Thread: Right-wing domestic terrorists

^ Another fascist Cuban (?) twat who is now banned from several social media portals for advocating violence . . . perfect for Skidmark to adore.

You’d think there would be a law. Or at least a law under which Miguel would loose his job.

On further reflection, he probably doesn’t have have a job.

• Schiff suggests Justice Department share Trump affidavit details with Congress

Rep Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said on Sunday that some information from the affidavit for a warrant to search former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence should be shared with Congress, even if the document remains under seal.

The Justice Department (DOJ) has expressed concern that releasing the full document could jeopardize the ongoing investigation and witnesses.

Schiff said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that he did not want Congress or anyone else interfering with the DOJ’s probe, but added he hoped information relating to national security would be shared with lawmakers.

“Whatever information is in that affidavit that bears on a danger to the national security information contained in those documents, I would hope that that would be shared with Congress, even if the affidavit is not,” he said.

“We have seen the [former] president retaliate against anyone he considers a whistle-blower, accuse them of treason. And, of course, we have seen the president’s incendiary rhetoric already lead someone to go to an FBI building with an assault weapon who was shot to death by the FBI defending itself,” Schiff said, referring to an uptick in threats against the FBI following the Mar-a-Lago search.

“I’d like to make sure that we do our oversight of that,” Schiff said of the investigation, “but that we do it in such a way as not to jeopardize the pursuit of justice.”

Extra: Most voters in new poll say investigations into Trump should continue
____________

I was going to place this post in The Right Wing Moron Thread until the news this morning.

Florida

• A Sarasota candidate for Congress says he would have killed the FBI agents who searched former President Donald Trump's property if they tried to do the same thing to his home.

"I wish they'd turn up at my home 'cause they'd have gone home in a body bag," Sarasota businessman Martin Hyde says in a new video.

Hyde is a Republican running for Congress against U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key. He has been a magnet for controversy, with his campaign imploding after he was caught on camera in February berating a Sarasota police officer and threatening her job during a traffic stop.

'You know who I am?': Congressional candidate Martin Hyde threatens cop's career during traffic stop

The Florida officer who issued the citations

• Gang of 8 wants to see Trump Mar-a-Lago search docs

The group of congressional leaders charged with reviewing the most sensitive intelligence information has asked the Biden administration for access to the documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s private residence in Florida, according to two people with direct knowledge of the request.

The inquiry from the so-called “Gang of 8” comes as lawmakers from both parties seek to learn more about the unprecedented investigation into the former president. And it suggests that Congress is unwilling to be a bystander in the political and legal fallout following the FBI’s Aug. 8 search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla.

It follows a similar request from Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Vice Chair Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), two Gang of 8 members who asked the nation’s top intelligence official to draw up an assessment of possible national-security risks related to Trump’s handling of the sensitive documents.

The Gang of 8 includes the top two congressional leaders in each chamber — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy — as well as the top Democrat and Republican on the House and Senate intelligence committees.

_____________

• Adam Jackson's Lawyer Compares Jan. 6 to BLM Protests

Lawyer for Accused Capitol Rioter Compares Jan. 6 to Black Lives Matter Protests: There’s ‘Some Commonality’

A lawyer for one of two brothers who have been detained since June for felonies they allegedly committed during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol compared his client to people who participated in protests following the murder of George Floyd. He said that Black Lives Matter protesters were “given a pass” and implied that his client is the subject of a politically motivated prosecution.

Adam Jackson, 42, and his brother Brian Scott Jackson, 47, both from Texas, were spotted among the crowd of Donald Trump supporters at the Capitol on Jan. 6. According to prosecutors, Adam Jackson faced off against police near an entry to the building, hurling an orange traffic cone at them before charging at them while holding a stolen police riot shield.

The brothers were arrested in June and charged with civil disorder, assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon, physical violence and disorderly conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, and committing an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings. Both have been detained since their arrests.

• “I’m referring to the fact that lots of people, when it came to the Black Lives Matter protests, participated in acts of violence, but they were largely given a pass,” McBride continued. “Why were the given a pass? Because society, the court system, the media recognizes that when those people left their front door, they left for political, constitutionally protected reasons.”

“He went [to the Capitol] to protest what he saw as improper political results,” McBride said, adding that it didn’t matter if the results actually were improper, or whether the claims of widespread voter fraud were even true (they weren’t).

What matters, McBride said, was that Adam Jackson’s “intentions and thought process were politically grounded and therefore protected by the First Amendment.”

• Contreras, a Barack Obama appointee, appeared to pump the brakes on McBride’s analogy.

“The one violent Black Lives Matter protester that came to me went to prison, so some arguments are going to resonate more than others,” the judge said.

____________

Extra

nearly 900 have been charged in the Jan. 6 attack.

Many more to find and charge........

Part 1

Part 2 (is better) https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/stat...84563297325057

Finally. Justice...

A federal jury on Tuesday convicted two men of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) in 2020, a case that raised alarms about the possibility of politically motivated violence amid the coronavirus pandemic and ahead of a bitterly contested presidential race.

Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. were also found guilty of conspiring to obtain a weapon of mass destruction to pass her security detail and prevent police from catching them so they could kidnap the governor at her vacation home, the Justice Department announced.

“These defendants believed their anti-government views justified violence,” said Special Agent in Charge James A. Tarasca, who works at the FBI’s Detroit Field Office. “Today’s verdict sends a clear message that they were wrong in their assessment. Violence is never the answer. The FBI will continue to investigate anyone who seeks to engage in violence in furtherance of any ideological cause and hold them accountable.”

Federal and state officials originally charged multiple people in the plot. Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate. Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta were acquitted in the April trial at which the jury deadlocked over the roles of Fox and Croft.

Jurors seemed to agree, at least in part, with defense lawyers’ arguments that FBI agents entrapped the men in the violent plot.

The government’s case was built largely on secret recordings of conversations among the men, who prosecutors said were angry about pandemic restrictions and the possibility of vaccine mandates. While they were charged with attempted kidnapping, Whitmer has stressed in interviews that the accused also wanted to physically harm her, perhaps even kill her.

“Today’s verdicts prove that violence and threats have no place in our politics, and those who seek to divide us will be held accountable. They will not succeed,” the governor said in a statement on Tuesday. “But we must also take a hard look at the status of our politics. Plots against public officials and threats to the FBI are a disturbing extension of radicalized domestic terrorism that festers in our nation, threatening the very foundation of our republic.”

This is a developing story. It will be updated.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...-guilty-trial/

Originally Posted by S Landreth

• Twitter 'permanently suspends' HD 20 candidate after he advocates shooting federal agents

A Republican candidate for the House from St. Augustine is banned from Twitter after advocating violence against the federal government.

Republican Luis Miguel, running against incumbent Rep. Bobby Payne of Palatka in the redrawn House District 20, was suspended from Twitter after a tweet advocating that Floridians should be able to shoot federal agents on sight.

“Under my plan, all Floridians will be able to shoot FBI, IRS, ATF, and all other federal troops on sight,” Miguel tweeted. “Let freedom ring.”

An update

Luis Miguel (R) - 22.8%

• Rep. Perry sues DOJ over phone data seized through search warrant

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), a close ally of former President Trump, on Wednesday filed an emergency lawsuit against the federal government, requesting that the Department of Justice return cellphone data and other property it obtained through a search warrant earlier this month.

Why it matters: Perry, the chair of the House Freedom Caucus who was involved with the campaign to overturn the 2020 election in the run-up to the Jan. 6 riot, said on Aug. 9 that FBI agents seized his cell phone.

What they're saying: In the lawsuit, lawyers for Perry asked a federal judge to order the Justice Department to return the phone data and to prevent investigators from further searching that data.

Perry, after announcing the seizure, said he was "outraged" and that his phone contains "info about my legislative and political activities, and personal/private discussions with my wife, family, constituents and friends," which he claimed was none of the government’s business.

The big picture: Perry was allegedly among the House GOP members who requested a pardon from the White House in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, according to testimony by former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson.

Perry has denied Hutchinson's testimony.

The Jan. 6 select committee has revealed information indicating that Perry was involved in efforts to force the Justice Department to investigate Trump's false election fraud claims, to install Jeffrey Clark, a vocal believer in the fraud claims, as acting attorney general.

The panel has also revealed testimony alleging Perry attended a Dec. 21, 2020, White House meeting at which GOP House members discussed a legal theory that then-Vice President Mike Pence could unilaterally reject electors.

________________

Extra.

• Three Men Convicted in Jan. 6 Tunnel Assault of Police Officers During Capitol Siege

Three men accused of assaulting police officers during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol have been convicted of multiple felonies following a stipulated trial before a federal judge.

Robert Morss, 29, of Glenshaw, Pennsylvania, Geoffrey William Sills, 31, of Mechanicsville, Virginia, and David Lee Judd, 36, of Carrollton, Texas were all found guilty of obstructing an official proceeding in a bench trial before U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden on Tuesday.

Morss and Sills were also convicted of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon and robbery, the Justice Department announced in a press release. Judd was also was found guilty of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers.

According to prosecutors, the men were part of the riotous crowd of Donald Trump supporters facing off against police at the entry to the tunnel area of the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace.

The charges of obstruction and assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon each carry a potential 20-year prison sentence. The assault charge, absent the dangerous weapon, has a potential eight-year sentence, while robbery carries a maximum 15 years.

Sills’ sentencing is set for Nov. 18, Morss’ is set for Jan. 6, 2023, and Judd will be sentenced on Feb. 27, 2023.

FBI cites 'evidence of obstruction' in Trump Florida home search

• Kenneth Chesebro Says He Can't Comply with Georgia Subpoena

Lawyer Who Drafted Memo for Jan. 6 Legal Strategy Says Trump Campaign Work Bars Him from Complying with Subpoena in Georgia Probe

One of the lawyers believed to be behind the effort to send a slate of “false electors” to Washington, D.C., to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election says that the subpoena from a Georgia district attorney investigating the matter would require him to violate his client’s confidentiality.

Kenneth Chesebro, the New York-based lawyer who is alleged to have concocted the plan to convene a slate of electors who would have voted for Trump, filed a motion to quash a subpoena from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) on Thursday. Emails have shown that Chesebro communicated with John Eastman ahead of Jan. 6 about a legal memo he had drafted, strategizing about what could take place that day.

Chesebro, through attorney Scott Grubman, said that the questions he expects to be asked if he was forced to comply with the subpoena would likely be subject to attorney-client privilege.

“[T]he subpoena issued to Mr. Chesebro relates to the DA’s ongoing investigation of former President Donald Trump and others for alleged interference in the 2020 election, and the testimony that the DA will seek to elicit from Mr. Chesebro relates to his prior representation of the Donald J. Trump for President campaign,” Chesebro’s motion says. “Accordingly, any testimony from Mr. Chesebro would necessarily relate to Mr. Chesebro’s representation of a former client — the Trump campaign — a fact that is directly relevant to [Chesebro’s legal argument].”

Chesebro said that without knowing what questions the DA’s office will ask, he “cannot address this issue fully,” and asked for a hearing “where the DA will be required to identify their planned areas of inquiry so that the parties can litigate this issue before Mr. Chesebro’s grand jury appearance.”

Chesebro also argued that he is bound by a duty of confidentiality to his onetime client.

Citing the New York Rules of Professional Conduct (NYRPC), Chesebro says that the duty of confidentiality “is, in many ways, broader than the attorney-client privilege.”

According to a comment on NYRPC 1.6, Chesebro says, the duty of confidentiality “applies not only to matters communicated in confidence by the client, which are protected by the attorney-client privilege, but also to all information gained during and relating the representation, whatever its source [sic] [emphasis in original].”

“Given the broad definition of ‘confidential information’ subject to [the rule], it is likely that any question that the that the DA’s office would want to ask Mr. Chesebro during his grand jury appearance would fall within the confines of Rule 1.6, thereby prohibiting from Mr. Chesebro from answering, regardless of whether attorney-client privilege applies,” the motion argues.

One top legal ethics expert says that Chesebro’s motion is misguided, however.

“Chesebro’s motion misunderstands the law in two ways,” New York University professor and legal ethicist Stephen Gillers told Law&Crime. “First, the fact that some grand jury questions may ask for privileged information, if true, would not be a basis to refuse to appear at the grand jury. Chesebro’s obligation is to appear and if he believes a question seeks privileged information, he can assert the privilege. A judge then decides if he’s right. In other words, the privilege allows him to refuse to answer certain questions. It does not allow him to refuse to show up.”

“Second, Chesebro’s reliance on a lawyer’s duty of confidentiality is not a basis to refuse to appear or even a basis to refuse to answer a question,” Gillers continued. “The duty of confidentiality does not defeat a subpoena or limit the questions a grand jury can ask. A lawyer’s confidentiality duty tells lawyers that they must respect a client’s confidences and not reveal them, but a subpoena can force them to do so. The duty of confidentiality binds lawyers only. It does not apply in a grand jury.”

Chesebro is the third high-level Trump ally to file a motion to quash a subpoena stemming from Willis’ investigation. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was ordered by a district judge to comply with the subpoena, but the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently stayed his compliance in order to allow him to further argue that the subpoena is unconstitutional. Graham is alleged to have made phone calls to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) at around the same time Trump had also asked the state’s top election official to “find” enough votes to overturn Biden’s victory.

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Extra

• Prosecutors Ask for 17-Year Jail Sentence for Vet Who Assaulted a Cop with Marine Corps Flag on Jan. 6

Federal prosecutors have asked that a former Marine and retired New York Police Department officer receive a 17-year sentence for his actions during the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 -- actions that included him assaulting another police officer with a Marine Corps flagpole he had brought along.

Thomas Webster, 56, was one of the first people to be charged for his role in the violence the day Congress was set to certify the results of the presidential election. He was arrested on six charges on Feb. 21, 2021. He was found guilty on all counts -- all but one were felonies -- on May 2, 2022.

Prosecutors say Webster showed up in Washington, D.C., "armed and ready for battle."

Read Next: Army Changing How It Inspects Barracks as Bragg Troops Are Evacuated from Moldy Housing

"Not only did he pack his NYPD-issued bulletproof vest, but he also packed his 'off duty' firearm ... [and] his military-issued rucksack containing Meals Ready-to-Eat, water bottles, and Gatorade," they state in a sentencing memo.

Confronted by police, Webster challenged Metropolitan Police Department Officer Noah Rathbun to a fight before breaking through the police barricade, tackling Rathbun to the ground and choking him.

As Webster awaits sentencing, prosecutors have asked for 210 months -- 17.5 years -- of jail time for the former Marine and cop "for disgracing a democracy that he once fought honorably to protect and serve."

If the judge grants the request, which prosecutors noted was "at the low end" of the guidelines, Webster will receive the longest sentence handed down to a Capitol rioter to date.

In early August, a judge sentenced Guy Wesley Reffitt, the first defendant to go on trial for the Jan. 6 attack, to more than seven years in prison.

According to the sentencing memo submitted by prosecutors Wednesday, Webster "served honorably" in the Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989, then went on to become a New York police officer from 1991 to 2011. These years of experience, prosecutors wrote, "render his violent assault of Officer Rathbun more troubling."

Military.com reached out to the Marine Corps to verify Webster's service history but did not hear back in time for publication.

"Notwithstanding his background and training, Webster did not try to de-escalate the situation or leave the premises," prosecutors wrote. "Instead, he led the charge."

Body camera footage shows Webster approaching the barricade set up by officers and pointing to Rathbun, calling him a "f---ing piece of s---" and a "commie."

Webster then swung the metal flagpole he was carrying, complete with a red flag with the Marine Corps' eagle, globe and anchor emblem, at Rathbun "with enough force to break the metal pole in half."

"As Officer Rathbun retreated backward toward the inauguration stage, Webster crouched down, charged directly at [him], and tackled him to the ground," the sentencing memo reads.

The former Marine and cop then dragged Rathbun "by his helmet, pinned him to the ground, and tried to rip off his gas mask," choking him. Images included in the court documents show Webster standing over the officer while he sits on the Capitol grounds, with both of his hands tightly over Rathbun's gas mask.

"During his testimony, Webster called Officer Rathbun a 'rogue cop,' and questioned Officer Rathbun's training, integrity, and professionalism," prosecutors said.

The Washington Post reported that it took the jury around three hours to return guilty verdicts on all counts.

According to data from the George Washington University Program on Extremism, Webster is one of more than 100 defendants with military service arrested for their actions during the Jan. 6 riot. With more than 800 total people charged, that means about 12% have some kind of military background.

Although veterans are represented at proportional levels among the total arrests from the violent breach that day, they make up a far greater percentage of people facing some of the most serious charges.

Five of the 11 members of the Oath Keepers indicted on sedition charges for the riot are veterans. Nearly all of the five members of the Proud Boys extremist group also indicted for seditious conspiracy are veterans.

Webster is set to be sentenced Sept. 1.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Oh I would love to see the perp walk!

Malaysia's ex PM and son of the first PM was sentenced to 12 years in jail and actually had to go, having exhausted all other avenues.

So, if a developing world crim ex Leader can be sent to jail . . .

• Prosecutor seeks Mark Meadows testimony in Georgia election probe

The Fulton County district attorney investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election is seeking testimony from former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, according to court documents.

Driving the news: Prosecutor Fani Willis also filed petitions Thursday for testimonies from other Trump allies including former campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn, ex-campaign lawyer Sidney Powell and retired Army colonel James Phil Waldron.

• Representatives for Meadows did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Why it matters: Meadows and Powell are among Trump's closest allies to be subpoenaed in the investigation, along with for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Trump's onetime personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who appeared before the special grand jury last week.

• Powell and Waldron spread baseless claims of election fraud.

Details: The petitions for testimony serve as precursors to subpoenas in a process required since they don't live in Georgia, according to AP.

• Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who is overseeing the special grand jury, signed off on the petitions, verifying that the testimonies are a “necessary and material” witness for the investigation, AP reported.

The big picture: The special grand jury can meet until May 2023 but the Fulton County DA has said the investigation could end before then.

• The investigation could end with criminal charges against Trump for violating state law by trying to overturn the 2020 election, Axios' Emma Hurt writes.

____________

Extra

• Montco man who beat an officer with a Trump flag during the Jan. 6 riot sentenced to nearly four years

A Montgomery County man who beat a Washington, D.C., police officer with a Trump flag during the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison Friday — one of the harshest punishments imposed so far in connection with the Jan. 6 attack.

Howard Richardson, 72, of King of Prussia, apologized to the court during a sentencing hearing in Washington saying “there’s no excuse” for his behavior that day. Still, he stressed that the officer involved hadn’t been seriously hurt and pleaded with the court for mercy.

“I’m a good citizen,” he told U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly during a hearing in Washington. “I’ve been a good neighbor. … I went down [to Washington] as a patriotic citizen to celebrate. I allowed myself to be dragged into this mob mentality.”

» READ MORE: A QAnon follower who drove to Philly’s 2020 vote count in a Hummer filled with guns is now facing Capitol riot charges

Richardson noted he is a Vietnam veteran and that his son has been a police officer for nearly two decades. But Kollar-Kotelly said that, if anything, Richardson’s military service and his family ties to police should have made him even more keenly aware that his actions that day were indefensible.

“Violence is an unacceptable way of resolving political differences,” she said. “Your presence and actions in joining other insurrectionists was an inexcusable attack on our democracy. … You should appreciate what an extraordinary country you live in.”

The 46-month prison term Kollar-Kotelly imposed Friday is the longest yet for any of the 21 Pennsylvania defendants who have been sentenced so far for playing a role in the Capitol riot, which caused millions of dollars in damage, injured scores of officers, and threatened the peaceful transition of power.

More than 70 people from the state have been charged to date, most with misdemeanors for illegally entering the Capitol building. Trials for those facing more serious charges — such as assaulting police officers or planning the attack that day — remain pending.

Unlike many of those charged, Richardson never entered the building. But prosecutors said Friday that his attack on a Washington, D.C., police officer outside set his case apart and made him deserving of a lengthy prison term.

Body-camera footage from several officers showed Richardson — sporting a “Brigantine Beach” windbreaker and a red baseball cap — at the front of a mob confronting police barricades on the Capitol’s west plaza.

He approached a police officer in riot gear, yelled, “Here it comes!” and bludgeoned him three times with the metal flagpole. He only stopped swinging after the pole broke in two.

In addition to his prison term, Richardson was ordered to serve three years under court supervision after his release and to pay $2,000 in restitution.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/howard...-20220826.html

• Former top DOJ official: Graham warning of ‘riots’ if Trump is prosecuted ‘incredibly irresponsible’

Mary McCord, a former top official at the Department of Justice, knocked Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Monday for comments warning there would be “riots in the streets” if former President Trump is prosecuted for his handling of classified materials found when the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago home.

“I think it’s incredibly irresponsible for an elected official to basically make veiled threats of violence, just if law enforcement and the Department of Justice and a grand jury does their job,” McCord said on CNN’s “New Day.”

McCord, who was acting assistant attorney general for national security at the DOJ and is now executive director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, said Graham’s comments were in line with former President Trump’s wink-and-nod “game plan” of indirectly encouraging supporters toward violence.

“‘People are angry, they may be violent,’ and then what [Trump] knows and what Lindsey Graham also knows … is that people listen to that and people actually mobilize and do things. Jan. 6 was the result of this same kind of tactic by President Trump and his allies,” McCord said.

Both the DOJ and a House select committee are investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S Capitol and wider efforts to interfere in the 2020 presidential election.

A Georgia special grand jury is also investigating attempts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election results in the state, and Graham is fighting a subpoena to appear in that case.

Earlier this month, the FBI executed a search warrant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and found classified documents kept past the end of his presidential term.

Appearing on Fox News’s “Sunday Night in America,” Graham said Trump was being treated with “a double standard” compared to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her private email server, and warned that “if there’s a prosecution of Donald Trump for mishandling classified information … there’ll be riots in the streets.”

The recently unsealed warrant indicates Trump is under investigation for possible violations of the Espionage Act and other laws in relation to the documents and classified materials.

“It’s irresponsible, it’s dangerous. It’s a threat to our democracy, and I think he should be ashamed of himself,” McCord said of Graham.

____________

Extra

If convicted, they face a maximum of six years in prison and $250,000 fine.

• 5 Florida militia members charged in Jan. 6 insurrection

Five Florida men, who all self-identify as militia members, were arrested Wednesday on charges stemming from their actions during the breach of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the Department of Justice announced.

The big picture: They're part of more than 860 people that have been arrested so far for their involvement in the riots, including more than 260 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

Driving the news: Four of the defendants — 38-year-old Benjamin Cole Leesburg, 50-year-old John Edward Crowley of Windermere, 33-year-old Brian Preller of Mount Dora and 38-year-old Jonathan Rockholt of Palm Coast, Florida — are charged with the felony offense of interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder.

• Along with a fifth defendant, 20-year-old Tyler Bensch of Casselberry, they're also charged with the misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.

Quick take: The five men self-identify as members of the "B Squad," a subgroup of a militia-style, Florida-based organization known as the "Guardians of Freedom," which adheres to the ideology of the "Three Percenters," the U.S. Attorney's office said citing court documents.

• The leader of the group, who was not named by the Department of Justice, is referred to only as "B Leader" in court filings and was not charged.

What they did: Cole, Crowley, Preller and Rockholt were allegedly in a group that engaged in a confrontation with law enforcement officers in the tunnel area of the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace, the DOJ said. Bensch remained right outside.

• While inside the tunnel, the four men "confronted and assisted the crowd in confronting the officers that were preventing the tunnel and Capitol from being breached," prosecutors said.
• "They added their force, momentum, bodies, and efforts to the other rioters in a 'heave-ho' effort that put pressure on the police line," the U.S. Attorney's office said. "As a direct result of the actions of the rioters in the tunnel at that time, the mob penetrated deeper, pushing the police line back."
• When officers were finally able to repel the four men and others from the tunnel, Rockholt allegedly picked up a clear riot shield with a Capitol Police seal and left the area.

Meanwhile, Bensch allegedly used a chemical irritant to spray the face of an individual in the crowd, the DOJ said, adding that the person posed no threat to him.

Details: Cole, Rockholt, Preller and Bensch wore tactical vests, with the latter two carrying a chemical irritant spray in front of them.

• Some of them also had goggles, helmets or gas masks on.
• Rockholt carried what appeared to be a knife in his pocket, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

Little more:

The leader of the group, who was not named by the Department of Justice, is referred to only as "B Leader" in court filings and was not charged.

The person identified as “B Leader” is actually Jeremy Liggett, a Republican congressional candidate from Florida who ran in the primary earlier this year.

Jeremy Liggett was disqualified before the primary

^
It ain't gonna be riots in the streets. Much worse actually. But if they have the evidence, it's still the right thing to do.

• Eastman invoked Fifth Amendment ‘where appropriate’ in appearance before Georgia grand jury, lawyers say

Former Trump lawyer John Eastman invoked the Fifth Amendment “where appropriate” when he sat for a deposition on Wednesday before a Fulton County, Ga., grand jury investigating former President Trump’s efforts to reverse the results of the 2020 election in the state.

Eastman’s firm Burnham & Gorokhov said in a statement they advised their client to remain silent and to invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination when needed.

Attorneys Charles Burnham and Harvey Silverglate also slammed the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office for setting itself “on an unprecedented path of criminalizing controversial or disfavored legal theories, possibly in hopes that the federal government will follow its lead.”

“Criminalization of unpopular legal theories is against every American tradition and would have ended the careers of John Adams, Ruth Ginsburg, Thurgood Marshall and many other now-celebrated American lawyers,” the statement reads. “We ask all interested observers of any political persuasion to join us in decrying this troubling development.”

Eastman is the latest Trump ally to testify in the Fulton probe centering on a call the former president made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in January 2021, in which he asked the elections official to “find” enough votes for him to undo now-President Biden’s victory in the state.

Raffensperger testified in the investigation this summer, as did former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, another onetime Trump attorney.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is mired in a legal battle as he seeks to quash a subpoena forcing him to testify in the probe.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said on Monday that about 60 percent of the needed witnesses have testified so far.

____________

Extra

• Proud Boy sentenced to 4.5 years in prison in Jan. 6 case, still says election was stolen

A former Washington, D.C., bartender and Proud Boy who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was sentenced to 55 months in federal prison on Monday.

Joshua Pruitt, 40, pleaded guilty in June to obstruction of an official proceeding after he was caught on video joining a mob pursuing police officers and smashing a sign inside the U.S. Capitol. Two U.S. Capitol Police officers wrote victim impact statements urging U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly to give Pruitt a severe sentence.

Ultimately, Kelly imposed a sentence that fell a few months short of the five years prosecutors had requested.

Pruitt said that he apologized for his actions and that he was "not happy that Jan. 6 happened at all," but he said he still held onto his beliefs that Donald Trump actually won the election, which he lost to President Joe Biden.“I did believe the election was stolen. I still do,” Pruitt said, speaking from a lectern farther away from the judge than usual, which was set up for defendants who aren’t vaccinated against Covid.

“I broke the law, bottom line, regardless of whether I’m right or wrong on my feelings,” Pruitt said.

Robert Lee Jenkins Jr., a court-appointed attorney for Pruitt, said outside the courtroom that there was no convincing Pruitt otherwise.

"We've had many conversations about it, and Mr. Pruitt is firm in his belief," Jenkins said in response to a question from NBC News. Jenkins said Pruitt's family was "extremely dismayed" that Pruitt had gotten himself involved in the riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Kelly and Pruitt’s own attorney said alcohol played a role in Pruitt’s behaviors on Jan. 6, although a federal prosecutor pointed out that Pruitt’s actions at the Capitol would have come about six hours after he said he was drinking Jack Daniel’s on the morning of Jan. 6. Pruitt’s attorney said Pruitt had an alcohol problem, even if he wasn’t willing to admit it himself.

• Jan. 6 committee withdraws subpoena for RNC data

The Jan. 6 select committee has withdrawn a subpoena to obtain fundraising data from the Republican National Committee, contending that the investigation had progressed to a point that it no longer planned to fight the GOP in court to obtain it.

The select committee revealed the decision — first reported by the Washington Post — in a filing Friday evening with a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which was slated to hear arguments on the matter next month.

The select committee in February subpoenaed Salesforce, the vendor that housed large caches of RNC data related to fundraising metrics and small-dollar email campaigns. The committee indicated it wanted the data to help show whether the RNC’s post-election messaging campaigns contributed to the radicalization of supporters of former President Donald Trump who later stormed the Capitol. The RNC’s joint fundraising committee with Trump raised large sums in part by stoking unfounded concerns about the integrity of the election.

But the committee decided that the effort to obtain the data has been overtaken by other developments in the investigation, which is expected to wind down by the end of the calendar year.

“Given the current state of its investigation, the Select Committee has determined that it no longer has a need to pursue the specific information requested in the Salesforce subpoena,” House Counsel Doug Letter wrote in the nine-page filing, calling the litigation “moot.”

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sentence range of 27 to 33 months

• Mathew Capsel Pleads Guilty to Shoving Officers on Jan. 6

QAnon Adherent Seen Shoving National Guard Officers During Jan. 6 Capitol Attack Pleads Guilty to a Felony

A QAnon adherent from Illinois seen on video shoving National Guardsmen at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 has pleaded guilty to a felony.

Mathew Capsel, 29, admitted Friday that he pushed against members of the National Guard who had been called in to D.C. to support the effort to control the riotous crowd of Donald Trump supporters who descended on the Capitol on Jan. 6, angry over Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 presidential election.

“At the time, I was caught up in the energy, but now, yeah, I do know,” the defendant replied.

Chutkan pressed Capsel, seeking clarification of what he knew at the time he committed the offense.

“At the time that you did so,” Chutkan repeated,” did you know that they were acting as law enforcement officers?”

“Yes ma’am,” Capsel replied.

Chutkan then asked Capsel if he admitted that pushing against the National Guard officers obstructed, delayed, or adversely affected their ability to engage in the lawful performance of their duties during the commission of a civil disorder.

Capsel again paused before answering.

“Yes ma’am,” he ultimately said.

Chutkan accepted Caspel’s guilty plea to a single charge of obstructing, impeding, or interfering with law enforcement lawfully engaged in the performance of official duties during a civil disorder. That statute carries a potential sentence of five years behind bars; the plea agreement contemplates a sentence range of 27 to 33 months.

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Just for fun.

• Judge denies Steve Bannon’s request for a new trial after contempt of Congress conviction

A federal judge on Friday rejected Steve Bannon’s request for a new trial following his conviction on contempt of Congress charges, allowing his sentencing to remain on schedule for next month.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols said in his ruling that a new trial is only warranted when a “serious miscarriage of justice” might have occurred, but Bannon’s arguments do not demonstrate that.

Bannon’s argument mostly focused on alleged issues in instructions given to the jury, including that his theory of defense was not included in the instructions and that the court defined the meaning of the criminal statute he was accused of violating in the jury instructions.

But Nichols said Bannon did not cite any authority that demonstrates not including the defense theory was an error, and that defining the criminal statute is “precisely” the court’s role.

Nichols also rejected a motion from Bannon to dismiss the case entirely. Bannon argued that not being able to compel certain members of the House to testify violated his constitutional rights.

I can't wait for that jerk (Bannon) to see some justice served.

Originally Posted by Cujo

I can't wait for that jerk (Bannon) to see some justice served.

Justice or not, it'd just be nice to see him in jail

• Raskin says he expects Pence to testify before Jan. 6 committee

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on Sunday said he expects former Vice President Mike Pence to testify before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

“Vice President Pence was the target of Donald Trump’s wrath and fury and effort to overthrow the election on January 6, the whole idea was to get Pence to step outside his constitutional role, and then to declare unilateral lawless powers to reject Electoral College votes from the states,” Raskin, a member of the Jan. 6 committee, said on CBS “Face the Nation.”

“I think he has a lot of relevant evidence, and I would hope he would come forward and testify about what happened,” Raskin said.

Pressed on options to force Pence to appear before the committee, Raskin said that a subpoena isn’t out of the question for Pence or any other potential witness, “but I would assume he’s going to come forward and testify voluntarily, the way the vast majority of people have.”

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• Enrique Tarrio to Go Pro Se in Jan. 6 Suit as Lawyer Quits

Lawyer for Proud Boys Leader Suddenly Moves to Exit Jan. 6 Lawsuit, Leaving Enrique Tarrio to Fight It Alone

Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio’s attorney asked a federal judge permission to withdraw from a civil lawsuit seeking to hold his client liable for the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Hours later, the request was promptly denied by a federal judge because Tarrio’s lawyer was unable to obtain written consent for the request with his client behind bars.

Currently facing prosecution for seditious conspiracy, Tarrio faces serious criminal and civil exposure over his alleged actions on Jan. 6, 2021. His attorney J. Daniel Hull now indicates that Tarrio intends to face his civil litigation by himself.

“Mr. Hull is authorized by Mr. Tarrio to represent that Tarrio consents to the withdrawal and that he will proceed in this case pro se,” the motion for withdrawal states.

“Due to Tarrio’s unexpected arrest in mid-March, criminal indictment (in 21-cr-175), his pretrial detention, and movements between several jails on the eastern seaboard, efforts to obtain the written consent preferred by LCvR 83.6 failed to bear fruit,” Hull’s motion states.

That ultimately doomed Hull’s request.

“Although the court understands counsel’s difficulty in communicating with Mr. Tarrio, there is no exception to Local Civil Rule 83.6(c)’s requirement to notify the client of the motion to withdraw,” Judge Mehta wrote in a minute order. “Should counsel not know of Mr. Tarrio’s detention facility, he may contact chambers to inquire.”

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Just for fun

election fraud charges are each hypothetically punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, a criminal complaint indicates. The more serious identity use charges are Class H felonies that are each punishable by up to six years in prison and a $10,000

• Wisconsin 'Watchdog' Harry Wait Charged with Election Fraud

Man Who Bragged on TV About Ordering Wisconsin Assembly Speaker’s and Local Mayor’s Ballots to ‘Test’ Election ‘Vulnerability’ Now Faces Felonies

A Wisconsin man who bragged on Facebook and even took to the airwaves in the state’s largest media market to vet his grievances about absentee ballot procedures in the Badger State has been charged with two felonies and two misdemeanors.

Harry E. Wait, 68, of Union Grove, Wisconsin, is accused of two counts of election fraud and two counts of unauthorized use of an individual’s personal identifying information, the Wisconsin Department of Justice said in a press release on Thursday evening. He allegedly requested the ballots of two people without permission while manning a booth at the Racine County Fair.

The election fraud charges are each hypothetically punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, a criminal complaint indicates. The more serious identity use charges are Class H felonies that are each punishable by up to six years in prison and a $10,000, according to that same document.

“The Wisconsin Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that the integrity of our elections is protected from alleged intentional violations of the law,” said Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat.

Back to flipping burgers

• Cowboys for Trump founder barred from public office over Jan. 6

A New Mexico judge on Tuesday disqualified Couy Griffin, a county commissioner who founded Cowboys for Trump, from serving in public office ever again because of his participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Driving the news: The judge ruled that Griffin is "barred for life" from serving as an elected official, effective immediately, under the 14th Amendment because he took part in the "insurrection after taking his oath," per the court filing.

• "Mr. Griffin aided the insurrection even though he did not personally engage in violence," State District Judge Francis Mathew said.
• Mathew also said that Griffin, who serves as Otero County commissioner, "incited, encouraged, and helped normalize the violence on January 6," citing his participation in chants and filming videos for social media.
• "By joining the mob and trespassing on restricted Capitol grounds, Mr. Griffin contributed to delaying Congress' election-certification proceedings," the judge said.

The big picture: Griffin was convicted in March for breaching the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and was sentenced to 14 days in jail but given credit for time served.

• The NAACP called for Griffin's removal from public office last month, citing his involvement in the insurrection.
• The group also alleged that he tried to disenfranchise voters, AP reports.

What they're saying: "This decision makes clear that any current or former public officials who took an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution and then participated in the Jan. 6th insurrection can and will be removed and barred from government service for their actions," said Noah Bookbinder, the president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which helped represent New Mexico residents in the lawsuit against Griffin.

https://www.axios.com/2022/09/06/cow...griffin-barred

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Originally Posted by S Landreth

criminal charges against the loser trump,.......... 18 U.S.C. § 793 (the willful retention of national defense information)

18 U.S.C. 793 - Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?...edition=prelim

Material on foreign nation’s nuclear capabilities seized at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago: https://archive.ph/2022.09.06-235953...055.0-1127.125

It boggles the mind that Pence still has odd loyalty to Trump when the orange one's supporters wouldn't vote for him anyway

Originally Posted by panama hat

the orange one's supporters would hang him, if given the chance.

….ftfy….

Originally Posted by panama hat

Pence still has odd loyalty to Trump when the orange one's supporters wouldn't vote for him anyway

Any political aspirations he might have had have all but diminished.