Category: Trump Administration

US Capitol protesters, egged on by Trump, are part of a long history of white supremacists hearing politicians’ words as encouragement

“President Trump and his Republican enablers in Congress incited a violent attack Wednesday against the government they lead,” The New York Times’ editorial board wrote on Jan. 6, summing up much of the response to the incursion into the Capitol by rioting Trump supporters that day.

At a rally that morning, Donald Trump had urged those supporters to march on the Capitol, saying he would “never concede” and that they should show “the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.” 

The Times was joined in laying the blame at Trump’s feet by many others, including Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, who said what happened at the Capitol was “an insurrection incited by the president of the United States.”

Among the protesters at the Capitol were members of white supremacy groups, including the Proud Boys. Their participation in the Jan. 6 events, egged on by Trump, reflects a long history in the U.S. of local, state and national political leaders encouraging white supremacist groups to challenge or overthrow democratic governments. Continue reading.

New report reveals some of Trump’s closest aides think he’s become ‘mentally unreachable’

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President Donald Trump’s aides have simply stopped trying to communicate with him, including during Wednesday’s deadly insurrection, and are “avoiding him like the plague.”

“Some stalwart aides and confidants — after years of enduring the crazy and trying to modulate the chaos — have given up trying to communicate with him, considering him mentally unreachable,” according to Axios.

The outgoing President’s “closest friends and paid White House officials — many of the Trumpiest Trumpers we know — are avoiding him like the plague,” the access journalism site’s Mike Allen and Jonathan Swan report. Continue reading.

Cabinet members Betsy DeVos, Elaine Chao, other Trump officials resign over Capitol violence

The officials included those in prominent positions in the White House, and staff members who have been working in the Trump administration since the beginning of the president’s term in 2017.

Several Trump administration officials have announced that they are resigning after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, temporarily disrupting Congress as it was certifying Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.

The officials included those in prominent positions in the White House, and staff members who have been working in the Trump administration since the beginning of the president’s term in 2017. Some of the resignations came hours after President Donald Trump openly encouraged his supporters to go to the Capitol to protest what he has falsely claimed was a stolen election. The moves are being made with less than two weeks remaining in Trump’s term.

Here is a list of the administration officials who have resigned. Continue reading.

‘Nothing can stop what’s coming’: Far-right forums that fomented Capitol riots voice glee in aftermath

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Online rage and real-world violence collided in the siege, with deadly consequences: “It’s a new age of terrorism that can’t exist without the Internet.”

Men wearing camouflage shirts began building a makeshift defensive camp outside the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon. They moved barricades and green fencing into a circle, and then pulled helmets from a crate and donned goggles in preparation for a clash that had been brewing for weeks and, arguably, for years on far-right forums devoted to President Trump.

“TheDonald.win, that’s where it’s at,” said one of the men, referring to the website where defiant talk, conspiracy theories and tips on how best to lay siege to Washington have grown since Trump lost the Nov. 3 election.

The comment underscored the potent, interactive role between the online and offline worlds in Wednesday’s breach of the Capitol. Violent talk on far-right forumsfomented violent real-world action, which was then captured by smartphones, uploaded and celebrated on the same forums. The boundaries between the digital and analog all but disappeared as rage, provocation and gloating bounced back and forth, again and again. Continue reading.

Trump’s remarks before Capitol riot may be investigated, says acting U.S. attorney in D.C.

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The top federal prosecutor in D.C. said Thursday that President Trump was not off-limits in his investigation of the events surrounding Wednesday’s riot at the U.S. Capitol, saying “all actors” would be examined to determine if they broke the law.

Asked if federal agents and prosecutors will look at the incendiary statements made by speakers at Trump’s rally shortly before a mob of his supporters breached security at the Capitol and wreaked havoc inside, acting U.S. attorney Michael R. Sherwin said: “Yes, we are looking at all actors here, not only the people that went into the building, but . . . were there others that maybe assisted or facilitated or played some ancillary role in this. We will look at every actor and all criminal charges.”

Asked specifically if that included Trump, who had urged the crowd to “fight like hell” before the rioting began, Sherwin replied: “We are looking at all actors here, and anyone that had a role, if the evidence fits the element of a crime, they’re going to be charged.” Continue reading.

Trump condemns riots, says he will focus on transition in taped remarks

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NOTE: Our only concern is that Mr. Trump has never used transition to the Biden Administration.

President Trump on Thursday said he would focus on ensuring a smooth transition to the incoming Biden administration following violent attacks by a mob of his supporters that stormed the Capitol on Wednesday.

Trump, in taped remarks released on social media, condemned the violence that unfolded at the Capitol building but did not specifically name a group that caused the mayhem. 

Trump called for calm, and for the first time, he said publicly that it was time to move on from the 2020 election. Continue reading.

Republicans Blame ‘Antifa’ For Capitol Assault By Trumpists

A number of Republican lawmakers and right-wing media personalities are blaming “antifa” for the violent attack by supporters of Donald Trump on the Capitol on Wednesday that led to at least four deaths, ignoring their own responsibility in helping foment the rage underlying the attack.

Some GOP lawmakers did call out Trump and members of their own party for the lies about voter fraud and a stolen election that culminated in Wednesday’s failed coup, placing the blame at their feet.

“What happened here today was an insurrection incited by the President of the United States,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said in an impassioned speech on the Senate floor after the body reconvened to certify President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election. Continue reading.

Mob fallout: Pelosi calls for Capitol Police chief to be fired; House SAA to resign

Members of Congress praise rank and file but say probe is necessary

Top Capitol Hill law enforcement figures on Thursday started feeling repercussions for their failure to contain the Capitol against a pro-Trump mob that occupied the complex and prevented the counting of Electoral College votes. 

Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called for the firing of Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund and said House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul D. Irving would be resigning.

“I am calling for the resignation of the chief of the Capitol Police, Mr. Sund, and I have received notice from Mr. Irving that he will be submitting his resignation,” the California Democrat said at a news conference. Sund sent out a release on Thursday defending his department in the wake of the disruption of government, but Pelosi was not impressed. “Mr. Sund, he hasn’t even called us since this happened.” Continue reading.

Schumer calls for 25th Amendment to be invoked after Capitol riots

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Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) on Thursday called for President Trump to be removed from office through the 25th Amendment after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol the day before. 

“What happened at the U.S. Capitol yesterday was an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president. This president should not hold office one day longer,” Schumer said in a statement. 

“The quickest and most effective way — it can be done today — to remove this president from office would be for the Vice President to immediately invoke the 25th amendment. If the Vice President and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president,” he added.  Continue reading.

Trump, Hawley and Cruz will each wear the scarlet ‘S’ of a seditionist

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The three repulsive architects of Wednesday’s heartbreaking spectacle — mobs desecrating the Republic’s noblest building and preventing the completion of a constitutional process — must be named and forevermore shunned. They are Donald Trump, and Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz.

Trump lit the fuse for the riot in the weeks before the election, with his successful effort to delegitimize the election in the eyes of his supporters. But Wednesday’s explosion required the help of Hawley (R-Mo.) and Cruz (R-Tex.).

Hawley announced his intention to object to the certification of some states’ electoral votes, for no better reason than that there has been an avalanche of “allegations” of election irregularities, allegations fomented by the loser of the election. By doing so, Hawley turned what should have been a perfunctory episode in our civic liturgy of post-election civility into a synthetic drama. He turned this moment into the focus of the hitherto unfocused fury that Trump had been stoking for many weeks. Continue reading.