Only another day that will live in infamy because previous guy tried to destroy the cornerstone of democracy, the peaceful transfer of power. Mark Meadows and Rudy Giuliani sought pardons.
Let McCarthy and Meadows go under oath. There are going to be new witnesses, the first-mover witnesses for the J6 Committee will avoid the worst of criminal exposure. Pat Cipollone could get immunity when it goes to DoJ.
Neal Katyal: “Trump needs an f’ing good lawyer now.”
OTOH, he also appears “based” to some in his cult as Trump sent out a fundraising email during that hearing. Unfortunately as Rick Wilson opines, there won’t be GOP defections. Still, one can hope that deals are ahead if only because prison time seems more likely.
There now are real criminal charges ahead for the higher ups and as has been said, it’s not about the select committee making criminal referrals. The arsenal smolders.
Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
"Mike deserves it. Those rioters are not doing anything wrong." - Donald Trump
The agents who were the affiants on the affidavits for both searches would have had to explain in detail to a federal magistrate or judge just why neither of the above options could be pursued before a raid on Clark’s premises and search of Eastman’s person could be approved.
The judiciary would have needed to hear a good reason for the use of what is considered an “extreme” investigative technique in pursuit of evidence in a criminal investigation.
That’s right, criminal investigation. The feds cannot execute a search warrant in a civil investigation. Raiding a residence in early morning hours can only be done via a criminal investigation. Investigating Clark—who Trump attempted to elevate to attorney general in the waning days of his presidency because Clark, according to testimony, promised to meddle in the election on his behalf— in particular would likely require the convening of a grand jury which would in this case also likely require the approval of Attorney General Merrick Garland.
We don’t yet know what is in the affidavit for the search warrant for Clark’s residence. But we can surmise that there was enough factual information to persuade a federal magistrate that there was “probable cause” to believe that evidence of a crime or crimes would be found in Clark’s residence. And that no other investigative technique would likely yield that same evidence. The agent in the Eastman search had to know that he carried on his person at all times the electronic device that was the subject of the search and would have so testified before the New Mexico Magistrate who approved the search.
Before the federal agents/affiants submitted the affidavits to a magistrate it is extremely likely that Garland, or other top DOJ officials, were convinced that appropriate probable cause was included in the affidavits.
Attorney-client privilege contains a crime/fraud exception, so if Clark and Eastman were violating the law while representing their clients, they could not claim privilege. (Trump wasn’t Clark’s client, the U.S. government was.) The Jan. 6 committee has presented extensive testimony that Clark was warned what he was doing was illegal and potentially criminal by his superiors at the Department of Justice and White House lawyers. Meanwhile, a federal judge as part of his rulings in a separate civil suit has already accused Eastman of likely engaging in a crime related to his work on the election.)
slate.com/...
WASHINGTON — As the Justice Department expands its criminal investigation into the efforts to keep President Donald J. Trump in office after his 2020 election loss, the critical job of pulling together some of its disparate strands has been given to an aggressive, if little-known, federal prosecutor named Thomas P. Windom.
Since late last year, when he was detailed to the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, Mr. Windom, 44, has emerged as a key leader in one of the most complex, consequential and sensitive inquiries to have been taken on by the Justice Department in recent memory, and one that has kicked into higher gear over the past week with a raft of new subpoenas and other steps.
It is Mr. Windom, working under the close supervision of Attorney General Merrick B. Garland’s top aides, who is executing the department’s time-tested, if slow-moving, strategy of working from the periphery of the events inward, according to interviews with defense lawyers, department officials and the recipients of subpoenas.
He has been leading investigators who have been methodically seeking information, for example, about the roles played by some of Mr. Trump’s top advisers, including Rudolph W. Giuliani, Jenna Ellis and John Eastman, with a mandate to go as high up the chain of command as the evidence warrants.
That element of the inquiry is focused in large part on the so-called fake electors scheme, in which allies of Mr. Trump assembled slates of purported electors pledged to Mr. Trump in swing states won by Joseph R. Biden Jr.
In recent weeks, the focus has shifted from collecting emails and texts from would-be electors in Georgia, Arizona and Michigan to the lawyers who sought to overturn Mr. Biden’s victory, and pro-Trump political figures like the head of Arizona’s Republican Party, Kelli Ward.
Mr. Windom has also overseen grand jury appearances like the one on Friday by Ali Alexander, a prominent “Stop the Steal” organizer who testified for nearly three hours. And Mr. Windom, in conjunction with Matthew M. Graves, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, has been pushing the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack to turn over transcripts of its interviews with hundreds of witnesses in the case — spurred on by an increasingly impatient Lisa O. Monaco, Mr. Garland’s top deputy, according to people familiar with the matter.
www.nytimes.com/...
Cassidy Hutchinson, in prior testimony: "I was in the vicinity of a conversation where I overheard the President say something to the effect of, 'You know, I don't F'ing care that they have weapons. They're not here to hurt me. Take the F'ing mags away. Let my people in.'"
Hutchinson’s testimony clearly hit a nerve with Trump, who posted ten different times on his Truth Social app during her two-hour appearance, to attack her as a “phony” and “third rate social climber.”
“Her Fake story that I tried to grab the steering wheel of the White House Limousine in order to steer it to the Capitol Building is ‘sick’ and fraudulent, very much like the Unselect Committee itself - Wouldn’t even have been possible to do such a ridiculous thing. Her story of me throwing food is also false… and why would SHE have to clean it up, I hardly knew who she was?” Trump posted.
Trump’s far-right supporters celebrated Hutchinson’s testimony about the violent altercation in the car, hailing the former president as a beacon of masculinity who was prepared to physically fight his own secret service agents for “the cause.” To some, the anecdote serves as proof that Trump did not abandon the Jan. 6 rioters.
“Yoooooo!” wrote one Proud Boy group on Telegram. “Sounds pretty based actually,” wrote another with the handle “Arkansas Groyper.”
www.vice.com/...
Gen. Michael Flynn took the Fifth Amendment when asked if he believed the "violence on January 6 was justified" and if he believed "in the peaceful transition of power in the United States."