For years now, there's been all this talk about a "deep state" operation covertly manipulating government to serve special interest and to protect the guilty. THIS IS IT !!!
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JAN 6 COMMITTEE FINAL PUBLIC HEARING MONDAY 12/19- They're making a list & Liz is checking it twice, criminal referrals on the way, MERRY XMAS BITCHES
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For years now, there's been all this talk about a "deep state" operation covertly manipulating government to serve special interest and to protect the guilty. THIS IS IT !!!
So after years of claiming that Dems, Obama, Biden, etc. have people embedded in agencies to disrupt standard operations, we're seeing now where the real interference is coming from, and who it's protecting.
Federal grand jury subpoenas ex-Trump WH counsel Cipollone in 2020 election probe
Washington (CNN)Former Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN, the latest sign that the Justice Department's investigation is heating up.
Cipollone and his attorneys are in discussions about an appearance before the grand jury, including how to deal with executive privilege issues, the source said.
ABC News first reported the subpoena.
Cipollone testified last month in a closed-door interview with the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. In its seventh public hearing, the House committee played clips of Cipollone's testimony where he agreed with other Trump officials that there was not sufficient evidence of election fraud and said that he believed Trump should have conceded the election.
Last month, the Justice Department brought two top aides to former Vice President Mike Pence, Marc Short and Greg Jacob, in front of a federal grand jury.
The moves signal that the Justice Department's investigation has reached inside former President Donald Trump's White House and that investigators are looking at conduct directly related to Trump and his closest allies' efforts to overturn his election defeat.
Pat Cipollone: Federal grand jury subpoenas ex-Trump WH counsel in 2020 election probe, source says - CNNPolitics
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Washington (CNN)Former Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN, the latest sign that the Justice Department's investigation is heating up.
Cipollone and his attorneys are in discussions about an appearance before the grand jury, including how to deal with executive privilege issues, the source said.
ABC News first reported the subpoena.
Cipollone testified last month in a closed-door interview with the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. In its seventh public hearing, the House committee played clips of Cipollone's testimony where he agreed with other Trump officials that there was not sufficient evidence of election fraud and said that he believed Trump should have conceded the election.
Last month, the Justice Department brought two top aides to former Vice President Mike Pence, Marc Short and Greg Jacob, in front of a federal grand jury.
The moves signal that the Justice Department's investigation has reached inside former President Donald Trump's White House and that investigators are looking at conduct directly related to Trump and his closest allies' efforts to overturn his election defeat.
Pat Cipollone: Federal grand jury subpoenas ex-Trump WH counsel in 2020 election probe, source says - CNNPolitics
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Exclusive: Jan. 6 Committee Prepares to Subpoena Alex Jones’ Texts, Emails
Jones’ lawyers in a Sandy Hook defamation case fumbled three years worth of texts and emails. The committee would like to know more about any contacts with Donald Trump’s team regarding the Jan. 6 Capitol attack
Alex Jones, the founder of right-wing media group Infowars, addresses a crowd of pro-Trump protesters after they storm the grounds of the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC.
The January 6th House committee is preparing to request the trove of Alex Jones’s text messages and emails revealed Wednesday in a defamation lawsuit filed by victims of the Sandy Hook massacre, Rolling Stone has learned.
On Wednesday, Sandy Hook victims’ attorney Mark Bankston told Jones that his attorney had mistakenly sent Bankston three years worth of the conspiracy theorist’s emails and text messages copied from his phone.
Now — a source familiar with the matter and another person briefed on it tell Rolling Stone — the January 6th committee is preparing to request that data from the plaintiff attorneys in order to aid its investigation of the insurrection. These internal deliberations among the committee, which is probing former President Donald Trump’s role in causing the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot, began within minutes of the lawyer’s revelation being heard on the trial’s livestream on Wednesday afternoon.
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Jan. 6 Committee Plans to Subpoena Alex Jones' Cell Phone - Rolling Stone
Jones’ lawyers in a Sandy Hook defamation case fumbled three years worth of texts and emails. The committee would like to know more about any contacts with Donald Trump’s team regarding the Jan. 6 Capitol attack
The January 6th House committee is preparing to request the trove of Alex Jones’s text messages and emails revealed Wednesday in a defamation lawsuit filed by victims of the Sandy Hook massacre, Rolling Stone has learned.
On Wednesday, Sandy Hook victims’ attorney Mark Bankston told Jones that his attorney had mistakenly sent Bankston three years worth of the conspiracy theorist’s emails and text messages copied from his phone.
Now — a source familiar with the matter and another person briefed on it tell Rolling Stone — the January 6th committee is preparing to request that data from the plaintiff attorneys in order to aid its investigation of the insurrection. These internal deliberations among the committee, which is probing former President Donald Trump’s role in causing the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot, began within minutes of the lawyer’s revelation being heard on the trial’s livestream on Wednesday afternoon.
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Jan. 6 Committee Plans to Subpoena Alex Jones' Cell Phone - Rolling Stone
Here comes an announcement for the 2024 campaign
Exclusive: Trump lawyers in talks with Justice Department about January 6 criminal probe
SOURCES: TRUMP'S LEGAL TEAM WARNED HIM THAT INDICTMENTS ARE POSSIBLE
(CNN)Former President Donald Trump's legal team is in direct communication with Justice Department officials, the first sign of talks between the two sides as the criminal probe into January 6, 2021, accelerates, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.
The talks revolve around whether Trump would be able to shield conversations he had while he was president from federal investigators.
In recent weeks, investigators have moved aggressively into Trump's orbit, subpoenaing top former White House officials, focusing on efforts to overturn the 2020 election and executing searches of lawyers who sought to aid those efforts.
The Trump team's discussions are with the US attorney's office in Washington, DC, which is in charge of the investigation, and its top January 6 prosecutor Thomas Windom, the sources said. The conversations have not been previously reported.
At this stage, the conversations are focused mostly on whether any communications that witnesses from the Trump West Wing had with the former president can be kept from a federal criminal grand jury under Trump's claims of executive privilege, the people said.
The Justice Department has been anticipating a court fight with Trump over executive privilege. The issue has arisen as grand jury subpoenas have been issued to two former White House counsel's office officials and to former Vice President Mike Pence's chief counsel and chief of staff.
Trump's legal defense team has warned him that indictments are possible, sources tell CNN.
Some members of Trump's legal team have discussed his potential defense strategies on at least two occasions in recent months, according to two sources familiar with the matter, as they brace for new developments in the Justice Department probe and a separate investigation by Georgia officials into his potentially criminal meddling in the state's 2020 election results. Rolling Stone previously reported that Trump had been briefed.
Trump has grilled his attorneys on whether they actually believe he will face formal charges, sources said. Yet the former President has expressed a heavy dose of skepticism that he will be indicted, one of the sources familiar with the matter said.
Another source close to the former President told CNN that Trump also has posed questions about a potential indictment to members of his inner circle, some of whom believe the President is concerned about the possibility of federal charges.
But one person close to Trump said he is noticeably more engaged when he is chatting with friends and advisers about the 2022 midterms and his possible presidential campaign in 2024 than he has been during briefings on legal strategy.
This person described the former President as dismissive in conversations about his legal troubles, often repeating his "witch hunt" mantra as he claims the various probes he's facing are plainly driven by political opponents.
A Trump spokesman said in a statement to CNN: "There is clearly a concerted effort to undermine the vital, Constitutionally-rooted Executive and Attorney-Client Privileges through partisan, political persecution."
"How can any future President ever have private conversations with his attorneys, counselors, and other senior advisors if any such advisor is forced, either during or after the Presidency, in front of an Unselect Committee or other entity, and be forced to reveal those privileged, confidential discussions?" the spokesman said. "President Trump will not be deterred by witch hunts or kangaroo courts from continuing to defend and fight for America, our Constitution, and the Truth."
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Mark Meadows could be a key witness
In recent months, the former President has ignored advice from some of his advisers to avoid speaking with former and current aides who have become entangled in the House select committee's probe into January 6 and may become part of the criminal investigation, people familiar with the matter told CNN.
Trump has specifically been counseled to cut contact with his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, whose actions leading up to and on the day of the US Capitol insurrection have been deeply scrutinized by the House panel, the people said.
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Exclusive: Trump lawyers in talks with Justice Department about January 6 criminal probe - CNNPolitics
Exclusive: Trump lawyers in talks with Justice Department about January 6 criminal probe
SOURCES: TRUMP'S LEGAL TEAM WARNED HIM THAT INDICTMENTS ARE POSSIBLE
(CNN)Former President Donald Trump's legal team is in direct communication with Justice Department officials, the first sign of talks between the two sides as the criminal probe into January 6, 2021, accelerates, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.
The talks revolve around whether Trump would be able to shield conversations he had while he was president from federal investigators.
In recent weeks, investigators have moved aggressively into Trump's orbit, subpoenaing top former White House officials, focusing on efforts to overturn the 2020 election and executing searches of lawyers who sought to aid those efforts.
The Trump team's discussions are with the US attorney's office in Washington, DC, which is in charge of the investigation, and its top January 6 prosecutor Thomas Windom, the sources said. The conversations have not been previously reported.
At this stage, the conversations are focused mostly on whether any communications that witnesses from the Trump West Wing had with the former president can be kept from a federal criminal grand jury under Trump's claims of executive privilege, the people said.
The Justice Department has been anticipating a court fight with Trump over executive privilege. The issue has arisen as grand jury subpoenas have been issued to two former White House counsel's office officials and to former Vice President Mike Pence's chief counsel and chief of staff.
Trump's legal defense team has warned him that indictments are possible, sources tell CNN.
Some members of Trump's legal team have discussed his potential defense strategies on at least two occasions in recent months, according to two sources familiar with the matter, as they brace for new developments in the Justice Department probe and a separate investigation by Georgia officials into his potentially criminal meddling in the state's 2020 election results. Rolling Stone previously reported that Trump had been briefed.
Trump has grilled his attorneys on whether they actually believe he will face formal charges, sources said. Yet the former President has expressed a heavy dose of skepticism that he will be indicted, one of the sources familiar with the matter said.
Another source close to the former President told CNN that Trump also has posed questions about a potential indictment to members of his inner circle, some of whom believe the President is concerned about the possibility of federal charges.
But one person close to Trump said he is noticeably more engaged when he is chatting with friends and advisers about the 2022 midterms and his possible presidential campaign in 2024 than he has been during briefings on legal strategy.
This person described the former President as dismissive in conversations about his legal troubles, often repeating his "witch hunt" mantra as he claims the various probes he's facing are plainly driven by political opponents.
A Trump spokesman said in a statement to CNN: "There is clearly a concerted effort to undermine the vital, Constitutionally-rooted Executive and Attorney-Client Privileges through partisan, political persecution."
"How can any future President ever have private conversations with his attorneys, counselors, and other senior advisors if any such advisor is forced, either during or after the Presidency, in front of an Unselect Committee or other entity, and be forced to reveal those privileged, confidential discussions?" the spokesman said. "President Trump will not be deterred by witch hunts or kangaroo courts from continuing to defend and fight for America, our Constitution, and the Truth."
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Mark Meadows could be a key witness
In recent months, the former President has ignored advice from some of his advisers to avoid speaking with former and current aides who have become entangled in the House select committee's probe into January 6 and may become part of the criminal investigation, people familiar with the matter told CNN.
Trump has specifically been counseled to cut contact with his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, whose actions leading up to and on the day of the US Capitol insurrection have been deeply scrutinized by the House panel, the people said.
CONTINUED:
Exclusive: Trump lawyers in talks with Justice Department about January 6 criminal probe - CNNPolitics
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Reports like these gives you some benefit of the doubt that AG Garland is doing something.
I think he is going after Trump big time. What’s pissing people off is he is not giving the general public day-by-day daily briefings and sending out the US Marshall’s for some perp walk action.
And as with the committee, keeping your cards close to your chest keeps the guilty from formulating lies/excuses to cover their collective asses...... that's what has the Republicacs pissed off the most.... they're constantly kept on their heels back peddlingReports like these gives you some benefit of the doubt that AG Garland is doing something.
I think he is going after Trump big time. What’s pissing people off is he is not giving the general public day-by-day daily briefings and sending out the US Marshall’s for some perp walk action.
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Trump has specifically been counseled to cut contact with his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, whose actions leading up to and on the day of the US Capitol insurrection have been deeply scrutinized by the House panel, the people said.
Exclusive: Trump lawyers in talks with Justice Department about January 6 criminal probe
(CNN)Former President Donald Trump's legal team is in direct communication with Justice Department officials, the first sign of talks between the two sides as the criminal probe into January 6, 2021, accelerates, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.
The talks revolve around whether Trump would be able to shield conversations he had while he was president from federal investigators.
In recent weeks, investigators have moved aggressively into Trump's orbit, subpoenaing top former White House officials, focusing on efforts to overturn the 2020 election and executing searches of lawyers who sought to aid those efforts.
The Trump team's discussions are with the US attorney's office in Washington, DC, which is in charge of the investigation, and its top January 6 prosecutor Thomas Windom, the sources said. The conversations have not been previously reported.
At this stage, the conversations are focused mostly on whether any communications that witnesses from the Trump West Wing had with the former President can be kept from a federal criminal grand jury under Trump's claims of executive privilege, the people said.
The Justice Department has been anticipating a court fight with Trump over executive privilege. The issue has arisen as grand jury subpoenas have been issued to two former White House counsel's office officials and to former Vice President Mike Pence's chief counsel and chief of staff.
Trump's legal defense team has warned him that indictments are possible, sources tell CNN.
Some members of Trump's legal team have discussed his potential defense strategies on at least two occasions in recent months, according to two sources familiar with the matter, as they brace for new developments in the Justice Department probe and a separate investigation by Georgia officials into his potentially criminal meddling in the state's 2020 election results. Rolling Stone previously reported that Trump had been briefed.
Trump has grilled his attorneys on whether they actually believe he will face formal charges, sources said. Yet the former President has expressed a heavy dose of skepticism that he will be indicted, one of the sources familiar with the matter said.
Another source close to the former President told CNN that Trump also has posed questions about a potential indictment to members of his inner circle, some of whom believe the President is concerned about the possibility of federal charges.
But one person close to Trump said he is noticeably more engaged when he is chatting with friends and advisers about the 2022 midterms and his possible presidential campaign in 2024 than he has been during briefings on legal strategy.
This person described the former President as dismissive in conversations about his legal troubles, often repeating his "witch hunt" mantra as he claims the various probes he's facing are plainly driven by political opponents.
A Trump spokesman said in a statement to CNN: "There is clearly a concerted effort to undermine the vital, Constitutionally-rooted Executive and Attorney-Client Privileges through partisan, political persecution."
"How can any future President ever have private conversations with his attorneys, counselors, and other senior advisors if any such advisor is forced, either during or after the Presidency, in front of an Unselect Committee or other entity, and be forced to reveal those privileged, confidential discussions?" the spokesman said. "President Trump will not be deterred by witch hunts or kangaroo courts from continuing to defend and fight for America, our Constitution, and the Truth."
The Justice Department declined to comment.
Mark Meadows could be a key witness
In recent months, the former President has ignored advice from some of his advisers to avoid speaking with former and current aides who have become entangled in the House select committee's probe into January 6 and may become part of the criminal investigation, people familiar with the matter told CNN.
Trump has specifically been counseled to cut contact with his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, whose actions leading up to and on the day of the US Capitol insurrection have been deeply scrutinized by the House panel, the people said.
Two of Meadows' former top aides, Cassidy Hutchinson and Alyssa Farah Griffin, also have been highly critical of Trump, with Hutchinson testifying about damaging details about Trump's actions on January 6 during her public testimony before the House panel in June. Hutchinson is cooperating in the DOJ probe as well.
Some of Trump's attorneys believe Meadows could also be in investigators' crosshairs and are concerned he could become a fact witness if he is pushed to cooperate in the Justice Department probe, according to two people familiar with the matter.
In response, Meadows' attorney George Terwilliger told CNN on Thursday: "All of that is idle and uninformed speculation, apparently by people that know little but talk a lot."
Former White House attorney Ty Cobb said Meadows is "perfectly positioned to be the John Dean of this mess," referring to the former Richard Nixon aide who offered crucial public testimony during the Watergate hearings.
"The reason [Meadows] is valuable is also the reason he is in jeopardy: He was basically at Trump's right hand throughout all these exercises and participated in key meetings and phone calls," Cobb said.
Yet, according to a source familiar with the relationship, Trump and Meadows have spoken a number of times. Another source close to Trump described their relationship as "not the same as it once was" while they served in the White House, but insisted they still maintained a relationship, even as Trump has complained about Meadows in his recent conversations with other allies.
Meadows has been known to attend fundraisers and events at the former President's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, where he also helped organize a donor retreat last April for the Conservative Partnership Institute, a group he runs with former Republican Sen. Jim DeMint.
The securing of Trump's endorsement for US Senate candidate Ted Budd "was the last time Meadows was really around regularly. Since then, he's never been a big part of the political operation or [Trump's] thought process," said a second person close to Trump.
Exclusive: Trump lawyers in talks with Justice Department about January 6 criminal probe - CNNPolitics
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Exclusive: Trump lawyers in talks with Justice Department about January 6 criminal probe
(CNN)Former President Donald Trump's legal team is in direct communication with Justice Department officials, the first sign of talks between the two sides as the criminal probe into January 6, 2021, accelerates, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.
The talks revolve around whether Trump would be able to shield conversations he had while he was president from federal investigators.
In recent weeks, investigators have moved aggressively into Trump's orbit, subpoenaing top former White House officials, focusing on efforts to overturn the 2020 election and executing searches of lawyers who sought to aid those efforts.
The Trump team's discussions are with the US attorney's office in Washington, DC, which is in charge of the investigation, and its top January 6 prosecutor Thomas Windom, the sources said. The conversations have not been previously reported.
At this stage, the conversations are focused mostly on whether any communications that witnesses from the Trump West Wing had with the former President can be kept from a federal criminal grand jury under Trump's claims of executive privilege, the people said.
The Justice Department has been anticipating a court fight with Trump over executive privilege. The issue has arisen as grand jury subpoenas have been issued to two former White House counsel's office officials and to former Vice President Mike Pence's chief counsel and chief of staff.
Trump's legal defense team has warned him that indictments are possible, sources tell CNN.
Some members of Trump's legal team have discussed his potential defense strategies on at least two occasions in recent months, according to two sources familiar with the matter, as they brace for new developments in the Justice Department probe and a separate investigation by Georgia officials into his potentially criminal meddling in the state's 2020 election results. Rolling Stone previously reported that Trump had been briefed.
Trump has grilled his attorneys on whether they actually believe he will face formal charges, sources said. Yet the former President has expressed a heavy dose of skepticism that he will be indicted, one of the sources familiar with the matter said.
Another source close to the former President told CNN that Trump also has posed questions about a potential indictment to members of his inner circle, some of whom believe the President is concerned about the possibility of federal charges.
But one person close to Trump said he is noticeably more engaged when he is chatting with friends and advisers about the 2022 midterms and his possible presidential campaign in 2024 than he has been during briefings on legal strategy.
This person described the former President as dismissive in conversations about his legal troubles, often repeating his "witch hunt" mantra as he claims the various probes he's facing are plainly driven by political opponents.
A Trump spokesman said in a statement to CNN: "There is clearly a concerted effort to undermine the vital, Constitutionally-rooted Executive and Attorney-Client Privileges through partisan, political persecution."
"How can any future President ever have private conversations with his attorneys, counselors, and other senior advisors if any such advisor is forced, either during or after the Presidency, in front of an Unselect Committee or other entity, and be forced to reveal those privileged, confidential discussions?" the spokesman said. "President Trump will not be deterred by witch hunts or kangaroo courts from continuing to defend and fight for America, our Constitution, and the Truth."
The Justice Department declined to comment.
Mark Meadows could be a key witness
In recent months, the former President has ignored advice from some of his advisers to avoid speaking with former and current aides who have become entangled in the House select committee's probe into January 6 and may become part of the criminal investigation, people familiar with the matter told CNN.
Trump has specifically been counseled to cut contact with his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, whose actions leading up to and on the day of the US Capitol insurrection have been deeply scrutinized by the House panel, the people said.
Two of Meadows' former top aides, Cassidy Hutchinson and Alyssa Farah Griffin, also have been highly critical of Trump, with Hutchinson testifying about damaging details about Trump's actions on January 6 during her public testimony before the House panel in June. Hutchinson is cooperating in the DOJ probe as well.
Some of Trump's attorneys believe Meadows could also be in investigators' crosshairs and are concerned he could become a fact witness if he is pushed to cooperate in the Justice Department probe, according to two people familiar with the matter.
In response, Meadows' attorney George Terwilliger told CNN on Thursday: "All of that is idle and uninformed speculation, apparently by people that know little but talk a lot."
Former White House attorney Ty Cobb said Meadows is "perfectly positioned to be the John Dean of this mess," referring to the former Richard Nixon aide who offered crucial public testimony during the Watergate hearings.
"The reason [Meadows] is valuable is also the reason he is in jeopardy: He was basically at Trump's right hand throughout all these exercises and participated in key meetings and phone calls," Cobb said.
Yet, according to a source familiar with the relationship, Trump and Meadows have spoken a number of times. Another source close to Trump described their relationship as "not the same as it once was" while they served in the White House, but insisted they still maintained a relationship, even as Trump has complained about Meadows in his recent conversations with other allies.
Meadows has been known to attend fundraisers and events at the former President's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, where he also helped organize a donor retreat last April for the Conservative Partnership Institute, a group he runs with former Republican Sen. Jim DeMint.
The securing of Trump's endorsement for US Senate candidate Ted Budd "was the last time Meadows was really around regularly. Since then, he's never been a big part of the political operation or [Trump's] thought process," said a second person close to Trump.
Exclusive: Trump lawyers in talks with Justice Department about January 6 criminal probe - CNNPolitics
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Former officer in Trump's Jan. 6 motorcade speaks out
Former DC Metropolitan Police Sergeant Mark Robinson tells CNN's Don Lemon about his experience working in former President Donald Trump's motorcade during the January 6 riot.
Former DC Metropolitan Police Sergeant Mark Robinson tells CNN's Don Lemon about his experience working in former President Donald Trump's motorcade during the January 6 riot.
Trump ally Scott Perry says FBI have seized his phone following Mar-a-Lago raid
Pennsylvania congressman a leading supporter of former president’s electoral fraud claims
Trump ally Scott Perry says that the FBI seized his phone the day after agents raided Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
The Republican congressman from Pennsylvania told Fox News that federal agents approached him on Tuesday with a warrant and demanded that he hand over the phone.
“This morning, while traveling with my family, 3 FBI agents visited me and seized my cell phone. They made no attempt to contact my lawyer, who would have made arrangements for them to have my phone if that was their wish,” Mr Perry said.
“I’m outraged — though not surprised — that the FBI under the direction of Merrick Garland’s DOJ, would seize the phone of a sitting Member of Congress. My phone contains info about my legislative and political activities, and personal/private discussions with my wife, family, constituents, and friends. None of this is the government’s business.”
Mr Perry, according to Rep Liz Cheney, is one of the Republicans who contacted the White House in the weeks after the January 6 insurrection to allegedly seek a pardon. Mr Perry has strongly denied this.
In a statement on 12 May, the select committee said Mr Perry “was directly involved with efforts to corrupt the Department of Justice and install Jeffrey Clark as acting Attorney General.”
The committee also said that “in addition, Mr Perry had various communications with the White House about a number of matters relevant to the Select Committee’s investigation, including allegations that Dominion voting machines had been corrupted.”
During its 23 June hearing, the committee claimed that Mr Perry texted then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows asking that Jeffrey Clark be elevated to Attorney General before January 6.
Mr Perry has been a vocal supporter of the former president’s debunked claims of electoral fraud causing his 2020 defeat to Joe Biden.
In his statement, he added that “as with President Trump last night, DOJ chose this unnecessary and aggressive action instead of simply contacting my attorneys. These kinds of banana republic tactics should concern every Citizen — especially considering the decision before Congress this week to hire 87,000 new IRS agents to further persecute law-abiding Citizens.”
Trump ally Scott Perry says FBI have seized his phone following Mar-a-Lago raid | The Independent
Pennsylvania congressman a leading supporter of former president’s electoral fraud claims
Trump ally Scott Perry says that the FBI seized his phone the day after agents raided Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
The Republican congressman from Pennsylvania told Fox News that federal agents approached him on Tuesday with a warrant and demanded that he hand over the phone.
“This morning, while traveling with my family, 3 FBI agents visited me and seized my cell phone. They made no attempt to contact my lawyer, who would have made arrangements for them to have my phone if that was their wish,” Mr Perry said.
“I’m outraged — though not surprised — that the FBI under the direction of Merrick Garland’s DOJ, would seize the phone of a sitting Member of Congress. My phone contains info about my legislative and political activities, and personal/private discussions with my wife, family, constituents, and friends. None of this is the government’s business.”
Mr Perry, according to Rep Liz Cheney, is one of the Republicans who contacted the White House in the weeks after the January 6 insurrection to allegedly seek a pardon. Mr Perry has strongly denied this.
In a statement on 12 May, the select committee said Mr Perry “was directly involved with efforts to corrupt the Department of Justice and install Jeffrey Clark as acting Attorney General.”
The committee also said that “in addition, Mr Perry had various communications with the White House about a number of matters relevant to the Select Committee’s investigation, including allegations that Dominion voting machines had been corrupted.”
During its 23 June hearing, the committee claimed that Mr Perry texted then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows asking that Jeffrey Clark be elevated to Attorney General before January 6.
Mr Perry has been a vocal supporter of the former president’s debunked claims of electoral fraud causing his 2020 defeat to Joe Biden.
In his statement, he added that “as with President Trump last night, DOJ chose this unnecessary and aggressive action instead of simply contacting my attorneys. These kinds of banana republic tactics should concern every Citizen — especially considering the decision before Congress this week to hire 87,000 new IRS agents to further persecute law-abiding Citizens.”
Trump ally Scott Perry says FBI have seized his phone following Mar-a-Lago raid | The Independent
Elaine Chao, Trump's former Transportation Secretary, met with Jan. 6 committee as other Cabinet members engage with panel
By Zachary Cohen, Jamie Gangel, Sara Murray and Pamela Brown, CNN
Updated 9:40 PM EDT, Thu August 11, 2022
amp.cnn.com
The House select committee investigating January 6, 2021, has recently interviewed former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and has been in talks with former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as well as former National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, multiple sources tell CNN. Chao and DeVos, both members of former President Donald Trump's Cabinet, resigned a day after the attack on the US Capitol and discussed invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from power.
News of Chao's cooperation, and the committee's discussions with DeVos and O'Brien have not been previously reported. O'Brien is expected to appear virtually before the panel on Friday, according to a source familiar with the probe. CNN has reached out to O'Brien.
The development comes after former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with the panel on Tuesday. The 25th Amendment was a topic of focus during Pompeo's meeting, CNN previously reported.
Additionally, sources tell CNN the committee is still negotiating terms for a potential interview with former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe. Given the classified nature of Ratcliffe's former role, there are unique issues the two sides have to work out, the sources said.
At least nine Cabinet-level officials who were still in their roles on January 6 are known to have cooperated with or are engaging with the committee.
Like Pompeo, DeVos and Chao are known to have explored the idea of possibly removing Trump from power via the 25th Amendment in the immediate aftermath of the January 6 attack. While Pompeo served out his tenure as Secretary of State, DeVos and Chao both sent letters of resignation to Trump on January 7.
As national security adviser, O'Brien was not a member of Trump's Cabinet but sources say he was involved in high-level discussions about the 25th Amendment immediately following January 6. In a statement to CNN, he denied that, saying, "I was at no time involved in discussions about invoking the 25th Amendment."
CNN previously reported that O'Brien considered resigning from his post over Trump's response to the violence that day but ultimately decided to remain in the job.
O'Brien was out of town on January 6 but his deputy, Matthew Pottinger, was in Washington and told his boss that day he was resigning. Pottinger testified publicly during the committee's last hearing focused on Trump's 187 minutes of inaction as the violence unfolded.
A spokesperson for the committee declined to comment on cooperation with DeVos, O'Brien and Chao.
A spokesperson for Chao declined to comment. A spokesperson for DeVos disputed the notion that DeVos is actively in discussions about scheduling an interview, but provided no further comment to CNN.
Zeroing in on talk of the 25th Amendment
Multiple former Cabinet officials who have been interviewed by the committee were asked about the 25th Amendment, according to numerous sources familiar with the investigation. But the panel still appears to be seeking information about those discussions following January 6.
In a June interview with USA Today, DeVos acknowledged publicly for the first time that she discussed the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment with other Cabinet members and then-Vice President Mike Pence following January 6.
Devos told USA Today that before she resigned, she explored whether using the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office was a viable option. DeVos said Pence told her he would not support using the 25th Amendment and that his backing would be necessary for such an effort to be successful.
Sources have told CNN that Chao, the wife of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, had similar discussions prior to stepping down as Secretary of Transportation.
During her public testimony before the committee during a hearing earlier this summer, Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified that after the attack on the Capitol, Pompeo warned Meadows that Cabinet secretaries discussed whether to invoke the 25th Amendment.
"You're technically the boss of all the Cabinet secretaries," Hutchinson quoted Pompeo telling Meadows. "And you know if the conversations progressed, you should be ready to take action on this."
Several other Trump Cabinet officials are known to have met with the committee already, including former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, former acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, former Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, former acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller and former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen.
The committee also met with former Attorney General William Barr but he had left the administration prior to January 6. Trump's former acting White House chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney met with the panel last month.
Both Wolf and one of his top deputies, Ken Cuccinelli, sat for interviews with the committee several months ago, sources said. CNN previously reported the interviews.
US Senator Mitch McConnell with wife former Trump US Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao
By Zachary Cohen, Jamie Gangel, Sara Murray and Pamela Brown, CNN
Updated 9:40 PM EDT, Thu August 11, 2022
First on CNN: Elaine Chao, Trump's former Transportation Secretary, met with Jan. 6 committee as other Cabinet members engage with panel
The House select committee investigating January 6, 2021, has recently interviewed former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and is in talks with former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as well as former National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, multiple sources tell CNN. Chao and DeVos, both...
amp.cnn.com
The House select committee investigating January 6, 2021, has recently interviewed former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and has been in talks with former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as well as former National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, multiple sources tell CNN. Chao and DeVos, both members of former President Donald Trump's Cabinet, resigned a day after the attack on the US Capitol and discussed invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from power.
News of Chao's cooperation, and the committee's discussions with DeVos and O'Brien have not been previously reported. O'Brien is expected to appear virtually before the panel on Friday, according to a source familiar with the probe. CNN has reached out to O'Brien.
The development comes after former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with the panel on Tuesday. The 25th Amendment was a topic of focus during Pompeo's meeting, CNN previously reported.
Additionally, sources tell CNN the committee is still negotiating terms for a potential interview with former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe. Given the classified nature of Ratcliffe's former role, there are unique issues the two sides have to work out, the sources said.
At least nine Cabinet-level officials who were still in their roles on January 6 are known to have cooperated with or are engaging with the committee.
Like Pompeo, DeVos and Chao are known to have explored the idea of possibly removing Trump from power via the 25th Amendment in the immediate aftermath of the January 6 attack. While Pompeo served out his tenure as Secretary of State, DeVos and Chao both sent letters of resignation to Trump on January 7.
As national security adviser, O'Brien was not a member of Trump's Cabinet but sources say he was involved in high-level discussions about the 25th Amendment immediately following January 6. In a statement to CNN, he denied that, saying, "I was at no time involved in discussions about invoking the 25th Amendment."
CNN previously reported that O'Brien considered resigning from his post over Trump's response to the violence that day but ultimately decided to remain in the job.
O'Brien was out of town on January 6 but his deputy, Matthew Pottinger, was in Washington and told his boss that day he was resigning. Pottinger testified publicly during the committee's last hearing focused on Trump's 187 minutes of inaction as the violence unfolded.
A spokesperson for the committee declined to comment on cooperation with DeVos, O'Brien and Chao.
A spokesperson for Chao declined to comment. A spokesperson for DeVos disputed the notion that DeVos is actively in discussions about scheduling an interview, but provided no further comment to CNN.
Zeroing in on talk of the 25th Amendment
Multiple former Cabinet officials who have been interviewed by the committee were asked about the 25th Amendment, according to numerous sources familiar with the investigation. But the panel still appears to be seeking information about those discussions following January 6.
In a June interview with USA Today, DeVos acknowledged publicly for the first time that she discussed the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment with other Cabinet members and then-Vice President Mike Pence following January 6.
Devos told USA Today that before she resigned, she explored whether using the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office was a viable option. DeVos said Pence told her he would not support using the 25th Amendment and that his backing would be necessary for such an effort to be successful.
Sources have told CNN that Chao, the wife of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, had similar discussions prior to stepping down as Secretary of Transportation.
During her public testimony before the committee during a hearing earlier this summer, Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified that after the attack on the Capitol, Pompeo warned Meadows that Cabinet secretaries discussed whether to invoke the 25th Amendment.
"You're technically the boss of all the Cabinet secretaries," Hutchinson quoted Pompeo telling Meadows. "And you know if the conversations progressed, you should be ready to take action on this."
Several other Trump Cabinet officials are known to have met with the committee already, including former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, former acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, former Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, former acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller and former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen.
The committee also met with former Attorney General William Barr but he had left the administration prior to January 6. Trump's former acting White House chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney met with the panel last month.
Both Wolf and one of his top deputies, Ken Cuccinelli, sat for interviews with the committee several months ago, sources said. CNN previously reported the interviews.
US Senator Mitch McConnell with wife former Trump US Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao
Justice Department subpoenas Trump White House lawyer Eric Herschmann
He's the latest onetime top aide to the former president to receive a summons from a federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6 attack.
Eric Herschmann represented Donald Trump in the former president’s first impeachment trial and later joined the White House as a senior adviser.
A federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6 attack has subpoenaed Trump White House lawyer Eric Herschmann for documents and testimony, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Herschmann represented Donald Trump in the former president’s first impeachment trial and later joined the White House as a senior adviser. He did not work in the White House counsel’s office, but did provide Trump with legal advice. Because of that responsibility, there will likely be litigation over the scope of the subpoena and over how executive and attorney-client privileges may limit Herschmann’s ability to comply.
Herschmann is not the first former Trump White House lawyer to receive a DOJ subpoena. Pat Cipollone, who served as White House counsel, and Patrick Philbin, who served as deputy counsel, have also been subpoenaed.
During the tumultuous final weeks of Trump’s term, Herschmann clashed with other aides and advisers who pushed the defeated president to fight the election results. He was also present for many of the most consequential meetings in that period of time. Among them was a high-stakes meeting where most of the Trump Justice Department’s top brass threatened to resign rather than work under a colleague who wanted to advance spurious claims of widespread voter fraud.
Herschmann also sparred with Sidney Powell and Michael Flynn when they urged Trump to have the military seize voting machines. The Jan. 6 select committee has aired numerous portions of his testimony to their panel, which is blunt and sometimes darkly amusing.
A spokesperson for Herschmann declined to comment. The Justice Department declined to comment.
In his testimony to the select committee, Herschmann described lambasting Jeffrey Clark, then a top Justice Department lawyer, during a White House meeting on Jan. 3, 2021. At that time, Herschmann told the committee, Clark was urging Trump to remove then-Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen and give him the job.
Clark had encouraged his DOJ colleagues to send letters to state legislators saying the department had found concerning evidence of voter fraud in the 2020 election. Former Attorney General Bill Barr, however, had said the department found no evidence of fraud that could have swung the election. Under those circumstances, Clark’s plans so concerned his colleagues that many of them warned Trump in that Jan. 3 meeting that they would quit if he gave Clark the top job.
Herschmann later recalled to the select panel that he found Clark’s idea to be “asinine” and dryly brought up Clark’s past as an environmental lawyer.
“I thought Jeff’s proposal — Clark’s proposal was nuts,” Herschmann told the committee. “I mean this guy, at a certain point, ‘Listen, the best I can tell is the only thing you know about environmental and elections challenges is they both start with E. And based on your answers tonight, I’m not even certain you know that.’”
Herschmann also told the select panel about a contentious phone call he had on Jan. 7, 2021, with Trump-allied lawyer John Eastman. In the call, Eastman discussed plans to keep pursuing Trump’s efforts to reverse the election — despite the violence of the previous day’s Capitol riot.
“And I said to him, ‘Are you out of your F-ing mind?’” Herschmann told the panel. “I said, ‘I only want to hear two words coming out of your mouth from now on: orderly transition.’”
Eastman finally said those words, according to Herschmann.
“I said, ‘Good, John. Now I’m going to give you the best free legal advice you’re ever getting in your life: Get a great F-ing criminal defense lawyer. You’re going to need it,’” Herschmann added. “And then I hung up on him.”
Justice Department subpoenas Trump White House lawyer Eric Herschmann - POLITICO
He's the latest onetime top aide to the former president to receive a summons from a federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6 attack.
Eric Herschmann represented Donald Trump in the former president’s first impeachment trial and later joined the White House as a senior adviser.
A federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6 attack has subpoenaed Trump White House lawyer Eric Herschmann for documents and testimony, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Herschmann represented Donald Trump in the former president’s first impeachment trial and later joined the White House as a senior adviser. He did not work in the White House counsel’s office, but did provide Trump with legal advice. Because of that responsibility, there will likely be litigation over the scope of the subpoena and over how executive and attorney-client privileges may limit Herschmann’s ability to comply.
Herschmann is not the first former Trump White House lawyer to receive a DOJ subpoena. Pat Cipollone, who served as White House counsel, and Patrick Philbin, who served as deputy counsel, have also been subpoenaed.
During the tumultuous final weeks of Trump’s term, Herschmann clashed with other aides and advisers who pushed the defeated president to fight the election results. He was also present for many of the most consequential meetings in that period of time. Among them was a high-stakes meeting where most of the Trump Justice Department’s top brass threatened to resign rather than work under a colleague who wanted to advance spurious claims of widespread voter fraud.
Herschmann also sparred with Sidney Powell and Michael Flynn when they urged Trump to have the military seize voting machines. The Jan. 6 select committee has aired numerous portions of his testimony to their panel, which is blunt and sometimes darkly amusing.
A spokesperson for Herschmann declined to comment. The Justice Department declined to comment.
In his testimony to the select committee, Herschmann described lambasting Jeffrey Clark, then a top Justice Department lawyer, during a White House meeting on Jan. 3, 2021. At that time, Herschmann told the committee, Clark was urging Trump to remove then-Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen and give him the job.
Clark had encouraged his DOJ colleagues to send letters to state legislators saying the department had found concerning evidence of voter fraud in the 2020 election. Former Attorney General Bill Barr, however, had said the department found no evidence of fraud that could have swung the election. Under those circumstances, Clark’s plans so concerned his colleagues that many of them warned Trump in that Jan. 3 meeting that they would quit if he gave Clark the top job.
Herschmann later recalled to the select panel that he found Clark’s idea to be “asinine” and dryly brought up Clark’s past as an environmental lawyer.
“I thought Jeff’s proposal — Clark’s proposal was nuts,” Herschmann told the committee. “I mean this guy, at a certain point, ‘Listen, the best I can tell is the only thing you know about environmental and elections challenges is they both start with E. And based on your answers tonight, I’m not even certain you know that.’”
Herschmann also told the select panel about a contentious phone call he had on Jan. 7, 2021, with Trump-allied lawyer John Eastman. In the call, Eastman discussed plans to keep pursuing Trump’s efforts to reverse the election — despite the violence of the previous day’s Capitol riot.
“And I said to him, ‘Are you out of your F-ing mind?’” Herschmann told the panel. “I said, ‘I only want to hear two words coming out of your mouth from now on: orderly transition.’”
Eastman finally said those words, according to Herschmann.
“I said, ‘Good, John. Now I’m going to give you the best free legal advice you’re ever getting in your life: Get a great F-ing criminal defense lawyer. You’re going to need it,’” Herschmann added. “And then I hung up on him.”
Justice Department subpoenas Trump White House lawyer Eric Herschmann - POLITICO
Jan. 6 Grand Jury Has Subpoenaed White House Documents
The subpoena, issued in May to the National Archives, demanded all of the documents the agency had provided to the House committee’s parallel investigation.
Thomas P. Windom has been leading the Justice Department’s inquiry into what part Mr. Trump and his allies may have played in various schemes to maintain power after the 2020 election.Credit...
Federal prosecutors investigating the role that former President Donald J. Trump and his allies played in the events leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol have issued a grand jury subpoena to the National Archives for all the documents the agency provided to a parallel House select committee inquiry, according to a copy of the subpoena obtained by The New York Times.
The subpoena, issued to the National Archives in May, made a sweeping demand for “all materials, in whatever form” that the archives had given to the Jan. 6 House committee. Those materials included records from the files of Mr. Trump’s top aides, his daily schedule and phone logs and a draft text of the president’s speech that preceded the riot.
It was signed by Thomas P. Windom, the federal prosecutor who has been leading the Justice Department’s wide-ranging inquiry into what part Mr. Trump and his allies may have played in various schemes to maintain power after the former president’s defeat in the 2020 election — chief among them a plan to submit fake slates of pro-Trump electors in states actually won by Joseph R. Biden Jr.
The subpoena was not related to a separate investigation into Mr. Trump’s retention and handling of classified documents that were removed from the White House at the end of his tenure and taken to Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Palm Beach, Fla. That inquiry led this month to a court-approved search of Mar-a-Lago during which federal agents carted off several boxes of sensitive materials.
Asking the National Archives for any White House documents pertaining to the events surrounding Jan. 6 was one of the first major steps the House panel took in its investigation. And the grand jury subpoena suggests that the Justice Department has not only been following the committee’s lead in pursuing its inquiry, but also that prosecutors believe evidence of a crime may exist in the White House documents the archives turned over to the House panel.
Mr. Trump fought the release of the White House papers almost immediately after the House committee first asked the archives for them last August, claiming they were protected by executive privilege. But in January, after protracted litigation, the case reached the Supreme Court, which ruled against Mr. Trump, clearing the way for the panel to get access to the material.
During the court fight, it was revealed that Mr. Trump had asserted executive privilege over at least 770 pages of documents. They included records from the files of Mark Meadows, his former chief of staff; Stephen Miller, one of his former senior advisers; and Patrick F. Philbin, his former deputy counsel.
Mr. Trump also objected to the release of the White House Daily Diary — a record of the president’s movements, phone calls, trips, briefings, meetings and activities — as well as logs showing phone calls to the president and to Vice President Mike Pence concerning Jan. 6.
The trove of documents obtained by the committee also included proposed talking points for Kayleigh McEnany, Mr. Trump’s former press secretary, and a draft text of a presidential speech for the “Save America” rally that preceded the attack on the Capitol.
Many of those documents could prove useful to Mr. Windom and his team of criminal investigators as they seek to determine whether anyone broke the law as officials in the White House, pro-Trump lawyers and Mr. Trump’s allies in state legislatures and state Republican parties scrambled to deny Mr. Biden’s victory.
The subpoena was issued to the National Archives around the same time that it became publicly known that the Justice Department was looking beyond the rioters who were present at the Capitol and trying to assess the culpability of people who had helped organize pro-Trump rallies in Washington on Jan. 6. In the spring, for instance, Mr. Windom issued a grand jury subpoena to Ali Alexander, a prominent organizer of “Stop the Steal” events who complied by submitting records to prosecutors and testifying before the grand jury.
In June, another flurry of subpoenas was issued to state lawmakers and state Republican officials who had taken part in the fake elector scheme. Those subpoenas indicated that the Justice Department was primarily interested in what role pro-Trump lawyers, like Rudolph W. Giuliani and John Eastman, may have played in devising and carrying out the plan.
Throughout June and July, the House committee investigating Jan. 6 held a series of public hearings during which members laid out evidence they believed would be helpful in a federal investigation into a variety of possible crimes related to the attack, including obstructing an official proceeding of Congress and conspiracy to defraud the American people. The panel also suggested that Mr. Trump had misled his donors and attempted to improperly influence witnesses, and investigators tied Mr. Trump directly to the fake elector scheme.
The Justice Department has begun issuing subpoenas to some of the same witnesses the committee featured in its hearings, including at least five top White House officials.
www.nytimes.com
The subpoena, issued in May to the National Archives, demanded all of the documents the agency had provided to the House committee’s parallel investigation.
Federal prosecutors investigating the role that former President Donald J. Trump and his allies played in the events leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol have issued a grand jury subpoena to the National Archives for all the documents the agency provided to a parallel House select committee inquiry, according to a copy of the subpoena obtained by The New York Times.
The subpoena, issued to the National Archives in May, made a sweeping demand for “all materials, in whatever form” that the archives had given to the Jan. 6 House committee. Those materials included records from the files of Mr. Trump’s top aides, his daily schedule and phone logs and a draft text of the president’s speech that preceded the riot.
It was signed by Thomas P. Windom, the federal prosecutor who has been leading the Justice Department’s wide-ranging inquiry into what part Mr. Trump and his allies may have played in various schemes to maintain power after the former president’s defeat in the 2020 election — chief among them a plan to submit fake slates of pro-Trump electors in states actually won by Joseph R. Biden Jr.
The subpoena was not related to a separate investigation into Mr. Trump’s retention and handling of classified documents that were removed from the White House at the end of his tenure and taken to Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Palm Beach, Fla. That inquiry led this month to a court-approved search of Mar-a-Lago during which federal agents carted off several boxes of sensitive materials.
Asking the National Archives for any White House documents pertaining to the events surrounding Jan. 6 was one of the first major steps the House panel took in its investigation. And the grand jury subpoena suggests that the Justice Department has not only been following the committee’s lead in pursuing its inquiry, but also that prosecutors believe evidence of a crime may exist in the White House documents the archives turned over to the House panel.
Mr. Trump fought the release of the White House papers almost immediately after the House committee first asked the archives for them last August, claiming they were protected by executive privilege. But in January, after protracted litigation, the case reached the Supreme Court, which ruled against Mr. Trump, clearing the way for the panel to get access to the material.
During the court fight, it was revealed that Mr. Trump had asserted executive privilege over at least 770 pages of documents. They included records from the files of Mark Meadows, his former chief of staff; Stephen Miller, one of his former senior advisers; and Patrick F. Philbin, his former deputy counsel.
Mr. Trump also objected to the release of the White House Daily Diary — a record of the president’s movements, phone calls, trips, briefings, meetings and activities — as well as logs showing phone calls to the president and to Vice President Mike Pence concerning Jan. 6.
The trove of documents obtained by the committee also included proposed talking points for Kayleigh McEnany, Mr. Trump’s former press secretary, and a draft text of a presidential speech for the “Save America” rally that preceded the attack on the Capitol.
Many of those documents could prove useful to Mr. Windom and his team of criminal investigators as they seek to determine whether anyone broke the law as officials in the White House, pro-Trump lawyers and Mr. Trump’s allies in state legislatures and state Republican parties scrambled to deny Mr. Biden’s victory.
The subpoena was issued to the National Archives around the same time that it became publicly known that the Justice Department was looking beyond the rioters who were present at the Capitol and trying to assess the culpability of people who had helped organize pro-Trump rallies in Washington on Jan. 6. In the spring, for instance, Mr. Windom issued a grand jury subpoena to Ali Alexander, a prominent organizer of “Stop the Steal” events who complied by submitting records to prosecutors and testifying before the grand jury.
In June, another flurry of subpoenas was issued to state lawmakers and state Republican officials who had taken part in the fake elector scheme. Those subpoenas indicated that the Justice Department was primarily interested in what role pro-Trump lawyers, like Rudolph W. Giuliani and John Eastman, may have played in devising and carrying out the plan.
Throughout June and July, the House committee investigating Jan. 6 held a series of public hearings during which members laid out evidence they believed would be helpful in a federal investigation into a variety of possible crimes related to the attack, including obstructing an official proceeding of Congress and conspiracy to defraud the American people. The panel also suggested that Mr. Trump had misled his donors and attempted to improperly influence witnesses, and investigators tied Mr. Trump directly to the fake elector scheme.
The Justice Department has begun issuing subpoenas to some of the same witnesses the committee featured in its hearings, including at least five top White House officials.
Jan. 6 Grand Jury Has Subpoenaed White House Documents (Published 2022)
The subpoena, issued in May to the National Archives, demanded all of the documents the agency had provided to the House committee’s parallel investigation.
Wow this cac really tried to have the line of succession off’ed
Sen. Ron Johnson says he sees no need to testify before the January 6 committee because he was involved in Trump's fake electors scheme for 'a couple of seconds' only: 'I fielded three texts, and sent two'
Warren Rojas
Aug 22, 2022, 10:06 AM
Republican Sen. Ron Johnson said talking to the January 6 select committee about the slate of fake electors his office was supposed to hand Vice President Mike Pence in order to help overturn the 2020 election would be a waste of time because he was only involved in the scheme for "a couple of seconds."
"I think I fielded three texts, and sent two, and talked to my chief of staff that somebody wants you to deliver something," Johnson told local ABC 12 during an interview in Wisconsin, adding, "I knew nothing about it."
Johnson has been battling allegations that he participated in former President Donald Trump's plan to subvert his loss to Joe Biden by throwing MAGA-aligned fake electors into the vote certification effort Vice President Mike Pence was overseeing ever since investigators looking into the deadly siege at the US Capitol revealed text messages Johnson chief of staff Sean Riley sent Pence legislative director Chris Hodgson seeking to connect the two.
"Do not give that to him," Hodgson fired back, instructing Riley to keep the alternate slate of electors from the battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin away from Pence just minutes before Trump supporters stormed the building. Johnson later said he got the fake electors from the office of Republican. Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.
Johnson, who is seeking a third term this fall and is trailing Democratic challenger Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes in recent polls, said there's been a "grotesque distortion" about the entire affair by investigators pursuing "some massive conspiracy."
"I had virtually no involvement," Johnson said. "My involvement lasted seconds."
Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
Warren Rojas
Aug 22, 2022, 10:06 AM
Ron Johnson says he took part in Trump's Jan. 6 scheme for 'couple of seconds only'
Ron Johnson, who is on the ballot this fall, insists that he was only briefly involved in trying to overturn the 2020 election results on Trump's behalf.
www.businessinsider.com
Republican Sen. Ron Johnson said talking to the January 6 select committee about the slate of fake electors his office was supposed to hand Vice President Mike Pence in order to help overturn the 2020 election would be a waste of time because he was only involved in the scheme for "a couple of seconds."
"I think I fielded three texts, and sent two, and talked to my chief of staff that somebody wants you to deliver something," Johnson told local ABC 12 during an interview in Wisconsin, adding, "I knew nothing about it."
Johnson has been battling allegations that he participated in former President Donald Trump's plan to subvert his loss to Joe Biden by throwing MAGA-aligned fake electors into the vote certification effort Vice President Mike Pence was overseeing ever since investigators looking into the deadly siege at the US Capitol revealed text messages Johnson chief of staff Sean Riley sent Pence legislative director Chris Hodgson seeking to connect the two.
"Do not give that to him," Hodgson fired back, instructing Riley to keep the alternate slate of electors from the battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin away from Pence just minutes before Trump supporters stormed the building. Johnson later said he got the fake electors from the office of Republican. Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.
Johnson, who is seeking a third term this fall and is trailing Democratic challenger Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes in recent polls, said there's been a "grotesque distortion" about the entire affair by investigators pursuing "some massive conspiracy."
"I had virtually no involvement," Johnson said. "My involvement lasted seconds."
Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
Jan. 6 panel investigators traveled to Copenhagen to view Stone footage
The select committee aides viewed footage from a Danish documentary crew that followed the longtime Trump ally, including on the day of the Capitol attack.
www.politico.com
The select committee aides viewed footage from a Danish documentary crew that followed the longtime Trump ally, including on the day of the Capitol attack.
Jan. 6 panel investigators traveled to Copenhagen to view Stone footage
The select committee aides viewed footage from a Danish documentary crew that followed the longtime Trump ally, including on the day of the Capitol attack.
www.politico.com
First on CNN: US Secret Service Assistant Director Tony Ornato leaves agency
Anthony Ornato, assistant director, Office of Training for the United States Secret Service, during a presidential campaign rally for then-President Donald Trump in Newtown, Pennsylvania, October 31, 2020.
(CNN)US Secret Service Assistant Director Tony Ornato left the Secret Service on Monday, according to two sources familiar, a significant departure two months after explosive testimony by a former White House aide, who alleged Ornato had told her then-President Donald Trump was irate upon learning his security detail wouldn't take him to the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
CNN has reached out to Ornato for comment.
The House select committee investigating the insurrection made clear it believes Ornato was a central figure who could provide valuable information about Trump's movements and intentions leading up to and on January 6. Not only did Ornato once run Trump's detail, but he also made the unprecedented move of joining White House staff as the deputy chief of staff in December 2019 on a temporary assignment and eventually returned to the Secret Service to run its training program.
According to Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat who serves on the panel, committee members have stressed their desire to speak with Ornato and he has retained private counsel. It's not clear whether Ornato will end up testifying related to the claims from Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Sources told CNN that Ornato had been eligible for retirement since earlier this summer, and he had been discussing leaving the Secret Service since before Hutchinson's testimony.
US Secret Service Assistant Director Tony Ornato leaves agency - CNNPolitics
Anthony Ornato, assistant director, Office of Training for the United States Secret Service, during a presidential campaign rally for then-President Donald Trump in Newtown, Pennsylvania, October 31, 2020.
(CNN)US Secret Service Assistant Director Tony Ornato left the Secret Service on Monday, according to two sources familiar, a significant departure two months after explosive testimony by a former White House aide, who alleged Ornato had told her then-President Donald Trump was irate upon learning his security detail wouldn't take him to the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
CNN has reached out to Ornato for comment.
The House select committee investigating the insurrection made clear it believes Ornato was a central figure who could provide valuable information about Trump's movements and intentions leading up to and on January 6. Not only did Ornato once run Trump's detail, but he also made the unprecedented move of joining White House staff as the deputy chief of staff in December 2019 on a temporary assignment and eventually returned to the Secret Service to run its training program.
According to Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat who serves on the panel, committee members have stressed their desire to speak with Ornato and he has retained private counsel. It's not clear whether Ornato will end up testifying related to the claims from Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Sources told CNN that Ornato had been eligible for retirement since earlier this summer, and he had been discussing leaving the Secret Service since before Hutchinson's testimony.
US Secret Service Assistant Director Tony Ornato leaves agency - CNNPolitics
This dude has no fucking filter at all.
I get that some ignorant people still support Jan. 6, but I can't see how any reasonable person could hear that and take Trump as a serious contender for re-election.
And the dumb shit is, they don't have to do it. There's so much time, and so many other people they could nominate. I'm hoping it doesn't come to it, but if Trump somehow slips out of the legal tie-ups he's in now and somehow runs again, I seriously can't deal with anyone that would vote for him. I mean, fuck them already, but even moreso this last go-round.
January 6 committee seeking voluntary cooperation from Newt Gingrich
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich speaks during the America First Agenda Summit, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel on July 26, 2022 in Washington, DC.
(CNN)The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol has sent a letter to former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich seeking his voluntary cooperation to discuss his role in promoting false claims that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen.
The committee wants to learn more about communications Gingrich had with senior advisers in former President Donald Trump's White House about television advertisements that relied on false claims about the election.
"Some of the information that we have obtained includes email messages that you exchanged with senior advisors to President Trump and others, including Jared Kushner and Jason Miller, in which you provided detailed input into television advertisements that repeated and relied upon false claims about fraud in the 2020 election," Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, who chairs the committee, wrote in the letter.
"These advertising efforts were not designed to encourage voting for a particular candidate," he continued. "Instead, these efforts attempted to cast doubt on the outcome of the election after voting had already taken place."
The committee cites another email Gingrich sent to Kushner and Miller on December 8, 2020, in response to a proposed script for a television advertisement about election fraud. The panel said it shows Gingrich "did not only seek to persuade."
"The goal is to arouse the country's anger through new verifiable information the American people have never seen before[.] ... If we inform the American people in a way they find convincing and it arouses their anger[,] they will then bring pressure on legislators and governors," the email says, according to the committee's letter.
The panel also claims that Gingrich was involved in an effort by Trump supporters to submit fake electors in certain states, which has been a significant focus of the committee and is now also part of a Department of Justice investigation.
It also notes that Gingrich wrote to Trump's then-chief of staff Mark Meadows and former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone on November 12, 2020, asking: "Is someone in charge of coordinating all the electors?"
The panel also references an email Gingrich sent to Meadows at 10:42 p.m. the day of the January 6 attack, after members had returned to finish certifying the election. "[A]re there letters from state legislators about decertifying electors[?]," he asked, according to the committee.
The committee asks to conduct a voluntary, transcribed interview with Gingrich during the week of September 19.
January 6 committee seeking cooperation from Newt Gingrich - CNNPolitics
Steve Bannon's request for a new trial is rejected by federal judge | CNN Politics
A federal judge on Friday denied Steve Bannon's request for a new trial, after the former Trump adviser was convicted of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack.
Steve Bannon's request for a new trial is rejected by federal judge | CNN Politics
A federal judge on Friday denied Steve Bannon's request for a new trial, after the former Trump adviser was convicted of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack.www.cnn.com
