The insurrection committee's public hearings

[malchior]

The idea that the Secret Service would value an individual in office above the office of the President and the Constitution is a bit frightening. Would any of them hesitate to take a bullet for Biden on the campaign trail? I know I'd be taking a second look at my team in that situation.

Nowhere is safe from partisanship any more.

Which is why there are accounts that Biden's transition team only allowed agents he personally knew from his VP days to be assigned to his protective detail. The whole thing gets weirder as Biden kept Trump's sketchily chosen Secret Service in place until he recently 'voluntarily' announced he was leaving to go be Chief Security Officer at Snap. Apparently Trump brought Ornato over from Service to be Deputy White House Chief of Staff, then wanted to install him as head of the Secret Service. It sounds like Ornato wanted to stay in the administration so he suggested Murray. As Marshall writes above in the TPM piece, Murray was head of the agency when the "migration plan" was hatched in December 2020.

The whole thing stinks to high heaven. It sounds like a conspiracy theory but it's real. The range of how bad this is is wide. It goes from yeah perhaps Secret Service was run by MAGA loyalists Roman Empire style. On the other end it seems the most generous assessment is that they were so lawless they didn't care they were violating the law around records management. None of it is good. Hopefully it'll be investigated but I won't hold my breath.

Ornato out. With him and James Murray out hopefully we will see other MAGA embeds weeded out.

[Unagi]

I hope they have his passport too.

[LawBeefaroni]

I hope they have his passport too.

Two days before his scheduled interview with DHS?. Hmmm.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and DHS general counsel, the inspector general had been attempting to interview Ornato since June 29 and spent all of July and much of August following up.


For example, Ornato cited vacation as a reason he couldn’t attend an interview. “I believe my counsel spoke to you and / or your team, but I am traveling out of district on annual leave and am not available on the dates provided,” Ornato wrote in an email on August 24. “When I am back from vacation, I will circle back with you and your team.”

This is one in a string of access issues the inspector general has experienced in relation to January 6, as The Intercept reported last week.

Ornato has indicated that he still intends to attend the interview, according to an email obtained by The Intercept, but since Ornato will be a private citizen, investigators won’t have testimonial subpoena authority to compel his cooperation.

[malchior]

Yet, the spokesperson at Secret Service said this (from the article above). Also keep in mind that USSS officials disputed Cassidy Hutchinson's 1/6 testimony and said they'd provide him to specifically refute it. It's a cesspool.

Asked about the status of those discussions, Guglielmi said “We have continuously made Tony Ornato available.” He noted, however, that Ornato is now a private citizen and no longer a federal employee.

[Smoove_B]

Federal officials always announce their retirement, effective immediately. Happens every day. Totally normal.

[El Guapo]

Doesn't DHS have testimonial subpoena power outside of its inspector general's office? I'd think the obvious next step would be to go to other DHS counsel and ask them to subpoena him for testimony?

[stessier]

I'm not sure exactly where this goes, but it looks like Lindsey Graham will have to answer at least some questions for the Grand Jury.

[Defiant]

I'm not sure exactly where this goes, but it looks like Lindsey Graham will have to answer at least some questions for the Grand Jury.

I would have thought the exact opposite based on that tweet. Am I misunderstanding it?

Edit: After rereading it multiple times, I guess it means he only doesn't have to answer certain questions? OK, now your comment makes more sense.

[stessier]

NYPD Officer who wore body armor on Jan 6th and asked for time served compared to the prosecutions request for 17 years ends up with multiple concurrent 120 month sentences. (Long Twitter thread covers entire sentencing hearing.)

[stessier]

I'm not sure exactly where this goes, but it looks like Lindsey Graham will have to answer at least some questions for the Grand Jury.

I would have thought the exact opposite based on that tweet. Am I misunderstanding it?

Edit: After rereading it multiple times, I guess it means he only doesn't have to answer certain questions? OK, now your comment makes more sense.

Yeah, the headline is misleading. The judge said they can't question him about the intent of his phone call with the AG, but they can question him about his coordination with Trump, his public statements around that time, etc.

[stessier]

[Octavious]

Everything we trained for. It does make me feel a little better that all these crazy militia groups are way more incompetent than I thought the would be. If this was them organized....

[hepcat]

Let's be honest: the best and brightest aren't flocking to join these groups. They have to rely on high school dropouts, incels, white supremacists who can trace their lineage back to closely related parents and people who think Mark Wahlberg is a fine actor.

[Pyperkub]

Let's be honest: the best and brightest aren't flocking to join these groups. They have to rely on high school dropouts, incels, white supremacists who can trace their lineage back to closely related parents and people who think Mark Wahlberg is a fine actor.

The best and the brightest (to whatever degree that may be, see Trump) are the ones funding and instigating it (and reaping beaucoup coup bucks from it), not invading the capital.

[Carpet_pissr]

Let's be honest: the best and brightest aren't flocking to join these groups. They have to rely on high school dropouts, incels, white supremacists who can trace their lineage back to closely related parents and people who think Mark Wahlberg is a fine actor.

The best and the brightest (to whatever degree that may be, see Trump) are the ones funding and instigating it (and reaping beaucoup coup bucks from it), not invading the capital.

Yep, they are the ones you will never see because they are definitely not going down with this ship of fools that they set off, and probably funded.

[Kurth]

Let's be honest: the best and brightest aren't flocking to join these groups. They have to rely on high school dropouts, incels, white supremacists who can trace their lineage back to closely related parents and people who think Mark Wahlberg is a fine actor.

What’s with the unnecessary dragging of Marky Mark?

Mr. Whahlberg IS a fine actor, sir..

[hepcat]

"unnecessary"?

Nay. If anything, I'm being too kind.

The man has two expressions...and they're both the same.

...which means...technically...he has one. But he wants you to THINK he has two. But now you know better!

Now, get thee away from me, Wahlberger. I refuse to associate with your kind.

[Carpet_pissr]

Let's be honest: the best and brightest aren't flocking to join these groups. They have to rely on high school dropouts, incels, white supremacists who can trace their lineage back to closely related parents and people who think Mark Wahlberg is a fine actor.

What’s with the unnecessary dragging of Marky Mark?

The Hepcat doth protest too much, methinks.

[Zarathud]

Blue steel.

[Grifman]

[Pyperkub]

Arizona GOP Kelli Ward's phone is now owned by the January 6th Committee!

A federal judge in Arizona has decided the court can't block a House January 6 committee subpoena for GOP state chair Kelli Ward and her husband Michael's cell phone data, a ruling that may deliver more information in the probe about the state-level backing for Donald Trump after his 2020 loss.

[Defiant]

[Smoove_B]

That feels like it should be bigger news.

[malchior]

That feels like it should be bigger news.

Sure. Everyone in power knows what is going on. They are too busy working on protecting them and their own to help us.

[hepcat]

Let's be honest: the best and brightest aren't flocking to join these groups. They have to rely on high school dropouts, incels, white supremacists who can trace their lineage back to closely related parents and people who think Mark Wahlberg is a fine actor.

What’s with the unnecessary dragging of Marky Mark?

The Hepcat doth protest too much, methinks.

That’s the closest Mark Wahlberg will ever get to Shakespeare.

[Blackhawk]

Guess who has a book?

[Carpet_pissr]

:

Let's be honest: the best and brightest aren't flocking to join these groups. They have to rely on high school dropouts, incels, white supremacists who can trace their lineage back to closely related parents and people who think Mark Wahlberg is a fine actor.

What’s with the unnecessary dragging of Marky Mark?

The Hepcat doth protest too much, methinks.

That’s the closest Mark Wahlberg will ever get to Shakespeare.

[malchior]

This is pretty explosive but it still stands to reason the guy is dropping a book on Tuesday - WaPo coverage seems to indicate his former bosses aren't happy. It seems like he thought the committee was pulling punches. We shall see.

[Unagi]

So my understanding is that tomorrow’s hearing is at 1:00 EDT.

I believe they will be battling for attention versus Hurricane Ian’s landfall right around that same time.

I wonder if they have considered a delay?

[Unagi]

Yes, it has been postponed.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/27/politics ... index.html

[Unagi]

So, what will likely be the final public hearing is in a couple hours.

Just a heads up for those that intended to watch.

[El Guapo]

So, what will likely be the final public hearing is in a couple hours.

Just a heads up for those that intended to watch.

Is it the final public hearing? I got the impression that when they recessed in August or whatever it was that they planned to come back for a season 2. Or is this basically the movie following the show?

[Unagi]

I honestly think they were optimistic about obtaining more testimony, but really didn’t get much more.

My understanding is that this will be the last one (I’m sure they will say they reserve the right to keep it open ended)

But yeah, this is the Serenity to the Firefly

It will likely end with Cheney getting impaled by a huge wood spike.

[El Guapo]

NYT is reporting that the Jan. 6th committee is going to subpoena Trump for testimony. It's the right move, although I'd be shocked if they can get him to show before the next House is seated.

[Kurth]

NYT is reporting that the Jan. 6th committee is going to subpoena Trump for testimony. It's the right move, although I'd be shocked if they can get him to show before the next House is seated.

Now we're talking.

[Unagi]

It’s only for the history books.
They don’t expect Trump to honor the subpoena.
It does make you wonder if they will make any move after Trump does not cooperate with the subpoena.

[El Guapo]

It’s only for the history books.
They don’t expect Trump to honor the subpoena.
It does make you wonder if they will make any move after Trump does not cooperate with the subpoena.

The problem is that Trump won't just refuse to show up, he'll probably sue. And that litigation even if expedited is not going to be done before the new House is seated, after which (in all probability) Speaker Kevin McCarthy will have dissolved the January 6th committee.

If the Democrats do somehow manage to hold onto the House, then maybe they think about aggressive action after the lawsuits are played out...but who knows when that'll be.

Honestly seems like the best bet is to goad Trump into showing up, though I doubt that would be successful.

[hepcat]

The only thing he hates more than being in a courtroom is being in a marriage.

[LawBeefaroni]

The only thing he hates more than being in a courtroom is being in a marriage.

Or having black tenants.

[Unagi]

The only thing he hates more than being in a courtroom is being in a marriage.

Or having black tenants.

Or walking down a ramp.