Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

Mike Lee and Chip Roy are seditionists.

REVEALED: GOP lawmakers texted Mark Meadows constantly working to overturn Trump election loss

Two Republican lawmakers -- Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) -- exchanged more than 100 text messages with then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows aggressively pushing strategies to overturn Donald Trump's election loss.

The newly revealed texts show Lee and Roy pushed hard to challenge the former president's election loss through November but grew increasingly concerned about the tactics proposed by Trump's outside allies -- which Roy feared by the first day of 2021 was "driving a stake in the heart of the federal republic," reported CNN.

"The president should call everyone off," Roy texted to Meadows on Dec. 31, 2020. "It's the only path. If we substitute the will of states through electors with a vote by congress every 4 years... we have destroyed the electoral college... Respectfully."

But as early as Nov. 7, 2020, the day Joe Biden was projected as the election winner, both GOP lawmakers were fully on board with challenging the results, with Lee offering his "unequivocal support."

"This fight is about the fundamental fairness and integrity of our election system," Lee texted Meadows. "The nation is depending upon your continued resolve. Stay strong and keep fighting Mr. President."

Roy was even more enthusiastic.

"We need ammo. We need fraud examples. We need it this weekend," Roy texted on Nov. 7, 2020.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/15/politics/mike-lee-chip-roy-text-messages-jan-6-mark-meadows-overturn-election/index.html


GOP's Mike Lee pushed hard to connect Trump to Sidney Powell — and then she started talking



Newly revealed text messages show Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) were deeply involved in Donald Trump's efforts to challenge his election loss, until they got cold feet, and helped push attorney Sidney Powell into the president's orbit.

Lee lobbied then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to grant Powell access to the former president over a few days in mid-November 2020, starting the day that Joe Biden was projected as the election winner, reported CNN.

"Sydney Powell is saying that she needs to get in to see the president, but she's being kept away from him," Lee texted to Meadows on Nov. 7, 2020. "Apparently she has a strategy to keep things alive and put several states back in play. Can you help get her in?"

The Utah Republican passed along Powell's cell phone number and email address, and two days later followed up and praised the right-wing attorney as a "straight shooter."

However, that same day Roy expressed concerns about Trump's claims of fraud, saying the former president was close to crossing the line.

"We must urge the President to tone down the rhetoric," Roy texted Meadows on Nov. 9, "and approach the legal challenge firmly, intelligently and effectively without resorting to throwing wild desperate haymakers or whipping his base into a conspiracy frenzy."

By Nov. 19, 2020, the day of Powell's infamous news conference with Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis making wild claims of election influence by Venezuela and billionaire George Soros, the two lawmakers expressed concerns about the operation -- and the possibility of legal risk for the president.

"Hey brother - we need substance or people are going to break," Roy texted Meadows a few hours after the widely mocked news conference.

Lee agreed, telling Meadows two hours later that he was "worried" about what he had just witnessed, "Unless Powell can back up everything she said, which I kind of doubt she can."

Meadows agreed, saying he was "very concerned," and both Lee and Roy moved away from Powell's efforts and started promoting right-wing attorney John Eastman, who then authored a memo laying out a plan to disrupt the Jan. 6, 2021, congressional certification of the election that a judge recently described as a "coup" attempt.

"Have you talked to John Eastman?" Roy texted on Nov. 22, 2021. "Get Eastman to file in front of [Pennsylvania] board of elections ... Get data in front of public domain ... Frigging Rudy needs to hush."

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/15/politics/mike-lee-chip-roy-text-messages-jan-6-mark-meadows-overturn-election/index.html

[Rick Plant]

Mark Meadows is 'racking up' crimes: GOP strategist says Trump's White House felt rules didn't apply to them

Republican political strategist Susan Del Percio noted that it seems former Rep. Mark Meadows (R-?) is "racking up" the crimes as questions are raised about charges around his voter fraud. Meadows was a former congressman for North Carolina but moved to Virginia when he left the House and went to work for former President Donald Trump.

After a discussion about the Republican Party's "less desirable" candidates that are far right-extremists or not-ready-for-prime-time Republicans, GOP political strategist turned to address Meadows' troubles with the law. Meadows was using a mobile home in North Carolina as his address, but he never lived there and, it's possible, never even visited.

This week the North Carolina Board of Elections voted to expel Meadows from the voter rolls since he didn't live there and currently lives in Virginia.

"That leaves open the question of whether Mark Meadows misrepresented his domicile in 2020, a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison and whether he committed voter fraud in the 2020 election," said host Aymon Moheldin.

"It's disgraceful," said Del Percio. "It's an embarrassment. I do wonder if he is guilty of that and then you add the pending referral to DOJ about refusing to appear before Congress and ignoring the subpoena. That's another criminal charge. It seems like Mark Meadows is just kind of racking them up right now. But most of all, it shows that there is no way that Mark Meadows or the Donald Trump administration felt the rules applied to them. And that's what -- that is the clear intent here."

Moheldin also mentioned the two people in The Villages, a Florida retirement community, who confessed to voter fraud. One is a confirmed Trump supporter. For a party that seems to be passing a lot of laws to stop voter fraud, Moheldin said that none of them seem to be coming out to denounce actions of voter fraud by their own people.

"That's right, because the Republicans have been in support — both at the federal and at the state legislative level — in support of legislation and litigation claiming that voter fraud exists and largely exists on the Democratic side, right?" said Alaina Beverly, former Urban Affairs aide for President Barack Obama. "So, the Brennan Center recently came out with a really stark report that explains the connection between these claims of voter fraud that did not exist on largely the Democratic side, right, saying that voter fraud did not exist. But we saw a whole raft of litigation coming out of the election in 2020 based on those -- those failed voter fraud claims. and then all of those [lawsits] and all those claims were codified into legislation. So, that's why we're seeing voter suppression proliferate across the country."

See the full conversation below:

[Rick Plant]

Jan. 6 panel has enough evidence to refer Trump for criminal charges, Cheney says
“It’s absolutely clear that what President Trump was doing — what a number of people around him were doing — that they knew it was unlawful. They did it anyway,” said the vice chair of the committee.

The House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol has enough evidence to refer former President Donald Trump for criminal charges, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said Sunday.

“It’s absolutely clear that what President Trump was doing — what a number of people around him were doing — that they knew it was unlawful. They did it anyway,” Cheney, the vice chair and one of two Republicans on the committee, said on CNN's "State of the Union" when host Jake Tapper asked her whether the panel had enough evidence to make a criminal referral for Trump. Cheney said the panel has not made a decision about moving forward with the referral.

The New York Times reported that the committee has concluded that it has enough evidence to make a criminal referral but that its leaders were divided over whether to do so.

"I think what we have seen is a massive and well-organized and well-planned effort that used multiple tools to try to overturn an election," Cheney said. The committee has "got a tremendous amount of testimony and documents that I think very, very clearly demonstrate the extent of the planning and the organization and the objective."

She added: "The objective was absolutely to try to stop the kind of electoral votes, to try to interfere with that official proceeding. And it’s absolutely clear that they knew what they were doing was wrong."

She referred to a ruling in a civil suit involving the committee last month, in which a federal judge found that based on evidence, Trump most likely "attempted to obstruct the joint session of Congress" on the day of the attack, which would be a crime.

“The illegality of the plan was obvious,” U.S. District Judge David Carter wrote of Trump and lawyer John Eastman’s plan to have then-Vice President Mike Pence determine the results of the 2020 election. “Every American — and certainly the president of the United States — knows that in a democracy, leaders are elected, not installed. With a plan this ‘BOLD,’ President Trump knowingly tried to subvert this fundamental principle."

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/jan-6-panel-enough-evidence-refer-trump-criminal-charges-cheney-says-rcna23778

[Rick Plant]

‘Blacks for Trump’ founder has links to Florida ‘Boss Mansion’ where man shot dead

MIAMI — A North Miami-Dade home where a man was shot dead and three others were wounded on Easter Sunday night is owned by a religious organization whose colorful and controversial president also founded the group, “Blacks for Trump.”

Maurice Symonette — a sign-waving fixture often seen behind former president Donald Trump during televised campaign rallies and a former member of notorious Miami cult — has been inviting young people to a 5-acre property dubbed the “Boss Mansion” for more than two decades for monthly parties he told the Miami Herald are intended to promote racial harmony. Neighbors have differing views, complaining of noise and trash in the adjacent waterway.

Reached Monday, Symonette, 62, said there wasn’t supposed to be a party on Easter Sunday and that it apparently happened a few hours after he had told some stragglers to leave. He said he later left himself and wasn’t there when police said the shooting erupted after a fight between two men.

Symonette said it was the first time someone had been killed on the sprawling waterfront property west of the Golden Glades interchange, where he said he lives off-and-on with about three other people.

“I think there were shots before,” he said. “But this is not a hoochie-mamma party. We usually have it once a week or once a month. I’m just trying to stop the race war by bringing people together.”

Symonette most recently made national headlines after Trump announced he was running for president when he created the group “Blacks for Trump.” He was often seen carrying that sign that in a prominent spot during Trump’s televised rallies.

Symonette, 62, born Michael Woodside, also is a controversial figure tied to one of Miami’s most notorious scandals. He — along with his brother — is a former member of the Yahweh ben Yahweh cult, who was charged with conspiring in a pair of murders and later acquitted. The group’s founder, Hulon Mitchell Jr., was sent to prison in 1991 for decades after murder convictions, including one in which a man was decapitated in the Everglades.

Woodside said he reinvented himself after the trial, changing his name to Symonette, which belonged to his father and working as a musician and radio host. He also began calling himself “Michael The Blackman.” Symonette, who often preached anti-gay and conservative messages, began making a name for himself while bashing then-President Barack Obama.

His LinkedIn page now claims many other political connections and says he is a radio show host who has appeared on Sean Hannity's and Glenn Beck’s programs.

The page includes a picture with Florida Sen. Rick Scott. And it claims he partnered in the past with Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado’s “City of Miami Homeless Veteran’s Task Force.” Regalado said Monday he had no recollection of Symonette but the mayor’s former head of veteran affairs said Symonette did help with veterans.

In the past he’s come out in support of former U.S. senator and conservative political commentator Rick Santorum and he’s been videotaped with his arm around convicted Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio during a failed run for the Senate, when the two were at the border.

According to police and witnesses, there were a few dozen people at the home when a fight between two men broke out the South River Drive home late in the evening. Miami-Dade Police, who hadn’t arrested anyone or named any victims by Monday, said someone started firing and both men, one 22, the other 24, were shot.

The 22-year-old was hit in the chest and died at the hospital, according to police. The 24-year-old was hit in the buttocks and survived. Also, a mother and her 14-year-old son who she was picking up, were grazed by shrapnel, police said. Their injuries are non-life-threatening.

“We don’t know who shot the gun,” said Miami-Dade Police Spokesman Argemis Colome.

Facebook and Instagram, which refer to the Northwest Miami-Dade property as “Boss Mansion,” call it a performance and event venue. Miami-Dade property records, which shows Boss Group Ministries purchased the home in 2014, says it has five bedrooms, a pool, and a tennis court.

The tract is owned by tax-exempt Boss Group Ministries, according to state records, which also list Symonette is its president. His Linked In profile said he has been holding the “Free Jet Ski/Mansion Party” for more than two decades. A March Instagram post by “BossMansion305” to its almost 11,000 followers also says the owners have “Vice City” parties on the property every Sunday, with music, food trucks, artist showcases, twerking contests and personal watercraft and boat rentals. On April 10, it promoted a spring break unsigned artist showcase and pool party.

Apparently, along with the parties, have come complaints. Though police initially said they don’t know of any previous problems at the property, neighbors claim to have been voicing concerns about the noise and the mess left behind for years.

Emails received by the Herald on Monday purport to show a series of 311 calls to Miami-Dade late last year, with fed up neighbors complaining about trashed waterways, crowds of people and noise.

“We have sent emails, reported them to the police, to the county and nothing has ever been done about this. These parties on both of these houses go on every weekend. They have armed security guards every weekend intimidating the neighbors,” wrote “the neighbors of Biscayne Gardens,” who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation.

On Monday, after Symonette said he was gone from the home for about two hours when the shooting happened, he began rambling about the possibility of a conspiracy and how he had to verify that someone actually died. He also said he often sees police parked just a few blocks from his home.

“A detective was there in less than two minutes. How? Now it makes me wonder: Is this some kind of a setup? I mean I believe someone was killed, but now I have to verify it,” he said.

© Miami Herald

[Rick Plant]

‘America’s Hitler’: Trump-backed candidate sent shocking texts about the former president – according to his roommate



Senate hopeful J.D. Vance won Donald Trump's endorsement in a tight Ohio Republican primary, but six years ago he compared the former reality TV star to Adolf Hitler.

The venture capitalist and "Hillbilly Elegy" author deleted his Trump criticism from his Twitter feed before announcing his Senate campaign, but his former Yale Law School roommate revealed that Vance worried about Trump's rise during the 2016 presidential campaign.

"But I'm not surprised by Trump's rise, and I think the entire party has only itself to blame," Vance texted, according to his former roommate, state Rep. Josh McLaurin (D-Georgia). "We are, whether we like it or not, the party of lower-income, lower-education white people, and I have been saying for a long time that we need to offer those people SOMETHING (and hell, maybe even expand our appeal to working class black people) or a demagogue would. We are now at that point."

"Trump is the fruit of the party's collective neglect," Vance said, according to McLaurin. "I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical a**h*le like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he’s America’s Hitler. How's that for discouraging?"

McLaurin explained why he came forward with the screenshot of Vance's alleged comments.

"The screenshot below is @JDVance1’s unfiltered explanation from 2016 of the breakdown in Republican politics that he now personally is trying to exploit," McLaurin said. "The 'America’s Hitler' bit is at the end. The public deserves to know the magnitude of this guy’s bad faith."

https://www.rawstory.com/jd-vance-trump-2657172389/

[Rick Plant]

Jared Kushner boasts of connections with Russians and Saudis in leaked pitch to investors



Former Trump official Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former President Donald Trump, is using his past work in the White House as an asset for investors in his new Affinity Partners investment fund.

The Intercept has obtained a slide deck from Affinity Partners that pitches Kushner's experience cutting deals with the governments of Russia and Saudi Arabia as something that should give investors confidence that their money will be well spent.

In particular, the slide deck touts Kushner's role in negotiating an oil production cut with those two nations in the spring of 2020 in a bid to stabilize rapidly collapsing oil prices at the start of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

"Affinity’s unique network and experience makes us a differentiated partner for companies navigating the rapidly evolving global political and economic environment," reads one slide obtained by The Intercept.

Kushner has come under scrutiny after the Saudi government invested $2 billion with Affinity Partners, despite the fact that a panel screening the prospective investment warned that Kushner did not have sufficient experience in this particular field.

A Kushner spokesperson defended his dealings with the Saudis in an email sent to The Intercept.

"Jared’s track record in government was unprecedented," the spokesperson said. "His leadership and efforts led to the historic Abraham Accords, the [U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement] which was the largest trade deal in history, life changing criminal justice reform, Operation Warp Speed among many other achievements."

Read more here: https://theintercept.com/2022/04/18/saudi-russia-jared-kushner-affinity-partners/

[Rick Plant]

Trump's 'decertification' push is 'the clearest and most present danger to democracy': Conservative lawyer



Donald Trump and his allies are still pushing to "decertify" the 2020 presidential election, despite the fact that the Constitution has no mechanism for performing such an action.

In an interview with the New York Times, conservative attorney and former appeals court judge J. Michael Lutig warned about the threat posed by Trump's continuing efforts to nullify the results of the 2020 election.

“At the moment, there is no other way to say it: This is the clearest and most present danger to our democracy," he said. "Trump and his supporters in Congress and in the states are preparing now to lay the groundwork to overturn the election in 2024 were Trump, or his designee, to lose the vote for the presidency."

Even though Trump has been out of the White House for more than a year now, that hasn't stopped him and his allies from trying to get him reinstalled as president.

Just last month, pro-Trump attorney John Eastman went to Wisconsin to push for state lawmakers to declare that the 2020 election in the state had been unlawfully decided.

And Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) said recently that Trump decided to withdraw the endorsement of his Senate candidacy because he would not publicly call on officials to "rescind" the 2020 election.

Read more here: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/18/us/politics/trump-allies-election-decertify.html

[Rick Plant]

MAGA PAC once again shoveling campaign cash into Trump's legal bills



Donald Trump's campaign committee reported campaign losses for the third straight quarter after paying about $1.1 million in the former president's legal fees.

Campaign finance disclosures show Make America Great Again PAC lost $1.2 million at the start of 2022, with more than 40 percent of its $2.6 million in total expenses going to lawyers, and the committee's cash on hand dropped from $6.66 million at the end of 2021 to around $5.47 million at the end of March, reported The Daily Beast.

The MAGA PAC paid off the bulk of Trump's legal costs in the first half of 2021, spending $7.8 million of the $8 million total spent on lawyers' fees, although those payouts dropped late last year after the Republican National Committee agreed to pay up to $1.6 million in legal expenses related to investigations into his business practices.

But those payouts spiked again in the first quarter of 2022, with $410,000 to election challenger Jesse Binnall's firm, which also subcontracts with other lawyers around the country whose names aren't listed on the campaign finance reports.

Binnall's firm, its local subcontractors and Elections LLC, a joint venture between three former top campaign aides, soaked up more than half of Trump's legal costs in the quarter.

The rest of the PAC's expense report showed a $1.17 million in payments to a Delaware-based company called 2M Document Management and Imaging, LLC, for “research consulting," after it was paid $1.6 million by the MAGA PAC last year.

Read more here: https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trumps-pac-keeps-losing-money-his-lawyers-keep-cashing-in