Capitol Insurrection Report

We begin with a short summary of recent sentencings in January 6th cases: many of the defendants who have faced more serious charges have opted to go to trial, which has meant that we were always going to reach a point when a large number of serious felony defendants would be found guilty and sentenced all at once. We have reached that point, so I take a moment to take stock of the felony defendants who have been sentenced since March 1. The bulk of the episode consists of an interview with a sedition hunter who I address as Jewelz, who specializes in “Sedition VIPs” and who can be found on Twitter @BetoAngelMommas. We have a broad-ranging conversation regarding the activities of sedition VIPs on January 6th, the role they and organizers played in the runup to January 6th, and the assymetric polarization of the Republican Party beginning during the Obama era. Jewelz also discusses the link between the Council for National Policy and a slew of persons involved in January 6th, and how the conservative funder Foster Friess has bankrolled any number of far-right actors over the years, including Ali Alexander, Charlie Kirk and Project Veritas. We also discuss the interlocking network of extremist groups, including Groundswell, the Conservative Action Group, Judicial Watch and the Tea Party, where many of the activists who organized January 6th gained experience and connections.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/ohio-man-pleads-guilty-felony-charge-actions-jan-6-capitol-breach https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/maryland-man-sentenced-felony-and-misdemeanor-charges-related-capitol-breach https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/texas-man-sentenced-felony-and-misdemeanor-charges-related-capitol-breach https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/north-carolina-man-sentenced-assaulting-officers-during-jan-6-capitol-breach https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/pennsylvania-woman-found-guilty-felony-and-misdemeanor-charges-related-capitol-breach https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/kentucky-woman-pleads-guilty-assaulting-officers-during-jan-6-capitol-breach https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/three-men-are-first-capitol-breach-defendants-convicted-trial-assaulting-police-officers https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/nevada-man-pleads-guilty-assaulting-officers-during-jan-6-capitol-breach https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/7273354-CNP-Membership-Directory-September-2020 https://washingtonspectator.org/nelson-cnp/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/02/22/justice-clarence-thomas-wife-ginni-behind-group-that-reportedly-pushed-january-6-fake-electors-scheme/ https://www.foiaresearch.net/organization/groundswell-group

In the defendant profile, will revisit Shane Jenkins, who was convicted on all counts on March 29, 2023, and faces a lengthy stint in the federal prison system. Also covering the news that a Manhattan grand jury has issued an indictment for 34 charges, which may be the first of several indictments to be issued in the many potential cases in which Trump would stand as a defendant. The majority of the episode consists of a close reading of the transcript of Senior Advisor to the President Eric Herschmann, who, despite offering useful testimony with regard to the now-infamous White House meeting with "team crazy," nonetheless has some odd memory issues, and seems oddly protective of Rudy Giuliani. https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/texas-man-found-guilty-felony-and-misdemeanor-charges-related-capitol-breach-1 https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/3923044-pence-on-ruling-that-he-must-testify-in-jan-6-probe-i-have-nothing-to-hide/ https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/30/politics/donald-trump-indictment/index.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-grand-jury-hush-money-playboy-model-b2311288.html https://apnews.com/article/amazoncom-inc-donald-trump-jeff-bezos-business-ad911dcfadb4441fc3e7d9e0018c1dec https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/30/politics/allen-weisselberg-attorney-trump-organization/index.html https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/29/manhattan-trump-grand-jury-set-to-break-for-a-month-00089422 https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/29/manhattan-trump-grand-jury-set-to-break-for-a-month-00089422 https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3917300-squeezed-by-investigations-trump-escalates-violent-rhetoric/ https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000062567/

This episode begins with the numbers, and the description of a category of defendants who have recently been charged, after a long wait. These are defendants whose cases center in the "heave-ho" attack in the Lower West Terrace Tunnel, who it appears are being charged with felony counts of acts of violence on restricted grounds during civil disorder, rather than Assault on a Federal Officer. We then move on to some recent news, including what may be the most significant January 6th case to date, the arrest of Bannon's billionaire financer and CPAC sponsor, Trump's premature claim that he was to have been arrested this week in the hush money case, and the ruling by Chief Judge Howell of the DCD that Trump attorney Evan Corcoran must hand over documents and testify in the stolen classified documents case, overcoming attorney-client privilege based on the crime-fraud exception. The remainder of the episode consists of a close reading of the transcript of the seven-hour testimony of Jared Kushner, with an examination of his role in the "Big Rip-Off" detailed in Appendix 3 of the Final Report of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/indiana-couple-arrested-actions-lower-west-terrace-during-jan-6-capitol-breach

https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/press-release/file/1574611/download

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/ho-wan-kwok-aka-miles-guo-arrested-orchestrating-over-1-billion-dollar-fraud-conspiracy

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/06/guo-wengui-lin-wood-steve-bannon-million-maga-march/

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/18/politics/donald-trump-manhattan-da-arrest-protests/index.html

https://abcnews.go.com/US/sources-special-counsel-claims-trump-deliberately-misled-attorneys/story?id=98024191

https://news.yahoo.com/court-makes-extraordinary-night-demands-040839431.html

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/24/politics/trump-classified-documents-maralago-eluded-fbi/index.html

https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000060760/

A quick update on some of the latest January sixth news, followed by a close reading of 300 pages of transcripts from crucial testimony by a key figure in the January sixth Committee Report, Trump campaign attorney Alex Cannon. Topics include the arrest of an AFO defendant who was arrested on January 6th, only to be released from his cuffs by the mob of Trumpist thugs, an analysis of the daunting task of reading some 18,000 pages of testimony, a call for assistance with regard to this task, with inquiries to be directed to @capinsurrep on Twitter, and some discussion of the question of whether the speech and debate clause actually applies to members of the executive branch, such as the vice president. The main body of the episode consists of a close reading of the two transcripts of testimony by Trump campaign lawyer Alex Cannon in April and August of 2021. Cannon offered very useful testimony to Committee with regard to the big lie, and had documentation to support his position that he had opposed "team crazy." Nonetheless, the transcripts make it clear that this opposition had its limits, and Cannon took pains to absent himself from the work of "team crazy," even going so far as to move his office. Although the Committee did not delve much into the question of Cannon's involvement in the TMAGAC "Big Rip-Off" scheme, already addressed in S3E11, "The Big Rip-Off," which was relegated to Appendix 3 of the Final Report, Cannon, whose expertise consists mainly of drawing up vendor contracts, lies at a nexus of Trump insiders who created LLCs that received disbursements from the Trump campaign and his PACs, sometimes totaling millions of dollars. Though the Committee seemingly took pains not to undermine Cannon's credibility, the questions surrounding these unusual dealings are reportedly of interest to Special Counsel Jack Smith. Cannon's transcript also shows how Cannon, who was represented by Daniel Benson, a named partner at Kasowitz, Benson and Torres, is linked to another KB&T client: Jared Kushner. Cannon told the Committee that it was Kushner, acting on the instruction of Donald Trump, who sought to create the Save America PAC as a leadership PAC because it would allow the campaign to transfer over 200 million dollars, ostensibly raised for the purposes of creating an Election Defense Fund that ultimately was never created, into an entity with few restrictions on how these funds could be spent. This move raises issues of FEC violations, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Also, in rare scoop for the podcast, I will reveal that Cannon authorized a secret investigation into January 6th funded with Trump PAC money. Cannon claims the investigation was conducted by 2M Document Management and Imaging, LLC, a firm with no clients not affiliated with Trump. Cannon also claims that this investigation, which was funded with part of the 6.2 million dollars disbursed to 2M, is work product subject to attorney-client privilege. Cannon asserted that neither the Committee, nor the public, nor anyone else, will ever see this privileged work product, which raises questions regarding accountability and transparency. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/jesse-james-rumson-sedition-panda-jan-6-b2291006.html https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-shell-spending-scheme-comes-under-doj-scrutiny https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/22/trump-brass-campaign-firm-449402 https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/16/politics/secret-grand-jury-special-counsel-trump/index.html https://www.lawfareblog.com/how-much-can-speech-or-debate-clause-protect-mike-pence https://www.golocalprov.com/news/blocks-voter-fraud-allegations-spark-controversy-in-rhode-island https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000062449/ https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000916113/

With 265 witness transcripts totaling approximately 18,000 pages of testimony into the Attack, The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack has created a record that goes far beyond what's included in the final Report. One transcript that I think will be of interest is the testimony of Justin Clark, a former Chris Christe aide who served as the Deputy Campaign manager for the Trump/Pence ticket, and whose firm, Elections LLC, has been receiving $40,000 to $60,000 a month, supposedly for "recount" efforts, right up to the present. Clark was asked about the campaign's decision to declare Trump as the victor on election night, the fake elector scheme, and what the Committee Report calls "The Big Rip-Off," a fundraising appeal that said the money would be spent for an "election defense fund" that was never created, although the fine print Clark included in the disclaimer said the money would go to the Save America PAC, the entity that is paying Clark and many other witness LLCs today, supposedly for "recount" work that has never taken place. Also includes an update on the numbers, the latest subpoenas from Special Counsel Jack Smith, and the revelation that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is going to hand over some 44,000 hours of video evidence of the January sixth attack for selective and misleading editing by an entertainment firm masquerading as a news outlet. https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000083778/ https://www.thedailybeast.com/california-doctor-austin-harris-charged-in-jan-6-capitol-riot https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/georgia-grand-jury-forewoman-trump-rcna71666 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/ivanka-trump-jared-kushner-subpoenaed-special-counsel-investigating/story?id=97398257 https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/15/politics/mark-meadows-subpoena/index.html https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/tucker-carlson-january-6th/ https://today.westlaw.com/Document/I343d39201f7e11eb942ed6fa035012ef/View/FullText.html?transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=true https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?data_type=processed&committee_id=C00580100&committee_id=C00618371&committee_id=C00618389&recipient_name=elections+llc

In the introduction, we catch up a on the latest numbers, and also a bit on the McGonigal case, the convictions in the second tranche of Oath Keepers in their seditious conspiracy case, and the ongoing seditious conspiracy case for the Proud Boys leadership, which should last at least a month longer. Then I am joined by Dakota Adams, son of Tasha Adams, and we discuss growing up with the specter of the collapse of civilization always 18 months away, eating powdered eggs, the Declaration of Orders We Will Not Obey, how the Oath Keepers almost became a far-right swinger sex cult, and the pimp daddy of white supremacist adjacent grifting. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/oath-keepers-members-convicted-seditious-conspiracy-rcna66622 https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/31/2150338/-Violence-and-laws-of-power-Jurors-see-more-Proud-Boys-evidence-Jan-6-communications https://www.lawfareblog.com/proud-boys-liveblog https://www.businessinsider.com/charles-mcgonigal-fbi-indictment-allison-guerriero-russia-deripaska-spies-nypd-giuliani-2023-1 https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/retired-fbi-executive-charged-concealing-225000-cash-received-outside-source https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:229bc9c0-05d4-3d60-8d06-69d25500c45c https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/declaration-causes-seceding-states https://linktr.ee/dakotavadams https://dakotavadams.substack.com/

Focusing on recent reporting that signals Special Counsel Jack Smith is investigating a question that figures in Appendix 3 of the final Committee Report, "the Big-Rip Off." Possible charges include wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, as the Big Lie was used after the conclusion of the 2020 election campaign to supposedly pay for an "election defense fund" that was never created. Instead, these funds were used to create the Save America PAC on November 9th, 2020. Appendix 3 of the Report details the flawed and possibly criminal process whereby these fundraising appeals were created and approved, and the uses to which these funds were allegedly put, in a scheme reminiscent of the "We Build the Wall" plot that has resulted in federal felony convictions for Bannon associate Timothy Shea. We will also examine a transcript from a witness who is a possible recipient of Save America PAC funds, who invoked his 5th amendment right against self incrimination to a wide variety of questions, including whether he worked on the Navarro Report, how he got his job in the Trump administration, whether he was involved in campaign activities, and whether he knows Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell, Patrick Byrne, Joanna Miller, Lin Wood, Mike Timarco, Rudy Giuliani, Ivan Raiklin, Phil Waldron and Steve Bannon. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-06/special-counsel-jack-smith-hires-anti-corruption-prosecutors-in-trump-probe https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/american-samoa-department-education-official-convicted-federal-jury-district-columbia-witness https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/former-virginia-governor-and-former-first-lady-convicted-public-corruption-charges https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/12/politics/subpoenas-special-counsel-trump-associates/index.html https://bipartisanreport.com/2023/01/12/trump-suffers-terrified-public-fit-after-jack-smith-issues-subpoenas/ https://www.salon.com/2022/11/23/launches-truth-social-on-new-special-counsels-wife/ https://apnews.com/article/steve-bannon-new-york-manhattan-donald-trump-government-and-politics-748410bc7d5aa006bad02e5bd7b68180 https://apnews.com/article/steve-bannon-crime-new-york-manhattan-elections-ff4731f198d9e71df765afb37bb42da6 https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/press-release/file/1306611/download https://twitter.com/trumpemail https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/08/trump-save-america-pac-eyed-by-federal-grand-jury.html https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-election-breaches/

Recorded on the occasion of the second anniversary of the January sixth attack on the US Capitol, this episode is a page by page analysis of the Executive Summary of the Final Report of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack. https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23466430/introductory-material-to-the-final-report-of-the-select-committee.pdf

Being the last episode before the final business meeting of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack, I used this as an occasion to speak with Opal Katz, a member of the open-source intelligence community who has worked since immediately after the Capitol Insurrection to investigate what happened that day. Also includes a defendant profile of a key defendant whose case is currently before the DC Circuit Court. https://www.justice.gov/opa/page/file/1359541/download https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/case-multi-defendant/file/1552486/download https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59696855/united-states-v-miller/?page=2 https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/national/capitol-riots/dc-circuit-to-hear-appeal-on-judges-decision-to-dismiss-obstruction-charges-in-jan-6-cases-carl-nichols-trump-jacob-lang-joseph-fischer-garret-miller/65-3d72e925-9e0a-42dd-8d6e-b67cedda10e2

Mainly an examination of the Proud Boys seditious conspiracy case in light of the verdict in the Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy case, as well as a breakdown of the Oath Keepers verdict itself, and a look at the consequences of the appointment of Jack Smith as Special Counsel moving forward. https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/case-multi-defendant/file/1549501/download

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59704100/united-states-v-nordean/?page=3

https://apnews.com/article/proud-boys-government-informant-dc84086d78b688bc585f874452d2b481

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.228300/gov.uscourts.dcd.228300.550.0.pdf

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/fbi-proud-boys-jan-6-b2225526.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/doj-rests-oath-keepers-trial-calling-witnesses-pleaded-guilty-seditiou-rcna55313

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-biggs-531b31b0

https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharyrehl

https://billypenn.com/2017/07/01/philly-trump-supporters-will-rally-against-those-calling-for-impeachment/

https://whyy.org/articles/proud-boys-maybe-counterprotesters-definitely-what-we-know-ahead-of-saturdays-we-the-people-rally/

https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/far-right-and-antifa-groups-both-claim-victory-after-portland-protests/283-8fab3373-b50b-4c96-b440-2c284b6abfe2

https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2021/01/31/marine-veteran-among-two-proud-boys-facing-federal-conspiracy-charges-in-capitol-riot/

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/national/capitol-riots/proud-boy-dominic-pezzola-had-thumb-drive-of-bomb-poison-instructions-doj-says/65-b584a8d4-9681-41ec-b6f0-5aed6c5d86b9

https://rumble.com/v18yv58-never-before-seen.-proud-boys-mosd-jan-6-pre-brief.-conspiracy-to-commit-se.html

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.229063/gov.uscourts.dcd.229063.401.1.pdf

https://www.newamerica.org/future-frontlines/briefs/alt-finance-for-alt-tech/

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/60314314/united-states-v-samsel/

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/29/politics/oath-keepers-convicted-verdict-charges-january-6-seditious-conspiracy

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/appointment-special-counsel-0

https://theintercept.com/2022/11/23/trump-jack-smith-justice-department/

https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-lawyers-2658189528/