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Defend Our Country Digest

Defend Our Country Digest — July 22, 2022

By July 22, 2022No Comments

Driving the Day: 

What To Watch For Today:

Closing arguments in Steve Bannon’s criminal contempt trial. 

Must Read Stories

Last Night’s Hearing Showed Trump Incited Violence On January 6 And Then Made It Worse 

  • Wall Street Journal: Jan. 6 Hearing Depicts Donald Trump as Content to Let the Riot Rage:  President Donald Trump spent hours in front of a television at the White House watching the attack on the Capitol unfold on Jan. 6, 2021, ignoring pleas from staff, supporters and family to call off the rioters—and even at times encouraging them—according to testimony Thursday at a prime-time hearing of the House committee investigating the attack. “The case against Donald Trump, in these hearings, is not made by witnesses who are his political enemies,” said Rep. Liz Cheney (R., Wyo.), the committee’s vice chair, at the close of the hearing, the eighth and last of the current series. “It is instead a series of confessions by Donald Trump’s own appointees, his own friends, his own campaign officials, people who worked for him for years, and his own family.”
  • Politico: The Jan. 6 Committee Makes Jan. 7 — And Beyond — Matter:  The Jan. 6 select committee’s name never fully fit a panel long focused on the runup to that date. And its members made clear Thursday night that they’re turning to Donald Trump’s actions after the violent riot. As his days in office dwindled after the Capitol attack, Trump kept resisting the reality of his loss to Joe Biden, according to the select panel. Its starkest illustration of the former president’s unwillingness to abandon his plan to seize power, even after it erupted in violence, came in outtakes from his Jan. 7 attempt to deliver words that might calm a nation on edge. “I don’t want to say the election is over,” Trump said on the evening after the siege, rejecting prepared remarks his staff pleaded with him to repeat on camera.  ‘I don’t want to say the election’s over’: Outtakes from Trump’s Jan. 6 and Jan. 7 remarks. That unguarded image, aired Thursday night during the select committee’s eighth public hearing, shows that the committee has quietly amassed evidence postdating Jan. 6 — material that provides a window into the mind of a defeated president refusing to concede. The select panel is turning to the aftermath of the riot for a reason. Jan. 6 committee members say their evidence of Trump’s enduring fixation on his loss, even after he left office and kept trying to convince his supporters he was cheated out of a second term, underscores an important message about his future as he weighs a 2024 campaign. “The forces Donald Trump ignited that day have not gone away … They’re all still out there ready to go,” said Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.).
  • Washington Post: Agents Protecting Pence Feared ‘For Their Own Lives,’ Official Says: For 13 minutes on Jan. 6, 2021, as smoke clouded the air and Vice President Mike Pence hid from rioters in his office adjacent to the Senate chamber, his Secret Service detail scrambled — in increasingly frantic radio messages — to clear a path for Pence to flee the Capitol. On Thursday, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack revealed harrowing video and audio that showed just how perilously close Pence and his protective detail came to danger, detailing how the protesters whom President Donald Trump had riled up turned their anger on the man he blamed for failing to overturn the results of the 2020 election. “We need to move now,” an agent said, according to excerpts of radio traffic played by the committee. “If we lose any more time, we may lose the ability to do so.” Pence’s Secret Service detail described smoke of unknown origin filling a hallway of the Capitol and protesters advancing on outnumbered police. “Harden that door up,” one agent said. A White House security official who was monitoring the traffic told the committee that agents were “starting to fear for their own lives.” “There were calls to say goodbye to family members, so on and so forth,” the security official said in audiotaped testimony. “For whatever the reason was on the ground, the VP detail thought that this was about to get very ugly.”

The January 6 Committee Isn’t Finished Yet 

  • New York Times: The Jan. 6 Committee Isn’t Even Close To Being Finished: The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol doesn’t plan to conclude its work any time soon. After Thursday’s prime-time hearing focusing on President Donald J. Trump’s three hours of inaction during the Capitol riot, the panel is planning a second investigative push. “The investigation is still ongoing, if not maybe accelerating,” said Representative Elaine Luria, Democrat of Virginia and a member of the committee. “We’re gaining so much new information.” When the panel kicked off its series of summer hearings, tentative plans called for six sessions in June and a final report to be issued by September. But the schedule slipped, and lawmakers found that as soon as they began to air the findings of their more than 1,000 interviews, even more witnesses emerged. The hearings stretched from six to eight — and well into July — and the plan to wrap up with a report in September began to bleed later into the year. Witnesses have continued to come forward. Throughout June and July, the committee interviewed Mr. Trump’s White House counsel, the chief financial officer of the Trump campaign, Mr. Trump’s labor secretary, and a business executive who helped finance the effort to overturn the 2020 election, among others. Now lawmakers are discussing using the month of August, when Congress takes a lengthy recess, to prepare a preliminary report of their findings, tentatively scheduled to be released in September. But a final report — complete with exhibits and transcripts — could be released in December, just before the committee is set to dissolve at the start of a new Congress on Jan. 3, 2023.
  • The Hill: Cheney Says Jan. 6 Panel Will Hold More Hearings In September: Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) announced on Thursday that the Jan. 6 select committee will hold additional hearings in September. Cheney, the vice chair of the committee, announced the additional upcoming presentations at Thursday’s prime-time hearing, asserting that the panel has “considerably more to do.” “In the course of these hearings we have received new evidence, and new witnesses have bravely stepped forward. Efforts to litigate and overcome immunity and executive privilege claims have been successful, and those continue. Doors have opened, new subpoenas have been issued, and the dam has begun to break,” Cheney said

Criminal Inquiry Launched Into Missing Secret Service Texts 

  • New York Times: Watchdog Informs Secret Service of Criminal Inquiry Into Missing Texts: The inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security directed the Secret Service to halt its internal search for purged texts sent by agents around the time of Jan. 6 so that it does not “interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation,” according to a letter reviewed by The New York Times. “To ensure the integrity of our investigation, the U.S.S.S. must not engage in any further investigative activities regarding the collection and preservation of the evidence referenced above,” the Homeland Security Department’s deputy inspector general, Gladys Ayala, wrote to James M. Murray, the director of the Secret Service. “This includes immediately refraining from interviewing potential witnesses, collecting devices or taking any other action that would interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation.” The mention of a potential criminal investigation into the deleted texts of Secret Service personnel sought by Congress and the inspector general suggested the growing seriousness of the scrutiny into the agency’s handling of records from around the time of the attack on the Capitol.

Top Trump Lawyers Were Brief In Detail On Fake Elector Plot In December 2020 

  • Politico: Top Trump Lawyers Briefed In Detail On Alternate Elector Plot On Dec. 13, 2020: As Donald Trump struggled to remain in power in late 2020, an anchor for a far-right TV network briefed a group of the president’s lawyers in detail on a plot to mobilize so-called alternate pro-Trump electors, according to an email reviewed by POLITICO. On Dec. 13, 2020, the day before electors gathered to cast their states’ presidential votes as required by law, Christina Bobb of One America News emailed several Trump campaign aides and allies to discuss arrangements for the false electors. Teeing up those pro-Trump electors to represent states that Joe Biden won in 2020 was a linchpin of Trump’s efforts to challenge his loss. POLITICO reviewed the email, which has not been previously reported. It sheds light on how people in and close to the Trump campaign worked to contest the election, as well as the detailed planning that went into promoting alternate electors in states Biden carried.

While Republicans Stand By, Trump And His Allies Are Plotting An Even More Radical Second Term 

  • Axios: A Radical Plan For Trump’s Second Term: Former President Trump’s top allies are preparing to radically reshape the federal government if he is re-elected, purging potentially thousands of civil servants and filling career posts with loyalists to him and his “America First” ideology, people involved in the discussions tell Axios. The impact could go well beyond typical conservative targets such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Internal Revenue Service. Trump allies are working on plans that would potentially strip layers at the Justice Department — including the FBI, and reaching into national security, intelligence, the State Department and the Pentagon, sources close to the former president say. During his presidency, Trump often complained about what he called “the deep state.” The heart of the plan is derived from an executive order known as “Schedule F,” developed and refined in secret over most of the second half of Trump’s term and launched 13 days before the 2020 election.
  • Politico: GOP Leaders Won’t Get In The Way Of Trump 2024: Congressional Republican leaders have no apparent plans to keep Donald Trump from a third presidential run. Some are even encouraging it. “I support President Trump running in 2024,” said Rep. Elise Stefanik, the No. 3 House Republican, who said she’d endorse him over other GOP candidates for the White House. Of the more than 12 GOP leaders in both chambers POLITICO interviewed for this story, Stefanik went furthest in her expression of support for Trump. Yet while Republicans aren’t endorsing him early, they aren’t getting in his way, either. Many are prepared to adopt the same playbook they did in 2016: Allow a crowded presidential primary field to sort itself out with minimal interference. The wrinkle, of course, is that those same conditions allowed Trump to first defeat a field of more than a dozen challengers and win the nomination. And Trump is no longer the cipher he was in 2015: He has a record as a president, two impeachments, and is still facing legal threats as well as a congressional investigation.

In The States 

MICHIGAN: Court Rejects Effort Seeking To Disqualify Insurrectionist Ryan Kelley From Gubernatorial Ballot 

  • Detroit Free Press: Court Rejects Lawsuit Seeking To Disqualify Ryan Kelley As A Candidate For Governor: The Michigan Court of Appeals on Thursday rejected a request to declare Republican gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley ineligible for the November general election as “an insurrectionist.” In an order, a three-judge panel said any such request should have been made sooner, and not this close to the Aug. 2 primary. Also, Kelley has been charged with misdemeanors in connection with his presence at the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, but not convicted, the court noted in an order signed by Judge Michael Gadola.

PENNSYLVANIA:  Democrats Say Doug Mastriano Breached Police Lines On January 6

  • KDKA: Democrats Say Doug Mastriano Breached Police Lines During Jan. 6 Insurrection And Should Release Video To Prove Otherwise: Democrats are calling on the Republican candidate for governor, Doug Mastriano, to come clean on his involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection. As political editor Jon Delano reports, Democrat Josh Shapiro says Mastriano was more than just an innocent bystander. From the get-go, state Sen. Mastriano was one of the state’s strongest advocates that the 2020 election in Pennsylvania was stolen from former President Trump. He chartered buses to take Pennsylvanians to the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6. Following Trump’s speech, Mastriano and his wife joined the crowd, walking to the U.S. Capitol. Attorney General Shapiro says while he was trying to protect every Pennsylvanian’s vote, Mastriano was undermining it. “I was preparing to go to court to defend our democracy, when he, my opponent, was at the Capitol on January 6.  And understand this, folks, he was not a passive observer,” Shapiro told supporters at a recent event in Columbia County. Shapiro said Mastriano ignored police orders and breached the barriers erected around the capitol. “You know what the would-be governor did? He didn’t listen to law enforcement. He sided with the mob and he marched to the Capitol, right to the steps,” said Shapiro. “He said that he did not cross police lines, the police set up lines. They said don’t cross them. He crossed by them and then lied about it to Pennsylvanians,” says Sam Newton, deputy communications director with the Democratic Governors Association.

What Experts Are Saying

Shannon Hiller, executive director of Princeton University’s Bridging Divides Initiative, re: video of Congressional leaders’ call with former acting secretary of defense: “This is incredible to see and hear – a critical reminder there was, however briefly, strong bipartisan support to continue the peaceful transition of power and reject the false stolen election claims. We must get back to that shared commitment. #January6thHearing” Tweet 

Elizabeth Wydra, president of Constitutional Accountability Center: “Wow: @RepLizCheney linking Trump’s infamous ‘shoot someone on 5th Avenue’ to him falsely claiming victory. Makes strong statement that this was ‘premeditated’—he was confident he could convince his supporters of anything & summon them to DC to keep him in power.” Tweet 

Noah Bookbinder, president of CREW: “Cause and effect: Donald Trump specifically argued to water down the tweets he was putting out. The recordings the Committee played make clear that his supporters recognized what Trump did not say and took that to be an endorsement of what they were doing.” Tweet 

Ryan Goodman, former Department of Defense special counsel: “Trump’s second tweet was not just ‘insufficient’ or just ‘inadequate.’ It was taken by his most violent supporters as _encouragement_ not to leave the Capitol and even in this case to treat only Capitol Police/law enforcement peacefully, not members of Congress.” Tweet 

Barbara McQuade, former US attorney: “Important point made at tonight’s Jan 6 hearing — Trump did not record his message telling mob to go home until after it had become clear that the attack would fail.” Tweet 

Katie S. Phang, former trial attorney and MSNBC anchor: “That Bannon clip reinforces why Bannon’s testimony is so important to the 1/6 Committee.  It shows the premeditation by Trump that he could dupe his supporters that the election was stolen. And why referring Bannon for criminal contempt was the right thing to do.” Tweet 

Renato Mariotti, former federal prosecutor: “The testimony from the security professional was powerful.  He’s right that if Trump led the mob into the Capitol, it would have had grave consequences. Testimony about what Trump said that he intended to do at the Capitol will be very important.” Tweet 

Heather Cox Richardson, American historian at Boston College: “Tonight’s public hearing of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol laid responsibility for the crisis at the Capitol on former president Trump.” Letters from an American 

What Pundits Are Saying

Kurt Bardella, former Republican congressional staffer: “Reminder: almost every single voice we’ve heard in all of the #January6thCommiteeHearings have been Republicans!” Tweet 

David Axelrod, former Obama administration senior advisor: “‘There were calls to say goodbye to family members’ from VP’s detail.  Absolutely chilling.” Tweet 

Amanda Carpenter, former Republican congressional staffer: “What Trump ‘did’ do is send tweets and phone members of Congress to keep up the pressure to stop Biden from being certified as president. He chose violence.” Tweet 

Michael Steele, former chair of the Republican National Committee: “After the testimony from Trump staffers, senior WH officials, lawyers, GOP elected officials all telling Trump that he lost the election, there is no longer any doubt about his mindset or intent: he told us in his own words ‘I don’t want to say the election is over.’ #Jan6” Tweet 

Headlines

The MAGA Movement And The Ongoing Threat To Elections

Daily Beast: Far-Right Channel One America News Officially Dropped by Last Major TV Carrier

Washington Post: Jan. 6 hearing protesters hassle ex-police officer beaten by Capitol mob

January 6 And The 2020 Election

Associated Press: Jan. 6 hearing dominates top TV networks — except one

CNN: Judge criticizes Atlanta DA who hosted fundraiser for opponent of Trump grand jury target: ‘What were you thinking?’

Fox News: Melania Trump says she was ‘fulfilling’ official duties as first lady on Jan. 6: ‘I always condemn violence’

NBC: ‘Loudmouth’ Capitol riot defendant had a rough day at his Jan. 6 jury trial

New York Times: The Jan. 6 committee isn’t even close to being finished.

Newsweek: Video of Josh Hawley Running Away From Capitol Mob Sparks Mockery and Memes

Talking Points Memo: Pro-Democracy Groups Give Stamp Of Approval To New Senate Anti-Coup Deal

Washington Post: ‘I don’t want to say the election’s over.’ Trump dug in after Jan. 6 attack.

Washington Post: How some TikTokers are explaining the Jan. 6 hearings

Opinion

Washington Post (Greg Sargent): Kevin McCarthy accidentally tells the truth about the GOP and Jan. 6

Washington Post (Eugene Robinson): Trump’s behavior on Jan. 6 was worse than you thought. Much worse.

Political Violence

WIVB: Rep. Lee Zeldin attacked at Perinton campaign stop

In The States 

ProPublica: A Government Official Helped Them Register. Now They’ve Been Charged With Voter Fraud.

The Verge: Mysterious Pro-Kari Lake PAC Paid Fake Elector $2 Million For Ads And Promotion