January 6 panel unveils report, describes Trump ‘conspiracy’
The House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol has released a trove of 18 additional transcripts from interviews with Donald Trump allies.
The transcripts, released on Tuesday, included testimony from the likes of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, “Stop the Steal” rally organised Ali Alexander and the former president’s director of personnel Johnny McEntee.
The release occurred as the committee concludes its final days in Washington. The panel will be dissolved upon the new Congress taking office on 3 January, and as such lawmakers withdrew their outstanding subpoenas on Wednesday including one targeting Donald Trump.
He and others had ignored the committee’s demands for testimony; some Republican members of Congress were referred to the House Ethics Committee for dodging similar subpoenas.
The latest revelations from the January 6 House probe come ahead of Mr Trump’s finances falling under the spotlight later this week when the House Ways and Means Committee is expected to release the former president’s tax returns on Friday.
Tulsi Gabbard blasts George Santos in embarrassing live interview: ‘You’ve outright lied’
Incoming congressman George Santos just got the grilling of his life from a potentially unlikely source.
During a brutal interview Tuesday evening, the New York Republican was asked whether he had any shame and attempted to brush off his many lies as mere attempts to embelish his resume.
The source of those brutal questions was none other than another member of Congress, albeit formerly: Tulsi Gabbard, ex-Democrat from Hawaii, who was filling in for Tucker Carlson at Fox News.
Watch the painful showdown below:
John Bowden29 December 2022 04:00
Adam Schiff tells what’s next after the Jan 6 committee report
Congressman Adam Schiff has laid out what the House Select Committee hopes to see happen now that it has filed its final report on the Capitol riot.
The committee wrapped up its final hearing, issued a report earlier this month and made a criminal referral to the Justice Department for former President Donald Trump.
Writing in the Orlando Sentinel, Mr Schiff explains that in addition to the criminal referral, the committee has also suggested steps for Congress to take to prevent future attempts at disrupting the peaceful transfer of power in the US.
Read more from Graig Graziosi:
John Bowden29 December 2022 01:50
Second co-leader of plot to kidnap Michigan governor is sentenced to over 19 years
The second of two leaders of a foiled 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer and kick off a partisan civil war has been sentenced to nearly 20 years in federal prison, with prosecutors describing defendant Barry Croft as akin to a terrorist leader.
His compatriot was sentenced to 16 years a day before.
“He’s the spiritual leader of this group, this movement, the same way some sheikh in ISIS might be,” federal prosecutor Nils Kessler told a Michigan court on Wednesday.
Read more in The Independent:
John Bowden29 December 2022 00:50
Massachusetts’ anti-Trump GOP governor ends time in office
The anti-Trump governor of Massachusetts, a rarity
in the Republican Party, is set to leave office next month as he wraps up a second term.
Charlie Baker made a name for himself on the anti-Trump right throughout the four years of Donald Trump’s presidency and two more years of his presidency-in-exile at Mar-a-Lago. But he has little political prospects nationwide, given the current bent of the GOP’s primary voting base.
Read more in The Independent:
John Bowden28 December 2022 23:50
George Santos: What we know, and what’s next for the House’s most controversial new member
A New York Republican is facing scrutiny after making up just about every aspect of his background before being elected to the House.
George Santos now faces potential federal and state investigations, not to mention a bevy of calls for his resignation.
John Bowden dives deeper into this bizarre story for The Independent:
John Bowden28 December 2022 22:50
Kari Lake ordered to pay $33k in witness fees after failed effort to overturn her election defeat
Kari Lake’s legal challenge aimed at overturning the results of the Arizona governor’s race is now truly dead, after suffering an initial defeat in which most of the counts she alleged were dismissed.
And now, all the Republican gubernatorial candidate has to show for her effort is a bill from a judge for tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees.
John Bowden has more on the final defeat of the Trump-backed election conspiracist who came close to becoming Arizona’s next top executive:
John Bowden28 December 2022 21:47
ICYMI: Trump marks Christmas Day with furious rant claiming the US is ‘dying from within’
Donald Trump’s Christmas morning message to his followers was one of dire warnings and furious condemnations of his enemies — so, just another day on Truth Social for the former president.
The ex-president noted the withering cold much of the country is experiencing this Christmas and blamed his political foes for destroying American society and, in particular, for not doing more to tamp down on illegal migration at the southern border.
John Bowden28 December 2022 20:36
Georgia official believed Trump was threatening him with violence during call demanding he ‘find’ 11,780 votes
A Georgia election official told the January 6 House committee that he believed Donald Trump was threatening him physical violence if he could not find enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s lead in the 2020 presidential election.
The startling revelation was contained in a new trove of witness transcripts released by the select committee on Tuesday from its investigation into the violent insurrection at the US Capitol.
John Bowden28 December 2022 19:44
‘Stop the steal’ organiser pushes blame onto far-right allies during Jan 6 testimony, transcript reveals
The organizer of the rally that preceded the Capitol riot reportedly threw his MAGA-world peer Charlie Kirk to the wolves during a meeting with the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol riot.
Ali Alexander, who organised “Stop the Steal,” told the House Select Committee during a closed-door deposition last year that right-wing media figure and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was among those at fault for the riot.
Read more about the infighting and backstabbing taking place on the far right in The Independent:
John Bowden28 December 2022 18:18
Biden won’t speak freely near Secret Service
President Joe Biden was so disturbed by the Secret Service’s handling of text messages sought by the House January 6 select committee that he stopped speaking candidly in the presence of special agents assigned to his protection detail, a new book on the Biden White House has revealed.
The agency has been sharply criticised by lawmakers and others after text messages sent by agents on the day of the attack vanished during a scheduled software update — even after the Secret Service was instructed specifically to preserve them.
Read more from Andrew Feinberg:
John Bowden28 December 2022 17:30
