1/6 Insurrection Investigation

[Rick Plant]

NEW: Justice Dept to seek 5-years prison in Capitol riot case of Robert Gieswein, arguing he committed *five* assaults on police, including with chem. spray.

Feds say amid riot, "Gieswein told an interviewer that the solution to “this right here” was to “execute these fascists".

[Rick Plant]

Jan. 6 Capitol riot "poster boy" Doug Jensen sentenced to 5 years in prison

An Iowa man prosecutors called the "poster boy of the Insurrection" has been sentenced to 5 years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6 attack. Doug Jensen was seen on video confronting a Capitol Police officer and was convicted on five felony counts. CBS News congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane joins anchors Elaine Quijano and Michelle Miller with the latest.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Plea hearing is scheduled for July 20 in US Capitol riot case of Joshua Portlock of Tennessee.

He's accused of assaulting/resisting police & using large piece of plywood against police. This image is from charging documents.

[Rick Plant]

Jan. 6 indictment for Trump 'is coming' former Jan. 6 select committee lead investigator says

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Bill Kristol @BillKristol

Bill Barr this morning on Face the Nation agrees with @rgoodlaw: DOJ Trump Jan. 6 indictment likely this summer.

"I think it’s very likely the special counsel indicts [Trump] on January 6th this summer...I think he’s going to indict Trump for the false slate of electors scheme, and quite probably possibly the pressure campaign against Mike Pence…"

Watch or listen: https://twitter.com/i/status/1670041720749273091
https://conversationswithbillkristol.org/video/ryan-goodman/

https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1670480519673282564

[Rick Plant]

Jan. 6 rioter who assaulted cop, threatened Pelosi and Pence convicted of all charges



An Oregon man who was seen picking up a phone inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and shouting threats against then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence has been convicted of almost a dozen charges.

Richard L. Harris, 42, was found guilty Wednesday following a three-day bench trial. According to prosecutors, he was among the first in the crowd of Donald Trump supporters who violently breached the Capitol building as Congress was certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral win, having forced his way to the front of the crowd despite having been hit with chemical spray by police trying to keep the mob at bay.

Once inside, he was seen on video “menacing Capitol Police officers from the front of a large crowd, resulting in the officers moving aside so that Harris and the crowd could continue into the building.”

Video also recorded Harris picking up a landline phone in the Capitol Rotunda and demanding to speak with Pelosi, a Democrat and then-leader of the House of Representatives, and Pence, who was overseeing the certification process — both of whom were repeatedly targeted with vile, violent threats that day.

“Can I speak to Pelosi? We’re coming, b—-,” Harris said. “Oh, Mike Pence? We’re coming for you, too, you f—— traitor.”

Video from inside the Rotunda also showed Harris “physically assaulting a Metropolitan Police Department officer” by grabbing the officer’s baton and pulling it.

Harris was ultimately forced out by police after spending almost 90 minutes inside the building.

Video footage also shows Harris standing on a statue of former President Gerald Ford in the Capitol Rotunda, upon which a Trump flag and red baseball cap had been improperly placed.

Harris was arrested in Florida in March 2021. Prosecutors say that he had fled his home state of Oregon — where he allegedly tried to break into the state capitol building in December 2020, assaulting a journalist in the process — in order to evade post-Jan. 6 arrest by federal authorities.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, convicted Harris of all charges, including obstruction of an official proceeding, civil disorder, assaulting a police officer, and various trespassing and disorderly conduct crimes.

Harris faces a potential 20 years behind bars on the most severe charge of obstruction. Sentencing has been set for Sept. 27.

https://lawandcrime.com/u-s-capitol-breach/were-coming-b-jan-6-rioter-who-assaulted-cop-threatened-pelosi-and-pence-convicted-of-all-charges/

[Rick Plant]

Capitol rioter who was armed with gun on Jan. 6 found guilty on all charges

Christopher Alberts had a gun on his hip when he charged up the stairs of the Capitol on Jan. 6, and he later yelled at police officers before he was arrested.



WASHINGTON — A Jan. 6 rioter who admitted he was armed with a concealed gun during the attack on the U.S. Capitol was found guilty Wednesday of all nine charges he faced.

Christopher Alberts, of Maryland, was arrested with a weapon on the night of Jan. 6, 2021, after having spent several hours on the Capitol grounds. He was wearing a gas mask and a protective vest and had a backpack containing ready-to-eat meals and other materials, including bungee cords.

After the verdict was read, Justice Department prosecutors sought to take Alberts into custody and keep him detained until his sentencing, which is scheduled for July 19. But U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper said he would allow Alberts to remain on pretrial release until then.

Alberts assured Cooper after his conviction that he would show up for his sentencing date.

The convictions could lead to more than five years in prison for Alberts, prosecutors said.

Alberts was accompanied by his fiancée in the courtroom Wednesday. Both appeared shocked when the verdict was read.

Alberts and one of his attorneys, John Pierce, declined to comment on the verdict.

In his testimony, Alberts said that “instinct took over” when he used a wooden pallet to “build a wall” between police and the rioters. He maintained that police used excessive force after thousands of Trump supporters entered the restricted grounds of the Capitol and began climbing the platform that had been set up for Joe Biden's inauguration.

“Somebody had to put a stop to it,” Alberts said. “It was wrong.”

Before he charged the police line, evidence showed Alberts assisted in keeping a pathway clear so that authorities could get another Jan. 6 rioter who needed medical assistance to safety.

On cross-examination, Alberts admitted that he called police "domestic terrorists," yelled "y'all wanted war, you asked for it, you got it," and threw a water bottle at police officers' feet.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/capitol-rioter-armed-gun-jan-6-found-guilty-charges-rcna80387

[Rick Plant]

GOP leadership still 'flirting' with Jan. 6 extremists



Republicans with an eye on the 2024 general election don't want to talk about the Jan 6th insurrection over fears that it will cripple their chances of retaking the White House and the Senate, but that doesn't mean that they are shunning far-right extremists who are still pushing conspiracy theories that it was instigated by the "deep state."

According to a report from Politico's Jordain Carney and Kyle Cheney, some GOP members of the House -- including some members of the leadership -- continue to pander to voters who believe the riot that sent lawmakers fleeing for their lives was a righteous cause.

According to the report, "At times, GOP lawmakers insist they’re uninterested in relitigating an attack that is political poison for the party outside of deep-red areas. But at other times, some Republicans have stoked narratives that falsely pin blame for the attack on police, Democrats or far-left agitators — or downplay the violence at the Capitol. The latter approach has seen a noticeable uptick of late."

The report notes that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) "encapsulates the half-hearted embrace. He angered some allies on the right this year by defending a Capitol Police officer’s decision to shoot a Jan. 6 rioter who was attempting to breach a room adjacent to the House chamber. But he’s also provided exclusive access to thousands of hours of security footage to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who’s used the film to demean and distort police officers’ actions."

Add to that, House Judiciary chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) has been focusing on Jan. 6 issues when he isn't holding hearings on the "weaponization" of the Department of Justice.

"Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) did recently release a wider report that accused the FBI of artificially conflating the number of Jan. 6-related investigations. The report and a subsequent hearing also included testimony from whistleblowers who lost their security clearances due to improper actions related to Jan. 6," Politico is reporting.

The report added, "Jordan also fired off new Jan. 6-related letters, one asking for more information on the FBI’s investigation into pipe bombs found near the Capitol the day of the attack and another expanding a probe into record-sharing with federal investigators. But those efforts make up a small slice of his collective, sweeping investigations."

Read More Here: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/18/house-gop-jan-6-extremism-00101259