Per CNNâŚCapitol Police under the gun.
Oh. Chad Wolf is resigning
Secret Service for Biden will take the reinsâŚpe Acting DHS Chad Wolf
And this. Wtf is going on with Trump?
More fallout. No surprises that every sees T as a pariah now.
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick said he will not receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Trump in the wake of the riots last week at the U.S. Capitol.
Belichick, who has previously spoken publicly about his friendship with the president, was set to receive the nationâs highest civilian honor after Trump offered it over a week ago. That was before a mob of the presidentâs supporters laid siege to the Capitol, leaving five people dead.
âRecently, I was offered the opportunity to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which I was flattered by out of respect for what the honor represents and admiration for prior recipients,â Belichick said in a statement. âSubsequently, the tragic events of last week occurred and the decision has been made not to move forward with the award.â
News of the offer to Belichick only emerged Sunday, prompting questions over whether the most accomplished coach in football history would stand by his friend amid the controversy.
This scary video was taken down quickly. Link here. Parler Video link](đ Must Read Op-Ed and Profiles)
Moments before Parler was due to be taken offline, a QAnon propaganda video calling for a âgreat reawakeningâ in the U.S. ahead of the January 20 inauguration period was being shared on the self-styled âfree speechâ social media platform.
The three-minute video was made up of old Donald Trump speeches with lines such as âthe time for empty talk is over, now arrives the hour of action.â It was accused by many on social media of inciting further violence following the extremist attack on the Capitol on January 6.**
The clip was first uploaded online by filmmaker Matthew Scarboro on January 1. However, it started to be reshared on Parler, the âfree speechâ social media prominently used by conservatives and the far-right, before the site was taken down.
The clip flashes up a number of phrases linked to QAnon, the conspiracy movement listed as a domestic terrorist threat by the FBI whose followers went on to storm the Capitol.
Part of an old speech in which Trump assures âthere should be no fear, we are protectedâ is also heard. While Trump has been accused of inciting the violence with his rhetoric and frequent calls of election fraud, the line featured in the clip is not related to plans to attack the Capitol.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) Trust and Safety said it will stop hosting Parler at Sunday, January 10 at 11:59 p.m. PST, after the site was used to plot the attack on Congress last week. Google and Apple have also pulled the app from their stores.
Trump and Pence speak today for the first timeâŚwonder what that fly in Penceâs hair might have heard?
President Trump and Vice President Pence spoke Monday for the first time since last weekâs riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to a senior administration official.
The two met Monday night in the Oval Office and âhad a good conversationâ in which they discussed the week ahead and reflected on âthe last four years of the administrationâs work and accomplishments,â said the official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.
In the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol, Trump ramped up pressure on Pence, publicly calling on him to overturn the election results even though he had no authority to do so.
Trump continued to pressure Pence in his speech to supporters outside the White House last Wednesday, when he said he would be âvery disappointedâ in Pence if he didnât unilaterally try to invalidate Bidenâs victory.
And even after the throngs of angry Trump supporters made their way to the Capitol, the president further unleashed his fury at Pence in a tweet, saying, in part, that the vice president âdidnât have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.â
Videos of Wednesdayâs storming of the Capitol show dozens of Trump supporters chanting, âHang Mike Pence!â as they push their way into the building.
As of Monday evening, the White House had delivered a broad condemnation of all violence, but the president himself had not specifically condemned the threats against Pence â a point that has not gone unnoticed among allies of the vice president.
According to the senior administration official, during their conversation Monday night, the president and vice president âreiterated that those who broke the law and stormed the Capitol last week do not represent the âAmerica Firstâ movement backed by 75 million Americans, and pledged to continue the work on behalf of the country for the remainder of their term.â
More fallout for the TrumpsâŚcutting off the money supply is a surefire way to stop Trump momentum. The realities of his wrath on Americaâs legislative branch is now hitting him really hard. Such hubris knows no bounds.
In the span of four days, President Trumpâs family business has lost its online store, the buzz from Mr. Trumpâs promotional tweets about its luxury resorts and bragging rights as host to one of the worldâs most prestigious golf tournaments.
The mob attack on Congress last week by Mr. Trumpâs supporters has spurred a reckoning for the Trump Organization by businesses and institutions, at a scale far greater than his previous polarizing actions.
And the Trump brand, premised on gold-plated luxury and a super-affluent clientele, may not fully recover from the fallout of his supporters violently storming and vandalizing the U.S. Capitol, hospitality analysts say and some people close to the business acknowledge. Other companies linked with the Trumps, including Deutsche Bank, the presidentâs largest lender, and Signature Bank, are also seeking distance from him and his business.
The backlash is part of a broader shunning of Mr. Trump and his allies unfolding in the wake of the deadly assault on the Capitol. Schools stripped the president of honorary degrees, some prominent Republicans threatened to leave the party and the New York State Bar Association announced it had begun investigating Mr. Trumpâs personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, which could lead to his removal from the group
As House Democrats introduced an article of impeachment on Monday, more than a dozen big businesses vowed to withhold certain political donations. Coca-Cola said it would pause donations from its political action committee, saying in a statement that âthese events will long be remembered and will factor into our future contribution decisions.â Marriott, the giant hotel chain, said it would pause donations from its political action committee âto those who voted against certification of the election,â a reference to the congressional Republicans who joined Mr. Trumpâs false claims of election fraud. Morgan Stanley and AT&T said they, too, would suspend contributions to those lawmakers.
The Trump Organization had already been facing considerable financial challenges. Many of its golf and resort properties had been losing money, and the pandemic had forced it to close some restaurants and bars and drastically reduce hotel occupancy, including at its hotel a few blocks from the White House. And with more than $300 million in debt coming due in the next few years that the president has personally guaranteed, there had been some urgency for the company to line up new deals.
While such an array of challenges would spell doom for just about any hospitality brand, executives of the Trump Organization said they planned on cashing in on Mr. Trumpâs global fame with overseas branding deals.
âThere has never been a political figure with more support or energy behind them than my father,â Eric Trump, the presidentâs son, who helps run the family business, said in a statement on Monday.
The family is also already considering starting a media outfit that would cater to Mr. Trumpâs tens of millions of supporters, an effort that gained some urgency last week when Twitter and Facebook barred the president from their platforms.
âThere will be no shortage of incredible opportunities in real estate and beyond,â Eric Trump said.
Before becoming president, Mr. Trump had cycled through many lines of business, including casinos, an airline and reality television. Some ventures were wildly successful, while others were colossal failures. But they revealed his ability to camouflage his wares and capitalize on opportunities, even when his name appeared irreparably tarnished.
This time, the challenges are steeper. The fallout began on Thursday, when the e-commerce provider Shopify said it had terminated online stores affiliated with the president.
The biggest blow came on Sunday, when the P.G.A. of America announced it would strip Mr. Trumpâs New Jersey golf club of a major tournament.
Mr. Trump was said to be âguttedâ by the P.G.A. decision, according to a person close to the White House, as he had worked personally for years to push the tournament executives to hold events at his courses.
In a statement that hinted at a potential legal challenge, the Trump Organization called the decision âa breach of a binding contract,â adding that âthey have no right to terminate the agreement.â
The P.G.A. Championship, scheduled for May 2022, was the ultimate golf-world trophy for the Trump brand, which over the last two decades has assembled an international collection of golf courses and resorts that now collectively represent about a third of the companyâs revenue, according to the most recent financial disclosure report.
The tournament itself is not a major source of profit, but hosting an internationally recognized event is enormously valuable for marketing. It also would have bestowed greater legitimacy on Mr. Trump and his brand, which includes 16 golf clubs around the world.
âIt has become clear that conducting the P.G.A. Championship at Trump Bedminster would be detrimental to the P.G.A. of America brand,â Jim Richerson, the P.G.A. of America president, said in a video statement.
The loss associated with the cancellation is difficult to calculate, but it could be very large and last for years in terms of missed future revenues, said Jay Karen, chief executive of the National Golf Course Owners Association.
âYou have millions of avid golfers who have a proverbial bucket list,â tied to major tournaments like the P.G.A. Championship, he said. âIf you had a major coming to you and it was pulled from you, that would certainly sting.â
In an email to members on Monday, the golf club said, âWe have had a wonderful partnership with the P.G.A. of America and share your disappointment on their decision.â
The damage is expected to continue as various companies and industries reassess their relationship with Mr. Trump and his family business.
Mr. Trumpâs hotels, like the Trump National Doral near Miami, had already lost many of the major corporate conferences after he made disparaging remarks about Muslims and Mexicans, among others, during his first presidential campaign, and his comments after a deadly rally by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 suggesting that âthere is blame on both sides.â
But the fallout from the attacks last week will be steeper and longer lasting, analysts and people familiar with the company said. Some members of the presidentâs golf clubs are reassessing whether to keep their memberships because of possible protests and vandalism, one of the people said.
David J. Sangree, a hotel industry consultant from Ohio, said that Mr. Trumpâs role in the attack on the Capitol would further undermine the companyâs efforts to appeal to affluent customers who were not Trump supporters.
âThis is a big negative,â Mr. Sangree said. âThereâs no question theyâre going to lose more events because many groups are saying, âWe donât want to be associated with this brand.ââ
Even plans to launch a Trump media platform will face obstacles. If Mr. Trump seeks to forge a new conservative news network, or join an existing one like OAN or Newsmax, corporate advertisers are hardly guaranteed to support him.
âThereâs only so much that My Pillow guy can subsidize,â said Jon Klein, the former president of CNN U.S., referring to Mike Lindell, the chief executive of My Pillow who is an outspoken supporter of the president. âItâs suddenly a lot more daunting a proposition than it was a week ago for OAN and Newsmax.â
6 hours of bemusementâŚ
Six hours of paralysis: Inside Trumpâs failure to act after a mob stormed the Capitol - The Washington Post
Hiding from the rioters in a secret location away from the Capitol, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) appealed to Jared Kushner, President Trumpâs son-in-law and senior adviser. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) phoned Ivanka Trump, the presidentâs daughter.
And Kellyanne Conway, a longtime Trump confidante and former White House senior adviser, called an aide who she knew was standing at the presidentâs side.
But as senators and House members trapped inside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday begged for immediate help during the siege, they struggled to get through to the president, who â safely ensconced in the West Wing â was too busy watching fiery TV images of the crisis unfolding around them to act or even bother to hear their pleas.
âHe was hard to reach, and you know why? Because it was live TV,â said one close Trump adviser. âIf itâs TiVo, he just hits pause and takes the calls. If itâs live TV, he watches it, and he was just watching it all unfold.â
Even as he did so, Trump did not move to act. And the message from those around him â that he needed to call off the angry mob he had egged on just hours earlier, or lives could be lost â was one to which he was not initially receptive.
âIt took him awhile to appreciate the gravity of the situation,â Graham said in an interview. âThe president saw these people as allies in his journey and sympathetic to the idea that the election was stolen.â
Trump ultimately â and begrudgingly â urged his supporters to âgo home in peace.â But the six hours between when the Capitol was breached shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon and when it was finally declared secure around 8 p.m. that evening reveal a president paralyzed â more passive viewer than resolute leader, repeatedly failing to perform even the basic duties of his job.
moving this here as well.
opinion
As we seek to absorb the meaning of a violent insurrectionist mob storming the seat of government on President Trumpâs behalf, a kind of split screen is emerging.
On one screen, Trump is shriveling into a buffoonish, pathetic figure. His violent and destructive fantasies remain unchecked and dangerous, but news accounts are depicting an increasingly isolated figure whose advisers are deserting him, even as he rages ineffectually over his inability to reverse his election loss.
On the other screen, a different picture is emerging. For the loose network of groups and lone actors that carried out Trumpâs calls for violent disruption of the lawful conclusion of the election, itâs becoming clear that the siege was a huge and momentous success, a propaganda coup that will energize them for a long time to come.
âMake no mistake: Wednesday was a watershed moment for the far-right extremist movement in this country,â Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, told me.
âBy all measurable effects, this was for far-right extremists one of the most successful attacks that theyâve ever launched,â Jared Holt, who tracks far-right groups for the Atlantic Council, added. âThis will be lionized and propagandized on likely for the next decade.â
Trump came as close as he ever will to conceding defeat in a video released Thursday night. This came after aides alarmed by his erratic behavior pressured him to project calm as imagery of the chaos and destruction at the Capitol sank in across the country and around the world.
Trump also released the video after growing convinced that he could face legal trouble for inciting mob violence. So Trump appears somewhat chastened, if not by the violence and destruction he has wrought, then at least by his newfound legal vulnerability.
But we shouldnât view this as a wind-down or a defeat for this loose movement of groups. That misconstrues both his relationship to this movement, such as it is, as well as its understanding of the real meaning of this moment.
The siege of the Capitol
Itâs not easy to say who exactly stormed the Capitol. The ADL, tracking far-right live streams and scouring as many pictures and videos as possible, tells me the groups include extremist and alt-right organizations such as the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, the Groyper Army and the Three Percenters, as well as various militia organizations.
Holt, who employs similar techniques and tracked online planning of the siege for months, concurs, telling me that many of the participants were âmilitia movement groupsâ and âwhite supremacist and white nationalist groupsâ and known individual âconspiracy extremists.â
Not that weâre surprised, but the FBI confirmed there was ZERO Antifa presence during the insurrection at the capitol â it was all virulently angry Trump supporters.
The more videos that emerge showing the horrific violence, the more we realize the true scale of the armed insurrection that endangered lives & our democracy.
Now itâs sinking in: Wednesdayâs Capitol Hill riot was even more violent than it first appeared
This is harsh. Cynical. Unreal.
THreats from Republicans are impactful as seen in AP article, shifting party status in state legislatures and for voters in PA, AZ, IA etc.
WTF
And hereâs Lindsey Graham as two-faced as they come.
Officials are seeing similar scenes unfold elsewhere.
In Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, 192 people have changed their party registration since the Jan. 6 riot. Only 13 switched to the GOP â the other 179 changed to Democrat, independent or a third party, according to Bethany Salzarulo, the director of the bureau of elections.
In Linn County, Iowa, home to Cedar Rapids, more than four dozen voters dropped their Republican Party affiliations in the 48 hours after the Capitol attack. They mostly switched to no party, elections commissioner Joel Miller said, though a small number took the highly unusual step of cancelling their registrations altogether.
The party switching pales in comparison to the more than 74 million people who voted for Trump in November. And itâs unclear whether theyâre united in their motivations. Some may be rejecting politics altogether while others may be leaving a Republican Party they fear will be less loyal to Trump.
But they offer an early sign of the volatility ahead for the GOP as the party braces for political fallout of the riots that Trump incited.
âI do think thereâs a palpable shift, from knee-jerk defense of the president to âwow, that was a bridge too far,ââ said Kirk Adams, the former Republican speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives.
Adams said he knew several people, including once-solid Trump supporters, who are switching their registrations. He said it may be weeks or months before the full impact of the insurrection is clear.
âMinds are being changed,â he said. âBut you canât go overnight from âI think the presidentâs right and the election is being stolenâ to âI guess he was wrong about everything.ââ
Party registration doesnât always preview how voters will actually cast their ballots, especially when the next major national elections are nearly two years away. But party leaders across the country are expressing concern that the riots could have a lasting impact.
New York City is considering canceling the Trump Organizationâs contracts with the city after last weekâs deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Tuesday.
Mr. de Blasio, who has repeatedly condemned President Trumpâs role in the violent siege, said his legal team was assessing the cityâs options.
âWe are looking at that very, very carefully and very quickly,â Mr. de Blasio said when asked about the contracts at a news conference. âThe president incited a rebellion against the United States government â clearly an unconstitutional act and people died. Thatâs unforgivable.â
It is not the first time the city has examined the Trump Organizationâs contracts with the city, which include running two ice skating rinks at Central Park and The Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, a city-owned golf course in the Bronx. Mr. de Blasio reconsidered those contracts after Mr. Trumpâs former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to breaking campaign finance laws in 2018.
Yes. Book him.
# House Democrats Briefed On 3 Terrifying Plots To Overthrow Government
One plot includes surrounding the Capitol and murdering Democrats to allow Republicans to take control of the government.
At least several users of the far-right social network Parler appear to be among the horde of rioters that managed to penetrate deep inside the U.S. Capitol building and into areas normally restricted to the public, according to GPS metadata linked to videos posted to the platform the day of the insurrection in Washington.
The data, obtained by a computer hacker through legal means ahead of Parlerâs shutdown on Monday, offers a birdâs eye view of its users swarming the Capitol grounds after receiving encouragement from President Trump â and during a violent breach that sent lawmakers and Capitol Hill visitors scrambling amid gunshots and calls for their death. GPS coordinates taken from 618 Parler videos analyzed by Gizmodo has already been sought after by FBI as part of a sweeping nationwide search for potential suspects, at least 20 of whom are already in custody.
The siege on January 6, which lasted approximately two hours, resulted in five deaths, including that of a Capitol police officer whom authorities say was bludgeoned with a fire extinguisher and later succumbed to his injuries. Windows were smashed, tables overturned, and graffiti scrawled and scratched into the walls of the 220-year-old buildingâsome calling for the murders of journalists sheltering in place nearby.
Illustration for article titled Parler Users Breached Deep Inside U.S. Capitol Building, GPS Data ShowsGizmodo has mapped nearly 70,000 geo-located Parler posts and on Tuesday isolated hundreds published on January 6 near the Capitol where a mob of pro-Trump supporters had hoped to overturn a democratic election and keep their president in power. The data shows Parler users posting all throughout the day, documenting their march from the National Mall to Capitol Hill where the violent insurrection ensued.
The precise locations of Parler users inside the building can be difficult to place. The coordinates do not reveal which floors they are on, for instance. Moreover, the data only includes Parler users who posted videos taken on January 6. And the coordinates themselves are only accurate up to an approximate distance of 12 yards (11 meters).
As more violent images emerged on Tuesday from the mayhem wrought by the rioters, including of the brutal attack that ultimately killed a Capitol Police officer, and as lawmakers were briefed about threats of more attacks on the Capitol, rank-and-file Republican lawmakers grew angrier about the presidentâs role in the violence.
Yet as they attempted to balance the affection their core voters have for Mr. Trump with the now-undeniable political and constitutional threat he posed, Republican congressional leaders who have loyally backed the president for four years were still stepping delicately. Their refusal to demand the presidentâs resignation and quiet plotting about how to address his conduct highlighted the gnawing uncertainty that they and many other Republicans have about whether they would pay more of a political price for abandoning him or for continuing to enable him after he incited a mob to storm the seat of government.
FFS. Rep. Lauren Boebert, who bragged about wanting to carry a gun into congress and live-tweeted the location of Pelosi, is in a standoff with Capitol Police RIGHT NOW because her bag set off the new metal detectors.