Trump Allies Giuliani And Powell Subpoenaed By Riot Committee – Latest

Jan 6 panel subpoenas members of Trump legal team

The January 6 committee moved on Tuesday afternoon to issue another round of subpoenas as part of its investigation into the Capitol riot and attempts by Donald Trump’s team to overturn the 2020 election.

To that end, the panel targeted much of Mr Trump’s former legal team, including Rudy Giuliani, Boris Ephsteyn, and Jenna Ellis. The subpoenas also targeted Sidney Powell, who was cut from the president’s inner circle in late 2020 as she began to support increasingly wild conspiracies about the election.

She was famous for attempting to link supposed efforts to defeat Mr Trump at the ballot box during a press conference to Hugo Chavez, the former Venezuelan socialist leader who died in 2013.

John Bowden18 January 2022 22:28

Activists arrested in the Senate as voting rights fight escalates

Activists including a former CEO of the NAACP and two founding board members of the Women’s March were arrested at the US Senate on Tuesday as protests and backlash escalate in response to the growing unlikelihood that Democrats will pass voter rights legislation.

A press release indicated that the arrests included members of activist groups leading hunger strikes that began in the home state of Sen Kyrsten Sinema, one of two Democratic holdouts to changes to the filibuster that would allow the legislation to pass.

“We are coming together to honor the tradition of John Lewis and engage in good trouble to redeem the soul of this nation and protect our democracy,” said Rev Stephen Green, one of those arrested. “Now is the time for the Senate to go on record and vote to determine whether or not this country will choose fascism or choose democracy.”

Others arrested included two co-founders of Black Voters Matter, an advocacy group that focuses on voter registration efforts in Black communities.

John Bowden18 January 2022 22:00

Jan 6 committee member hesitates on whether panel will subpoena members of Congress

A member of the January 6 committee’s Democratic majority was hesitant to say that the panel will move to subpoena members of Congress such as Rep Jim Jordan if they, like Mr Jordan, refuse voluntary requests for information from the panel.

The Guardian reported on Tuesday that Rep Adama Schiff indicated that his colleagues “would probably not pursue criminal contempt of Congress proceedings with recalcitrant lawmakers as it did with Trump’s former aides Mark Meadows and Steve Bannon” during comments made on MSNBC

Some Democrats have publicly fretted that utilising the congressional power of subpoena against Republicans would result in the GOP launching retaliatory investigations should they return to power in the House.

John Bowden18 January 2022 21:46

Riot committee target appears at Trump rally

Ali Alexander, a right-wing provocateur and activist who organised a “Stop the Steal” rally outside the US Capitol on January 6, was in attendance at Donald Trump’s rally in Arizona on Saturday.

CNN first reported Mr Alexander’s attendance; the Trump loyalist is one of many who have been subpoenaed by the House select committee investigating January 6. The committee is particularly interested in whether Mr Alexander or other organisers, and potentially the White House, knew that violence was likely to occur before the attack began.

John Bowden18 January 2022 21:00

Biden to hold first press conference of 2022 on Wednesday

President Joe Biden will speak directly to reporters and take questions tomorrow for his first press conference of the year, marking one day before the first anniversary of his inauguration.

While it isn’t clear if the president will have a specific agenda on his mind, it will come as the Senate is set to see his push for voting rights legislation fail thanks to unified opposition from Republicans and a refusal to modify the Senate’s filibuster rules by two Democrats, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin.

John Bowden18 January 2022 20:43

Judge sentences Jan 6 rioter to home detention, probation and hefty fine

Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the District of Columbia sentenced a man to three months of home detention, two years of probation, and a fine of $1,500 for what she referred to on Tuesday as “minimal” involvement in the Capitol siege.

Tanner Bryce Sells received the sentence for entering the Capitol building during the riot, where according to Justice Department prosecutors he entered the Capitol rotunda area and walked around for about 10 minutes before exiting the building. He isn’t accused of any violent acts or vandalism.

Still, prosecutors asked for a sentence of two weeks in jail for the Oklahoma man because he committed the unauthorised entry after witnessing violence against members of law enforcement committed by other rioters.

His sentence was first reported by HuffPost’s Ryan J. Reilly:

John Bowden18 January 2022 20:20

Dan Crenshaw says he “wishes” he could help jailed Jan 6 rioters

GOP Rep Dan Crenshaw said on Tuesday that he “wishes” he could do more for jailed persons accused of participating in January 6-related crimes.

Agreeing with a questioner at a town hall event who referred to the accused rioters as “political prisoners” supposedly having their rights to due process violated, Mr Crenshaw said: “I wish that I could tell you something, that there was a bill we could pass, that we had the majorities.”

Under repeated questioning from the man, he added: “I wish I had the authority to help.”

Watch here:

John Bowden18 January 2022 20:03

CNN: Former Trump staffers hold strategy call to combat their ex-boss

A large contingent of former Trump administration officials and staffers were on a conference call this week strategising about efforts to stop their former boss from eroding US democracy, CNN reported on Tuesday.

The call, which was attended by roughly three dozen people including many formerly in the White House and others scattered throughout the government during the Trump era, did not end with participants agreeing on a strategy, according to CNN. But the group agreed that something needed to be done about Donald Trump’s well-reported efforts to back loyalists in local and national elections around the country with the intent of removing those who stood in the way of his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Former White House chief of staff John Kelly was the most notable participant, according to CNN, though he reportedly was only in the discussion for a few minutes due to a prior commitment.

John Bowden18 January 2022 19:42

Jan 6 panel member says committee unsure about fate of Jordan, other Republicans

Rep Jamie Raskin said on Monday that the January 6 committee had yet to decide whether it would take the route of issuing congressional subpoenas to Republican lawmakers who decline voluntary requests for information from his panel.

The Maryland Democrat told MSNBC that his colleagues had not decided whether to take the step of issuing congressional subpoenas, which chairman Bennie Thompson has raised as a possibility.

“The committee has not yet decided what to do about different levels of interference and noncooperation that we have received from various witnesses,” he said on All In with Chris Hayes, guest hosted by Medhi Hasan.

“So that’s something that’s going to, you know, require us to show some tactical nimbleness,” Mr Raskin continued. “We don’t want to get pulled down into some wild goose chases. On the other hand, everybody has a responsibility to comply with congressional orders when it comes to an investigation, and nobody knows that better than Mark Meadows or Jim Jordan, people who in the Benghazi investigation or any number of other investigations against Democratic presidents, insisted upon absolute compliance.”

John Bowden18 January 2022 18:45

Two Democrats announce exit from Congress

The House on Tuesday saw another shake-up in the battle for control of the lower chamber in the fall. Two congressional Democrats, Reps Jerry McNerney of California and Jim Langevin of Rhode Island announced their plans to not seek reelection.

Their districts are both favourable territories for the Democratic Party, but are not guaranteed to return to blue hands in the fall given the exit of their incumbents and a potential lack of candidates with name recognition in their respective areas.

The Democrats currently hold an advantage of less than 20 seats in the lower chamber, meaning that they can only afford a few defeats in areas they currently control and still retain control of the House.

John Bowden18 January 2022 18:20