NEW: When Robert Pape studied those arrested at the Capitol, he thought he'd find they were driven by economic anxiety.
Instead, he found they came from places where residents were worried about immigrants and minorities taking over from white people.
For those counting at home, the Trump campaign has now suffered 5 court losses today:
*Michigan state court
*Arizona state court
*3rd circuit appeals court
*Montgomery Cty common pleas
*Philly Cty common pleas
And that's on top of his ex-law firm bailing on a federal case in PA.
Just in: Lawyer for Oath Keeper leader Stewart Rhodes says in court that the govt disclosed to him today the name of an informant inside the militia group who recorded an online meeting and provided it to prosecutors.
Just in: A DC court has issued a $1 million civil judgment against Enrique Tarrio, Joe Biggs and other Proud Boys for the vandalism of a Black church in a violent episode following a pro-Trump rally in DC in Dec 2020.
SCOOP: Chris Krebs, the former head of the US cybersecurity agency, has filed a lawsuit against the Trump lawyer Joe DiGenova accusing him, the Trump campaign & the TV outlet Newsmax of a "pernicious conspiracy" to harm GOPers who stood up to POTUS' claims of election fraud.
NEW: Dominion Voting Systems has finally pushed back at Sidney Powell.
Last night the company sent her a letter demanding retraction of her ‘baseless & false allegations’ about its voting machines.
"Your reckless disinfo campaign is predicated on lies."
Just in: Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keeper charged with sedition in connection with Jan. 6, has been detained pretrial by a magistrate judge in Texas.
JUST IN: Alexander Smirnov told the feds during an interview after is arrest that "officials associated with Russian intelligence" were involved in passing a story about Hunter Biden.
In a now-deleted FB video, prosecutors say, Ryan is heard saying “We are going to f---ing go in here. Life or death, it doesn’t matter."
Just before entering the building, she adds: “Y’all know who to hire for your realtor. Jenna Ryan for your realtor.”
New: The FBI has revoked security clearances for 3 agents for Jan 6 issues.
Bureau says:
*Brett Gloss was at the riot at the Capitol
*Marcus Allen promoted idea the feds inspired the attack
*Steve Friend refused to join a SWAT arrest on a militia suspect
There are dozens of people who protested on J6 who haven’t even been charged with a crime yet are being mistreated in DC prisons. A friend suggested the below link if you’re able to support them.
The FBI says Kevin Lyons was "evasive" at first about being inside the Capitol. Then, when agents showed him an Instagram pic he'd taken & posted of Nancy Pelosi's office, he caved.
"Wow, you're pretty good," he said. "That was only up for an hour."
NEW: Feds have charged Peter Stager w/beating a DC police officer with an American flag.
"Everybody in there is a treasonous traitor," Stager said in a video obtained by the FBI. "Death is the only remedy for what's in that building."
BREAKING: Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers militia, has been arrested in connection w/Jan. 6, according to his lawyer, Jonathan Mosely.
Mosely does not know what charges Rhodes is facing but says he got off the phone w/Rhodes during the arrest about 25 minutes ago.
BREAKING: The Trump campaign knew days after the 2020 election that wild claims of voting machine tampering — pushed by Sidney Powell and others allied with Donald Trump — were not true, court filings show.
A jaw-dropping twist this morning to the story of the Colombian IT guy who helped the FBI crack El Chapo's encrypted comms network.
He also helped the feds tap the kingpin's texts w/his wiife, Emma Coronel, taking us deep into the intimacies (and crimes) of their marriage.
Robert Sanford, the retired PA firefighter who has been charged in the DC riot, went to the Capitol following "the President's instructions," a complaining witness told the FBI.
New: Overnight, the law firm Porter Wright--see below--stepped away from defending the Trump campaign in its federal suit it Pennsylvania.
In a brief motion, lawyers said: "Plaintiffs
will be best served if Porter Wright withdraws."
Kory Langhofer, a lawyer for the Trump campaign, just said: "This is not a fraud case. We are not alleging fraud. We are not saying anyone is trying to steal the election."
Rather, he's saying there were "good faith errors" in the count.
NOW: Mayor de Blasio appears at a huge George Floyd rally in Cadman Park, Brooklyn—his first time in front of the protesters—and hundreds boo him & chant “Resign!” and “Fuck your curfew!”
Just in: Lawyers in the Proud Boys Jan. 6 sedition trial have issued a subpoena seeking to force Donald Trump to appear as a witness. Expect a) Troubles with service and b) a motion to quash.
JUST IN: A federal judge has agreed to apply a terrorism enhancement in the sentencing of Oath Keepers' leader Stewart Rhodes--the first time in more than 1,000 Jan. 6 criminal cases that the terrorism penalty provision has been approved.
The feds were able to find & charge Jenny Cudd of Texas in part b/c she posted a FB video of her incursion on the Capitol.
"We did break down Nancy Pelosi's office door & somebody stole her gavel..." Cudd said. "...Hell yes I am proud of my actions."
Judge asks campaign lawyer if GOP observers are in the room or not.
Lawyer says there "is a non-zero number" of them in the room.
Judge, losing patience, asks, "Are people repping DJT Trump for President in that room?"
Yes.
"Then what's the problem?" judge asks.
How were the Proud Boys, despite their long history of promoting & committing violence, able to skirt law enforcement scrutiny and end up storming the Capitol?
@ddknyt
and I try to answer.
Breaking: Ali Alexander, the prominent "Stop the Steal" organizer, is cooperating with the Justice Department's newly expanded investigation of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
NOW: Jack Smith's filing rebutting Trump's bid to see a sealed, ex parte brief on classified discovery has an interesting nugget on the highly sensitive nature of the docs in the case.
They're apparently so secret that TS/SCI clearance isn't enough. Added read-ins are needed.
NEW: Dominion's libel & slander suit vs. Sidney Powell has been formally filed in DC federal court. The case has been docketed and is awaiting the processing of pleadings.
Just in: The lawyers representing Mike Lindell in the Dominion voting machine defamation case have moved to withdraw saying Lindell is "in arrears by millions of dollars" on the legal fees he owes them.
Peter Harding, a Buffalo area man, has been charged by feds in the Capitol riot. The FBI notes that he was captured in social media photo lighting fire to media camera equipment outside building before entering.
Just in: A judge in Delaware has denied Fox News' motion to dismiss a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems.
Dominion's case against Fox can now--like its cases against Sidney Powell, Mike Lindell & Rudy Giuliani-- continue into the discovery phase.
NEW: Days before Jan. 6, an ex-aide to Roger Stone held a call w/Trump supporters.
He urged them to go to DC and "descend on the Capitol."
He also said Trump would impose a form of martial law that day.
"Biden will never be in that White House," he said.
NOW: Our new NY Times visual investigation of the Proud Boys shows how dozens of members of the far-right group maneuvered tactically at the Capitol on Jan. 6 in ways not previously known and unlike hundreds of other rioters that day.
JUST IN: Jack Smith, responding to Trump's selective prosecution claims in classified docs case (oddly made in a motion to compel) isn't like any other.
"There has never been a case in American history in which a former official has engaged in conduct remotely similar to Trump’s"
NEW: DOJ has charged Kelley Sorelle, the top lawyer for the Oath Keepers, with conspiracy in connection w/the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
Sorelle had claimed she was cooperating with the investigation of the militia group. She has not been charged, like others, with sedition.
Prosecutors seek to detain Smirnov saying:
The "misinformation he is spreading is not confined to 2020. He is actively peddling new lies that could impact US elections after meeting with Russian intelligence officials in November."
DECISION: Federal judge rules that Cleveland Meredith, charged w/threatening to kill Nancy Pelosi, should be detained pending trial.
Many Capitol rioters have been released. But Meredith, who came to DC w/an arsenal of weapons, was found to be a potential danger, the judge ruled.
New: J6 federal prosecutor Thomas Windom has issued a grand jury subpoena to the National Archives for all of the White House records the agency provided to the J6 House committee.
w/
@maggieNYT
and
@lukebroadwater
Pro-tip: When the FBI is investigating you for storming the Capitol, don't refer to them as "Federal Bitches of Incompetence" on Twitter.
It might end up being quoted in your sentencing memo, as happened to Jeremiah Caplinger.
In a fascinating govt filing rejecting Trump's discovery requests in the classified documents case come this factoid:
Of the 48,000 guests who visited Mar-a-Lago when Trump had secret material there only 2,200 had their names checked and only 2,900 passed thru metal detectors.
One of the Trump campaign's witnesses who is claiming that her Sharpie vote for the president wasn't counted just testified that she came to that conclusion after she cast her vote from her talking to her family, other voters, some attorneys and from her "research online."
A bail hearing is about to begin in the case of Cleveland Meredith.
Meredith has been charged w/traveling to DC w/an assault rifle, a pistol painted like a US flag and armor piercing rounds. He's also accused of threatening to kill Nancy Pelosi & Mayor Muriel Bowser of DC.
Breaking: Sidney Powell is not only pleading guilty to the Georgia charges, she is cooperating with the DA's office and agrees to "testify truthfully" against the other defendants.
New: Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers, wants to testify at the next Jan. 6 committee, answering all questions and waiving his 5th Amendment rights, provided his testimony is broadcast live, per his lawyer.
Rhodes intends to ask the committee about this today.
BREAKING: Federal judge in DC has denied Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Lindell's motions to dismiss the election-fraud related defamation lawsuits brought against them by Dominion Voting Machines.
A reminder: McCarthy's release of Capitol Police surveillance video will have limited if any effect on J6 criminal cases for a simple reason: Defense lawyers have already had access to the footage for months and have been able to use it in motion practice and at trial.
"While the 1st Amendment may protect the right of political fanatics to spew their lies and unhinged conspiracy theories, it does not grant anyone a license to abuse our courts for purposes which are antithetical to our democracy and to our judicial system."
🔥🔥🔥
NEW: Prosecutors unseal charges against Dominic Pezzola, aka Spaz, a Proud Boys members and former Marine who led the charge on the Capitol.
According to an FBI witness, Spaz said his crew would've killed anyone they came across inside including Pelosi and Pence.
Krebs, a lifelong Republican, said he filed the suit to encourage others from his party not to be “intimidated into silence.”
“We need to make it clear that these behaviors are not acceptable in a civil society,” he said.
The supposedly "censored" video that prompted Elon Musk to call for Jacob Chansley to be freed was in fact part of a public court filing by *his own lawyer* as early as May 2021.
It was part of an unsuccessful motion to get Chansley out on bail.
In his suit, Krebs notes that he received so many threats by tweet, email, even text after DiGenova's remarks he and his family had to leave their home temporarily.
“Daddy’s going to get executed?” the suit quotes Mr. Krebs’s 10-year-old child asking him.
There's a lot of this kind of stuff going around but this one is particularly rich.
Kerik, you may recall, was once caught on a wiretap talking w/former Westchester DA & current Fox News star Jeanine Pirro discussing secretly recording her cheating husband
Smirnov told his FBI handler that the Russians had intercepted several phone calls from "prominent US persons" that could be used as "kompromat" in the 2024 election.
Kevin Seefried told the feds that he and his son Hunter went to DC on Jan. 6 from their home in Delaware "to hear President Trump speak."
They brought along the Confederate battle flag from the house "where it is usually displayed outside."
New: A lawyer for Ray Epps has demanded a retraction and a formal on-air apology from Tucker Carlson for his "false and defamatory statements" about Epps on Fox News.
As
@emptywheel
notes here, this Smirnov detention memo reveals investigative details WAAAAY beyond what is necessary to keep him in custody.
It has the feeling of a scorched earth incineration of this guy and his contacts.
Smirnov also reported to the feds having contacts w/some pretty shady Russians including one connected to what seems like an assassination crew and an intel guy.
Line of the day from the Proud Boys' J6 sedition trial>>
Defense lawyer: When did your current devotion to God start?
Proud Boy cooperating witness: When I was sitting in a van with the FBI on my way to jail.
NEW: Following a rough hearing yesterday, the Trump campaign's lawyer in Arizona has admitted there isn't a case related to SharpieGate that affects the presidential race.
In the notice of mootness, he indicates there aren't enough votes at stake to make a difference....
Just in: Walt Nauta has settled on a local Florida lawyer, Sasha Dadan, per a person familiar
She has limited federal court experience--her name does not appear on PACER at all--but she has lots of experience trying cases in Fort Pierce, Fla. where Judge Aileen Cannon is based.
Not long after a DC airport cop watched John Lolos get tossed from a Delta flight for persistently shouting "Trump 2020!" he happened to see a video of Lolos on Instagram leaving the Capitol on riot day.
The cop turned Lolos in. Now he faces federal charges.
Just in: Prosecutors charge a PA man w/multiple online threats against the FBI for posting violent messages on Gab in the days after agents searched Mar-a-Lago.
"I sincerely believe that if you work for the FBI, then you deserve to die."
"I am going to f**cking slaughter you."
According to court papers, Stager claims he thought the guy he was beating w/the flagpole was "Antifa"--even though the words "METROPOLITAN POLICE" were clearly on the cop's uniform.
Air Force Lt Col (ret) Larry Brock had a plan for J6, prosecutors say.
*Seize "all democratic politicians"
*Seize "national media assets" and "eliminate them"
*"Cut off power and food to all who oppose us"
*Do not kill law enforcement "unless necessary"
(60 month prison request)
Last month, after Krebs appeared on "60 Minutes" disputing claims of election fraud, DiGenova threatened him on Newsmax saying he should be "taken out at dawn and shot."
Krebs is suing for defamation and infliction of emotional distress.
Story soon.
A 2nd poll watcher testifies that several times she saw a poll worker hitting either a RED or GREEN button on voting machine for voters w/o 1st getting permission. (Which seems like pro-Trump evidence.)
But under cross she admits she didn't know what those buttons actually did.
Scott Jarrett, a Maricopa County election official, is saying that a) Sharpie ink can in fact bleed on ballots but b) an "overvote" (or tainted ballot) occurs only if a second oval is filled in 35% or more.
We are, at present, literally discussing ink drying.
This is getting a bit painful.
Another voter says a tabulator spat out her Sharpie vote w/an error message. She & a poll worker reviewed it, tried again.
On advice of the worker, she then pushed the green (go) button.
Did she have any reason to think her vote wasn't counted?
No.
Now the website guy is admitting that he and the Trump campaign lawyer ARE BUSINESS PARTNERS.
Dem lawyers asks if he's being paid to testify.
"Not that I know of," he says. "I haven't discussed it."
Is it possible you're being paid? lawyer asks.
"I'm not sure," he says.
Oof.
NEW: Federal charges filed against Mark Leffingwell for assault on a federal law enforcement officer at yesterday's Capitol Hill riot.
After hitting a Capitol PO repeatedly in the head & chest, complaint says, the suspect...apologized.
Ok, so now the Trump campaign put a poll watcher on the stand hoping he would allege Sharpie improprieties.
And yet...he said that he didn't notice anything wrong on Election Day and would have said something if he did.
"At the time," he said, "everything looked normal."
Just catching up on the fact that Fox used Sammy Gravano, who killed 19 people as a Gambino family hit man, flipped on John Gotti, went into wit sec, dropped out of the program and ultimately helped his son start an MDMA trafficking operation, as an arbiter of personal morality.
New evidence drops in the Biden bribery scandal. Mobster Sammy the Bull says Joe Biden has committed treason and he's like a choir boy compared to Joe.
It's remarkable that prosecutors quote what appear to be FD-1023s in their detention memo. Those docs, detailing interviews w/informants, are highly sensitive govt investigative records.
The fact that they're in this public filing means that USG is burning Smirnov to the ground.
New: Since becoming the unlikely face of the one of the biggest Jan. 6 disinformation campaigns, Ray Epps has lost his home, his business, friends, relatives and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
He now lives more or less in hiding in a trailer park.
Powell & her colleagues filed 4 Kraken suits alleging a baseless conspiracy about foreign powers & Dominion voting machines. Judge Linda Parker in Detroit swatted it down.
Detroit's lawyers note that decision & say now it's time for the lawyers "to answer for that misconduct."
Just in: When the FBI seized classified materials during its search of Mar-a-Lago, it replaced the actual sensitive documents in the boxes with "placeholder" sheets.
But prosecutors say there was so much classified material that agents ran out of placeholders.
"This lawsuit represents a historic and profound abuse of the judicial process."
A federal judge in Michigan orders sanctions for Sidney Powell, Lin Wood and seven other pro-Trump lawyers for their election fraud lawsuit based on conspiracy theories.
Total disaster for de Blasio. My entire section of this huge crowd turned their backs on him. He could barely get a word in over the heckling. He gave up after about a minute and ceded the mic to George Floyd’s brother, Terence.
Wow: Judge Fine finds during the bail hearing that Jacob Chansley, the Qanon Shaman, was, as the govt claimed, "an active participant in a violent insurrection to overthrow the US government."
The story of Christian Rodriguez, the cybersecurity expert who helped take down El Chapo, is not only a high-tech spy thriller, but a 21st century cautionary tale.
The moral? Treat your I.T. people well.
Dominick Madden, 43, called in sick to his job at the NYC Dept. of Sanitation on Jan. 6, the FBI says. But agents tracked him to the Capitol riot wearing a Qanon sweatshirt through his social posts & license plate reader data showing him making the trip.
BREAKING: Rudy Giuliani, who has been saying there is massive fraud in the election for weeks, just said in a Pennsylvania federal courtroom: "This is not a fraud case."
It's worth pausing to reflect on the fact that the Trump campaign's suit in Pennsylvania was filed ONE week ago and they are already on their THIRD set of lawyers.
Just in: For those who say that no Jan. 6 rioters were armed with guns, consider the case Mark Mazza who just pleaded guilty to carrying a Taurus revolver loaded w/shotgun shells and hollow points at the Capitol.
His case is not only J6 case to involve firearms.
Just in: Judge Howell order Rudy Giuliani to pay Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss the $148 million he owes them immediately, noting his history as an "uncooperative litigant," his mounting debts and concerns that he will "conceal his assets" if there's a delay.
After he read the verdict aloud, Judge Cogan, clearly emotional, told jurors that in his 13 years of trial work he'd never seen a jury pay as much attention or scrutinize the evidence as closely as they had.
"Quite frankly," he said, "it made me proud to be an American."
To Adam's point about Trump's lawyer having another tough day: No lawyer wants to hear a federal judge end a statement by adding the clause "...as anyone who went to law school would know."
"Former President Trump's Legal Team Struggles in Court in Quest to Countersue E. Jean Carroll"
The judge reserved decision, but Trump's lawyer Alina Habba had another rough day in court, fresh from her defeat in the NYAG subpoena case.
@lawcrimenews
The FBI charged Matthew Bledsoe w/illegally entering the Capitol w/evidence from his Instagram account including a video of him saying: "This is our house. We pay for this shit."
His wife's FB page corroborated: “Matt was inside the Capitol...My husband is a Patriot solider."
Just in: The special counsel's office has filed a succinct 3-page brief asking Judge Chutkan to reject Trump's attempt to freeze the Jan. 6 case in its entirety as he appeals her ruling on executive immunity.
NEW: A memo found in the possession of Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio laid out a plan to surveil, storm and occupy seven govt buildings in DC on Jan. 6--but not the Capitol.
Still the details of the plan closely matched what happened at the Capitol.