Category: Trump Administration

Investigators Eye Right-Wing Militias at Capitol Riot

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The F.B.I. has arrested several members associated with violent right-wing extremist groups known as the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters.

WASHINGTON — F.B.I. agents and prosecutors investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol have increasingly shifted their attention to dangerous right-wing extremist groups, arresting several people in recent days suspected of taking part in the violence and of possessing ties to notorious militias such as the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters.

The spate of arrests helps fill in a more complete picture of the mob that stormed the Capitol after being incited by President Trump on Jan. 6 in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College victory of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.

The arrests, in Ohio, Colorado, Indiana and Texas, came as investigators gathered evidence to determine whether any of the groups had planned ahead of time to attack the Capitol. Videos and photos have revealed chilling scenes of rioters weaving through the mobs inside the building in tight formation, wearing tactical gear, carrying restraints and using hand signals and hand radios to communicate. Continue reading.

‘She’s not on the home team’: Congressman says GOP’s Boebert gave ‘large tour’ of Capitol before insurrection

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U.S. Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) on Monday identified freshman Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) as the member of Congress who gave a “large tour” in the days before the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

“We saw Congressman Boebert taking a group of people for a tour sometime after the 3rd and before the 6th,” Rep. Cohen told CNN late Monday morning, adding that “she had a large group with her.”

“She’s not on the home team,” Cohen said. Continue reading.

The Trump presidency was marked by battles over truth itself. Those aren’t over.

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President Trump stands as a singular figure in American history for his willingness to entertain conspiracy theories from the Oval Office, and none has been more damaging or far reaching than his unsubstantiated claim that the 2020 election was rigged against him. One out of every three Americans believes that there was widespread fraud in the last presidential election, according to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, despite no evidence to support that view. Two in three Republicans believe so.

The social conditions that brought so many people to believe the falsehoods Trump has told about the election and a litany of other issues took root decades before he became a political figure and will extend far beyond the four years of his administration, according to scholars of disinformation and conspiratorial thinking.

“What’s unique about Donald Trump is that he took advantage of this widespread distrust of government and media to say everyone is lying to you except for me. We have never had a president so devoted to spreading disinformation and trying to overturn an election,” said Kathryn Olmsted, a historian at the University of California at Davis. “The people who stormed the Capitol are absolutely convinced that the election was stolen. They’re not being opportunistic; they really believe this. And all of the social science shows that if someone really believes a conspiracy theory, it is just about impossible to change their minds.” Continue reading.

Acting Defense secretary says ‘no intelligence’ indicating insider threat to inauguration

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Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller said Monday that while law enforcement officials are vetting National Guard troops stationed in the nation’s capital, authorities have “no intelligence indicating an insider threat” to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration this week.

“As is normal for military support to large security events, the Department will vet National Guardsmen who are in Washington, D.C.,” Miller said in a statement.“While we have no intelligence indicating an insider threat, we are leaving no stone unturned in securing the capital.” 

“This type of vetting often takes place by law enforcement for significant security events. However, in this case the scope of military participation is unique,” Miller continued. Continue reading.

Woman may have tried to sell Pelosi computer device to Russians, FBI says

U.S. law enforcement is investigating whether a woman took a laptop computer or hard drive from U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol and tried to sell the device to Russian intelligence, according to a court filing.

An FBI agent disclosed the detail in an affidavit released on Sunday night that outlined a criminal case against Riley June Williams, a Pennsylvania woman accused of unlawfully breaching the Capitol building and directing people to Pelosi’s office.

The theft of electronic devices from congressional offices has been a persistent worry following the siege by supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump. Continue reading.

Giuliani won’t be part of Trump defense at Senate trial

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President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani said Monday he will not be part of the president’s defense team for the upcoming impeachment trial in the Senate, saying he could be called as a witness due to his involvement in the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the Capitol riot.

“Due to the fact that I may be a witness, the rules of legal ethics would prohibit me from representing the President as trial counsel in the impeachment trial,” Giuliani said in a statement to The Hill.

The news that Giuliani would not join the defense team was first reported by ABC News. The New York Times also reported on Monday that Giuliani would not be involved in the president’s defense, citing a person close to Trump. Continue reading.

One Year, 400,000 Coronavirus Deaths: How the U.S. Guaranteed Its Own Failure

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After the White House declined to pursue a unified national strategy, governors faced off against lobbyists, health experts and a restless public consumed by misinformation.

The path to beating the coronavirus was clear, but Kelley Vollmar had never felt so helpless.

As the top health official in Missouri’s Jefferson County, Ms. Vollmar knew a mandate requiring people to wear masks could help save lives. She pressed the governor’s office to issue a statewide order, and hospital leaders were making a similar push. Even the White House, at a time when President Trump was sometimes mocking people who wore masks, was privately urging the Republican governor to impose a mandate.

Still, Gov. Mike Parson resisted, and in the suburbs of St. Louis, Ms. Vollmar found herself under attack. A member of the county health board called her a liar. The sheriff announced that he would not enforce a local mandate. After anti-mask activists posted her address online, Ms. Vollmar installed a security system at her home. Continue reading.

In scathing draft of letter never made public, Trump chided James Comey for ‘erratic,’ ‘self-indulgent’ conduct

The president’s draft was scrapped by White House legal counsel.

In the days before President Donald Trump fired James Comey as FBI director — one of the most defining moments of his presidency — Trump penned a scathing letter to Comey that has never been publicly released.

In fact, the four-page letter was never even sent to Comey because White House lawyers quickly determined it should never see the “light of day,” Special Counsel Robert Mueller later recounted.

Mueller reviewed the May 2017 letter as part of his wide-ranging investigation and mentioned parts of it in his final report, but the letter has remained largely hidden from the public nearly four years later. Continue reading.

‘A place to fund hope’: How Proud Boys and other fringe groups found refuge on a Christian fundraising website

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Henry “Enrique” Tarrio had already publicized his plans to participate in the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally. The 36-year-old Miami resident and national chairman of the Proud Boys posted on social media that he would direct small teams of his far-right group with a history of violence to wear black and fan out across Washington.

But when he arrived in D.C. on Jan. 4 ahead of the scheduled demonstrations, he said, “15 cop cars” swarmed his Honda Crosstour soon after he passed through the Third Street Tunnel. Tarrio was wanted on a misdemeanor charge from December accusing him of setting fire to a historic Black church’s Black Lives Matter banner.

During the traffic stop, authorities found high-capacity firearm magazines in his backpack, resulting in felony weapons charges, according to court records. And as he sat in a jail cell for 24 hours, Tarrio said, he thought about how he would need a lot of money to get out of this mess. Good lawyers, he said, don’t come cheap. Continue reading.

Trump exits White House silenced by Twitter, shunned by some in GOP

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President Trump will depart the White House Wednesday after four tumultuous years that will be defined by a mob riot and bipartisan impeachment vote in his final weeks in office.

There has been no public victory lap for Trump, whose last days in the White House have instead been defined by silence — in no small part because of a Twitter ban on his favorite form of social media imposed after the riot at the Capitol.

The president will not attend President-elect Joe Biden‘s inauguration on Wednesday. He is expected to depart Washington, D.C., that morning and attend a military ceremony at Joint Base Andrews before leaving for Florida. Continue reading.