What do you think about what's gong on at the Capital??

[Mr._Clark]

To paraphrase: "The Idiocy Of Evil".

The Boogaloo Bois Prepare for Civil War

As the FBI warns of violence, anti-government extremists are ready to get in on the chaos.

www.theatlantic.com

The goals of the boogaloos are (apparently) very similar to those of Bob Mercer, an early Trump supporter.

From the Atlantic article:

>>>“They [boogaloos] want Rome to fall,” she said. “They want chaos to bring it down.”<<<


Here's a clip from a New Yorker article about Bob Mercer's role in Trump's rise:

>>>“Bob thinks the less government the better. He’s happy if people don’t trust the government. And if the President’s a bozo? He’s fine with that. He wants it to all fall down. . . Until Election Day in 2016, Mercer and Hanley—two of the richest men in America—paid Caddell to keep collecting polling data that enabled them to exploit the public’s resentment of élites such as themselves.” (this quote is someone else's impression of Mercer, but it seems consistent with everything else I've heard about him)


https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/27/the-reclusive-hedge-fund-tycoon-behind-the-trump-presidency

 

[GO-NAD!]

The goals of the boogaloos are (apparently) very similar to those of Bob Mercer, an early Trump supporter.

From the Atlantic article:

>>>“They [boogaloos] want Rome to fall,” she said. “They want chaos to bring it down.”<<<


Here's a clip from a New Yorker article about Bob Mercer's role in Trump's rise:

>>>“Bob thinks the less government the better. He’s happy if people don’t trust the government. And if the President’s a bozo? He’s fine with that. He wants it to all fall down. . . Until Election Day in 2016, Mercer and Hanley—two of the richest men in America—paid Caddell to keep collecting polling data that enabled them to exploit the public’s resentment of élites such as themselves.” (this quote is someone else's impression of Mercer, but it seems consistent with everything else I've heard about him)


https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/27/the-reclusive-hedge-fund-tycoon-behind-the-trump-presidency

How nihilistic can a person be?

 

[Mr._Clark]

Axios has an interesting series about Trump's last days in office. Here's a snip from Episode 4:

>>>Attorney General Bill Barr stood behind a chair in the private dining room next to the Oval Office, looming over Donald Trump. The president sat at the head of the table. It was Dec. 1, nearly a month after the election, and Barr had some sharp advice to get off his chest. The president's theories about a stolen election, Barr told Trump, were "bullshit."

White House counsel Pat Cipollone and a few other aides in the room were shocked Barr had come out and said it — although they knew it was true. For good measure, the attorney general threw in a warning that the new legal team Trump was betting his future on was "clownish."

Trump had angrily dragged Barr in to explain himself after seeing a breaking AP story all over Twitter, with the headline: "Disputing Trump, Barr says no widespread election fraud." But Barr was not backing down. Three weeks later, he would be gone.<<<

Off the Rails: Inside the disintegration of Trump’s relationship with Bill Barr

How Trump torched what was arguably the most consequential relationship in his Cabinet.

www.axios.com

 

[GO-NAD!]

Axios has an interesting series about Trump's last days in office. Here's a snip from Episode 4:

>>>Attorney General Bill Barr stood behind a chair in the private dining room next to the Oval Office, looming over Donald Trump. The president sat at the head of the table. It was Dec. 1, nearly a month after the election, and Barr had some sharp advice to get off his chest. The president's theories about a stolen election, Barr told Trump, were "bullshit."

White House counsel Pat Cipollone and a few other aides in the room were shocked Barr had come out and said it — although they knew it was true. For good measure, the attorney general threw in a warning that the new legal team Trump was betting his future on was "clownish."

Trump had angrily dragged Barr in to explain himself after seeing a breaking AP story all over Twitter, with the headline: "Disputing Trump, Barr says no widespread election fraud." But Barr was not backing down. Three weeks later, he would be gone.<<<

Off the Rails: Inside the disintegration of Trump’s relationship with Bill Barr

How Trump torched what was arguably the most consequential relationship in his Cabinet.

www.axios.com

After such an exchange, I'm surprised it took three weeks.

 

[Ponzio]

If true, this is very sickening and how could this woman & her partner not be prosecuted?

 

[Mikado463]

If true, this is very sickening and how could this woman & her partner not be prosecuted?

Agreed and if found guilty, bring out the firing squad !

 

[Dude#1279435]

If true, this is very sickening and how could this woman & her partner not be prosecuted?

Agreed and if found guilty, bring out the firing squad !

Intent and doing so are two different things. They might be able to get her on a smaller charge but that's about it.

I'm also getting tired of these exaggerated sentences some want for what amounts to 'people taking a tour' of the capitol. The penalty is still much more than had they done so on a neighbor's private property. Community service, 3 months, a year for trespassing etc. I'm not talking about the violent rioters, intent to kill, or the organizers. That's something the feds will have to decipher.

 

[Ponzio]

Intent and doing so are two different things. They might be able to get her on a smaller charge but that's about it.

I'm also getting tired of these exaggerated sentences some want for what amounts to 'people taking a tour' of the capitol. The penalty is still much more than had they done so on a neighbor's private property. Community service, 3 months, a year for trespassing etc. I'm not talking about the violent rioters, intent to kill, or the organizers. That's something the feds will have to decipher.

I agree, to a degree.

Obviously there’s more to this story than the FBI is letting on at this time, since they leaked the story I’m assuming.

But ‘IF’ true, she should be prosecuted for treason, which by the law of the land reads …

§2381. Treason. Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States. (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 807; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, §330016(2)(J), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2148.)

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title18/part1/chapter115&edition=prelim

There’s quite a bit of play in the statuette for a federal judge and jury to consider in sentencing anyway, again ‘IF’ true. I highly doubt she’ll be brought in front of a firing squad as Mikado desires, unless Pelosi’s laptop had highly sensitive encrypted secrets, which I doubt, and she knew it, when she offered to pass it along to a Russian national, which I also doubt.

Whether we believe the law on treason is just or not is inconsequential at this time, be it for a regular citizen, law enforcement personnel, a congressman/woman, Senator … or dare I say it, the president of the United States, as some former intelligence heads, in his administration, have brought up in a public setting. His interactions with Russia and Putin have also been very troubling, before and after he was elected president, which he was warned about repeatedly by his own staff, member’s in the Cabinet and intelligence officials.

There’s no use of having a law decree on the books for treason, if it’s not going to be enforced. FULL STOP.

Willful violence is one thing, not that I believe that the insurrectionists should be let go with a slap on the hand and a promise not to do it again, but her possible willingness to pass along the laptop to an adversarial foreign power, like Russia, as I said, is very troubling.

 

[Trell]

I agree, to a degree.

Obviously there’s more to this story than the FBI is letting on at this time, since they leaked the story I’m assuming.

But ‘IF’ true, she should be prosecuted for treason, which by the law of the land reads …

§2381. Treason. Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States. (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 807; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, §330016(2)(J), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2148.)

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title18/part1/chapter115&edition=prelim

There’s quite a bit of play in the statuette for a federal judge and jury to consider in sentencing anyway, again ‘IF’ true. I highly doubt she’ll be brought in front of a firing squad as Mikado desires, unless Pelosi’s laptop had highly sensitive encrypted secrets, which I doubt, and she knew it, when she offered to pass it along to a Russian national, which I also doubt.

Whether we believe the law on treason is just or not is inconsequential at this time, be it for a regular citizen, law enforcement personnel, a congressman/woman, Senator … or dare I say it, the president of the United States, as some former intelligence heads, in his administration, have brought up in a public setting. His interactions with Russia and Putin have also been very troubling, before and after he was elected president, which he was warned about repeatedly by his own staff, member’s in the Cabinet and intelligence officials.

There’s no use of having a law decree on the books for treason, if it’s not going to be enforced. FULL STOP.

Willful violence is one thing, not that I believe that the insurrectionists should be let go with a slap on the hand and a promise not to do it again, but her possible willingness to pass along the laptop to an adversarial foreign power, like Russia, as I said, is very troubling.

It's my understanding that to convict someone for treason for spying when not at war with that country is not possible. For instance Julius and Ethel Rosenberg was convicted for espionage and sentenced to death, but not for treason.

I seem to recall that the Founders wanted a strict criteria for treason as opposed to what could be considered treason in England at that time.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Trell]

Some Democrats have said that they saw some Republican(s?) giving suspicious tours to visitors the day before the deadly assault on the Capitol. At that time they did not name anyone, but they demanded investigations.

As of now it appears one Republican is outed, pending criminal investigation, of course. This is the same woman that refuses to go past metal detectors erected after the assault:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/19/lauren-boebert-tour-capitol-riots/

"Amid a push to investigate whether any GOP lawmakers aided rioters at the Capitol, several Democrats last week accused an unnamed House Republican of leading groups on “reconnaissance” tours of the building before the Jan. 6 attack.​

​

Now, two Democratic lawmakers say they personally saw one Republican — Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado — with a “large” group in a tunnel connected to the Capitol days before the attempted insurrection that left four rioters and one police officer dead.​

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) said on Monday that he and Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) had both seen Boebert in the tunnel outside the Cannon House Office Building with a group sometime in the three days before the riots. He said he didn’t know who was in the group or if anyone with Boebert later participated in the attack.
“Congressman [John] Yarmuth refreshed my recollection yesterday,” Cohen told Jim Sciutto on “CNN Newsroom.” “We saw Boebert taking a group of people for a tour sometime after the 3rd and before the 6th. … Now whether these people were people that were involved in the insurrection or not, I do not know.” "​

 

[Ponzio]

A follow-up on the Pelosi's laptop story from the Washington Post by Tonya Riley

Pelosi laptop theft highlights 'real counterintelligence concerns,' lawmaker says

There are growing concerns that U.S. adversaries may be seeking ways to benefit from the Capitol assault and that some of rioters may have been looking to work with them.

The FBI is investigating claims that Riley June Williams stole a laptop or hard drive from the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and intended to sell the device to Russia's intelligence services by way of a friend who lives in the country.

“The idea that a group of so-called ‘patriots’ would sell a government computer to the Russians should tell you everything you need to know about the people who assaulted the Capitol,” Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), incoming chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. “There are real counterintelligence concerns associated with a breach like the one that occurred on January 6th.”

Williams was arrested Monday in her home state of Pennsylvania, and it's unclear if she still had the laptop in her possession. She has been charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct in the Capitol, Spencer S. Hsu and Hannah Knowles report. The case is the first with foreign intelligence implications. There could be more.

The Justice Department is treating its investigation into the riot “just like a significant international counter-terrorism or counterintelligence operation,” acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia Michael Sherwin said last week. Sherwin previously stated that his office was still assessing how many of the more than 100 cases related to the Capitol riot involved “national security equities.” He previously said that “multiple devices” were stolen.

The FBI also is looking into potential financial ties between some of the groups that incited the riot and foreign governments, NBC News reported. Warner raised the possibility that foreign powers could have “easily” attempted to send in foreign assets during the chaos to steal information or plant bugs. “Maintaining physical control over spaces and systems is a key part, although hardly the only part, of ensuring that our adversaries cannot access our protected information,” he said.

Although the government normally keeps its most classified information in separate spaces, access to devices can do plenty of damage, experts say. The full extent of the damage is unclear.

Pelosi's office declined to comment on the investigation into Williams. Pelosi's Deputy Chief of Staff Drew Hammill earlier this month confirmed that one laptop, which was used for conference room presentations, had been stolen.

The FBI is also investigating other forms of foreign interference.

Russia and other foreign adversaries have already exploited unrest in the Capitol to spread propaganda, intelligence officials say. Russia, Iran and China have exploited the deadly riot to promote their own interests on state media, a recent memo from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security warned. Congress is still urging Capitol security and IT staff to investigate.

Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) requested an investigation in the security threat posed earlier this month. Her office did not respond for comment on the status of the investigation. (A House memo earlier this month indicated that the House network had not been compromised and noted all wired access and computers were shut down during the attack.)

And this from our local paper.
https://patch.com/pennsylvania/plymouthwhitemarsh/s/he1g2/pa-woman-accused-of-taking-pelosis-laptop-at-capitol-arrested?utm_source=alert-breakingnews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert

 

[mtrycrafts]

...
But ‘IF’ true, she should be prosecuted for treason, which by the law of the land reads …
...

That may not fit but I bet espionage does.

 

[Ponzio]

That may not fit but I bet espionage does.

Possibly. In the end it will be up to the federal prosecutors.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Possibly. In the end it will be up to the federal prosecutors.

Too bad, I am ready to nominate her for such a crime.

 

[Dude#1279435]

I agree, to a degree.

Obviously there’s more to this story than the FBI is letting on at this time, since they leaked the story I’m assuming.

But ‘IF’ true, she should be prosecuted for treason, which by the law of the land reads …

§2381. Treason. Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States. (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 807; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, §330016(2)(J), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2148.)

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title18/part1/chapter115&edition=prelim

There’s quite a bit of play in the statuette for a federal judge and jury to consider in sentencing anyway, again ‘IF’ true. I highly doubt she’ll be brought in front of a firing squad as Mikado desires, unless Pelosi’s laptop had highly sensitive encrypted secrets, which I doubt, and she knew it, when she offered to pass it along to a Russian national, which I also doubt.

Whether we believe the law on treason is just or not is inconsequential at this time, be it for a regular citizen, law enforcement personnel, a congressman/woman, Senator … or dare I say it, the president of the United States, as some former intelligence heads, in his administration, have brought up in a public setting. His interactions with Russia and Putin have also been very troubling, before and after he was elected president, which he was warned about repeatedly by his own staff, member’s in the Cabinet and intelligence officials.

There’s no use of having a law decree on the books for treason, if it’s not going to be enforced. FULL STOP.

Willful violence is one thing, not that I believe that the insurrectionists should be let go with a slap on the hand and a promise not to do it again, but her possible willingness to pass along the laptop to an adversarial foreign power, like Russia, as I said, is very troubling.

I see what you're saying about treason. What I'm saying is with insurrection the average case should be about a year I'm guessing. For a person who what amounts to taking a few pics. There's people who are suggesting 3-5 years or "send a message" which is wrong. The sentence has to fit the crime. Obviously intent to kill and other violent acts will be more.

 

[Mr._Clark]

I would agree.. They too dumb to know what to do if they had to turn off the phone

The FBI used cellphone data to track people down:

>>>If you were anywhere near the Capitol on Jan. 6, you may be getting a knock on your door from the FBI. . . .
"They don't call first, they just come to your house," Bree Stevens, a legal investigator who lives near Capitol Hill, said.

Stevens said an FBI agent told her they were reaching out to every single person whose cell phone put them near the Capitol during the riots. . . . Stevens was out of town, so the agent called her on the phone number that the FBI had tracked.

"Extremely creepy, because he explained that they have everyone’s phone number from pinging off the cell phone towers, and they know basically exactly where you were, within the vicinity of the Capitol," Stevens said. "And they can actually pinpoint on Google Maps exactly where you were standing. Like, he knew where I was standing on the sidewalk, like specifically, based on my cell phone ping."<<<

https://www.wusa9.com/article/features/producers-picks/fbi-tracks-cell-phones-that-were-near-capitol-insurrection-and-riot/65-ca268165-a5c5-46a4-8b88-943a8517343a

But it's not clear to me if law enforcement used stingrays:

A Secretive Technology Could Be Bad News For Capitol Rioters - The Debrief

As unbeknownist to rioters, there likely was a secretive technology at the Captiol Jan. 6th, that could spell bad news for them.

thedebrief.org

I suspect this court ruling put a damper on it, even though it's not necessarily binding on a federal court:

>>>D.C. Metropolitan Police's use of such cell-site simulator technology to nab suspect Prince Jones in 2013 "violated the Fourth Amendment," the [D.C. Court of Appeals] court decided against the U.S. government on Thursday.

"We thus conclude that under ordinary circumstances, the use of a cell-site simulator to locate a person through his or her cellphone invades the person's actual, legitimate and reasonable expectation of privacy in his or her location information and is a search," the court ruling said. "The government's argument to the contrary is unpersuasive."<<<

D.C. court rules tracking phones without a warrant is unconstitutional

The D.C. Appeals Court overturned a conviction of a suspect that involved use of a cell-site simulator, a law enforcement tracking tool

www.cbsnews.com

Some of the rioters are just dumb as stumps:

>>>Debra Maimone pulled down her American flag mask for a moment on Jan. 6 and gazed at the unruly mob of supporters of President Donald Trump overrunning the U.S. Capitol.

“Put your mask on,” warned her fiance, as the couple stood beneath an unblinking array of surveillance cameras. “I don’t want them to see you.”

It was too late.

That scene, recorded in a cellphone video Maimone posted to the social media site Parler, helped FBI agents identify the Pittsburgh-area couple and pinpoint their location inside the Capitol, FBI agents said in a federal criminal complaint filed before Maimone’s arrest last month. . . .

In many cases, the documents quote suspects expressing confidence that they had slipped beyond the FBI’s grasp. When an unnamed Parler user warned Maimone — the Pittsburgh-area woman with the American flag mask — that authorities would be arresting anyone who entered the Capitol building illegally on Jan. 6, she dismissed the idea through her account, “TrumpIsYourPresident1776.”

“Lmao yaaaaaaaaaa sure thing buddy!” she wrote in an exchange cited in the criminal complaint charging Maimone with theft, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. A D.C. judge signed a warrant for her arrest last month. . . .

In another case, an FBI agent wrote in a criminal affidavit that a “self-professed white supremacist” from Maryland, Bryan Betancur, had asked his probation officer for permission to leave the state on Jan. 6 to hand out Bibles in D.C. with an evangelical group. But Betancur’s court-ordered ankle monitor gave him away, the affidavit claimed, by posting his minute-by-minute location — from Trump’s rally at the White House Ellipse to the Capitol’s steps — to a website investigators could track in real time. He was arrested on Jan. 17, nine days after he told his probation officer he believed the FBI was watching him. <<<

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/04/02/capitol-siege-arrests-technology-fbi-privacy/

 

[Mr._Clark]

What is disturbing about this article is that it implies Trump is ignoring his own cabinet members (who must be confirmed by the Senate) and listening to people like Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, etc.

These people appear to be craven opportunists.

One of the craven opportunists (Giuliani) just received a well-earned smackdown. I suspect Powell will be on the receiving end of a legal smackdown shortly as well, and hers is likely to involve significanlty more financial pain.

New York court suspends Rudy Giuliani's law license

An appeals court has suspended Rudy Giuliani from practicing law in New York because he made false statements while trying to get courts to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in the presidential race.

apnews.com

 

[Mr._Clark]

One of the craven opportunists (Giuliani) just received a well-earned smackdown. I suspect Powell will be on the receiving end of a legal smackdown shortly as well, and hers is likely to involve significantly more financial pain.

The first blow in Powell's smackdown was delivered yesterday:

>>>A federal judge in Michigan sanctioned pro-Trump attorneys including Sidney Powell and Lin Wood that alleged widespread election fraud Wednesday, ruling the attorneys should face a range of punishments—including undergoing legal education and potentially facing disbarment—for their lawsuit that attempted to overturn President Joe Biden’s win in the state.<<<

Sidney Powell, ‘Kraken’ Attorneys Sanctioned For Bringing Michigan Election Fraud Lawsuit

The attorneys must pay legal fees and undergo legal education in election law and will be referred for possible investigation and disbarment.

www.forbes.com

 

[Mikado463]

anytime a lawyer can get his or hers ass in a slinger is a good day !!

 

[Swerd]

The first blow in Powell's smackdown was delivered yesterday:

>>>A federal judge in Michigan sanctioned pro-Trump attorneys including Sidney Powell and Lin Wood that alleged widespread election fraud Wednesday, ruling the attorneys should face a range of punishments—including undergoing legal education and potentially facing disbarment—for their lawsuit that attempted to overturn President Joe Biden’s win in the state.<<<

Sidney Powell, ‘Kraken’ Attorneys Sanctioned For Bringing Michigan Election Fraud Lawsuit

The attorneys must pay legal fees and undergo legal education in election law and will be referred for possible investigation and disbarment.

www.forbes.com

I'm especially glad to see the judge recommended Powell & the others be re-educated on election laws. If there is any justice in this country, they would be disbared only after they passed the refresher course.