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by **admin** » Mon Jan 11, 2021 3:25 am

Members of Several Well-Known Hate Groups Identified at Capitol Riot
In partnership with: ProPublica
by A.C. Thompson Ford Fischer
pbs.org
January 9, 2021

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

A crowd gathers outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday in Washington, D.C. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

This story is part of an ongoing collaboration between ProPublica and FRONTLINE that includes an upcoming documentary.

Members of the ultranationalist street gang known as the Proud Boys were easy to spot at the protests that flared across the United States throughout 2020, often in the middle of a brawl, typically clad in black and yellow outfits.

But in December, as the group’s leaders planned to flood Washington to oppose the certification of the Electoral College vote this week for President-elect Joe Biden, they decided to do something different.

“The ProudBoys will turn out in record numbers on Jan 6th but this time with a twist…,” Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, the group’s president, wrote in a late-December post on Parler, a social media platform that has become popular with right-wing activists and conservatives. “We will not be wearing our traditional Black and Yellow. We will be incognito and we will spread across downtown DC in smaller teams. And who knows….we might dress in all BLACK for the occasion.”

Henry “Enrique” Tarrio’s Parler post in late December. (ProPublica screenshot)

The precise composition of the mob that forced its way into the Capitol on Wednesday, disrupting sessions of both houses of Congress and leaving a police officer and four others dead, remains unknown. But a review by a ProPublica-FRONTLINE team that has been tracking far-right movements for the past three years shows that the crowd included members of the Proud Boys and other groups with violent ideologies. Videos reveal the presence of several noted hardcore nativists and white nationalists who participated in the 2017 white power rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that President Donald Trump infamously refused to condemn.

Tarrio does not appear to have been present during the insurrection. Two days before members of the House and Senate gathered to certify the Electoral College results, Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department arrested Tarrio and charged him with possessing high-capacity firearm magazines and destruction of property over the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner last month. A judge barred him from entering the city while he awaits trial.

But it appears that Tarrio’s followers heeded his advice. A journalist working with ProPublica and FRONTLINE encountered members of the Proud Boys in dark clothes walking through Washington on the night before the attack. The four men posed for a photo and confirmed their membership in the group. Few participants involved in the Capitol siege were seen wearing Proud Boys colors or logos.

Four men who confirmed membership in the Proud Boys posed for a photo the night before the attack.

But since the incident, Proud Boys social media channels have flaunted their direct role in the attack and looting of the Capitol.

One prominent Proud Boys account encouraged rioters as the chaos was unfolding: “Hold your ground!!!… DO NOT GO HOME. WE ARE ON THE CUSP OF SAVING THE CONSTITUTION.”

So far, police have arrested more than 80 people in connection with the attack, including at least one Proud Boy, Nick Ochs. They have seized pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails and arrested at least six people on illegal firearms charges, including one Maryland man who was captured in the visitors’ center of the Capitol. More arrests are expected.

As the crowds ringing the Capitol swelled on Wednesday, a small group of men clad in body armor shuffled toward the doors at the center of the building’s east-facing facade.

The eight men, whose movements were captured on video, were identified by ProPublica and FRONTLINE as members of the Oath Keepers, a long-standing militia group that has pledged to ignite a civil war on behalf of Trump. Members of the group joined the protesters and insurrectionists flooding into the Capitol. Footage from later in the day shows Oath Keepers dragging a wounded comrade out of the building.

Stewart Rhodes, a former soldier and Yale law school graduate, who founded the Oath Keepers in 2009 and built it into a nationwide network, was seen on video standing outside the Capitol building. While he was not seen entering the Capitol, he could be seen talking with his militia followers throughout the day.

Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, at the Capitol on Wednesday. (Ford Fischer)

Several other of the participants ProPublica and FRONTLINE identified from video have direct links to the white nationalist movement, which has seen a resurgence of activity during the Trump era.

One was Nick Fuentes, an internet personality who streams a daily talk show on DLive, an alternative social media platform. Fuentes, who marched in Charlottesville during the 2017 white power rally there, speaks frequently in anti-Semitic terms and pontificates on the need to protect America’s white heritage from the ongoing shift in the nation’s demographics. He has publicly denied believing in white nationalism but has said that he considers himself a “white majoritarian.”

Fuentes, who spoke at pro-Trump rallies late last year in Michigan and Washington, D.C., said he was at the rally on Wednesday but didn’t follow the mob into the Capitol. One group of Fuentes’ supporters, who call themselves the Groyper Army, was filmed running through the Capitol carrying a large blue flag with the America First logo.

Days before the Capitol was stormed, Fuentes seemed to encourage his followers to kill state legislators in a bid to overturn Biden’s electoral victory, as Megan Squire, a computer science professor at Elon University who follows online extremist communities, noted on Twitter.

“What can you and I do to a state legislator — besides kill him?” he said with a smirk. “We should not do that. I’m not advising that, but I mean, what else can you do, right?”

Squire fears that Fuentes’ incendiary rhetoric will inspire his followers to engage in more drastic — even lethal — acts of political violence. “Instead of trying to appear democratic he’s making an argument for fascism, for monarchism,” she said. “He’s criticizing democracy at every turn. He doesn’t believe in democracy and it’s scary because his fans find him fascinating.”

DLive recently announced that it has booted Fuentes from its platform.

Another figure inside the Capitol with ties to white nationalists was Tim Gionet, a livestreamer who uses the handle Baked Alaska and who participated in the Charlottesville rally, which left one woman dead. Gionet was photographed within the Capitol and apparently used DLive to stream from within the building as events unfolded. Part of his video appeared to show him in Nancy Pelosi’s office, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.

Other extremist figures present either at the rally or within the Capitol included Vincent James Foxx, an online propagandist for the Rise Above Movement, a now-defunct Southern California white supremacist group.

Also on scene: Gabe Brown, a New Englander who helped create Anticom, a now-defunct organization devoted to physically combating leftists. In 2017, Anticom members posted a vast trove of bomb-making manuals to a private online chatroom.

The militant group members joined with scores of others who rampaged inside the Capitol.

Rep. André Carson, a Democrat from Indiana, said the scene reminded him of a Ku Klux Klan rally. Photos from within the Capitol showed one unidentified man carrying a Confederate battle flag and another wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with a skull and the words “Camp Auschwitz,” a reference to the infamous Nazi death camp.

Carson and other House members who spoke to ProPublica and FRONTLINE said the body would be launching an extensive investigation of the Capitol Police force and its mishandling of Wednesday’s events.

The rioters, said Carson, who is Black, “were hostile. They were venomous. And I think there was a sense of entitlement that they carried that somehow their country was being taken away from them.”

After the siege, a Boogaloo Bois group called the Last Sons of Liberty, which includes militants from Virginia, posted a video to Parler purporting to document their role in the incident — a clip that shows members inside the Capitol. A loose-knit confederation of anti-government militants, the Boogaloo Bois have been tied to a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and to the murder of two law enforcement officers in California. ProPublica and FRONTLINE have been unable to independently confirm their involvement.

Some far-right activists are already calling for retribution over the death of Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran from California who was shot and killed by a security officer. “We’ve got a girl that’s dead. She’s shot, laying on the ground in there,” said Damon Beckley, leader of a group called DC Under Siege, in an interview just outside the Capitol while the riot was ongoing. “We’re not putting up with this tyrannical rule. … If we gotta come back here and start a revolution and take all these traitors out — which is what should happen — then we will.”

Another person took to Parler to say that they were planning to show up, armed, in Washington for Inauguration Day. “Many of us will return on January 19, 2021 carrying Our weapons,” wrote the Parler user, who goes by the handle Colonel007. “We will come in numbers that no standing army or police agency can match.”

The Proud Boys also celebrated on social media. On Parler, one Proud Boys leader posted a photo of members of Congress cowering in fear and captioned it with a menacing statement: “Today you found out. The power of the people will not be denied.”

Logan Jaffe of ProPublica and Lila Hassan, Dan Glaun and Zoe Todd of FRONTLINE contributed reporting.

Correction, Jan. 9, 2021: This story has been updated to remove the name of an individual who upon further investigation could not be definitively identified.

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The 48 Laws of Power
by Robert Greene
© Joost Elffers and Robert Greene, 1998

CONTENTS

• PREFACE
• LAW I: NEVER OUTSHINE THE MASTER: Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite -- inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.
• LAW 2: NEVER PUT TOO MUCH TRUST IN FRIENDS, LEARN HOW TO USE ENEMIES: Be wary of friends -- they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to make them.
• LAW 3: CONCEAL YOUR INTENTIONS: Keep people off balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelop them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.
• LAW 4: ALWAYS SAY LESS THAN NECESSARY: When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.
• LAW 5: SO MUCH DEPENDS ON REPUTATION-GUARD IT WITH YOUR LIFE: Reputation is the cornerstone of power. Through reputation alone you can intimidate and win; once it slips, however, you are vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides. Make your reputation unassailable. Always be alert to potential attacks and thwart them before they happen. Meanwhile, learn to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own reputations. Then stand aside and let public opinion hang them.
• LAW 6: COURT ATTENTION AT ALL COST: Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing. Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Stand out. Be conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious than the bland and timid masses.
• LAW 7: GET OTHERS TO DO THE WORK FOR YOU, BUT ALWAYS TAKE THE CREDIT: Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your own cause. Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and energy, it will give you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed. In the end your helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered. Never do yourself what others can do for you.
• LAW 8: MAKE OTHER PEOPLE COME TO YOU-USE BAIT IF NECESSARY: When you force the other person to act, you are the one in control. It is always better to make your opponent come to you, abandoning his own plans in the process. Lure him with fabulous gains -- then attack. You hold the cards.
• LAW 9: WIN THROUGH YOUR ACTIONS, NEVER THROUGH ARGUMENT: Any momentary triumph you think you have gained through argument is really a Pyrrhic victory: The resentment and ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any momentary change of opinion. It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word. Demonstrate, do not explicate.
• LAW 10: INFECTION: AVOID THE UNHAPPY AND UNLUCKY: You can die from someone else's misery -- emotional states are as infectious as diseases. You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster. The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.
• LAW 11: LEARN TO KEEP PEOPLE DEPENDENT ON YOU: To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted. The more you are relied on, the more freedom you have. Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear. Never teach them enough so that they can do without you.
• LAW 12: USE SELECTIVE HONESTY AND GENEROSITY TO DISARM YOUR VICTIM: One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones. open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard of even the most suspicious people. Once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will. A timely gift-a Trojan horse-will serve the same purpose.
• LAW 13: WHEN ASKING FOR HELP, APPEAL TO PEOPLE'S SELF-INTEREST, NEVER TO THEIR MERCY OR GRATITUDE: If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of your past assistance and good deeds. He will find a way to ignore you. Instead, uncover something in your request, or in your alliance with him, that will benefit him, and emphasize it out of all proportion. He will respond enthusiastically when he sees some-- thing to be gained for himself.
• LAW 14: POSE AS A FRIEND, WORK AS A SPY: Knowing about your rival is critical. Use spies to gather valuable information that will keep you a step ahead. Better still: Play the spy yourself. In polite social encounters, learn to probe. Ask indirect questions to get people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions. There is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying.
• LAW 15: CRUSH YOUR ENEMY TOTALLY: All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely. (Sometimes they have learned this the hard way.) If one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will eventually break out. More is lost through stopping halfway than through total annihilation: The enemy will recover, and will seek revenge. Crush him, not only in body but in spirit.
• LAW 16: USE ABSENCE TO INCREASE RESPECT AND HONOR Too much circulation makes the price go down: The more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear. If you are already established in a group, temporary withdrawal from it will make you more talked about, even more admired. You must learn when to leave. Create value through scarcity.
• LAW 17: KEEP OTHERS IN SUSPENDED TERROR: CULTIVATE AN AIR OF UNPREDICTABILITY Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in other people's actions. Your predictability gives them a sense of control. Turn the tables: Be deliberately unpredictable. Behavior that seems to have no consistency or purpose will keep them off balance, and they will wear themselves out trying to explain your moves. Taken to an extreme, this strategy can intimidate and terrorize.
• LAW 18: DO NOT BUILD FORTRESSES TO PROTECT YOURSELF-ISOLATION IS DANGEROUS: The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere-everyone has to protect themselves. A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you to more dangers than it protects you from-it cuts you off from valuable information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target. Better to circulate among people, find allies, mingle. You are shielded from your enemies by the crowd.
• LAW 19: KNOW WHO YOU'RE DEALING WITH-DO NOT OFFEND THE WRONG PERSON: There are many different kinds of people in the world, and you can never assume that everyone will react to your strategies in the same way. Deceive or outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of their lives seeking revenge. They are wolves in lambs' clothing. Choose your victims and opponents carefully, then never offend or deceive the wrong person.
• LAW 20: DO NOT COMMIT TO ANYONE: It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others -- playing people against one another; making them pursue you.
• LAW 21: PLAY A SUCKER TO CATCH A SUCKER-SEEM DUMBER THAN YOUR MARK: No one likes feeling stupider than the next person. The trick, then, is to make your victims feel smart-and not just smart, but smarter than you are. Once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior motives.
• LAW 22: USE THE SURRENDER TACTIC: TRANSFORM WEAKNESS INTO POWER: When you are weaker; never fight for honor's sake; choose surrender instead. Surrender gives you time to recover; time to torment and irritate your conqueror, time to wait for his power to wane. Do not give him the satisfaction of fighting and defeating you-surrender first. By turning the other cheek you infuriate and unsettle him. Make surrender a tool of power.
• LAW 23: CONCENTRATE YOUR FORCES: Conserve your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their strongest point. You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper; than by flitting from one shallow mine to another -- intensity defeats extensity every time. When looking for sources of power to elevate you, find the one key patron, the fat cow who will give you milk for a long time to come.
• LAW 24: PLAY THE PERFECT COURTIER: The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves around power and political dexterity. He has mastered the art of indirection; he flatters, yields to superiors, and asserts power over others in the most oblique and graceful manner. Learn and apply the laws of courtiers hip and there will be no limit to how far you can rise in the court.
• LAW 25: RE-CREATE YOURSELF: Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Re-create yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience. Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define it for you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions--your power will be enhanced and your character will seem larger than life.
• LAW 26 : KEEP YOUR HANDS CLEAN: You must seem a paragon of civility and efficiency: Your hands are never soiled by mistakes and nasty deeds. Maintain such a spotless appearance by using others as scapegoats and cat's-paws to disguise your involvement.
• LAW 27: PLAY ON PEOPLE'S NEED TO BELIEVE TO CREATE A CULTLIKE FOLLOWING: People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full of promise; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf. In the absence of organized religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring you untold power.
• LAW 28: ENTER ACTION WITH BOLDNESS: If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution. Timidity is dangerous: Better to enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold; no one honors the timid.
• LAW 29: PLAN ALL THE WAY TO THE END: The ending is everything. Plan all the way to it, taking into account all the possible consequences, obstacles, and twists of fortune that might reverse your hard work and give the glory to others. By planning to the end you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know when to stop. Gently guide fortune and help determine the future by thinking far ahead.
• LAW 30: MAKE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS SEEM EFFORTLESS: Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease. All the toil and practice that go into them, and also all the clever tricks, must be concealed. When you act, act effortlessly, as if you could do much more. Avoid the temptation of revealing how hard you work-it only raises questions. Teach no one your tricks or they will be used against you.
• LAW 31: CONTROL THE OPTIONS: GET OTHERS TO PLAY WITH THE CARDS YOU DEAL: The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other person a choice: Your victims feel they are in control, but are actually your puppets. Give people options that come out in your favor whichever one they choose. Force them to make choices between the lesser of two evils, both of which serve your purpose. Put them on the horns of a dilemma: They are gored wherever they turn.
• LAW 32: PLAY TO PEOPLE'S FANTASIES: The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant. Never appeal to truth and reality unless you are prepared for the anger that comes from disenchantment. Life is so harsh and distressing that people who can manufacture romance or conjure up fantasy are like oases in the desert: Everyone flocks to them. There is great power in tapping into the fantasies of the masses.
• LAW 33: DISCOVER EACH MAN'S THUMBSCREW: Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall. That weakness is usually an insecurity, an uncontrollable emotion or need; it can also be a small secret pleasure. Either way, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can turn to your advantage.
• LAW 34: BE ROYAL IN YOUR OWN FASHION: ACT LIKE A KING TO BE TREATED LIKE ONE: The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated: In the long run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you. For a king respects himself and inspires the same sentiment in others. By acting regally and confident of your powers, you make yourself seem destined to wear a crown.
• LAW 35: MASTER THE ART OF TIMING: Never seem to be in a hurry -- hurrying betrays a lack of control over yourself, and over time. Always seem patient, as if you know that everything will come to you eventually. Become a detective of the right moment; sniff out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry you to power. Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and to strike fiercely when it has reached fruition.
• LAW 36: DISDAIN THINGS YOU CANNOT HAVE: IGNORING THEM IS THE BEST REVENGE: By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and credibility. The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him; and a small mistake is often made worse and more visible when you try tofix it. It is sometimes best to leave things alone. If there is something you want but cannot have, show contempt for it. The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem.
• LAW 37: CREATE COMPELLING SPECTACLES: Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power -- everyone responds to them. Stage spectacles for those around you, then, full of arresting visuals and radiant symbols that heighten your presence. Dazzled by appearances, no one will notice what you are really doing.
• LAW 38: THINK AS YOU LIKE BUT BEHAVE LIKE OTHERS: If you make a show of going against the times, flaunting your unconventional ideas and unorthodox ways, people will think that you only want attention and that you look down upon them. They will find a way to punish you for making them feel inferior. It is far safer to blend in and nurture the common touch. Share your originality only with tolerant friends and those who are sure to appreciate your uniqueness.
• LAW 39: STIR UP WATERS TO CATCH FISH: Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive. You must always stay calm and objective. But if you can make your enemies angry while staying calm yourself, you gain a decided advantage. Put your enemies off-balance: Find the chink in their vanity through which you can rattle them and you hold the strings.
• LAW 40: DESPISE THE FREE LUNCH: What is offered for free is dangerous -- it usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for. By paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often wise to pay the full price -- there is no cutting corners with excellence. Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign and a magnet for power.
• LAW 41: AVOID STEPPING INTO A GREAT MAN'S SHOES: What happens first always appears better and more original than what comes after. If you succeed a great man or have a famous parent, you will have to accomplish double their achievements to outshine them. Do not get lost in their shadow, or stuck in a past not of your own making: Establish your own name and identity by changing course. Slay the overbearing father, disparage his legacy, and gain power by shining in your own way.
• LAW 42: STRIKE THE SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP WILL SCATTER: Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individual -- the stirrer, the arrogant underling, the poisoner of goodwill. if you allow such people room to operate, others will succumb to their influence. Do not wait for the troubles they cause to multiply, do not try to negotiate with them -- they are irredeemable. Neutralize their influence by isolating or banishing them. Strike at the source of the trouble and the sheep will scatter.
• LAW 43: WORK ON THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF OTHERS: Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you. You must seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. A person you have seduced becomes your loyal pawn. And the way to seduce others is to operate on their individual psychologies and weaknesses. Soften up the resistant by working on their emotions, playing on what they hold dear and what they fear. Ignore the hearts and minds of others and they will grow to hate you.
• LAW 44: DISARM AND INFURIATE WITH THE MIRROR EFFECT: The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for deception: When you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as they do, they cannot figure out your strategy. The Mirror Effect mocks and humiliates them, making them overreact. By holding up a mirror to their psyches, you seduce them with the illusion that you share their values; By holding up a mirror to their actions, you teach them a lesson. Few can resist the power of the Mirror Effect.
• LAW 45: PREACH THE NEED FOR CHANGE, BUT NEVER REFORM TOO MUCH AT ONCE: Everyone understands the need for change in the abstract, but on the day-to-day level people are creatures of habit. Too much innovation is traumatic, and will lead to revolt. If you are new to a position of power, or an outsider trying to build a flower base, make a show of respecting the old way of doing things. If change is necessary, make it feel like a gentle improvement on the past.
• LAW 46: NEVER APPEAR TOO PERFECT: Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but most dangerous of all is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses. Envy creates silent enemies. It is smart to occasionally display defects, and admit to harmless vices, in order to deflect envy and appear more human and approachable. Only gods and the dead can seem perfect with impunity.
• LAW 47: DO NOT GO PAST THE MARK YOU AIMED FOR; IN VICTORY, LEARN WHEN TO STOP: The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril. In the heat of victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you had aimed for, and fry going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat. Do not allow success to go to your head. There is no substitute for strategy and careful planning. Set a goal, and when you reach it, stop.
• LAW 48: ASSUME FORMLESSNESS: By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack. Instead of taking a form for your enemy to grasp, keep yourself adaptable and on the move. Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is fixed. The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as water; never bet on stability or lasting order. Everything changes.

by **admin** » Mon Jan 11, 2021 4:28 am

As Donald Trump is driven from the White House, he should find no safe harbor in golf
by Eamon Lynch
Golfweek
January 9, 2021 6:16 pm

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

Donald Trump Photo by Greg Lovett/Palm Beach Post

When historians eventually tally the cost of the Donald Trump era, the manifold indecencies of which culminated in Wednesday’s sacking of the United States Capitol during a failed insurrection, golf will not be counted among its casualties.

The game will instead be portrayed as Trump’s refuge, something he did while ignoring a pandemic that has claimed 365,000 lives, refusing to acknowledge a resounding electoral defeat, and inciting feeble-minded fascists to violence that left five people dead at the opposite end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

That’s the best case scenario.

The alternative? That a sport which prides itself on values like honesty, integrity and devotion to the rules will be characterized as a welcoming sanctuary for a brazen and amoral insurrectionist, a world in which a racist con man was never discomfited, even while taking a wrecking ball to the constitution and the rule of law.

Like the nation itself, golf has been measurably diminished by Donald Trump’s presence, and not merely in the optics of his choosing to play in times of great crisis and at taxpayer expense (though at least golf limited the damage he might otherwise have inflicted during the hours spent on the course). The damage golf sustained over the last handful of years is trivial by comparison to the country at large, but bears accounting nonetheless.

Two of the sport’s most iconic venues have become untouchable, at least for as long as his name remains above the door. The ‘Blue Monster’ course at Miami’s Doral Resort, which Trump bought in 2012, was home to a PGA Tour event for more than 50 years until the toxicity of his 2016 presidential campaign forced the Tour to relocate the tournament to Mexico City. Turnberry, on Scotland’s Ayrshire coast, is one of the finest venues on the Open Championship rota and has produced some of the most memorable finishes of the last 40-odd years. But the Open has stayed away since he bought it in 2014, and will likely do so for as long as he keeps it out of reach of the bailiffs.

Other major championships have felt his caress and withered. The 2017 U.S. Women’s Open, held at Trump National in Bedminster, New Jersey, was a painful spectacle as most players tried to ignore the groping elephant in the room. His Bedminster course is scheduled to host the 2022 PGA Championship, a fact that now has the PGA of America bunkered down under sustained criticism for a decision made in 2014. Such are the perils of assigning championship venues far in advance; you just never know when you’ve hitched your premier event to a sociopath. Though there was a hint back in 2015, when the PGA of America chose to kill the Grand Slam of Golf rather than play it at Trump’s Los Angeles course in the wake of his racist comments about Mexicans.

Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Photo by Seth Wenig/Associated Press

The odds that ’22’s PGA Championship will happen as scheduled in New Jersey are about as good as the chances of you or I winning it. Seth Waugh, the PGA of America’s CEO, was a banker and has an alert eye for high-risk exposure. He knows that Trumpism is likely to be an equally incendiary force in the ’22 midterm elections and that any affiliation is poisonous. Waugh will be forced to move the event and face down a small but vocal faction of his membership who remain true believers. Moving its major from Trump National has been debated internally at the PGA for more than two years, but executives have been reluctant to antagonize a famously vindictive man who controls the Internal Revenue Service. Such concerns melt away in 10 days, if not sooner.

Reputations too have been left bruised in the eyes of many golf fans. Like those of Jack Nicklaus and Nancy Lopez, both of whom have long been celebrated for their character and rectitude. Both supported Trump in the waning days of the election campaign, despite clear signs he would not accept any result he didn’t like. Nicklaus and Lopez have a right to support whatever candidate they choose, but they are not exempt from scrutiny for a choice publicly stated. In the aftermath of Wednesday’s murderous riot in Washington, D.C., Lopez at least tweeted that she disagreed with Trump and was rooting for the country to unite under President Biden. Jack has remained silent as a sphinx.

Arguably even more sullied are the reputations of Gary Player and Annika Sorenstam, who attended the White House to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the man who just one day earlier had incited the mob that killed a police officer. In an ideal world, the accomplishments for which Player and Sorenstam were being recognized with one of the nation’s highest civilian honors could be viewed independently of the administration conferring the honor, but like so many other norms that standard has been laid waste by Trump. Neither Player nor Sorenstam released photos from the ceremony. At least the third professional golfer “honored,” Babe Zaharias, doesn’t have to live with the shame, having died more than 60 years ago.

Bryson DeChambeau had shed the Trump Golf logo from his golf bag when he competed this week at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii. Time will tell if others—like PGA Tour Champions regulars Rocco Mediate and Scott McCarron—do the same.

The notion that an association with the outgoing president might be cause for shame will trigger Trumpers in golf, who are accustomed to justifying his obscenities with whataboutery and conspiracy theories, who foam at the mouth when confronted with views alien to their echo chamber, and who can no longer distinguish the conservatism of old from the cult of today. They passionately (and rightly) celebrate Folds of Honor veterans yet defend Cadet Bone Spurs’ many calumnies against the military and their families. They mock (rightly) Bill Clinton’s audacious score-keeping, but turn a deaf ear when Trump demands officials “find” enough votes to flip a legitimate election in his favor. Golf no more belongs to that hypocritical cadre than does America itself.

Whatever the future holds for Donald Trump after the noon hour on January 20, the events of January 6 that left five people dead ought to make him a pariah everywhere. Including in golf. This game should not be the familiar bosom to which he can safely retreat while fending off indictments. He is finally and deservedly being expelled from civic life. He needs to be driven from golf, too.

by **admin** » Mon Jan 11, 2021 4:36 am

Georgia Officials Reveal Third Trump Call Seeking to Influence Election Results: In a December call, President Trump told a Georgia election investigator that the official would be a “national hero” for finding evidence of fraud. White House officials’ pressure on the federal prosecutor in Atlanta to resign was also revealed.
by Richard Fausset and Katie Benner
New York Times
Published Jan. 9, 2021
Updated Jan. 10, 2021, 2:04 p.m. ET

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

Ballots being recounted in Atlanta after the presidential election. Credit...Nicole Craine for The New York Times

ATLANTA — More than a week before President Trump called Georgia’s secretary of state, pressuring him to “find” votes to help overturn his electoral loss, the president made another call, this one to a top Georgia election investigator, in which he asked the investigator to “find the fraud” in the state.

The earlier phone call, which came to light on Saturday, along with the revelation that White House officials had pushed the top federal prosecutor in Atlanta to resign, underlined a broader push by Mr. Trump to overturn election results in the state.

Mr. Trump’s phone call, made in late December, was first reported by The Washington Post. The content of the Post report was verified by a state election official who requested anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak about the matter.

In the call, Mr. Trump said the investigator would be a “national hero” for finding evidence of fraud. At the time, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office was conducting an audit of more than 15,000 ballots in Cobb County, a populous suburb of Atlanta that was formerly a Republican stronghold but voted against Mr. Trump in both 2016 and 2020.

The audit appeared to be an effort to placate Mr. Trump and his allies, who repeatedly, and baselessly, argued that he lost the election in Georgia by around 12,000 votes because of a “rigged” system. The president also repeatedly alleged that there were problems with the signature-matching system by which election officials in the state verify the identity of absentee voters.

On Dec. 29, the office of Mr. Raffensperger, a Republican, announced that the audit had found no evidence of fraud.

The new details about the president’s personal pressure campaign on Georgia officials comes as Democrats in the House of Representatives announced their plans to introduce an article of impeachment against the president for “willfully inciting violence against the government of the United States,” a reference to the pro-Trump mob that violently attacked the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. Mr. Trump is also facing growing calls to resign, while his cabinet is under pressure to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.

A voter dropped his ballot into a collection box in Cobb County, Ga. Credit...Audra Melton for The New York Times

A number of legal scholars have said that Mr. Trump’s call to Mr. Raffensperger, in which the president seemed to vaguely threaten Mr. Raffensperger with “a criminal offense,” may have violated state and federal laws prohibiting election interference, though some have also said it may be difficult for prosecutors to pursue the matter.

Earlier in December, Mr. Trump made a third call, this one to Gov. Brian Kemp, urging him to convene a special session of the Georgia legislature in hopes that lawmakers would overturn the election results.

Mr. Kemp and Mr. Raffensperger have rejected all of Mr. Trump’s efforts to get them to help him overturn the election results, even though both are conservative Republicans and Trump supporters. Mr. Trump has publicly attacked both men, spreading a baseless conspiracy theory about Mr. Raffensperger’s brother and promising that he would back a candidate in the Republican primary to challenge Mr. Kemp, who is up for re-election next year.

In a television interview on Monday, Mr. Raffensperger was asked if his office would open an investigation into the president’s phone call with him. He replied that because he had been on the Jan. 2 call, he might have a conflict of interest and suggested instead that such an investigation might be in the works by the Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis.

Last week, a spokesman for Ms. Willis said that no investigation had been opened. But Ms. Willis, in a statement released last week, did not rule out the possibility, and called the news of the president’s call to Mr. Raffensperger “disturbing.”

The U.S. attorney in Atlanta faced similar pressure related to false claims of election fraud.

Shortly before the U.S. attorney, Byung J. Pak, abruptly resigned on Monday, the acting deputy attorney general, Richard Donoghue, relayed Mr. Trump’s dissatisfaction with his efforts to investigate false claims of mass voter fraud in his district, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose details of the phone call.

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.

Mr. Pak was also upset when he discovered that Mr. Trump had criticized him during his phone call last Saturday with Mr. Raffensperger.

While Mr. Trump did not call out Mr. Pak by name, he falsely claimed that not enough had been done to uncover mass voter fraud in Fulton County, where Atlanta is. He added, “You have your never-Trumper U.S. attorney there.”

Mr. Pak had planned to announce his departure on Monday, the day before the Georgia runoff elections, according to a person familiar with his job search. But dismayed by Mr. Trump’s comments, he believed that it would be better to accelerate his departure and resign effective immediately, rather than give several days’ notice, according to a third person with knowledge of Mr. Pak’s departure.

Mr. Donoghue has also faced pressure to stand up unproven and false claims by Mr. Trump that he would have won the election but for extensive voter fraud in states like Georgia.

In phone calls and meetings in recent weeks, Mr. Trump pressured and berated politicians and officials, including Mr. Donoghue and the acting attorney general, Jeffrey A. Rosen, for not doing enough to overturn the results of the election, according to a person familiar with the conversations.

Despite Mr. Trump’s entreaties to do more on voter fraud, neither Mr. Rosen nor Mr. Donoghue has made any public statements on the matter. They have not supported Mr. Trump’s false claims that he won the election or undermined comments made by former Attorney General William P. Barr that there was no need to appoint a special counsel to investigate the matter.

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that a top Justice Department official had called Mr. Pak.

Officials at the department have quietly pushed back on efforts to undo the election, defending Vice President Mike Pence in a federal lawsuit that sought to pressure him to overturn the results, a move that took Mr. Trump by surprise, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The case was dismissed.

Richard Fausset reported from Atlanta, and Katie Benner from Washington. Stephanie Saul contributed reporting from New York, and Adam Goldman from Washington.

Richard Fausset is a correspondent based in Atlanta. He mainly writes about the American South, focusing on politics, culture, race, poverty and criminal justice. He previously worked at the Los Angeles Times, including as a foreign correspondent in Mexico City. @RichardFausset

Katie Benner covers the Justice Department. She was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for public service for reporting on workplace sexual harassment issues. @ktbenner

A version of this article appears in print on Jan. 10, 2021, Section A, Page 14 of the New York edition with the headline: Trump Urged Vote Official To Find Fraud And Be ‘Hero’.

by **admin** » Mon Jan 11, 2021 4:46 am

FDNY Gives FBI Info on Members Who Attended US Capitol Riot: A spokesperson for the FDNY confirmed reports that a number of its members had been alleged to be at Wednesday's riot
by nbcnewyork.com
Published January 9, 2021 • Updated on January 9, 2021 at 7:14 pm

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

A U.S. Capitol Police officer stands guard during a protest outside of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. The House and Senate will meet in a joint session today to count the Electoral College votes to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, but not before a sizable group of Republican lawmakers object to the counting of several states’ electors. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The New York City Fire Department has turned over information to the FBI on multiple members who were allegedly at the U.S. Capitol when rioters charged the building.

A spokesperson for the FDNY confirmed that a number of its members reportedly identified as being at Wednesday's riot that led to the deaths of four people and a U.S. Capitol Police officer.

"The Department received anonymous allegations that active or retired members were present at the events at the United States Capitol on January 6 and, as required, has provided that information to the FBI," Frank Dwyer, a spokesperson for the FDNY, said.

An image circulating on Twitter after Wednesday's riot captured a person standing just outside the building in clothing with "“FDNY Squad 252” printed on the back. Dwyer told the NY Post the man in the photo was “not an active member of the department."

At least 16 individuals have so far been arrested and charges with federal crimes for their involvement for violence that took place in the U.S. Capitol building, NBC News reports.

On Saturday, the man heavily photographed wearing a horned helmet and carrying a spear was arrested; as was the man seen carrying a lectern.

Copyright NBC New York

by **admin** » Mon Jan 11, 2021 5:23 am

Must-See New Video Shows Capitol Riot Was Way Worse Than We Thought
by MSNBC
Jan 8, 2021

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

Chris Hayes: “It is entirely possible that there were people in that crowd, looking to apprehend, possibly harm, and possibly murder the leaders of the political class that the President, and people like Mo Brooks, and even to a certain extent Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, have told them have betrayed them." Aired on 1/8/2021.

by **admin** » Mon Jan 11, 2021 5:29 am

Eric Munchel, accused of being 'zip tie guy' seen at Capitol riot, arrested in Nashville
by Daniel Connolly, Sarah Macaraeg, Cassandra Stephenson, Travis Dorman, Rachel Wegner
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Published 3:45 p.m. CT Jan. 10, 2021 Updated 7:43 p.m. CT Jan. 10, 2021

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

A Nashville man who had expressed pro-Trump views, had worked in a bar in a popular entertainment district and was accused by online researchers of carrying plastic hand restraints in the U.S. Senate during the Capitol riot Wednesday, has been arrested.

The man, Eric Munchel, 30, was being held in a local Nashville jail Sunday on a federal warrant, online records show. An FBI spokesperson, Samantha Shero, confirmed the arrest.

The federal prosecutor's office in Washington is handling the case. "Photos depicting his presence show a person who appears to be Munchel carrying plastic restraints, an item in a holster on his right hip, and a cell phone mounted on his chest with the camera facing outward, ostensibly to record events that day," the office said in a news release, which identifies him by his full name, Eric Gavelek Munchel.

This was one of a series of photos from the U.S. Senate chamber on Jan. 6, 2021, that prompted online researchers and law enforcement to seek to identify the masked man. They were taken by a professional photographer with Getty Images.

His arrest follows extensive online efforts to identify the two men in photos carrying hand restraints in the Senate – one masked, one unmasked. Online researchers identified Munchel as the man who was masked and a Texas man, Larry Brock, as the one who was unmasked. Brock was also arrested, the prosecutor's office said.

At this point, neither man is charged with plotting to use the hand restraints against people.

Rather, each faces one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Eric Munchel Metro Nashville Police Department

Reporters visited a Nashville apartment associated with Munchel in online records Saturday afternoon, but multiple knocks on the door were not answered. A dog inside the apartment barked and seemed to be silenced and moved away from the door several times. Efforts to reach Munchel by phone were also unsuccessful.

Munchel had traveled to Washington with his mother, Lisa Eisenhart, according to The Sunday Times, a British newspaper. It wasn’t immediately clear if she also lives in Nashville, and efforts by USA TODAY Network reporters to reach her by phone were unsuccessful on Saturday and Sunday.

Many people are now being arrested in connection to the Capitol riot. The arrests illustrate how people around the nation believed President Donald Trump’s lies about election fraud and acted on them. Trump now faces possible impeachment and other legal consequences for inciting the Capitol riot. Five people died: a police officer, a woman who was shot by police and three others from medical emergencies, authorities have said.

A now-deleted Facebook page with Munchel’s name had shown photos of a young man holding a gun and a flag and shouting at the camera in front of a TV screen that showed Trump.

A computer displays a screen shot from a now-deleted Facebook page under the name Eric Munchel. This post is dated Sept. 12.

Shortly before the charges were announced, The Sunday Times had published an interview with Munchel. The newspaper reported he had driven from Nashville with his mother, a nurse, and that he spoke with a journalist after they allegedly had taken part in the Capitol incident and as they were packing up to drive home.

“We wanted to show that we’re willing to rise up, band together and fight if necessary. Same as our forefathers, who established this country in 1776,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.

He’s also quoted as saying, “It was a kind of flexing of muscles . . . . The intentions of going in were not to fight the police. The point of getting inside the building is to show them that we can, and we will.”

His mother also expressed radical views, according to the newspaper.

“This country was founded on revolution,” she’s quoted as saying. “If they’re going to take every legitimate means from us, and we can’t even express ourselves on the Internet, we won’t even be able to speak freely, what is America for?” She goes on to say, “I’d rather die as a 57-year-old woman than live under oppression. I’d rather die and would rather fight.” The article describes her breaking into tears.

The newspaper said the pair were among the crowd that pushed into the Capitol on Wednesday, but they told a reporter they had left as soon as demonstrators talked about stealing laptops and government papers.

The article says, “Eisenhart stressed to me that they had gone into the building as ‘observers’ – both wore bulletproof vests – and that her son had told her not to touch anything.”

The article questions that account, pointing to online researchers who had matched items on the clothing worn by the masked man with hand restraints in the Senate chamber to other photos and videos of an unmasked Munchel and his mother taken in and around the Capitol.

One distinctive emblem on the masked man’s clothes was a “Tennessee blue line” symbol, which suggests support for law enforcement in the state.

This was one of a series of photos from the U.S. Senate chamber on Jan. 6, 2021, that prompted online researchers and law enforcement to seek to identify the masked man. They were taken by a professional photographer with Getty Images.

Munchel’s name had circulated heavily online in recent days. One of the first to name him was John Scott-Railton, a researcher at the University of Toronto, who said he shared the information with the FBI.

Bar jobs and a prior assault charge

Steve Smith is owner of Kid Rock's Big Ass Honky Tonk, a bar and concert venue on Nashville's heavily visited Broadway Avenue.

He confirmed Saturday that a person named Eric Munchel previously worked at the establishment but was terminated 60 days ago. Smith did not know how long Munchel was employed at the bar and declined to share the circumstances of his termination.

The Facebook profile with Munchel’s name and likeness stated he worked as a bartender at Doc Ford's Rum Bar & Grille, a company with four locations in Florida. The company posted a statement on its Facebook page Friday night acknowledging that “a former employee of ours from 2+ years ago was involved in the recent events at the Capitol building.” The post went on to say that the company has “no affiliation with this employee and their actions were their own.”

Fulton County, Georgia, court records show Munchel stood trial for misdemeanor battery charges in 2015. According to Patch, a hyper-local news site, the Sandy Springs Police Department captain said Munchel and another man were accused of assaulting a man and woman in 2013. Records on the final disposition of the case weren’t immediately available.

He was also arrested in 2014 on charges of possession of marijuana and speeding, for which he negotiated a plea that diverted his sentence, publicly available Fulton County Superior Court records show. Those records also state there are no judgments against Munchel.

The meaning of flex cuffs

The presence of plastic hand restraints in the Capitol raises ominous questions that go beyond free speech. Law enforcement officers use flexible plastic restraints to conduct large-scale arrests in riots and similar situations. Different styles of these restraints are known as zip ties, flex cuffs or flexi cuffs.

Ari Weil, a former director of the University of Chicago’s Militant Propaganda Analysis team, studies terrorist organizations, extremist propaganda and online behavior. "The images of this man in the Capitol in pseudo-military garb with flexi cuffs evokes the summer plot to kidnap the Michigan governor," Weil said. "But it’s very unclear if he had plans in this case."

While the extreme right has included people with military experience, historically, Weil said, it also includes those who play at being soldiers.

“You often see them wearing plate carriers wrong. They don’t have that actual real-life experience, but they like trying to be like a soldier in this way.”

Weil also noted the information produced on Munchel, thus far, shows no connections to other people, whereas the Michigan plot is alleged to have been hatched by a cell of extremists.

Weil said the trend of mounting threats shows the gravity of the presence of zip-ties in the Senate chamber. In the run-up to Wednesday's riot, many affiliated with far-right ideologies posted online about "... what they were willing to do and several posting real threats. And that wasn’t taken seriously," he said.

"But there’s also the bigger context to consider," Weil added. "A year of protests at state capitols, a plot to kidnap two different governors in the U.S. and in fact on Wednesday, there were similar protests on state capitols. This should be taken quite seriously."

Another man photographed carrying plastic restraints in the Senate chamber wore a helmet without a mask. Online researchers identified him as a former Air Force officer, and the New Yorker magazine reported that he’d admitted to a journalist that he’s the man in the pictures.

That man, Larry Brock of Texas, echoed Trump’s false claims of election fraud. “The President asked for his supporters to be there to attend, and I felt like it was important, because of how much I love this country, to actually be there,” he’s quoted as saying.

He said he had found the plastic restraints on the floor and picked them up, the magazine reported. “I wish I had not picked those up,” he told me. “My thought process there was I would pick them up and give them to an officer when I see one. ... I didn’t do that because I had put them in my coat, and I honestly forgot about them.”

Malcolm Nance is a retired Navy counter-terrorism intelligence officer and author of books on national security. He said his 20 years of experience in researching Al-Qaeda and ISIS counter-terrorism operations led to his research on America’s extreme right.

“We started seeing the exact same internal self-radicalization in these pro-Trump forces,” he said. “They view themselves as adjuncts to the campaign, as foot soldiers, in what can only be called his coming insurgency.”

Plastic hand restraints have shown up in at least one pro-Trump political rally outside Washington, too.

On Saturday, about 100 people, many of them armed and dressed in paramilitary gear, gathered for a “Patriot Rally” outside the state Capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky, as legislators met inside.

That rally ended peacefully, the The Courier-Journal of Louisville reported, but one armed protester who carried zip ties visibly attached to his backpack told a photographer he brought them “just in case.”

The FBI is continuing to seek tips related to the Capitol riot at http://www.fbi.gov/USCapitol and 1-800-225-5324.

Daniel Connolly is an investigative reporter at The Commercial Appeal in Memphis and welcomes tips and comments from the public. Reach him at 529-5296, daniel.connolly@commercialappeal.com, or on Twitter at @danielconnolly.

Sarah Macaraeg is an investigative reporter for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis. She welcomes tips at sarah.macaraeg@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @seramak

by **admin** » Mon Jan 11, 2021 5:43 am

Wall Street Journal: White House pressured Georgia federal prosecutor to resign
by Kelly Mena
Updated 7:38 PM ET, Sat January 9, 2021

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

(CNN) White House officials pressured a top Georgia federal prosecutor to resign ahead of the state's high stakes Senate runoff elections because President Donald Trump was upset he wasn't pursuing Trump's baseless allegations of widespread election fraud strongly enough, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported Saturday that a senior Justice Department official called Trump-appointed US Attorney Byung J. Pak at the White House's request. The official told Pak he needed to resign because he wasn't investigating the allegations to Trump's liking, the Journal reported.

The day before Georgians headed to the polls, Pak abruptly submitted his resignation, citing "unforeseen circumstances" as his reason for departure in an email to his colleagues.

The revelation marks yet another effort by Trump to attempt to pressure a Georgia government employee to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's win in the state. CNN reported earlier Saturday that the President in December urged the chief investigator for the Georgia secretary of state's office to "find the fraud" in the 2020 presidential election, telling the individual that they would be a "national hero," according to a source with knowledge of the call.

As CNN has previously reported, there have been no credible allegations of any issues with voting that would have impacted the election, as affirmed by dozens of judges, governors, election officials, the Electoral College, the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the US Supreme Court.

Barry Paschale, the public affairs officer of the Southern District of Georgia, confirmed to CNN Saturday that Bobby Christine had been named acting US attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.

According to the Journal, Christine, a Trump appointee, assumed those duties in addition to his role in the Southern District, instead of the No. 2 in Pak's office taking over in an acting capacity, as is typically the case.

Paschale declined to comment to CNN aside from confirming Christine's appointment.

Congress formally certified Biden's win earlier this week following a riot of the US Capitol. Following the violent attack on the capitol, Trump said in a video that "a new administration will be inaugurated on January 20."

But in a phone call in early December, first reported by the Post, Trump had tried convincing Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp to get state legislators to overturn Biden's win in the state.

And in a January 2 phone call obtained by CNN and first reported by The Washington Post, Trump urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" votes to overturn the election results.

In excerpts from that stunning one-hour phone call, Trump lambasted his fellow Republican for refusing to falsely say that he won the election in Georgia and repeatedly touted baseless claims of election fraud.

Raffensperger rejected Trump's claims replying in part, "We believe that we do have an accurate election."

A week before, Trump had phoned the Peach State's chief election investigator pushing the individual to "find the fraud."

CNN's Jason Hoffman, Evan Perez, Devan Cole, Jason Morris and Chandelis Duster contributed to this report.

by **admin** » Mon Jan 11, 2021 5:51 am

Pro-Trump dark money groups organized the rally that led to deadly Capitol Hill riot
by Brian Schwartz
@SchwartzBCNBC
PUBLISHED SAT, JAN 9 202110:58 AM ESTUPDATED SAT, JAN 9 20214:47 PM EST

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

KEY POINTS

• The rally, officially known as the “March to Save America,” was largely organized by a 501(c)(4) group known as Women for America First.
• Women for America First’s Facebook pages show they were calling on supporters to be part of what they described as a “caravan” to Washington for the event.

Pro-Trump protesters storm into the U.S. Capitol during clashes with police, during a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, in Washington, U.S, January 6, 2021. Shannon Stapelton | REUTERS

A web of pro-Trump dark money groups helped organize the rally that led to a deadly riot on Capitol Hill.

During the rally on Wednesday, President Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to march to the steps of Congress to protest the results of the Electoral College vote that certified Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election.

“We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them,” Trump said at the rally just in front of the White House before the riot started. After the rally, Trump supporters marched to the steps of Congress and broke into the U.S. Capitol building.

At least five people have been pronounced dead, including a police officer. Though the Justice Department has said Trump himself is not expected to be charged, acting D.C. U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin had previously acknowledged he’s “looking at all actors” that had a role in Wednesday’s attack.

Trump is currently embroiled in yet another potential impeachment inquiry following the riot. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said that unless the president resigns, the House will move ahead with a motion for impeachment.

The rally, officially known as the “March to Save America,” was largely organized by a 501(c)(4) group known as Women for America First. The organization was certified by the Internal Revenue Service as a nonprofit that can engage in limited political activities. These groups are known as dark money organizations as they do not publicly disclose their donors.

However, America First Polices, a pro-Trump policy advocacy dark money group, did disclose in 2019 that they contributed to Women for America First. America First’s 990 disclosure form from that year shows they contributed $25,000 to Women for America First.

America First Policies, which is also a 501(c)(4) that does not disclose its donors, is chaired by Linda McMahon, a longtime Trump ally and former head of the Small Business Administration . The 2019 filing shows America First Policies ended up raising over $30 million. They were not involved with the planning of the rally itself.

Women for America First is chaired by Amy Kremer, a longtime political operative that was once the head of the Tea Party Express, an organization that was created to support the conservative Tea Party movement. Kylie Jane Kremer, the executive director of Women for Trump, is named on the rally’s permit as the person in charge. The permit was first obtained by The Washingtonian.

The permit for the event says that the anticipated number of attendees was 5,000 people. Yet, in Women for Trump’s denunciation of the violence that took place on Capitol Hill, they say that “hundreds of thousands of Americans” came to Washington to attend their rally.

Women for America First’s Facebook pages show they were calling on supporters to be part of what they described as a “caravan” to Washington for the event. A recent post says to meet at an address in Virginia on Jan. 5, the day before the now infamous rally, to “join the caravan to D.C.” There’s a picture of a bus with their logo on it and, though it notes they are not providing transportation, they encourage people to follow the bus.

A post on Jan. 5 shows a video of what appears to be from within a bus part of the “caravan.” In the post, a woman says they had an escort going into Washington D.C. and called on people to attend the upcoming rally.

“Send the word. We’re rallying tomorrow. It’s in front of the White House... that way they don’t have to go far to see us, ” the woman holding the camera says. “It’s going to be epic,” she adds.

Women for America First’s executive director promoted the rally through a Twitter post that has been retweeted over 16,000 times and, she notes that it was shared by the president himself. Trump had over 80 million followers before he was permanently banned from Twitter on Friday.

Both leaders and a spokesman for the group did not return requests for comment.

The permits also give a glimpse into the expense of the event.

From Jan. 2 through Jan. 5, organizers were involved with setting up lighting, tents, flooring, bike racks, chairs and decor, all for Trump’s speech on Jan. 6. The listed production vendor was Event Strategies, a company that was founded by Tim Unes. On the company website, Unes is credited with producing Trump’s 2015 “campaign announcement tour” and later joined the campaign as a deputy director of advance.

On their list of clients is the Trump campaign, the executive office of the White House and other presidential campaigns, including Sen. Mitt Romney’s, R-Utah.

Data from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics shows that Trump’s reelection campaign paid Event Strategies over $1 million throughout the 2020 election cycle. Other pro-Trump groups also paid for the vendors production services.

Women for Trump were involved with setting up a backstage area, the permit says. According to video obtained by CNBC, those backstage included the president, Donald Trump Jr., his girlfriend and Trump campaign advisor Kimberly Guilfoyle, his brother Eric Trump and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Many behind the scenes were laughing and dancing before the festivities ensued.

Beyond Women for America First, there were other outside groups involved in encouraging people to go to the rally.

NBC News reported that the policy arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association, the Rule of Law Defense Fund, sent out robocalls encouraging people to march on the U.S. Capitol.

“At 1 p.m., we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal,” said the voice on the recording, according to NBC. The calls did not call for violence.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who leads the policy arm, has said the calls were made without his go-ahead and that he’s initiated an internal review.

The Republican Attorneys General Association raised over $18 million in 2020.

by **admin** » Mon Jan 11, 2021 6:18 am

West Virginia lawmaker Derrick Evans faces federal charges in Capitol siege
by Erin Donaghue
CBS News
January 8, 2021 4:05 PM

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

A West Virginia state lawmaker who filmed himself storming into the U.S. Capitol along with a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump is now facing federal charges, the U.S. District Attorney's office for the District of Columbia said Friday.

West Virginia State Delegate Derrick Evans is charged with entering a restricted area, Ken Kohl, principal assistant U.S. Attorney for D.C., said on a press call.

Evans is among 15 people who have been charged at the federal level so far, including an Arkansas man who was photographed with his feet up on a desk in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and another man found with 11 Molotov cocktails along with an assault rifle and two handguns in his Alabama-registered truck. The U.S. Attorney's office has charged 40 others in D.C. Superior Court, officials say.

Evans, a newly elected Republican lawmaker, is facing bipartisan calls for his resignation. But Evans' lawyer told CBS affiliate WVNS-TV that he would not step down and he "committed no criminal act that day."

The video Evans posted to social media Wednesday showed him yelling, "We're here. We're here. Derrick Evans is in the Capitol."

In a criminal complaint released Friday, an FBI agent wrote he identified Evans as the person in the live-streamed video by comparing the voice to the lawmaker's voice in a campaign video. In addition, the agent wrote, "Evans identifies himself by first and last name in the video recording the offense."

At the beginning of the video, according to the complaint, Evans is seen with a crowd outside a closed 12-foot door yelling "Open the door!" and "Our house!" before the crowd is able to pry it open. Evans is seen entering the building with the crowd, yelling, "We're in!" and "Let's go, keep it moving, baby!"

Once inside, according to the complaint, Evans is seen apparently fist-bumping a Capitol police officer and saying, "We still respect you, all right?" He later yells, "No vandalizing property!"

The complaint says Evans posted a meme to his Facebook account on December 28 with the text, "Fight for Trump. January 6. We're comin," and the caption, "Anyone else going to D.C. on Jan. 6?"

He posted another meme on December 30 with an image of Trump and the text, "Take America Back. Be There. Will be Wild. Washington, D.C. Jan 6., 2021" with the caption, "One week from today! Who's going?"

The complaint says on January 6, Evans posted a video of himself in a crowd outside the Capitol, saying, "They're making an announcement right now saying that if Pence betrays us, you better get your mind right because we are storming that building." He then laughs and says, "I'm just the messenger, so don't be hating on me. I'm just telling you what I'm hearing right now on the ground."

In a Facebook statement, Evans later said he recorded the events on Wednesday "as an independent member of the media to film history." He said he did not have negative interactions with law enforcement or engage in property destruction.

The complaint notes that on his Facebook page, Evans identifies himself as a political candidate and not a member of the media. The complaint also includes a charge of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Evans' lawyer, John Bryan, told The Associated Press said he hadn't seen the complaint against Evans and couldn't comment. A reporter for television station WSAZ posted video of Evans being taken into custody outside a home.

The Republican speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates, Roger Hanshaw, condemned the assault on the Capitol in a Wednesday statement and said Evans "will need to answer to his constituents and colleagues."

West Virginia House of Delegates member Derrick Evans on December 14, 2020.
PERRY BENNETT/WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE VIA AP

"While free speech and peaceful protests are a core value of American society, storming government buildings and participating in a violent intentional disruption of one of our nation's most fundamental political institutions is a crime that should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Hanshaw wrote.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Steven D'Antuono, assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington field office, said investigators are combing through tips, social media and video to identify more suspects in Wednesday's siege. The FBI and the Washington Metropolitan Police Department have released a series of photos of people who stormed the Capitol and asked the public to contact them with any information. D'Antuono thanked the public for tips that have already been submitted and vowed, "Make no mistake, our work here is not done."

"Just because you've left the D.C. region, you can still expect a knock on your door if we find out you were part of the criminal activity at the Capitol," D'Antuono said.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Michael Sherwin said "all options were on the table" when it comes to considering more serious riot or sedition-related charges for those arrested and anyone else who may have been involved with planning the attack.

When asked whether he would be examining the role of President Trump's comments to his supporters prior to the assault, Sherwin repeated: "We're looking at all actors here and anyone that had a role, and if the evidence fits the elements of a crime, they're going to be charged."

First published on January 8, 2021 / 4:05 PM

© 2021 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

by **admin** » Mon Jan 11, 2021 6:29 am

2 Seattle police officers being investigated for involvement in Capitol attack: The police chief says he is prepared to "immediately terminate them."
by Rosa Sanchez
ABC News
January 9, 2021, 12:45 AM

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

At least two Seattle police officers have been placed on leave and are being investigated for their alleged involvement in the U.S. Capitol protests.

The Seattle Police Department released a statement Friday night saying that it was made aware Friday of the officers' involvement in the Jan. 6 siege and is now taking the appropriate measures.

"The Department fully supports all lawful expressions of First Amendment freedom of speech, but the violent mob and events that unfolded at the U.S. Capitol were unlawful and resulted in the death of another police officer," Chief Adrian Diaz said in the statement, referring to Brian Sicknick, who died of injuries he sustained during the attack.

Diaz said the case is now being reviewed by the Office of Police Accountability.

"The OPA will investigate whether any SPD policies were violated and if any potential illegal activities need to be referred for criminal investigation," he said. "If any SPD officers were directly involved in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, I will immediately terminate them. While OPA investigates, these officers have been placed on administrative leave."

PHOTO: Pro-Trump protesters clash with police during a rally at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., U.S, Jan. 6, 2021. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

This seems to be the first report of out-of-state law enforcement officials being involved in the violent pro-Trump protests.

The FBI is currently working to identify those involved and has already made various arrests.

In a statement late Friday, FBI Assistant Director in Charge Steven M. D'Antuono said in a press call, "Just because you've left the D.C. region, you can still expect a knock on the door if we find out that you were part of criminal activity inside the Capitol. Bottom line—the FBI is not sparing any resources in this investigation."

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