1/6 Insurrection Investigation

[Rick Plant]

Lauren Boebert needs to be subpoenaed to explain her 'violent revolution' Jan 6th tweets: MSNBC contributor



During an MSNBC "The Sunday Show" panel on the chaos being created by far-right Republican Party lawmakers, SiriusXM radio host and political commentator Dean Obeidallah suggested it is about time the House committee investigating the Jan. 6th Capitol riot to subpoena Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and grill her over her suspicious tweets she made that day.

With host Jonathan Capehart wondering who is next to be subpoenaed, Obeidallah immediately mentioned the controversial Boebert who is currently under fire for inflammatory comments she made about Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN).

"I think you're going to see some," the radio host began. "I think it's really important that the DOJ has indicted Steve Bannon. It sends a very clear message we're not playing games. This is a congressional subpoena and you're going to go to jail potentially if you don't comply with it."

"I hope Congress will consider subpoenaing Lauren Boebart," he continued before quoting one tweet from the Republican on Jan 6th that stated, "Today is 1776."

"1776, that's code for violent revolution to overthrow the government so Trump can stay in power," he explained. "I hope that Congress doesn't stop with just some of the Proud Boys which they are subpoenaing and the Oath Keepers. But Lauren Boebart, she tweeted 'Today is 1776' when she knew that was code for violent revolution for those on the right. I want that answer."

Watch below:

[Rick Plant]

'This is not going well for Bannon': MSNBC legal analyst says Trump ally on track for stinging defeat

Former Solicitor General Neal Katyal explained that Trump ally Steve Bannon is going to be highly unsuccessful in his efforts to beat criminal contempt charges.

In a Sunday filing by the Justice Department, prosecutors said Bannon's attorney, Evan Corcoran, refused their attempts to negotiate on some kind of agreement. According to the 10-page filing, the prosecutors alleged Bannon's lawyers were using their filing as a press release instead of a legal filing.

"The prosecutors called Steve Bannon's filing frivolous, so Bannon claimed that he wanted to make certain documents public and the Justice Department wasn't letting him," said Katyal. "And the Justice Department's response today was to call it frivolous and basically say, 'Oh, no, you didn't!' They point out that Bannon never even asked the Justice Department to try and make these documents public, and so this dispute is not going to go well for Bannon. Judges don't like it when parties can't work out stuff among themselves... and that's particularly true here, given Bannon's specific claim."

At its heart, Katyal said that Bannon is complaining that he can't publicly discuss certain documents.

"I have a very easy suggestion for him if he's worried about that: Testify," he continued. "This guy is afraid to go and tell the truth about what happened under oath, and that's what all of these legal skirmishes are about. That's the part that's frivolous. So, I think he's going to lose these claims and it's going to embolden the House investigators."

See the full conversation below:

[Rick Plant]

Jan 6 committee to vote on a criminal referral of Trump DOJ official Jeffrey Clark

The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol has announced it will vote on holding Trump-era Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark.

"According to a report released last week by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, there is credible evidence that, while serving as an official at the Department of Justice, Mr. Clark was involved in efforts to interrupt the peaceful transfer of power. Mr. Clark proposed delivery of a letter to state legislators in Georgia and others encouraging to delay certification of election results. Moreover, he recommended holding a press conference announcing that the Department was investigating allegations of voter fraud despite the lack of evidence that such fraud was present. Both proposals were rejected by Department senior leadership for lacking a factual basis and being inconsistent with the Department’s institutional role," the committee announced on October 13.

https://www.rawstory.com/jeffrey-clrk/

[Rick Plant]

Jan 6 committee has interviewed over 250 people: Congressman

Rep. Pet Aguilar (D-CA) revealed that over 250 witnesses were interviewed, so far, by the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.

Speaking to MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Monday, Aguilar explained that people like Steve Bannon, Jeffrey Clark, and former Donald Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows are outliers in those willing to come forward and speak to the committee.

"We've said all along we want to tell the full and complete story, and in order to do that we're going to need documents and interviews," said Aguilar. "So, clearly that is what's helpful about the document requests and national archives request. We're pleased with the timeline the court is addressing this, and Doug Letter and the team here will be arguing that before the Court of Appeals tomorrow. So, we're excited to move to that next step, but it's helpful and important to the work that we need to have those documents."

Maddow asked about those few members of the Trump inner circle who have refused to testify and what the next steps will be for those people.

"Mr. Clark is in a small group that has continued to stonewall us," Aguilar said of the former Justice Department deputy who penned a kind of guide to justify Vice President Mike Pence refusing to certify the 2020 election. "He has not produced any documents. He came to the deposition but refused to answer questions and exerted both executive privilege and attorney-client privilege, which is a little confusing. And so we're going to proceed, and so that's what the business committee meeting on Wednesday evening will be about is referral of the criminal contempt. We feel that he has shown just an unwillingness to come forward and to testify, and we feel that over 250 people have come before us and given -- submitted interviews and this should be no different, including his two superiors at the time, acting Attorney General [Jeff] Rosen and Deputy Attorney General [Richard] Donahue, so we've received a lot of information."

He went on to note that the Senate Judiciary Committee report detailed Clark's attempts to delegitimize the election and that he should be willing to talk to them as well.

See the video below:

[Rick Plant]

MAGA rioter who talked of desire to commit 'assassination' hit with conspiracy charges



A Capitol rioter who is already facing serious charges for Tasering Capitol Police Officer Michael Fanone was hit with new conspiracy charges on Monday.

As reported by NBC 4 Washington's Scott MacFarlane, federal prosecutors alleged in a superseding indictment unsealed Monday that an unidentified witness has told a grand jury that MAGA rioter Daniel Rodriguez told them that he would "assassinate Joe Biden" if he had the opportunity and would "rather die than live under a Biden administration."

Federal prosecutors go on to accuse Rodriguez and other defendants of engaging in a conspiracy whose goal was to "stop, delay, and hinder Congress's Certification of the Electoral College vote" and then to "corruptly alter, destroy, mutilate, and conceal a record, document, or other object to prevent evidence of their unlawful acts on January 6, 2021 from being used in an official proceeding, that is, the grand jury investigation into the attack of the Capitol on January 6, 2021."

READ MORE: Ex-Trump official warns former colleagues that they're defying the Capitol riot probe at their own peril

Rodriguez was arrested this past spring after being identified as the Capitol rioter who Tasered Michael Fanone.

In an interview with the FBI, Rodriguez claimed that he Tasered Fanone in order to "protect" him from other Capitol rioters whom he claimed would have hurt him even worse.

Read the full indictment here (PDF).

https://www.rawstory.com/capitol-riot-conspiracy-charges/


Ex-Trump official warns former colleagues that they're defying the Capitol riot probe at their own peril

Speaking to MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace on Monday, former Trump official Miles Taylor warned his one-time colleagues against defying the Capitol riot committee -- and especially singled out former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark, whom he said was attempting to use his position at the DOJ to justify a coup d'etat.

"Jeffrey Clark was stirring up the department to turn against the government it was set up to serve," Wallace agreed. "He was plotting a coup and putting together the pieces, including overturning the result of an election. Do you think someone like Clark should be retaining lawyers for other legal issues he may face?"

Taylor said he hoped that Clark was smart enough to hire a top legal team, but what he's seen from most of the former Trump advisers is that they're doubling down on being defiant, even though the Jan. 6 committee has proved that it isn't messing around, he said.

"I mean, they are taking the subjects to the mat and making sure that the law is enforced," said Taylor. "Congress's ability to subpoena someone and interview them is one of its most crucial oversight powers. If that oversight power is undermined, it fundamentally undermines the checks and balances. And whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, you shouldn't want that to be the case. People like Steve Bannon, Mark Meadows, Jeffrey Clark — they are going to pull every legal trick in the book to prevent their cases from going forward. That's their right. Everyone in this country gets due process."

He went on to call for "rational Republicans" willing to fight for America.

Wallace pushed back, saying that she doesn't believe there are many of those left.

"The disinformation has already permeated and rotted to its base from its roots -- the grassroots, literally, of the party, all way to its highest leaders, Kevin McCarthy. I think, if — you talk about decent Republicans, I count two," she said. "Only two! We started with Adam Kinzinger. The right has already predetermined what they are going to do about this."

Taylor agreed, saying that the Republican Party looks like "The Walking Dead" at this point.

Former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) said that she is worried at how slow the Justice Department is going when it comes to people at the highest levels of power who attempted to overturn the election and unmake American democracy simply because they didn't like the result.

"My message to the Department of Justice is 'Get on it!'" she exclaimed. "Do not act like feds here. Act like state prosecutors. Go fast! Do not take the time -- don't give the other side a month to answer a pleading. Go to the judges. We saw this Supreme Court go quickly when they wanted to hear the Texas case."

See the full discussion below:

[Rick Plant]

Former top Trump aide Mark Meadows is cooperating with the Jan. 6 committee



Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows is cooperating with the committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, CNN reports.

"Mr. Meadows has been engaging with the Select Committee through his attorney," Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said in a statement. "He has produced records to the committee and will soon appear for an initial deposition. The Select Committee expects all witnesses, including Mr. Meadows, to provide all information requested and that the Select Committee is lawfully entitled to receive. The Committee will continue to assess his degree of compliance with our subpoena after the deposition."

Speaking to CNN, Meadow's lawyer George Terwilliger said that Democrats and Republicans have reached an understanding on the exchange of information moving forward.

"As we have from the beginning, we continue to work with the Select Committee and its staff to see if we can reach an accommodation that does not require Mr. Meadows to waive Executive Privilege or to forfeit the long-standing position that senior White House aides cannot be compelled to testify before Congress," Terwilliger said. "We appreciate the Select Committee's openness to receiving voluntary responses on non-privileged topics."

While Meadow's cooperation is welcome news, the extent of his cooperation remains to be seen.

"It's not incorrect to say he has cooperated to some extent, but he hasn't completely fulfilled his obligation and we need to see what happens. But Meadows doesn't want to be held in contempt," a source told CNN.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/30/politics/mark-meadows-january-6-committee/index.html

[Rick Plant]

Mark Meadows will testify before Capitol riot committee next week: Liz Cheney
https://www.rawstory.com/mark-meadows-capitol-riot-2655891596/

[Rick Plant]

Adam Schiff is 'skeptical' about the newly cooperative Mark Meadows -- here's why

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) is skeptical of Mark Meadows' cooperation with the House select committee investigating the U.S. Capitol riot.

The former White House chief of staff spent Jan. 6 alongside Donald Trump as the former president's supporters stormed the Capitol to stop the certification of his election loss, and Schiff told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that Meadows could be a key witness for the bipartisan committee -- if he fully cooperates in good faith.

"He is producing documents, I can't speak to the contents yet," Schiff said. "In terms of whether he is cooperating, time will tell when he comes in to be deposed. We'll find out whether this is a gambit or whether he is serious about cooperating with the committee. We don't know. I have to say, I'm a bit skeptical, given his track record, but we are going to find out very soon."

"We think he has a lot to offer the committee, but I think at this point, it is still too early to tell whether this is a legal strategy to avoid being held in criminal contempt or whether we're seeing the road that Steve Bannon is on," he added. "He made a decision to change course. We'll find out when he comes for the deposition. If he tries to assert privilege over things that are not privileged, it is clearly a legal stratagem. We don't think there is any meritorious claim of privilege here, and we have to decide what to do if he makes assertions."

That includes a referral to the Justice Department for contempt of Congress charges.

"We won't take anything off the table," Schiff said.