Tag: Pres. Trump

Trump On Education

The continuing series on what we Americans can expect from our new president……

Trump is NO friend to education but does that mean that it will become an elective for life?

Donald Trump will be serving a second presidential term, and with both chambers of Congress likely under Republican leadership—though the House is still to be decided— the future of education in the U.S. could starkly change. 

Trump has pledged to dismantle the Department of Education, cut federal funding for schools teaching critical race theory, and bar transgender female athletes from participating in school sports.

“The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver,” Trump-Vance Transition Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told TIME in a statement. 

Trump’s transition team did not respond to specific questions regarding which of his policies will take priority come January. 

Here’s what to know.

Dismantling the Department of Education

On the campaign trail, the President-elect vowed to eliminate the Department of Education, which has been a cabinet-level agency since 1980. The Department takes on numerous functions: designating federal aid through Title I, which gives state and local funding for schools serving low-income families, handing out Pell Grants, and regulating student loan relief through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program or income-based repayment plans. 

There more….please read on….

https://time.com/7174651/what-trump-winning-means-for-education/

With that said a closer look at the possibility with the elimination of the Dept of Ed…..the link below is from a conserv paper….

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to cut the Department of Education and move its responsibilities back “to the states.” The change would be an unprecedented move as no Cabinet department has ever been dissolved without being reorganized in some way.

The Washington Examiner spoke to three leading education policy experts, who explained how cutting the Education Department would work, if it is realistic, and what the effects would be.

“I think it’d be fine,” Frederick M. Hess, senior fellow and director of education policy studies for American Enterprise Institute said. “The Department of Education is extraordinarily bureaucratic. It creates extraordinary amounts of red tape for the nation’s schools, especially relative to the money it actually provides.”

Hess said that under the Obama and Biden administrations, the department became “a political entity frequently engaged in promoting particular ideological nostrums” which he called “massively problematic.” He added that the two Democratic presidents “make the best possible case for abolishing the department. So, yeah, I think downsizing the department, or even abolishing it, is certainly wholly sensible.”

How Trump’s promise to abolish the Department of Education would work

In my opinion every word of that report is bullshit!

Then there is a view from the other side of the political spectrum….

The consequences of President-elect Donald Trump fulfilling his promise to abolish the Department of Education could be widespread, CNN reports.

“I say it all the time, I’m dying to get back to do this. We will ultimately eliminate the federal Department of Education,” Trump said during a September rally in Wisconsin.

“We will drain the government education swamp and stop the abuse of your taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America’s youth with all sorts of things that you don’t want to have our youth hearing,” he added.

The establishment of the Department of Education as a Cabinent-level agency goes back to 1979 when former President Jimmy Carter signed it into legislation. Before Carter, federal education programs were housed in other agencies. It’s unclear how Trump would handle shutting the department down, but the move would have reverberating effects on K-12 schools and higher education.

One of the Department of Education’s biggest tasks is administering federal funding to K-12 and managing the federal student loan and financial aid programs. Funding programs under the federal agency for K-12 schools include the Title I program, an aid to low-income families, and the IDEA program, which helps provide money to meet the needs of children with disabilities. Programs like these could be in danger with the abolishment of the Department of Education.

The agency also doles out roughly $30 billion annually to low-income college students through the Pell grant program and manages about $1.6 trillion of student loans.

https://www.binnews.com/content/2024-11-12-heres-what-could-happen-if-trump-shuts-down-department-of-education/

My feeling is that education is a vital part of life and any attempt to eliminate or lessen its impact is a disaster waiting to happen.
Will Trump make good on his promise to eliminate the Department of Education or will he decide on something less?

Texas is trying a template for the rest of the nation on education…..

A new Texas public school curriculum criticized for focusing too much on Christianity passed a preliminary Texas State Board of Education vote on Tuesday. A measure to reject the state-produced Bluebonnet Learning curriculum was defeated in an 8-7 vote, with three Republicans siding with the board’s four Democrats, the New York Times reports. It is up to schools whether they adopt the curriculum—but those who do so can get an extra $40 per student per year. A final vote on the curriculum is expected Friday.

  • The K-5 curriculum incorporates lessons from the Bible as early as kindergarten, with a “Golden Rule” kindergarten lesson focusing heavily on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and making only brief mentions of other religions. A first grade “Sharing Stories” unit includes the Parable of the Prodigal Son from the New Testament, reports CNN. Critics say the Christian stories and ideas are presented without being introduced as religious beliefs.
  • In a press release days before the vote, Texas AFT, one of the state’s largest teachers’ unions, said it “believes that not only do these materials violate the separation of church and state and the academic freedom of our classroom, but also the sanctity of the teaching profession.
  • Critics say the curriculum has other problems, including the downplaying of the role of racism and slavery in American history, the San Antonio Express-News reports. A kindergarten lesson instructs teachers to tell children that Founding Fathers including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson “realized that slavery was wrong and founded the country so that Americans could be free,” ignoring the fact that both men were slaveowners, reports the Texas Tribune.
  • Supporters say the Bible plays a big part in American history, the Times reports. The curriculum will “allow our students to better understand the connection of history, art, community, literature, and religion on pivotal events like the signing of the US Constitution, the Civil Rights Movement and the American Revolution,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement.
  • “Of course, the Bible is an important part of history and American society. And of course, students should learn about the Bible as literature and history in the context of a secular curriculum,” Charles Haynes, a senior fellow for religious liberty at the Freedom Forum, tells CNN. “But inserting faith-based lessons into public school classrooms, which sounds like what is intended here, is not the study of history or literature. It is religious indoctrination.”
  • The Times notes that as conservative Christians push to expand the role of religion in public schools, similar lessons may be adopted by other states, and the Texas curriculum “may also offer a playbook for the White House” after Donald Trump returns to the presidency.

Forced indoctrination.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

His First 100 Days

This is my continuing series looking at the possibilities from the new Trump administration…..

We have heard what he will do on day one, and the list is massive, but what about those first 100 days that all president aim for when they enter into the sacred seat of power?

President-elect Donald Trump and his allies have already articulated ambitious plans for his first 100 days in office.

He has promised on Day 1 — within the first few hours in fact — to close the U.S. border with Mexico and launch the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.

Trump has promised to gut President Biden’s climate subsidies and resume energy exploration, including offering tax breaks to oil, gas and coal producers.

“We’re going to drill, baby, drill,” Trump said in late October at his rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City. “And I will terminate the ‘green new scam’ and will cut your energy prices in half, 50%, within one year from Jan. 20.”

Trump’s main goal is to unwind Biden’s policies and resume where he left off after his first term in office.

It’s not going to be easy.

While presidents have broad powers over immigration, for example, there are real operational, legal and political challenges to carrying out mass deportations.

Groups like the American Immigration Council estimate it would cost billions of dollars for Trump to implement his deportation plan. It could also have a dramatic impact on the economy if industries such as construction, hospitality and agriculture lose masses of workers.

There is also a resource challenge. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement already must pick and choose where to focus its limited resources.

Carrying out mass deportation would require a massive increase in manpower to arrest and deport millions of people a year.

….there is more….read on….

https://www.npr.org/2024/11/06/nx-s1-5181800/2024-election-trump-first-100-days-agenda

It will be interesting to see how he goes about his agenda….but first the House count should be over and that will determine some of the ways he will approach these problems.

This is all speculation for he has not become president yet only president-elect….for now.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

That Now Famous Indictment

I promise this will be my last Trump post unless something really amazing happens.

I am sure you have your opinion on what the indictment says and how it effects the country.

Please read the indictment in full text before you pretend to know what it says…..9read? Ha ha ha…like anyone will take the goddamn time)…..

On April 4, 2023, former U.S. President Donald J. Trump was indicted in Manhattan Criminal Court, on 34 counts of falsifying business records—making him the first sitting or former U.S. president to face criminal charges. Below you’ll find the original PDF document of the indictment.

Donald Trump Indictment: Read the Original Document of Charges

If you have not read it in its entirety then your opinion is flawed.

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“lego ergo scribo”

That Trump Thing

The biggest story for the MSM over the weekend was those indictments of our dear beloved ex-president….so I thought I should bow to conventional wisdom and do what needs to be done.

Personally I am sick of the whole idea of Trump….

The news is Trump is making a deal for his appearance on Tuesday…..

Court officials in New York said Friday that they plan to arraign Donald Trump at 2pm Tuesday. The former president’s presence is expected in a 15th-floor Manhattan courtroom for the proceeding, they said. A lawyer for Trump said his team has agreed with the district attorney’s office on how the arrest will be handled, Fox News reports: Trump is to surrender to detectives, who will not handcuff him. The Secret Service will decide how the former president is brought to Judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom. A meeting was scheduled for Friday afternoon among representatives of the FBI, New York City police, New York state court officers, the Secret Service, and the district attorney’s office to settle logistical and security arrangements.

The prosecutor in the case responded Friday to intense criticism from Republican lawmakers over the indictment. A letter from District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office to three GOP committee chairmen called their accusation that the indictment is politically motivated “misleading and meritless.” General counsel Leslie Dubeck wrote that Trump is entitled to fight the charges in court, per Politico. “What neither Mr. Trump nor Congress may do is interfere with the ordinary course of proceedings in New York State,” the letter says. Dubeck asked that Reps. Jim Jordan, James Comer, and Bryan Steil withdraw their demands for information about the case and allow the case to “proceed without unlawful political interference.”

Trump launched fresh attacks Friday on the judge he’ll stand before Tuesday, posting that “the Judge ‘assigned’ to my Witch Hunt Case … HATES ME.” Merchan handled unrelated accusations against the Trump Organization, and Trump said the judge treated him “viciously.” Partly because of Trump’s recent social media posts, fears of political violence related to the case have increased. The New York mayor’s office tweeted Friday afternoon that no credible threats have been received, per the Independent

We will see what this shakes out of the woodwork.

Meanwhile the Trump sycophants are running to the closest camera and spouting their usual crap….how will that play out?

We know former President Trump has been indicted, though we don’t know the exact charges just yet. Still, the unprecedented move to indict a former president has given political observers across the political spectrum plenty to consider:

  • Worth the worry: Columnist Nicholas Kristof is worried that a failed prosecution would strengthen Trump. “Yet I’d also worry—even more—about the message of impunity that would be sent if prosecutors averted their eyes because the suspect was a former president,” he writes in the New York Times. Kristof cites the example of a police officer who ticketed then-President Ulysses S. Grant for speeding with a horse. “If a police officer in 1872 could hold out his hand and force the president’s speeding carriage to a stop, then we, too, should do what we can to uphold the magnificent principle of equality before the law.”
  • Trouble ahead: The conservative editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, while frequent critics of Trump, see the move as a mistake akin to opening Pandora’s box. “The danger for America is the precedent this prosecution sets,” reads the editorial. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg “is busting a political norm that has stood for 230 years,” and you can bet that Republican prosecutors will try to make a name for themselves by reciprocating against a Democratic president. Our “democracy will be further abused and battered,” it warns. “Bragg, the provincial progressive, is unleashing forces that all of us may come to regret.”
  • Glenn Beck: The right-wing pundit donned a MAGA hat on Fox News and declared, “This is the way the average American feels tonight.” Appearing on Tucker Carlson’s show, he said: “The bill of rights is gone. Nobody is paying attention. … Donald Trump is not even a person anymore. He’s a symbol. He’s a symbol of the average everyday guy that keeps getting screwed every single time.” Watch the clip.
  • On the left: In the Nation, Elie Mystal writes that he doesn’t care if this makes Trump more popular politically. Still, he’s not optimistic about a conviction. “I want to get him, and these charges don’t feel likely to accomplish that,” he writes. “A federal case against Trump for tax and campaign finance fraud two years ago would have been welcome. But going at Trump with shaky jurisdictional authority, two years too late, feels doomed.”

Now you have the most recent thoughts….you decide what is right and what is wrong.

Me?  I’ll take vanilla.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Ever Had One Of Those Days?

This week is not a couple of days that Trump would not envision for himself.

The closing down of the investigation into 06 January, his taxes and one of his major supporters…..

Former President Trump will very much be in the headlines again this week, in ways he probably won’t like. “Taken together, this week will point a spotlight on both Mr. Trump’s refusal to cede power and the issue that he has most acutely guarded for decades, the actual size of his personal wealth and his sources of income,” writes Maggie Haberman in the New York Times.

Jan. 6 panel: The House panel investigating the Capitol riot has what is expected to be its final public meeting at 1pm Monday. The panel is poised to recommend criminal charges against Trump, per the AP, though the final decision rests with the Justice Department. “I think the president has violated multiple criminal laws and I think you have to be treated like any other American who breaks the law,” panel member Adam Schiff, a Democrat, said on CNN. And on Wednesday, the panel is expected to release its final report before dissolving.

  • Taxes: On Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Committee will debate behind closed doors whether to publicly release the six years of Trump’s tax returns it obtained after years of legal wrangling, per the New York Times. Any such release would likely happen before the end of the year, while Democrats still control the House.
  • Proud Boys: Members of the pro-Trump group the Proud Boys, including founder Enrique Tarrio, go on trial Monday for their role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, per CBS News. The men are accused of seditious conspiracy for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election results in favor of Trump.

Not good news for Trump…..but with that said I do not expect much to stick to our teflon don…..

By now all have heard of those trading cards and all the accusations swirling around them…..

Surely, this will come as a huge surprise, but the new NFT trading cards unveiled by former president Donald Trump this week to immediate ridicule also just happens to have a dubious provenance. And although the company behind the cards is still shrouded in mystery, it traces back to another third-party company known for registering shell companies.

Neither Trump himself nor the Trump Organization has anything to do with the cards. Instead, his likeness is being licensed through a company called NFT International LLC from another mysterious venture called CIC Ventures. And as New York Times reporter Ken Bensinger points out, the mailing address for CIC Ventures just so happens to be that of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.

“The company that licensed Trump’s image and likeness for the $99 NFT trading cards appears to be one founded in 2021 by former Trump advisor Nick Luna and current Trump lawyer John Marion,” Bensinger tweeted on Thursday, noting the suspicious mailing address.

The company behind Donald Trump’s NFT trading cards shockingly has mysterious and shady roots

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

What “They” Have To say

To be fair I wrote a post recently about the idea that Trump wants to suspend the Constitution over his election loss….much has been written and now this is what he meant…..

After drawing widespread condemnation over his call to sideline the Constitution, former President Donald Trump maintained Monday that that’s not what he meant. “The Fake News is actually trying to convince the American People that I said I wanted to ‘terminate’ the Constitution. This is simply more DISINFORMATION & LIES,” Trump posted online, per the Hill. The post that started it all was about his debunked claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, with the help of “Big Tech,” and came a day after Elon Musk tweeted in reference to Twitter’s handling of accusations against Hunter Biden. “A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,” Trump’s Saturday post said.

He wants steps taken “to right the wrong” involving the election, Trump said, per Yahoo News, though he provided no evidence of any wrong. Few Republican leaders objected to Trump’s idea over the weekend, but his former running mate stepped in Monday. “Everyone that serves in public office, everyone that aspires to serve or serve again should make it clear that we will support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” Pence told WVOC, per the Daily Beast.

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who won reelection last month by beating a candidate endorsed by Trump, said a suggestion to suspend the nation’s Constitution “is not only a betrayal of our Oath of Office, it’s an affront to our Republic.” White House officials on Monday called on members of Congress to speak up against Trump’s statement and defend the Constitution, in keeping with their oath, per US News & World Report.

It is easy to make a vague accusation yet another to offer some real proof of that accusation……but then that is what he does best, isn’t it?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

That Espionage Act

2022 gave the American public some shiny objects to chase….the Russian invasion of Ukraine…..a mass shooting in Uvalde…..the abortion ruling by SCOTUS and now the FBI raid on Trump’s Mar a Lago property.

With the latest raid on the property of ex-president Trump there has been more focus on the Espionage Act because of the documents that were allegedly found at the president’s Mar a Lago property.

What is the Espionage Act?

Espionage Act essentially made it a crime for any person to convey information intended to interfere with the U.S. armed forces prosecution of the war effort or to promote the success of the country’s enemies. Anyone found guilty of such acts would be subject to a fine of $10,000 and a prison sentence of 20 years.

The Espionage Act was reinforced by the Sedition Act of the following year, which imposed similarly harsh penalties on anyone found guilty of making false statements that interfered with the prosecution of the war; insulting or abusing the U.S. government, the flag, the Constitution or the military; agitating against the production of necessary war materials; or advocating, teaching or defending any of these acts.

That brings us to the FBI raid on the Trump property in Florida.

After a week punctuated with reprimands of the Department of Justice by Republican lawmakers and their subsequent demands for accountability following an FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, the search warrant released Friday indicates the search was conducted in connection with, among other things, the Espionage Act.

The Espionage Act is actually a series of statutes under 18 US Code Chapter 37 related to the collection, retention, or dissemination of national defense or classified information. The Mar-a-Lago search warrant referred to Section 793 — “Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information,” which doesn’t just cover “spying” in the sense that many think of when they hear the term. Section 793 specifically states that people legally granted access to national defense documents — people like the former president — are subject to punishment should they improperly retain that information.

Under the Presidential Records Act, which relates to the retention of government documents by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), official documents and other material or information a president or a vice president may have obtained while in office must go to NARA for preservation.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/8/13/23304194/the-espionage-act-trump-documents-mar-a-lago

For over a week now Trump supporters have been losing their minds over this raid.

The back and forth will continue because it makes great fodder for the upcoming election.

More to come I am sure.

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Trump On The Wire

More real news for this Saturday.

The latest episode of Trump Reality Show has him being invaded by the FBI in his golf course palace……the reasons for the raid have been debated in the social media sites…..that does not matter….what matters is what the FBI found in the raid….

A list compiled by the FBI shows agents took 11 sets of classified documents from Mar-a-Lago after searching former President Donald Trump’s home Monday, including some labeled top secret and sensitive. About 20 boxes were removed, reports the Wall Street Journal, whose reporters have seen the three-page list. Among the items logged were photo binders, Roger Stone’s grant of clemency, and information about the “President of France.” The warrant signed by a judge was included with the list, showing that agents wanted to search the estate’s “45 Office” and all storage rooms where boxes of documents could be kept, in any of the buildings on the property.

Trump’s lawyers say he declassified documents while he was still in office, though federal regulations require that a process be followed. “The Biden administration is in obvious damage control after their botched raid where they seized the president’s picture books, a ‘hand written note,’ and declassified documents,” said Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich. Some files were marked “Various classified/TS/SCI documents,” which indicates top-secret/sensitive compartmented information. Such documents usually are to be reviewed in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility by personnel with special clearance.

The FBI documents indicate the agency is looking into whether Trump violated the Espionage Act, a review by Politico shows. Other potential charges involve removal or destruction of records and obstruction of an investigation, the warrant says, which are punishable by fines and prison terms. The Justice Department’s original intent was to secure the documents after Trump failed to turn them over, per the Journal. The agency shifted to a criminal investigation when investigators grew concerned that Trump aides were being evasive about the files.

If the accusations are true then Trump needs to be arrested and thrown under the jail…..I mean leaving top secret docs lying around some stodgy golf course is a reach of the secrets act….time to make this dullard pay for his arrogance and stupidity.

Just a thought

I will return your weekend of worthless news back next Saturday….sorry for the interruption.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Another Insurrectionist Convicted

If you celebrate Easter then I wish you a pleasant and safe day.

After the failed coup of 06 January the participants are finding justice is final.

Another fool that followed the idiocy of Trump and his idiot sycophants had found Lady Justice is not kind to the guilty….

An Ohio man who testified he was “following presidential orders” from Donald Trump when he stormed the US Capitol was convicted Thursday of obstructing Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory. A federal jury also found Dustin Byron Thompson, 38, guilty of stealing a coat rack from an office in the Capitol during the riot on Jan. 6, 2021, the AP reports. Jurors deliberated less than three hours before reaching a verdict, rejecting Thompson’s novel defense. He blamed Trump and members of the president’s inner circle for the insurrection and for his own actions. Thompson, who had been free since his arrest, was ordered held pending sentencing on July 20.

Thompson’s jury trial was the third among hundreds of Capitol riot cases prosecuted by the Justice Department. In the first two cases, jurors convicted both defendants of all charges. An exterminator who lost his job during the pandemic, Thompson was the first riot defendant to mount a trial defense blaming Trump and members of his inner circle for the insurrection. Assistant US Attorney William Dreher told jurors that Thompson knew he was breaking the law when he joined the mob that attacked the Capitol and, in his case, looted the Senate parliamentarian’s office. Thompson’s lawyer “wants you to think you have to choose between President Trump and his client,” the prosecutor said. “You don’t have to choose because this is not President Trump’s trial. This is the trial for Dustin Thompson.”

His defense attorney said Thompson hasn’t avoided taking responsibility. “This shameful chapter in our history is all on TV,” Samuel Shamansky told jurors. But he said Thompson, unemployed and consumed by a steady diet of conspiracy theories, was vulnerable to Trump’s lies about a stolen election. He described Thompson as a “pawn” and Trump as a “gangster” who abused his power to manipulate supporters. US District Judge Reggie Walton barred the defense from calling Trump and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani as witnesses. But the judge allowed jurors to hear recordings of speeches that Trump and Giuliani delivered on Jan. 6, just before the riot. Thompson testified that he joined the mob attack and stole a coat rack and a bourbon from the Senate parliamentarian’s office. “I can’t believe the things that I did,” he said.

Glad to see that ignorance of the law is still not a defense for stupidity.

Then there is a leader of the Proud Boys that wimped out and pleas guilty….

A Proud Boys defendant pleaded guilty Friday to two felonies in the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, becoming the first of the group’s leadership to admit guilt and agree to cooperate with the investigation of the organization. Charles Donohoe, who led the North Carolina chapter of the Proud Boys, pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, as well as to assaulting, resisting, or impeding an officer. In return, prosecutors dropped the other counts in his indictment, NPR reports. The case is one of the most prominent brought by the Justice Department as a result of its investigation of the riot. Donohoe appeared in federal court in Washington virtually.

Five other senior Proud Boys, including Henry Enrique Tarrio, are charged with conspiracy in the attempt to stop Congress from certifying President Biden’s electoral victory and have pleaded not guilty. Donohue’s cooperation could help those prosecutions and cause others to seek similar deals. The 34-year-old faces 20 years in prison on the conspiracy conviction and eight years for assaulting police, though Donohue’s plea deal probably will mean shorter terms, per CBS News. He also will pay $2,000 in restitution for damage to the building.

Before Jan. 6, Donohue posted in a Proud Boys group chat that DC officials were trying to contain the protests to deny former President Donald Trump “the people’s support,” adding, “We can’t let them succeed.” The leaders met at the Washington Monument on Jan. 6, then went to the Capitol, per CNN. Video shows him pushing past police with a crowd, carrying a police riot shield, and going up the steps to the Capitol. “We took it over unarmed,” he messaged other Proud Boys later, court records say.

Personally I say throw the book at the treasonous pricks….give them the max fine and time.

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Insurrection Update #25

A quick break from one conflict in Ukraine to an internal conflict here in the US…..

My series on the failed coup has hit some slow times but there are major news stories being generated around 06 January and the insurrection that was attempted….

The ex-president is being shown to have an active part in the violence of that day….

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol says it has evidence that then-President Donald Trump and his campaign “engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States” and illegally attempted to obstruct the counting of electoral votes and certification of the 2020 election results in Congress. The committee made the allegations in a court filing Wednesday that is part of its attempt to persuade a judge to give the committee access to lawyer John Eastman’s emails, CNN reports. Eastman, a right-wing lawyer who was on the campaign team and allegedly involved in the Jan. 6 planning, has been claiming attorney-client privilege and sued to block the release of the emails, Politico reports.

In what is being called a “major” release of its findings and, per the Hill, the “most serious” accusations leveled against Trump so far, the panel submitted excerpts of almost a dozen depositions and laid out Eastman’s alleged efforts to plan a legal strategy justifying then-VP Mike Pence’s overturning of the election results, and his alleged continued pushing of Pence to do so even after the mob of rioters stormed the Capitol. Accused by Pence’s counsel of being to blame for the “siege,” Eastman responded, “The ‘siege’ is because YOU and your boss did not do what was necessary to allow this to be aired in a public way so the American people can see for themselves what happened.” The committee says Eastman knew he was asking Pence to violate the law, but carried on anyway.

Appears that one insurrectionist took the easy way out…..

A 37-year-old man awaiting sentencing for his role in the Capitol riot has died by suicide—and his family blames “the constant delays in hearings.” Sharpsville, Pennsylvania, resident Matt Perna was due to be sentenced April 1, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. In an obituary, his family said postponements had dragged the case out for more than a year. “Because of this, Matt’s heart broke and his spirit died, and many people are responsible for the pain he endured,” they said, among them “his community (which he loved), his country, and the justice system.” Perna was out on bail and the Mercer County Coroner’s office confirmed Tuesday that he died by suicide at his residence on Friday.

According to the Department of Justice, Perna was arrested on Jan. 19, 2021 and pleaded guilty to all four counts against him—including a felony count obstruction of an official proceeding—as part of a plea agreement on Dec. 17 last year. Prosecutors said Perna spent around 20 minutes inside the Capitol building during the Jan. 6 riot and posted a video on Facebook later that day, NBC reports. “It’s not over, trust me,” he said. “The purpose of today was to expose Pence as a traitor.” A person who knew Perna contacted the FBI after the agency shared his photo and asked for the public’s help.

In Perna’s obituary, his family said he went to Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 rally to “peacefully stand up for his beliefs.” “Matt’s family stood by him during this devastating ordeal, and are extremely proud of his passion for life and his pursuit of many dreams,” they wrote. “His actions last year are not looked down upon, instead his family is grateful and humbled by his courage.” They said Perna was “ushered in by police” and did not “break, touch, or steal” anything inside the building. A sentencing memo had not been filed in his case, but others who have pleaded guilty to the same felony obstruction count faced recommended sentences of more than two years, WUSA9 reports.

Apparently this is one criminal that will not “take a bullet for freedom”

Proud Boys leader is indicted on conspiracy charges…..

A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted the leader of the right-wing Proud Boys on a conspiracy charge stemming from the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, the Justice Department announced.

Enrique Tarrio, 38, was arrested in Miami on a charge of conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, a felony that federal prosecutors have brought against hundreds of Capitol riot defendants and carries a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison.

Tarrio is being charged alongside five co-defendants affiliated with the Proud Boys who were all indicted early last year and have since pleaded not guilt to an effort to “stop delay and hinder the certification of the electoral college vote.”

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/597325-proud-boys-leader-indicted-on-conspiracy-charge-over-jan-6

Finally!  A major conviction of a moronic insurrectionist…..Guilty of ALL charges…..

Guy Wesley Reffitt was found guilty Tuesday of all five counts against him related to the Capitol riot, reports NBC News. In the first federal trial stemming from the Jan. 6 violence, Reffitt was convicted of storming the Capitol with a holstered gun, among other things. He faces serious jail time when sentenced, and the AP sees the guilty verdict as a potential “bellwether” for future riot cases.

  • The charges: He is charged with five counts, including obstruction of Congress, a charge originally meant to criminalize activities like tampering with documents or witnesses—defense lawyers tried to have it dismissed, arguing it was being taken too far, but judges are allowing a jury to decide, for the first time, whether it can apply to cases like this, the New York Times reports. That charge, the most serious, carries a sentence of up to 20 years, WUSA 9 reports. He is charged with four other felonies: two different civil disorder counts, being on restricted ground with a firearm, and obstruction of justice.
  • His kids are key witnesses: Two of the 49-year-old’s children will testify to the fact that he issued death threats should they turn him in, per WUSA 9. The obstruction of justice charge involves threats of physical force, which the 19- and 17-year-old kids will speak about, the station says, adding that recordings they made of him will be introduced as evidence. The 19-year-old is reportedly estranged from his family now.
  • Militia group: Another key witness will be an alleged fellow member of the Three Percenter militia group who authorities say traveled to DC from Texas with Reffitt; the witness was offered immunity in exchange for his testimony.
  • Setting the tone: As the Times explains in its look at the case, this trial will likely “set the tone” for dozens more that are scheduled to happen this year. “For the first time in a courtroom, [prosecutors] will present a broad portrait of the violent chaos that erupted that day and seek to persuade a jury that the pro-Trump mob that Mr. Reffitt is accused of joining struck at the heart of American democracy by disrupting the transition of presidential power.”
  • How long will this take? Jury selection is Monday, with opening arguments and testimony likely starting by Tuesday afternoon. The trial could last a week or longer, depending how long jury deliberations take.
  • Juror bias? Defense lawyers have argued that DC jurors will be biased against Jan. 6 defendants, and as such, judges will be closely watching for signs of bias, the Washington Post reports. “Reffitt’s prospective jurors Monday will be the subjects of a kind of trial-within-a-trial, scrutinized by both parties and the wider public, with potential ramifications for Capitol breach defendants to come.”
  • Jailhouse letter: Last week, Reffitt penned a defiant letter saying he’s ready to “receive the bullet of freedom,” WUSA 9 reports.

About damn time!

Time for these people to face the music that created….all should be put on the ‘no-fly list’…..there should be stiff penalties for their actions….I feel some are getting off too light for the participation.

We have a good news/bad news thing going on with hate groups….

As far as raw counts go, they’re down: In its annual report released Wednesday, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) said it recorded nearly 300 fewer hate groups in 2021 as compared to the year prior, logging 733, and about 80 fewer anti-government groups, logging 488 of those. But the Hill reports the SPLC made clear that a lower number doesn’t necessarily mean that what these groups espouse is on the wane. “Rather than demonstrating a decline in the power of the far right, the dropping numbers of organized hate and antigovernment groups suggest that the extremist ideas that mobilize them now operate more openly in the political mainstream,” reads the SPLC report.

Indeed, the report notes that most of those arrested over their alleged role in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack had no formal ties to right-wing groups. The SPLC report sees a pattern, noting that “the growth of a mainstream reactionary right-wing movement in 2021 is inextricably linked to the powerful racial justice movement that mobilized Americans in 2020.” It highlights similar parallels in US history: the formation of the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction, and the “massive resistance” to school desegregation the US witnessed during the civil rights era.

Like I said….good news/bad news…..

There will be more updates as long as there are trials for their part in the 06 January failed coup.

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