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Records show Trump allies behind rally that ignited Capitol riot

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By RICHARD LARDNER and MICHELLE R. SMITH

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Trump allies behind rally that ignited Capitol riot

A thorough investigation needs to be done now to see who all was involved in organizing this and who all financed it. The country canNOT move on until the public knows who was responsible for Trump's failed and deadly coup attempt. If the investigation finds those responsible, they need to be brought before the courts. Immediately. The country canNOT move on until its enemies within are identified.

13 ( +15 / -2 )

They should be put on the terrorist watch list

15 ( +17 / -2 )

These are traitors to their own country. They won't go unpunished. At the very least, their careers should be over. Not one more cent should be flowing toward these people like Rafael Cruz or Josh Hawley. The first one humiliated himself by acting as a sycophant to the guy who called his wife ugly and said his dad killed JFK. The second pretends to be "one of the guys" when he's actually one of the "elites" and couldn't wait to move out of Missouri once he was elected there! These guys have no self-pride and are just in it for the money.

14 ( +15 / -1 )

woof.

He totally drained that swamp, huh?

14 ( +15 / -1 )

This will undercut Don’s argument that he was just spouting off.

Cruz is in legal jeopardy and Hawley’s political career is done.

Thank God.

16 ( +16 / -0 )

If there was any substantial effort to cheat in this election, it was done by the party that routinely attempts voter suppression.

Voter suppression is cheating.

The GOP attempts to cheat in every election.

The rally was blatantly political, as it was intended to be. Every "nonprofit" that was involved must have its tax status revoked. No politician who participated or was involved should be allowed to continue to serve. Mob pressure to influence Congress is as un-American as it gets.

15 ( +15 / -0 )

All these brave patriots suddenly denying any involvement. Is it still big tech Twitter censorship when the culprits are deleting tweets themselves?

14 ( +15 / -1 )

This is an administration that rose to power and expanded that power using very calculated misinformation.

15 ( +16 / -1 )

Almost to a man (or woman), the common argument in these instigators' own defense is "free speech" as guaranteed by the First Amendment. This could see dozens of cases headed for the Supreme Court.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

The terrorist and thugs who participated in the biggest attack on democracy in the United States of America should be prosecuted to the extent that the law allows.

Their Latin mottos should be:

”Semper Criminalis”

”Semper Inscicius”

”Semper Proditos”

”Semper Stultus”

”Semper Terroristis”

Their cult leader, and all of the coconspirators and enablers, should pay the price for what they have done. Foreign assets, whether heads of state or fellow travelers, shouldbe exposed and suffer the consequences.

13 ( +14 / -1 )

They're running scared. Trump supporters have been using Twitter to share his bile for years, but when people start asking them questions, they are quick to shut up.

12 ( +13 / -1 )

All those criminals who were a part of this coup, including the ones who incited it have it coming.

Get ready for prosecution and prison terms, you dimwits!!!

Your leader has already abandoned you and he will be busy fighting his own prosecution!!!

13 ( +14 / -1 )

Give it a moment. I'm sure any second Trump supporters will explain how people who organised pro-Trump events, gave money to Trump, have personally volunteered for or worked for Trump, and who have extensive records of pro-Trump SNS posts are, actually, antifa leftists.

12 ( +13 / -1 )

It's all coming out, now.

There's a lot of crossover between white supremacists, militias, far right extremists, nativist religious types and Qanon/conspiracy theorists. Needs a venn diagram.

The only good thing about the insurgency is that so much of it was filmed/broadcast/boasted about online. Thankfully, the far right and the duped aren't in the genius bracket.

Far more worrying is the possibility of the next Trump type. Dangerous but subtle and intelligent. As I said before, Trump exploited this extremism - it was already there. And it's probably not going away, just yet.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

Just like after the Sept 11th terrorist attacks, there needs to be a bipartisan 9/11-like commission that deep dives into what caused this insurrection and all the conspirators...

Identify and prosecute all those responsible, no matter how small their role...

Such a blatant attack on our democracy and Constitution demand all those seditionists be held accountable...

9 ( +10 / -1 )

There's a lot of crossover between white supremacists, militias, far right extremists, nativist religious types and Qanon/conspiracy theorists. Needs a venn diagram.

I think it would just be a circle.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

They'll "kill" the chickens who trashed the Capitol to spare the "boss monkeys" who egged them on. Meanwhile, the 74-millionfold mess left by neoliberalsm will continue to fester without accountability and radical reform. Biden will be walking on a high wire if he is to end the pandemic AND bridge the yawning gap between the haves and have-nots of America.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Biden will be walking on a high wire if he is to end the pandemic AND bridge the yawning gap between the haves and have-nots of America.

Aye. He's not the messiah.

There's a long journey ahead for the US.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

According to Trump people. It was 100% Antifa/BLM. They disguised themselves as QAnaon people (Trump people would never do such things to destroy government property) and trashed the Capitol. And the person who started all this? Evil Hillary.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

The AP’s review found at least three of the Trump campaign aides named on the permit rushed to obscure their connections to the demonstration. They deactivated or locked down their social media profiles and removed tweets that referenced the rally. Two blocked a reporter who asked questions.

Nothing from the peanut gallery? Nobody?

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Records show Trump allies behind rally

Not surprising these names, each a long time proponent of Trumpism and Trump's brand of anti-democracy are being connected to the 'rally'. It will be interesting to see whether connections to the rally's follow-up event will be found.

Roger Stone, Steve Bannon and Michael Flynn all promoted the Jan. 6 rally.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/longtime-trump-advisers-connected-groups-rally-led-capitol/story?id=75261028

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Now all the cowards fleeing the sinking ship, like McCarthy, are saying, "Make no mistake, Biden won!" when up until a week ago he was denying it and had signed on to the lawsuits against Biden, and is also saying, "We should not name names... it will divide and hurt people!"

9 ( +9 / -0 )

Nothing from the peanut gallery? Nobody?

I would like to think that Trump supporters have realized that they have been sold a bill of goods, and that they know now that they have been supporting a racist, a traitor, and a fiendish individual whose personal interests are always prioritized over the public's.

But the thing is, they've had four years to realize this. The truth is, I suspect, that they have finally accepted that Trump is a loser, and they are grappling with the idea of being associated with a loser like Trump. This is why they are calling for "unity": they want to pretend the last four years didn't happen, and they want you to stop reminding them that they supporting an insurrectionist fascist who let over 300,000 (and counting) Americans die in order to promote his hotel brand.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Honestly, I’m not sure why they are wasting their time on impeachment, which would require 16 republican senators to magically grow a spine.

If the Dems want to bar Trump from future office, all they need to do is invoke Section 3 of the 14th Amendment and declare Trump as having engaged in insurrection or rebellion or having given aid and comfort to those who have and therefore barred from holding any elected office, federal, state, or local.

And unlike impeachment, there’s no trial. All that is required is a simple majority in both houses of Congress, which Trump conveniently handed to the Dems. And while it’s true that the ban could be lifted, it would require a 2/3 majority vote in both houses, which I don’t ever see happening.

He’ll still get his pension and security detail, but hey, he’ll never be allowed to be even the city dog catcher. And that’s good enough for me.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

According to Trump people. It was 100% Antifa/BLM. They disguised themselves as QAnaon people (Trump people would never do such things to destroy government property) and trashed the Capitol. And the person who started all this? Evil Hillary.

Have you seen the video released today by the "The New Yorker" magazine? One of their reporters followed the mob up the steps and into the Capital, all the way to the Senate Chambers and recorded people up close and personal as they went through various Senators papers left on their desks, took images of computer screens, and what's is face in the horns sauntered in and sat in the VP's chair. They went up stairs in the Capital chanting traitor, traitor opening doors looking for members of Congress. You watch this, you look at the people in involved and hear them talk among themselves and there is no way anyone can conclude with any honesty that Antifa or BLM was involved.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Just Trumpf leading his (anti-)American brownshirts. He's moving out soon and we need to move those clowns out with him. Too bad no other country wants them.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

In a statement, the president’s reelection campaign said it “did not organize, operate or finance the event.” No campaign staff members were involved in the organization or operation of the rally, according to the statement. It said that if any former employees or independent contractors for the campaign took part, “they did not do so at the direction of the Trump campaign.”

Trump is a lying cheat, so someone other than the campaign probably paid, assuming there is a payment and Trump didn't just cheat another contractor out of their hard work.

Clearly, the whole event was planned and directed by the attention seeking man baby.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

If the Dems want to bar Trump from future office, all they need to do is invoke Section 3 of the 14th Amendment and declare Trump as having engaged in insurrection or rebellion or having given aid and comfort to those who have and therefore barred from holding any elected office, federal, state, or local.

And unlike impeachment, there’s no trial. All that is required is a simple majority in both houses of Congress,

Here is the working of the 14th Amendment, Section 3.

"No Person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability."

The wording does not support your claim. In fact the amendment is silent on how one comes to determine whether or not a prospective candidate is guilty of insurrection or rebellion or having given aid and comfort to those who have. Does it require the individual in question to have been convicted in a court of law of these crimes? How about impeachment for insurrection? The Amendment doesn't say. Invoking it might lead to a years long legal journey with uncertain consequences.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Congress last used the 14th Amendment to exclude a member in 1919 and 1920, when the House refused to seat Victor Berger for his opposition to American involvement in World War I. A socialist, Berger was convicted under the Espionage Act before the Supreme Court overturned the conviction. After his exclusion, Berger eventually won the seat again and the House allowed him to serve. Berger eventually served three terms.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Honestly, I’m not sure why they are wasting their time on impeachment, which would require 16 republican senators to magically grow a spine.

I agree with you that the trial is a waste of time. But he’s been impeached twice, that’s already an irretrievable fact.

It’ll still be on whatever version of Wikipedia that exists in the 23rd century. He and his supporters would never accept any trial result, but hundreds of years after we are all gone the sole fact will remain; impeached twice.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

"We should not name names... it will divide and hurt people!"

Ask the Russians how that worked out. To spare the nation the agony of investigating the truth about the horrors committed by the KGB and in the name of national unity the Russian Parliament under Boris Yeltsin demurred on a thorough investigation and house cleaning of the KGB. Nine years later a KGB Lieutenant Colonel became President and their hasn't been a free and fair election in Russia since.

A full investigation must happen and those who committed actual crimes must be tried and sentenced appropriately. However, most of the far right out there yammering away on the internet are not criminals, or at least haven't committed an actual crime yet. And there are a lot more out there who aren't on internet hate sites but who harbor similar views. There needs to be some kind of outreach to them. They need to be heard, and the nation needs to find a way for whites to understand the problems of minorities and the poor. Both sides have legitimate gripes that need to heard and addressed in some way. Importantly both sides need to come to realize they are not each other's enemy.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

One last thought on the 14th Amendment Section 3. If all it took was a simple majority vote of both houses to declare someone committed rebellion or insurrection and could thus be barred from further office, then you would see this Amendment used to disqualify political opponents left and right. The Amendment was written in the aftermath of the US Civil War to prevent former US military officers and members of Congress who sided with the Confederacy to ever serve again. That they engaged in rebellion or insurrection was obvious and undeniable. The prohibition against service was subsequently waived for former Confederates by an act of Congress. It has been used only a few times since. Today insurrection is a criminal act that rightly adjudicated in a Federal Court and not by Congress.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Honestly, I’m not sure why they are wasting their time on impeachment, which would require 16 republican senators to magically grow a spine.

Even if it is destined to fail in the Senate thanks to treasonous GOP Senators, it is important to at least attempt to hold Trump responsible. Trump's coup attempt failed because he is an imbecile who doesn't understand how the government works. But the next fascist President might well be smarter than Trump, or have their election closer. And if we set a precedent that you can lie to the American people to try and steal an election and get away with it, that President might permanently end US democracy.

Democracy is fragile, and precious. It needs constant and dedicated care to preserve. Trump tried to kill it, and failed. We must work to make it so that the next Trump cannot even try.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Honestly, I’m not sure why they are wasting their time on impeachment, which would require 16 republican senators to magically grow a spine.

Precedent, Posterity, Deterrent

Put the GoP on record by making them vote. Let the world see them for who they really are.

Spell it out for the next would be dictator and for the current GoP members who forgot their oaths.

After impeachment, a majority Senate vote is all that is needed to bar Trump from office. There may be some GoP members who want to ensure Trump isn't competition for their 2024 presidential plans.

Oh, and there may be some GoP members who wake up and remember that they have a conscious and are supposed to support the rule of law.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Honestly, I’m not sure why they are wasting their time on impeachment, which would require 16 republican senators to magically grow a spine.

Doesn't matter. Senate Republicans must be put on record of having been shown evidence of insurrection by a sitting President and given a chance to vote to convict, and vote to bar him from further office. They must be forced to make these choices in public and live with the future consequences of those choices. It is absolutely vital to do this.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

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