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What a cast of characters…thx Dominion.
Dominion Voting Systems Threatens to Sue MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell
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WTFery
The FBI privately warned law enforcement agencies Monday that far-right extremists have discussed posing as National Guard members in Washington and others have reviewed maps of vulnerable spots in the city — signs of potential efforts to disrupt Wednesday’s inauguration, according to an intelligence report obtained by The Washington Post.
The document, a summary of threats that the FBI identified in a Monday intelligence briefing, warned that both “lone wolves” and adherents of the QAnon extremist ideology, some of whom joined in the violent siege on the Capitol on Jan. 6, have indicated they plan to come to Washington for President-elect Joe Biden’s swearing-in ceremony.
The FBI also said it had observed people downloading and sharing maps of sensitive locations in Washington and discussing how those facilities could be used to interfere in security during the inauguration.
But the intelligence briefing did not identify any specific plots to attack the inaugural events that would be akin to the Jan. 6 siege on the Capitol and noted that “numerous” militia and extremist groups are publicly denouncing any violence targeted at the transition of presidential power.
While the FBI has picked up “suspicious traffic” in monitoring the kinds of communication systems used by some participants in the Capitol siege, it includes “nothing that points to any specific action.”
The FBI on Monday declined to characterize the credibility or gravity of the threats it outlined for law enforcement in advance of the inauguration.
The agency instead pointed to remarks FBI Director Christopher A. Wray made last week, when he said the agents were monitoring a “extensive amount of concerning online chatter” and noted the challenge of “trying to distinguish what’s aspirational versus what’s intentional.”
“We’re monitoring all incoming leads, whether they’re calls for armed protest, potential threats that grow out of the January 6 breach of the Capitol, or other kinds of potential threats leading up to inaugural events and in various other targets. So we’re latched up with all of our partners in that regard,” Wray added.
A spokesman for the Secret Service also declined to comment on the threat report or to characterize the agency’s level of concern.
“The U.S. Secret Service takes all threats seriously and will continue to work with our federal, state, local and military partners to continue securing the 59th Inauguration based on the relevant intelligence available to the security community,” said spokesman Justine Whelan.
The Post is withholding some details outlined in the intelligence report at the request of the FBI to avoid revealing intelligence-gathering methods or specific security vulnerabilities.
The Secret Service is responsible for coordinating all security for the inauguration, which is categorized as a national security special event. The FBI is responsible for gathering intelligence on threats surrounding the event and managing any crises that develop.
In the wake of the Capitol attack, the FBI has scrutinized members of extremist groups such as the Oath Keepers, the Three Percenters and the Proud Boys, a far-right group with a history of violence, making numerous arrests in recent days.
FBI moves on alleged members of extremist groups Oath Keepers, Three Percenters
The FBI’s intelligence briefing comes amid intense apprehension across the country about potential threats to Biden’s inauguration and an unprecedented military lockdown of the city’s downtown and the Mall.
At least 21,500 National Guard troops, thousands more law enforcement officers and miles of temporary fencing have been brought into the city to cordon off the iconic monuments and historic buildings that normally serve as the backdrop for a peaceful transfer of power between presidential administrations.
In its intelligence briefing, the FBI described the chatter it has been monitoring of groups associated with the Jan. 6 attack, particularly QAnon, whose followers were prominent participants in the siege.
People affiliated with the extreme movement, which claims that Trump is fighting against a deep-state cabal that traffics children, have shown interest in infiltrating security checkpoints at the inauguration, according to the report.
“QAnon members have discussed posing as National Guard soldiers, believing that it would be easy for them to infiltrate secure areas,” according to the document, which added that members have been crowdsourcing images to surveil the security perimeter.
A defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, acknowledged that National Guard members have been warned to watch for anyone in uniform who looks like they are out of place. It was not clear if that was specially because of concerns about QAnon or if other insider threats also may have caused concern.
Potential impostors could possess U.S. military uniforms through a number of means, including prior military service and surplus stores.
The D.C. National Guard is instructing troops serving during the inauguration in Washington to tell their commanders if they “see or hear something that is not appropriate” or out of place, said Capt. Chelsi B. Johnson, a National Guard spokeswoman.
The FBI also said that individual figures who have no clear ties to specific groups but have protested the election results have also shown interest in the event.
“Concerns of lone wolf actors are increasing,” according to the report, which noted that five people who took part in an armed demonstration at the Ohio Statehouse on Sunday have said they were traveling to Washington for the inauguration.
The FBI has also observed an increase in surveillance of law enforcement’s security preparations for the inauguration. According to the report, National Guard soldiers have reported seeing several individuals photographing and recording their work. Some of those videos have been uploaded online, the FBI report said.
The intelligence briefing also noted reports of unknown individuals accessing camera footage of secured areas where public access is prohibited.
It is unclear if such efforts are the work of individuals aiming to disrupt the inauguration, or merely curious passersby documenting the fortress that has sprung up across downtown.
More than 21,000 National Guard troops are stationed around Washington. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)
The metamorphosis of the nation’s capital into a veritable Green Zone is part of an aggressive effort by law enforcement to prevent more violence after the siege on the Capitol by an armed and violent pro-Trump mob.
Thousands of demonstrators that day came to Washington for a “Stop the Steal” rally and other protests. Then, encouraged by Trump, they marched on the Capitol and fought through police barricades to break into the building and stop Congress’ certification of the election results. Five people died in the riot, including one Capitol Police officer.
That attack — the first time the Capitol has been overrun since the War of 1812 — has led to perhaps the tightest security of any of the previous 58 presidential inaugurations.
When Supreme Court Justice John G. Roberts Jr. swears in Biden, there will be no sea of spectators filling the Mall and no waving crowds lining a motorcade route along Pennsylvania Avenue that presidents normally take from the Capitol to their new home for the next four years.
To avoid any possible line of sight of the Capitol balcony, where the ceremony takes place, barricades have walled off the Mall and adjoining streets. Many residents of the historic rowhouses in neighboring Capitol Hill, just east of the Capitol, have to go through police checkpoints just to leave and return to their homes.
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Conspiracy charges against some of the Insurgency participants.
U.S. files conspiracy charge against Oath Keeper leader in alleged plot against the Capitol
U.S. authorities have leveled the first conspiracy charge against an apparent leader of an extremist group in the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol, arresting an alleged Oath Keeper who is accused of plotting to disrupt the electoral vote confirmation of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory and proposing further assaults on state capitols.
Thomas Edward Caldwell, 66, of Clarke County, Va., was taken into custody before 7 a.m. on four federal counts, including conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States in the attack on the Capitol. The conspiracy charge is reserved for offenses interfering with or obstructing the lawful operation of government.
A charging affidavit says he helped organize a group of eight to 10 individuals, including self-styled Ohio militia members apprehended Sunday, who wore helmets and military-style gear and were seen moving purposefully toward the top of the Capitol steps and leading the move against police lines.
Separately, charges were unsealed Wednesday accusing a Queens man who worked in the state court system of making threats to murder Democratic politicians, including suggesting another attack on the Capitol timed to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration Wednesday
Brendan Hunt of Queens, N.Y., is described in the documents as a part time actor and full-time employee of the New York State Office of Court Administration. Authorities said Hunt was not at the Jan. 6 riot, but made threatening remarks about Democratic politicians beforehand that intensified in a video he posted two days later, titled, “KILL YOUR SENATORS.”
“We need to go back to the U.S. Capitol,” Hunt said in the video, according to the FBI. “What you need to do is take up arms, get to D.C., probably the inauguration … put some bullets in their f----- heads. If anybody has a gun, give it to me, I’ll go there myself and shoot them and kill them.”
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McConnell is going at Trump. Will that be an important influencer towards getting a full Senate Impeachment?
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday pointedly blamed President Trump for having “provoked” the violent mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
His remarks on the Senate floor came shortly before President-elect Joe Biden was scheduled to head to Washington after a farewell event in Wilmington, Del., where he has been conducting his transition. On the final full day of his White House tenure, President Trump is expected to release a video and could issue scores of pardons.
Senate confirmation hearings are being held for five of Biden’s Cabinet nominees throughout the day on a heavily fortified Capitol Hill, where preparations also continue for Biden’s swearing-in at noon Wednesday.
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It seems McConnell has finally decided to part ways with Trump. He knew all of this all along, of course; him saying it now just means he’s ready with a Julius Caeser-level case of chiropracty.
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Pentagon officials say 12 Army National Guard members have been removed from securing President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration after vetting by the FBI, including two who posted and texted extremist views about Wednesday’s event.
3:15 p.m.
Pentagon officials say 12 Army National Guard members have been removed from securing President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration after vetting by the FBI, including two who posted and texted extremist views about Wednesday’s event.
There was no specific threat to Biden.
Two U.S. officials told The Associated Press that all 12 were found to have ties to right-wing militia groups or posted extremist views online. The officials, a senior intelligence official and an Army official briefed on the matter, did not say which fringe group the Guard members belonged to or what unit they served in. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard, confirmed Tuesday that the Guard members had been removed and sent home but said only two were for inappropriate comments or texts related to the inauguration. The other 10 were for other potential issues that may involve previous criminal activity, but not directly related to the inaugural event.
The officials told the AP they had all been removed because of “security liabilities.”
It’s unclear whether they will face discipline when they return home.
— By AP writers Lolita Baldor and James LaPorta
2:05 p.m.
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“To heal you must remember.” - Lincoln memorial Covid Memorial.
President Joe Biden speaks tonight
A wave of calm, careful thoughts and warmth is so welcome now.
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This pardon doc is nuts. After listing each person’s litany of crimes, we are told how great they are, everybody loves them, 12 kids, etc.
As if all of that makes their crimes perfectly okay. “He’s a great guy, just blew up a teeny tiny mall!” Geez.
I should note, there are a great many people on this list who deserved pardons or commutations. There are a great many more not on this list who didn’t get pardons because rather than listen to the office designed for it, Trump only listened to the rich and famous.
A lot of people on this list, though, definitely committed crimes they deserved to be convicted of, and in numerous cases already served their sentences, meaning their pardons are more red tape hand-waving away their crimes than actually freeing them from current incarceration.
Aside from Steve Bannon I noticed Elliott Broidy on the list, and a number of others with political connections. Note how the pardon doesn’t go into detail about Bannon’s crimes, and seems to indicate his pardon is so he can go back to being “an important leader in the conservative movement” “known for his political acumen.”
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I hope this is not just wishful thinking…but it looks like the Q’s may feel like they got ‘played.’
Interesting to note that there is a shift in their thinking (?)
QAnon believers grapple with doubt, spin new theories as Trump era ends: ‘We all got played’
Some of the most notable figures in QAnon’s online universe said they were having a change of heart. After Biden’s inauguration, Ron Watkins — the longtime administrator of QAnon’s online home, 8kun, who critics have suspected may have helped write Q’s posts himself, a charge he denies — said on Telegram that it was time to move on.
“We need to keep our chins up and go back to our lives as best we are able,” said Watkins, who in recent months had become one of the loudest backers of conspiracy theories suggesting Biden’s win was a fraud.
“We have a new president sworn in and it is our responsibility as citizens to respect the Constitution regardless of whether or not we agree with the specifics,” Watkins added. “As we enter into the next administration please remember all the friends and happy memories we made together over the past few years.”
But Graham Brookie, director of the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, which tracks misinformation, said QAnon followers are making increasingly illogical leaps as they struggle to make sense of developments.
“It’s something that has long been true of conspiracy theories: When they don’t come to fruition, they shift their delusions to the next thing,” he said. He noted how some comments posted below Trump’s farewell video suggested that “it wasn’t quite time for the Great Awakening, but it’s coming soon and this is how.”
Researchers said some QAnon supporters appear to be rethinking their commitment due to a range of factors, including Q’s relative silence since the election, Trump’s anticlimactic White House exit, and the Capitol insurrection, which resulted in more than 100 arrests and delayed the certification of Biden’s victory by only several hours.
But several feared that the rising intensity of those still committed to QAnon could create problems for years to come if a die-hard, militarized core persists in their belief that the U.S. government is controlled by evil pedophiles who successfully subverted the Constitution.
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lolwut
At this point I am 98% sure that QAnon was a social experiment that cost hundreds of thousands of lives and the stability of the country and the world. The person/people who started and perpetuated it should be isolated from society for the rest of their lives.
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There are always fringe groups…and like any cult, they would be hard to unconvince that their conspiracy is wrong. But am glad that there are some leaving behind this far-outside-the-norm ideology.
They are dangerous and they are off kilter. Truth may or may not help.
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