January 6 Select Committee

[raison de arizona]

Steve Bannon has an extraordinary view of what executive privilege is.

[Gregg]

For a guy whose whole reason for being is arguing the government power is bad, he sure is trying to stretch the limits of the government power that will keep his fat ass on the street.

[Kendra]

No link, but hearing live now on CNN that Stephanie Grisham is testifying before committee today. I think I heard under oath.

[raison de arizona]

No link, but hearing live now on CNN that Stephanie Grisham is testifying before committee today. I think I heard under oath.

New: Former Trump aide Stephanie Grisham is testifying to the Jan. 6 committee again tomorrow, per sources familiar. The panel has started reaching back out to a number of top witnesses to confirm evidence and details, sources say.

Fun fact about Grisham and how many press briefings she did.

Fun fact: Jen Psaki has done more briefings in 16 months than 4 years of the past administration:

Jen Psaki - 224
Sean Spicer - 58
Sarah Sanders - 107
Stephanie Grisham - 0
Kayleigh McEnany - 40

#ThankYouJen #PsakiBomb

[Kendra]

Thanks raison. I was too lazy to look

LOL, I'd forgotten her turn as press sec and the only *reporters* she talked to was Fox.

[Kendra]

FLASH: In letter to Rep Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), House Jan 6 committee writes, "Based on our review of evidence in the Select Committee’s possession, we believe you have information regarding a tour you led through parts of the Capitol complex on January 5, 2021."

[Slim Cognito]

Whoa!!!

[Kendra]

Moar!

BREAKING: The Jan. 6 select committee says it has obtained evidence that Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) led a tour through the Capitol on Jan. 5, 2021 — contradicting earlier denials by GOP lawmakers that any tours occurred that day.

Story TK

[Kendra]

https://www.axios.com/2022/05/19/bill-b ... =editorial

President Trump's attorney general Bill Barr is in active discussions with the Jan. 6th investigative committee to appear for a formal transcribed interview, according to two sources with direct knowledge.

Driving the news: Barr is likely to cooperate with the committee, according to a source familiar with his thinking.

Tim Mulvey, a spokesman for the Jan. 6 committee, declined to comment.
What we're hearing: No firm decision has been made by the committee on whether to invite Barr to appear in the public hearings that begin in June.

[Kendra]

Busy news day.

NEWS: The Jan. 6 select committee has obtained official White House photographs from the National Archives, including images taken on the day of the Capitol attack.

LOUDERMILK says he was leading a "constituent family" through the Capitol on Jan. 5 — a fact he hadn't disclosed before today — and that none of them havce been investigated or charged for Jan. 6 related activities.

https://politico.com/news/2022/05/19/ja ... t-00033876

[raison de arizona]

Another one that can't get a copy of their letter: https://january6th.house.gov/sites/demo ... ermilk.pdf

[Kendra]

[Kendra]

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/2 ... n-00034023

Eastman provides new details of Trump’s direct role in legal effort to overturn election
The court filing describes the direct role of Trump himself in developing strategy, detailing “two hand-written notes from former President Trump about information that he thought might be useful for the anticipated litigation.”

[Kendra]

Loudermilk 2019: I love giving tours of the Capitol

[Kendra]

Mark Meadows, in new court filing:

"It takes little political savvy to understand the members of the (Jan 6 Select Committee) are using this investigation one allegedly conducted in their official roles to support their case against Republicans in the midterm elections"

In his latest court filing, Mark Meadows criticizes the leaking of the 2,319 text messages he says he shared with House Select Jan 6 Committee ====>

[bob]

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/2 ... n-00034023

Eastman provides new details of Trump’s direct role in legal effort to overturn election
The court filing describes the direct role of Trump himself in developing strategy, detailing “two hand-written notes from former President Trump about information that he thought might be useful for the anticipated litigation.”

Also from that article:

Eastman argues in his new filing that Carter’s earlier ruling was flawed and that multiple attorneys in Trump’s orbit had a genuine belief the election results were illegitimate. That belief, he said, should not be the basis for a finding of criminality, even if it turned out to be wrong.

I'm not surprised, at all, Eastman argued this; it really is the basis for his defense.

And Eastman is not entirely wrong : Generally speaking, sometimes an honest but unreasonable belief can be a defense in a criminal case. But not in all cases.

But that's even assuming the beliefs were honest: post hoc declarations of sincerity are all-too-common, and the factfinder is tasked with evaluating the declarer's credibility.

Bonus:

While most of Eastman’s Friday filing pertains to Trump’s broad legal effort, Eastman also described a set of far lower-profile contacts he is seeking to shield from the select committee, including a dozen emails he appears to have exchanged with Fox News host Mark Levin.

[raison de arizona]

SCOOP: Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani met today with the 1/6 Select Committee. Sources say the interview was conducted virtually and lasted more than 9 hours.

[RTH10260]

Surely executive priviledge prevails ....

[Kendra]

NEWS: The Jan 6 committee has testimony that Meadows told colleagues Trump said something to the effect of maybe Pence should be hung

[AndyinPA]

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/25/us/p ... tw-nytimes

Shortly after hundreds of rioters at the Capitol started chanting “Hang Mike Pence!” on Jan. 6, 2021, the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, left the dining room off the Oval Office, walked into his own office and told colleagues that President Donald J. Trump was complaining that the vice president was being whisked to safety. Mr. Meadows, according to an account provided to the House committee investigating Jan. 6, then told the colleagues that Mr. Trump had said something to the effect of, maybe Mr. Pence should be hung.

It is not clear what tone Mr. Trump was said to have used. But the reported remark was further evidence of how extreme the rupture between the president and his vice president had become, and of how Mr. Trump not only failed to take action to call off the rioters but appeared to identify with their sentiments about Mr. Pence — whom he had unsuccessfully pressured to block certification of the Electoral College results that day — as a reflection of his own frustration at being unable to reverse his loss.

The account of Mr. Trump’s comment was initially provided to the House committee by at least one witness, according to two people briefed on their work, as the panel develops a timeline of what the president was doing during the riot.Another witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Mr. Meadows who was present in his office when he recounted Mr. Trump’s remarks, was asked by the committee about the account and confirmed it, according to the people familiar with the panel’s work. It was not immediately clear how much detailed information Ms. Hutchinson provided. She has cooperated with the committee in three separate interviews after receiving a subpoena.

[humblescribe]

NEWS: The Jan 6 committee has testimony that Meadows told colleagues Trump said something to the effect of maybe Pence should be hung

I hate to break it to you, Maggie:

Over here in these United States, pictures are hung; people are hanged. Just another one of those peculiarities of American English.

[AndyinPA]

NEWS: The Jan 6 committee has testimony that Meadows told colleagues Trump said something to the effect of maybe Pence should be hung

I hate to break it to you, Maggie:

Over here in these United States, pictures are hung; people are hanged. Just another one of those peculiarities of American English.

Off Topic

One of my biggest pet peeves, along with fewer/less and all right/alright.

[Kendra]

GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy & Whip Steve Scalise file amicus brief in Steve Bannon contempt of Congress questioning composition of House Jan 6 Committee

"Failure of the House Speaker to appoint 13 Members to the Select Committee deprives the Select Committee of its competence..."

[raison de arizona]

https://twitter.com/MacFarlaneNews/stat ... 6060421121

GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy & Whip Steve Scalise file amicus brief in Steve Bannon contempt of Congress questioning composition of House Jan 6 Committee

"Failure of the House Speaker to appoint 13 Members to the Select Committee deprives the Select Committee of its competence..."

This guy?

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s months-long campaign to undermine the committee House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) set up to investigate the January 6 insurrection finally came to a culmination on Wednesday, when he announced he won’t be nominating any Republicans to serve on it after all.

Instead, he said at a news conference that House Republicans will conduct their own investigation of an attempt to reject last November’s election results that most of them supported and that was instigated by the leader of their party.

“We will run our own investigation,” McCarthy said, adding later that “no committee in Congress will work if one person is picking all who can serve.”

https://www.vox.com/22588475/kevin-mcca ... nks-jordan

House Speaker did what?

[Kendra]

They can't keep track of their own b-s.