#january6attackonuscapitol — Public Fediverse posts

Seeing Things – January 6th Is Still Happening In Real Time – Liza Donnelly

I’m serious today because this is deadly serious, January 6th Is Still Happening In Real Time

By Liza Donnelly, Jan 06, 2026

Above is drawing I did as I watched the insurrection unfold on television on January 6th, 2020. It was terrifying.

Later that day, during a live broadcast, I did the above on paper, from memory, live on Instagram. Police officer Eugene Goodman was the man who stopped insurrectionists from further entering the depths of the Capital; I remember watching him, in awe, and was so moved by his bravery. He may have single handedly saved the lives of some Senators, Congress people and Vice President Mike Pence.

For some years after that horrific violent coup attempt, we were hopeful that it was an isolated event. But as I began to see how Trump continue his election-denying, and more and more people were willing to lie about it and join his side, it was clear to me that we were in big trouble. I saw that what was going to happen was that Trump and anyone who attached themselves to him with these lies, was going to try to affect a coup from within the government. Then he was re-elected on more lies, swindling his followers into thinking he was all for them.

We are living a slow, internal coup right now. Vote in ALL elections, protest and call your reps.

The Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has vowed to return to the country as soon as possible and she rejected the authority of the interim president backed by the US after it forcibly removed Maduro. She wants to return and hold elections.

Many people in Venezuela expected her to return as the leader of the country after Maduro was captured. Today, Machado publicly praised Trump for capturing Maduro, who was an illegitimate leader of the country following the previous elections which he lost. But Trump sidelined Machado as a potential leader, saying she has no support in her country; a flat out lie. She is hugely popular. Some are suggesting that because Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year (for her opposition work against Maduro), and Trump desperately wanted to get it, that his ego will not let her return to the country. Trump wants to run Venezuela, and hopes to threaten those in power now to do what he wants. He probably thinks that Machado is not someone he can trust to do his bidding.

There was a briefing yesterday for the Congressional Gang of Four about the Venezuela military action. It left members with more questions, and we don’t know yet what those opposed to Trump’s warmongering will do.

“This business of coming over and just talking to some of us, I think is a special kind of stupid,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said in an interview Monday. “They need to sit down with every member of the Senate and explain what’s going on.”

As that briefing was going on, Trump advisor Stephen Miller was on CNN in an interview was at times very contentious, Miller yelling at Tapper, and saying some outrageous things. The premise of his comments were that the United States has the right, because of the fact that we are a superpower, to take over countries in the Western Hemisphere for our security. Power over diplomacy.

Below is a clip that will show you, as well as the full exchange. Miller stated that we have “a right to Greenland.” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark urged Mr. Trump on Sunday to “stop the threats” to annex Greenland, in effect attacking a NATO ally.

Miller:

“We live in a world, in the real world, Jake, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”

“We set the terms and conditions,” Mr. Miller said. “We have a complete embargo on all of their oil and their ability to do commerce. So for them to do commerce, they need our permission. For them to be able to run an economy, they need our permission. So the United States is in charge. The United States is running the country.”

“The future of the free world depends on America being able to assert ourselves and our interests without apology. This whole period that happened after World War II when the United States began apologizing, groveling and begging…” then Jake Tapper cut him off saying “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re looking at it the wrong way Jake. This neoliberalism idea that the United states should go around the world demanding elections everywhere!”

This is imperialism.

https://www.tiktok.com/@cnn/video/7592063639100624141?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

Here’s the whole interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLFkQbPWWDI

Source: https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/kLFkQbPWWDI?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0

The Pentagon moved to punish retired Navy captain and Senator Mark Kelly for an “anti-Trump video” he was a part of (it was not anti-Trump), calling it “seditious behavior.” They want to cut his military pay of $6000/month.

“Pete Hegseth wants to send the message to every single retired servicemember that if they say something he or Donald Trump doesn’t like, they will come after them the same way,” Kelly said. “It’s outrageous and it is wrong. There is nothing more un-American than that.”

Here is the video: https://youtube.com/shorts/Fk9Gh3qwW4I?si=QlMPl9Xraza6tytc

I’ll end with one more thing about January 6th. Today on Capitol Hill, Pamela Hempel spoke at a hearing that Democrats held to mark the 5th anniversary of January 6th. She was one of the 1600 insurrectionists who were pardoned by Trump, but she refused the pardon and served time in prison.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by C-SPAN (@cspan)

Direct link to above: View this post on Instagram, A post shared by C-SPAN (@cspan) … C-SPAN on Instagram: “Pamela Hemphill, a Jan. 6 participant who…

She said at the hearing today:

“Once I got away from the Maga cult and started educating myself about January 6th, I knew what I did was wrong. I am guilty and I own that guilt I had fallen for the president’s lies.”

A remarkable woman of conscience. I wish we had some like her among congressional Republicans, then we could end this madness.

Read more: Seeing Things – January 6th Is Still Happening In Real Time – Liza Donnelly

Continue/Read Original Article Here: January 6th Is Still Happening In Real Time

#2026 #CapitolRiot #CNN #CoupAttempt #Denmark #EugeneGoodman #Greenland #HangMikePence #Imperialism #JakeTapper #January6 #January62021 #January6AttackOnUSCapitol #LizaDonnelly #MariaCorinaMachado #MikePence #NATO #RiotJanuary6th #SeeingThings #StephenMiller #Venezuela

Seeing Things – January 6th Is Still Happening In Real Time – Liza Donnelly

I’m serious today because this is deadly serious, January 6th Is Still Happening In Real Time

By Liza Donnelly, Jan 06, 2026

Above is drawing I did as I watched the insurrection unfold on television on January 6th, 2020. It was terrifying.

Later that day, during a live broadcast, I did the above on paper, from memory, live on Instagram. Police officer Eugene Goodman was the man who stopped insurrectionists from further entering the depths of the Capital; I remember watching him, in awe, and was so moved by his bravery. He may have single handedly saved the lives of some Senators, Congress people and Vice President Mike Pence.

For some years after that horrific violent coup attempt, we were hopeful that it was an isolated event. But as I began to see how Trump continue his election-denying, and more and more people were willing to lie about it and join his side, it was clear to me that we were in big trouble. I saw that what was going to happen was that Trump and anyone who attached themselves to him with these lies, was going to try to affect a coup from within the government. Then he was re-elected on more lies, swindling his followers into thinking he was all for them.

We are living a slow, internal coup right now. Vote in ALL elections, protest and call your reps.

The Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has vowed to return to the country as soon as possible and she rejected the authority of the interim president backed by the US after it forcibly removed Maduro. She wants to return and hold elections.

Many people in Venezuela expected her to return as the leader of the country after Maduro was captured. Today, Machado publicly praised Trump for capturing Maduro, who was an illegitimate leader of the country following the previous elections which he lost. But Trump sidelined Machado as a potential leader, saying she has no support in her country; a flat out lie. She is hugely popular. Some are suggesting that because Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year (for her opposition work against Maduro), and Trump desperately wanted to get it, that his ego will not let her return to the country. Trump wants to run Venezuela, and hopes to threaten those in power now to do what he wants. He probably thinks that Machado is not someone he can trust to do his bidding.

There was a briefing yesterday for the Congressional Gang of Four about the Venezuela military action. It left members with more questions, and we don’t know yet what those opposed to Trump’s warmongering will do.

“This business of coming over and just talking to some of us, I think is a special kind of stupid,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said in an interview Monday. “They need to sit down with every member of the Senate and explain what’s going on.”

As that briefing was going on, Trump advisor Stephen Miller was on CNN in an interview was at times very contentious, Miller yelling at Tapper, and saying some outrageous things. The premise of his comments were that the United States has the right, because of the fact that we are a superpower, to take over countries in the Western Hemisphere for our security. Power over diplomacy.

Below is a clip that will show you, as well as the full exchange. Miller stated that we have “a right to Greenland.” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark urged Mr. Trump on Sunday to “stop the threats” to annex Greenland, in effect attacking a NATO ally.

Miller:

“We live in a world, in the real world, Jake, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”

“We set the terms and conditions,” Mr. Miller said. “We have a complete embargo on all of their oil and their ability to do commerce. So for them to do commerce, they need our permission. For them to be able to run an economy, they need our permission. So the United States is in charge. The United States is running the country.”

“The future of the free world depends on America being able to assert ourselves and our interests without apology. This whole period that happened after World War II when the United States began apologizing, groveling and begging…” then Jake Tapper cut him off saying “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re looking at it the wrong way Jake. This neoliberalism idea that the United states should go around the world demanding elections everywhere!”

This is imperialism.

https://www.tiktok.com/@cnn/video/7592063639100624141?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

Here’s the whole interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLFkQbPWWDI

Source: https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/kLFkQbPWWDI?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0

The Pentagon moved to punish retired Navy captain and Senator Mark Kelly for an “anti-Trump video” he was a part of (it was not anti-Trump), calling it “seditious behavior.” They want to cut his military pay of $6000/month.

“Pete Hegseth wants to send the message to every single retired servicemember that if they say something he or Donald Trump doesn’t like, they will come after them the same way,” Kelly said. “It’s outrageous and it is wrong. There is nothing more un-American than that.”

Here is the video: https://youtube.com/shorts/Fk9Gh3qwW4I?si=QlMPl9Xraza6tytc

I’ll end with one more thing about January 6th. Today on Capitol Hill, Pamela Hempel spoke at a hearing that Democrats held to mark the 5th anniversary of January 6th. She was one of the 1600 insurrectionists who were pardoned by Trump, but she refused the pardon and served time in prison.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by C-SPAN (@cspan)

Direct link to above: View this post on Instagram, A post shared by C-SPAN (@cspan) … C-SPAN on Instagram: “Pamela Hemphill, a Jan. 6 participant who…

She said at the hearing today:

“Once I got away from the Maga cult and started educating myself about January 6th, I knew what I did was wrong. I am guilty and I own that guilt I had fallen for the president’s lies.”

A remarkable woman of conscience. I wish we had some like her among congressional Republicans, then we could end this madness.

Read more: Seeing Things – January 6th Is Still Happening In Real Time – Liza Donnelly

Continue/Read Original Article Here: January 6th Is Still Happening In Real Time

#2026 #CapitolRiot #CNN #CoupAttempt #Denmark #EugeneGoodman #Greenland #HangMikePence #Imperialism #JakeTapper #January6 #January62021 #January6AttackOnUSCapitol #LizaDonnelly #MariaCorinaMachado #MikePence #NATO #RiotJanuary6th #SeeingThings #StephenMiller #Venezuela

60 Attorneys on the Year of Chaos Inside Trump’s Justice Department – The New York Times Magazine

“They didn’t want the ethics office calling them up and telling them what to do.”
Joseph Tirrell, former director of the Departmental Ethics Office“If we’re indicting people because the president hates them, that’s counter to the whole point of doing my job.” Mike Romano, former prosecutor in the Public Integrity Section“Our job wasn’t to engage in fact-finding investigations; our job was to find the facts that would fit the narrative.” Dena Robinson, former lawyer in the Civil Rights Division

The Unraveling of the Justice Department, New York Times Magazine

Sixty attorneys describe a year of chaos and suspicion.

By Emily Bazelon and Rachel Poser, Photographs by Stephen Voss, Nov. 16, 2025

President Trump’s second term has brought a period of turmoil and controversy unlike any in the history of the Justice Department. Trump and his appointees have blasted through the walls designed to protect the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agency from political influence; they have directed the course of criminal investigations, openly flouted ethics rules and caused a breakdown of institutional culture. To date, more than 200 career attorneys have been fired, and thousands more have resigned. (The Justice Department says many of them have been replaced.)

What was it like inside this institution as Trump’s officials took control? It’s not an easy question to answer. Justice Department norms dictate that career attorneys, who are generally nonpartisan public servants, rarely speak to the press. And the Trump administration’s attempts to crack down on leaks have made all federal employees fearful of sharing information.

But the exodus of lawyers has created an opportunity to understand what’s happening within the agency. We interviewed more than 60 attorneys who recently resigned or were fired from the Justice Department. Much of what they told us is reported here for the first time.

Beginning with Trump’s first day in office, the lawyers narrated the events that most alarmed them over the next 10 months. They described being asked to drop cases for political reasons, to find evidence for flimsy investigations and to take positions in court they thought had no legitimate basis. They also talked about the work they and their colleagues were told to abandon — investigations of terrorist plots, corruption and white-collar fraud.

Some spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation against them or their new employers. We corroborated their accounts with multiple sources, interviewing their colleagues to confirm the details of what they described and reviewing court documents and contemporaneous notes. We also sent a list of questions to the Justice Department and the White House. “This story is a useless collection of recycled, debunked hearsay from disgruntled former employees,” a spokeswoman for the D.O.J. responded in an email. “Targeting the department’s political leadership while ignoring the questionable conduct of former attorneys who do not have the American people’s best interest at heart shows exactly how biased this story is, and further illustrates why Americans are turning away from biased, outdated legacy media platforms.”

Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, sent this statement: “These are nothing more than pathetic complaints lodged by anti-Trump government workers. President Trump is working on behalf of the millions of Americans who voted for him all across the country, not the D.C. bureaucrats who try to stymie the American people’s agenda at every turn.”

The attorneys who spoke to us for this project, many of whom have spent decades in government service, disagree.

On his first day in office, President Trump made it clear that lawyers loyal to him would lead the Justice Department. One of his personal defense attorneys, Emil Bove, became the temporary No. 2, and Trump nominated another of his lawyers, Todd Blanche, to take the position permanently once the Senate confirmed him.

Trump also undid one of the largest investigations in the Justice Department’s history by pardoning or commuting the sentences of the nearly 1,600 rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The group included more than 200 defendants who were convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers.

Prosecutors said they were in disbelief when President Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of Jan. 6 rioters. Ashley Gilbertson for The New York Times.

Ryan Crosswell, Public Integrity Section, which handles corruption cases: When I saw it was Blanche and Bove, I was actually relieved. OK, it’s gross that they were Trump’s personal attorneys, but before that they were federal prosecutors in New York. They’ve done the job. They know the prosecutors’ code. We’re the only lawyers whose job is not to get the best result for our client. Our job is to get justice. Sometimes that means losing or walking into court and saying we made a mistake.

But then things were 10 times worse than I thought they would be.

Liz Oyer, pardon attorney: We had no knowledge that the Jan. 6 pardons were coming on Day 1. Everybody was concerned that our office was being completely sidelined from the review process.

Gregory Rosen, chief of the breach and assault unit of the Capitol Siege Section, which prosecuted the Jan. 6 rioters: When I was alerted to the pardons, a lot of thoughts ran through my head about how absurd this could get, but first I had to do my job. We had to ask, Did we believe the order was lawful and constitutional?

My team and I determined that it was. The president has the right to pardon people and commute their sentences. So then it was a blitzkrieg of hundreds of cases. We stepped to it.

I was numb. As career prosecutors, we don’t talk about our feelings. We’re not partisans. We’re public servants just doing the job. Early on, we stayed away from using emotional language about our own reactions.

Mike Romano, Jan. 6 prosecutor: Anyone who spent any time working on Jan. 6 cases saw how violent a day that was. I’d spent four years living with that day, the things done to people. It’s incredibly demoralizing to see something you worked on for four years wiped away by a lie — I mean the idea that prosecution of the rioters was a grave national injustice. We had strong evidence against every person we prosecuted. And I knew that if they’re going to wipe all of that away based on a lie, either I’ll be fired as retaliation or pretext or asked to do something unethical. Or both.

Until that point, I’d hoped the second Trump term would be similar to the first one, or similar enough for a while. Then the pardons came down and I knew, in light of that, there is no way I can stay.

Trump appointed Ed Martin, another longtime ally, as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Martin had promoted Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud in 2020 and then turned to the cause of defending the Jan. 6 rioters. He had never worked as a prosecutor.

Martin soon fired 15 attorneys in the Capitol Siege Section who prosecuted the Jan. 6 defendants. They joined more than a dozen other prosecutors fired for working under the special counsel, Jack Smith, on the criminal investigations of President Trump. According to the D.O.J.’s new leadership, they could not be trusted to “faithfully implement” the president’s agenda.

Gregory Rosen, Capitol Siege Section: When 15 employees were fired from the Capitol Siege Section, I was the angriest I’ve ever been. Most of them were younger attorneys. I’d hired them. They came from firms, federal and state government, all over. But some naïve part of me thought, Maybe this is the new leadership’s “pound of flesh.”

Prosecutor, Capitol Siege Section: It was inconceivable to me they’d fire people for no reason except they’d worked on cases that were now disfavored. People like me, who are career attorneys, work within a structure. We don’t have much latitude. To be told that you are being punished for your decisions, when you were following guidance created by very talented and skilled prosecutors above you, which judges blessed for the most part — it’s completely bizarre. It flipped the culture of the institution. It’s a culture now of fear. And they are losing people all the time, very good people, who were the future of the department.

 Editor’s Note: Please look at and read the narratives and share the post as you can. This is a case study of how Democracy is lost; how Justice in America is corrupted; by one man, one party, one President who is unfit for office. This is not the people’s DOJ any longer.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: 60 Attorneys on the Year of Chaos Inside Trump’s Justice Department – The New York Times

Tags: 2021, 60 Attorneys, Fired by DOJ, Firing DOJ Lawyers, January 6 Attack on U. S. Capitol, January 6th Attorneys, Resigned, Riot January 6th, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, Trump Pardons Rioters, Trump's Justice Department, Unraveling DOJ, Year of Chaos

#2021 #60Attorneys #firedByDoj #firingDojLawyers #january6AttackOnUSCapitol #january6thAttorneys #resigned #riotJanuary6th #theNewYorkTimes #theNewYorkTimesMagazine #trumpPardonsRioters #trumpsJusticeDepartment #unravelingDoj #yearOfChaos

Trump’s sweeping 2020 election pardon raises alarms ahead of the midterms – Politico

Trump’s sweeping 2020 election pardon raises alarms ahead of the midterms

The language in the pardon also underscores that Trump’s clemency is not limited to people named in the document.

President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media following a swearing in ceremony for Sergio Gor, the new U.S. Ambassador to India, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on Nov. 10, 2025. | Craig Hudson for POLITICO

By Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein, 11/10/2025 07:21 PM EST

President Donald Trump’s adversaries say his sweeping pardon for dozens of alleged co-conspirators in the plot to subvert the 2020 election sent an unmistakable signal: If you do it again, I’ll protect you.

The extraordinarily broad pardon, signed Friday but revealed Sunday night, has little substantive effect for its recipients. Trump can pardon only federal crimes, and his administration had already pulled the plug on any lingering investigations stemming from the 2020 election. Some of the clemency recipients are still facing state-level criminal charges in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin — though some Trump allies argue the pardons could derail those cases.

The mass pardon — the first in history to cover people accused of criminally conspiring with the president who issued it — comes as Trump continues to stoke false claims about rampant cheating by Democrats and sow doubts about the integrity of future elections. And his opponents see the pardon as a permission slip for similar efforts in 2026 and 2028.

“Trump is sending a message to his supporters that if you commit a crime in the name of Donald Trump, I’ve got your back,” said Liz Oyer, the former U.S. pardon attorney, whose successor Ed Martin announced the sweeping clemency on X and released a 15-page statement explaining the move.

Oyer said the pardon was written so broadly that it could apply to countless people who aided Trump’s effort to stay in power despite losing the 2020 election — and the vaguely worded document permits Martin and other Justice Department officials to decide for themselves who receives a pardon certificate.

“That’s just not how pardon paperwork is written,” Oyer said.

The move also appeared to be a way for Trump to test the well-settled boundaries of the pardon power itself, with allies like Martin and election attorney Cleta Mitchell suggesting it should cause the pending state cases to crumble. The pair argue that the presidential pardon could cover state-law crimes because the purported electors were engaged in activity related to a federal election, though legal scholars say that rationale is a stretch. A spokesperson for Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said Trump’s pardon would not influence her handling of the case there, which has remained in limbo as she fights a judge’s ruling that the grand jury process was flawed.

Mayes’ office charged 18 of Trump’s allies last spring for their efforts to subvert the 2020 election and labeled Trump an unindicted co-conspirator. Mayes brought her case last year, several months after Fulton County prosecutors in Georgia charged Trump himself with orchestrating a conspiracy to corrupt the state’s election results. State prosecutors in Nevada and Wisconsin have charged people connected to Trump’s alleged conspiracy. All of the cases remain pending, though they’ve been mired in varying degrees of dysfunction and protracted litigation.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Trump’s sweeping 2020 election pardon raises alarms ahead of the midterms – POLITICO

Tags: 2020 Election Pardons, 2025, America, Donald Trump, Health, History, January 6 Attack on U. S. Capitol, Libraries, Library, Library of Congress, Opinion, Pardons, Politico, Politics, Resistance, Trump, Trump Administration, Trump Pardons, United States

#2020ElectionPardons #2025 #America #DonaldTrump #Health #History #January6AttackOnUSCapitol #Libraries #Library #LibraryOfCongress #Opinion #Pardons #Politico #Politics #Resistance #Trump #TrumpAdministration #TrumpPardons #UnitedStates

Trump’s sweeping 2020 election pardon raises alarms ahead of the midterms – Politico

Trump’s sweeping 2020 election pardon raises alarms ahead of the midterms

The language in the pardon also underscores that Trump’s clemency is not limited to people named in the document.

President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media following a swearing in ceremony for Sergio Gor, the new U.S. Ambassador to India, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on Nov. 10, 2025. | Craig Hudson for POLITICO

By Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein, 11/10/2025 07:21 PM EST

President Donald Trump’s adversaries say his sweeping pardon for dozens of alleged co-conspirators in the plot to subvert the 2020 election sent an unmistakable signal: If you do it again, I’ll protect you.

The extraordinarily broad pardon, signed Friday but revealed Sunday night, has little substantive effect for its recipients. Trump can pardon only federal crimes, and his administration had already pulled the plug on any lingering investigations stemming from the 2020 election. Some of the clemency recipients are still facing state-level criminal charges in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin — though some Trump allies argue the pardons could derail those cases.

The mass pardon — the first in history to cover people accused of criminally conspiring with the president who issued it — comes as Trump continues to stoke false claims about rampant cheating by Democrats and sow doubts about the integrity of future elections. And his opponents see the pardon as a permission slip for similar efforts in 2026 and 2028.

“Trump is sending a message to his supporters that if you commit a crime in the name of Donald Trump, I’ve got your back,” said Liz Oyer, the former U.S. pardon attorney, whose successor Ed Martin announced the sweeping clemency on X and released a 15-page statement explaining the move.

Oyer said the pardon was written so broadly that it could apply to countless people who aided Trump’s effort to stay in power despite losing the 2020 election — and the vaguely worded document permits Martin and other Justice Department officials to decide for themselves who receives a pardon certificate.

“That’s just not how pardon paperwork is written,” Oyer said.

The move also appeared to be a way for Trump to test the well-settled boundaries of the pardon power itself, with allies like Martin and election attorney Cleta Mitchell suggesting it should cause the pending state cases to crumble. The pair argue that the presidential pardon could cover state-law crimes because the purported electors were engaged in activity related to a federal election, though legal scholars say that rationale is a stretch. A spokesperson for Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said Trump’s pardon would not influence her handling of the case there, which has remained in limbo as she fights a judge’s ruling that the grand jury process was flawed.

Mayes’ office charged 18 of Trump’s allies last spring for their efforts to subvert the 2020 election and labeled Trump an unindicted co-conspirator. Mayes brought her case last year, several months after Fulton County prosecutors in Georgia charged Trump himself with orchestrating a conspiracy to corrupt the state’s election results. State prosecutors in Nevada and Wisconsin have charged people connected to Trump’s alleged conspiracy. All of the cases remain pending, though they’ve been mired in varying degrees of dysfunction and protracted litigation.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Trump’s sweeping 2020 election pardon raises alarms ahead of the midterms – POLITICO

Tags: 2020 Election Pardons, 2025, America, Donald Trump, Health, History, January 6 Attack on U. S. Capitol, Libraries, Library, Library of Congress, Opinion, Pardons, Politico, Politics, Resistance, Trump, Trump Administration, Trump Pardons, United States

#2020ElectionPardons #2025 #America #DonaldTrump #Health #History #January6AttackOnUSCapitol #Libraries #Library #LibraryOfCongress #Opinion #Pardons #Politico #Politics #Resistance #Trump #TrumpAdministration #TrumpPardons #UnitedStates

Trump’s sweeping 2020 election pardon raises alarms ahead of the midterms – Politico

Trump’s sweeping 2020 election pardon raises alarms ahead of the midterms

The language in the pardon also underscores that Trump’s clemency is not limited to people named in the document.

President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media following a swearing in ceremony for Sergio Gor, the new U.S. Ambassador to India, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on Nov. 10, 2025. | Craig Hudson for POLITICO

By Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein, 11/10/2025 07:21 PM EST

President Donald Trump’s adversaries say his sweeping pardon for dozens of alleged co-conspirators in the plot to subvert the 2020 election sent an unmistakable signal: If you do it again, I’ll protect you.

The extraordinarily broad pardon, signed Friday but revealed Sunday night, has little substantive effect for its recipients. Trump can pardon only federal crimes, and his administration had already pulled the plug on any lingering investigations stemming from the 2020 election. Some of the clemency recipients are still facing state-level criminal charges in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin — though some Trump allies argue the pardons could derail those cases.

The mass pardon — the first in history to cover people accused of criminally conspiring with the president who issued it — comes as Trump continues to stoke false claims about rampant cheating by Democrats and sow doubts about the integrity of future elections. And his opponents see the pardon as a permission slip for similar efforts in 2026 and 2028.

“Trump is sending a message to his supporters that if you commit a crime in the name of Donald Trump, I’ve got your back,” said Liz Oyer, the former U.S. pardon attorney, whose successor Ed Martin announced the sweeping clemency on X and released a 15-page statement explaining the move.

Oyer said the pardon was written so broadly that it could apply to countless people who aided Trump’s effort to stay in power despite losing the 2020 election — and the vaguely worded document permits Martin and other Justice Department officials to decide for themselves who receives a pardon certificate.

“That’s just not how pardon paperwork is written,” Oyer said.

The move also appeared to be a way for Trump to test the well-settled boundaries of the pardon power itself, with allies like Martin and election attorney Cleta Mitchell suggesting it should cause the pending state cases to crumble. The pair argue that the presidential pardon could cover state-law crimes because the purported electors were engaged in activity related to a federal election, though legal scholars say that rationale is a stretch. A spokesperson for Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said Trump’s pardon would not influence her handling of the case there, which has remained in limbo as she fights a judge’s ruling that the grand jury process was flawed.

Mayes’ office charged 18 of Trump’s allies last spring for their efforts to subvert the 2020 election and labeled Trump an unindicted co-conspirator. Mayes brought her case last year, several months after Fulton County prosecutors in Georgia charged Trump himself with orchestrating a conspiracy to corrupt the state’s election results. State prosecutors in Nevada and Wisconsin have charged people connected to Trump’s alleged conspiracy. All of the cases remain pending, though they’ve been mired in varying degrees of dysfunction and protracted litigation.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Trump’s sweeping 2020 election pardon raises alarms ahead of the midterms – POLITICO

Tags: 2020 Election Pardons, 2025, America, Donald Trump, Health, History, January 6 Attack on U. S. Capitol, Libraries, Library, Library of Congress, Opinion, Pardons, Politico, Politics, Resistance, Trump, Trump Administration, Trump Pardons, United States

#2020ElectionPardons #2025 #America #DonaldTrump #Health #History #January6AttackOnUSCapitol #Libraries #Library #LibraryOfCongress #Opinion #Pardons #Politico #Politics #Resistance #Trump #TrumpAdministration #TrumpPardons #UnitedStates

Trump’s sweeping 2020 election pardon raises alarms ahead of the midterms – Politico

Trump’s sweeping 2020 election pardon raises alarms ahead of the midterms

The language in the pardon also underscores that Trump’s clemency is not limited to people named in the document.

President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media following a swearing in ceremony for Sergio Gor, the new U.S. Ambassador to India, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on Nov. 10, 2025. | Craig Hudson for POLITICO

By Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein, 11/10/2025 07:21 PM EST

President Donald Trump’s adversaries say his sweeping pardon for dozens of alleged co-conspirators in the plot to subvert the 2020 election sent an unmistakable signal: If you do it again, I’ll protect you.

The extraordinarily broad pardon, signed Friday but revealed Sunday night, has little substantive effect for its recipients. Trump can pardon only federal crimes, and his administration had already pulled the plug on any lingering investigations stemming from the 2020 election. Some of the clemency recipients are still facing state-level criminal charges in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin — though some Trump allies argue the pardons could derail those cases.

The mass pardon — the first in history to cover people accused of criminally conspiring with the president who issued it — comes as Trump continues to stoke false claims about rampant cheating by Democrats and sow doubts about the integrity of future elections. And his opponents see the pardon as a permission slip for similar efforts in 2026 and 2028.

“Trump is sending a message to his supporters that if you commit a crime in the name of Donald Trump, I’ve got your back,” said Liz Oyer, the former U.S. pardon attorney, whose successor Ed Martin announced the sweeping clemency on X and released a 15-page statement explaining the move.

Oyer said the pardon was written so broadly that it could apply to countless people who aided Trump’s effort to stay in power despite losing the 2020 election — and the vaguely worded document permits Martin and other Justice Department officials to decide for themselves who receives a pardon certificate.

“That’s just not how pardon paperwork is written,” Oyer said.

The move also appeared to be a way for Trump to test the well-settled boundaries of the pardon power itself, with allies like Martin and election attorney Cleta Mitchell suggesting it should cause the pending state cases to crumble. The pair argue that the presidential pardon could cover state-law crimes because the purported electors were engaged in activity related to a federal election, though legal scholars say that rationale is a stretch. A spokesperson for Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said Trump’s pardon would not influence her handling of the case there, which has remained in limbo as she fights a judge’s ruling that the grand jury process was flawed.

Mayes’ office charged 18 of Trump’s allies last spring for their efforts to subvert the 2020 election and labeled Trump an unindicted co-conspirator. Mayes brought her case last year, several months after Fulton County prosecutors in Georgia charged Trump himself with orchestrating a conspiracy to corrupt the state’s election results. State prosecutors in Nevada and Wisconsin have charged people connected to Trump’s alleged conspiracy. All of the cases remain pending, though they’ve been mired in varying degrees of dysfunction and protracted litigation.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Trump’s sweeping 2020 election pardon raises alarms ahead of the midterms – POLITICO

#2020ElectionPardons #2025 #America #DonaldTrump #Health #History #January6AttackOnUSCapitol #Libraries #Library #LibraryOfCongress #Opinion #Pardons #Politico #Politics #Resistance #Trump #TrumpAdministration #TrumpPardons #UnitedStates

Trump’s sweeping 2020 election pardon raises alarms ahead of the midterms – Politico

Trump’s sweeping 2020 election pardon raises alarms ahead of the midterms

The language in the pardon also underscores that Trump’s clemency is not limited to people named in the document.

President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media following a swearing in ceremony for Sergio Gor, the new U.S. Ambassador to India, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on Nov. 10, 2025. | Craig Hudson for POLITICO

By Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein, 11/10/2025 07:21 PM EST

President Donald Trump’s adversaries say his sweeping pardon for dozens of alleged co-conspirators in the plot to subvert the 2020 election sent an unmistakable signal: If you do it again, I’ll protect you.

The extraordinarily broad pardon, signed Friday but revealed Sunday night, has little substantive effect for its recipients. Trump can pardon only federal crimes, and his administration had already pulled the plug on any lingering investigations stemming from the 2020 election. Some of the clemency recipients are still facing state-level criminal charges in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin — though some Trump allies argue the pardons could derail those cases.

The mass pardon — the first in history to cover people accused of criminally conspiring with the president who issued it — comes as Trump continues to stoke false claims about rampant cheating by Democrats and sow doubts about the integrity of future elections. And his opponents see the pardon as a permission slip for similar efforts in 2026 and 2028.

“Trump is sending a message to his supporters that if you commit a crime in the name of Donald Trump, I’ve got your back,” said Liz Oyer, the former U.S. pardon attorney, whose successor Ed Martin announced the sweeping clemency on X and released a 15-page statement explaining the move.

Oyer said the pardon was written so broadly that it could apply to countless people who aided Trump’s effort to stay in power despite losing the 2020 election — and the vaguely worded document permits Martin and other Justice Department officials to decide for themselves who receives a pardon certificate.

“That’s just not how pardon paperwork is written,” Oyer said.

The move also appeared to be a way for Trump to test the well-settled boundaries of the pardon power itself, with allies like Martin and election attorney Cleta Mitchell suggesting it should cause the pending state cases to crumble. The pair argue that the presidential pardon could cover state-law crimes because the purported electors were engaged in activity related to a federal election, though legal scholars say that rationale is a stretch. A spokesperson for Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said Trump’s pardon would not influence her handling of the case there, which has remained in limbo as she fights a judge’s ruling that the grand jury process was flawed.

Mayes’ office charged 18 of Trump’s allies last spring for their efforts to subvert the 2020 election and labeled Trump an unindicted co-conspirator. Mayes brought her case last year, several months after Fulton County prosecutors in Georgia charged Trump himself with orchestrating a conspiracy to corrupt the state’s election results. State prosecutors in Nevada and Wisconsin have charged people connected to Trump’s alleged conspiracy. All of the cases remain pending, though they’ve been mired in varying degrees of dysfunction and protracted litigation.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Trump’s sweeping 2020 election pardon raises alarms ahead of the midterms – POLITICO

#2020ElectionPardons #2025 #America #DonaldTrump #Health #History #January6AttackOnUSCapitol #Libraries #Library #LibraryOfCongress #Opinion #Pardons #Politico #Politics #Resistance #Trump #TrumpAdministration #TrumpPardons #UnitedStates

Jack Smith Speaks – Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance

Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance

Jack Smith Speaks

By Joyce Vance, Oct 14, 2025

You have choices about where you get your news and analysis. I’m grateful you’ve chosen to read Civil Discourse. If you value clear, independent insight into the law and our democracy, I hope you’ll consider a paid subscription. Your support makes the newsletter possible. Thank you for being here with me.

ABC reported today that the House Judiciary Committee wants to have former special counsel Jack Smith testify—behind closed doors—about investigating the Mar-a-Lago, January 6, and Donald Trump. Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican who chairs the Committee, wants an interview by October 28. He is calling for Smith to turn over documents and communications too.

Why now? Last week, there was reporting (very unsurprising to anyone who has ever investigated a federal case) that Smith’s probe obtained phone records regarding a number of Republican lawmakers as part of the January 6 case investigation. Jordan wrote to Smith, “As the Committee continues its oversight, your testimony is necessary to understand the full extent to which the Biden-Harris Justice Department weaponized federal law enforcement.”

Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri complained that “The F.B.I. tapped my phone.” He said he’d been wiretapped.

Not so fast, though. Obtaining phone records means getting call information—that can mean which phone number called which other phone number, when, and possibly, how long the call lasted. It’s easy to understand why prosecutors would want that information in virtually any case they’re investigating.

Here, given reports that Trump had numerous calls leading up to and on January 6 (for instance, one with brand new Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville), it would be surprising if they hadn’t done so. The New York Times reported that “The calls were scrutinized because at the time, prosecutors were trying to identify relevant communications between the president and his inner circle with members of Congress on the key days surrounding the violence.”

Call information, which frequently produces investigative leads, is acquired routinely by investigators. But it is not the same thing as a wiretap, which lets law enforcement listen in on a target’s phone calls. To get a wiretap, prosecutors and agents have to get an order from a federal judge in compliance with the strict requirements of Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. They have to establish probable cause and show that less intrusive investigative methods were tried and failed. A wiretap only lasts for 30 days, and prosecutors must go back to the judge, with fresh proof, in order to reup the wiretap for an additional 30 days.

Jordan’s allegation that this is the weaponization of the DOJ should fall on deaf ears. Jack Smith was investigating one of the most serious situations our country has ever faced—an effort to interfere with the smooth transfer of power between two American administrations, with involvement by the outgoing president who had lost the election—using routine investigative techniques. Jordan and other Republicans should be able to differentiate between that and wiretaps, since these are statutory creatures and Congress sets the requirements for when they can be used.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Jack Smith Speaks – Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance

#2025 #America #CivilDiscourse #DonaldTrump #Education #GOP #Health #History #JackSmith #January6AttackOnUSCapitol #JoyceVance #Libraries #Library #LibraryOfCongress #Opinion #Politics #Resistance #RuleOfLaw #Science #Substack #Trump #TrumpAdministration #TrumpPoliticalEnemy #UnitedStates