January 6 Select Committee

[much ado]

It would be great to hear from Pence in front of the committee at this point.

[Lani]

Ornato "denies telling Cassidy Hutchinson that the former president grabbed the steering wheel or an agent on his detail," CNN's Shimon Prokupecz tweeted, citing a Secret Service official.

Well, that's a bummer.

However, I'm bothered that the the Secret Service guys say tfg did not grabbed the steering wheel, but one the of guys grabbed his arm. So yeah, tfg didn't grab the steering wheel. What was he doing? I hope Ornato is questioned.

[New Turtle]

There is video of Donald in the SUV right behind the driver as they were leaving the rally. Possibly in the days to come there will be better video.

[New Turtle]

I watched a doc on History or Discovery Channel a while back about the presidential motorcade. They have at least 2 Beast vehicles fully equipped and they don't like to reveal which one the POTUS is in. On Jan 6 everyone saw which one he got into and in those cases, Secret Service wants to go straight to 1600 and get him inside the gate. They aren't gonna stop for fillet-o-fish or a quick drive by the capitol for armed insurrection.

[raison de arizona]

"Things might get real, real bad on January 6."

-Mark Meadows, according to his former Chief of Staff Cassidy Hutchinson, a few days earlier.

Hutchinson says both the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys came up in White House conversations ahead of January 6.

And she's making very clear that the U.S. security apparatus knew what was coming.

[Ben-Prime]

Is it wrong that when this is all over one way or the other, I will be glad never to read anything that Turley spews ever again?

That's President DeSantis' Attorney General Turley to you.

Why you gotta hurt me, Bob?

[Ben-Prime]

NBC reporting that NBC sources say limo driver and agent would testify that Hutchinsons's testimony that Trump lunged for steering wheel, lunged for agent's throat, are not true. Ha Ha. We'll see.

I also think it's important to remember that she didn't testify to something she saw personally, but that what was relayed to her. So even if it's testified that it didn't happen, it doesn't destroy her credibility, necessarily.

[Ben-Prime]

But Hutchinson testified under oath; lying to Congress could lead to obstruction, perjury, or both charges. (See [pre-pardoned] Roger Stone.)

Now, Hutchinson testified that Ornato said the repeached Florida Man tried to grab the steering wheel.

If Hutchinson tried to testify to that in court, it would lead to a hearsay objection: Although she was testifying in court, she was only relating what someone told her, and not what she had personally perceived.

Right, which is where I was going with this -- Ornato could say 'I never told her that or anything that could remotely be construed as that', and that would be problematic for her. But if the story of what happened in the vehicle turned out to be just factually wrong, it's on him, not her.

[raison de arizona]

And… tfg is still on about it. Rattled, I tells ya.

► Show Spoiler

F2F56AEF-2EB3-4DEE-AA2D-D13BEDBBFD84.jpeg (345.63 KiB) Viewed 636 times

[bob]

Right, which is where I was going with this -- Ornato could say 'I never told her that or anything that could remotely be construed as that', and that would be problematic for her. But if the story of what happened in the vehicle turned out to be just factually wrong, it's on him, not her.

Exactly: Except for the professional deniers, everyone has had real-life experiences (about less-existential matters) where there has been competing narratives about an event. And the truth often is in the middle; a narrator need not be completely accurate to be sufficiently reliable.

[raison de arizona]

Oh yeah? Let’s see, what were her exact words a mere week or so ago? “I can’t wait to clear up misconceptions. I look forward to talking to them.”

A lawyer for Virginia Thomas said she would not testify to the House panel for now. https://nytimes.com/2022/06/28/us/ginni ... d=tw-share… (via @maggieNYT)

[Dr. Ken]

Looks like Eastman dropped his lawsuit over his phone records

[Slim Cognito]

Oh yeah? Let’s see, what were her exact words a mere week or so ago? “I can’t wait to clear up misconceptions. I look forward to talking to them.”

A lawyer for Virginia Thomas said she would not testify to the House panel for now. https://nytimes.com/2022/06/28/us/ginni ... d=tw-share… (via @maggieNYT)

Her lawyer convinced her she's not as clever as she thinks she is?

[Kendra]

Oh yeah? Let’s see, what were her exact words a mere week or so ago? “I can’t wait to clear up misconceptions. I look forward to talking to them.”
https:// twitter.com/laurenpeikoff/status/1541962330254319616

A lawyer for Virginia Thomas said she would not testify to the House panel for now. https://nytimes.com/2022/06/28/us/ginni ... d=tw-share… (via @maggieNYT)

Her lawyer convinced her she's not as clever as she thinks she is?



Many thanks RA for the trump Truths

[Slim Cognito]

Considering the treasure trove of information from yesterday's hearing the RW isn't protesting, I'm thinking we need a trump version of Godwin's law to use whenever they start screaming whether trump did/did not reach for the wheel.

Reality's Juxtaposition
The Insurrection Algorithm
Democracy's Permeability

[bill_g]

Considering the treasure trove of information from yesterday's hearing the RW isn't protesting, I'm thinking we need a trump version of Godwin's law to use whenever they start screaming whether trump did/did not reach for the wheel.

Reality's Juxtaposition
The Insurrection Algorithm
Democracy's Permeability

They are trying to discredit her testimony entirely by postulating this portion is wrong - therefore it's all wrong.

OTOH, we can use the vacant spaces the GOP created by looking at what they are not contesting. They think the drive back to the WH is the low hanging fruit. We need to look at the tree.

[Kendra]

I posted this over in the Fox News thread, but I'll cross post some of it here.

America's Newsroom, top of the first hour. Yes, they opened with coverage of yesterday's J6 - four minutes worth of coverage and it was mostly all about twisting her credibility because the SS didn't back up her claims about tfg in the limo grabbing the driver. IT. WAS. HEARSAY! they say so of course she must not be credible. Why, even CNN's Jake Tapper called it hearsay on air (showed a clip), so there! The very last seconds of that four minute report did mention that there were a lot of troubling things she testified about, but by then the four minutes were over and they moved on.

[p0rtia]

I'm trying to decide if she's Dean or Butterfield.

I think Dean, though Butterfield is a good parallel too. But she had face to face testimony, so Dean. Maybe the videographer, or the absent WH photographer, will turn out to be Butterfield.

Butterfield had face-to-face testimony - live on TV - I watched it live and remember it like it was 49 years ago.

And well I know it! I rewatched the entire Senate hearings last year (COVID comfort binging). Twice. I mean (by face to face) that Butterfield did not provide testimony involving the cover up plans or actions. He was not part of the coverup. Just the technical detail that there were recording devices. Sorry! I worded that badly.

BTW, Butterfield is and was a hell of a character. There are a few incredible youtubes out there of talks he gave a few years ago on the subject of Nixon. Worth a watch for fellow Watergate addicts!

[Kendra]

This post-hearing moment of awkward silence on Fox kinda says a lot.

If you haven’t seen the Ketchup Testimony yet, stop what you’re doing, take two minutes, and consider this a meditation on your personal and collective responsibility to defend democracy.

[Kendra]

One would think, if Cassidy Hutchinson lied under oath yesterday, her boss Mark Meadows would have said something last night. His silence confirms the truth of her testimony.

[Kendra]

|
@CarolLeonnig
who wrote book on USSS:

“Bobby Engel and Tony Ornato were very, very close to President Trump"

“Some people accuse them of at times being enablers and yes-men”

"Large contingent" of Trump USSS detail cheered for Biden to fail, some cheered on the insurrection.

[Kendra]

Low level aides are in the EEOB, not the West Wing.

Being next to the Chief of Staff and three doors down from the Oval Office is not low level by any stretch of the imagination.

Proximity is power/rank.

[pipistrelle]

I would be leery of a SS agent who’s eager to repudiate such a minor detail.

[Kendra]

Just wrapped an interview with former Jan 6 committee investigator
@RepRiggleman
-- who says America "needs to rally behind truth tellers… "

Riggleman says committee witnesses face backlash, pushback and threats

[raison de arizona]

I would be leery of a SS agent who’s eager to repudiate such a minor detail.

Dan Bongino was a Secret Service agent for 12 years. Besides all the Secret Service-gates in recent years. They have their share of ideological freaks fo shure.