Oath Keepers leader talks to January 6 panel from federal jail
Stewart Rhodes, the founder and leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group, appeared remotely before the House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection on Wednesday from a federal jail where he is awaiting trial on sedition charges. The panel sought out Rhodes’ testimony even after he was arrested last month on charges that he plotted with others to attack the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. He and ten others were the first to be charged with seditious conspiracy for their roles in the violent insurrection. Rhodes has entered a not guilty plea. Rhodes’ appearance was confirmed by two of his lawyers, Jonathan Moseley and James Lee Bright. A spokesman for the January 6 committee declined to comment on the interview. “He is both answering some questions and not answering others under the Fifth Amendment and preserving his due process rights to a fair trial,” Moseley said in an email as the interview was ongoing. Rhodes’ testimony came as the panel also interviewed Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who aligned with former President Donald Trump ahead of the violent attack. The committee of seven Democrats and two Republicans has interviewed nearly 500 people, casting a wide net as they try to create the most comprehensive account yet of the worst attack on the U.S. Capitol in two centuries. It is unusual for Congress to interview federal inmates awaiting trial and for defendants to speak about their case since they could incriminate themselves. The indictment against Rhodes alleges that the Oath Keepers for weeks discussed trying to overturn the election results and prepared for a siege by purchasing weapons and setting up battle plans. The indictment alleges Oath Keepers formed two teams, or “stacks,” that entered the Capitol. The first stack split up inside the building to separately go after the House and Senate. The second stack confronted officers inside the Capitol Rotunda, the indictment said. Outside Washington, the indictment alleges, the Oath Keepers had stationed two “quick reaction forces” that had guns “in support of their plot to stop the lawful transfer of power.” Rhodes’ lawyers sought to keep him jailed in Texas if he isn’t going to be freed on bond, but a federal judge refused on Wednesday to block his transfer to Washington, D.C., where dozens of other Capitol riot defendants remain detained pending trial. The House panel was also interviewing the former Justice Department official, Clark, on Wednesday. Clark appeared for the interview in person after months of delays that the committee said was due to illness. The panel voted to recommend contempt charges against Clark in December after he appeared for a November 5 deposition but refused to be interviewed, citing Trump’s legal efforts to block the committee’s investigation. A vote of the full House on contempt charges was postponed after Clark’s lawyer said he would appear a second time. Clark met with Trump ahead of the insurrection and unsuccessfully pushed his then-supervisors to publicly announce that the department was investigating election fraud and direct certain state legislatures to appoint new electors, according to a Senate Judiciary Committee report released earlier this year. The report said that Trump’s pressure on the Justice Department culminated in a dramatic White House meeting at which the president ruminated about elevating Clark to attorney general. Trump did not do so after several aides threatened to resign, but he continued to push the baseless claims of fraud that were repeated by the violent mob of his supporters as they broke into the Capitol and interrupted Biden’s certification. State election officials, courts across the country, and even Trump’s own attorney general rejected the former president’s claims of widespread fraud. Clark’s lawyer said in December that his client would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in the second interview. The chairman of the January 6 panel, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, said then that Clark had offered “no specific basis” for asserting the 5th Amendment and that he viewed it as a “last-ditch attempt to delay the Select Committee’s proceedings.” But he said members would hear Clark out. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
January 6 committee requests interview with Ivanka Trump
The House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection is asking Ivanka Trump, daughter of former President Donald Trump, to voluntarily cooperate as lawmakers make their first public attempt to arrange an interview with a Trump family member. The committee sent a letter Thursday requesting a meeting in February with Ivanka Trump, a White House adviser to her father. In the letter, the committee chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said Ivanka Trump was in direct contact with her father during key moments on January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an effort to halt the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s presidential win. The riot followed a rally near the White House where Donald Trump had urged his supporters to “fight like hell” as Congress convened to certify the 2020 election results. The committee says it wants to discuss what Ivanka Trump knew about her father’s efforts, including a telephone call they say she witnessed, to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject those results, as well as concerns she may have heard from Pence’s staff, members of Congress and the White House counsel’s office about those efforts. “Ivanka Trump just learned that the January 6 Committee issued a public letter asking her to appear,” her spokesperson said. “As the Committee already knows, Ivanka did not speak at the January 6 rally.” The committee cited testimony that Ivanka Trump implored her father to quell the violence by his supporters, and investigators want to ask about her actions while the insurrection was underway. “Testimony obtained by the Committee indicates that members of the White House staff requested your assistance on multiple occasions to intervene in an attempt to persuade President Trump to address the ongoing lawlessness and violence on Capitol Hill,” Thompson wrote. The letter is the committee’s first attempt to seek information from inside the Trump family. Earlier this week, it issued subpoenas to lawyer Rudy Giuliani and other members of Trump’s legal team who filed meritless court challenges to the election that fueled the lie that the race had been stolen from Trump. The committee is narrowing in on three requests to Ivanka Trump, starting with a conversation alleged to have taken place between Donald Trump and Pence on the morning of the attack. The committee said Keith Kellogg, who was Pence’s national security adviser, was also in the room and testified to investigators that Trump questioned whether Pence had the courage to delay the congressional counting of the electoral votes. The Constitution makes clear that a vice president’s role is largely ceremonial in the certification process, and Pence had issued a statement before the congressional session that laid out his conclusion that a vice president could not claim “unilateral authority” to reject states’ electoral votes. “You were present in the Oval Office and observed at least one side of that telephone conversation,” the letter to Ivanka Trump said, adding that the committee “wishes to discuss the part of the conversation you observed” between the then-president and Pence. The letter also mentioned a message, in the days before the scheduled vote certification on January 6, 2021, between an unidentified member of the House Freedom Caucus to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows with an explicit warning: “If POTUS allows this to occur … we’re driving a stake in the heart of the federal republic.” POTUS is an abbreviation for President of the United States. The other requests in the letter to Ivanka Trump concern conversations after Donald Trump’s tweeted, “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.” The committee said White House staff and even members of Congress requested Ivanka Trump’s help in trying to convince her father that he should address the violence and tell rioters to go home. “We are particularly interested in this question: Why didn’t White House staff simply ask the President to walk to the briefing room and appear on live television — to ask the crowd to leave the capital?” Besides the subpoenas issued this week, the committee had a victory Wednesday when the Supreme Court rejected a bid by Trump to block the release of White House records sought by lawmakers. The National Archives began to turn over the hundreds of pages of records to the nine-member committee almost immediately. They include presidential diaries, visitor logs, speech drafts, and handwritten notes dealing with January 6 from the Meadows’ files. The committee’s investigation has touched nearly every corner of Trump’s orbit in the nearly seven months since it was created, from strategist Steve Bannon to media companies such as Twitter, Meta, and Reddit. The committee says it has interviewed nearly 400 people and issued dozens of subpoenas as it prepares a report set for release before the November elections. Still, the committee has run into roadblocks from some of Trump’s allies, including Bannon and Meadows, who have refused to fully cooperate. Their resistance has led the committee to file charges of contempt of Congress. The seven Democrats and two Republicans on the committee have also faced defiance from fellow lawmakers. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and GOP Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Jim Jordan of Ohio have denied the committee’s requests for voluntary cooperation. While the committee has considered subpoenaing fellow lawmakers, that would be an extraordinary move and could run up against legal and political challenges. The committee says the extraordinary trove of material it has collected — 35,000 pages of records so far, including texts, emails, and phone records from people close to Trump — is fleshing out critical details of the worst attack on the Capitol in two centuries. The next phase of the investigation will include a series of public hearings in the coming months. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Rudy Giuliani among Donald Trump allies subpoenaed by January 6 panel
The House committee investigating the Capitol insurrection issued subpoenas Tuesday to Rudy Giuliani and other members of Donald Trump’s post-election legal team who filed multiple lawsuits claiming election fraud that were roundly rejected by the courts but gave rise to the lie that Trump did not really lose the 2020 presidential contest. The committee is continuing to widen its scope into Trump’s orbit, this time demanding information and testimony from Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell, and Boris Epshteyn. All four publicly defended the president and his baseless voter fraud claims in the months after the election. “The four individuals we’ve subpoenaed today advanced unsupported theories about election fraud, pushed efforts to overturn the election results, or were in direct contact with the former President about attempts to stop the counting of electoral votes,” Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, Democratic chairman of the panel, said in a statement. The committee said it is seeking records and deposition testimony from Giuliani, the 76-year-old former New York City mayor once celebrated for his leadership after 9/11, in connection to his promotion of election fraud claims on behalf of Trump. The panel is also seeking information about Giuliani’s reported efforts to persuade state legislators to take steps to overturn the election results. A lawyer for Giuliani did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment. Giuliani took on a leading role in disputing the election results on Trump’s behalf after the 2020 presidential election, even visiting states like Michigan and Pennsylvania, where he claimed ballots “looked suspicious” and Biden’s electoral win was a fraud. To this day, not a single court has found merit in the core legal claims made by Trump, Giuliani, and the other three subpoenaed Tuesday. The nine-member panel is also demanding information from Trump legal adviser Ellis, who the lawmakers say reportedly prepared and circulated two memos that analyzed the constitutional authority for then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject or delay counting the electoral votes from states that had submitted alternate slates of electors. Besides Giuliani, Sidney Powell was the most public face of Trump’s attempts to contest the election, routinely making appearances on behalf of the president. In numerous interviews and appearances post-election, Powell continued to make misleading statements about the voting process, unfurled unsupported and complex conspiracy theories involving communist regimes, and vowed to “blow up” Georgia with a “biblical” court filing. Ellis and Powell appeared with Giuliani at press conferences, pushing false claims of election fraud. Powell was eventually removed from the team after she said in an interview she was going to release “the Kraken” of lawsuits that would prove the election had been stolen. Powell did not immediately return an email seeking comment. The last person subpoenaed Tuesday by the committee is Boris Epshteyn, a former Trump campaign strategic adviser, who reportedly attended meetings at the Willard Hotel in the days leading up to the insurrection. The committee said Epshteyn had a call with Trump on the morning of January 6, 2021, to discuss options to delay the certification of election results in the event of Pence’s unwillingness to deny or delay the process. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
January 6 committee prepares to go public as findings mount
They’ve interviewed more than 300 witnesses, collected tens of thousands of documents, and traveled around the country to talk to election officials who were pressured by Donald Trump. Now, after six months of intense work, the House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection is preparing to go public. In the coming months, members of the panel will start to reveal their findings against the backdrop of the former president and his allies’ persistent efforts to whitewash the riots and reject suggestions that he helped instigate them. The committee also faces the burden of trying to persuade the American public that their conclusions are fact-based and credible. But the nine lawmakers — seven Democrats and two Republicans — are united in their commitment to tell the full story of January 6, and they are planning televised hearings and reports that will bring their findings out into the open. Their goal is not only to show the severity of the riot but also to make a clear connection between the attack and Trump’s brazen pressure on the states and Congress to overturn Joe Biden’s legitimate election as president. “The full picture is coming to light, despite President Trump’s ongoing efforts to hide the picture,” said Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the committee’s vice chairwoman and one of its two Republican members. “I don’t think there’s any area of this broader history in which we aren’t learning new things,” she said. While the fundamental facts of January 6 are known, the committee says the extraordinary trove of material they have collected — 35,000 pages of records so far, including texts, emails, and phone records from people close to Trump — is fleshing out critical details of the worst attack on the Capitol in two centuries, which played out on live television. They hope to fill in the blanks about the preparations before the attack, the financing behind the January 6 rally that preceded it, and the extensive White House campaign to overturn the 2020 election. They are also investigating what Trump himself was doing as his supporters fought their way into the Capitol. True accountability may be fleeting. Congressional investigations are not criminal cases, and lawmakers cannot dole out punishments. Even as the committee works, Trump and his allies continue to push lies about election fraud while working to place similarly minded officials at all levels of state and local government. “I think that the challenge that we face is that the attacks on our democracy are continuing — they didn’t come to an end on January 6,” said another panel member, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., also chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Still, the lawmakers hope they can present the public with a thorough accounting that captures what could have been “an even more serious and deeper constitutional crisis,” as Cheney put it. “I think this is one of the single most important congressional investigations in history,” Cheney said. The committee is up against the clock. Republicans could disband the investigation if they win the House majority in the November 2022 elections. The committee’s final report is expected before then, with a possible interim report coming in the spring or summer. In the hearings, which could start in the coming weeks, the committee wants to “bring the people who conducted the elections to Washington and tell their story,” said the panel’s chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. Their testimony, he said, will further debunk Trump’s claims of election fraud. The committee has interviewed several election officials in battleground states, including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, about Trump’s pressure campaign. In some cases, staff have traveled to those states to gather more information. The panel also is focusing on the preparations for the January 6 rally near the White House where Trump told his supporters to “fight like hell” — and how the rioters may have planned to block the electoral count if they had been able to get their hands on the electoral ballots. They need to amplify to the public, Thompson said, “that it was an organized effort to change the outcome of the election by bringing people to Washington … and ultimately if all else failed, weaponize the people who came by sending them to the Capitol.” About 90% of the witnesses called by the committee have cooperated, Thompson said, despite the defiance of high-profile Trump allies such as Steve Bannon and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Lawmakers said they have been effective at gathering information from other sources in part because they share a unity of purpose rarely seen in a congressional investigation. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California, a close Trump ally, decided not to appoint any GOP members to the committee after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., rejected two of his picks last summer. Pelosi, who created the select committee after Republican senators rejected an evenly bipartisan outside commission, subsequently appointed Republicans Cheney and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Trump critics who shared the Democrats’ desire to investigate the attack. “I think you can see that Kevin made an epic mistake,” Kinzinger said. “I think part of the reason we’ve gone so fast and have been so effective so far is because we’ve decided, and we have the ability to do this as a nonpartisan investigation.” Kinzinger said the investigation would be “a very different scene” if Republicans allied with Trump were participating and able to obstruct some of their work. “I think in five or ten years, when school kids learn about January 6, they’re going to get the accurate story,” Kinzinger said. “And I think that’s going to be dependent on what we do here.” Democrats say having two Republicans working with them has been an asset, especially as they try to reach conservative audiences who may still believe Trump’s falsehoods about a stolen election. “They bring to the table perspectives and ability to translate a little bit what is being reflected in conservative media, or how this might be viewed through a
House committee says Donald Trump’s privilege claim should be tossed
The House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol said Thursday that the Supreme Court should let stand an appeals court ruling that the National Archives turn over documents from former President Donald Trump that might shed light on the events leading up to and including that day. In a filing with the court, lawyers for the committee argued that it is within its jurisdiction to seek the information. “Although the facts are unprecedented, this case is not a difficult one,” the lawyers said in the filing, adding, “This Court’s review is unwarranted, and the petition for a writ of certiorari should be denied.” The lawyers said, however, that if the court “nonetheless believes” a review is warranted, “the Congressional Respondents respectfully request that the case be resolved expeditiously.” The nine-member congressional committee is investigating not just Trump’s conduct on January 6 — when he told a rally crowd to “fight like hell” shortly before rioters overran law enforcement officers — but also his efforts in the months before to challenge election results or obstruct a peaceful transfer of power. Trump has attacked the committee’s work and continued to promote unfounded conspiracy theories about widespread fraud in the election, even though Joe Biden’s victory was certified by all 50 states. His claims have been rebuked by courts across the country. In suing to block the National Archives from turning over documents, Trump’s lawyers have said the committee has “no legitimate legislative purpose” for seeking them, and granting access to the records would damage executive privilege for future presidents. Last week Trump’s lawyers asked the Supreme Court to hear arguments on his claim that executive privilege prevents the release of the documents, describing the committee as engaged in “meandering fishing expeditions.” The committee says the documents, including presidential diaries, visitor logs, speech drafts, and handwritten notes, are vital to its investigation into the deadly riot at the Capitol aimed at overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election. The Supreme Court could decline to hear the appeal. Such action would mean the ruling December 9 by the federal appeals court is the final word on the matter. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit tossed aside Trump’s various arguments asserting executive privilege, saying Congress has a “uniquely vital interest” in studying the events of January 6. That panel also placed emphasis on Biden’s determination that the documents were in the public interest and that executive privilege should therefore not be invoked. The question now is whether at least four justices agree to hear the case. The court has six conservative jurists, including three appointed by Trump, and several issues have arisen since Trump’s lawyers filed their original petition that might be of interest. On Tuesday, The Associated Press reported that the House committee had agreed to defer its attempt to get some documents at the request of the Biden administration. The White House was concerned that releasing all of the Trump administration documents sought by the committee could compromise national security and executive privilege. The agreement to keep some Trump records away from the committee is memorialized in a December 16 letter from the White House counsel’s office. It mostly shields records that do not involve the events of January 6 but were covered by the committee’s sweeping request for documents from the Trump White House about the events of that day. While the agreement focused on specific concerns, the potential narrowing of the documents requests is an acknowledgement that it was broad. That point forms a foundation of the court filing to the Supreme Court by Trump’s lawyers, where the words broad, overly broad, strikingly broad, and hopelessly broad are sprinkled throughout. It is a point that Trump noticed as well. In a statement following the disclosure of the agreement, the former president said the committee had “just dropped a large portion of their request for my records and documents — a very big story,” and the action “also changes the entire complexion of their request.” On Wednesday, Trump’s lawyers sent a supplemental request asking the court to look into an interview that committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., did with The Washington Post. During the interview, Thompson indicated the committee is looking into Trump’s actions the day of the insurrection to determine if it can recommend the Justice Department open a criminal investigation. The Trump filing argues that such action is outside the committee’s legislative purpose. “It cannot embark on what is essentially a law enforcement investigation with the excuse that it might legislate based on information it turns up in the course of the exploration,” the filing said. In the submission Thursday, lawyers for the committee addressed that question, acknowledging that its involvement must have legislative intent. “The records could inform numerous pieces of potential legislation,” they wrote, such as efforts to “reform and amend the Electoral Count Act of 1887” and “enhance the legal consequences for a refusal by the Executive Branch to timely and appropriately respond to attacks on Congressional proceedings.” They also said the records could have an effect on efforts to enact or enhance laws to “prevent Executive Branch officials from enlisting the Department of Justice, or other federal resources, to support false claims about an election.” Trump’s attempts to limit investigations against him have had mixed results with the Supreme Court. The court earlier this year refused to stop his tax records from going to a New York prosecutor’s office as part of an investigation. It did prevent Congress last year, while Trump was in office, from obtaining banking and financial records for him and members of his family. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
January 6 panel seeks interview with Donald Trump ally Rep. Jim Jordan
The House panel investigating the January 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection on Wednesday requested an interview with Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, one of former President Donald Trump’s closest allies in Congress, as the committee closes in on members of its own chamber. In a letter to Jordan, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, Democratic chairman of the panel, said the panel wants the lawmaker to provide information for its investigation surrounding his communications with Trump on January 6 and Trump’s efforts to challenge the result of the 2020 election. “We understand that you had at least one and possibly multiple communications with President Trump on January 6th,” the letter reads. “We would like to discuss each such communication with you in detail.” The request is the second by the nine-member panel this week and launches a new phase for the lawmakers on the committee, who have so far resisted going after one of their own as they investigate the insurrection by supporters and his efforts to overturn the election. Jordan is a staunch supporter of the former president’s false claims about voter fraud. The lawmaker brought those claims up during an October hearing on a motion to hold former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon in contempt for refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena. In that hearing, Jordan admitted once again that he spoke with Trump on the day of the attack. “Of course, I talked to the president,” Jordan told members of the Rules Committee, in response to questioning from the panel’s chairman, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. “I talked to him that day. I’ve been clear about that. I don’t recall the number of times, but it’s not about me. I know you want to make it about that.” A request for comment from Jordan’s office was not immediately returned. The panel is also seeking information regarding Jordan’s meeting with Trump and members of his administration in November and December 2020, and in early January 2021, “about strategies for overturning the results of the 2020 election.” The letter goes on to say the committee is also interested in any discussions Jordan may have had during that time regarding the possibility of presidential pardons for people involved in any aspect of the Capitol attack or the planning for the two rallies that took place that day. Thompson writes that Jordan has already publicly signaled a willingness to cooperate with the panel’s efforts to get answers about January 6, citing the lawmaker’s quote from that October hearing: “I’ve said all along, I have nothing to hide. I’ve been straightforward all along.” On Monday, the committee sent a similar request to Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, who the panel believes had “an important role” in efforts to install then-Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark as acting attorney general in late 2020. Perry rejected the committee’s request Tuesday, calling the committee and its investigation “illegitimate.” In response, Tim Mulvey, a committee spokesperson, said that while the panel prefers to gather evidence from members “cooperatively,” it will pursue such information “using other tools” if necessary. The panel has already interviewed about 300 people as it seeks to create a comprehensive record of the Jan. 6 attack and the events leading up to it. Trump at the time was pushing false claims of widespread voter fraud and lobbying Vice President Mike Pence and Republican members of Congress to try to overturn the count at the January 6 congressional certification. Election officials across the country, along with the courts, had repeatedly dismissed Trump’s claims. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Court rejects Donald Trump’s efforts to keep records from January 6 panel
A federal appeals court ruled Thursday against an effort by former President Donald Trump to shield documents from the House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol. In a 68-page ruling, the three-judge panel tossed aside Trump’s various arguments for blocking through executive privilege records that the committee regards as vital to its investigation into the run-up to the deadly riot that was aimed at overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election. Judge Patricia Millett, writing for the court, said Congress had a “uniquely vital interest” in studying the events of January 6, and that President Joe Biden had made a “carefully reasoned” determination that the documents were in the public interest and that executive privilege should therefore not be invoked. Trump also failed to show any harm that would occur from the release of the sought-after records, Millett wrote. “On the record before us, former President Trump has provided no basis for this court to override President Biden’s judgment and the agreement and accommodations worked out between the Political Branches over these documents,” the opinion states. It adds, “Both Branches agree that there is a unique legislative need for these documents and that they are directly relevant to the Committee’s inquiry into an attack on the Legislative Branch and its constitutional role in the peaceful transfer of power. The appeals court ruled that the injunction that has prevented the National Archives from turning over the documents will expire in two weeks, or when the Supreme Court rules on an expected appeal from Trump, whichever is later. Lawyers for Trump can also ask the entire appeals court to review the case. Seven of the 11 appellate judges on the court were appointed by Democratic presidents, four by Republican presidents. The panel’s leaders, Reps. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Liz Cheney, R.-Wyo., hailed the ruling, saying it “respects the Select Committee’s interest in obtaining White House records and the President’s judgment in allowing those records to be produced. Our work moves ahead swiftly. We will get to the truth.” But Trump’s spokeswoman said the matter was far from settled. “Regardless of today’s decision by the appeals court, this case was always destined for the Supreme Court,” Liz Harrington said. “President Trump’s duty to defend the Constitution and the Office of the Presidency continues, and he will keep fighting for every American and every future Administration.” In its ruling, the court said the executive privilege being asserted by Trump is not a personal privilege but instead one that he “stewards” for the “benefit of the Republic.” “The interests the privilege protects are those of the Presidency itself, not former President Trump individually. And the President has determined that immediate disclosure will promote, not injure, the national interest, and that delay here is itself injurious,” the opinion states. Biden had the committee defer its requests for some of the early documents that might have posed privilege claims, and officials expect more documents in subsequent tranches will be subject to the same outcome. The court praised Biden’s “calibrated judgment” in working with Congress and the Archives to weigh privilege concerns, saying it “bears no resemblance to the ‘broad and limitless waiver’ of executive privilege former President Trump decries.” White House spokesman Mike Gwin said, “As President Biden determined, the constitutional protections of executive privilege should not be used to shield information that reflects a clear and apparent effort to subvert the Constitution itself.” Trump sued the House January 6 committee and the National Archives to stop the White House from allowing the release of documents related to the insurrection. Biden had waived Trump’s executive privilege claims as the current officeholder. At issue, the court said, is not that Trump “has no say in the matter” but rather his failure to show that withholding the documents should supersede Biden’s “considered and weighty judgment” that Congress is entitled to the records. The National Archives has said that the records Trump wants to block include presidential diaries, visitor logs, speech drafts, handwritten notes “concerning the events of January 6” from the files of former chief of staff Mark Meadows, and “a draft Executive Order on the topic of election integrity.” Arguing for the committee, U.S. House lawyer Douglas Letter argued that the determination of a current president should outweigh predecessors in almost all circumstances and noted that both Biden and Congress were in agreement that the January 6 records should be turned over. All three of the appeals court judges who heard the arguments were nominated by Democrats. Millett and Judge Robert Wilkins were nominated by former President Barack Obama. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is a Biden appointee seen as a contender for a Supreme Court seat should one open during the current administration. Republican presidents nominated six of the nine Supreme Court justices, including three chosen by Trump. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Terri Sewell votes to hold Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress
Rep. Terri Sewell voted to hold Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena. The subpoena, which the Select Committee issued to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, required Bannon to produce both documents and testimony relevant to the attack. The House found Bannon in contempt of Congress in a bipartisan 229 to 202 vote. On September 23rd, Chairman Thompson signed and transmitted a subpoena to Bannon, ordering the production of documents on October 7th and requiring his presence for deposition testimony on October 14th. Bannon failed to produce the documents on October 7th and failed to show up for the deposition on October 14th. “We need to make it clear that no person is above the law; we need to take a stand for the committee’s investigation and for the integrity of this body,” said the committee chair, Bennie Thompson. “Steve Bannon appears to have played a multi-faceted role in the events of the January 6th attack. The American people are entitled to hear his testimony,” stated Sewell in a press release. “His refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena is completely unacceptable and demonstrates that he believes he is above the law.” Sewell continued, “Today’s vote shows that the United States House of Representatives will not be intimidated or deterred. We have a responsibility to get to the bottom of this horrific attack in order to prevent future threats to our democracy, and that is exactly what we will do.” On Twitter, Sewell commented, “Steve Bannon is not above the law. The U.S. House of Representatives will not be intimidated or deterred. We have a responsibility to get to the bottom of the horrific Jan. 6th attack in order to prevent future threats to our democracy, and that is exactly what we will do.” The Justice Department will now decide what happens to Bannon. Attorney General Merrick Garland has not said whether he will move forward with charges. “We’ll apply the facts in the law and make a decision, consistent with the principles of prosecution,” he told the House Judiciary Committee during an oversight hearing on Thursday.
White House faces bipartisan backlash on Haitian migrants
The White House is facing sharp condemnation from Democrats for its handling of the influx of Haitian migrants at the U.S. southern border after images of U.S. Border Patrol agents on horseback using aggressive tactics went viral this week. Striking video of agents maneuvering their horses to forcibly block and move migrants attempting to cross the border has sparked resounding criticism from Democrats on Capitol Hill, who are calling on the Biden administration to end its use of a pandemic-era authority to deport migrants without giving them an opportunity to seek asylum in the United States. At the same time, the administration continues to face attacks from Republicans, who say Joe Biden isn’t doing enough to deal with what they call a “crisis” at the border. Reflecting the urgency of the political problem for the administration, Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas said Tuesday the images “horrified” him, a seeming shift in tone from a day earlier when he and others were more sanguine about the situation at the border. It’s a highly uncomfortable position for the administration, led by a president who has set himself up as a tonic for the harshness of his predecessor. But immigration is a complex issue, one no administration has been able to fix in decades. And Biden is trapped between conflicting interests of broadcasting compassion while dealing with throngs of migrants coming to the country — illegally — seeking a better life. The provision in question, known as Title 42, was put in place by the Trump administration in March 2020 to justify restrictive immigration policies in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. But the Biden administration has used Title 42 to justify the deportation of Haitian migrants who in recent days have set up an encampment in and around the small city of Del Rio, Texas. The provision gives federal health officials powers during a pandemic to take extraordinary measures to limit the transmission of an infectious disease. A federal judge late last week ruled the regulation was improper and gave the government two weeks before its use was to be halted, but the Biden administration on Monday appealed the decision. “The Biden administration pushing back on this stay of expulsions is another example of broken promises to treat migrants with respect and humanity when they reach our borders to exercise their fundamental right to asylum,” said Karla Marisol Vargas, senior attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project and co-counsel on the litigation. NAACP President Derrick Johnson demanded a meeting with Biden to discuss the situation and called the treatment of the Haitian migrants “utterly sickening.” “The humanitarian crisis happening under this administration on the southern border disgustingly mirrors some of the darkest moments in America’s history,” he said in a statement. Shortly after the judge’s decision on Friday, Homeland Security officials formed a plan to begin immediately turning the groups of Haitian migrants around, working against the clock. But people kept coming. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, an administration ally, said images of the treatment of the migrants “turn your stomach” and called on the administration to discontinue the “hateful and xenophobic” policies of Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump. “The policies that are being enacted now — and the horrible treatment of these innocent people who have come to the border — must stop immediately,” he told the Senate on Tuesday. Trump essentially put a chokehold on immigration. He decreased the number of refugees admitted to a record low, made major changes to policy, and essentially shut down asylum. Biden has undone many of the Trump-era policies, but since his inauguration, the U.S. has seen a dramatic spike in the number of people encountered by border officials. The Haitian migrants are the latest example. More than 6,000 Haitians and other migrants have been removed from the encampment in Del Rio, and Mayorkas predicted a “dramatic change” in the number of migrants there within the next two to four days as the administration continues the removal process. As the controversy swirled around him, Biden spent his Tuesday address at the U.N. General Assembly in New York calling for the global community to come together to defend human rights and combat injustice worldwide, declaring, “the future will belong to those who embrace human dignity, not trample it.” The remarks stood in notable contrast to images of the Border Patrol agents on horseback. Biden himself seemed to acknowledge the challenge his administration faces with immigration, offering a clipped response when asked by a reporter after his U.N. remarks to offer his reaction to the images. “We’ll get it under control,” he insisted. Vice President Kamala Harris also weighed in, telling reporters in Washington that she was “deeply troubled” by the images and planned to talk to Mayorkas about the situation. Harris has been tasked with addressing the root causes of migration to the U.S. and emphasized that the U.S. should “support some very basic needs that the people of Haiti have” that are causing them to flee their homes for the U.S. Videos and photos taken in recent days in and around Del Rio show Border Patrol agents confronting Haitians along the Rio Grande near a border bridge where thousands of migrants have gathered in hopes of entering the country. One Border Patrol agent on horseback was seen twirling his long leather reins in a menacing way at the Haitian migrants but not actually striking anyone. There was no sign in photos and videos viewed by The Associated Press that the mounted agents were carrying whips or using their reins as such when confronting the migrants. The agents, wearing chaps and cowboy hats, maneuvered their horses to forcibly block and move the migrants, almost seeming to herd them. In at least one instance, they were heard taunting the migrants. Asked about the images on Tuesday, Mayorkas told lawmakers that the issue had been “uppermost in my mind” ever since he had seen them. He said the department had alerted its inspector general’s
House panel probing 1/6 riot seeks host of Trump-era records
The House committee investigating the January insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is demanding a trove of records from federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies, showing the sweep of the lawmakers’ review of the deadly attack by a mob of Donald Trump supporters. The request Wednesday seeks information about events leading up to the Jan. 6 riot, including communication within the White House under then-President Trump and other agencies, and information about planning and funding for rallies held in Washington. Among them is an event at the Ellipse, near the White House, featuring remarks by Trump where he egged on a crowd of thousands before loyalists stormed the Capitol. The requested documents are just the beginning of what is expected to be a lengthy partisan and rancorous investigation into how the mob was able to infiltrate the Capitol and disrupt the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential victory, inflicting the most serious assault on Congress in two centuries. Committee members are also considering asking telecommunications companies to preserve phone records of several people, including members of Congress, to try to determine who knew what about the unfolding riot and when they knew it. With chants of “hang Mike Pence,” the rioters sent the then-vice president and members of Congress running for their lives and did more than $1 million in damage, and wounded dozens of police officers. Records requests are typically the starting point for investigations, and the committee is expected to conduct a wide-ranging review as it builds a public record detailing the chaos on Jan. 6. That inquiry could take more than a year, until the end of the congressional session. The demands are being made for White House records from the National Archives, along with material from the departments of Defense, Justice, Homeland Security and Interior, as well as the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The committee is also seeking information about efforts within the Trump administration to push the president’s baseless claims of election fraud and any efforts to try to overturn the results of November’s election or to “impede the peaceful transfer of power.” The request for the National Archives and Records Administration is 10 pages long. The committee is seeking “All documents and communications within the White House on January 6, 2021” related to Trump’s close advisers and family members, the rally at the Ellipse, and Trump’s Twitter feed. It asks for his specific movements on that day and communications, if any, from the White House Situation Room. Also sought are all documents related to the claims of election fraud, as well as Supreme Court decisions on the topic. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., is heading the committee, appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., after all, but two Republicans opposed the creation of the 13-person panel. The committee so far has heard from police officers who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6. In emotional testimony, those officers spoke of how afraid and frustrated they were by the failure of law enforcement leaders to foresee the potential for violence and understand the scope of planning by the Trump backers. A Capitol Police officer who fatally shot protester Ashli Babbitt was cleared months ago of criminal wrongdoing and was cleared internally by the department this week, and was planning to reveal his identity in an NBC interview to air Thursday. Most in the GOP argued that the majority-Democratic committee would conduct a partisan inquiry. House Democrats originally attempted to create an evenly split, independent commission to investigate the insurrection, but that effort fell short when it was blocked by Senate Republicans. Thompson did not identify the lawmakers whose records the committee would seek, but he has said officials would be contacting communication companies, social media platforms, and other tech giants. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California, who had been in touch with Trump from the besieged Capitol on Jan. 6, again dismissed the committee’s investigation as “so political.” When he was asked whether he would turn over his own phone logs from Jan. 6, he said Wednesday, “I told the American public who I talked to that day,” referring to his television news appearances that day. In a Fox News appearance Tuesday evening, Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., whose phone records may also be sought, said it was “an abuse of power” to investigate lawmakers. Thompson, in a written statement, said the committee’s work was rooted in apolitical fact-finding. “Our Constitution provides for a peaceful transfer of power, and this investigation seeks to evaluate threats to that process, identify lessons learned and recommend laws, policies, procedures, rules, or regulations necessary to protect our republic in the future,” he said. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Kevin McCarthy proposes 5 Republicans to sit on Jan. 6 panel
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy has picked five Republicans to sit on the new select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, signaling that Republicans will participate in the investigation that they have staunchly opposed. McCarthy said Monday that he had selected Indiana Rep. Jim Banks, who recently visited former President Donald Trump on trips to the U.S.-Mexico border and Trump’s New Jersey golf club, to be the top Republican on the panel. The Republican leader also tapped Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis, North Dakota Rep. Kelly Armstrong, and Texas Rep. Troy Nehls to serve on the committee. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi must approve the names before they are final, per committee rules. An aide to Pelosi said she had received notification from McCarthy, but it is unclear when or if she will approve the GOP members. The aide was granted anonymity to discuss the Republican picks ahead of an official announcement. The five Republican men selected by McCarthy have all backed Trump, whose supporters laid siege to the Capitol building on Jan. 6 and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory. Banks, Jordan, and Nehls all voted to overturn Biden’s win that day, even after the rioting. Davis and Armstrong were among the minority of Republicans who voted to certify Biden’s win. McCarthy’s picks come after all, but two Republicans opposed the creation of the 13-person select committee in a House vote last month, with most in the GOP arguing that the majority-Democratic panel would conduct a partisan probe. House Democrats originally attempted to create an evenly split, independent commission to investigate the insurrection, but that effort fell short when it was blocked by Senate Republicans. House Republicans have largely remained loyal to Trump despite the violent insurrection of his supporters that sent many of them running for their lives. Banks made clear in a statement Monday evening that he would take a politically combative approach to his leadership on the panel, sharply criticizing the Democrats who had set it up. “Make no mistake, Nancy Pelosi created this committee solely to malign conservatives and to justify the Left’s authoritarian agenda,” Banks said. Jordan, one of Trump’s staunchest defenders through his two impeachments and the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said after the House vote to form the panel that he believed the investigation is “impeachment three” against the former president. Trump was impeached by the House and acquitted by the Senate both times. The members selected by McCarthy had mixed reactions to the insurrection as it happened on Jan. 6. While Jordan led the effort to overturn election results, others tweeted to the rioters to end the violence or condemned it. “Thank you to the Capitol police and all law enforcement,” Armstrong tweeted shortly after the House was evacuated that afternoon. “Rioting is not protesting. This needs to stop. Now.” Around the same time, Davis tweeted: “This is a sad day for our country. The lawlessness has got to stop. Protestors must leave the Capitol so Congress can resume the process of confirming the Electoral College vote.” Nehls, a former sheriff, was one of several members who helped barricade the House doors as rioters tried to beat them down. He tweeted an Associated Press photo of himself holding the door alongside Capitol Police — face to face with rioters who had broken the glass in the entryway. “I was proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with Capitol police barricading entrance to our sacred House chamber while trying to calm the situation talking to protestors,” Nehls tweeted. “What I’m witnessing is a disgrace. We’re better than this. Violence is NEVER the answer. Law and order!” A week later, all five members voted against the impeachment of Trump, who had told his supporters gathered in Washington on Jan. 6 to “fight like hell” to overturn his election defeat. The Democratic chair of the select committee, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, said Monday evening that he hadn’t seen the GOP names but referred the matter to Pelosi. “It’s up to her,” he said. Pelosi named eight members of the committee earlier this month — seven Democrats and Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who has strongly criticized Trump and has been the most outspoken member of her caucus against the insurrection. Cheney, who was demoted from GOP leadership in May over her comments, was one of the two Republicans who voted in favor of forming the committee, along with Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger. As McCarthy stayed quiet for weeks on Republican participation on the panel, Thompson has said that the committee will have a quorum to conduct business whether GOP members are present or not. The new members will be put to the test at the panel’s first hearing next week, with at least four rank-and-file police officers who battled rioters that day testifying about their experiences. Dozens of police officers were injured as the crowd pushed past them and broke into the Capitol building. Seven people died during and after the rioting, including a woman who was shot by police as she tried to break into the House chamber and three other Trump supporters who suffered medical emergencies. Two police officers died by suicide in the days that followed, and a third officer, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, collapsed and later died after engaging with the protesters. A medical examiner determined he died of natural causes. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Jill Biden touts vaccine in poorly inoculated Mississippi
First lady Jill Biden visited one of the states least vaccinated against COVID-19 on Tuesday, encouraging residents of Mississippi to get their shots and telling them, “The White House, our administration — we care about you.” “I’m here today to ask all of the people who can hear my voice, who can see my face, to get their shot,” Biden said after visiting a clinic at Jackson State University, one of the largest historically Black universities in the country. She was scheduled to visit another vaccination clinic in Nashville with country singer Brad Paisley later Tuesday. Mississippi and Tennessee have consistently ranked among the U.S. states with the fewest number of residents vaccinated against COVID-19, along with Alabama. Approximately 30% of Mississippi’s total population is fully vaccinated, according to the state Department of Health. The first lady said she wanted to visit states like Mississippi and Tennessee because the current vaccination rates are “just not enough.” “That’s why the White House said, ‘Jill, please, can you go to Mississippi?’ Because the president, the White House, our administration, we care about you, we care about the people of Mississippi. We want them to be safe. We want them to be healthy.” Mississippi’s U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, who was present at Tuesday’s event in the state capital, said it’s important for Biden to be in Mississippi “given the demographics of the population that is most vulnerable.” Mississippi is among the states in the U.S. with the highest number of chronic health conditions that can make people more vulnerable to COVID-19, such as diabetes and heart disease. Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs has said the biggest issues he sees driving vaccine hesitancy are misinformation and a cultural refusal to prioritize preventative care measures. President Joe Biden had set a vaccination goal of delivering at least one shot to 70% of adult Americans by July Fourth, a target the White House administration acknowledged Tuesday he will likely fall short of. As of Tuesday, 54% of Americans had been vaccinated with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Increased participation in states like Mississippi and Tennessee will be essential to boosting the nation’s overall vaccine rate. Many residents remain hesitant, however. Angel Devine of Jackson said Tuesday that she has chosen not to get the COVID-19 vaccine so far because she doesn’t like needles, and she’s worried that the shot won’t be effective against variants. She said she is now considering it, not because of the first lady’s visit, but because she has been urged to by her 18-year-old daughter, who is heading off to the University of Southern Mississippi to study nursing. “She wants to get it, and she wants me to get it with her,” she said. “I’m still concerned, but it does want me to take it a little more. We’ll have to wait and see.” Dobbs has said family pressure is one of the most powerful motivating factors to get people to take the vaccine. Glenda McHenry, 78, of Pearl, a city outside Jackson, said she has family members who are still waiting to get the shot, but she got hers months ago. She said she wanted to spend time with her three grandchildren without being concerned about them passing the virus to her, or vice versa. “I did have some worries at first — just really not knowing what it was going to do to you,” she said, of the vaccine. “But I just felt it was the thing to do. It was important to be able to spend time with those kids.” Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
