Capitol Riot Investigation Thread

[malchior]

The investigation into the 1/6 Capitol Riot/Insurrection is continuing and today the FBI Director Christopher Wray spoke to the Senate Judiciary committee. I've been watching this morning and it really indicates that this may get bogged down in partisan infighting.

Chuck Grassley spent his opening remarks and question time with Wray trying to talk about Antifa and the unrest over the summer. Chuck Leahy chased Grassley down the rabbit hole on Antifa to counter this. Graham spent time diverting into worrying about international terrorism impacts. He observed that couldn't figure out what these people were carrying in their backpacks. And then strongly hinted he wanted a domestic terror watchlist.

I really hope we have an independent 9/11 style committee because these guys are all over the place on this and having watched 2 hours of this I can't say I've learned a damn thing about 1/6 other than what I've read in the paper.

Edit: A good boil down of the feel of this hearing.

[Paingod]

I am going to spend the rest of my life being unable to fully grasp how people can insist things in opposition to reality and without any evidence or backing. These last four years have been the worst in my life for this concept, and at an accelerating pace over the last 6 months.

I can vaguely grasp at why people would want to believe in religions; there's a benefit, there's a tradition, there's no proof otherwise.

That Trump won the election or that Antifa was responsible for the riot? Evidence in abundance oppose these concepts, yet there are people who won't let them go.

I just ... don't get it.

[malchior]

It happens because these people are good at driving misinformation. The GOP was chanting antifa at this hearing and the Democrats faithfully chased their tails while not offering up the true facts. That a piece of that puzzle. The Democrats and the media at large haven't figured out how not to broadcast and reinforce misinformation intentionally designed to muddle the truth.

[Remus West]

It happens because these people are good at driving misinformation. The GOP was chanting antifa at this hearing and the Democrats faithfully chased their tails while not offering up the true facts. That a piece of that puzzle. The Democrats and the media at large haven't figured out how not to broadcast and reinforce misinformation intentionally designed to muddle the truth.

I really wish they would just look across the aisle on their turn and say "enough of the bullshit nonsense. Let's now address issue of the rioters and insurrectionists within the far right, including those sitting across the room." Stop playing polite and call them out on their lies and bull. Push the truth at least twice as hard as they push their misdirection.

[LordMortis]

[Carpet_pissr]

Shocked at the source/headline combo there.

[Pyperkub]

An interesting look at one case from the sports world:

How Did Klete Keller Veer From His Lane?
On Jan. 6, towering above a mob of angry insurrectionists, the American swimmer went from Olympic hero—a man who medaled alongside Michael Phelps—to FBI target for his role in the U.S. Capitol siege. What happened here?

[Jaymann]

An interesting look at one case from the sports world:

How Did Klete Keller Veer From His Lane?
On Jan. 6, towering above a mob of angry insurrectionists, the American swimmer went from Olympic hero—a man who medaled alongside Michael Phelps—to FBI target for his role in the U.S. Capitol siege. What happened here?

He swallowed the bong water?

[Alefroth]

Bellingcat has dug up a lot on the alleged Pelosi laptop thief-

https://www.bellingcat.com/news/america ... zi-salute/

[malchior]

Bellingcat has dug up a lot on the alleged Pelosi laptop thief-

https://www.bellingcat.com/news/america ... zi-salute/

Indeed - some of the research is pretty compelling. Much of it was unsurprising except that females don't often participate in that space. Which is how so much attention fell on her frankly - beyond the Pelosi laptop angle.

[Skinypupy]

It took the Pentagon over 3 hours to approve a request from the National Guard to intervene in the Jan 6 riots

Unsurprising...both that it happened and that there will be no accountability for any of the traitors involved.

[malchior]

QAnon shaman's mom speaks to 60 minutes

[Jaymann]

What do you mean by wrong?

This could be the problem right there.

[Octavious]

Her jacket tells me all I need to know. So is Trump president yet today? So far it's been really quite. Maybe he's waiting for primetime.

[Daehawk]

"He walked through open doors."

Ya well lady if I see a neighbor's door open Im not walking through it like a little ass.

[Hyena]

What do you mean by wrong?

This could be the problem right there.

That, and the fact that she thinks he would actually take it back if he could. He walked through the doors that had just been battered open carrying a giant spear, a buffalo headdress, bare-chested and face painted up in stars and stripes, and he sat in the Vice President's chair in the very chamber that was minutes before vacated in fear of people chanting, "Hang Mike Pence."

I would say regret is not real high on his list of emotions. But at least he's getting his own organic meals and lactose-free Go-gurt squeezies in jail. Hell, she couldn't even say the word, "jail" or "prison".

"Because my son is in...he's...where he is right now, so."

[Carpet_pissr]

Hell, she couldn't even say the word, "jail" or "prison". "Because my son is in...he's...where he is right now, so."

I think that's almost as telling as her fashion sense. It immediately struck me as well, and further reinforces the idea that so many people that bought the Trump conspiracy theory, are operating at a VERY surface level, mentally. Not to say stupid, just that they don't seem to do ANY kind of careful thought or consideration of what really happened. They have their superficial fairy tale that was spoon fed to them, and they are happy with that. No further mental investigation or thought needed.

I think that behavior is very much in keeping with someone that is so mentally...immature(?), that they can't bring themselves to say a certain word in this context. It's like Trump not being able to say that Biden won. I'm very sure he LITERALLY would not be able to utter those words. The mental block is too strong.

[Jaymann]

Greg Miller
@gregpmiller

State Department aide. Top-secret clearance. Trump appointee.
Now charged with storming Capitol and beating police with a shield.


Busted motherfucker!

[naednek]

Greg Miller
@gregpmiller

State Department aide. Top-secret clearance. Trump appointee.
Now charged with storming Capitol and beating police with a shield.


Busted motherfucker!

image doesn't work on forum or the link

[wonderpug]

Huh, it's working for me. Just imagine a disheveled man in a suit and MAGA hat with his arm out wielding an imaginary shield.

[Isgrimnur]

it's working for me

[stessier]

it's working for me

[naednek]

probably my work then, none of his posts to that site work for me. but places like imgur are fine.

[Isgrimnur]

probably my work then, none of his posts to that site work for me. but places like imgur are fine.

Just for you.

Spoiler:

[Holman]

Huh, it's working for me. Just imagine a disheveled man in a suit and MAGA hat with his arm out wielding an imaginary shield.

Just imagine a middle-aged, middle-management Fox Viewer the way he imagines himself after a couple of hours of Tucker and Hannity.

[Carpet_pissr]

Huh, it's working for me. Just imagine a disheveled man in a suit and MAGA hat with his arm out wielding an imaginary shield.

Just imagine a middle-aged, middle-management Fox Viewer the way he imagines himself after a couple of hours of Tucker and Hannity.

And a soupçon of Jeanine Pirro (off meds).

[Jag]

Here's a new one. Jay Johnston from Mr. Show and Bobs Burger. Snopes has it as unproven, but it's him.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/jay-j ... tol-riots/

[Smoove_B]

F'ing Jimmy Pesto.

[LordMortis]

Johnston also once appeared on Proud Boy founder Gavin McInnes’ show.

And that is the sound of Cancel Culture taking aim followed by the righteous anger at the attacks on his livelihood. And I'm not sure I blame the cutlure. Much like I don't want my Cable dollars paying to keep Fox News on the air, I don't want my viewing time to translate in to the money that feeds Trump rallys or attractions to bigotry host shows.

[Smoove_B]

Looks like there was some coordination behind the scenes.

A leader among the paramilitary group the Oath Keepers said he was coordinating with the Proud Boys about how their members would work together at the US Capitol on January 6, according to a new court filing from prosecutors late Tuesday night.
Facebook chats made public in the filing by the Justice Department show Kelly Meggs, a leader among the Oath Keepers, discussing his communications with Proud Boys leadership and how he had "orchestrated a plan" with the group.
Criminal conspiracy cases against the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are among the most aggressive actions from the Justice Department following the violent pro-Trump riot. The new allegations about Meggs and the Proud Boys are the first time prosecutors have publicly linked allegedly violent efforts of the two right-wing extremist groups closely together.

Any money on whether or not Roger Stone will be tied into this officially now?

[malchior]

Any money on whether or not Roger Stone will be tied into this officially now?

It feels like chances are high but then again apparently no one really cares about this anymore.

[LordMortis]

It feels like chances are high but then again apparently no one really cares about this anymore.

Unbelievable. Less than two months ago and it's like it never happened. Listening to conservative interrogators go after Dorsey for not moderating liberal content (which he flatly says "that was taken down" when given examples) and allowing democrats to create a false narrative is... I got nuthin'. This, over a hearing, about ability to moderatie content, because, you know insurrection.

[Smoove_B]

I think they're slowly working their way up the chain. First the randos. Next are the organized hate groups. I'm hoping that very soon they reveal texts and emails from sitting elected officials.

I need to believe there will be consequences for this. Anything else sends me into a spiral.

[malchior]

I think they're slowly working their way up the chain. First the randos. Next are the organized hate groups. I'm hoping that very soon they reveal texts and emails from sitting elected officials.

I need to believe there will be consequences for this. Anything else sends me into a spiral.

This is about the only way something happens - the FBI is able to crack it open or a journalist gets their hands on material. A fix inside the walls of Congress is impossible. Most people don't even know that McConnell essentially single-handedly kiboshed an independent investigation. We had a political party commited to overturning an election, their President tried to commit an autocoup, they failed to hold him accountable, and then they were able to stamp out the investigation into that act. I'm sorry to say it but the paths out of this are pretty narrow.

[Kraken]

I think they're slowly working their way up the chain. First the randos. Next are the organized hate groups. I'm hoping that very soon they reveal texts and emails from sitting elected officials.

I need to believe there will be consequences for this. Anything else sends me into a spiral.

This is about the only way something happens - the FBI is able to crack it open or a journalist gets their hands on material. A fix inside the walls of Congress is impossible. Most people don't even know that McConnell essentially single-handedly kiboshed an independent investigation. We had a political party commited to overturning an election, their President tried to commit an autocoup, they failed to hold him accountable, and then they were able to stamp out the investigation into that act. I'm sorry to say it but the paths out of this are pretty narrow.

I sort of trust Garland to worry this bone to the marrow. But then, I trusted Mueller to document Russian collusion, too, and he sort of did, and it just got lost in the noise.

[LordMortis]

I think they're slowly working their way up the chain. First the randos. Next are the organized hate groups. I'm hoping that very soon they reveal texts and emails from sitting elected officials.

I need to believe there will be consequences for this. Anything else sends me into a spiral.

I remember this one time we had an actual president of the United States who attacked the FBI for this method of pursuing crime and he attacked the rats that contributed to this escalation.

[Paingod]

I'm hoping that very soon they reveal texts and emails from sitting elected officials.

So that Team Red knows who to vote for?

[malchior]

The AP filed a report based on an internal Pentagon document they obtained about some unknown timeline elements about 1/6.

AP News

It's worth a read. It's unbelievable. I don't get why they won't investigate this fully because heads should roll.

From a secure room in the Capitol on Jan. 6, as rioters pummeled police and vandalized the building, Vice President Mike Pence tried to assert control. In an urgent phone call to the acting defense secretary, he issued a startling demand.

“Clear the Capitol,” Pence said.

Elsewhere in the building, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were making a similarly dire appeal to military leaders, asking the Army to deploy the National Guard.

“We need help,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said in desperation, more than an hour after the Senate chamber had been breached.

At the Pentagon, officials were discussing media reports that the mayhem was not confined to Washington and that other state capitals were facing similar violence in what had the makings of a national insurrection.

“We must establish order,” said Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a call with Pentagon leaders.

...

With Trump not engaged, it fell to Pentagon officials, a handful of senior White House aides, the leaders of Congress and the vice president holed up in a secure bunker to manage the chaos.

While the timeline helps to crystalize the frantic character of the crisis, the document, along with hours of sworn testimony, provides only an incomplete picture about how the insurrection could have advanced with such swift and lethal force, interrupting the congressional certification of Joe Biden as president and delaying the peaceful transfer of power, the hallmark of American democracy.

...

At 4:08 p.m. on Jan. 6, as the rioters roamed the Capitol and after they had menacingly called out for Pelosi, D-Calif., and yelled for Pence to be hanged, the vice president was in a secure location, phoning Christopher Miller, the acting defense secretary, and demanding answers.

There had been a highly public rift between Trump and Pence, with Trump furious that his vice president refused to halt the Electoral College certification. Interfering with that process was an act that Pence considered unconstitutional. The Constitution makes clear that the vice president’s role in this joint session of Congress is largely ceremonial.

Pence’s call to Miller lasted only a minute. Pence said the Capitol was not secure and he asked military leaders for a deadline for securing the building, according to the document.

By this point it had already been two hours since the mob overwhelmed Capitol Police unprepared for an insurrection. Rioters broke into the building, seized the Senate and paraded to the House. In their path, they left destruction and debris. Dozens of officers were wounded, some gravely.

Just three days earlier, government leaders had talked about the use of the National Guard. On the afternoon of Jan. 3, as lawmakers were sworn in for the new session of Congress, Miller and Milley gathered with Cabinet members to discuss Jan. 6. They also met with Trump.

In that meeting at the White House, Trump approved the activation of the D.C. National Guard and also told the acting defense secretary to take whatever action needed as events unfolded, according to the information obtained by the AP.

...

At 3:19 p.m., Pelosi and Schumer were calling the Pentagon for help and were told the National Guard had been approved.

But military and law enforcement leaders struggled over the next 90 minutes to execute the plan as the Army and Guard called all troops in from their checkpoints, issued them new gear, laid out a new plan for their mission and briefed them on their duties.

The Guard troops had been prepared only for traffic duties. Army leaders argued that sending them into a volatile combat situation required additional instruction to keep both them and the public safe.

By 3:37 p.m., the Pentagon sent its own security forces to guard the homes of defense leaders. No troops had yet reached the Capitol.

By 3:44 p.m., the congressional leaders escalated their pleas.

...

By about 4:30 p.m., the military plan was finalized and Walker had approval to send the Guard to the Capitol. The reports of state capitals breached in other places turned out to be bogus.

At about 4:40 p.m. Pelosi and Schumer were again on the phone with Milley and the Pentagon leadership, asking Miller to secure the perimeter.

But the acrimony was becoming obvious.

The congressional leadership on the call “accuses the National Security apparatus of knowing that protestors planned to conduct an assault on the Capitol,” the timeline said.

The call lasts 30 minutes. Pelosi’s spokesman acknowledges there was a brief discussion of the obvious intelligence failures that led to the insurrection.

It would be another hour before the first contingent of 155 Guard members were at the Capitol. Dressed in riot gear, they began arriving at 5:20 p.m.

They started moving out the rioters, but there were few, if any, arrests. by police.

At 8 p.m. the Capitol was declared secure.

[Smoove_B]

More info coming out:

Capitol Police officers were instructed by leaders not to use their most aggressive tactics when responding to the mob of pro-Trump rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to a new report from the agency’s internal watchdog.

...

In the 104-page document, which has not yet been widely released to the public, Bolton reportedly added that the Capitol Police’s Civil Disturbance Unit, which is specifically responsible for handling large protests, was ordered by supervisors not to use the department’s most powerful tools and techniques, according to the Times.

Bolton noted that “heavier, less-lethal weapons,” including stun grenades, “were not used that day because of orders from leadership,” even though officials who responded to the rioting later told Bolton that these tools would have helped police “push back the rioters.”

The Times reported that Bolton found the Civil Disturbance Unit was “operating at a decreased level of readiness as a result of a lack of standards for equipment,” including the absence of functional shields used by Capitol Police officers.

I'm sure we can find lots of other examples in other scenarios nationwide from the last year where police where specifically ordered to not use their most aggressive tactics.

Or maybe we can get a copy of the orders that were given when President Truck Nutz wanted to stand in front of a church.

[hitbyambulance]

The frontman of the heavy metal band Iced Earth became the first defendant to plead guilty to federal charges in the U.S. Capitol riot.