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  1. #526
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    Rallies ahead of Capitol riot were planned by established Washington insiders

    The fiery rallies that preceded the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 were organized and promoted by an array of established conservative insiders and activists, documents and videos show.

    The Republican Attorneys General Association was involved, as were the activist groups Turning Point Action and Tea Party Patriots. At least six current or former members of the Council for National Policy (CNP), an influential group that for decades has served as a hub for conservative and Christian activists, also played roles in promoting the rallies.

    The two days of rallies were staged not by white nationalists and other extremists, but by well-funded nonprofit groups and individuals that figure prominently in the machinery of conservative activism in Washington.

    In recent days, as federal authorities rounded up those involved in the Capitol riot, promoters and participants of the rallies have denounced the violence and sought to distance their events from the events that followed.

    “I support the right of Americans to peacefully protest,” wrote Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), “but the violence and destruction we are seeing at the U.S. Capitol is unacceptable and un-American.”

    Organizing warm-up events is not the same thing as plotting to invade the Capitol. But before the rallies, some used extreme rhetoric, including references to the American Revolution, and made false claims about the election to rouse supporters to challenge President-elect Joe Biden’s victory

    Unless Congress responds to the protests, “everyone can guess what me and 500,000 others will do to that building,” tweeted Ali Alexander, a former CNP fellow who organized the “Stop the Steal” movement. “1776 is *always* an option.”

    On Jan. 5, at Freedom Plaza in D.C., Alexander led protesters in a chant of “Victory or death.”

    Alexander did not respond to a request for comment for this story. He previously told The Washington Post that he had “remained peaceful” during the riot and said his earlier speeches “mentioned peace” and were being misrepresented.

    “Conflating our legally, peaceful permitted events with the breach of the US Capitol building is defamatory and false,” he said in an email to The Post. “People are being misled and then those same people are fomenting violence against me and my team.”

    In the days and hours before the riots, Alexander and his allies attracted tens of thousands of protesters from around the country — a crowd that included white supremacists, Christian activists and even local police officers.

    Events included a “Patriot Caravan” of buses to Washington, a “Save the Republic” rally on Jan. 5 and a “Freedom Rally” on the morning of Jan. 6. A little-known nonprofit called Women for America First, a group run by Trump supporters and former tea party activists, got approval to use space on the Ellipse for what they called a “March for Trump,” according to the “public gathering permit” issued on Jan. 5.

    Nearly a dozen political activists — including former White House, congressional and Trump campaign staffers — served as on-site rally coordinators and stage managers, the permit said. A spokesperson for Women for America First did not respond to requests for comment.

    Scheduled speakers included Roger Stone, Rudolph W. Giuliani and Simone Gold, founder of America’s Frontline Doctors, a start-up group that condemned government shutdowns to contain the coronavirus. Gold was among the protesters who entered the Capitol, according to an FBI flier with her photo.

    Gold told The Post she went into the Capitol but thought it was legal to do so.

    “I do regret being there,” she said.

    On Jan. 5, the attorneys general group, which is based in Washington, used an affiliated nonprofit called the Rule of Law Defense Fund to pay for a robocall that urged supporters to march on the Capitol at 1 p.m. on Jan. 6 to “call on Congress to stop the steal.” A recording of the robocall was first obtained by Documented, a left-leaning watchdog group.

    “We are hoping patriots like you will join us to continue the fight,” a recording of the call says.

    On Monday, as criticism of the robocall mounted, RAGA Executive Director Adam Piper resigned. He did not respond to a request for comment.

    Tea Party Patriots leader Jenny Beth Martin also condemned the violence and said in a statement to The Post that her group provided no financial support for the rally. “We are shocked, outraged, and saddened at the turn of events Wednesday afternoon,” Martin’s statement said. “We are heartbroken.”

    Martin, also an executive committee member at CNP, was listed in promotional material as a rally speaker, though she did not ultimately speak. The Tea Party Patriots were listed as a “coalition partner” with Alexander’s Stop the Steal, RAGA and other groups.

    “The rally was peaceful. You cannot blame what happened inside the Capitol on the promotion,” said Jason Jones, a CNP member and rally participant, who said he was there to speak about oppressed people around the world. He called the violence “sorrowful and tragic” but said it represented “a failure of policing and preparation.”

    CNP Executive Director Bob McEwen said his group, a registered charity, does not get involved in political activity and had no role in the Jan. 6 events. He said CNP members and associates act independently. “What they do on their own time — I won’t say I don’t care — we have no interest or capacity to monitor,” McEwen said.

    Charlie Kirk, the leader of Turning Point USA, an organizer of conservative students, and Turning Point Action, its activist arm, also condemned the violence and called Jan. 6 “a really sad day for America,” according to a spokesman.

    Before the rally, Kirk — a featured speaker at CNP meetings over the past two years and at the Republican National Convention in August — offered to pay for buses and hotel rooms for protesters.

    “This historic event will likely be one of the largest and most consequential in American history,” he wrote in a tweet. “The team at @TrumpStudents & Turning Point Action are honored to help make this happen, sending 80+ buses full of patriots to DC to fight for this president.”

    That tweet has been deleted. A spokesman said that Kirk eventually sent a half-dozen buses and that the student protesters had nothing to do with the violence.

    In a video posted in late December, Alexander claimed he worked with three lawmakers — Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) and Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) — on an unspecified plan to disrupt election ratification deliberations at the Capitol.

    “We four schemed up of putting maximum pressure on Congress while they were voting,” Alexander said in a since-deleted video on Periscope highlighted by the Project on Government Oversight, an investigative nonprofit.

    In a statement, Biggs denied meeting Alexander. Gosar did not respond to requests for comment from The Post. Brooks’s office said in a statement that he “has no recollection of ever communicating in any way with whoever Ali Alexander is.”

    Brooks, first elected to Congress a decade ago, has been among the most vocal of lawmakers in condemning the election. In a podcast interview last month with Sebastian Gorka, a former strategist in the Trump White House, Brooks said he was working to delay certification of the electoral college tally as part of “an organic movement.”

    “The question is really simple. Are you as an American citizen going to surrender in the face of unparalleled, massive voter fraud and election theft?” he said. “Or are you going to do what your ancestors did and fight for your country, your republic?”

    The election results have been certified in all 50 states, and courts across the nation have rejected challenges brought by the president’s campaign and his allies. Shortly after the vote, a senior cybersecurity official in the Trump administration described it as “the most secure election in American history.”

    In a statement Tuesday, Brooks said he is the victim of a “smear campaign.”

    He said that a White House official asked him to appear at the Jan. 6 rally. “I was not encouraging anyone to engage in violence,” the statement said.

    Other establishment conservatives who condoned the protests include Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and listed last year as a CNP Action board member, who praised rallygoers in tweets.

    “LOVE MAGA people!!!!” she tweeted early in the morning on Jan. 6. “GOD BLESS EACH OF YOU STANDING UP or PRAYING.”

    Ginni Thomas did not respond to requests for comment.

    Since the early 1980s, CNP has served as a bridge between Washington’s establishment conservatives and scores of Christian and right-wing groups across the nation. It convenes closed-door meetings for members and wealthy donors at least twice a year. CNP officials and their allies met weekly with White House officials under President Trump, in part to coordinate public messaging about the administration’s agenda, internal videos show. Trump spoke to the group in August.

    Vice President Pence praised the group in a letter obtained by The Post, saying last year that “I just wanted to thank you and the Council for National Policy for your support and for consistently amplifying the agenda of President Trump.”

    McEwen told The Post his group serves only as a venue for conservative speakers and does not coordinate the activity of members.

    In one meeting last summer, a CNP member warned that a “civil war” would result if Trump lost the election to predicted fraud, according to internal videos obtained by The Post.

    In websites promoting the rallies, Alexander’s Stop the Steal coalition urged protesters to “take to” the Capitol steps “to make sure that Congress does not certify the botched Electoral College,” according to webpages that have been removed.

    Another coalition webpage featured a 36-page election analysis by Trump adviser Peter Navarro, a speaker at CNP in May 2019. It claimed that Trump’s loss was a statistical impossibility and was due to a “whitewash” by journalists and politicians. Navarro warned about “putting into power an illegitimate and illegal president.”

    He did not respond to requests for comment.

    One of those behind the rallies was Arina Grossu, an antiabortion activist listed as a contract outreach coordinator for a religious freedom office at the Department of Health and Human Services, according to HHS promotional material and an agency directory.

    Grossu was co-founder of Jericho March, one of the coalition partners that organized the Jan. 6 rallies. In December, her group described some protesters against the election as a “prayer army” that would take the case before “the Courts of heaven, the Supreme Court, and the court of public opinion seeking truth and justice in this election.”

    “The blatant fraud and corruption in this election is overwhelming and it cries out to God for justice. We the People demand answers and accountability,” she said in a posting online that has since been removed. “We serve a mighty God who can restore truth and justice in our land.”

    Grossu did not respond to requests for comment. An HHS spokeswoman declined to provide Grossu’s employment status.

    In a statement after the riot, her group said that it “never will condone violence or destruction” and that its mission is “peace and prayer.”

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/inves...33d_story.html

  2. #527
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
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    Capitol Rioter May Have Stolen Pelosi’s Laptop and Tried to Sell It to Russia, Says FBI

    One of the Trumpist rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol earlier this month may have stolen House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s laptop and then tried to sell it to Russian intelligence, according to a criminal complaint.


    The extraordinary claim—which is now under investigation by the FBI—comes from an affidavit describing the criminal case against Pennsylvania woman Riley June Williams. She was recognized in footage of the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot by an unnamed person who claimed to be her former romantic partner. That person then tipped off the FBI.

    MORE https://www.thedailybeast.com/riley-...=home?ref=home

  3. #528

  4. #529
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    Holy fuck. The rats trying to claim it was not their fault and seriously backing with money, people and possibly Russia?

  5. #530
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    The election lie collapsed after twitter suspended the villain's account. Proof it's a cult of stooges, believing anything their told.

    Opinion: What if Twitter had banned Trump sooner? - CNN

  6. #531
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    Joe Biden to have new Secret Service team amid concern about Trump loyalty

    Agents familiar from time as vice-president to return

    Some members of detail reportedly discouraged mask-wearing

    Joe Biden is expected to receive Secret Service protection with a new team that is more familiar to him and replacing some agents amid concerns that they may be politically allied with Donald Trump.

    In a changing of the guard as well as the man to be guarded at the White House, Biden’s security detail will undergo some staffing changes, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

    Several “senior” Secret Service agents are poised to return to the president-elect’s protection team and Biden knows these agents well because they guarded him and his family during his time as vice-president, according to the article, echoed in a report by CNN, citing a law enforcement source.

    Joe Biden to have new Secret Service team amid concern about Trump loyalty | US news | The Guardian


    Biden’s transition team has revealed there is a very real fear that members of the national guard who support President Trump might kill Biden during the inauguration so they’ve asked commanders to confiscate all ammo and magazines from the soldiers.

    https://twitter.com/amuse/status/1350800988496687106?s=21



  7. #532
    Thailand Expat lom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    Biden’s transition team has revealed there is a very real fear that members of the national guard who support President Trump might kill Biden during the inauguration so they’ve asked commanders to confiscate all ammo and magazines from the soldiers.

    https://twitter.com/amuse/status/135...496687106?s=21
    You read it on an anonymous twitter account so it must be true... Sigh!

  8. #533
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    ^What we do not read on "respectable" MSM it does not exist...

  9. #534
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    National Guard troops being vetted as they arrive to guard Capitol

    Washington — U.S. defense officials say they're worried about an insider attack or other threat from service members involved in securing President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, prompting the vetting of all 25,000 National Guard troops coming into Washington for the event.

    The massive undertaking reflects the extraordinary security concerns that have gripped Washington following the deadly January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters. And it underscores fears that some of the very people assigned to protect the city over the next several days could present a threat to the incoming president and other VIPs in attendance.

    General Daniel R. Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CBS News national security correspondent David Martin the Guard has been meeting with its troops as they arrive in D.C.

    National Guard troops being vetted as they arrive to guard Capitol - CBS News

  10. #535
    Thailand Expat lom's Avatar
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    ^ yes, vetting is believable and it has been reported by other news sources as well but the claim in your first post that the guarding soldiers do have guns but no ammunition is ridiculous.

  11. #536
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    Quote Originally Posted by lom View Post
    You read it on an anonymous twitter account so it must be true... Sigh!
    Unlike that what we read from you on an "anonymous" account is always true...

  12. #537
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    Quote Originally Posted by lom View Post
    You read it on an anonymous twitter account so it must be true... Sigh!
    It's true in Loondyke world

  13. #538
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    Quote Originally Posted by lom View Post
    You read it on an anonymous twitter account so it must be true... Sigh!
    It is total horseshit just more trash from the Russian stooge.

  14. #539
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    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    National Guard troops being vetted as they arrive to guard Capitol

    Washington — U.S. defense officials say they're worried about an insider attack or other threat from service members involved in securing President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, prompting the vetting of all 25,000 National Guard troops coming into Washington for the event.

    The massive undertaking reflects the extraordinary security concerns that have gripped Washington following the deadly January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters. And it underscores fears that some of the very people assigned to protect the city over the next several days could present a threat to the incoming president and other VIPs in attendance.

    General Daniel R. Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CBS News national security correspondent David Martin the Guard has been meeting with its troops as they arrive in D.C.

    National Guard troops being vetted as they arrive to guard Capitol - CBS News
    Vetting does not mean confiscating ammo!

  15. #540
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    Quote Originally Posted by bsnub View Post
    It is total horseshit just more trash from the Russian stooge.
    But he's actually the sort of retard who will believe whatever he reads on Twatter regardless of the lack of any evidence to support it.

  16. #541
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    But he's actually the sort of retard who will believe whatever he reads on Twatter regardless of the lack of any evidence to support it.
    Not only believe but also distribute as 'fact'

  17. #542
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    Quote Originally Posted by panama hat View Post
    Not only believe but also distribute as 'fact'
    The same way that trumpanzee cancer spreads unfortunately.

  18. #543
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheRealKW View Post
    Vetting does not mean confiscating ammo!
    Trump Protesters Storm Capitol. DC on lockdown-luka-biden-jpg


    Right, there is one who keeps his ammo in his Kalashnikoff - direct supply from Lukashenko...

  19. #544
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    So, where were all the big mouth 'patriots', with their weapons and camo gear?

    Just like I said, when a real military/police is present they piss their pants . . . just like fishlocker, rpeeters would.

    An empty bowl makes the loudest noise.

  20. #545
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
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    Good to hear the feds got Joe Biggs. Getting down to the instigators, I reckon.


    Proud Boys organizer arrested in Florida over riot at Capitol

    ORLANDO, Fla. —Two Florida men, including a self-described organizer for the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, were arrested Wednesday on charges of taking part in the siege of the U.S. Capitol earlier this month, authorities said.


    Joseph Biggs, 37, was arrested in central Florida and faces charges of obstructing an official proceeding before Congress, entering a restricted area on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol and disorderly conduct.

    According to an arrest affidavit, Biggs was part of a crowd on Jan. 6 that overwhelmed Capitol Police officers who were manning a metal barrier on the steps of the Capitol. The mob entered the building as lawmakers were certifying President Joe Biden’s election win.

    Biggs appeared to be wearing a walkie-talkie during the storming of the Capitol, but he told FBI agents that he had no knowledge about the planning of the destructive riot and didn’t know who organized it, the affidavit said.


    Ahead of the riot, Biggs told followers of his on the social media app Parler to dress in black to resemble the far-left antifa movement, according to the affidavit.


    Biggs had organized a 2019 rally in Portland, Oregon, in which more than 1,000 far-right protesters and anti-fascist counter-demonstrators faced off.


    The Proud Boys are a neofascist group known for engaging in violent clashes at political rallies. During a September presidential debate, Trump had urged them to “stand back and stand by” when asked to condemn them by a moderator.


    An online court docket did not indicate whether Biggs has an attorney who could comment.


    Jesus Rivera, 37, also was arrested Wednesday in Pensacola. He faces charges of knowingly entering a restricted building, intent to impede government business, disorderly conduct and demonstrating in the Capitol buildings.


    Rivera uploaded a video to Facebook showing himself in the U.S. Capitol crypt, authorities said. The five-minute video ends with Rivera starting to climb out a window at the Capitol, according to an arrest affidavit.


    An online court docket also did not list an attorney for Rivera.


    The cases are being handled by federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia. More than a half-dozen other Floridians have been charged in relation to the Capitol assault.



    Proud Boys organizer arrested in Florida over riot at Capitol - POLITICO

  21. #546
    Thailand Expat raycarey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by raycarey View Post
    i'm not conspiratorial minded...but IMO something about this stinks.
    Quote Originally Posted by raycarey View Post
    as more info is revealed, it's becoming increasingly clear that this was an inside job.


    DC and capitol police called begging for the national guard to provide assistance during the armed insurrection....but assistance was denied for hours.

    why?

    maybe because the army's chief staff of operations is the brother of a die hard trump loyalist....who many think is compromised by russia.

    The US Army falsely claimed that Michael Flynn's brother was not on a call discussing whether or not to dispatch the National Guard to the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

    Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn, the Army's chief staff of operations, confirmed to The Post that he was present during the teleconference.

    The Army did not immediately confirm why they made the false claim, even though someone in Flynn's role at the Pentagon would ordinarily be involved in the situation.
    Michael Flynn's brother was present on a call discussing the military response to the Capitol siege, despite the Army denying it for days: WaPo


    Quote Originally Posted by raycarey View Post
    there's a 5th column inside the US military and police force.
    Quote Originally Posted by raycarey View Post
    they are insurrectionists...who attempted to overthrow the duly elected government of the united states.
    IMO their leaders/organizers should either be exiled or executed if found guilty in a court of law.

  22. #547
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    Quote Originally Posted by raycarey View Post
    DC and capitol police called begging for the national guard to provide assistance during the armed insurrection....but assistance was denied for hours.
    Initially I was upset that the Senate trial of trump did not occur immediately after impeachment, Now I realise it was a gift.
    Aside from the fact that it kept the threat hanging over trump's head during his remaining days in office, forcing him to behave.
    It gives time for all this crap to surface, making the case against trump more compelling , and make it more difficult for Republicans not to convict.
    The sooner you fall behind, the more time you have to catch up.

  23. #548
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by misskit View Post
    Ahead of the riot, Biggs told followers of his on the social media app Parler to dress in black to resemble the far-left antifa movement, according to the affidavit.
    of course he did, the entire excuse was planned. The calls of antics did it really came out far too quick. Disgusting people

  24. #549
    Thailand Expat Backspin's Avatar
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    Somebody finally made a ham fisted muh Russia connection
    What took so long.

  25. #550
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    I'm very much looking forward to the report on the security breakdown at the Capital. Let's hope the Dems can get on with this poste haste. Let's put the energy into this prior to any impeachment.

    I still believe that Trump didn't think through the consequences of his actions. This extreme poor judgement was reason enough to remove him from office IMHO.

    Now if we really want to unite the nation, it's time to move along, to "get on with it" as the English like to say.

    This whole incident was good in that it's a lesson to us all and a clear demonstration that American democracy is still very strong.

    A true diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a manner that you will be asking for directions.

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