tone. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement: 'President Trump highlighted how the United States marshalled every resource at its disposal to respond to the crisis, as well as the unprecedented economic recovery.' At the virtual public panel, previous speakers praised the 2015 Paris Climate Change Accord. Trump, on the other hand, declared it a plan to kill America. 'The Paris accord was not designed to save the environment, it was designed to kill the American economy,' he said in a pre-recorded speech from the Diplomatic Room at the White House. In a room full of reporters and officials in Riyadh, as Trump's speech was played on a massive screen almost no one paid attention"
According to the Guardian, more than 100 Republican national security experts have signed on to a letter calling on Trump to concede and begin the formal transition saying in part:
"We believe that President Trump's refusal to concede the election and allow for an orderly transition constitutes a serious threat to America's democratic process and to our national security ... We therefore call on Republican leaders – especially those in Congress – to publicly demand that President Trump cease his anti-democratic assault on the integrity of the presidential election ... The election is over, the outcome certain ... It is now time for the rest of the Republican leadership to put politics aside and insist that President Trump cease his dilatory and anti-democratic efforts to undermine the result of the election and begin a smooth and orderly transition of power to President-elect Biden ... By encouraging President Trump's delaying tactics or remaining silent, Republican leaders put American democracy and national security at risk."
Rob Portman, a Republican senator from Ohio, wrote an op-ed for the Concinnati Enquirer that addressed claims of widespread voter fraud:
"This process has now been going on for about three weeks. The Trump campaign has taken steps to insist that only lawful votes were counted in key states, including filing numerous lawsuits. At this point, the vast majority of these lawsuits have been resolved and most of the remaining ones are expected to be resolved in the next couple of weeks. There were instances of fraud and irregularities in this election, as there have been in every election. It is good that those have been exposed and any fraud or other wrongdoing should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, but there is no evidence as of now of any widespread fraud or irregularities that would change the result in any state. ... Based on all the information currently available, neither the final lawful vote counts nor the recounts have led to a different outcome in any state. In other words, the initial determination showing Joe Biden with enough electoral votes to win has not changed. I voted for President Trump, was a co-chair of his campaign in Ohio, and I believe his policies would be better for Ohio and the country. But I also believe that there is no more sacred constitutional process in our great democracy than the orderly transfer of power after a presidential election. It is now time to expeditiously resolve any outstanding questions and move forward."
Emily Murphy, the GSA administrator, has agreed to open up resources to Joe Biden so that the transition of power can begin. In a letter to Joe Biden, Murphy stated: "I was never directly or indirectly pressured by any Executive Branch official – including those who work at the White House or GSA – with regard to the substance or timing of my decision."
November 20, 2020 - According to the New York Times, the attorney general of New York has sent a subpoena to the Trump Organization for records related to consulting fees paid to Ivanka Trump as part of a broad civil investigation into Donald Trump's business dealings.
Ivank Trump responded to the subpoena, writing on twitter: "This is harassment pure and simple. This 'inquiry' by NYC democrats is 100% motivated by politics, publicity and rage. They know very well that there's nothing here and that there was no tax benefit whatsoever. These politicians are simply ruthless."
During an interview with MSNBC, Barack Obama offered the following commentary on Trump's attempt to reverse his election defeat:
"Look, Joe Biden's going to be the next president of the United States. Kamala Harris will be the next vice president. I have been troubled, like I think every American, whether you're a Republican or Democrat or Independent, should be troubled, when you start having attempts to block, negate, overturn the people's vote when there's no actual evidence that there was anything illegal or fraudulent taking place. These are just bald assertions. They've been repeatedly rejected by the courts. And I think I'm less surprised by Donald Trump doing this. You know, he has shown only a flimsy relationship to the truth. I'm more troubled that you're seeing a lot of Republican officials go along with it, not because they actually believe it, but because they feel intimidated by it, and the degree to which you've seen some news outlets that cater to the right and the conservative viewpoint somehow try to prop up these bogus claims."
The New York Times reports the following on Trump's assault on the election results in Michigan:
"For Trump and his Republican allies, Michigan has become the prime target in their campaign to subvert the will of voters backing Biden. Trump called at least one GOP elections official in the Detroit area this week after she voted to certify Biden's overwhelming victory there, and he is now set to meet with legislators ahead of Michigan's deadline on Monday to certify the results. The president has also asked aides what Republican officials he could call in other battleground states in his effort to prevent the certification of results that would formalize his loss to Biden. Trump allies appear to be pursuing a highly dubious legal theory that if the results are not certified, Republican legislatures could intervene and appoint pro-Trump electors in states Biden won who would support the president when the Electoral College meets on 14 December. The Republican effort to undo the popular vote is all but certain to fail, as even many Trump allies concede, and it has already suffered near-total defeats in courts in multiple states, including losses on Thursday when judges in Georgia and Arizona ruled against the Trump campaign and its allies. The president suffered another electoral blow on Thursday when Georgia announced the completion of a full recount, reaffirming Biden's victory there."
The official GOP twitter acount tweeted the following quote by Trump lawyer Sidney Powell: "We will not be intimidated ... We are going to clean this mess up now. President Trump won by a landslide. We are going to prove it. And we are going to reclaim the United States of America for the people who vote for freedom."
Notable response to the GOP tweet:
"Just so we're all clear, this is the *Republican National Committee* pushing out the deranged lie that Trump — who decisively lost the election — actually won it in a 'landslide' but this was covered up by a grand conspiracy. The RNC. This is insane." - Jake Tapper, CNN Host
Donald Trump has tweeted out charts that show that mail-in ballots were counted after election day as evidence the election was stolen from him. NOTE: Mail-in ballots being counted after election day is a normal part of the election process that has occurred for many years. Also, in states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, Republican legislators put into place rules that prevented mail-in ballots from being counted prior to election day.
Some notable reactions to the Trump campaigns' continued assault on the election and normalization of false and increasingly extreme conspiracy theories:
"If citizens lose faith in election integrity, that could lead to really bad things, including violence and social unrest" - Adam Kinzinger, Republican member of US House of Representatives
"This is dystopian" - Paul Light, Political Scientist at New York University
"If President Trump comes out and says: 'Guys, I have irrefutable proof of fraud, the courts won't listen, and I'm now calling on Americans to take up arms,' we would go." - Brett Fryar, Chiropractor in Texas
"It is difficult to imagine a worse, more undemocratic action by a sitting American president" - Mitt Romney
"We invited [Trump lawyer] Sidney Powell on the show, we would have given her the whole hour, we would have given her the entire week actually and listened quietly the whole time at rapt attention. That's a big story. But she never sent us any evidence despite a lot of requests ... polite requests, [but] not a page. When we kept pressing she got angry and told us to stop contacting her. When we checked with others around the Trump campaign, people in positions of authority, they told us, Powell has never given them any evidence either. Nor did she provide any today at the press conference. Powell did say that electronic voting is dangerous. And she's right. We're with her there. But she never demonstrated that a single actual vote was moved illegitimately by software from one candidate to another -- not one.”" - Tucker Carlson, Fox News Host and Trump Apologist
Writing for the Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin offers the following commentary on how Trump's attack on democratic norms should be handled:
"First, respectable networks should not cover live any of the Trump lawyers' events. (They do not cover insane people ranting on a street corner, do they?) Second, news outlets must hound every Republican lawmaker, official and candidate either to denounce or condone the abuse of the courts to disenfranchise voters. The two Senate Republican candidates in Georgia, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, have joined in the spurious claims of fraud with baseless attacks on the state's Republican secretary of state; their opponents should tie them to Trump and Giuliani's antics. Third, state and federal officials and the Biden transition team should vow to investigate any efforts by Trump, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham or any other Republican politician who attempts to sway election officials or otherwise undermine free and fair elections. Fourth, private actors (TV advertisers, business leaders, social media) need to stop enabling anti-democratic activities and slanderous accusations designed to deprive millions of Americans of their right to have their votes counted."
Heraldo Rivera, a Fox News Host, suggested that a good way to honor Trump would be to name a vaccine after him, saying in part: "It would be a nice gesture to him and years from now it would become kind of a generic name. Have you got your trump yet, I got my trump, I'm fine. I wished we could honor him in that way."
Notable reaction to Rivera's wish:
"How about we name the tombstone above the grave of the 250,000 Americans who died from Covid because he was too much of a 'macho man' to listen to scientists a 'Trumpstone'? 'Hey - did you visit your grandmother's Trumpstone?'" - Michael Simon
Rick Scott, a Republican Senator from Florida, has tested positve for coronavirus.
Mike Shirkey, the Republican majority leader of Michigan's state senate, and Lee Chatfield, the Republican speaker of the Michigan House, met with Trump today at the White House, after Trump invited them to Washington.
Andrew Giuliani, the son of Rudy Giuliani, has tested positive for coronavirus.
Kayleight McEnany, the White House press secretary, spoke to the press, here are some highlights:
- A reporter asked: "When you gonna admit you lost?" McEnany ignored the question.
- McEnany amplified Trump's false claims of widespread voter fraud.
- McEnany claimed that it was hardly out of the ordinary for the president to meet with leaders of the Michigan state legislature, and that the meeting had nothign to do with efforts to overturn Biden's victory in the state.
- McEnany stated that Democrats never accepted Trump's victory in 2016. NOTE: Hillary Clinton conceded the mornign after the election. Barack Obama welcomed Trump to the White House a few days later.
- McEnany responded to a question by CNN's Kaitlin Collins with "I don't call on activists". Collins replied: "I'm not an activist. That's not doing your job, your tax payer-funded job."
According to the Guardian, Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, called Trump a "psychopathic nut" during multiple phone calls today.
Donald Trump Jr, the president's son, has tested positive for coronavirus.
November 19, 2020 - Writing for the Huffington Post, Shirish Date offered the following commentary on Trump's brazen attempts to steal the election he lost:
"In recent days, his campaign has welcomed the idea of disenfranchising all of the voters of Nevada, pushed to have Michigan's 16 electoral votes awarded by its Republican legislature and alleged, without evidence, 'massive fraud' all over the country in a court case in Pennsylvania ― all as Trump posts one lie after another on social media. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, an expert on authoritarianism at New York University, said Trump's claim to have won an election he lost by 74 Electoral College votes and 6 million votes overall is a clear danger sign. 'The red line is the election,' said Ben-Ghiat, whose new book, 'Strongmen,' puts Trump in the context of a century of fascist leaders. 'If you don't recognize an election, you have gone into the territory of a non-democracy. It's pretty easy.' While most Americans do appear to take Trump's assertions with several, if not more, grains of salt, some of his hard-core supporters do not and have taken to harassing and threatening election officials in battleground states. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, released a statement reporting threats to her family and her office, and called on Trump and others in Republican leadership to take responsibility."
Writing for the Washington Post, Robin Givhan offers the following commentary about Rudy Giuliani's return to court:
"His return to federal court as a practicing attorney, for the first time in nearly three decades, would not be the worst of Giuliani's water-carrying for Trump, but it was, perhaps, the saddest. It was so small and petty. He was in Pennsylvania court Tuesday not to tell a convoluted tale of international intrigue about shadowy figures and powerful people skulking around in Ukraine. His story of malfeasance was closer to home and it was simply mean. Giuliani argued that a vast swathe of perfectly reasonable, good-hearted Americans masterminded a huge scheme that cheated Trump out of reelection. Giuliani couldn't offer any evidence that this awful plot existed, but nevertheless he was sure it did and it just so happened to be centered in places like Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Detroit, which have substantial populations of Black and brown people. As a culture, we like to believe that with age comes wisdom. The truth of it may be that age only makes people more obviously what they've always been. Freed of the urgent need to prove and define themselves for a future that's yet to unfold, people can simply be. Giuliani, at 76, has revealed himself to be a man who believes that he can summon truth from falsehoods, bend the law to his will and conjure whatever reality suits him simply by speaking his hopes and dreams aloud."
According to the Washington Post, Donald Trump's strategy for remaining in power is shifting. From the story:
"President Trump has abandoned his plan to win reelection by disqualifying enough ballots to reverse President-elect Joe Biden's wins in key battleground states, pivoting instead to a goal that appears equally unattainable: delaying a final count long enough to cast doubt on Biden’s decisive victory. Rudy Giuliani has told Trump and associates that his ambition is to pressure GOP lawmakers and officials across the political map to stall the vote certification in an effort to have Republican lawmakers pick electors and disrupt the electoral college when it convenes next month — and Trump is encouraging of that plan, according to two senior Republicans who have conferred with Giuliani and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter candidly. But that outcome appears impossible. It is against the law in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin law gives no role to the legislature in choosing presidential electors, and there is little public will in other states to pursue such a path."
Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, two Republican canvassers in Wayne County, Michigan, initially blocked certification of election results for their county, which Biden won at a 2 to 1 ratio, then reversed and approved the certification. Now, they are saying they want to rescind the certification.
Writing for NBC News, Jane C. Timm offers the following fact check on one of Trump's false voting fraud claims:
"'In Detroit, there are FAR MORE VOTES THAN PEOPLE. Nothing can be done to cure that giant scam. I win Michigan!' Trump tweeted, later alleging that in Michigan, the number of votes was larger than the number of people who voted, although it's not clear what the president was talking about. There has been no evidence of widespread fraud and NBC News has projected Joe Biden to be the winner of Michigan. Trump's claim about Detroit is demonstrably false. There are 670,000 people living in Detroit, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's most recent estimate, and the city says that 250,138 ballots were cast there."
Donald Trump sent the following tweet: "Important News Conference today by lawyers on a very clear and viable path to victory. Pieces are very nicely falling into place. RNC at 12:00 P.M."
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican, and newly elected member of congress who represents Georgia's 14th congressional district, sent the following tweet: "Masks are a symbol of tyrannical control. Americans have had enough! I'll lead the fight in the halls of Congress against the Democrats' hypocritical mask mandates and shut downs that are strangling the life out of our country."
Mike Parson, the Republican Governor of Missouri, sent the following in a tweet: "Let's speed up economic recovery! Do your part by social distancing, wearing a mask, washing your hands, and avoiding large crowds or gatherings."
Matt Becker, a former official in the George W Bush administration, offeres the following commentary on the refusal of Emily Murphy, the GSA administrator, to sign the documents that begin the official transition of the presidency:
"When you serve in the executive branch, you are required to take an oath of office on your first day. Your oath is not to the president of the United States but to the Constitution and the American people. When Emily accepted this leadership role, she also accepted the responsibility to make the tough choices. This is one of those times. Make no mistake, I absolutely want the Trump campaign to expose fraud, if it is there. As a father, small business owner and lifelong Republican, I do not want a Joe Biden presidency. I simply do not agree with Joe Biden on how to move America forward. But, as an American, I know elections have consequences and my support of our Constitution outweighs my distress at who will be in the Oval Office. I take no pleasure in writing this. But short of a miracle, Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States. I know many Trump supporters may call me a RINO for this. Let me be clear, I do not care. I have served in the executive branch, I have seen the work involved, I know the importance of the transition, and I cannot be silent any more."
According to the AP, Donald Trump called the two Republican officials who initially blocked certification of the vote in Wayne county, Michigan. From the story:
"In Wayne County, the two Republican canvassers at first balked at certifying the vote, winning praise from Trump, and then reversed course after widespread condemnation. A person familiar with the matter said Trump reached out to the canvassers, Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, on Tuesday evening after the revised vote to express gratitude for their support. Then, on Wednesday, Palmer and Hartmann signed affidavits saying they believe the county vote 'should not be certified.'"
After the Republican canvassers in Michigan refused to certify the vote, and before their reversal, Rudy Giuliani issued the following in a statement:
"This morning we are withdrawing our lawsuit in Michigan as a direct result of achieving the relief we sought: to stop the election in Wayne County from being prematurely certified before residents can be assured that every legal vote has been counted and every illegal vote has not been counted."
Linda Kearns, a lawyer for the Trump campaign, has withdrawn herself from the Pennsylvania lawsuit.
Rudy Giuliani, and other Trump lawyers, held a press conference at the RNC in Washington DC. Here are some highlights:
- Giuliani claimed that a hand recount taking place in Georgia is not legitimate, because officials are simply recounting fraudulent ballots.
- Giuliani claimed it was statistically impossible for Joe Biden to have pulled ahead in states like Michigan and Pennsylvania when he was intially trailing on election night.
- Giuliani defended the Trump campaigns' lawsuits in battleground states by comparing them to Al Gore's efforts in the 200 election. NOTE: The 2000 election legal fight hinged on one state, where Bush led by a few hundred votes.
- During the press conference, Giuliani's hair dye, mixed with sweat, began running down both sides of his face.
- Sidney Powell, who previously represented Michael Flynn, linked defective voting machines to Hugo Chavez, Antifa, and the Clinton Foundation. Chavez, who was the president of Venezuela, died in 2013.
- Sydney Powell claimed that a server hosting evidence of voting irregularities is located in Germany.
- Sydney Powell claimed that votes cast for Trump had probably been switched over to Biden.
- Sidney Powell described the case she is mounting as a "Kraken" that, when released, will destroy the case for Joe Biden having won the presidency.
- Jenna Ellis stated: "The American people deserve to know what we have uncovered in the last couple of weeks ... This is an elite strike force team that is working on behalf of the president and the campaign to make sure that our constitution is protected." NOTE: The "elite strike force team" has presented no evidence to substantiate claims of massive voter fraud in any of the states in which they are disputing the results.
- At one point, a reporter asked for evidence to back up the voter fraud claims. Jenna Ellis responded: "Your question is fundamentally flawed, when you're asking, 'where's the evidence?' You clearly don't understand the legal process. What we have asked for in the court is to not have the certification of false results. And so, to say hold on a minute, we have evidence that we will present to the court. We haven't had the opportunity yet to present that to the court. We're giving you an overview and a preview of what we've discovered, but no court yet has had, we've had that opportunity."
Chris Krebs, the former director of the Cybersecurity Infrastucture Security Agency (CISA) responded to the Trump campaign press conference saying: "That press conference was the most dangerous 1hr 45 minutes of television in American history. And possibly the craziest. “If you don't know what I'm talking about, you're lucky."
Writing for the Guardian, Tom McCarthy offered the following commentary regarding Trump's efforts to overturn the election:
"Donald Trump has mounted an all-out assault on the election result in Michigan, reportedly planning to fly state lawmakers to meet with him in Washington and phoning county officials in an apparent attempt to derail the certification of Democrat Joe Biden's 150,000-vote victory in the state. On Tuesday night, Trump placed phone calls to two Republican members of a county-level vote certification board the night before the pair tried to reverse their previous endorsement of a large chunk of the vote in Michigan. The news emerged as Republican lawmakers in Michigan prepared to fly to Washington on Friday to meet with Trump at his request, the Washington Post first reported. While no explanation for the meeting has been given, Trump has been pressuring Republican state lawmakers to try to hijack the electoral college by advancing slates of electors that could compete with those selected by the states' voters. There was no indication that Trump's strategy, which in addition to the consent of legislatures would require a string of highly unlikely court victories and ultimately participation by Democrats in Congress to succeed, had any remote chance of overturning the election."
Election officials in Georgia have completed a hand recount in Georgia, where Biden held his lead. Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state, stated that there was no evidence of rigging or widespread voter fraud.
The final results in Georgia:
Biden - 2,475,141 votes (49.5%)
Trump - 2,462,857 votes (49.3%)
November 18, 2020 - More than 250,000 Americans have died from coronavirus. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House, released a statement regarding the firing of Chris Krebs:
"Director Krebs is a deeply respected cybersecurity expert who worked diligently to safeguard our elections, support state and local election officials and dispel dangerous misinformation. Yet, instead of rewarding this patriotic service, the President has fired Director Krebs for speaking truth to power and rejecting Trump's constant campaign of election falsehoods. The president's insistence on distracting and dividing the country by denying his defeat in the election undermines our democracy. As the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council Executive Committee and the Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Council — composed of the top nonpartisan election security officials in the country — stated last week, 'There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised ... we can assure you we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections, and you should too.' Instead of stooping to this dangerous and shameful charade, Trump needs to get serious about crushing the accelerating pandemic that has killed nearly 250,000 Americans, infected over 11 million people in our country and devastated the livelihoods of tens of millions more."
According to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, 52% of Republicans believe that Trump "rightfully won" the election.
Writing for CNN, Stephen Collinson offered the following commentary on Trump's "latest assault against the infrastructure of US democracy":
"Trump wrote that he terminated Chris Krebs, a senior Department of Homeland Security official, for contradicting his own baseless allegations of irregularities. The president, his campaign and political allies have made multiple efforts, which started well before the election, to falsely argue that he was cheated out of a second term. His effort appears motivated by a desire to explain away his clear defeat by the former vice president but is also part of a pattern of behavior designed to discredit Biden's presidency and to enshrine national divides that he consciously widened as a tool of power. As more and more states begin to certify their election results in the coming days, the already minuscule rationale for Trump and the White House to perpetuate the fiction that he won a second term will further recede. Trump's setbacks in his struggles to overturn the results comes as he has all but retreated from public view. In no mood to party, Trump has decided to forgo his normal Thanksgiving trip to his Mar-a-Lago resort, administration officials told CNN, and he has had no public engagements for days."
Writing for USA Today, Michael Collins offeres the following commentary on what Trump is doing behind the scenes:
"While still protesting the election results, Trump has been holding meetings to consider ordering a military strike against Iran, cutting the number of military troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, selling oil leases in the Alaskan wilderness, reducing government regulations and taking other actions designed in part to poke president-elect Biden. He's also fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper and top Pentagon leaders and Homeland Security cyber chief Christopher Krebs, who called the election secure. He is considering parting ways with FBI Director Chris Wray and CIA Director Gina Haspel. Trump spends most of his days behind closed doors – he has made only two public statements since his angry Election Night speech at the White House – watching cable news and rage tweeting about Biden. He follows television news accounts of the election dispute, aides said, but is also tending the jobs at hand. Historian Joanne Freeman said Trump's refusal to accept defeat and the roadblocks to Biden’s transition are unprecedented. 'Other presidents – and their party – sometimes did some last-minute damage to stack the deck against an incoming president and the opposing party,' she said. But, 'not on the scale of what seems to be shaping up now, given the fact that we're in the middle of a pandemic.'"
Writing for the Guardian, Tom Perkins offers the following commentary on just one of the "voter fraud" conspiracy theories working its way through the right wing echo chamber:
"Late last week, Students for Trump founder Ryan Fournier declared on social media that he had unearthed definitive proof of widespread voter fraud in Detroit. He pointed to an absentee ballot cast by '118-year-old William Bradley', a man who had supposedly died in 1984. 'They're trying to steal the election,' Fournier warned in a since-deleted Facebook post. But the deceased Bradley hadn't voted. Within days, Bradley's son, also named William Bradley, but with a different middle name, told PolitiFact that he had cast the ballot. That was confirmed by Michigan election officials, who said a clerk had entered the wrong Bradley as having voted. The false claim that the deceased Bradley had voted in the 3 November election is one of a barrage of voter fraud conspiracy theories fired off by Trump supporters across the country during recent weeks, and all have been debunked while failing to prove that widespread irregularities exist. Instead, the theories often reveal Trump supporters' fundamental misunderstandings of the election system while creating a game of conspiracy theory whack-a-mole for election officials. Bradley was only one of dozens of allegedly dead Michigan voters who were found to be alive. Trump supporters pointed to Napoleon Township's Jane Aiken, who they claimed was born in 1900, and cited an obituary as evidence that she was deceased. But the township's deputy police chief investigated and found the obituary to be for a different Jane Aiken. Police told Bridge Magazine that the Aiken who cast the ballot is '94 years old, alive and well. Quite well, actually.' Meanwhile, CNN examined records for 50 Michiganders who Trump supporters claim are dead voters. They found 37 were dead and had not voted. Five are alive and had voted, and the remaining eight are also alive but didn't vote."
According to an article in ProPublica, the Trump campaign has been engaged in a pressure campain on Georgia's secretary of state for months prior to the election. From the article:
"Long before Republican senators began publicly denouncing how Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger handled the voting there, he withstood pressure from the campaign of Donald Trump to endorse the president for reelection. Raffensperger, a Republican, declined an offer in January to serve as an honorary co-chair of the Trump campaign in Georgia, according to emails reviewed by ProPublica. He later rejected GOP requests to support Trump publicly, he and his staff said in interviews. Raffensperger said he believed that, because he was overseeing the election, it would be a conflict of interest for him to take sides. Around the country, most secretaries of state remain officially neutral in elections. The attacks on his job performance are 'clear retaliation,' Raffensperger said. 'They thought Georgia was a layup shot Republican win. It is not the job of the secretary of state's office to deliver a win — it is the sole responsibility of the Georgia Republican Party to get out the vote and get its voters to the polls. That is not the job of the secretary of state's office.' Leading the push for Raffensperger's endorsement was Billy Kirkland, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign who was a key manager of its Georgia operations. Kirkland burst uninvited into a meeting in Raffensperger's office in the late spring that was supposed to be about election procedures and demanded that the secretary of state endorse Trump, according to Raffensperger and two of his staffers."
Katie Hobbs, Arizona's Democratic secretary of state, released a statement condemning the escalating threats of violence against her family and her office. From the statement:
"There are those, including the president, members of Congress, who are perpetuating misinformation and encouraging others to distrust the election results in a manner that violates the oath of office they took ... I am calling on other leaders in this state, including the governor whose deafening silence has contributed to the growing unrest, to stand up for the truth."
Dan Newhouse, a Republican congressman from Washington state, has tested positive for coronavirus.
November 17, 2020 - Writing for CNN, Stephen Collinson offers the following commentary on Trump's actions since losing the presidency:
"Trump's denial of his election defeat, his lies about nonexistent mass coordinated voter fraud and his strangling of the rituals of transferring power between administrations are not just democracy-damaging aberrations. Given the current national emergency, they threaten to cause practical fallout that could damage Biden's incoming White House not just in a political sense. There are increasing concerns that Trump’s obstruction will slow and complicate the delivery of the vaccine that brings the tantalizing prospect of a return to normal life. The distribution operation will be a massively complex and historic public vaccination effort targeting hundreds of millions of Americans – many millions of whom have resisted following basic safety protocols like wearing masks because Trump has encouraged them not to. The inoculation campaign will require a high level of public trust and will involve sharp ethical debates among officials about who should get the vaccine first. The entire program could be damaged if it is politicized. But unless something changes, the Biden team may face the task of tackling those issues afresh, in a frantic catch-up operation. The victims of this neglect will be thousands of Americans whom health experts expect to die or get sick in the absence of a coordinated national response to the winter spike in infections and workers caught up in new restrictions imposed on business by local leaders trying to get the virus under control."
Kim Reynolds, governor of Iowa, introduced a statewide mask mandate following months of disparaging them as "feel-good" measures with little impact.
Notable response to Reynolds' action:
"Members of the Trump Cult said that Covid would disappear after the election. What has changed instead are the policies of some Republicans. With the election behind them, they can now follow science and medicine instead of mocking them." - Joe Scarborough, NBC Host
Writing for the Guardian, Gary Younge offers the following commentary on Trump's attempts to stop the minority vote in 2020:
"According to Trump, votes were illegitimate by dint of where they were cast. 'Detroit and Philadelphia are known as two of the most corrupt political places anywhere in our country – easily,' he said. 'They cannot be responsible for engineering the outcome of a presidential race.' This was a new twist in the racial logic of the American right, which has gone from blocking Black people from voting to allowing them to vote as long as their votes don't all get counted. It is important to remember that the US was a slave state for more than 200 years – and an apartheid state, after the abolition of slavery, for another century. Throughout that time, in certain parts of the country, all Black votes were, by definition, illegal, and conservatives worked hard to keep it that way. It has only been a nonracial democracy for 55 years. And that short reign now hangs in the balance. In 2013, just a year after turnout rates for Black voters surpassed that for white voters for the first time, the supreme court gutted the Voting Rights Act, which provided some legal protections for Black voters in places where they had once been excluded. The late Rep. John Lewis's home state of Georgia soon got to work thwarting the Black vote with weapons more subtle than the teargas and billy clubs used in Selma, Alabama in 1965. The state cut the number of polling stations by almost 10%, purged tens of thousands of voters from the rolls simply because they had not voted for a while, and suspended the registrations of another 50,000 people – mostly Black – for discrepancies as minor as omitting a hyphen in their name. Those long lines we witnessed around the election were not simply voter enthusiasm – they were also voter suppression. The trouble is that as white people become a minority in the US, efforts to disfranchise non-white voters necessarily become ever more crude and ever more desperate, but cannot be guaranteed to produce results. The sums just don't add up for Republicans."
In a 5-2 ruling, the Pennylvania supreme court ruled that Philadelphia officials did not improperly block Trump's campaign from observing the counting of mail-in ballots.
Chuck Grassley, a Republican senator from Iowa, has tested positive for coronavirus.
The following exchange took place in a Pennsylvania court where Rudy Giuliani is making baseless claims about voter fraud:
GIULIANI: "I'm not sure what 'opacity' means. It probably means you can see."
JUDGE: "It means you can't."
Donald Trump fired Chris Krebs, the director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). NOTE: The firing follows a statement released by CISA last week which said: "The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history. There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised."
Notable responses to the firing of Chris Krebs:
"Chris Krebs' federal service is just the latest casualty in President Trump's four-year-long war on the truth." - Chris Coons, Senator from Delaware
"By firing him for doing his job, President Trump is harming all Americans." - Angus King, Senator from Maine
"Director Krebs worked diligently to safeguard our elections from interference and misinformation. He protected our democracy. And spoke truth to power. That's why Trump retaliated and fired him. It's pathetic and predictable from a president who views truth as his enemy." - Adam Schiff, Congressman from California
"It speaks volumes that the president chose to fire him simply for telling the truth" - Mark Warner, Senator from Virginia
November 16, 2020 - During an interview with The Atlantic, Barack Obama stated: "If we were going to have a rightwing populist in this country, I would have expected somebody a little more appealing." Obama also stated "For all the differences between myself and George W Bush, he and his administration could not have been more gracious and intentional about ensuring a smooth handoff. One of the really distressing things about the current situation is the amount of time that is being lost because of Donald Trump's petulance and the unwillingness of other Republicans to call him on it."
During an interview, Mike DeWine, the Republican governor of Ohio stated: "It's clear that, certainly, based on what we know now, that Joe Biden is the president-elect. And that transition, for the country's sake, it's important for a normal transition to start through. And the president can go on his other track and his legal track. We should respect that, but we also need to begin that process."
Trump responded to DeWine's comments tweeting: "Who will be running for Governor of the Great State of Ohio? Will be hotly contested!"
During a news conference, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, announced a three-week closure of indoor service at bars and restaurants, aimed at bringing down surging coronavirus numbers. Shortly after the news conference, Scott Atlas, Donald Trump's top coronavirus adviser tweeted: "The only way this stops is if people rise up. You get what you accept." Whitmer responded to Atlas' tweet saying: "It's just incredibly reckless, considering everything that has happened, everything that is going on."
Tim Walberg, a Republican member of Congress, tested positive for coronavirus.
The Trump campaign amended a complaint in Pennsylvania, which had initially claimed that poll watchers were denied meaningful access to ballot counting. The amended complaint drops that accusation. There are still some accusations of blocked access in the compalint, along with the accusation that election officials in Democratic-leaning areas of the state improperly contacted voters and allowed them to fix deficiencies in their absentee ballots. The complaint affects a small number of ballots, which is nowhere near the 69,140 vote lead that Biden currently has over Donald Trump.
According to the New York Times, the Trump administration is making a major push to allow oil companies access to oil and gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. From the story:
"In a last-minute push to achieve its long-sought goal of allowing oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, the Trump administration on Monday announced that it would begin the formal process of selling leases to oil companies. That sets up a potential sale of leases just before Jan 20, Inauguration Day, leaving the new administration of Joseph R. Biden Jr., who has opposed drilling in the refuge, to try to stop the them after the fact. 'The Trump administration is trying a 'Hail Mary' pass,' said Jenny Rowland-Shea, a senior policy analyst at the Center for American Progress, a liberal group in Washington. 'They know that what they've put out there is rushed and legally dubious.' The Federal Register on Monday posted a 'call for nominations' from the Bureau of Land Management, to be officially published Tuesday, relating to lease sales in about 1.5 million acres of the refuge along the coast of the Arctic Ocean. A call for nominations is essentially a request to oil companies to specify which tracts of land they would be interested in exploring and potentially drilling for oil and gas."
Writing for Vice, Cameron Joseph offers the following commentary on the ongoing feud between Donald Trump and Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia Republican secretary of state:
"Georgia's Republican secretary of state has had enough of President Trump's lies about voting integrity. After a week of attacks from Trump and his allies claiming that his apparent loss in Georgia was due to voting irregularities, Brad Raffensperger fired back Sunday night, writing a series of Facebook posts knocking back the claims and taking a swipe at Rep. Doug Collins, a top Trump deputy. In one particularly pointed post, Raffensperger defended the state's process of matching absentee vote signatures before swinging at Collins, who was tasked with leading Trump's post-election efforts in the state after he lost a Senate bid two weeks ago."
True the Vote, a conservative group with a history of baseless voter fraud claims, has dismissed lawsuits it filed in four battleground states that sought to block the certification of votes in Democratic-friendly areas. Sam Bagenstos, a former Justice Department official and law professor at the University of Michigan, criticized the suits saying True the Vote "picked the big Democratic jurisdictions and said, 'Let's invalidate all the votes of the people there.'" Richard Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California Irvine, called the suits "racist" and stated "It's outrageous and anti-democratic and it's based on nothing in terms of the allegations."
According to ABC News, Emily Murphy, the General Services Administration (GSA) administrator, who hasn't yet certified Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election, which is holding up millions of dollars to handle his transition to the presidency, must be aware that he Biden won, since she is reportedly seeking a new job, which would only be necessary if the current administration was on it's way out. From the story:
"Emily Murphy, head of the GSA, recently sent that message to an associate inquiring about employment opportunities in 2021, a move that some in Washington interpreted as at least tacitly acknowledging that the current administration soon will be gone. [...] A GSA spokesperson denied the account that Murphy was actively looking for a job, but noted that it wouldn't be unusual for someone in government, especially a political appointee, to consider future opportunities. 'The administrator remains focused on doing her job,' the spokesperson added. Trump, responding to a Nov. 5 tweet related to Veterans Small Business Week, on Sunday tweeted: 'Great job Emily!' Congressional Democrats have accused Murphy of undermining the peaceful transition of power and could subpoena her for testimony on Capitol Hill to explain why she's doing so. And while it's true that there's often a reshuffling of officials after a presidential election, regardless of whether the incumbent returns, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., a senior member of the House Oversight Committee, insisted that Murphy reaching out privately about future employment opportunities 'exposes the hypocrisy' of the Trump administration's position."
According to the Washington Post, Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's Republican secretary of state, stated that senator Lindsay Graham was among several members of his party who pressured him to toss out legally cast ballots so that Trump could win the state. From the story:
"In a wide-ranging interview about the 2020 election, Raffensperger expressed exasperation with a string of baseless allegations coming from Trump and his allies about the integrity of the Georgia results, including claims that Dominion Voting Systems, the Colorado-based manufacturer of Georgia's voting machines, is a 'leftist' company with ties to Venezuela that engineered thousands of Trump votes not to be counted. The atmosphere has grown so contentious, Raffensperger said, that both he and his wife, Tricia, have received death threats in recent days, including a text to him that read, 'You better not botch this recount. Your life depends on it.' 'Other than getting you angry, it's also very disillusioning,' Raffensperger said of the threats, 'particularly when it comes from people on my side of the aisle. Everyone that is working on this needs to elevate their speech. We need to be thoughtful and careful about what we say.' He said he reported the threats to state authorities. The pressure on Raffensperger, who has bucked his party in defending the state's voting process, comes as Georgia is in the midst of a laborious hand recount of roughly 5 million ballots. President-elect Joe Biden has a 14,000-vote lead in the initial count. The normally mild-mannered Raffensperger saved his harshest language for US Rep Doug Collins (R-Ga.), who is leading the president's effort to prove fraud in Georgia and whom Raffensperger called a 'liar' and a 'charlatan.'"
Speaking to reporters, Joe Biden commented on Trump's current handling of the pandemic: "The idea the president is still playing golf and not doing anything about it is beyond my comprehension. You'd think he'd at least want to go off on a positive note." Biden also responded to Trump's refusal to concede saying: "I find this more embarrassing for the country than debilitating for my ability to get started."
November 15, 2020 - Trump sent the following in a tweet: "This is why @FoxNews daytime and weekend daytime have lost their ratings. They are abysmal having @alfredenewman1 (Mayor Pete of Indiana's most unsuccessful city, by far!) on more than Republicans. Many great alternatives are forming & exist. Try @OANN & @newsmax, among others!"
Trump sent the following in a tweet: "He won because the Election was Rigged. NO VOTE WATCHERS OR OBSERVERS allowed, vote tabulated by a Radical Left privately owned company, Dominion, with a bad reputation & bum equipment that couldn't even qualify for Texas (which I won by a lot!), the Fake & Silent Media, & more!" NOTE: Like many of Trump's recent tweets, this one is tagged by Twitter for containing disinformation claims about supposed election fraud.
Barack Obama spoke to CBS today, where he stated:
"[Republicans] obviously didn’t think there was any fraud going on because they didn’t say anything about it for the first two days [after election day, as the count went on]. ... But there's damage to this because what happens is that the peaceful transfer of power, the notion that any of us who attain an elected office, whether it's dogcatcher or president, are servants of the people. It's a temporary job. ... [Presidents are] not above the rules. We're not above the law, that's the essence of our democracy. ... When Donald Trump won, I stayed up until 2.30 in the morning and I then called Donald Trump to congratulate him. His margin of victory over Hillary Clinton wasn't greater than Joe Biden's margin over him. ... But if you are listening to some of the talk radio that Trump voters are listening to, if you're watching Fox News, if you're getting these tweets, those allegations are presented as facts. So you've got millions of people out there who think, 'Oh yeah, there must be cheating because the president said so.'"
During an appearance on CNN, Dr Anthony Fauci, America's top infectious disease expert, stated that Donald Trump last attended a Covid-19 taskforce meeting "months ago". Fauci was also asked how history would judge America's response, to which Fauci responded "It's not going to be a good report".
Responding to news that a previous tweet may have been the start of a concession, Trump tweeted: "He only won in the eyes of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA. I concede NOTHING! We have a long way to go. This was a RIGGED ELECTION! RIGGED ELECTION. WE WILL WIN!"
Appearing on ABC's This Week, John Bolton stated: "I think it's very important for leaders in the Republican party to explain to our voters, who are not as stupid as the Democrats think, that, in fact, Trump has lost the election and that his claims of election fraud are baseless."
Appearing on Fox News, Laurence Tribe, a Harvard law professor, stated that Republicans did well in races for the Senate and the House of Representatives in states where they claim there has been fraud. "The Republicans themselves know that President Trump's claims that Biden's votes were fraudulent are without merit, because if those claims were true, then those Republicans too would have been elected fraudulently or mistakenly because they were on the same ballots". Tribe also talked about Trump's refusal to concede saying: "If we know that Trump is going to lose in the courts, and we do, why should we care? The reason is that he is undermining democracy because there are millions of people who will believe him even though there is nothing in his arguments and no evidence to back them."
Writing for the Guardian, Robert Reich offers the following commentary on Covid, Trump, and lies:
"Leave it to Trump and his Republican allies to spend more energy fighting non-existent voter fraud than containing a virus that has killed 244,000 Americans and counting. The cost of this misplaced attention is incalculable. While Covid-19 surges to record levels, there's still no national strategy for equipment, stay at home orders, mask mandates or disaster relief. The other cost is found in the millions of Trump voters who are being led to believe the election was stolen and who will be a hostile force for years to come – making it harder to do much of anything the nation needs, including actions to contain the virus. Trump is continuing this charade because it pulls money into his newly formed political action committee and allows him to assume the mantle of presumed presidential candidate for 2024, whether he intends to run or merely keep himself the center of attention. Leading Republicans like Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell are going along with it because donors are refilling GOP coffers."
Donald Trump responded to John Bolton's criticism tweeting: "John Bolton was one of the dumbest people in government that I've had the 'pleasure' to work with. A sullen, dull and quiet guy, he added nothing to National Security except, 'Gee, let's go to war.' Also, illegally released much Classified Information. A real dope!"
November 14, 2020 - Fox News aired a promotional video featuring its opinion hosts echoing Trump's baseless election fraud claims. The following are some sound bites from the video:
NARRATOR: "The voices America trusts"
LAURA INGRAHAM: "These legal efforts are critical."
TUCKER CARLSON: "There are apparent irregularities."
SEAN HANNITY: "The media mob, and the Democrats, they lie."
NARRATOR: "Speaking up for you, and the issues that matter most to the people."
STEVE DOOCY: "They thought there would be a blue wave, not the case."
GREG GUTFELD: "You're gonna see something even bigger than Trump in 2022 and 2024."
LAURA INGRAHAM: "The truth does need to come out."
TUCKER CARLSON: "Can we speak freely, again, can we have America back?"
SEAN HANNITY: "We the people deserve better."
NARRATOR: "Fox News. America is watching."
Notable reaction to the Fox News promo:
"appears to be part of a bid to hold onto its bleeding audience – an audience that refuses to believe reality, in large part because Fox has primed millions to distrust credible news sources ... Where are the adults at Fox? Why aren't they getting their talent under control? Well, this ad makes it clear: The executives approve their talent behaving the way they have. In fact, they're so proud of the undemocratic commentary, they're happy to showcase it in an ad. They really have no shame." - Oliver Darcy of CNN
Trump sent the following in a tweet: "The Consent Decree signed by the Georgia Secretary of State, with the approval of Governor @BrianKempGA, at the urging of @staceyabrams, makes it impossible to check & match signatures on ballots and envelopes, etc. They knew they were going to cheat. Must expose real signatures! What are they trying to hide. They know, and so does everyone else. EXPOSE THE CRIME!"
Trump supporters have gathered in Washington DC for a series of protests, one of which has been dubbed the "Million MAGA March". According to the AP, clashes have broken out between Trump supporters and counter-protestors.
Marjorie Taylor Greene sent the following in a tweet: "I work out everyday in a CrossFit gym that is open. With people. Gyms are small businesses that have been devastated by the government mandated shut downs. In DC, NOTHING is open bc of Democrat tyrannical control. So here’s my hotel room workout. We must FULLY reopen!"
Notable response to Greene's tweet:
"Hi, fellow Georgian here. I know Georgians hate it when folks from out of town come visit and then lie about our beautiful state. Same goes for DC. I just called your hotel, and the gym is open from 5am to 11pm. We've also got plenty of other options open. Stop lying." - Katie Barlow of @SCOTUSblog
Trump sent the following in a tweet: "People are not going to stand for having this Election stolen from them by a privately owned Radical Left company, Dominion, and many other reasons!"
Trump sent the following tweet regarding his supporters in Washington DC: "the Fake News Networks aren’t showing these massive gatherings. Instead they have their reporters standing in almost empty streets. We now have SUPPRESSION BY THE PRESS. MAGA!" NOTE: The crowd of Trump supporters has been covered extensively on all of the networks.
November 13, 2020 - Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, an Ohio-based law firm, which filed suit on behalf of the Trump campaign alleging the use of mail-in ballots created "an illegal two-tiered voting system" in the state of Pennsylvania, has withdrawn from the case in a memo to the court. The suit sought to challenge 2.65m votes that were cast mostly by Democrats.
While speaking to Fox Business, Peter Navarro, Trump's trade adviser, stated: "We are moving forward here at the White House under the assumption that there will be a second Trump term." Navarro also referred to Joe Biden's victory as an "immaculate deception" and stated regarding Trump: "We think he won that election, and any speculation about what Joe Biden might do I think is moot at this point."
According to the Washington Post, more than 130 Secret Service agents have contracted coronavirus following Trump's agressive campaing schedule in the final weeks of the election. From the story:
"The spread of the coronavirus — which has sidelined roughly 10 percent of the agency’s core security team — is believed to be partly linked to a series of campaign rallies that President Trump held in the weeks before the Nov. 3 election, according to the people, who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the situation. ... Trump went on a travel blitz in the final stretch of the campaign, making five campaign stops on each of the last two days. On Nov. 2, Trump’s campaign schedule required five separate groups of Secret Service officers — each numbering 20 to several dozen — to travel to Fayetteville, N.C.; Scranton, Pa.; Traverse City, Mich.; and Kenosha and Grand Rapids, Wis.; to screen spectators and secure the perimeter around the president's events. President-elect Joe Biden made two campaign stops that day that also required Secret Service protection, but in smaller numbers. The agency is also examining whether some portion of the current infections are not travel-related, one government official said, but instead trace back to the site where many Secret Service officers report for duty each day: the White House."
Trump voters in Pennsylvania have filed a lawsuit to stop the certification process in the state. The following is from the filing:
"Voters are currently compiling analytical evidence of illegal voting from data they already have and are in the process of obtaining, some of which must come through expedited discovery (such as the final data on who actually voted). They intend to produce this evidence at the evidentiary hearing to establish that sufficient illegal ballots were included in the results to change or place in doubt the November 3 presidential-election results." NOTE: Normally, evidence is obtained prior to a lawsuit being filed. This one is promising to supply evidence once that evidence is acquired.
Donald Trump sent the following tweet: "For years the Dems have been preaching how unsafe and rigged our elections have been. Now they are saying what a wonderful job the Trump Administration did in making 2020 the most secure election ever. Actually this is true, except for what the Democrats did. Rigged Election!"
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a new Republican member of congress, who has voiced support for the far-right QAnon conspiracy, sent the following tweet: "Our first session of New Member Orientation covered COVID in Congress. Masks, masks, masks.... I proudly told my freshman class that masks are oppressive. In GA, we work out, shop, go to restaurants, go to work, and school without masks. My body, my choice." NOTE: Studies have found that masks can help mitigate the spread of coronavirus from people who are asymptomatic or have not yet developed symptoms.
Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, appeared on Fox Business where she was asked if Trump will attend President-elect Biden's inauguration ceremony. Her response: "I think the president will attend his own inauguration. He would have to be there, in fact."
According to the Guardian, lawyers for the Trump campaign have withdrawn a lawsuit in Arizona: "conceding that the case would not move enough votes to change the election result in the state."
The Washington Post has a story about the pro-Trump rallies taking place in Washington DC tomorrow:
"The events have been promoted by far-right media personalities, white nationalists and conspiracy theorists — several of whom announced plans to attend. Counterdemonstrations organized by anti-fascist and anti-racism groups are being planned nearby. The rallies, which include a Women for Trump event, a 'Million MAGA March' and a 'Stop the Steal' demonstration — which falsely asserts that voter fraud cost Trump the election — will begin Saturday morning in and around Freedom Plaza. The pro-Trump rallies have garnered support from Fox News host Sean Hannity as well as more fringe figures, including Enrique Tarrio, chairman of the Proud Boys; self-described 'American Nationalist' and social media agitator Nicholas Fuentes; conservative provocateur Jack Posobiec, who promoted the 'Pizzagate' conspiracy theory tied to the 2016 shooting at D.C. pizzeria Comet Ping Pong; Scott Presler, a pro-Trump activist who works with anti-Muslim group ACT for America; and Infowars founder and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones."
Donald Trump sent the following tweet: "Now it is learned that the horrendous Dominion Voting System was used in Arizona (and big in Nevada). No wonder the result was a very close loss!"
November 12, 2020 - During an appearance on Fox News as a Trump 2020 adviser, Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, was asked whether Joe Biden would soon be receiving access to intelligence briefings. McEnany's response: "That would be a question more for the White House." NOTE: As White House press secretary, making a government salary of $183,000 a year, McEnany is the top spokesperson for the White House. There have also been recent instances in which McEnany has deflected questions at White House briefings, by telling reporters to ask the Trump campaign.
Writing for the Guardian, Amanda Holpuch offers the following analysis of Trump's continued attacks on Biden's victory:
"Donald Trump's attacks on the credibility of Joe Biden's election win through meritless lawsuits could undermine Americans' trust in voting and could pose an immediate threat to the security and safety of the country, experts have warned. Trump's campaign has unleashed a stream of lawsuits in states key to Biden's electoral college win, none of which are expected to affect the outcome of the election. The US attorney general, William Barr, has authorized the Department of Justice to investigate voting irregularities, in a highly unorthodox move, and Republican state representatives in Pennsylvania are calling for an audit of the election, though they have no evidence of fraud. University of Southern California (USC) law professor Franita Tolson said she was concerned that these actions, which would not change the trajectory of the election, were meant to call into question the legitimacy of the result. 'What does that do to our democracy as we play out this process? What does it do to the belief in the system when 70 million people think the election was stolen,' Tolson said, referring to the popular vote total for Trump. 'To me that's the danger of this narrative, that's the danger of this litigation.'"
Corey Lewandowski, one of Trump's external advisers, tested positive for coronavirus. Like Mark Meadows and Ben Carson, Lewandowski was present at an election night party at the White House.
Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, defended Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, two women who won congressional seats, and who have voiced support for the QAnon conspiracy theory. In their defence, McCarthy said: "Our party is very diverse, and you mentioned two people who will join our party, and both of them have denounced QAnon." NOTE: While both women have attempted to distance themselves from the conspiracy theory, neither has denounced QAnon.
During an appearance on Fox News, Mark Brnovich, Arizona's Republican attorney general, stated: "It does appear that Joe Biden will win Arizona. There is no evidence, there are no facts that would lead anyone to believe that the election results would change".
Don Young, a Republican House member from Alaska, has tested positive for coronavirus.
In a joint statement, Bob Kolasky, the assistant director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which is a part of the Department of Homeland Security, stated: "When states have close elections, many will recount ballots. All of the states with close results in the 2020 presidential race have paper records of each vote, allowing the ability to go back and count each ballot if necessary ... This process allows for the identification and correction of any mistakes or errors ... There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised ... was the most secure in American history".
During an interview with 60 Minutes, Barack Obama stated: "The president doesn't like to lose and never admits loss. I'm more troubled by the fact that other Republican officials who clearly know better are going along with this, are humoring him in this fashion. It is one more step in delegitimizing not just the incoming Biden administration, but democracy generally. And that's a dangerous path."
According to CNN, another top Pentagon official has resigned. From the story:
"The deputy chief of staff to the secretary of defense has resigned, a US defense official told CNN on Thursday, becoming the latest official to depart the Pentagon amid a purge that began Monday when President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper. Alexis Ross has resigned, the official said, joining now-former chief of staff Jen Stewart and the top Pentagon officials overseeing policy and intelligence, all three of whom had submitted their resignations Tuesday. The flurry of changes within the department in recent days has put officials inside the Pentagon on edge and fueled a growing sense of alarm among military and civilian officials, who are concerned about what could come next. The moves will likely only add to the sense of chaos within the Pentagon following Trump's firing of Esper by tweet. Stewart was replaced by Kash Patel, who most recently served as senior director for counterterrorism at the White House National Security Council and is seen as much more ideological and closely linked to Trump."
November 11, 2020 - Writing for the Guardian, Arwa Mahdawi offers the following analysis of Trump's changing relationship with Fox News:
"Poor Donald Trump. Not only has he lost the election, it looks as if he has lost the love of his life. I’m not talking about Melania – although some rumours have it that she is 'counting the minutes' until she can get a divorce (which she has denied). I'm talking about Fox News. For years, Trump and Fox News have been in a committed, loving relationship. Recently, however, there has been trouble in paradise, with Trump complaining the network is a 'much different place than it used to be'. The relationship might have been salvaged, but then Fox News did something unforgivable: it flirted with real journalism. On election day, it was the first major outlet to declare Joe Biden would win Arizona, sending the Trump administration into a meltdown. Since then, Fox News has continued to infuriate the White House by refusing to encourage Trump's delusion that he won the election. On Monday, for example, it cut away from the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, when she claimed that the Democrats had encouraged voter fraud. 'Whoa, whoa, whoa,' the Fox News anchor said to the viewers. 'I can't in good countenance continue showing you this.' Trump's supporters are outraged their leader's once-beloved network is treating him this way. Some believe Fox News has gone 'full lefty' and have started labelling it 'fake news'. Which begs the question: where's the real news? If you can’t even trust Fox News to fuel your deranged conspiracy theories these days, who can you trust?"
According to the Guardian, here are some of the key Republican talking points about the election and voter fraud, and why they are wrong:
"Mail-in ballots are perfectly legal: while the number of mail-in ballots in the 2020 election were at a much larger scale than previously, mail-in ballots have been part of the US election system for years. It has also always been the case that some states allow ballots to arrive and be counted after the election provided that they are postmarked and dated on or before election day. Trump's contention that these are automatically somehow illegal ballots is completely false. The scale of Donald Trump’s defeat: in order for the election to have been 'stolen', there would have to have been widespread voter fraud running into the tens of thousands of ballots across multiple states in the US. Trump's team have been able to produce no such evidence. Down-ticket Republicans are not disputing their results: Republicans have so far held on to the Senate and expanded their representation in the House. There are no demands for these votes to be recounted or investigated. They were all on the same ballots as the election of the president. 'Russian hoax': after calling it a hoax for four years, conservative talking heads have argued that if it was easy enough for the Russians to 'fix' the election, then it must have been possible for Democrats to 'fix' it this time. This deliberately misrepresents the Russian interference in the 2016 election, which was about the selective leaking of hacked and stolen information to damage Hillary Clinton's campaign, and not about altering the vote count."
Writing for the Guardian, Stephen Collinson offers the following analysis of Trump's actions as he denies election defeat:
"President Donald Trump's administration is taking on the characteristics of a tottering regime – with its loyalty tests, destabilizing attacks on the military chain of command, a deepening bunker mentality and increasingly delusional claims of political victory. And more false accusations and conspiracy theories touted by Trump supporters to claim electoral fraud are dissolving, a day after attorney general William Barr stepped into the political fray to advise prosecutors to probe major fraud. The Trump team only dug itself deeper into a bizarre parallel universe – one where the President has already secured a second term – consistent with the embrace of misinformation and alternative facts that has characterized the last four years. After Trump fired defense secretary Mark Esper, who had put loyalty to the Constitution ahead of his duty to the President, three other senior Pentagon officials have been fired or resigned. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said on CNN that he feared the US was entering a dangerous period. 'I think (Trump) is going to be uniquely distracted from world events and national security,' Murphy said. Former national security adviser John Bolton told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that Pompeo's comments on a Trump transition were 'delusional.'"
Writing for the Guardian, Alex Hern offers the following analysis of QAnon and the world's loosening grip on reality:
"A 4chan user with the handle 'Q Clearance Patriot' appeared, claiming to be a government insider tasked with sharing 'crumbs' of intel about Donald Trump's planned counter-coup against the deep state forces frustrating his presidency. As Q's following grew, the movement became known as the Storm – as in, 'the calm before ...' – and then QAnon, after its founder and prophet. At that point, QAnon was a relatively understandable conspiracy theory: it had a clear set of beliefs rooted in support for Trump and in the increasingly cryptic posts attributed to Q (by then widely believed to be a group of people posting under one name). Now, though, it's less clearcut. There's no one set of beliefs that define a QAnon adherent. Most will claim some form of mass paedophilic conspiracy; some, particularly in the US, continue to focus on Trump's supposed fightback. But the web of beliefs has become all-encompassing. One fan-produced map of all the 'revelations' linked to the group includes references to Julius Caesar, Atlantis and the pharaohs of Egypt in one corner, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and 5G in another, the knights of Malta in a third, and the Fukushima meltdown in a fourth – all tied together with a generous helping of antisemitism, from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion to hatred of George Soros. QAnon isn't one conspiracy theory any more: it's all of them at once. In September, BuzzFeed News made the stylistic decision to refer to the movement as a 'collective delusion'. 'There’s more to the convoluted entity than the average reader might realise,' wrote BuzzFeed’s Drusilla Moorhouse and Emerson Malone. 'But delusion does illustrate the reality better than conspiracy theory does. We are discussing a mass of people who subscribe to a shared set of values and debunked ideas, which inform their beliefs and actions.'"
Writing for Politico, Tina Nguyen writes about the Trump supporters who will be gathering in Washington DC this coming weekend:
"The disparate tribes of MAGA Nation — Oath Keepers, Three Percenters, Infowars fanatics, Groypers, Proud Boys, white nationalists, neo-Nazis and the people who would simply call themselves die-hard MAGA — have declared that they are simply going to show up in Washington en masse over the weekend to rally together, with the marquee event on Saturday. The groups have assigned the gathering different names: the Million MAGA March, the March for Trump, Stop the Steal DC. But they're all set to take place Saturday in the nation's capital, around noon, with most set to congregate near Freedom Plaza, just east of the White House, though some groups have also suggested the Supreme Court building down the National Mall. It's unclear how many people may show up, and past promises of massive rallies have sometimes fizzled out. Notably, organizers have not filed for permits. 'It is solely designed to create disruption, and possibly chaos. It's basically a giant online comment troll come into life,' said Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters, a progressive group that monitors conservative media."
Al Schmidt, a Republican city commissioner in Philadelphia, stated: "I have seen the most fantastical things on social media, making completely ridiculous allegations that have no basis in fact at all. I realize a lot of people are happy about this election, and a lot of people are not happy. One thing I can't comprehend is how hungry people are to consume lies and to consume information that is not true."
Trump responded to Schmidt's statement by tweeting: "He refuses to look at a mountain of corruption & dishonesty. We win!" NOTE: Vote counting is still ongoing in Philadelphia where Joe Biden leads by about 48,000 votes.
The following exchange took place today in a Pennsylvania court between a judge and a lawyer representing the Trump campaign:
JUDGE: "I understand. I am asking you a specific question, and I am looking for a specific answer. Are you claiming that there is any fraud in connection with these 592 disputed ballots?"
GOLDSTEIN: "To my knowledge at present, no."
JUDGE: "Are you claiming that there is any undue or improper influence upon the elector with respect to these 592 ballots?"
GOLDSTEIN: "To my knowledge at present, no."
Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's Republican secretary of state, has callled for a hand recount of the roughly 5 million ballots cast in the presidential race. Biden currently leads by about 14,000 votes.
Brian Jack, the White House political director, has tested positive for coronavirus.
Timothy Snyder, a history professor at Yale University specializing in authoritarianism posted the following to twitter:
"What Donald Trump is attempting to do has a name: coup d'état. Poorly organized though it might seem, it is not bound to fail. It must be made to fail. Coups are defeated quickly or not at all. While they take place we are meant to look away, as many of us are doing. When they are complete we are powerless."
According to the AP, Trump's involvement in day-to-day governing has "nearly stopped". From the story:
"Though he has been in the Oval Office late two nights this week, the president has done little in the way of governing and has instead been working the phones. He has called friendly governors — in red states like Arizona, Texas and Florida — and influential confidants in the conservative media, like Sean Hannity. But he has not been as responsive to Republican lawmakers as before the election. Always an obsessive cable news viewer, he has been watching even more TV than usual in recent weeks, often from his private dining room just off the Oval Office. Trump's approach to two crucial Senate run-off elections in Georgia remains an open question: He has not yet signaled if he will campaign there, and aides have started to worry that the extended legal battle could sap support for the GOP candidates. Trump has also begun talking about his own future upon leaving office. He has mused about declaring he will run again in 2024,and aides believe that he will at least openly flirt with the idea to enhance his relevance and raise interest in whatever money-making efforts he pursues. While he ponders his options, his involvement in the day-to-day governing of the nation has nearly stopped: According to his schedule, he has not attended an intelligence briefing in weeks, and the White House has done little of late to manage the pandemic that has surged to record highs in many states."
Trump sent the following in a tweet: "With 72 MILLION votes, we received more votes than any sitting President in U.S. history - and we will win!"
November 10, 2020 - Writing for the Guardian, Ed Pilkington and Sam Levine off the following analysis of William Barr's highly unusual move regarding "vote irregularities":
"The intervention of Barr, who has frequently been accused of politicizing the Department of Justice, comes as Donald Trump refuses to concede defeat and promotes a number of legally meritless lawsuits aimed at casting doubt on the legitimacy of the election. Barr wrote on Monday to US attorneys, giving them the green light to pursue 'substantial allegations of voting and vote tabulation irregularities' before the results of the presidential election in their jurisdictions are certified. As Barr himself admits in his letter, such a move by federal prosecutors to intervene in the thick of an election has traditionally been frowned upon, with the view being that investigations into possible fraud should only be carried out after the race is completed. But Barr, who was appointed by Trump in February 2019, pours scorn on such an approach, denouncing it as a 'passive and delayed enforcement approach'. The highly contentious action was greeted with delight by Trump supporters but with skepticism from lawyers and election experts. Within hours of the news, the justice department official overseeing voter fraud investigations, Richard Pilger, had resigned from his position."
The New York Times published a story about the top misinformation storylines making the rounds on social media, cable news and print and online news outlets. From the story:
"Voter fraud. Allegations like software glitches in Georgia or suitcases full of ballots were falsely pushed in 4.7m mentions. Sharpiegate. The claim that Republicans were deliberately given felt-tip pens that would invalidate their vote in Arizona. Magically found ballots. These often point to quickly fixed clerical errors in the publishing of votes, like for Biden in Michigan. The deep state. Suggestion with more than a hint of antisemitic tropes that a top-level secret elite cabal must be controlling the election. Biden 'admits' voter fraud. A deceptively edited video was viewed more than 17m times before election day. Dead people voting. Lawsuits and clerical errors being used as false evidence of widespread problems."
Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania's attorney general, made the following statement: "The Trump campaign's latest filing is another attempt to throw out legal votes. Sleep tight. We will protect the laws of our Commonwealth and the will of the people."
Steve Cortes, a Trump campaign senior adviser for strategy, provided the four reasons he believes there was widespread voter fraud in the election:
"1. The levels of voter turnout 'defy reasonable expectations'. 2. He doesn't believe that 'a candidate as doddering and lazy as Joe Biden' could out-perform Barack Obama who 'boasted rock star appeal'. 3. There were too many ballots cast just for Joe Biden without filling out the Senate and House races. 4. States haven't been rejecting enough mail-in ballots compared to historic levels. Cortes added that 'The statistical case is, admittedly, circumstantial rather than conclusive.'"
The Washington Post offers the following analysis of the Republican party indulging Trump's refusal to accept the election results:
"Only a smattering of Republican senators have acknowledged Biden's victory, and there has been little coaxing on the part of senior GOP lawmakers to help Trump come to terms with his loss. Some said there is value in ensuring the integrity of this year's results, while others described a chaotic and scattershot operation that they hoped would eventually push Trump to cooperate in a peaceful transfer of power. 'What is the downside for humoring him for this little bit of time? No one seriously thinks the results will change,' said one senior Republican official. 'He went golfing this weekend. It's not like he's plotting how to prevent Joe Biden from taking power on 20 January. He's tweeting about filing some lawsuits, those lawsuits will fail, then he'll tweet some more about how the election was stolen, and then he'll leave.'"
Speaking on CN, Republican Senator Chris Coons made the following statement:
"I see no evidence of voter fraud in the key states that would need to have their outcomes changed, and I so far, see little evidence of any republicans standing up to the President. We are beginning to threaten the foundations of our democracy, which is a regular orderly peaceful transfer of power after every quadrennial election."
James Anderson, the Pentagon's acting policy chief, has resigned. According to Politico:
"The departure of Anderson, the acting undersecretary of defense for policy, potentially paves the way for Anthony Tata, Trump's controversial nominee for the top policy job who was pulled from consideration due to Islamophobic tweets, to take over the policy shop. Anderson, who was confirmed in June as the No. 2 policy official but has been acting in the top job, submitted his letter of resignation on Tuesday morning, a copy of which was obtained by POLITICO. He had been expected to be asked by the White House to resign in the next few days. 'I am particularly grateful to have been entrusted with leading the dedicated men and women of Policy, who play a key role in our Nation's security,' Anderson wrote in the letter. 'Now, as ever, our long-term success depends on adhering to the U.S. Constitution all public servants swear to support and defend.' Anderson stepped down after clashing with the White House personnel office, according to current defense officials and one former defense official, who expect Anderson will be the first of several departures in the wake of Esper's firing. A Pentagon spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment. A White House spokesperson said they don't comment on personnel. Anderson pushed back on several Trump loyalists the White House tried to install at DoD, including Frank Wuco and Rich Higgins, said one of the people, who like others requested anonymity in order to discuss sensitive personnel issues."
Speaking to reporters at the State Department, Mike Pompeo declared: "There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration." A journalist asked Pompeo if Trump's refusal to concede undermines US promotion of democratic norms abroad. Pompeo's response: "Ridiculous."
Speaking of Trump's refusal to concede, President-elect Joe Biden stated: "It's an embarrassment, quite frankly. How can I say this tactfully? It will not help the president's legacy."
The AP published an article about Trump's claims of voter fraud. From the article:
"WHAT IS TRUMP CHALLENGING? The Trump campaign has filed more than a dozen lawsuits in at least five states. In Pennsylvania, the campaign has challenged the state Supreme Court ruling allowing election officials to accept mail-in ballots up to three days after the election as long as they were postmarked on Election Day. Trump has also sued over campaign observers allegedly being blocked from witnessing vote tallying in Pennsylvania. And he's challenged the secretary of state instructing counties that voters whose absentee ballots were rejected could cast a provisional ballot. Trump has won one victory so far: A state court ruled his campaign observers had to be allowed closer to the actual vote counting. That ruling had no impact on the outcome of the race. Four other lawsuits filed by the campaign have been dismissed. Others are pending. On Monday, his campaign sued to force Pennsylvania not to certify the results of the election altogether. The 85-page lawsuit itself contained no evidence of voter fraud, other than a smattering of allegations such as an election worker in Chester County altering 'over-voted' ballots by changing votes that had been marked for Trump to another candidate. Top Democratic leaders in the state accused Trump of trying to disenfranchise voters and overturn an election he lost. WHAT ARE TRUMP’S ALLIES SAYING? Trump's lawyers and campaign staff say the election is not over and that they are investigating claims in several states, though they continue to lack any evidence of widespread fraud that affected the outcome of the race. Top Republicans have supported the president's efforts to fight the election results in court. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Trump was '100% within his rights to look into allegations of irregularities and weigh his legal options.' Attorney General William Barr authorized the Justice Department to investigate 'clear and apparently-credible allegations of irregularities.' WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? All disputes over the counts in each state must be complete by Dec. 8. Members of the Electoral College vote on Dec. 14. The U.S. House and Senate hold a joint session on Jan. 6, 2021, to count the electoral votes in each state."
Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida, has drafted "anti-mob" legislation that would expand the sate's Stand Your Ground Law which would alow citizens to shoot anyone they suspect is engaged in looting. From a story in the Miami Herald:
"'It allows for vigilantes to justify their actions,' said Denise Georges, a former Miami-Dade County prosecutor who had handled Stand Your Ground cases. 'It also allows for death to be the punishment for a property crime — and that is cruel and unusual punishment. We cannot live in a lawless society where taking a life is done so casually and recklessly.' The draft legislation put specifics behind DeSantis' pledge in September to crack down on 'violent and disorderly assemblies' after he pointed to 'reports of unrest' in other parts of the country after the high-profile death of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a white Minneapolis police officer. The proposal would expand the list of 'forcible felonies' under Florida's self-defense law to justify the use of force against people who engage in criminal mischief that results in the 'interruption or impairment' of a business, and looting, which the draft defines as a burglary within 500 feet of a 'violent or disorderly assembly.'"
Dan Patrick, the lieutenant governor of Texas, offered a reward of $1m to "incentivize, encourage and reward" people for reports of voter fraud in Texas.
Richard Hopkins, a postal worker, whose claims of voting irregularities have been the basis of Republican calls for investigations, has admitted to USPS investigators that he fabricated his allegations. From a story in the Washington Post:
"A Pennsylvania postal worker whose claims have been cited by top Republicans as potential evidence of widespread voting irregularities admitted to U.S. Postal Service investigators that he fabricated the allegations, according to three officials briefed on the investigation and a statement from a House congressional committee. Richard Hopkins's claim that a postmaster in Erie, Pa., instructed postal workers to backdate ballots mailed after Election Day was cited by Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) in a letter to the Justice Department calling for a federal investigation. Attorney General William P. Barr subsequently authorized federal prosecutors to open probes into credible allegations of voting irregularities and fraud, a reversal of long-standing Justice Department policy. But on Monday, Hopkins, 32, told investigators from the U.S. Postal Service's Office of Inspector General that the allegations were not true, and he signed an affidavit recanting his claims, according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an ongoing investigation. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee tweeted late Tuesday that the 'whistleblower completely RECANTED.'"
According to social analytics platforms such as NewsWhip and CrowdTangle, claims about voting irregularities have become among the most-shared content on Facebook. From the Guardian:
"The top three posts are all from Donald Trump, according to CrowdTangle: one alleges 'Fake Votes' in Nevada, where Trump trails Joe Biden by 36,000 votes; another claims Georgia, where Trump trails by 13,000 votes pending a recount, will be a 'big presidential win'; and a third says 'a very large number of ballots' will be affected by 'threshold identification', the meaning of which is unclear. The top news stories on Facebook are also dominated by rightwing claims of 'irregularities' and 'fraud', CrowdTangle data showed. Three of the top 10 posts are links from Trump to the far-right news site Breitbart, covering attorney general Bill Barr's inquiry into 'voting irregularities' and inquiries in Michigan and Georgia; a fourth is to rightwing site Newsmax, calling Pennsylvania's situation a 'constitutional travesty'. Joining Trump in the top 10 are two posts from Republican media personality Dan Bongino backing the idea that election fraud is to blame for Trump's loss, and a report from Fox News quoting Trump's campaign team saying they are 'not backing down'."
The Trump campaign is sending out fund raising emails that say the following: "President Trump needs YOU to step up to make sure we have the resources to protect the integrity of the election! Please contribute ANY AMOUNT IMMEDIATELY to the Official Election Defense Fund and to increase your impact by 1,000%!" NOTE: In the fine print of the email, it states that only 50% will go towards the recount effort, and that "50% of each contribution, up to a maximum of $2,800 will be designated toward DJTFP's 2020 general election account for general election debt retirement until such debt is retired".
November 9, 2020 - The Washington Post has a story on the outlook for a Biden administration as coronavirus cases rise across the country:
"Biden will inherit the worst crisis since the Great Depression, made more difficult by President Trump's refusal to concede the election and commit to a peaceful transition of power. The Trump administration has not put forward national plans for testing, contact tracing and resolving shortages in personal protective equipment that hospitals and health-care facilities are experiencing again as the nation enters its third surge of the virus."
Writing for Axios, Mike Allen offers the following analysis of how Republican are gearing up for a "30 days war" over the election result. From the story:
"GOP leaders and confidants of President Trump tell Axios his legal fight to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's victory – which they admit is likely doomed – could last a month or more, possibly pushing the 2020 political wars toward Christmastime. Most top Republicans have followed Trump's orders not to accept the Biden victory, and to allow all legal options to be exhausted. That could mean weeks of drama – and, more importantly, distractions from the vital work of transitioning government for a change of power. Axios is told an internal effort is underway to dissuade Trump from pursuing a blitz (with Rudy Giuliani as the tip of the spear) that could mean three to six weeks of legal challenges, discovery and rulings – at the same time that Biden is talking daily about a message of healing. A senior Republican who talks often to Trump said the president is 'angry ... volatile ... disconsolate.'"
The Guardian lists four things to consider regarding Republican opposition to the election results:
"Mail-in ballots are perfectly legal: while the number of mail-in ballots in the 2020 election were at a much larger scale than previously, due to the coronavirus pandemic, mail-in ballots have been part of the US election system for years. It has also always been the case that some states will allow ballots to arrive and be counted after the election provided that they are postmarked and dated on or before election day. Trump's contention that these are automatically somehow illegal ballots is completely false. The scale of Donald Trump's defeat: in order for the election to have been 'stolen', there would have to have been widespread voter fraud running into the tens of thousands of ballots across multiple states in the US. Trump's team have been able to produce no such evidence. And some of the evidence they have produced, for example people who voted in Nevada but apparently don't live in the state, have turned out to be military personnel who were perfectly entitled to vote. Down-ticket Republicans are not disputing their results: Republicans have so far held every Senate seat they were contesting, and expanded their representation in the House. There are no demands for these votes to be recounted or investigated. They were all on the same ballots as the election of the president. 'Russian hoax': after calling it a hoax for four years, conservative talking heads have argued that if it was easy enough for the Russians to 'fix' the election, then it must have been possible for Democrats to 'fix' it this time. This deliberately misrepresents the Russian interference in the 2016 election, which was about the selective leaking of hacked and stolen information to damage Hillary Clinton's campaign. There is no suggestion or any evidence that Russia tampered with voting machines or mail-in ballots in 2016."
Pfizer announced that it has a coronavirus vaccine that is more than 90% effective.
Donald Trump Jr sent the following tweet regarding the Pfizer vaccine announcement: "The timing of this is pretty amazing. Nothing nefarious about the timing of this at all right? "
Mike Pence, the vice president, sent the following tweet: "HUGE NEWS: Thanks to the public-private partnership forged by President @realDonaldTrump, @pfizer announced its Coronavirus Vaccine trial is EFFECTIVE, preventing infection in 90% of its volunteers."
Mark Levin, far-right radio host, sent the following tweet: "Project Warp Speed! Well done Pfizer-Biontech and well done Mr President! This is what will save lives, not Biden's empty talk. This is called SCIENCE Biden, Democrats, and media! And President Trump should tout it all day long!"
Kathrin Jansen, senior vice president and the head of vaccine research and development at Pfizer, stated in an interview: "We have never taken any money from the U.S. government, or from anyone ... We were never part of the Warp Speed."
Ben Carson, the housing and urban development secretary, has tested positive for coronavirus. Carson, like Mark Meadows, who also tested positive recently, was in attendance at a White House election night party. According to the Guardian, this is the third cluster of coronavirus cases in the Trump White House.
Joe Biden, the President-elect, is urging Americans to wear face masks, saying: "A mask is not a political statement. But it is a good way to start pulling the country together."
Donald Trump fired defense secretary Mark Esper, and named Christopher C Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, as acting defense secretary.
David Bossie, an outside adviser to Donald Trump, who is not a lawyer, but was tapped anyway to lead the Trump campaign's legal challenges in key battleground states, has tested positive for coronavirus.
Trump tweeted that: "Nevada is turning out to be a cesspool of Fake Votes. @mschlapp & @AdamLaxalt are finding things that, when released, will be absolutely shocking!" NOTE: Biden currently leads in Nevada by 36,186 votes.
David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, the two Republican senators from Georgia, have called for the resignation of Brad Raffensperger, the Republican secretary of state. From their statement:
"The management of Georgia elections has become an embarrassment for our state. Geogians are outraged, and rightly so. We have been clear from the beginnin: every legal vote cast should be counted. Any illegal vote must not. And there must be transparency and uniformity in the counting process. This isn't hard. This isn't partisan. This is American. We believe when there are failures, they need to be called out -- even when it's in your own party. There have been too many failures in Georgia elections this year and the most recent election has shined a national light on the problems. While blame certainly lies elsewhere as well, the buck ultimately stops with the secretary of state. The mismanagement and lack of transparency from the Secretary of State is unacceptable. Honest elections are paramount to the foundation of our democracy. The Secretary of State has failed to deliver honest and transparent elections. He has failed the people of Georgia, and he should step down immediately." NOTE: Neither senator, nor the Trump campaign, has produced any evidence to support any of the allegations in this statement, or any other claims of election fraud.
Brad Raffensperger, the Republican secretary of state of Georgia, responded to calls for his resignation, saying: "Earlier today Senators Loeffler and Perdue called for my resignation. Let me start by saying that is not going to happen. The voters of Georgia hired me, and the voters will be the ones to fire me."
The Trump campaign has filed a lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania election results which claims that people voting by mail were met with less rigorous standards than those who voted in-person, which they claim is a constitutional violation.
According to NBC News, the number of children who were separated from their parents at the border, and are still separated, is higher than previously reported. From the story:
"Lawyers working to reunite migrant families separated by the Trump administration before and during its 'zero tolerance' policy at the border now believe the number of separated children for whom they have not been able to find parents is 666, higher than they told a federal judge last month, according to an email obtained by NBC News. Nearly 20 percent of those children were under 5 at the time of the separation, according to a source familiar with the data. In the email, Steven Herzog, the attorney leading efforts to reunite the families, explains that the number is higher because the new group includes those 'for whom the government did not provide any phone number.' Previously, the lawyers said they could not find the parents of 545 children after they had tried to make contact but had been unsuccessful."
Neil Cavuto, a Fox News host, cut away from a statement by Kayleigh McEnany who was repeating baseless claims of voter fraud. After cutting away, Cavuto stated: "Whoa, whoa, whoa – I just think we have to be very clear. She’s charging the other side as welcoming fraud and welcoming illegal voting. Unless she has more details to back that up, I can’t in good countenance show you this."
Here are some highlights from the press briefing that Cavuto cut away from:
- McEnany was asked by a reporter: "Do you know that fraudulent votes were actually cast? Or are you simply saying we don’t know because we couldn’t see it?" McEnany responded: "What we are asking for here is patience."
- McEnany declared: "This election is not over – far from it."
- McEnany claimed: "There is only one party in America trying to keep observers out of the count room. And that party, my friends, is the Democrat party. You take these positions because you are welcoming fraud and you are welcoming illegal voting."
- Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the Republican National Committee, claimed the party had "thousands of reports of poll watchers being intimidated" in Michigan and highlighted a "whistleblower" allegation in Detroit about ballots being nefariously backdated, a claim that has been repeatedly debunked by fact checkers.
- McDaniel claimed: "If it were this close the other way, if Trump was in the lead in all these states, the media'd be screaming, 'This isn’t over ... We need more time to count and make sure it's right.'"
- McDaniel was asked how there could be a conspiracy in "red counties" when in fact Republicans picked up House seats and performed well in the Senate. McDaniel had no answer for that question.
William Barr, the US attorney general, told prosecutors across the country to pursue "clear and apparently-credible allegations of irregularities that, if true, could potentially impact the outcome of a federal election in an individual state." NOTE: The Trump campaign has produced no evidence that fraud at this level has occurred. Richard Pilger, the top DoJ official in charge of voter fraud investigations resigned from his post, saying he did so because of the "ramifications" of Barr's memo, in light of the fact that over the last 40 years the justice department had abided by a clear policy of non-intervention in elections, with criminal investigations only carried out after contests were certified and completed.
During an interview with CNN, Ellen Weintraub, the Federal Election Commissioner, stated: "there really has been no evidence of fraud ... Very few substantiated complaints, let me put it that way. There is no evidence of any kind of voter fraud ... There is no evidence of illegal votes being cast."
Writing for the Guardian, Alexandra Vilerreal offers the following thoughts regarding Trump's unwillingness to accept defeat:
"After flirting with the idea of rejecting unfavorable election results for years, Trump has stoked fears of worst-case scenarios: civil war, a weaponized supreme court, and even the end to American democracy. With only 10% of Trump's supporters initially believing Biden won the presidential contest, many Americans are also concerned about an outburst of violence, even as the rancorous commander-in-chief paints a baseless picture of rigged, fraudulent results."
November 8, 2020 - Writing for the Guardian, Donald Trump's niece Mary wrote the following piece about how Trump will handle losing:
"He'll be having meltdowns upon meltdowns right now. He has never been in a situation like this before. What's interesting is that Donald has never won anything legitimately in his entire life, but because he has been so enabled by people along the way, he has never lost anything either. He's the kind of person who thinks that even if you steal and cheat to win, you deserve to win. But there is some poetic justice here because he has been cheating for months. Now his tactics are coming back to bite him. He told Republicans not to vote by mail and they didn't, but the result is he has been experiencing this slow drip-drip of disaster over the past few days. Oh, you have these huge margins! Now your margins are shrinking. Oh, Joe Biden's ahead. Now his margins are growing. It must have been like slow torture, but he set up this failure for himself. The fact that the Republicans have done better than expected in Congress and the Senate will have made him extraordinarily angry. It means that people were voting against Donald Trump in this election, but not necessarily against this party. That will have added so much salt to his narcissistic wounds. I worry about what Donald's going to do to lash out. He will go as far as he can to delegitimize the new administration, then he'll pass pardons that will demoralize us, and sign a flurry of executive orders. Remember, he will also still be in charge of the US response to the pandemic. There could be a million Americans dead by then under his watch."
Writing for the Guardian, Richard Luscombe offers the following analysis of what we might expect from Trump from now until his term ends on January 2oth:
"Some of the mayhem that will follow Donald Trump losing the presidential election is already known. The US exited the Paris climate agreement on Wednesday regardless. The coronavirus pandemic that has already claimed almost a quarter of a million lives in America will worsen. Trump has hinted he will attempt to fire Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading expert in infectious diseases. 'If Trump loses power he'll spend his last 90 days wrecking the United States like a malicious child with a sledgehammer in a china shop,' said Malcolm Nance, a veteran intelligence analyst and political author, speaking before the result of the election was known. 'We’re likely to see the greatest political temper tantrum in history. He may decide he wants to go out with a bang, he may decide he will not accept the election result. Who knows what a cornered autocrat will do?' 'He’ll pardon himself. Absolutely no question about that,' Nance said. 'He expects the supreme court to cover for him. He has always fixed things in his life, and he now believes he owns the American judicial system.' Disgraced Trump associates who have fallen foul of the law could also be beneficiaries of the outgoing president's benevolence, among them his former campaign chair Paul Manafort, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and Steve Bannon. There will be new scrutiny on Trump's own financial dealings. The Manhattan district attorney's office has been investigating Trump and his business empire for possible criminal bank and insurance fraud, but has been unable to take action while he is in office. Trump will soon lose the protection of Bill Barr, the attorney general whom critics have accused of acting like the president's personal lawyer. That means Trump has a shortening window of opportunity to prepare for whatever legal consequences may await."
Writing for Time, Alana Abramson offers the following analysis of the election outcome:
"'Networks don't get to decide elections,' Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, said later at a press event at a landscaping company in Philadelphia, 'Courts do.' That is, of course, not the case. With the notable exception of the 2000 presidential race, which was effectively decided by the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore, it is voters who decide elections. And that, legal experts say, is the main flaw with Trump's strategy: Biden has won too many votes for the Trump campaign to mount any legal challenge that would actually change the outcome. For an election to be successfully litigated, experts say, the margins between the candidates have to be exceedingly close. The dispute between George W. Bush and Al Gore two decades ago, for example, hinged on just 537 votes in Florida. Election litigation is only consequential, says Nathaniel Persily, a professor at Stanford Law School, 'if the number of contested ballots exceeds the margin of victory.' As of November 7, Biden is leading Trump by over 4 million votes. The state-by-state count that determines the electoral college count is even more daunting for the President. Biden leads Trump by 41,233 votes in Pennsylvania, 27,530 in Nevada, 18,713 in Arizona and 10,195 in Georgia. Trump needed victories in nearly all of these states"
Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney, sent the following in a tweet: "Up early working on PA. @realDonaldTrump election night 800,000 lead was wiped out by hundreds of thousands of mail in ballots counted without any Republican observer. Why were Republicans excluded? Tweet me your guess, while I go prove it in court."
Mark Simone, conservative radio and TV host, sent the following tweet: "Didn't they keep saying Russia tampered with the election, that 17 intelligence agencies, 4 committees confirmed it and all news organizations were investigating it. Now we hear there's never been any voter fraud and it's impossible to tamper with an election. #election"
Donald Trump Jr, sent the following tweet: "We went from 4 years of Russia rigged the election, to elections can't be rigged really fast didn't we???" NOTE: The CIA found in December of 2016 that Russia interfered to help Trump win. This following is from an article in the Guardian in December of 2016:
"Officials briefed on the matter were told that intelligence agencies had found that individuals linked to the Russian government had provided WikiLeaks with thousands of confidential emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and others. The people involved were known to US intelligence and acted as part of a Russian operation to boost Trump and hurt the chances of the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton. 'It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia's goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected,' one said. The emails were steadily leaked via WikiLeaks in the months before the election, damaging Clinton's White House run by revealing that DNC figures had colluded to harm the chances of her nomination rival Bernie Sanders. A separate report in the New York Times, also sourced to unnamed officials, claimed US intelligence agencies had discovered that Russian hackers had also penetrated the Republican National Committee's networks, but conspicuously chose to release only the information stolen from the Democrats. A third report, by Reuters, said intelligence agencies assessed that as the campaign drew on, Russian government officials devoted increasing attention to assisting Trump's effort to win the election. Virtually all the emails they released publicly were potentially damaging to Clinton and the Democrats."
Writing for the Guardian, Michael Goldfarb offers the following critique of Trumpism:
"It's a measure of the bizarre, outsize impact of the man that pundits are already speaking of Trumpism. Liberal leftish types anticipate his return like Brian de Palma movie devotees anticipate Carrie's hand coming out of the grave – Trump's coming to drag them into the darkness. Rightwing radicals – conservative doesn't seem the right term any more — speak of Trumpism because he was the person who energized their disparate coalition in a way no other person has. I almost typed politician rather than person but Trump is not a pol. He is a 'leader', someone on whom people project their own desires. Trump's presidency was the end product of two strands of American life coming together after a quarter of a century of independent development. First, the Republican party's evolution from a bloc of diverse interests into a radical faction built around a single idea: winning absolute power and making America a one-party state ruled by people dedicated to tax cuts for the wealthy and stacking the federal courts with judges who would roll back the New Deal/civil rights-era social contract. The former speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, began this process more than a quarter of a century ago. He was the first prominent Republican to see in Donald Trump the man who could fulfil the modern party's dreams. Gingrich later wrote, in 2018: 'Trump's America and the post-American society that the anti-Trump coalition represents are incapable of coexisting. One will simply defeat the other. There is no room for compromise. Trump has understood this perfectly since day one.'"
Writing for the Guardian, Nesrine Malik writes about the state of US politics:
"It was only the rotting complacency of mainstream American politics that made Donald Trump smell refreshing. In a world without blatant voter suppression and disenfranchisement, there might be more concern for Trump's criminality. In a world where campaigns didn’t pit millionaires against billionaires, where it was not a risky proposition to speak honestly of the country's glaring structural inequalities, voters might not have thought Trump’s crude insults made him 'straight talking'. These clues were there all along. The Republican political strategist Sarah Longwell, who highlighted Trump's declining appeal among suburban women, also reported that her research found these same voters losing trust in both the media and political institutions. 'They sort of throw their hands up a lot and say, I just don't know what to believe,' Longwell told NPR. 'There's just this sort of total collapse of faith in anything.' Into that stagnant bog, Trump came to stir the muck. His incoherence was seen as a kind of unpractised honesty; his ignorance as a mark of accessibility; his vileness as a sign of his fighting spirit. He wasn't nice, but he was going to shake things up. The shock of 2016 and the trauma of the past four years has intensified a belated anxiety about the crumbling state of American democracy; it has raised an alarm that is decades overdue. Too many voters looked at Trump and did not see a wicked man, they saw a man willing to break the rules of a broken system. For as long as that doesn’t fundamentally change, there is more wickedness in store."
During an appearance on ABC's This Week, Kristi Noem, the Republican governor of South Dakota, stated: "people have signed legal documents ... stating that they saw illegal activities". George Stephanopoulos responded: "It starts with providing evidence. You still have not provided it."
The AP published a story about the real purpose behind the flood of lawsuits being filed by the Trump campaign. From the story:
"The Trump campaign's strategy to file a barrage of lawsuits challenging President-elect Joe Biden's win is more about providing President Donald Trump with an off-ramp for a loss he can't quite grasp and less about changing the election's outcome, according to senior officials, campaign aides and allies who spoke to The Associated Press. Trump has promised legal action in the coming days as he refused to concede his loss to Biden, making an aggressive pitch for donors to help finance any court fight. Trump and his campaign have leveled accusations of large-scale voter fraud in Pennsylvania and other states that broke for Biden, so far without proof. But proof isn't really the point, said the people. The AP spoke with 10 Trump senior officials, campaign aides and allies who were not authorized to discuss the subject publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Trump aides and allies also acknowledged privately the legal fights would at best forestall the inevitable, and some had deep reservations about the president's attempts to undermine faith in the vote. But they said Trump and a core group of allies were aiming to keep his loyal base of supporters on his side even in defeat."
The Center for Presidential Transition, a non-partisan froup that advises incoming administrations, released the following statement:
"We urge the Trump administration to immediately begin the post-election transition process and the Biden team to take full advantage of the resources available under the Presidential Transition Act. This was a hard-fought campaign, but history is replete with examples of presidents who emerged from such campaigns to graciously assist their successors."
Doug Collins, a Republican congressman, who is leading Trump's recount team in Georgia, stated that the campaign is "confident" it will find evidence that "prove that President Trump won Georgia fairly again on his way to re-election as president".
According to the Washington Post, Emily Murphy, a Trump appointee who is in charge of the General Services Administration, is "refusing to sign a letter allowing Biden’s transition team to formally begin its work this week". From the story:
"A Trump administration appointee is refusing to sign a letter allowing Joe Biden's transition team to formally begin its work this week, in another sign the incumbent president has not acknowledged Biden's victory and could disrupt the transfer of power. The administrator of the General Services Administration, the low-profile agency in charge of federal buildings, has a little-known role when a new president is elected: to sign paperwork officially turning over millions of dollars, as well as give access to government officials, office space in agencies and equipment authorized for the taxpayer-funded transition teams of the winner. It amounts to a formal declaration by the federal government, outside of the media, of the winner of the presidential race. But by Sunday evening, almost 36 hours after media outlets projected Biden as the winner, GSA Administrator Emily Murphy had written no such letter. And the Trump administration, in keeping with the president's failure to concede the election, has no immediate plans to sign one."
According to multiple media outlets, a "voter fraud hotline" that was set up by the Trump campaign, has been experiencing prank calls from anti-Trump teenagers, and has also been receiving some disturbing unsolicited adult images.
According to 60 Minutes, Al Schmidt, a Republican city commissioner in Philadelphia, who is in charge of the vote count, is reporting that his office has received death threats. From the story:
"'At the end of the day, we are counting eligible votes cast by voters. The controversy surrounding it is something I don't understand. It's people making accusations that we wouldn't count those votes or people are adding fraudulent votes or just, coming up with, just, all sorts of crazy stuff... In the birthplace of our Republic, counting votes is not a bad thing. Counting votes cast on or before election day by eligible voters is not corruption. It is not cheating. It is democracy.'"
Rudy Giuliani sent the following in a tweet: "The Biden selection by the Crooked Media is based on unlawful votes in PA, Mich, GA, Wisc, Nevada et al. We will prove it all."
NOTE: Donald Trump is the only president in history to have been impeached, fail to win re-election and lose the popular vote twice.
November 7, 2020 - Writing for the Washington Post, Max Boot offers the following analysis of Trump's election fraud coup:
"Many of us have spent the past few years decrying the tendency of Trump supporters to live in a world of alternative facts. But ultimately reality bites. The fact that Trump and his cultists cannot point to a single actual case of fraud — much less enough fraud to overturn an election that he is on track to lose by a significant margin — makes it impossible for them to effectively challenge the results. Their theory — that Democrats perpetrated a massive fraud in the presidential race but neglected to fix the results of House or Senate races — is laughably absurd."
Via Twitter, Donald Trump announced a "Big press conference today in Philadelphia at Four Seasons Total Landscaping".
Donald Trump sent the following tweet: "I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!"
As reporters showed up to Four Season Landscaping for the "big press conference", they noticed that teh landscaping company is located next door to Fantasy Island, which is an adult book store, and across the street is a crematorium. Here are some highlights from the "Four Seasons" press conference:
- During the press conference, a reporter told Giuliani that Biden had been projected as the winner. Giuliani asked, from which network, and the reporter responded: "All of the networks." Giuliani then responded: "All the, oh my goodness, all the networks. Wow! All the networks! We have to forget about the law. Judges don't count. All the networks, all the networks. All the networks thought Biden was going to win by 10%. Gee, what happened? Come on, don't be, don't be ridiculous. Networks don't get to decide elections, courts do."
- Giuliani claimed that Philadelphia "has a sad history of voter fraud" which includes ballots submitted by dead people. Giuliani mentioned Joe Frazier and actor Will Smith's father as examples of dead people voting. NOTE: Al Schmidt, a Republican city Commissioner, stated that "not a single one voted in Philadelphia after they died."
- One of the speakers who spoke about alleged election fraud was Daryl Brooks, a registered sex offender. According to Politico: "Brooks was incarcerated in the 1990s on charges of sexual assault, lewdness and endangering the welfare of a minor for exposing himself to two girls ages 7 and 11, according to news accounts."
- Giuliani stated: "[t]here certainly is enough evidence to disqualify a certain number of ballots."
NOTE: The Four Season Total Landscaping press conference was widely ridiculed on social media, and on late night talk shows, both for its content, and location.
The AP called Pennsylvania for Joe Biden, putting him over the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, making him the 46th president of the United States. Kamala Harris will be the first woman, the first African American and the first Asian American to become vice president. This was Biden's third run for president. His first was in 1987. With vote counts for Biden approaching 75 million, Biden has won more votes than any other presidential candidate in US history.
Donald Trump reacted to the news of his loss saying: "We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don’t want the truth to be exposed. The simple fact is this election is far from over ... Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated."
Joe Biden responded to the news of his victory saying: "I am honored and humbled by the trust the American people have placed in me and in Vice-President-elect Harris ... In the face of unprecedented obstacles, a record number of Americans voted. Proving once again, that democracy beats deep in the heart of America. With the campaign over, it's time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation. It's time for America to unite. And to heal. We are the United States of America. And there's nothing we can't do, if we do it together."
Following the announcement, people spilled out into the streets in cities across the nation in celebration.
Donald Trump sent the following tweet:
"THE OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED INTO THE COUNTING ROOMS. I WON THE ELECTION, GOT 71,000,000 LEGAL VOTES. BAD THINGS HAPPENED WHICH OUR OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE. NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS WERE SENT TO PEOPLE WHO NEVER ASKED FOR THEM!"
Joe Biden spoke to the nation saying: "I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide but unify."
November 6, 2020 - Stephen Colbert, the Late Night host, spoke of Trump's assault on democracy by trying to deny the validity of hundreds of thousands of votes saying: "We all knew he would do this ... What I didn't know is that it would hurt so much ... for him to cast a dark shadow on our most sacred right, from the briefing room in the White House, our House, not his. That is devastating."
The following are some notable responses to Trump's demand to stop counting votes:
"A reflection on President Trump's comments last night: The last President I covered who refused to accept the vote count in an election was Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran, 2009." - Christiane Amanpour
"I've covered voting rights for a decade and that was the most dishonest speech about voting I've ever heard" - Ari Berman
"What the President of the United States is saying, in large part, is absolutely untrue." - Shepard Smith
"Counting absentee ballots, counting mail ballots IS NOT FRAUD." - Rick Santorum
Writing for the Guardian, David Smith offers the following analysis of Trump's false election claims:
"It seemed like a desperate last stand from a fearful strongman who can feel power slipping inexorably away. The US president on Thursday returned to the White House briefing room, scene of past triumphs such as that time he proposed bleach as a cure for coronavirus and that other time he condemned QAnon with the words 'They like me.' Trump offered a downright dangerous and dishonest take on this week's election that vote counting trends suggest he will lose. It was possibly an attempt to intimidate and deter TV networks from declaring a winner in the next few hours. It also risked inciting protests and violence from supporters encouraged to view Joe Biden as an illegitimate president-elect. Sombre and downbeat, Trump made false claims from a prepared statement (is that better or worse than ad-libbing lies?) 'If you count the legal votes, I easily win,' he said with a straight face. 'If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us. If you count the votes that came in late – we're looking at them very strongly, a lot of votes came in late.' It was a bold, dramatic claim with massive implications and absolutely no foundation. Having often dismissed the significance of Vladmir Putin's hackers' meddling four years ago, Trump implied that opinion polls are a more sinister threat. The president went on to throw in some racism for good measure, targeting Philadelphia and Detroit, both African American majority cities in the battlegrounds Pennsylvania and Michigan respectively."
As vote counting continues in Arizona and Georgia, where Biden leads in both, some are claiming that the late John McCain, and the late John Lewis, both opponents of Trump, are engaged in divine intervention.
Writing for the Washington Post, Anne Gearan offers the following analysis of Trump's attacks on the vote counts:
"President Trump is fond of the phrase 'law and order,' which he sometimes tweets in all-caps as a succinct projection of strength and control. His relationship with the related concept of the 'rule of law' is more complicated. Trailing Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the unresolved presidential contest, Trump is pulling out a playbook perfected by Russian President Vladimir Putin and other authoritarians. It relies on sowing doubt about the institutions of law and government, spreading misinformation or outright lies that serve a leader's political ends, and relying on a cadre of loyal supporters to believe what they are told, Putin scholars said. Trump's attempts to brand legal election practices as fraud and to use the courts — one pillar in the nation's democratic architecture — to intervene in the counting of votes — another pillar — are the latest examples of what has long been his malleable view of the democratic system."
From the category of there's always a tweet, here's what Trump tweeted in December of 2014: "What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate."
According to a story in the Guardian, Trump supporters are losing faith in Fox News. From the story:
"Trump supporters across the US increasingly say they no longer trust Fox News, the Rupert Murdoch-owned TV network that has acted as one of the president's staunchest allies in past years. As Fox News announced more state-level victories for Joe Biden on Wednesday, Trump supporters across the country grew more vocal in their frustration with the network. Some say they have shifted their allegiance to media outlets that lean even further right, such as One America News, which employs a prominent conspiracy theorist as one of its correspondents. In Arizona, pro-Trump demonstrators who massed outside an election facility in Phoenix chanted: 'Fox News sucks!' A man in Nevada screamed the same slogan repeatedly in the background of a live news feed there. In Detroit, as Trump supporters chanted 'Stop the count!' outside a ballot-counting location, the news that Fox had just called Michigan for Biden had little effect on the demonstration. 'Fox, you can't even trust them,' said Rob Phail, 51, from South Lyon, Michigan, who had been leading the chants. 'They're the worst chameleons of all. So you're like, OK, who do you trust?' Asked whom he would trust to confirm the actual results of the election, he said: 'Trump.'"
Writing for NPR, Miles Parks provides the following analysis regarding Trump's attachment to conspiracy theories as his legal battles fail and victory paths narrow. From the story:
"[Trump] claimed that election officials don't want any election observers in Pennsylvania. In reality, his campaign and lawyers representing Philadelphia sparred over how many election observers should be watching at one time, and how far away they needed to stay from officials who were counting ballots. Observers from political parties are a normal part of the counting process, and officials never tried to argue that Republicans should not be allowed to watch. Still, the Trump campaign tried to use the issue to argue that the counting of ballots in the city should be halted, a request a federal judge denied. Similar requests were denied in Michigan, and in Georgia earlier in the day. 'It seems like the relief the Trump campaign keeps asking is patently ridiculous,' said Levitt. 'They keep saying 'stop the count!' and the courts keep saying no.' Trump on Thursday said he thinks the election may end up decided by the supreme court. That's a possibility Levitt, and other legal experts, dismiss as 'increasingly unlikely'. 'Before [the election], I thought voters would decide this election, not the courts,' Levitt said. 'And with every passing day, I think that's more true.' The ongoing litigation is not about actually affecting the results at this point, Levitt added, but instead about shaping a narrative or 'retroactively bending reality' to fit Trump's false claims about voting. 'No, I'll discount that to 90% of it — because at least 10% of it is the ability to keep fundraising.'"
Ronna McDaniel, the Chair of the Republican National Committee, sent the following tweet: "Democrats and the media spent four years talking about a Russia hoax on the grounds of election integrity. But less than 48 hours after polls closed in an actual presidential election, they want to ignore clear irregularities and rush to call states as won. Unreal!" NOTE: The Republican candidate has already declared he won "decisively" in a televised address to the nation.
As vote counts are looking more and more like Joe Biden is going to win, Matt Morgan, Trump's reelection campaign's general counsel issued a statement that reads in part:
"This election is not over ... The false projection of Joe Biden as the winner is based on results in four states that are far from final ... There were many irregularities in Pennsylvania, including having election officials prevent our volunteer legal observers from having meaningful access to vote counting locations ... Finally, the President is on course to win Arizona outright, despite the irresponsible and erroneous 'calling' of the state for Biden by Fox News and the Associated Press ... Biden is relying on these states for his phony claim on the White House, but once the election is final, President Trump will be re-elected." NOTE: There is no evidence of widespread fraud in any state, plus, Trump advisers were allowed to observe vote-counting process in Pennsylvania.
With the vote count in Pennsylvania moving towards Joe Biden, Trump sent the following tweet: "Philadelphia has got a rotten history on election integrity" NOTE: There is no evidence of widespread fraud in Philadelphia, or anywhere else.
According to CNN, Trump has no intention of conceding this election. From the story:
"In conversations with allies in recent days, President Trump has said he has no intention to concede the election to Joe Biden, even if his path to a second term in office is effectively blocked by losses in places like Georgia and Pennsylvania. Aides, including his chief of staff Mark Meadows, have not attempted to bring Trump to terms of what's happening and have instead fed his baseless claim that the election is being stolen from him. Trump's allies have grown concerned that someone is going to have to reckon with the President that his time in office is potentially coming to an end, though they have not decided who should be the one to do it. There has been talk of potentially Jared Kushner or Ivanka Trump doing so, sources said."
Brad Raffensberger, Georgia's secretary of state, announced that there will be a recount in that state, which is triggered automatically by how close the vote is. Biden leads by only 1,579 votes.
Speaking to CNBC, Larry Kudlow, a top White House adviser, was asked if there would be a peaceful transfer of power, in light of the fact that Trump may refuse to concede. Kudlow's response: "We will continue peacefully as we always do"
Andrew Bates, a Biden spokesperson, was asked about the possibility that Trump may not concede. Bates' response: "As we said on July 19th, the American people will decide this election. And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House."
Jim Kenney, the Philadelphia mayor, held a press conference where he stated: "While some including the president continue to spew baseless claims of fraud — claims for which his team has not produced one iota of evidence — what we see in Philadelphia is democracy, pure and simple." Kenny added: "I think what the president needs to do is, frankly, put his big boy pants on. He needs to acknowledge the fact that he has lost, and he needs to congratulate the winner."
Donald Trump's reelection campaign released a statement which reads in part:
"We believe the American people deserve to have full transparency into all vote counting and election certification, and that this is no longer about any single election. This is about the integrity of our entire election process ... From the beginning we have said that all legal ballots must be counted and all illegal ballots should not be counted, yet we have met resistance to this basic principle by Democrats at every turn. We will pursue this process through every aspect of the law to guarantee that the American people have confidence in our government. I will never give up fighting for you and our nation." NOTE: Trump sent a tweet yesterday that said "Stop the count!" with no distinction made between legal and illegal ballots. Also, there has been no evidence produced to suggest that what's being counted includes illegal votes.
Fund raising emails being sent out by the Trump campaign regarding "Defending the Election" include in the fine print that half of the money will go towards retiring Trump's campaign debt.
Donald Trump sent the following in a tweet: "I had such a big lead in all of these states late into election night, only to see the leads miraculously disappear as the days went by. Perhaps these leads will return as our legal proceedings move forward!"
Ronna McDaniel, the Republican National Committee chair, appeared on Fox News where, after alleging inaccuracies in the vote count in Michigan, was pressed for evidence of "irregularities". McDaniel's response: "We're working on that. And that's why I'm saying, give us time."
Jocelyn Benson, Michigan's secretary of state, responded to McDaniel's claims saying: "Michigan's elections were conducted fairly, effectively and transparently and are an accurate reflection of the will of Michigan voters".
Bonnie Glick, the deputy administrator of the US Agency for International Development, which has played a critical role in the global response to the pandemic, received a note today from the White House which told her to resign by 5 pm or she would be terminated w/out cause at the pleasure of the President.
After a facebook group called "Stop the Steal" was disabled because of misinformation, a second "Stop the Steal" group was started to take the place of the 1st one. What the Trump supporters who joined the second group did not know, was that they were being trolled. After the group had attracted more than 40,000 members from the original group, the group's creators renamed the group "Gay Communists for Socialism". When members of the group began questioning the new name, an administrator assured them this was done to keep facebook from cracking down on the group. A second administrator assured other members that the group had been hacked, and that they were working with facebook to resolve the issue. The group now has 60,000 members, with an additional 20,000 new member requests.
News surfaced that Mark Meadows, Trump's White House chief of staff, and four other White House aides, have tested positive for Covid-19.
November 5, 2020 - Writing for the Washington Post, Ishaan Tharoor offers this analysis of the future of Trumpism, whether Trump wins or loses. From the story:
"One clear outcome of the U.S. election is the end of a particular delusion. In 2019, much of the bow-tied and gown-wearing Washington establishment gathered at the ritzy White House Correspondents' Association dinner to hear Ron Chernow, the acclaimed presidential historian, deliver a keynote address. In his remarks, he characterized the turbulence of President Trump's term in office as a 'topsy-turvy moment' and a 'surreal interlude in American life.' But the inescapable reality of the election results is that Trumpism remains a powerful current in American politics. It's akin to political tendencies in other parts of the world where strongmen have co-opted democracies. The president's brand of demagogic nationalism, his ceaseless campaigning through every year of his term and his unrepentant embrace of divisive messaging and tactics have clearly mobilized tremendous support. 'Trump over-performed in myriad polling measures. There would be no landslides, only squeakers and clenched jaws — and, possibly, court fights,' wrote my Washington Post colleague Monica Hesse. 'Win or lose, Trumpism will not have been swept into the dustbin of history; it will remain all over the furniture. It's part of the furniture.' Indeed, it may wholly define right-wing politics in the United States for years to come."
Kanye West, who many believe was running for president either as a publicity stunt, or to siphon Democratic votes, was able to garner 60,000 votes across the 12 states where he appeared on the ballot.
Writing for the Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin offers the following analysis of where this election is headed. From the story:
"Biden and Harris appear to have won despite a right-wing media universe willing to distort, deny and lie about verifiable facts and despite a mainstream media that was far too restrained in calling a lie a lie and in preventing President Trump from using their platforms to spread abject falsehoods. Biden will also be the seventh Democrat in the past eight elections to have won the popular vote, once more illustrating the degree to which our system has departed from the basic concept of majority rule. Had Republican lawmakers allowed Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin to begin tabulating votes a week or so ago, we likely would have known all this late Tuesday night or early Wednesday. Trump's predictable claims that he was cheated had one salutary effect: He finally provoked some Republican lawmakers and Fox News commentators to recover some sense of responsibility and acquaint themselves with reality by debunking the notion that voting should stop. There are deep problems in America that stem from one party's refusal to operate in the factual world in favor of a world that allows ignorance and resentment to shape political views. I will have much to say in the coming days about what we do about that. But if the country wanted someone who would beat Trump and heal the country, it picked the right guy."
Donald Trump tweeted the following:
"STOP THE COUNT!"
And
"ANY VOTE THAT CAME IN AFTER ELECTION DAY WILL NOT BE COUNTED!"
NOTE: A number of states, including Pennsylvania, allow ballots to arrive for days after election day as long as the ballots are postmarked by election day.
Josh Shapiro, the Pennsylvania attorney general, criticized Trump's reelection campaign for suing to halt vote-counting saying: "I'm not going to let anyone stop that process of counting. These are legal votes. They will be counted ... The rhetoric needs to go away. The campaign is over."
Trump tweeted the following:
"All of the recent Biden claimed States will be legally challenged by us for Voter Fraud and State Election Fraud. Plenty of proof - just check out the Media. WE WILL WIN! America First!"
NOTE: No evidence of widespread voter fraud has surfaced.
A Georgia judge has dismissed a Trump campaign lawsuit that claimed election officials were attempting to count invalid ballots. When pressed for evidence for the claim, the campaign was unable to produce any.
The Trump campaign held a press conference in Nevada where they made accusations of voter fraud, but when pressed for evidence, campaign adviser Ric Grennell, simply walked away.
Facebook removed a group called "Stop the Steal" because it was rife with misinformation about the election and processes for counting ballots. Two of the group's moderators, Jennifer Lawrence and Dustin Stockton, are associated with the "We build the Wall" campaign, for which former Trump advisor Steve Bannon was indicted for fraud. According to a facebook spokesperson:
"In line with the exceptional measures that we are taking during this period of heightened tension, we have removed the Group 'Stop the Steal,' which was creating real-world events. The group was organized around the delegitimization of the election process, and we saw worrying calls for violence from some members of the group."
Donald Trump held a press conference. Here are some highlights:
- Trump stated: "We're hearing stories that are horror stories ... We think there is going to be a lot of litigation because we have so much evidence and so much proof." NOTE: Trump offered no evidence of systemic problems in voting or counting.
- Trump stated: "In Pennsylvania partisan Democrats have allowed ballots in the state to be received three days after the election and we think much more than that and they are counting those without any postmarks or any identification whatsoever." NOTE: It was the supreme court, not "prtisan Democrats" that ordered ballots filled out before the end of election day could be reached up to three days later and still be counted.
- Trump stated: "Pennsylvania Democrats have gone to the state supreme court to try and ban our election observers’" NOTE: This is false. Nobody is in court trying to ban poll watchers.
- Trump stated: "Our campaign has been denied access to observe any counting in Detroit." He also stated that observers are being denied access in Philadelphia. NOTE: This is false. Absentee ballots were counted at a downtown convention centre in Detroit where 134 counting boards were set up. Each party was allowed one poll watcher per board. And, according to David Becker, an election law expert "There are literally dozens of Republican observers in Philly where the absentee ballots are being counted. And it’s being live streamed. Philly election officials are welcoming all qualified observers, as are all PA counties and everywhere in the US."
- Trump stated: "The election apparatus in Georgia is run by Democrats." NOTE: This is false. Georgia's elections are overseen by Brad Raffensberger, who is the secretary of state, and is a Republican.
- Trump stated: "If you count the legal votes, I easily win. If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us." NOTE: This comment has no basis in fact. Neither Trump's campaign aides, nor election officials have identified substantial numbers of "illegal" votes.
As Trump left the press conference without taking questions, CNN reporter Jim Acosta called out: "Are you being a sore loser?"
NOTE: News networks ABC, CBS and MSNBC stopped broadcasting Trump's live remarks, because they were clearly un-democratic lies. As MSNBC cut away, after Trump again falsely declared victory, anchor Brian Williams commented: "Here we are again in the unusual position of not only interrupting the president of the United States but correcting the president of the United States. It was not rooted in reality – and at this point, where our country is, it's dangerous. "
Trump followed up his press conference by tweeting lies about the election. Katy Tur, an NBC host, responded to Trump's tweeted lies saying: "Let's put that tweet up. That's ... none of that is true. None of that is true. Let's be very clear about it. The legal votes cast are still being counted, and he is starting to lose, so that is not true. 'The observers were not allowed in any way shape or form to do their job and therefore votes' blah blah blah. There are election observers. Bi-partisan election observers in these elections offices watching the votes come in. That is completely not true. So the President is tweeting about it, yes, but what he is saying is not true."
Mike Pence sent the following tweet after Trump's press conference: "I Stand With President @realDonaldTrump. We must count every LEGAL vote."
The AP responded to Trump's false claim that he won the election saying:
"The @AP has not declared a winner in the presidential race, with several states still too early to call. But President Trump is renewing unfounded claims that Democrats are trying to 'steal' the election. He did not back up his claim with any evidence."
Joe Biden responded to Trump's false victory claim tweeting: "No one is going to take our democracy away from us. Not now, not ever. America has come too far, fought too many battles, and endured too much to let that happen."
A federal judge has denied a motion by the Trump campaign to stop ballot counting in Philadelphia. This is the third campaign legal challenge to the vote count that has been dismissed by the courts. The Trump campaign has launched a series of lawsuits, which are unlikely to change the outcome of the election. Critics believe the point isn't to change the results, but to sow doubt in the legitimacy of the whole election system.
Steve Bannon, Trump's former adviser, has been suspended from Twitter after calling for the beheading of Anthony Fauci and Christopher Wray. From a story in the Guardian:
"Bannon urged violence against the nation's leading coronavirus expert and the FBI director on his 'war room' show where he asserted that the president would win re-election and that he should fire the two officials in his second term, Media Matters reported. Bannon then said: 'I’d put the heads on pikes, right, I'd put them at the two corners of the White House as a warning to federal bureaucrats. You either get with the program or you're gone – time to stop playing games.' YouTube took down the episode today, though the channel remains up. A spokesperson told TechCrunch that it removed the video for 'violating our policy against inciting violence'. The company did not immediately respond to the Guardian's inquiry about its decision to keep the channel running. Bannon's Twitter account was also taken down, and the company told the tech news site that it was 'permanently suspended' for violating rules against glorifying violence. Social media corporations have faced intense pressure to remove harmful content and misinformation surrounding the election. Facebook took down a pro-Trump 'Stop the Steal' group earlier today due to 'calls for violence'"
Appearing on Fox News, Republican senators Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz pushed Trump's false narrative that the election is being stolen. Here are some highlights:
- Cruz stated "Whenever they shut the doors and turn out the light they always find more Democratic votes"
- Cruz along with Fox News' Sean Hannity claimed Republican observers in Philadelphia were not allowed to watch the counting. FACT CHECK: The issue with observers in Philadelphia is over how close observers can get, not whether they are allowed into the facility. Here is an exchange that took place today between a Trump campaign lawyer, and a federal judge:
JUDGE DIAMOND: "I'm asking you as a member of the bar of this court: are people representing the Donald J Trump for president, representing the plaintiffs, in that room?"
TRUMP LAWYER: "Yes."
JUDGE DIAMOND: "I'm sorry, then what's your problem?"
- Lindsey Graham stated: "I trust Arizona, I don't trust Philadelphia". NOTE: As counting continues, Trump is gaining on Biden in Arizona, but losing ground in Pennsylvania.
A large group of rightwing protesters, including far-right radio host Alex Jones, and armed members of the white supremacist "boogaloo" movement, showed up outside the election center where ballots are being counted in Maricopa county in Arizona. According to Katie Hobbs, the Arizona secretary of state: "Their being there actually is causing delay and disruption and preventing employees from doing their jobs".
Chris Christie, a major Trump ally, stated today that it's Trump's "right to pursue legal action, but show us the evidence. We heard nothing today about any evidence." NOTE: Top Republicans, including Mitch McConnell, the Senate leader, have remained silent regarding Trump's evidence free claims.
As the vote count continues in Georgia, where Trump's lead is shrinking, downtown businesses in Atlanta have begun boarding up windows in anticipation of violence.
The Secret Service is ramping up protection for Joe Biden. From a story in the Washington Post:
"The Secret Service is sending reinforcements to Wilmington, Del., starting Friday to help protect former vice president Joe Biden as his campaign prepares for the possibility he may soon claim victory in his bid for the White House, according to two people familiar with the plans. The Secret Service summoned a squad of agents to add to the protective bubble around Biden after his campaign alerted the Secret Service the Democratic nominee would continue utilizing a Wilmington convention center at least another day and could make a major speech as early as Friday, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the security protocols. Secret Service spokeswoman Catherine Milhoan declined to comment, stressing that the agency does not publicly discuss security planning for the president or candidates it protects."
November 4, 2020 - In the early morning hours, Trump held a news conference. Here are some highlights:
- Trump accused the Democrats of trying to "disenfranchise" his supporters, saying: "We were getting ready for a big celebration. We were winning everything. And all of a sudden it was just called off. Millions and millions of people voted for us tonight. And a very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise that group of people, and we won’t stand for it. We will not stand for it."
- Trump reveled in his victories in Florida and Texas, then claimed: "It's also clear that we have won Georgia". NOTE: Georgia has not yet been called for either candidate.
- Trump declared "this is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country ... We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election." NOTE: The results of the election have not been called by a single news organization, since the most important battleground states remain too close to call.
The state of Mississippi has approved a ballot initiative to remove the Confederate banner from its state flag, and replace it with a magnolia, which is the state flower.
Joe Biden urged patience as the votes are counted, and stated "we're feeling good about where we are."
According to the Election Project, the 2020 election has garnered the highest turnout in a presidential election since 1900, percentage-wise. John Bolton, Trump's former National Security Advisor, reacted to Trump's election night comments saying:
"I feel pretty unhappy this morning. I think the comments president Trump made a few hours ago, where he basically said that he was winning, had won, but now the election would be stolen from him, were some of the most irresponsible comments that a president of the United States has ever made. We don't know what the outcome will be. It's entirely possible Trump could win, but he has cast doubt on the integrity of the entire electoral process, purely for his own personal advantage. It's a disgrace."
Writing for the Washington Post, Dan Balz offered the following reaction to Trump's election night speech:
"For four years, President Trump has sought to undermine the institutions of a democratic society, but never so blatantly as in the early morning hours of Wednesday. His attempt to falsely claim victory and to subvert the election itself by calling for a halt to vote-counting represents the gravest of threats to the stability of the country. Millions of votes remain to be counted, votes cast legally under the laws of the states. Until they are all counted, the outcome of the election remains in doubt. Either he or former vice president Joe Biden could win an electoral college majority, but neither has yet done so, no matter what he says. Those are the facts, for which the president shows no respect. A president who respected the Constitution would let things play out. But Trump has shown once again he cares not about the Constitution or the stability and well-being of the country or anything like that. He cares only about himself and retaining the powers he now holds."
Trump sent the following tweets:
- "Last night I was leading, often solidly, in many key States, in almost all instances Democrat run & controlled. Then, one by one, they started to magically disappear as surprise ballot dumps were counted. VERY STRANGE, and the 'pollsters' got it completely & historically wrong!" NOTE: This tweet was flagged by Twitter.
- "They are finding Biden votes all over the place — in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. So bad for our Country!"
- "They are working hard to make up 500,000 vote advantage in Pennsylvania disappear — ASAP. Likewise, Michigan and others!"
- "We have claimed, for Electoral Vote purposes, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (which won't allow legal observers) the State of Georgia, and the State of North Carolina, each one of which has a BIG Trump lead ... Additionally, we hereby claim the State of Michigan if, in fact ... there was a large number of secretly dumped ballots as has been widely reported!"
- NOTE: Twitter flagged some of Trump's tweets with the message: "official sources may not have called the race when this was tweeted."
Ellen Weintraub, a commissioner of the Federal Election Commission, reacted to Trump's tweets saying:
"I would not have thought that I needed to say this, but candidates can't just 'claim' states. That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works. Here's how this works: State and local election officials #CountEveryVote."
Bill Stepien, Trump's campaign manager, released a statement saying: "There have been reports of irregularities in several Wisconsin counties which raise serious doubts about the validity of the results. The President is well within the threshold to request a recount and we will immediately do so."
Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, defended Trump campaign concerns saying: "What the president wants to make sure is that every legal vote is counted."
Trump's reelection campaign has filed a suit to halt the counting of ballots in Michigan, saying in a statement:
"President Trump's campaign has not been provided with meaningful access to numerous counting locations to observe the opening of ballots and the counting process, as guaranteed by Michigan law. We have filed suit today in the Michigan Court of Claims to halt counting until meaningful access has been granted. We also demand to review those ballots which were opened and counted while we did not have meaningful access. President Trump is committed to ensuring that all legal votes are counted in Michigan and everywhere else." NOTE: Biden has narrowly pulled ahead in Michigan's vote count. The secretary of state for Michigan called the claims "meritless".
Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer, tweeted: "En route to Philadelphia with legal team. Massive cheating. @realDonaldTrump up by 550,000 with 75% counted. Will not let Philly Democrat hacks steal it!" NOTE: No evidence of "massive cheating" has surfaced, nor evidence that Democrats are trying to "steal" the race.
The Trump campaign announced that it is suing to halt vote-counting in Pennsylvania saying in a statement:
"Bad things are happening in Pennsylvania. Democrats are scheming to disenfranchise and dilute Republican votes. President Trump and his team are fighting to put a stop to it." NOTE: No evidence has surfaced that Democrats are attempting to "disenfranchise" Republican voters.
Bill Stepien, Trump's campaign manager, claimed during a press call: "We are declaring victory in Pennsylvania." NOTE: As of this statement, there are still more than 1m ballots that need to be counted in the state.
Trump supporters gathered outside a vote-counting site in Detroit where they chanted "stop the vote" and "stop the count".
Joe Biden held a press conference where he told the press:
"Power can't be taken or asserted, it flows from the people, and it is their will that determines who will be the president of the United States, and their will alone. I'm not here to declare that we've won. But I am here to report that when the count is finished we believe that we will be the winners. ... every vote must be counted."
The Trump campaign held a press conference in Philadelphia where the Trump campaign announced that they will file an appeal to the Supreme Court to stop mail-in ballots, which arrive over the next few days, from being counted.
The Trump campaign has filed a lawsuit seeking to pause the vote count in Georgia.
In Chicago, demonstrators marched past a building named for Trump while shouting "count every vote".
Pro Trump crowd showed up at the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix, where at least one guy was observed carrying a military style rifle. The crowd chanted "Shame on Fox" which was the first news organization to call the state for Biden.
Across the US, protesters aligned with progressive causes are demanding that officials "count every vote".
In Maricopa County in Arizona, Trump supporters are chanting "Count that vote!", while at the same time, Trump supporters in Detroit, Michigan, are chanting "Stop the vote!"
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