Capitol Insurrection Report

"It was just a delay that somebody or somebodies were willfully, deliberately delaying making the decision." (Transcript of Major General William Walker before the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack, p 118) For three hours and 19 minutes, the NC National Guard waited in the DC Armory on January 6th, 2021, supposedly awaiting approval from Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy to deploy to the US Capitol. That order was never conveyed to Walker, although Secretary of Defense Chris Miller claims he authorized deployment at 3:04 pm, and Secretary McCarthy claims he called Walker to authorize deployment at 4:30 pm--a phone call Walker has consistently denied took place. Who were the "somebody or somebodies" who delayed deployment on January 6th, and what were their motivations? Given the conflicting accounts and the threadbare relationship between the official account of the DOD and what actually happened on January 6th, it seems unlikely we will ever see a definitive account of why the delay was felt to be necessary. Nonetheless, there is circumstantial evidence in the documentary record that shows that both the civilian and military leadership on duty on January 6th were uniform in their desire to keep both active-duty and National Guard servicemembers on the sidelines in the fight for the Capitol. The fact that this actually happened, and very much aligned with the preferences of top leadership is probably more than just a coincidence. If Trump had intended to misuse the military, why is there no record of his attempting to issue an illegal order on January 6th? Why did Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy believe it was necessary to personally develop a CONOP for January 6th, a circumstance that seems as unlikely as Jeff Bezos delivering your Amazon order? Why is it that neither General Walker or anyone else has seen the plan McCarthy supposedly developed in 20 minutes? Why was Ryan McCarthy so surprised to "I don't know what actually happened." (Miller, 115) "I -- I can't -- I don't know how to explain that." (McCarthy, 136) "You're coming up with a plan without me being involved in the plan?" (Walker, 108) Q: Was there any hesitation by DOD leadership to deploy the D.C. National Guard? A: None. No. (Milley, 258) "In fact, even in hindsight, I am really glad the cops showed up first. I'm glad that the FBI or the DEA or whoever it was, I'm glad they were the ones that showed up first and cleared the Capitol. Because they're the pros, they know how to do it. They're cops." (Milley, 275) https://www.govinfo.gov/collection/january-6th-committee-final-report?path=/gpo/January%206th%20Committee%20Final%20Report%20and%20Supporting%20Materials%20Collection/Supporting%20Materials%20-%20Transcribed%20Interviews%20and%20Depositions/%7B%22pageSize%22%3A%2250%22%2C%22offset%22%3A%220%22%7D https://www.govinfo.gov/collection/january-6th-committee-final-report?path=/gpo/January%206th%20Committee%20Final%20Report%20and%20Supporting%20Materials%20Collection/Supporting%20Materials%20-%20Transcribed%20Interviews%20and%20Depositions/%7B%22pageSize%22%3A%2250%22%2C%22offset%22%3A%220%22%7D https://www.militarytimes.com/news/2022/08/08/milley-almost-quit-over-trump-wrote-biting-resignation-letter-new-book-reveals/ https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/chairman-joint-chiefs-says-no-role-military-presidential-election-n1238772 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMrvbCVNcwE&t=1s https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/09/mark-esper-fired-defence-pentagon-donald-trump https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/17/politics/chris-krebs-fired-by-trump/index.html DOD Statement on Personnel Changes at the Pentagon > U.S. Department of Defense > Release https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/d-c-mayor-muriel-bowser-press-conference-on-capitol-protests-transcript-january-6 https://docs.house.gov/meetings/IJ/IJ00/20211213/114313/HRPT-117-NA.pdf

For the third anniversary of the January 6th Attack, I speak with Riverfox, a sedition hunter whose current role includes a crowdsourced effort to debunk the "Fedsurrection" narrative. We discuss what this campaign of far-right propaganda is, why it is central to the politics of the Trumpist movement, and how to counter it. After the interview, I will review some recent developments, to include the arrests of three longstanding Florida fugitives for charges stemming from their alleged roles in the January sixth attack. I also review some recent developments in the January 6th cases against Trump: 2023 was the year in which cases were finally charged against the apex of the January 6th Attack conspiracy, but 2024 will be the year in which these cases are tried. I'll then discuss what it means for the electoral prospects of a major party nominee who will be campaigning for the presidency while embroiled in multiple felony cases in different jurisdictions. Finally, I will review the numbers, using some interesting data visualizations from the people behind the X account @jan6thdata that show some intriguing patterns among January 6th defendants. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/former-capitol-police-officer-harry-dunn-announces-bid-for-congress/ar-AA1mvgED https://news.gallup.com/poll/311825/presidential-job-approval-related-reelection-historically.aspx https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/supreme-court-denies-special-counsels-request-to-take-up-trump-immunity-claim/ar-AA1lUOoc https://www.ijpr.org/npr-news/2024-01-05/supreme-court-takes-up-colorados-decision-to-kick-trump-off-its-primary-ballot https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/121120zr_p860.pdf https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/11/supreme-court-refuses-quick-action-on-trump-election-lawsuits.html https://cha.house.gov/cha-subcommittee-reading-room-fe781e74-d577-4f64-93cc-fc3a8dd8df18 https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67891889/united-states-v-donald-trump/ https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24250215-us-v-trump-gov-appellate-response-to-trump-immunity-dc-case?responsive=1&title=1 https://archive.org/embed/TheKGBAndSovietDisinformationLadislavBittman

This episode consists mainly of a close reading of "Planned in Plain Sight: A Review of the Intelligence Failures in Advance of Januart 6th, 2021," a report written by the majority staff of the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, chaired by Senator Gary Peters. This report offers the best look yet at the failures of the FBI and DHS I&A in the runup to January 6th, building on the work of the House Select Committee--although it certainly also has its own issues, failing to really assign any responsibility to Christopher Wray or Chad Wolf. Also discussed: the acquittal of onstage Judas James Beeks by Judge Mehta, the strange story of Taylor Taranto, the conviction on all counts of Trump appointee Federico Klein, the charging of 16 fraudulent Trump electors by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, and the possibility of a grand jury indictment of Donald Trump by the DC grand jury investigating the obstruction of the peaceful transfer of power on January 6th, 2021. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/former-jesus-christ-superstar-actor-acquitted-jan-6-charges-rcna93956 https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59731868/united-states-v-caldwell/?page=2 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/georgia-man-arrested-in-relation-to-jan-6-u-s-capitol-breach/ar-AA1dSBDc https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/crime/article277292548.html https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/centre-county-man-faces-january-6th-charges/ar-AA1dAd0p https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sedition-hunters-capitol-attack-jeff-smith-trump-riot_n_6117e45fe4b01da700f646dd https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67545209/united-states-v-taranto/ https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/230627_HSGAC-Majority-Report_Jan-6-Intel.pdf https://www.wyden.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Internal%20Review%20Report%2020210930.pdf?ref=foreverwars.ghost.io https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/21028-07 https://www.fbi.gov/news/testimony/examining-the-january-6-attack-on-the-us-capitol-wray-061521 https://www.axios.com/2023/07/21/trump-appointee-federico-klein-jan-6-guilty https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/20/trump-grand-jury-witness-executive-privilege-00107442

A quick update on some of the latest January sixth news, followed by a close reading of 300 pages of transcripts from crucial testimony by a key figure in the January sixth Committee Report, Trump campaign attorney Alex Cannon. Topics include the arrest of an AFO defendant who was arrested on January 6th, only to be released from his cuffs by the mob of Trumpist thugs, an analysis of the daunting task of reading some 18,000 pages of testimony, a call for assistance with regard to this task, with inquiries to be directed to @capinsurrep on Twitter, and some discussion of the question of whether the speech and debate clause actually applies to members of the executive branch, such as the vice president. The main body of the episode consists of a close reading of the two transcripts of testimony by Trump campaign lawyer Alex Cannon in April and August of 2021. Cannon offered very useful testimony to Committee with regard to the big lie, and had documentation to support his position that he had opposed "team crazy." Nonetheless, the transcripts make it clear that this opposition had its limits, and Cannon took pains to absent himself from the work of "team crazy," even going so far as to move his office. Although the Committee did not delve much into the question of Cannon's involvement in the TMAGAC "Big Rip-Off" scheme, already addressed in S3E11, "The Big Rip-Off," which was relegated to Appendix 3 of the Final Report, Cannon, whose expertise consists mainly of drawing up vendor contracts, lies at a nexus of Trump insiders who created LLCs that received disbursements from the Trump campaign and his PACs, sometimes totaling millions of dollars. Though the Committee seemingly took pains not to undermine Cannon's credibility, the questions surrounding these unusual dealings are reportedly of interest to Special Counsel Jack Smith. Cannon's transcript also shows how Cannon, who was represented by Daniel Benson, a named partner at Kasowitz, Benson and Torres, is linked to another KB&T client: Jared Kushner. Cannon told the Committee that it was Kushner, acting on the instruction of Donald Trump, who sought to create the Save America PAC as a leadership PAC because it would allow the campaign to transfer over 200 million dollars, ostensibly raised for the purposes of creating an Election Defense Fund that ultimately was never created, into an entity with few restrictions on how these funds could be spent. This move raises issues of FEC violations, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Also, in rare scoop for the podcast, I will reveal that Cannon authorized a secret investigation into January 6th funded with Trump PAC money. Cannon claims the investigation was conducted by 2M Document Management and Imaging, LLC, a firm with no clients not affiliated with Trump. Cannon also claims that this investigation, which was funded with part of the 6.2 million dollars disbursed to 2M, is work product subject to attorney-client privilege. Cannon asserted that neither the Committee, nor the public, nor anyone else, will ever see this privileged work product, which raises questions regarding accountability and transparency. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/jesse-james-rumson-sedition-panda-jan-6-b2291006.html https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-shell-spending-scheme-comes-under-doj-scrutiny https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/22/trump-brass-campaign-firm-449402 https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/16/politics/secret-grand-jury-special-counsel-trump/index.html https://www.lawfareblog.com/how-much-can-speech-or-debate-clause-protect-mike-pence https://www.golocalprov.com/news/blocks-voter-fraud-allegations-spark-controversy-in-rhode-island https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000062449/ https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000916113/

With 265 witness transcripts totaling approximately 18,000 pages of testimony into the Attack, The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack has created a record that goes far beyond what's included in the final Report. One transcript that I think will be of interest is the testimony of Justin Clark, a former Chris Christe aide who served as the Deputy Campaign manager for the Trump/Pence ticket, and whose firm, Elections LLC, has been receiving $40,000 to $60,000 a month, supposedly for "recount" efforts, right up to the present. Clark was asked about the campaign's decision to declare Trump as the victor on election night, the fake elector scheme, and what the Committee Report calls "The Big Rip-Off," a fundraising appeal that said the money would be spent for an "election defense fund" that was never created, although the fine print Clark included in the disclaimer said the money would go to the Save America PAC, the entity that is paying Clark and many other witness LLCs today, supposedly for "recount" work that has never taken place. Also includes an update on the numbers, the latest subpoenas from Special Counsel Jack Smith, and the revelation that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is going to hand over some 44,000 hours of video evidence of the January sixth attack for selective and misleading editing by an entertainment firm masquerading as a news outlet. https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000083778/ https://www.thedailybeast.com/california-doctor-austin-harris-charged-in-jan-6-capitol-riot https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/georgia-grand-jury-forewoman-trump-rcna71666 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/ivanka-trump-jared-kushner-subpoenaed-special-counsel-investigating/story?id=97398257 https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/15/politics/mark-meadows-subpoena/index.html https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/tucker-carlson-january-6th/ https://today.westlaw.com/Document/I343d39201f7e11eb942ed6fa035012ef/View/FullText.html?transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=true https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?data_type=processed&committee_id=C00580100&committee_id=C00618371&committee_id=C00618389&recipient_name=elections+llc

Defendant profile of Donald Smith, whose charges were dismissed, becoming only the second January 6th defendant to have his case dismissed. Other topics include the the first Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy trial, the midterm elections and election denialism, Trump's failure to comply with his subpoena from the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack, use immunity extended to Kash Patel in the stolen documents case, and reporting that the work of several of the investigative teams under the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack will not be included in the forthcoming report by the Committee, which reportedly will focus narrowly on the case against Donald Trump, the announcement by Trump that he intends to seek the Republican nomination in 2024, and the determination by the RNC that it will no longer pay Trump's legal bills. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/60630211/united-states-v-smith/ https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/jan-6-committee-staffers-told-preliminary-plan-final-report-focus-larg-rcna56802 https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/62601657/united-states-v-rhodes-iii/ https://www.newsherald.com/story/news/crime/2018/10/19/vigilante-group-oath-keepers-arrested-in-mexico-beach-following-hurricane-michael/9509280007/ https://docs-cdn-prod.news-engineering.aws.wapo.pub/publish_document/f36d85e3-6ea5-4df2-add1-1903f07f832b/published/f36d85e3-6ea5-4df2-add1-1903f07f832b.pdf https://vadogwood.com/2022/10/13/virginia-trump-supporters-get-split-verdict-in-weapons-election-case/ https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/03/trump-news-kash-patel-granted-immunity-to-testify-in-mar-a-lago-documents-case-.html https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/jan-6-committee-staffers-told-preliminary-plan-final-report-focus-larg-rcna56802 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/steve-bannons-prison-sentence-delayed-appeal/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/election-deniers-2022-midterm-elections/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&linkId=189749572#app https://www.businessinsider.com/ronna-mcdaniel-rnc-cannot-pay-legal-bills-donald-trump-runs-2022-11 https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59704100/united-states-v-nordean

Mainly dedicated to the 8th public hearing of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack, but also covering other new developments, including the Bannon conviction for contempt of Congress, the latest defendant suicide, the announcement of new hearings after the August break, the release of DHS emails from January sixth, the continuing story of obstruction of justice by the Secret Service, new emails relating to the fake elector scheme, and new witnesses providing testimony to the Committee and DOJ. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22089493-foia-department-of-defense-emails https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dhs-jan-6-missing-texts_n_62e3a22ce4b07f83766e534f https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/28/politics/klukowski-justice/index.html https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/national/capitol-riots/stop-the-steal-speaker-brandon-straka-gave-fbi-info-on-rally-organizers-more-than-a-dozen-others-as-part-of-plea-deal-ali-alexander-chafian-kremer/65-bee210ed-47ea-440d-93c1-2f889c040ffa https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/28/former-trump-white-house-chief-of-staff-mick-mulvaney-to-meet-with-jan-6-capitol-riot-committee.html https://www.c-span.org/video/?521771-1/eighth-hearing-investigation-capitol-attack&vod&start=4032 https://www.npr.org/2022/07/22/1112138665/jan-6-committee-hearing-transcript

The last episode of the podcast before the public hearings of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack at 8:PM eastern on June 9th. Topics include the new superceding indictment for seditious conspiracy in the Proud Boys conspiracy case, witnesses who are scheduled to appear in public testimony before the Committee, and the order by Judge Carter that John Eastman must hand over 159 documents to the Select Committee. In the final segment of the show, I'll examine issues raised by the "Path To Trump " whiteboard featured by far-right podcaster Clay Clark, including the significance of the New Apostolic Revival movement in Trumpism and the role of Hans von Spakovsky in undermining public confidence in US elections. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/07/judge-eastman-emails-jan-6-committee-00037999 https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/proud-boys-indicted-texts-rcna32298 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/08/inaugural-january-6-hearing-to-track-activities-of-proud-boys-during-capitol-attack https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/documentarian-capitol-police-officer-testify-1st-prime-time/story?id=85238856 https://www.npr.org/2011/08/24/139781021/the-evangelicals-engaged-in-spiritual-warfare https://www.rawstory.com/mike-lindell-whiteboard-analysis/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=ygwFBaZGvZU https://twitter.com/patriottakes/status/1412561481103675394?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1412561481103675394%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffpost.com%2Fentry%2Ftrump-conspiracy-whiteboard_n_60e54595e4b077215ddc1211