Pelosi and the Mueller investigation of the 2020 insurrection: Behind-the-scenes footage of the huddled ex-President

The footage of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressional leaders huddled in a locked room during the insurrection was featured in the hearing. The ex-president tried to avoid publicly admitting he was a loser in 2020 and it was made clear that his actions were even more heinous, since his full comprehension of his defeat made his actions even more heinous.

The hearing used new data from the Secret Service and deposition footage from former Cabinet secretaries and White House officials to argue that Trump is still a threat to democracy in the years leading up to the election.

The footage that was shown during the hearing shows how Trump administration officials and congressional leaders worked around him to bring down the riot that he had instigated. By showing these behind-the-scenes clips, the committee delivered on its promise to present new material from January 6 to the public.

“We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion,” said Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the panel’s top Republican. It is up to every American to give the answers so that we can protect our republic.

“The need for this committee to hear from Donald Trump goes beyond our fact-finding. This is a question about accountability to the American people. He has to be held accountable. He is required to answer for his actions,” Thompson said.

Given the ex-President’s history of obstructing efforts to examine his tumultuous presidency, it would be a surprise if he does not fight the subpoena, although there might be part of him that would relish a primetime spot in a live hearing.

The House Minority Committee on the Iraq War II: Video Footage from Fort McNair, DC, during the Insurrection and Response to the Capitol

If Republicans take back control of the House, it will affect the existence of the committee that was created in January, which will only be able to make a final report in less than three months.

The committee aired previously unseen footage from Fort McNair, the DC-area Army base where congressional leaders took refuge during the insurrection and scrambled to respond to the unfolding crisis.

The footage shows House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other top officials working the phones and coordinating with Trump Cabinet members and other officials to secure the resources needed to quell the insurrection and secure the Capitol.

The footage also showed two phone calls between Pelosi and then-Vice President Mike Pence, who took on an impromptu leadership role on January 6, coordinating the emergency response.

Schumer was shown dressing down Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen. During their heated phone call, Schumer implored Rosen to intervene directly with Trump, and tell Trump to call off the mob. During the call, Pelosi said that the pro- Trump rioters were breaking the law in order to further the president’s agenda.

CNN reported in August that the wife of Senate Minority LeaderMitch McConnell had met with the committee. As a result of condemning the attack in her resignation letter, she has largely stayed out of the national spotlight, with her recent comments to the committee providing fresh insight into her thinking.

At a certain point, my personal values and my philosophy got in the way of my ability to continue. I arrived in this country as an immigrant. I believe in the United States of America. The peaceful transfer of power is something I believe in. I believe in democracy. And so I was – it was a decision that I made on my own,” she said.

The committee showed new video deposition from Hutchinson in which she talks to Meadows about Trump ordering the Georgia secretary of state to find the votes he needed to win the election.

I told Mark he couldn’t possibly believe that we would pull this off. Like, that call was crazy.’ He looked at me and shook his head. And he’s like, ‘No, Cass, you know, he knows it’s over. He knows he lost. But we’re going to keep trying,’” Hutchinson told the committee.

Hutchinson also said that she witnessed a conversation between Meadows and Trump where he was furious the Supreme Court had rejected a lawsuit seeking to overturn the election result.

“The President said … something to the effect of, ‘I don’t want people to know we lost, Mark. This is embarrassing. Figure it out. We need to come up with a solution. Hutchinson said he didn’t want people to know we lost.

On January 6, one Secret Service agent texted at 12:36 p.m., according to the committee, “With so many weapons found so far; you wonder how many are unknown. It could be sporty after dark.

Days before January Trump’s communication adviser, Jason Miller, boasted to Meadows that he “got the base FIRED UP,” and shared a link to a pro-Trump webpage containing hundreds of threatening comments about killing lawmakers if they went ahead with certifying Joe Biden’s legitimate electoral victory, according to a new text message the panel showed Thursday.

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff said in Thursday’s hearing that that the Secret Service received alerts of online threats made against Vice President Mike Pence ahead of the Capitol insurrection, including that Pence would be “‘a dead man walking if he doesn’t do the right thing.’”

The deposition of Greg Jacob was played by the committee. In the clip, Jacob talks about how they prepared for Donald Trump to declare victory in the election regardless of the results.

After they conversed on November 3, 2020, Jacob drafted a memo for Short, according to the committee.

“It is essential that the Vice President not be perceived by the public as having decided questions concerning disputed electoral votes prior to the full development of all relevant facts,” the memo reads.

The committee also revealed new emails conservative legal activist Tom Fitton sent to two Trump advisers a few days before the election. There is an email that contains a draft statement for Trump to make on Election Night.

Despite saying for months that they wanted to hear from Thomas, members of the panel downplayed the significance of her testimony following her interview, and it was clear ahead of Thursday that she was not expected to be a central part of the hearing that was instead solely focused on Trump.

The panel used testimonies from several other high-profile witnesses that had been interviewed after the committee’s most recent hearing earlier in the summer.

The Case for an Outburst by the Ex-President: Defending the Judgment: Trump’s 2020 Expiration to the Courts

The House committee voted on January 6 to subpoena him after it came out that he tried to overthrow the 2020 election and that he neglected his duty when his mob invaded the US Capitol.

Developments off stage could hurt Trump the most. The legal thicket surrounding the ex-President who has not been charged with a crime, and the distance still left to run to account for his exit from power and presidency that continually tested the rule of law are reflected in these pictures.

While Trump has frequently defied gathering investigative storms, and ever since launching his presidential campaign in 2015 has repeatedly confounded predictions of his imminent demise, there’s a sense that he’s sliding into an ever-deeper legal hole.

The Supreme Court sent out a message that it doesn’t want to be sucked into Trump’s attempt to derail a Justice Department inquiry into classified material he kept at Mar-a-Lago.

The court turned down his emergency request to intervene, which could have delayed the case, without explaining why. No dissents were noted from the bench, including the conservative justices who Trump elevated and who he seems to think owe him a debt of loyalty.

For all the political drama that surrounds the revelations surrounding one of the darkest days in modern American history, it is the showdown over classified documents that appears to represent the ex- President’s most clear cut and immediate danger of criminal exposure.

While television stations ran a full report of the committee hearing, there was more news emerging that suggested that the ex- President could face grave legal problems if another Justice Department investigation is to continue. Unlike the House’s version, the DOJ’s criminal probe has the power to draw up indictments.

A former chief of staff for Mike Pence was in Washington, DC, leaving the courthouse. Short had been compelled to testify to the grand jury for the second time, according to a person familiar with the matter, CNN’s Pamela Brown reported. A former national security aide for Trump was also seen walking into an area where a grand jury is gathering. Patel would not tell reporters what he was doing.

A Trump employee has told the FBI that he was directed by the ex- President to remove boxes from a storage room at his club after receiving a subpoena, CNN reported late on Wednesday. The FBI also has surveillance footage showing a staffer moving the boxes.

This development is troubling since it could be an indication of a pattern of deception that may play into an obstruction of justice charge. There was evidence of obstruction at the resort when the FBI showed up in August, according to the initial search warrant.

Still, David Schoen, who was Trump’s defense lawyer in his second impeachment, told CNN’s “New Day” that though the details of what happened at Mar-a-Lago raised troubling questions, they did not necessarily amount to a case of obstructing justice.

He said, “If President Trump or someone acting on his behalf knew that the documents they were holding were owned by the government or American citizens, they hid them, disobeyed the subpoena, and kept the documents.”

The New York Attorney General asked for a state court to block the Trump Organization from moving money around, and continuing to perpetrate a decades-long fraud.

“There is every reason to believe that the Defendants will continue to engage in similar fraudulent conduct right up to trial unless checked by order of this Court,” James wrote in an application for a preliminary injunction linked to her $250 million suit against Trump, his three eldest children and his firm.

Trump branded the investigation a stunt and denied any wrongdoing. The Justice Department hasn’t charged the former President, nor anyone else in its investigation over the Capitol insurrection. The committee can’t bring criminal charges, and is trying to find a way to send criminal referrals to the Justice Department. Trump has also blasted the DOJ’s investigation into classified documents unearthed during the FBI search of his residence at Mar-a-Lago as a witch hunt and political persecution.

There are probes connected to Trump as well. There is also the matter of yet another investigation in Georgia over attempts by the former President and his allies to overturn the election in a crucial 2020 swing state.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/14/politics/trump-jan-6-subpoena-supreme-court-mar-a-lago/index.html

When did Donald Trump rip? The case of Budowich, Washington, on January 6, 2006: The Senate Select Committee investigation reveals what it could have to do

As always, Trump came out fighting on Thursday, one of those days when the seriousness of a crisis he is facing can often be gauged by the vehemence of the rhetoric he uses to respond.

First Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich mocked the unanimous 9-0 vote in the select committee to subpoena the former President for documents and testimony.

PresTrump will not be intimidated by their un-American actions. Trump-endorsed candidates will sweep the Midterms, and America First leadership & solutions will be restored,” Budowich wrote on Twitter.

The former President weighed in on Truth Social with another post that didn’t respond to accusations against him, and he wanted to stir a political reaction from his supporters.

“Why didn’t the Unselect Committee ask me to testify months ago? Why did they wait until the very end, the final moments of their last meeting? The Committee is a total waste of time. Trump wrote.

If Trump refuse to testify it could take months or even years to follow a similar path. It’s unclear whether the Justice Department would consider this a good investment, especially given the advanced state of its own January 6 probe. And there’s a good chance the committee will be swept into history anyway, with Republicans favored to take over the House majority following the midterm elections.

A vote to target the ex- President will likely be seen as another theatrical flourish in a set of slickly produced hearings that often resemble a television courtroom drama because of the slim chance of Trump complying with a congressional subpoena.

Liz Cheney said the investigation was not just about what happened on January 6 but about the future.

The Wyoming lawmaker, who lost her primary to a Trump supporter and will not be returning to Congress, said that the country is at risk of being destroyed with every attempt to excuse or justify the actions of the former President.

The Committee on Investigating the egregious allegations against Donald Trump during the 2016 Black Hole Bengino-White Mangibo Incident

The committee said the Justice Department was already aware of the matter. Some witnesses interviewed by grand juries investigating matters related to Mr. Trump have been asked who is paying for their lawyers.

It added: “The committee is aware that both the U.S. Department of Justice and the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office have already obtained information relevant to these matters, including from the committee directly. We urge the Department of Justice to examine the facts to discern whether prosecution is warranted.”

Mr. Passantino said he believed Ms. Hutchinson was cooperating with the committee during the several interview sessions that she had with him.

He added, “It is not uncommon for clients to change lawyers because their interests or strategies change. A political committee is often able to cover a client’s fees at their request. External communications made on Ms. Hutchinson’s behalf while I was her counsel were made with her express authorization. The committee never reached out to me to find out the facts.

The investigators revealed how disagreements arose among organizers over the financing of the rally that preceded the violence, including a payment of $60,000 to the fiancée of Donald Trump Jr.

“You’re done for life with me because I won’t pay you a $60,000 speaking fee for an event you aren’t speaking at?” Caroline Wren, a Trump fund-raiser, wrote, as she implored Ms. Guilfoyle to call and thank Julie Jenkins Fancelli, an heir to the Publix supermarket fortune who had donated millions to put on the rally. This poor woman has donated more than $3 million to this rally, and you can’t forget her, you can only thank her for five minutes. It’s so degrading. You have the chance to ask why I won’t be able to pay her $60,000.

The transcripts also show the combative stance some witnesses and their lawyers took during questioning. A lawyer for the white nationalist Nick Fuentes repeatedly challenged the investigators of the committee.

The final report, likely the last step in an 18-month investigation during which the lawmakers interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses, came a day before the transcripts were released.