1/6 Insurrection Investigation

[Rick Plant]

Former Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone to testify to Jan. 6 committee



Pat Cipollone, Donald Trump’s former White House counsel, is scheduled to testify Friday before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Cipollone, whose reported resistance to Trump’s schemes to overturn his 2020 election defeat has made him a long-sought and potentially revelatory witness, was subpoenaed by the select committee last week after weeks of public pressure to provide testimony to the panel.

The person briefed on the matter, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations, said Cipollone agreed to appear before the committee for a private, transcribed interview.

As Trump’s top White House lawyer, Cipollone was in the West Wing on Jan. 6, 2021, as well as for key meetings in the turbulent weeks after the election when Trump and associates — including Republican lawmakers and lawyer Rudy Giuliani — debated and plotted ways to challenge the election.

The agreement for Cipollone to speak to the panel follows last week's dramatic testimony from former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson. The young aide to former chief of staff Mark Meadows provided the committee with a striking account of what she saw and heard in those weeks and presented lawmakers with arguably their clearest case for how Trump or some of his allies could face criminal liability.

Cipollone is said to have stridently and repeatedly warned Trump and his allies against their efforts to challenge the election, threatening to resign as Trump eyed a dramatic reshuffling atop the Justice Department.

One witness said Cipollone referred to a proposed letter making false claims about voter fraud as a “murder-suicide pact.” Another witness said Cipollone had warned her that Trump was at risk of committing “every crime imaginable” if he went to the Capitol on Jan. 6

But while his interview with the committee could prove to be a breakthrough, it remained unclear whether Cipollone would try to limit what he is willing to talk about. As the administration’s chief lawyer, he could argue that some or all of his conversations with Trump are privileged.

https://www.kmbc.com/article/pat-cipollone-agrees-to-testify-to-jan-6-committee/40527775

[Rick Plant]

Judge rejects request by accused OathKeepers seditious conspirators to transfer case from DC to Alexandria, Virginia

Judge order excerpt: "The attitudes of residents of the Alexandria.. are more likely to mirror those of (DC) than those of the Eastern District (Va) as a whole.

[Rick Plant]

High-level Jan 6 defendant Dan Egtvedt asks court to allow his lawyer & investigator "access to several non-public areas of the Capitol building in order to inspect, photograph & videotape these areas for preparation in his defense. These areas are not available to the public..."



Egtvedt's defense argues the surveillance cameras & police body worn cameras might distort perceptions of distance and angles... inside the Capitol.



Feds filed motion with court to reject Egtvedt's request, citing many reasons, including that it'd: "Create a risk to the continued security of the Capitol. The Capitol, which is under the control of the Legislative Branch, is one of the most secure buildings in the country".

[Rick Plant]

GOP candidate for Michigan governor to be arraigned on federal charges in Jan. 6 insurrection



A Republican candidate for Michigan governor will be arraigned on federal charges related to his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Ryan Kelley was arrested June 9 by the FBI on misdemeanor charges and released that afternoon, but he is now being arraigned on federal charges accusing him of violent actions at the U.S. Capitol, reported WDIV-TV.

The 40-year-old Kelley was accused of climbing scaffolding outside the Capitol and repeatedly urging the mob of Donald Trump supporters to enter the building, where Congress was meeting to certify Joe Biden's election win, and engaging in violent activity while on restricted grounds

He's charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, knowingly engaging in any act of physical violence against person or property in any restricted building or grounds, and willfully injuring or committing any depredation against any property of the United States.

Kelley is among five GOP candidates remaining in the Aug. 2 primary after five other candidates were prohibited from running due to insufficient nominating signatures.

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/michigan/2022/07/07/gop-candidate-for-michigan-gov-ryan-kelley-to-be-arraigned-on-federal-jan-6-charges/

[Rick Plant]

Legal expert: Pat Cipollone could deal a massive blow to Trump if he confirms Hutchinson's explosive testimony



On Friday, former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone is scheduled to speak to the House Select Committee investigating the attack on Congress and the attempt to overthrow the election. According to an MSNBC panel discussion, all Cipollone would have to do is confirm what former senior White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson previously told the committee and Donald Trump would be sunk.

"What Cipollone very importantly might or might not provide to them is corroboration of what Cassidy Hutchinson has already said," explained Betsy Woodruff Swan. "Because the committee moved forward on such an unusually short and tight timeline to have Hutchinson's public testimony they didn't take steps that normally investigators would try to take to corroborate some of the most important allegations that she made in that hearing."

She explained that the pressure on Cipollone to testify is "being ratcheted up dramatically because of what Hutchinson herself testified to in that hearing."

If he can corroborate what Hutchinson testified, it would be an "enormous win" for the committee, Woodruff Swan told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace. As a White House counsel, Cipollone was a lawyer to the Office of the President of the United States, and not to former President Donald Trump. So, the assertion that he enjoys attorney-client privilege with Trump is wrong.

Current President Joe Biden, as the existing president, has waived all executive privilege on matters dealing with Jan. 6 and the 2020 election. Cipollone however, like many in Trump World, may be terrified of what could happen to him if he reveals too much. Hutchinson has spent the last several weeks experiencing death threats, the committee revealed. It's one of the reasons her testimony was rushed, members said.

"Remember, everything that Hutchinson said about Cipollone in her testimony, none of it was negative and none of it made it look bad," she continued. "If anything, Cipollone is one of the few number of senior Trump White House administration officials to comb through the entire Jan. 6th process looking like he was very much on team normal. He is someone that the committee clearly sees as a credible and important narrator and that means that whatever he tells them in this transcribed interview that's coming up on Friday is going to carry significant weight."

In contrast, if there are two people, like Cipollone and Hutchinson that contradict one other, that could obviously cause a problem.

"It's actually a high-stakes moment for the committee that has the potential to play a significant role in almost defining the way the rest of the investigation plays out in the coming months," she said.

See the conversation below:

[Rick Plant]

Trump World links to far-right militants and a mysterious intermediary: Here's what you can expect in new J6 hearings



On MSNBC Thursday, New York Times reporter Luke Broadwater outlined the key question that he hopes to see answered in the upcoming House January 6 Committee hearings next week.

In particular, he said, the hearing is likely to fill in new information on links between Trump's inner circle and far-right paramilitary groups that helped pull off the Capitol attack, like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.

"Here's Tuesday's hearing which we think is going to deal, we've been told by the members of the committee, it'll be deal with the links between the extremists and militia members and Donald Trump's allies and perhaps even Donald Trump himself," said anchor Ali Velshi. "Until now those have been parallel tracks of investigation, the militias and the extremists what they were doing on the Capitol around and what the Trump allies were doing. There will be no attempt on Tuesday to bring that together?"

"Yes, and this is the hearing that I am actually most interested in, because this has been the big question for me from the start," said Broadwater. "We know Donald Trump encouraged the mob to come to the Capitol on January 6, and we know they brought weapons and they attacked the building and they were carrying out this plan. Is there anything more? Are there closer ties than what Donald Trump said?"

This is particularly important because, as Broadwater noted, "We've heard of some of these ties."

"We know about Roger Stone, the close ally of Donald Trump, and how he was involved with some members of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, and how he had some of these extremist groups as bodyguards," said Broadwater. "Perhaps that will be discussed. We know there was a meeting in the garage between the Proud Boys leader and the Oath Keepers leader. Perhaps that will be discussed. We know one of the leaders tried to call Donald Trump on January 6 and use an intermediary who nobody has identified yet, so we don't know who that is. I am very, very interested to see who in the political world does the committee believe was the link between Trump and the extremist groups and how much planning, coordination, if any, took place."

Watch the segment below:

[Rick Plant]

Trump 'up to his eyeballs in criminality' ahead of W.H. counsel’s Jan. 6 testimony

Watch: 

https://www.msnbc.com/the-beat-with-ari/watch/trump-up-to-his-eyeballs-in-criminality-ahead-of-w-h-counsel-s-jan-6-testimony-143620677920

[Rick Plant]

Feds arrest MAGA-rioting Colorado pastor who allegedly tore down fencing at the Capitol



On Friday, the Justice Department announced the arrest of a Colorado pastor who participated in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol — and is accused of removing fencing to force his way in.

Tyler Ethridge of Colorado Springs faces a felony charge of civil disorder, as well as multiple misdemeanor charges.

"According to court documents, on Jan. 6, Ethridge was among rioters illegally on the Capitol grounds," said the DOJ statement. "He helped remove fencing erected on the northwest approach to the Capitol. He proceeded with the crowd past the barricades to the West Plaza outside the Capitol Building. As law enforcement officers attempted to clear the crowd, Ethridge climbed a media scaffolding and exhorted the crowd to keep fighting."

According to the statement, Ethridge then "entered the Capitol Building at approximately 2:35 p.m. through the West Terrace Door. He then moved to the Rotunda, where he filmed several videos that he posted to social media. In one, he stated, 'I’m probably going to lose my job as a pastor after this … I think we’re to a point where talk is cheap. If this makes me lose my, my reputation, I don’t care.'"

DOJ officials noted that Ethridge continued to speak proudly of the attack on social media for months after, saying in a post the following September, “Don’t be afraid of what they sentence you with. I’m not. I’m ready for whatever I’ll be charged with. America is still primed and ready.”

More than 850 people from all over the country have been charged in the Capitol attack. The charges range from misdemeanors like trespassing and unlawful picketing, to assaulting law enforcement, and in the case of leadership of the far right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, seditious conspiracy.

https://www.rawstory.com/tyler-ethridge-of-colorado-springs/