Tag Archives: Capitol riot

US

Pence jabs at Biden on classified docs, says he and Trump are done

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Former Vice President Mike Pence took a thinly veiled swipe at President Biden’s handling of classified documents Friday — while also telling a Florida audience that he and former President Donald Trump “went our separate ways.”

Pence, 63, implicitly blasted Biden’s more than two-month-long public concealment of the discovery of classified records from his vice presidency — while also addressing recently uncovered secret papers at Pence’s Indiana home.

“While I was not aware that the classified documents were in our personal residence, let me be clear, those classified documents should not have been in my personal residence,” the former Hoosier State governor said. “Mistakes were made and I take full responsibility.”

“Our national security depends on the proper handling of classified and sensitive materials. And I know that when errors are made, it’s important that they be resolved swiftly and disclosed,” he went on, drawing a contrast with Biden.

Boxes of classified documents were found in Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago in August.
AP
Mike Pence said he takes “full responsibility” for classified documents found at his Indiana home.
AP


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“My only hope is that the American people look at our conduct in this matter and that they see that we acted above politics and put the national interest first,” Pence added while promoting his book “So Help Me God” at the Florida International University in Miami.

Pence is a possible 2024 Republican presidential candidate and acknowledged that he and his former boss Trump, 76 — who launched a 2024 comeback bid in November — are no longer allied after Trump “returned” to rhetoric claiming the 2020 election results were fraudulent.

“[Trump] and I actually parted amicably at the close the administration. In the months that followed, we spoke from time to time, but when the president returned to some of the rhetoric that he was using before that fateful day in January of 2021, I just decided it would be best if we went our separate ways and we have,” Pence said.

While vice president, Pence defied Trump’s demand that he unilaterally reject swing-state electors for Biden while presiding over the counting of Electoral College votes, provoking Trump’s rage as a mob stormed the Capitol to disrupt the proceedings.

Pence publicly revealed Tuesday that he had found classified records at his home — eight days after what he said was the Jan. 16 discovery at his Indiana residence. His attorney informed the National Archives on Jan. 18 and the FBI retrieved them Jan. 19.

Biden, by contrast, did not publicly disclose for more than two months the discovery on Nov. 2 of classified documents dating to his vice presidency at his former Penn Biden Center office in Washington. The cache was found six days before the midterm elections and reportedly included “top secret” documents dealing with Iran and Ukraine.

A timeline of how the Biden classified documents scandal unfolded

  • Sept. 18, 2022 – Biden calls Trump “totally irresponsible” for storing top-secret documents at Mar-a-Lago
  • Nov. 2, 2022 – Biden’s attorneys find classified documents stashed at the Penn Biden Center in Washington
  • Nov. 4, 2022 — The National Archives contacts the Justice Department, saying the documents have been found and secured in an Archives facility
  • Nov. 8, 2022 — Democrats perform better than expected in the midterm elections, losing a net of just nine seats in the House of Representatives and gaining a seat in the Senate
  • Nov. 9, 2022 — The FBI begins an “assessment” of whether the classified material was mishandled in violation of federal law
  • Nov. 14, 2022 — Garland assigns Chicago US Attorney John Lausch to lead an initial investigation to determine whether Garland should appoint a special counsel
  • Nov. 18, 2022 – Garland announces special counsel in Trump case
  • Dec. 20, 2022 — Biden’s personal attorney tells Lausch more classified documents have been found in the garage of Biden’s Wilmington, Del. home
  • Jan. 5, 2022 — Lausch advises Garland to appoint a special counsel
  • Jan. 9, 2023 – The public is first told of the mishandled Biden documents
  • Jan. 10, 2023 – Biden makes first public statement about Penn documents
  • Jan. 11, 2023 — Classified documents reported found at second location
  • Morning of Jan. 12, 2023 — Biden attorney tells Lausch one additional classified document found at the Wilmington home
  • Morning of Jan. 12, 2023 — White House, Biden confirm documents found in garage
  • Afternoon of Jan. 12, 2023 – Garland appoints special counsel to investigate Biden documents

Biden kept his own discovery under wraps until Jan. 9 when CBS News broke the story.

Classified records also were found Dec. 20 inside Biden’s Wilmington, Del., garage next to his prized classic Corvette. In at least three additional searches of the home, including week by the FBI, more classified documents were found from Biden’s vice presidency and Senate years.


Classified documents were discovered at President Biden’s Delaware home where he keeps his 1967 Corvette.
Joe Biden

Although Biden in September chastised Trump as “irresponsible” for keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., which the FBI raided Aug. 8, Biden has defended his own conduct.

“My Corvette is in a locked garage, OK? So it’s not like they’re sitting out on the street,” Biden snapped at reporters this month when asked about the improper storage.

Special counsel Robert Hur is investigating whether Biden or anyone in his orbit broke the law. A different special counsel, Jack Smith, is investigating Trump’s handling of documents. It’s unclear how or whether the Justice Department will review Pence’s conduct.

Trump incongruously defended Pence this week, writing on social media, “Mike Pence is an innocent man. He never did anything knowingly dishonest in his life. Leave him alone!!!”

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US

Ex-Vice President Pence’s Secret Service agents made calls to loved ones during Jan. 6 riot

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Members of Mike Pence’s Secret Service detail phoned loved ones to say their final farewells on Jan 6, 2021 as rioters called for Pence’s head came within feet of the former vice president, it was revealed on Thursday.

The agents feared for their lives as they made a frantic effort to evacuate Pence from the Senate chamber while angry rioters called for the vice president to be hanged.

“The members of the VP detail at this time were starting to fear for their own lives,” an unidentified security official told the select panel investigating the Capitol riot.

“There was a lot of yelling, a lot of very personal calls over the radio, so it was disturbing. I don’t like talking about it,” he testified.

The agents protecting Pence were preparing for a potential clash with the rioters when they placed the desperate phone calls.

“There were calls to say goodbye to family members,” he continued. “For whatever the reason was on the ground, the VP detail thought that this was about to get very ugly.”

He added: “We came very close to either Service having to use lethal options or worse.”

Mike Pence’s agents were prepared for the rioting after there were desperate phone calls placed on their behalf regarding the clash.
Siavosh Hosseini/SOPA Images/Shu

As Pence was held in an office off the Senate floor at 2:13 p.m., a female agent was heard saying on the radio: “They gained access to the second floor and they are about five feet from me down below.”

“If we lose any more time, we may lose the ability to leave, so if we are going to leave, we need to go now,” another agent recalled.

Security footage showed the corridors of the building filling with smoke as the tension grew.

The panel’s eighth hearing on Thursday focused on former President Donald Trump’s failure to call on the rioters to leave the Capitol for more than three hours after the building was breached.

Matthew Pottinger, Trump’s former national security advisor and former deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews told lawmakers that his inaction led them to hand in their resignations that same day.

The select panel said hearings will be scheduled for September after lawmakers spend next month organizing an abundance of new evidence about the former president’s role in the riots.

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US

Steve Bannon says he’s willing to testify before Jan. 6 panel after Trump waives claims of executive privilege

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Former President Trump said he has waived executive privilege to allow Steve Bannon to testify before the Jan. 6 committee, according to a letter sent he sent his former adviser on Saturday.

What’s new: The Justice Department said Trump’s attorney Justin Clark told the FBI in a June 29 interview “that the former President never invoked executive privilege over any particular information or materials” related to Bannon, per a motion filed in the District Court in D.C. early Monday and obtained by the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell.

Why it matters: Last November, a federal grand jury indicted Bannon on two counts of contempt of Congress for his failure to comply with a subpoena issued by the Jan. 6 panel.

Driving the news: In the letter, Trump recounted how he had invoked executive privilege when Bannon first received his subpoena from the committee.

  • However, he said he decided to reverse his stance after watching “how unfairly” Bannon and others had been treated, “having to spend vast amounts of money on legal fees, and all of the trauma you must be going through for the love of your Country.”
  • If a time and place could be agreed upon for testimony, Trump wrote that he would waive executive privilege, “which allows for you to go in and testify truthfully and fairly, as per the request of the Unselect Committee of political Thugs and Hacks.”

In a letter to Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who chairs the Jan. 6 committee, a lawyer for Bannon wrote that his client would be willing to testify and would prefer to do so at a public hearing.

  • “Mr. Bannon has not had a change of posture or of heart,” Robert Costello wrote, but he noted that “circumstances have now changed,” in reference to Trump’s decision to waive executive privilege.

What they’re saying: The DOJ said in its Monday court filing that Bannon’s “last-minute efforts to testify, almost nine months after his default — he has still made no effort to produce records — are irrelevant to whether he willfully refused to comply in October 2021 with the Select Committee’s subpoena.”

  • Any evidence or argument “relating to his eleventh-hour efforts should, therefore, be excluded at trial,” the motion added.

State of play: Damning testimony from the Jan. 6 committee has been drawing in millions of viewers and seeking to emphasize the direct ties between Trump and the violence on Jan. 6.

  • Representatives for Trump and Bannon did not immediately respond to Axios’ request for comment.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated with details from the DOJ’s court filing.



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US

Trump rips Liz Cheney after she suggests Jan. 6 charges

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​Former President Donald Trump lashed out at Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) on Monday, calling her a “despicable human being” a day after the congresswoman said in an interview that the Jan. 6 committee may refer the 45th president to the Justice Department for potential prosecution over his role in the Capitol riot.

“Warmongering and despicable human being Liz Cheney, who is hated by the great people of Wyoming (down 35!), keeps saying, over and over again, that HER Fake Unselect Committee may recommend CRIMINAL CHARGES against a President of the United States who got more votes than any sitting President in history,” Trump said on Truth Social.

“Even the Dems didn’t know what she was talking about! Why doesn’t she press charges instead against those that cheated on the Election, or those that didn’t properly protect the Capitol?” he added.

In a subsequent post, the former president raged: “Why doesn’t the highly partisan Unselect Committee of political Thugs, the same people (all Trump haters & profiteers – books, speeches, etc.) that were involved with Impeachment Hoax #1, Impeachment Hoax # 2, the ‘No Collusion’ Mueller Report and, overall, the GREATEST WITCH HUNT IN THE HISTORY OF THE USA, go after the people who have been rioting, burning down cities, leading the massive crime wave, & killing many all over the U.S., including drug & human traffickers? No, let’s get ‘Trump’!”

Former President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to voice his rage against Rep. Liz Cheney.
Truth Social
Former President Donald Trump also referred to the House select committee as “the highly partisan Unselect Committee of political Thugs.”
Joe Rondone/The Commercial Appeal via AP

Cheney, one of two Republicans sitting on the House select committee holding hearings on last year’s Capitol riot, said in an interview aired Sunday that Trump still faced the possibility of criminal liability in connection with the unrest.

“Ultimately, the Justice Department will decide that. I think we may well as a committee have a view on that and if you just think about it from the perspective of what kind of man knows that a mob is armed and sends the mob to attack the Capitol?” Cheney said on ABC News’ “This Week.”

When host Jonathan Karl directly questioned Cheney, the committee’s vice chair, about whether a criminal referral was possible, she responded, “Yes.”​

Rep. Liz Cheney has become one of former President Trump’s staunchest critics​ since she joined 10 House Republicans to vote for his impeachment over the Capitol attack.
Mark J. Terrill/AP
Then-President Donald Trump during his rally before the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Jim Bourg/REUTERS
A video of former President Donald Trump is played as Cassidy Hutchinson testifies during the House Select Committee public hearing on the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
Anna Moneymaker/Pool via REUTERS

Cheney has become one of Trump’s staunchest critics​ since she joined 10 House Republicans Jan. 13, 2021, to vote for his impeachment over the storming of the Capitol.

Trump has ​also backed Harriet Hageman, who is challenging Cheney in next month’s Republican House primary in Wyoming.​

A Club for Growth survey shows Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney​, trailing Hageman by​ 30 percentage points.

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US

An Insurrectionist Could Be the Next Governor of Pennsylvania

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Earlier this week, Doug Mastriano, a Pennsylvania state senator who used campaign funds to send six charter buses to the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, won the G.O.P. primary for governor by a significant margin, earning forty-four per cent of the vote. Mastriano, a fifty-eight-year-old retired U.S. Army colonel, was recently subpoenaed by the House select committee investigating January 6th, for his role in the day’s violence. Some of his supporters are currently facing jail time for their participation in the riot, including Samuel Lazar, who goes by #facepaintblowhard online, and who stormed the barricades and urged others on with a bullhorn, shouting, “Hang the motherfuckers!” That afternoon, Mastriano was scheduled to address the crowd from the Capitol steps. (Mastriano told viewers during a Facebook Live chat that night that he left after the violence kicked off, but video footage, crowdsourced online, seems to establish his presence there after the rioting began and the Capitol was breached.)

Mastriano first rose to national prominence by leading the “Stop the Steal” campaign in Pennsylvania, which sought to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential election, in which Biden won the state by about eighty thousand votes. Mastriano earned Trump’s favor—and, this spring, his endorsement—after he called for an audit of the 2020 results. J. J. Abbott, a Pennsylvania political analyst, told me that he believes Mastriano is even more dedicated than Trump to overturning elections. “Unlike Trump, Mastriano really believes what he’s saying,” Abbott said. “He’s seriously committed to mobilizing and organizing people who share his world view and has been working his whole life on the ability to implement these ideas.” (Mastriano did not respond to a request for comment.)

Mastriano continues to exhort his followers, whom he calls his “army,” to overthrow democratically elected leaders. He has vowed, if elected, to throw out all current voter registrations and to appoint a like-minded secretary of state, who could reverse election results. “As governor, I get to appoint the secretary of state,” he said recently, on a far-right radio show. “And I have a voting-reform-minded individual who’s been travelling the nation and knows voting reform extremely well.” He has also threatened to dismantle the mechanics of voting in Pennsylvania. “With the stroke of a pen, I can decertify every single machine in the state,” he has said. At a recent campaign event, he urged his followers to “rise up and secure our state.” On Tuesday night, after winning the Republican nomination for governor, he likened his Democratic opponent, Josh Shapiro, the current attorney general of Pennsylvania, to a tyrant, calling his leadership “an oppressive regime. Not unlike East Germany, where your freedoms are snatched away.”

Mastriano grew up in New Jersey and served in East Germany as an intelligence analyst while in the U.S. military. He also took part in the 1991 U.S. invasion of Kuwait. He believes that his wife, Rebecca, waged spiritual warfare while he was there, praying for his victory, and that, in response, God sent down a sandstorm to help his unit vanquish the forces of Saddam Hussein. Afterward, he urged the American military to exercise less caution about harming civilians when coördinating strikes. “This U.S. hypersensitivity about civilian casualties is an enormous weakness,” he wrote, in a 2002 military paper. “This is not to say that the U.S. should intentionally kill innocents. The goal is to keep that at a minimum, but not to hesitate to strike at locals where the regime is hiding.” After completing three tours in Afghanistan during the two-thousands, Mastriano retired from the U.S. military in 2017.

Mastriano was elected as a state senator in Pennsylvania the following year, and gained attention early on in the coronavirus pandemic for leading “freedom” events that opposed masking and other public-health measures. (On social media, he has shared the false claim that the coronavirus vaccine, “the government’s poison,” causes autism and kills people.) He has spoken at political rallies that take on the trappings of revival meetings, where participants carry Bibles, blow on shofars, and invoke scripture while Mastriano rails in support of gun rights and against abortion, which he has recently called “a barbaric holocaust.”

Mastriano has allied himself with an effort of the religious right called Project Blitz, which has targeted state legislatures across the United States with a series of bills intended to inject Christian ideals into law and public life. In addition to curtailing abortion rights, the proposed legislation would mandate prayer in public schools and render it illegal for same-sex couples to adopt children. The measures are intended to make America into what adherents see as an ideal Christian nation. “Mastriano wants to replace our representative democracy with a Christian theocracy based on the Book of Leviticus,” Michael Weinstein, of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy organization that monitors possible religious bias in the military, told me.

Mastriano has compared himself to Old Testament prophets and the military leaders who commanded the armies of Israel. He laces his speeches with an admixture of conspiracy theory and Biblical allusion. Some scholars have come to describe his blend of American nationalism and religious zeal—centered on the idea that God intended America to be a Christian nation—as “Christian nationalism.” (Most alleged adherents deny this label; Mastriano has rejected it by e-mail, writing to me, “Is this a term you fabricated?”) During Trump’s Presidency and its aftermath, beliefs associated with Christian nationalism—often blended with elements of white nationalism and other lines of thinking that embrace violence—have become increasingly influential within a newly energized Christian far right.

“Mastriano is peddling industrial-grade Christian nationalism,” Philip Gorski, the co-author of “The Flag and the Cross,” told me. “It combines so many different elements: QAnon, the Big Lie, and Dominionism”—an ideology that became popular in the sixties through the work of the widely discredited Christian theorist Rousas John Rushdoony, and which encouraged believers to take over the government and return America to its Christian values. Many who hold Christian-nationalist beliefs take the view that America is rightfully a Christian nation, and any leader who does not align with their beliefs must be illegitimate. Such thinking, scholars have argued, makes it easier to justify overturning an election. “This shift to taking control is really different from the old culture-war style of the Christian right,” Gorski said. (Mastriano has defended his election claims to me in the past, writing, “Is it not appropriate to ask questions and seek answers to ensure each person has a legal vote?”)

The reach of these ideas stretches far beyond Pennsylvania. In political races across the United States this spring, politicians held rallies that melded religion and right-wing politics. “There’s a lot of this at the local and state level,” Gorski told me. He named Cindy Hyde-Smith, a U.S. senator from Mississippi, whose campaign was marked by a mix of election misinformation and religious fervor, along with Wendy Rogers, a state senator from Arizona whose radical platform reflects similar views. In North Carolina, Ted Budd, who won the Republican Senate primary, received Family Research Council Action’s True Blue Award this year for “his unwavering commitment to religious liberty and the rights of the unborn.” Katherine Stewart, the author of “The Power Worshippers,” told me, “The Family Research Council is one of the Christian-nationalist movement’s leading policy groups.” For proponents of this ideology, gaining control of the government goes beyond elections. “The most important leaders of the political movement are not necessarily the elected ones,” Stewart said. “They include the leaders of the organizations that funnel votes and money to politicians, control the messaging to the public, establish policy objectives, and have commandeered the judiciary.” It would be a mistake to dismiss some of the movement’s most conspiratorial claims as simply outlandish, and therefore irrelevant. “Just because Mitch McConnell doesn’t espouse these ideas doesn’t mean they’re not powerful on a national level,” Gorski said.

It may be hard, he noted, for those in liberal bubbles to appreciate the seductive power of these arguments. A year ago, in mainstream circles, Mastriano’s bid for governor seemed politically impossible. Yet his extreme positions have helped him build a clickbaity political platform, an army of digital soldiers to push it (at one time, he controlled more than seventy different accounts on Facebook, each posting such similar content that the site mistook him for a bot), and a groundswell of real-world support. “His supporters aren’t just a small number of folks from super-red counties, and it would be really, really ill-advised to discount them as kooks,” Ari Mittleman, the host of the “Pennsylvania Kitchen Table Politics” podcast, told me. “These are people we go to the supermarket with, and who stand next to us on the sidelines of kids’ soccer games.”



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US

Alleged Capitol rioter gets jail time for hoarding guns in NYC

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A Manhattan pickup artist facing federal charges over the US Capitol riot was sentenced to three and a half years in prison Monday for hoarding weapons in an Upper East Side apartment.

Samuel Fisher, 33, apologized to the court and to his family before Acting Justice Robert Mandelbaum handed down the punishment on the state charges.

“I know what I did was wrong and I accept that my actions have consequences,” said Fisher, who was cuffed and taken into custody immediately after the hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court.

Fisher, who according to reports once ran a coaching service aimed at helping men get dates, also stands accused of attending the Jan. 6 riot in Washington DC with a small arsenal.

Agents with NYC’s Joint Terrorism Task Force busted him two weeks after the riot outside of a building on East 90th Street between First and York avenues.

Officers discovered an AR-15 style rifle and ammunition stashed inside a guitar case inside the apartment.

But that was just a sliver of Fisher’s weapons cache. Authorities also found a “ghost gun” pistol, a shotgun, 11 pre-loaded high-capacity magazines, thousands of rounds of ammunition, tactical gear and two machetes and a knife inside the unit and a car parked nearby.

Samuel Fisher was sentenced to three and a half years in prison Monday for hoarding weapons in an Upper East Side apartment.
Steven Hirsch

Fisher posted photos on social media of himself with the guns under the name “Brad Holiday,” which was also his dating coach persona. One image on Facebook, showing him posing with three weapons in front of a Trump flag, was captioned: “Can’t wait to bring a liberal back to this freedom palace,” court documents state.

Fisher also used the Brad Holiday accounts to claim the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump and to spew QAnon conspiracy theories.

“We The People, are facing off against Communists or Satanists that have blackmailed, bribed and influenced almost every member of our Government, Media, Educations system, etc.,” he ranted in a blog post on his website, www.bradholiday.com.

Fisher apologized to the court and to his family he was sentenced to three and a half years.
Steven Hirsch

In the post, titled “January 6, 2021 Will Be the Most Historically Important Day of Our Lives,” Fisher stressed the need to “stand up to the evils of this Government… and remove them physically.”

He wrote to a friend on Facebook the day after the riot that “I was there… it was awesome. It was dangerous and violent,” court docs state.

“People died . . . but it was f—ing great if you ask me . . . i got tear gassed and pepper sprayed,” the messages said. “Seeing cops literally run . . . was the coolest thing ive ever seen in my life.”

Authorities discovered a “ghost gun” pistol, a shotgun, 11 pre-loaded high-capacity magazines, thousands of rounds of ammunition and more stashed inside Fisher’s car.
Robert Miller

He then advised his pal to “get ready,” “get in shape” and find someone with medical and combat experience. Prosecutors said this was a sign Fisher anticipated “another violent confrontation.”

Fisher had faced 17 counts related to the weapons stockpile. He pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon Monday. Fisher still faces separate federal charges tied to his alleged involvement in the riot, for which he has pleaded not guilty.

At his sentencing on Monday, defense attorney Wayne Gosnell said Fisher was in the midst of a mental health crisis and alcohol addiction at the time of his arrest — but that he had since turned his life around.

Fisher’s defense attorney said Fisher was in the midst of a mental health crisis and alcohol addiction at the time of his arrest.
Robert Miller
Fisher’s attorney said, “Sam is a good person who did a bad thing.”

“Sam is a good person who did a bad thing,” Gosnell said.

He asked the court to take into account his client’s “potential and desire to better himself” and the steps he’s already taken, including attending narcotics and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings daily and getting a job and mental health treatment.

Gosnell asked for a three-and-a-half-year prison term, instead of the maximum four-year sentence prosecutors had sought.

The judge said he hoped Fisher had learned his lesson but noted: “The fact remains he chose to arm himself to the teeth.”

Fisher’s mother broke down after her son was sentenced.
Steven Hirsch

That he didn’t act on the threats, “does not take away from the seriousness of his offense,” Mandelbaum said, before sentencing Fisher to 3 1/2 years behind bars, followed by the same amount of time in post-release supervision.

Fisher’s mother, who was in court for the hearing — along with his father, brother and several friends — leaned over and wept into her hands after the sentence was handed down.

“All he has is love for his family and for the country and for everyone,” one of Fisher’s supporters told reporters while sobbing.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg called Fisher a “dangerous conspiracy theorist.”
Steven Hirsch

“He just believes in the Constitution,” claimed the man, who said that Fisher used to babysit his children.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the sentence “makes clear that we will hold accountable those who possess illegal firearms and high-capacity magazines in our city.”

“Samuel Fisher is a dangerous conspiracy theorist who participated in one of the gravest attacks on our democracy,” Bragg said in a statement.

Federal prosecutors have also offered Fisher a plea deal, his attorneys wrote in a filing this week. Any sentence, in that case, would run concurrently to the one in the state case.

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World

5 things to know for Jan. 24: Covid, Ukraine, Congress, Capitol riot, Boris Johnson

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Here’s what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.

(You can also get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.)

1. Coronavirus

The Biden administration is expected to begin distributing 400 million free N95 masks to Americans this week, the latest federal step aimed at reining in the spread of Covid-19. The masks — which are coming from the Strategic National Stockpile — will be made available at a number of local pharmacies and community health centers. A White House official described the distribution as “the largest deployment of personal protective equipment in US history.” The huge allotment amounts to more than half of the 750 million N95 masks currently stored in the reserve, a figure that tripled over the last year as the administration sought to boost reserves. The move comes as the US grapples with an unprecedented surge in Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron variant.

2. Ukraine

The US is amplifying calls for Russia to cease its aggressive actions along the Ukrainian border, where more than 100,000 troops have been amassed. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned yesterday that there would be a severe response by the US and its allies if “a single additional Russian force” enters Ukraine in an aggressive way. In preparation for a possible invasion, the US sent Ukraine a second weapons supply shipment of close to 200,000 pounds of lethal aid. Some political leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, are urging the US and its allies to penalize Moscow with sanctions now before any lives are lost. The US, however, has shown unwillingness to punish Russia preemptively. The Biden administration and its NATO allies are instead focused on bolstering troop levels in the region to support Eastern European and Baltic allies. 

3. Congress

The Arizona Democratic Party announced over the weekend that it has formally censured Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema after she voted to maintain the Senate’s filibuster rules, effectively blocking Democrats’ voting legislation, a key priority for the party. The symbolic gesture from Arizona Democrats adds to the mounting pressure Sinema is facing from those in her state who helped her flip a Senate seat in 2018. Sinema — who started her political career as a progressive — has been a target on the left during Biden’s administration for her stances. Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, both centrists, were the only two Democrats to join all Republicans last week in voting to maintain the Senate’s 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster on legislation.

4. Capitol Riot

The House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol has been having conversations with former Attorney General William Barr. Barr, a staunch defender of former President Donald Trump, pushed the administration’s “law and order” message, but resigned in December 2020 after rebuking Trump’s false claims about widespread election fraud. Separately, Boris Epshteyn, an adviser to Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, acknowledged late last week that he was part of the effort to prop up so-called “alternate electors” to support Trump in key states. Former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani supervised that effort, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the scheme. It involved helping pro-Trump electors access state Capitol buildings, drafting language for fake electoral certificates to send to the federal government, and finding replacements for electors who refused to go along with the plot.

5. Boris Johnson

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing increasing pressure this week over alleged garden parties and Christmas gatherings held at Downing Street while the rest of the country was under strict Covid-19 lockdowns. His approval ratings are plunging and the parliamentary rebellion is growing. This is worrying some parts of his ruling Conservative Party that he is becoming a liability. Adding fuel to the fire, Johnson’s former senior adviser Dominic Cummings said he would swear under oath that the Prime Minister was warned about the true nature of one of the parties, but Johnson denied that vehemently. Johnson launched an inquiry into the gatherings and that report is due to come out this week.

BREAKFAST BROWSE

NFL Playoff upsets

Was that not the greatest playoff round OF ALL TIME?

Netflix’s ‘Ozark’ begins fourth and final season

The first half is out now, but we’ll have to wait a couple more nail-biting months for part 2. The suspense!

Glass ceiling shattered!

Meet the first female captain of the historic USS Constitution in its 224-year history. 

Mysterious ice formations showed up in Chicago

Have you ever seen ice pancakes? They kind of crepe me out. 

Indian couple plan country’s ‘first metaverse marriage’

You are cordially invited to my big fat digital wedding!

HAPPENING LATER

The three former police officers who helped Derek Chauvin restrain George Floyd on a Minneapolis street in May 2020 are set to stand trial in a federal courtroom later today for violating Floyd’s civil rights. The three officers previously pleaded not guilty to the federal charges, while Chauvin admitted guilt in December as part of a plea deal.

IN MEMORIAM

Iconic French fashion designer, Thierry Mugler, has died. He was 73. Mugler, who was born in Strasbourg, France, launched his eponymous label in 1974. He was known for his broad-shouldered, avant-garde designs. The designer’s brand said they will remember their founder as a “visionary” who “empowered people around the world to be bolder and dream bigger every day.”

TODAY’S NUMBER

11

That’s how many hours a stowaway spent in the nose wheel of a cargo plane that flew from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport yesterday. Due to the extremely cold flying conditions, Dutch officials were surprised the stowaway was found alive. Once the stowaway was revived and stabilized, they said they would work to determine his status, if he indeed is looking for asylum.

TODAY’S QUOTE

“The IOC [International Olympic Committee] deserves all of the disdain and disgust that comes their way for going back to China yet again.” 

— Former NBC sportscaster Bob Costas, who has covered 12 Olympic Games as a host and commentator, says journalists will face unique challenges during the Beijing Winter Olympics next month. It is currently unclear how the host country may censor journalists and how they will allow reporters to cover events in and around the games.

TODAY’S WEATHER

Check your local forecast here>>>

AND FINALLY

It’s Monday, and you’re going to crush it today!

Take a look at this oddly satisfying video of coins getting crushed by a hydraulic press. (Click here to view)

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Jan. 6 brings Democrats, Cheneys together — with GOP mostly absent

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President BidenJoe BidenBiden hopes for big jobs number on Friday Jan. 6 brings Democrats, Cheneys together — with GOP mostly absent Equilibrium/Sustainability — Climate, democracy emergencies indivisible  MORE and Democratic lawmakers gathered Thursday in Washington to observe the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, a somber occasion that was essentially boycotted by Republicans, who are wary of any actions that might upset former President TrumpDonald TrumpJan. 6 brings Democrats, Cheneys together — with GOP mostly absent ProPublica reporter says movement to target government, political opponents had been rising prior to Jan. 6 attack Briahna Joy Gray: Biden going to ‘pay the piper’ for inaction during midterms MORE.

Biden used the stage to deliver a fiery and remarkably personal speech in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall in which he accused Trump in no uncertain terms of orchestrating the insurrection. 

“For the first time in our history, a president not just lost the election, he tried to prevent a peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the Capitol,” Biden said in what was perhaps his most critical address toward his predecessor so far in his presidency. “We must make sure that never happens again.”

The lopsided partisan nature of the commemoration ceremonies marked a stark contrast to the bipartisan solidarity that followed the last major assault on the nation’s base institutions: the attacks of 9/11.

And it highlighted the degree to which Republicans — from the top ranks of leadership to the bottom rungs of the rank-and-file — are eager to move beyond the insurrection of Jan. 6, when a violent pro-Trump mob, ginned up by the former president, stormed the Capitol in an unsuccessful effort to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s election victory. 

The signs of that messaging strategy were everywhere on Thursday. 

A typically defiant Trump canceled a news conference about Jan. 6 after pressure from GOP allies, who feared what he might say. Most GOP senators, joined by some Democrats, flew down to Atlanta on Thursday to attend the funeral services for one of their own, beloved former Sen. Johnny IsaksonJohnny IsaksonJan. 6 brings Democrats, Cheneys together — with GOP mostly absent Pelosi leads moment of silence for Jan. 6 with no Republicans except Cheneys The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Altria – Marking the Jan. 6 ‘chaos and carnage’ MORE (R-Ga.), who died on Dec. 19.

And only three of the 212 House Republicans were spotted in the Capitol. Two of them were Trump loyalists, Reps. Marjorie Taylor GreeneMarjorie Taylor GreeneGOP efforts to downplay danger of Capitol riot increase The Memo: What now for anti-Trump Republicans? Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene says she’s meeting with Trump ‘soon’ in Florida MORE (R-Ga.) and Matt GaetzMatthew (Matt) GaetzJan. 6 brings Democrats, Cheneys together — with GOP mostly absent Briefing in brief: Biden leaving consequences of Jan. 6 to DOJ Gaetz on Jan. 6: ‘We’re ashamed of nothing’ MORE (R-Fla.), who used the occasion to hold a press conference suggesting, without evidence, that the attack was a “Fed-surrection,” a false-flag operation orchestrated by the FBI and other federal agencies.

The third was Rep. Liz CheneyElizabeth (Liz) Lynn CheneyJan. 6 brings Democrats, Cheneys together — with GOP mostly absent Cheney confirms she told Jim Jordan on Jan. 6 ‘Get away from me. You f—ing did this’ Pelosi leads moment of silence for Jan. 6 with no Republicans except Cheneys MORE (R-Wyo.), who has emerged over the past year as the face of the Republican resistance to Trump and the leading GOP critic of his role in the attack. Cheney, who had voted to impeach Trump for inciting the siege and is now one of two Republicans on the select committee investigating the attack, was joined on the House floor by her father, former Vice President Dick CheneyDick CheneyJan. 6 brings Democrats, Cheneys together — with GOP mostly absent Dick Cheney visits Capitol for Jan. 6, criticizes GOP leadership The real winners – and one big loser – of 9/11 MORE, who made clear where his loyalties lie. 

“She’s doing a hell of a job,” he said. “I’m here to support it.”  

When he served as vice president under George W. Bush, the elder Cheney was a toxic figure in the eyes of Democrats, reviled for his no-holds-barred brand of conservatism and accused of leading the country, under false premises, into a disastrous conflict in Iraq.

But that was then.

On Thursday, Democrats rallied around their former nemesis, making clear that whatever animosities they harbored in the past would be discarded while the sides share a common foe in Trump.

“We were very honored by his being here,” said Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiJan. 6 brings Democrats, Cheneys together — with GOP mostly absent One year later: A lesson Three in four voters support banning lawmakers from trading stocks: poll MORE (D-Calif.), who had once accused Cheney of being “proud” to champion torture in the War on Terror. “He has a right to be on the floor, as a former member of the House. And I was happy to welcome him back, and to congratulate him on the courage of Liz Cheney.”

The two Cheneys were the only two Republicans in the House chamber on Thursday, when Pelosi and dozens of Democrats returned to the Capitol mid-recess to remember the heroics — and the threat to democracy — surrounding the deadly Capitol siege of one year ago.

The odd alliance — Democrats and Cheneys banding together — highlights the drastic ideological shift undergone in recent years by a Republican Party in which Trump remains the unrivaled kingmaker, and most GOP lawmakers — from leadership on down — are treading cautiously to remain in his good graces for the sake of their own political survival. 

Central to that effort has been the widespread Republican embrace of Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was “stolen” by a broad conspiracy of corrupt state lawmakers, tech companies, foreign adversaries and election officials of both parties who certified the election results as valid — a claim for which no evidence has surfaced. 

Leaving the House floor on Thursday, Dick Cheney bashed the current GOP leaders for their fealty to the former president. 

“It’s not a leadership that resembles any of the folks I knew when I was here for 10 years,” he said, referring to the decade he served in the House representing Wyoming.

Walking by his side, Liz Cheney was even more harsh in her takedown of those Republicans still advancing Trump’s lie that Biden’s victory was fraudulent — the false narrative that had sparked the attack of Jan. 6 to begin with. 

“A party who is enthralled to a cult of personality is a party that is dangerous to the country,” the younger Cheney said. “And I think that we’ve really got to get to a place where we’re focused on substance and on issues.” 

The Cheneys held court in the well of the House, where Dick Cheney once served in key GOP leadership posts in the late 1980s. Democrats, including Reps. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Veronica EscobarVeronica EscobarJan. 6 brings Democrats, Cheneys together — with GOP mostly absent In their own words: Lawmakers, staffers remember Jan. 6 insurrection Overnight Defense & National Security — Nation marks 1 year since Capitol riot MORE (D-Texas) and Anthony BrownAnthony Gregory BrownJan. 6 brings Democrats, Cheneys together — with GOP mostly absent Members of Congress not running for reelection in 2022 Katie Curran O’Malley, wife of former Maryland governor, launches bid for state AG MORE (D-Md.), lined up to greet and thank the Cheneys.

“I told him I was proud of his daughter,” McGovern said of Liz Cheney. “We disagree on almost everything but I admire her integrity and her commitment to protecting this democracy. She’s a true statesperson. I mean, she’s somebody who put it all on the line to do what’s right for the country. History will remember her like they remember Margaret Chase Smith.”

House Majority Leader Steny HoyerSteny Hamilton HoyerJan. 6 brings Democrats, Cheneys together — with GOP mostly absent In their own words: Lawmakers, staffers remember Jan. 6 insurrection This week: Congress returns to anniversary of Jan. 6 attack MORE (D-Md.) offered similar praise.

“We appreciate the fact that he’s here, supporting his daughter in what is otherwise a very significant minority position in the Republican Party, which is very sad,” Hoyer said.

Democrats, led by Pelosi, filled the entire day with events to commemorate the attack — and to shame Trump and his GOP loyalists in Congress for stoking the violence and failing to take responsibility for their role in it. 

Biden and Vice President Harris kicked things off in the same Statuary Hall, where a year ago hundreds of rioters had paraded through before an armed standoff in the House chamber.   

Around noon in the Capitol basement, Democratic lawmakers — including Reps. Jason CrowJason CrowJan. 6 brings Democrats, Cheneys together — with GOP mostly absent The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Altria – Marking the Jan. 6 ‘chaos and carnage’ Overnight Defense & National Security — Nation marks 1 year since Capitol riot MORE (Colo.), Val DemingsValdez (Val) Venita DemingsJan. 6 brings Democrats, Cheneys together — with GOP mostly absent The 10 races that will decide the Senate majority Members of Congress not running for reelection in 2022 MORE (Fla.), Tom MalinowskiThomas (Tom) MalinowskiJan. 6 brings Democrats, Cheneys together — with GOP mostly absent In their own words: Lawmakers, staffers remember Jan. 6 insurrection Five areas where Biden faces pressure to do more on COVID-19 MORE (N.J.) and Dean PhillipsDean PhillipsJan. 6 brings Democrats, Cheneys together — with GOP mostly absent In their own words: Lawmakers, staffers remember Jan. 6 insurrection Each state’s population center, visualized MORE (Minn.) — served Capitol Police officers, Hill staffers and other workers chicken tacos, shawarma and falafel provided by celebrity chef Jose Andres’s nonprofit World Central Kitchen.

And House Democrats put together an hours-long program that included personal testimonials from lawmakers who survived the attack; a discussion by historians Jon Meacham and Doris Kearns Goodwin about Jan. 6’s place in the nation’s messy history; and a musical number introduced by Lin Manuel Miranda and performed virtually by the cast of “Hamilton.”

“I reflect on that day, being trapped in the [House] gallery, ultimately praying for all of our safety and peace in our nation,” Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), who is close to Biden, told her colleagues. “I also reflect on just how close we came to losing it, to losing our democracy. 

“Those of us trapped in the gallery, we lived it. Ducking, crawling, under, over railings, hands knees, the sounds, the smells,” she continued. “We had a front row seat to what lies, hate or plain-old misinformation conjures. We went from victims to witnesses, and today we are messengers.”

Cristina Marcos contributed.



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Flynn suit against Jan. 6 committee dismissed over procedural errors

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A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s lawsuit against the House Jan. 6 select committee for failing to follow procedural rules in filing his case, but said he would have an opportunity to make corrections and re-submit it to the court.

U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven said in an order issued just one day after the lawsuit was filed that, among other things, Flynn’s lawyers failed to show that there was an imminent need for the court to intervene against a set of subpoenas from the select committee aimed at the retired general and his phone provider.

“Flynn may refile his Motion if he believes that he can comply with the procedural requirements discussed above,” wrote Scriven, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush. “Of course, if the Select Committee attempts to expedite the response dates for document requests from Flynn or for the third-party subpoenas, Flynn may seek appropriate relief from the Court. If Flynn chooses to renew his request for a temporary restraining order, he must adequately explain why injunctive relief is necessary before Defendants have an opportunity to respond.”

Flynn’s attorney, David Warrington, said in a statement that Scriven’s order will not affect their underlying case challenging the subpoena.

“General Flynn looks forward to obtaining relief from Congress’s unconstitutional and unlawful investigation in the normal course of his pending suit for injunctive relief that was not affected by today’ order,” Warrington said.

Flynn sued the select committee on Tuesday, after not showing up for a scheduled deposition the day before.

In his suit, Flynn challenged the validity of the subpoenas for his testimony and for his personal phone records and argued that the demands violate his constitutional rights.

“Without intervention by this Court, General Flynn faces the harm of being irreparably and illegally coerced to produce information and testimony in violation of the law and his constitutional rights,” his complaint reads. “He will also be illegally and irreparably harmed by the Select Committee’s unlawful and secret seizure of his and his family’s personal information from their telecommunications and/or electronic mail service providers.”

–Updated at 12:10 p.m.



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Mark Meadows will stop cooperating with Jan. 6 panel, attorney says

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Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows will no longer cooperate with the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, his attorney told Fox News Tuesday.

Why it matters: Meadows, who failed to appear before the panel last month, is believed to have insight into former President Trump’s role in efforts to stop the certification of President Biden’s election win.

  • Last week, the committee and Meadows’ attorney, George Terwilliger, said the parties had reached an understanding on how to exchange information.

What he’s saying: “We have made efforts over many weeks to reach an accommodation with the committee,” Terwilliger told Fox News.

  • Terwilliger said Meadows believed he would not be answering questions he said were protected by executive privilege. However, he said the committee indicated it wanted to address such matters, per Fox News.
  • Terwilliger and the committee did not immediately respond to Axios’ requests for comment.

Details: “We agreed to provide thousands of pages of responsive documents and Mr. Meadows was willing to appear voluntarily, not under compulsion of the Select Committee’s subpoena to him, for a deposition to answer questions about non-privileged matters. Now actions by the Select Committee have made such an appearance untenable,” Terwilliger said in a letter to the committee obtained by CNN.

  • “[T]he Select Committee has no intention of respecting boundaries concerning Executive Privilege,” he added.
  • “As a result of careful and deliberate consideration of these factors, we now must decline the opportunity to appear voluntarily for a deposition.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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