Trump Wanted So Stay In Office. Long Live Trump.




Doris Kearns Goodwin: It takes grace, humility to give a concession speech​

 
The son of a prominent conservative activist has been convicted of charges that he stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, bashed in a window, chased a police officer, invaded the Senate floor and helped a mob disrupt the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.

Leo Brent Bozell IV, 44, of Palmyra, Pennsylvania, was found guilty Friday of 10 charges, including five felony offenses, after a trial decided by a federal judge, according to the Justice Department.

Bozell’s father is Brent Bozell III, who founded the Media Research Center, Parents Television Council and other conservative media organizations.


(full article online)


 
[ Just remember that since Trump took office in 2017 Republicans have been working out of fear. Not fear of losing their jobs, but fear for their lives and that of members of their families. Be it during the impeachments, 1/6, or Kevin McCarthy and others after 1/6, FEAR of those who have weapons and are more then willing to threaten any of them, attempt to kidnap them, and even kill them, to achieve what Trump wants]

 
In the past, sedition-backing Republicans brushed off the violence and deaths on Jan. 6 as a typical "tourist visit." Spartz, however, appears to have invented a whole extended universe twice removed from even those claims. The Indiana Republican is outraged that police were attacking families with "strollers and the kids" on that day, and it's a complete mystery what the flying hell she thinks she's talking about.

“You talk about Jan. 6 people, some people came on Jan. 6 here that had bad intent but a lot of good Americans from my district came here because they are sick and tired of this government not serving them,” Spartz told Garland. “They came with strollers and the kids and there was a chaotic situation because proper security wasn’t provided.”

Let's back that trolley up a bit, because what? No seriously, what? Here's the clip, via Aaron Rupar.




There are several things going on with this, and all of them are muddled together into a great big pile of What The Hell. It's gracious that Spartz is willing to allow that there were at least "some" people in the crowd that had bad intent, given that the crowd attacked and injured over 140 law enforcement officers as they made their way into the Capitol to hunt for lawmakers and ransack their offices—a few bad actors there!—but this is the first anyone has heard of the rioters supposedly wheeling in baby strollers so that their toddlers could get their own taste of the violence.

Spartz, though, just kept on going. "They were throwing smoke bombs into the crowd with strollers with kids. People showed up, you know, FBI agents, to people’s houses. You had, in my district, in my town, FBI phone numbers all over the district."



While it's conceivable that a handful of Trump supporters might actually have brought young children to Trump's planned Jan. 6 march—because Trump supporters, by definition, have the worst judgment of anyone in America—if there's footage out there of rioters bringing their children into the rioting mob, none of us have found it yet.



(full article online)


 
In the indictment filed on Monday, Epps faces a single charge of engaging in “disorderly and disruptive conduct” in a restricted area with “intent to impede and disrupt the orderly conduct of Government business.” He is not known to have entered the Capitol, and no evidence has emerged that he assaulted the police or of any act of vandalism. He was one of several people photographed holding a very large Trump sign which was thrust toward the police line, but he hasn’t been charged with an offense connected to that action. One other man who was charged for being one of those holding the sign was found guilty on nine other counts, but acquitted for his part in holding the sign.

The method in which Epps was charged suggested he had already reached an agreement for a plea. NBC News has reported that Epps will enter his plea over a Zoom call on Wednesday afternoon.

The charges against Epps make him one of just a handful of people to be charged in relation to the insurgency who did not enter the Capitol or engage violently with the police. His wait for this charge is far from exceptional. Over 200 defendants have been charged in the past year, with 42 sentenced since July. There are still many more cases to come. The FBI seems to have simply prioritized those who entered the Capitol, assaulted the police, and engaged in violent conspiracies.

But don’t expect any of that to make it safe for Epps to leave his trailer. Conspiracy theories can always adapt to ignore facts. And don’t be surprised if Republicans in Congress continue to use Epps in their tirades. Unlike Fox News, the speech and debate clause of the Constitution is always there so they can defame and endanger anyone—as the founders intended.

Epps’ actions on Jan. 5 and 6, his ardent support for Trump, and most of all his involvement with the Oath Keepers show that he is anything but a model citizen. And maybe it’s only fitting that the MAGA crowd should turn on one of their own. But in the end, the conspiracy against Epps isn’t about Epps, or even the FBI. It’s about what’s most important to Trump supporters: avoiding any responsibility for their own actions.



(full article online)


 
A New York man who punched a police officer and took a riot shield during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack was sentenced to nearly three years in prison Friday.

Jonathan Munafo, 36, is set to serve 33 months behind bars with 36 months of supervised release after pleading guilty in April to two felony charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers and civil disorder.

The day of the attack, Munafo cheered along with other rioters as they attempted to breach the Capitol in Washington, according to the Department of Justice.

“He used two different poles to strike the window of a Capitol office approximately 13 times,” the DOJ said in a press release. “Munafo often looked back at the crowd, shouting, chanting, and attempting to rile up the other rioters.”

Later that afternoon, Munafo punched a member of the Metropolitan Police Department twice before grabbing the officer’s shield.

“The second punch from Munafo appears to have caused the officer’s head to snap back,” the press release said. “Munafo then took the officer’s riot shield and slunk away into the crowd, leaving the officer without a shield and vulnerable to attacks from other rioters.”




 

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