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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."

by **admin** » Mon Jan 11, 2021 6:33 am

San Francisco police are prepping for a pro-Trump rally at Twitter headquarters
by Jonathan Shieber @jshieber
7:56 PM MST January 10, 2021

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

San Francisco police are preparing for a pro-Trump protest at Twitter’s headquarters, a building which has been essentially abandoned since the start of the pandemic last year, with most Twitter employees working remotely.

The potential protest comes days after Twitter banned the president from using its service — his favorite form of communication to millions of followers — following what the company called his continued incitements to violence in the wake of the January 6 assault on the Capitol last week by a mob of his followers.

“The San Francisco Police Department is aware of the possibility of a demonstration on the 1300 block of Market Street (Twitter) tomorrow, Monday January 11, 2021. SFPD has been in contact with representatives from Twitter. We will have sufficient resources available to respond to any demonstrations as well as calls for service citywide,” a police department spokesperson wrote in an email. “The San Francisco Police Department is committed to facilitating the public’s right to First Amendment expressions of free speech. We ask that everyone exercising their First Amendment rights be considerate, respectful, and mindful of the safety of others.”

The San Francisco Chronicle, which first reported the preparations from SF police, noted that posts on a popular internet forum for Trump supporters who have relocated from Reddit called for the president’s adherents to protest his Twitter ban outside of the company’s headquarters on Monday.

Twitter is one of several tech companies to deplatform the president and many of his supporters in the wake of the riot at the Capitol on Wednesday.

At this point, most of the biggest names in tech have pledged to deny service to the President for what they said was his incitement to violence in the wake of the Capitol hill raid that left five people dead — including a Capitol Police officer.

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