January 6th legal proceedings and investigations megathread

[Stockdale for Veep]

A well-known horseface hasn't been embarrassed this badly on national television since Super Bowl XXIV.

[Badger]

They’ve done a good job laying out Trump’s total inaction and even refusal to carry out his duties as president.

Him refusing the call from the Department of Defense seems like a big deal.

No no no no! Total nothing burger. Several posters here have told me so!

[emailking]

Fox is not broadcasting the hearing at least so far.

Fox ended up not airing any part of the hearing tonight, sticking to their normal nightly lineup. Same as the first hearing which was also in prime time. They've aired the daytime hearings but have sometimes cut out early before the closing statements.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Garland said no indictment before Nov election after the Rs politicized Benghazi I am so done with this insurrection it's just like impeachment, but this is a black mark on the Rs which the police protected

[Torie]

They’ve done a good job laying out Trump’s total inaction and even refusal to carry out his duties as president.

Him refusing the call from the Department of Defense seems like a big deal.

Can this be used as evidence of criminal negligence?

POTUS failing to perform the duties of his office is not a crime, but is obviously grounds for removal from office. And in a sense he was so removed for a bit there, when Schumer and McConnell were basically going over Trump's head to order the military to clear the Capitol immediately, an order the military said "yes sir" to. The chain of command was broken. I suspect if Pence had been willing to go along with it, the 25th amendment would have been invoked the next day, Trump's disingenuous Jan 7 speech to try to foreclose that to the contrary notwithstanding.

Trump's multiple takes of the "I have to do it even though I hate it to save me pathetic ass" Jan 7 speech on the teleprompter that he did not want to read was probably the most devastating part of the presentation to me. It made Trump, in contradistinction to the macho man image he revels in, look weak and pathetic and more like a sniveling coward. Trump in all of his social media "tweets" yesterday lashing out at everyone under the sun (of a genre that reminds me of a spoiled immature Atlas middle school poster), didn't go near that part of the committee's presentation. He had no choice except to ignore that, just like Fox News ignored the whole hearing - the twin partners in cowardice.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Wow, what a speech from Kinzinger.  That was from the heart.

Link? I'm at an emo show and I saw it on the silent TV in the background of the bar of the venue but couldn't hear it.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5024782/rep-kinzingers-closing-statement.  It's about four minutes long.

[Sir Mohamed]

Really no surprise the usual suspects, meaning a number of blue avatars, stay entirely away from this thread.

Garland really needs to indict the orange buffoon now.

[Inmate Trump]

Kinzinger definitely had a great speech at the end.

I wish more Republicans had courage to stand up to what they know is wrong. I wish the American people weren't engaged in party tribalism. I hope Trump's attempted coup has not opened the door for future attempts.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/JoyceWhiteVance/status/1550495141340798976

[NewYorkExpress]

Pence's Secret Service detail apparently were literally in fear for their lives.

Members of Vice President Mike Pence's Secret Service detail began to fear for their lives during the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol and radioed goodbyes to their families, the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack revealed in a hearing Thursday.

A witness who testified anonymously but was described as a "national security professional" working at the White House the day of the attack explained to House investigators the meaning behind a 2:24 p.m. entry in a chat log from National Security staff tracking developments at the Capitol that stated, "Service at the capitol does not sound good right now."

"The members of the VP detail at this time were starting to fear for their own lives," the unidentified witness told the committee in an interview played during the proceeding, adding there was a lot of yelling and "very personal calls" being made over the radio traffic.


"It was disturbing. I don't like talking about it," the security professional continued, "but there were calls to say goodbye to family members and so forth. It was getting – for whatever the reason was on the ground, the VP detail thought that this was about to get very ugly."

[Darthpi – Anti-Florida Activist]

So what's the conservative story now?  What's the excuse?  I don't even know what the alternative narrative is supposed to be at this point.

"This was just a peaceful, legitimate protest" has to be done now, right?

"Trump didn't know this was going to happen" and "Trump didn't want this to happen" both done.

"Trump didn't know what was going on" or "Trump condemned the riots so he doesn't bear responsibility" also pretty clearly over now.

‘F**k you that’s why’ is evergreen

The PopCopy presidency

[emailking]

Jury deliberations have begun in Bannon's case. So we could potentially get a verdict at any time. FYI: The defense did not put on a case (but did give closing arguments).

[GeneralMacArthur]

Jury deliberations have begun in Bannon's case. So we could potentially get a verdict at any time. FYI: The defense did not put on a case (but did give closing arguments).

I'm excited!  I hope he gets a nice long prison sentence.  I still remember 2015 when Breitbart dominated the media with completely fake stories, moral panics, and a pathological obsession with the outer fringes of both parties.

[GeorgiaModerate]

WaPo: Four reasons the Jan. 6 hearings have conquered the news cycle (not paywalled)

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/joshgerstein/status/1550554391375073281

[Inmate Trump]

Good. What’s his punishment?

[GeorgiaModerate]

Good. What’s his punishment?

Each count carries a penalty (I believe) of one month to one year in jail and/or a fine of up to $10,000.  So if the judge sentences him to jail, it could be for one month (since the sentences could be concurrent) to two years.

Note that unlike a civil contempt proceeding, this charge only imposes criminal penalties.  It does not compel Bannon to comply with the subpoena.

[Yoda]

They’ve done a good job laying out Trump’s total inaction and even refusal to carry out his duties as president.

Him refusing the call from the Department of Defense seems like a big deal.

Can this be used as evidence of criminal negligence?

POTUS failing to perform the duties of his office is not a crime,

And herein lies the problem. The US military was controlled by a man in an office who was under no obligation to protect American lives and will suffer no consequences whatsoever for failing to do so. Oh, he took an oath, you say? Call me crazy, but I believe that the Commander in Chief should face the same consequences a soldier would if that soldier sat idly by and watched on TV from a few blocks away for three hours while their fellow service members were being viciously attacked and seriously wounded by a mob of terrorists. I could be wrong, but I do believe that a US service member can still be hanged for such a heinous, unimaginable offense. trump should absolutely be held criminally liable for allowing the violence to continue. A non-zero # of people would be alive today if he had sent in the Guard or some other force immediately instead of watching Fox News with glee for three hours.

[Progressive Pessimist]

The theme of everything around Trump, and even to those around him like pathetic coward Josh Hawley, is "the Emperor has no clothes." Some of us have always known and observed this about Trump's entire being for his entire public life, but the committee hearings should make it more obvious than ever.

Just look at how it appears that Trump was more upset about having to give a tepid speech about the insurrection than about the insurrection itself and what it means for the country he supposedly loves so much. I bet that what made him embarrassed more than anything from last night's hearing were those outtakes rather than how much more apparent his dereliction of duty was made.

This man, and the party he has made himself the avatar of, should not be allowed to hold any sort of political power. They can't be trusted and it's sickening that nowhere near enough Americans will ever come to that realization.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/Jose_Pagliery/status/1551210350762237953

ISTR claims that these agents were supposedly lining up to testify and refute Cassidy Hutchinson...

[LBJer]

It's almost like the Secret Service should be abolished at this point. 

[ProudModerate2]

Liz Cheney: January 6 committee could subpoena Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

https://www.aol.com/news/liz-cheney-january-6-committee-171628027.html

This could be interesting.
Do you think they would also ask her questions about her prior nutty-brain thoughts of joining a cult (in her past)?

[Frodo]

Indict him already:

Jan. 6 Panel Members Call On DOJ To Open Criminal Investigation Into Trump

[GeorgiaModerate]

Glad to see it, but I suspect that they're well behind the curve (i.e., that one or more DOJ investigations are already underway).

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Garland already said he isn't indicting Trump until after the Midterms as well as GA prosecution you know all these users want Trump indicted he isnt winning the 24 ELECTION with that Senate map no ways or DeSantis all the swing states are in blue states and we are making gains in red states Tim Ryan, Charlie Crist are competetive and IA is competitive all three Districts except IA 4 refuted the DSM register poll that had Rs well ahead😊😊😊