1/6 Insurrection Investigation

[Rick Plant]

Why aren’t more people pointing out that Loudermilk was giving 15 people a tour of a space they’d already told him explicitly they’d be coming back to the following day—in fact had expressly and exclusively come to Washington to go to? Who gives a completely redundant *pre*-tour.

And why aren’t more people noting that Loudermilk told a podcaster that everyone on his tour was someone he knew *from church*, and that he checked in later to confirm none stayed at the Capitol Complex—where they were trespassing—after the riot began, when those were both lies?

And why in the world would Loudermilk leave 15 people who’d already told him they planned to trespass at the Capitol Complex the next day *alone* at the Capitol Complex the day before their planned crime?

What’s the opposite of a post-crime getaway driver—a pre-crime tour guide?

And how is Loudermilk going to say he thought a 7-bus caravan led by one of the best-known, best-connected Stop the Steal radicals in Georgia—a man who sharpened a flagpole for use as a deadly weapon on Insurrection Day—was just a DC tourist trip that happened to be on January 6?

For that matter, how does the USCP watch 18-month-old footage of an unidentified man with four cell phones photographing security tunnels and stairwells near the Capitol, say there’s nothing suspicious about it, then call a wrap on its “investigation” without interviewing anyone?

4 phones...... That is all.....

[Rick Plant]

Ginni Thomas emailed with ‘coup memo’ author John Eastman — and Jan. 6 committee has the receipts

New information reveals that the efforts of Ginni Thomas to overturn the 2020 presidential election were even more extensive than previously known, according to a bombshell new report by The Washington Post.

"The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol has obtained email correspondence between Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and lawyer John Eastman, who played a key role in efforts to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to block the certification of Joe Biden’s victory, according to three people involved in the committee’s investigation," the newspaper reported. "The emails show that Thomas’s efforts to overturn the election were more extensive than previously known, two of the people said. The three declined to provide details and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters."

Justice Thomas refused to recuse himself from a case involving Jan. 6.

"The committee’s members and staffers are now discussing whether to spend time during their public hearings exploring Ginni Thomas’s role in the attempt to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election, the three people said. The Post previously reported that the committee had not sought an interview with Thomas and was leaning against pursuing her cooperation with its investigation," the newspaper explained.

The report comes as the committee has three additional public hearings scheduled in June.

"The two people said the emails were among documents obtained by the committee and reviewed recently. Last week, a federal judge ordered Eastman to turn more than a hundred documents over to the committee. Eastman had tried to block the release of those and other documents by arguing that they were privileged communications and therefore should be protected," the newspaper reported.

Read The Full Report:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/06/15/ginni-thomas-john-eastman-emails/

[Rick Plant]

Loudermilk -- and 5 other Georgia Republicans -- pressured to 'answer the committee's questions' after 'shocking' Jan. 6 video

The U.S. House panel probing last year's insurrection released a video and letter on Wednesday that led to fresh calls for Republican Congressman Barry Loudermilk of Georgia to answer questions about a tour he gave of the U.S. Capitol complex the day before the attack.

"It's time for answers and accountability."

The new letter calling on Loudermilk to meet with the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol comes after the body's chair and vice chair, Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), sent him a similar request last month—three weeks before the panel's series of public hearings began last Thursday.

"Based on our review of surveillance video, social media activity, and witness accounts, we understand you led a tour group through parts of the Capitol complex on January 5, 2021. That group stayed for several hours, despite the complex being closed to the public on that day," states Wednesday's letter, which includes images from the newly released video.

"Surveillance footage shows a tour of approximately 10 individuals led by you to areas in the Rayburn, Longworth, and Cannon House office buildings, as well as the entrances to tunnels leading to the U.S. Capitol," the letter adds. "Individuals on the tour photographed and recorded areas of the complex not typically of interest to tourists, including hallways, staircases, and security checkpoints."

The letter and video also highlight that on January 6, 2021, some individuals who toured the complex with Loudermilk attended a rally at the Ellipse then joined a march to the Capitol, and one person made "detailed and disturbing threats" against then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

WATCH LIVE: House select committee holds third hearing on Jan 6th insurrection

On Thursday, the House Select Committee investigating the Jan 6th insurrection that forced lawmakers to flee for their lives will convene for the third time with committee members expected to focus on the pressure put upon former vice president Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

Following revelations that Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, was in contact with Donald Trump attorney John Eastman, the committee will reportedly touch upon his involvement.

In a preview of what is to be presented, committee co-chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) tweeted, "President Trump's relentless effort on Jan. 6 and in the days beforehand to pressure Vice President Pence to refuse to count lawful electoral votes."

According to CBS, "Pence's former counsel Greg Jacob and conservative jurist J. Michael Luttig, who has advised Pence, are scheduled to appear. Two people familiar with Luttig's expected testimony, who were not authorized to discuss details of the hearing, told CBS News that he is expected to tell the committee 'America's democracy was almost stolen from her.'"

You can watch the hearing, expected to begin today at 1PM ET, below:

[Rick Plant]

'A dead giveaway': Capitol Police slammed by former FBI official for blowing off Loudermilk's MAGA tour



Appearing on CNN's "New Day" with hosts John Berman and Brianna Keilar on Thursday morning, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe expressed skepticism and dismay after the head of the Capitol Police dismissed questions about tour led by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) the day before the Jan 6th Capitol riot.

On Tuesday, Capitol police chief J. Thomas Manger said an investigation did not reveal any suspicious behavior by the 15 people who accompanied the Donald Trump-supporting Republican and were seen taking curious pictures.

According to Manger, "We train our officers on being alert for people conducting surveillance or reconnaissance, and we do not consider any of the activities we observed to be suspicious."

According to McCabe, he was "shocked" by the letter.

"I am shocked that the capitol police would release such a statement that essentially gives the entire thing a clean bill of health, right?" McCabe told the hosts. "They're basically saying we don't see anything here. I'm shocked that they would release a statement like that without doing a complete investigation which would, of course, include reviewing the video from January 6th and would, you know, under any reasonable terms include interviewing the people involved to include the congressman but also the people who appear on the video."

"I don't think you really can reconcile the two things," he continued. "It appears to have been a bit of a rush to judgment and I think there were many, many really interesting questions that remain around this issue."

Asked what stood out in the video of the tour, he replied, "Well, you know, this is -- what you see in that video is exactly the same sort of things that investigators who are investigating potential spies or terrorists or people who conduct casing activity, you see the same sorts of behaviors in that video. It doesn't mean that that's what that person was doing, it just appears to be the same sort of pre-operational behavior that you look for among people who are planning some sort of an attack or an operation or something like that."

"The photographing of security facilities and security checkpoints is a dead giveaway to investigators that you have something suspicious on your hands here. that is not something that normal tourists take a look at," he added.

Watch below:

[Rick Plant]

Jamie Raskin teases a 'back channel' between Trump allies and Proud Boys in upcoming hearing



On CNN Thursday, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) discussed some of the new revelations that will take place at in the latest hearing of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

One of those, he said, will be how former President Donald Trump's allies established a "back channel" with far-right extremist groups participating in the attack, like the Proud Boys.

"We do understand that John Eastman, this lawyer, and some of the things he has written, will be part of this discussion today," said anchor John Berman. "Again, focusing on some of the new reporting overnight, The Times reports that Eastman was saying what he believed to be happening within the Supreme Court. He was telling people he knew what was happening in the Supreme Court with regards to one possible case. What are the implications of that?"

"Well, I mean, the first thing to understand, of course, is that we're only putting things out there that we understand to be evidence," said Raskin. "And so if there is evidence that he said that, we will report that he said that. That doesn't necessarily mean it's true. He could have been lying about what he knew on the inside. On the other hand, perhaps he had some back channel connection to the Supreme Court, and we want to ferret that out if that's true, to determine whether the same people who established a back channel to the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, the Three Percenters, the domestic violent extremist movement, had a back channel also to the Supreme Court of the United States of America."

"I'm sorry — who was in Trump world establishing a back channel to the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers?" asked Berman.

"Well, all of that is to come soon," said Raskin. "This is actually the hearing that I'm working on, is about the relationship between this whole effort and the domestic violent extremist groups, and how the mob was actually mobilized and put into action."

Watch below:

[Rick Plant]

January 6 Hearings Build Case for a Trump-Eastman Criminal Conspiracy
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/06/jan-6-hearings-make-case-for-trump-criminal-conspiracy.html

[Rick Plant]

Jan. 6 gallows take center stage at hearing as select committee documents Trump’s threats against Pence



The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol focused on threats to Mike Pence as Donald Trump sought to overturn the 2020 election during Thursday's public hearings.

"Hours after President Donald J. Trump announced a “wild” rally in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, his supporters began discussing building a gallows in front of the Capitol," The New York Times reported. "Days later, a second user posted a diagram describing the cuts of lumber and rope that would be needed to erect a gallows and fashion a noose. A lengthy planning discussion ensued. A third posted a manual on how to tie a hangman’s knot."

Trump used rally speeches and Twitter to exert intense pressure on Pence to abuse his position as president of the Senate to reject the election results as they were being ratified on January 6.

During his "Stop the Steal" rally ahead of the joint session of the House and Senate to ratify the election, Trump mentioned Pence numerous times as he told his supporters to march on the Capitol and "fight like hell."

But Pence wrote to Congress that the Founding Fathers never intended the vice president to have "unilateral authority" to overturn election counts, adding that "no vice president in American history has ever asserted such authority."

The mob whipped up by Trump threatened to hang Pence for failing to cooperate as they stormed the Capitol, and even erected a gallows in front of the building.

Committee member Pete Aguilar, a Democrat from California, played video of the gallows during his opening statement.

"A striking array of far-right iconography littered the Capitol during the riot by Mr. Trump’s supporters, such as a Confederate flag, Crusader crosses, an Auschwitz-themed hoodie and 'white power' hand gestures. But the gallows erected in front of the Capitol, where rioters chanted 'Hang Mike Pence' as they stormed the building looking for the vice president, is one of the most chilling images to emerge from of a day of violence and extremism," The New York Times reported. "It is also one of the bigger unsolved mysteries in the investigation into what happened that day. Seventeen months after the riot, little is known about it. No one has publicly claimed responsibility for erecting the gallows or been charged with setting it up."

"The imagery, said experts who study domestic extremism, evokes the early practice of hanging traitors; the nation’s dark history of lynchings and violent attempts to terrorize Black Americans; and a novel favored by white supremacists that culminates in the mass hangings of political enemies," the newspaper reported. "Above all, they said, it is intended to instill fear."

Cheney said last week that when the subject of the "hang Mike Pence" chants came up at the White House, Trump responded: "Maybe our supporters have the right idea" and that Pence "deserves" it.

ABC News correspondent Katherine Faulders reports her sources say Trump and Pence have not spoken since last summer.

Watch below: