October 7, 2022

Why didn't Joe use the secret Saudi handshake?

...reacting to two articles today which insist Pres. Biden got nothing out of his fistbump with the Saudi prince, as if the president intended to shift foreign policy with SA by returning the gesture.

If you're reasoning a handshake, absent of any agreement between international leaders, represents a U.S. policy shift you're doing foreign policy wrong. If you further reason that Pres. Biden sought to use a fistbump to 'cajole' the Saudi prince, as Greg Sargent did today at WaPo, you're in the wrong profession.

If you're insisting that Pres. Biden would attempt to 'placate' the Saudi prince with a fistbump (as Eugene Robinson did today), the equivalent of a handshake in the age of Covid, you're hyping that encounter to the absurd.

Critics and journos claimed the fist-bump was a 'reset' of relations. Obviously not. Nothing changed in the administration stance toward SA.

Nothing changed in Biden's 2021 'recalibration' of SA policy, and SA got nothing out of the visit which was one stop on the president's Mideast tour. He lobbied for increased production and was unsuccessful. All Saudis got was the equivalent of a polite handshake on his visit there that was hyped by the press as a shift in policy. But nothing's changed in Biden's hardened SA policy he set in 2021. Should he have tried to negotiate more production with SA, or no?

That Biden would attempt to mollify the Saudi prince with a handshake is a media invention. Absurd. As CNN reported, "Pres. Biden said he was “straightforward and direct” with MBS, adding that he indicated to the Crown Prince that he believed he was responsible for Khashoggi’s murder."

Besides, fistbumps apparently aren't even the secret Saudi signal for cooperation...

September 3, 2022

Not a stretch to think many foreign agents had access to the secret docs at MAL over time

...I could easily imagine numerous break-ins to the MAL storage areas where documents were eventually recovered by the FBI by any number of the foreign nationals who visited the club, or the by foreign workers who were employed there, photographing secret intelligence at will, later just stripping the folders they found.

While plausible Trump sold, destroyed, or gave the missing documents away, they also could have been spirited away by foreign agents.

Peter Strzok @petestrzok 19h
Great.

"Last year, the Trump Organization sought 87 foreign workers for the Palm Beach property, up from 78 a few years earlier...Pay for the full-time jobs that potentially get foreign workers in the vicinity of state secrets start at $11.96 an hour"

June 27, 2022

G7 participants really coordinating their efforts this year

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias
Ties go zero for seven at the G7 summit.
End of an era.

Lemonista 🇺🇦 @Lemonista 22h
G7 2034

June 24, 2022

Impromptu tutorial from Jan. 6 committee Chair Bennie Thompson outside the Cannon Office Building

twitter.com/MattLaslo/status/1540123247395672064

https://twitter.com/MattLaslo/status/1540094079928770565

June 22, 2022

Highly publicized congressional hearings with 1,000 depositions is a monstrous problem for DoJ

https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1539660460101877763

Judge Tim Kelly, with the backing of several of the Proud Boys defendants and the Justice Department, said he would “reluctantly” set Dec. 12 as the new date to begin selecting a jury for the trial, which prosecutors anticipate lasting four to six weeks. But Kelly also floated the prospect of an additional delay, should the parties agree to wait until after the holidays.

The department has urged the select committee in recent weeks to share all 1,000 of its witness transcripts with prosecutors, but the panel has so far declined, preferring to retain exclusive control of the evidence it has gathered. Prosecutors complained that the committee’s reluctance has hampered their ability to advance the Proud Boys prosecution, and they’ve agreed that the possibility of additional evidence becoming public created potential “prejudice” that warranted a delay in the trial.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chair of the Jan. 6 select committee, said he anticipated beginning to share some of its evidence with the Justice Department in July but not before the committee completed its slate of public hearings. He emphasized, though, that it would not be a “shared transcript” and that the committee would not let the department keep the material, only review it.

Thompson’s proposal may present an additional challenge for the Justice Department. (Judge) Kelly has ordered the department to immediately share any new evidence it receives from the committee with defendants in order to fulfill evidence-sharing and discovery obligations. But if the Justice Department is permitted to view the evidence only in committee spaces, it’s unclear how the department would share it with Proud Boys’ attorneys.

read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/22/proud-boys-trial-delay-jan-6-committee-uncertainty-00041463


___Five alleged members of the extremist group the Proud Boys, including their former leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, are due to go on trial Aug. 8 on charges of seditious conspiracy. The trial, expected to last more than a month, represents one of the two most important criminal cases to arise so far out of the Justice Department investigation into the planning and execution of the attack on Congress that delayed for hours the ceremonial counting of votes affirming Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential victory.

The committee has highlighted witness testimony and video evidence about what lawmakers say is potentially criminal behavior on the part of former president Donald Trump and others who falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen. The hearings do not include rebuttal arguments or questions...

Experts say there is a larger legal problem lurking, too: the possibility that buried in the transcripts of more than 1,000 witness interviews the committee plans to release with a public report in September are pieces of evidence that might help the Proud Boys defendants.

The committee has said it will share those transcripts with the Justice Department when they are done holding hearings. Prosecutors have said that timetable is not good enough because they need to see any such evidence well before the trial begins.

In a letter last week to the committee, senior Justice Department officials wrote “it is critical that the Department be able to evaluate the credibility of witnesses who have provided statements to multiple governmental entities in assessing the strength of any potential criminal prosecutions and to ensure that all relevant evidence is considered during the criminal investigations.”

“As a separation of powers issue, this is a brain twister,” said Stanley Brand, a former counsel for the House of Representatives who has recently represented some Jan. 6 witnesses and defendants. “But it was also totally inevitable — you have the largest criminal investigation in Justice Department history, and you plunk down in the middle of that, a highly publicized set of congressional hearings with 1,000 depositions. That’s a monstrous problem in terms of meeting your Brady obligations under the law. My guess is prosecutors don’t really know most of what’s in those depositions. We’ve only seen a smidgen.”

read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/06/21/proud-boys-trial-hearing-trump/

https://twitter.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1539592767365595142

June 17, 2022

What's with all of the adversarial nonsense toward people who are actually prosecuting the perps?

...the people who are actively prosecuting the perpetrators Congress is merely talking about, consequence free? Why all of the hostility toward the Biden Justice Dept.?

They're not the opposition. They are the ones working right now in grand juries and courts to make actual accountability for the Capitol invasion a reality. I really don't get chiding them for not doing enough, while at the same time, beating down on them for wanting access to more evidence from the Jan. 6 committee in Congress.

It's become a habit of outside critics, and even congressmen, to holler at DOJ to "stop whining, and get to work!" as even John Dean chimed in yesterday, jumping aboard the apple cart to throw insults at an entity which is institutionally and legally bound to keep silent as they prosecute, knowing full well they can't and won't respond.

If DOJ needs something to advance their investigation, this Democratic Congress should give it to them & stop treating them like the opposition. What's the actual purpose in that?

"It's our work product," is the explanation coming from the chairman of the committee, like he's talking about a go-cart they've built.

What the hell is Congress doing if they don't intend for their evidence to be part of a prosecution? Who do they think is going to advance all of that? Congress has the luxury to adjust their hearings to meet whatever need DOJ may have for transcripts and depositions.

Justice Dept. lawyers proceed at the will and impetus of the courts and grand juries. They wade through challenges of privilege, standing, and other defense motions, then the court schedules hearings and trials. It's not a static enterprise, and it's fraught with obstacles. It's not like putting on a series of hearings with built-in conclusions.

What's more important? What's the value in putting on the show without making certain the product is in the hands of people who can transform that information into actual accountability?

Anything else is just spiteful weirdness which has no rhyme or reason other than political jockeying to protect someone's turf. Congress knows DOJ is restricted in what they can share with the committee, and that seems to be the rub.

Congress also appears to want DoJ to help fill out their own evidence file with what government investigators have gathered, in return for the no-brainer of making certain DOJ has everything they need to make these charges stick.

But that's not the way prosecutions work. The information stream needs to flow into the Justice Dept., not seep out of their investigations or be siphoned off for the sake of a political hearing or any other outside interest other than winning in court. That's what the evidence is ultimately for - not merely to fill out these hearings, but to help accomplish accountability with every resource available.

DOJ absolutely does have their own evidence files, built from depositions given in grand juries, and from cooperating witness like several reported Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who are assisting prosecutors.

We know DOJ is doing their job from the subpoenas issued, and from what's been gleaned from motions in actual court hearings surrounding both the sedition charges, and also from DOJ inquiries into 'alternate elector' schemes in Ga. and elsewhere around the country.

These cases involve many aspects of the evidence Congress is assertively putting out in their public hearing, triggering not only the interest of prosecutors who may want to advantage their cases with whatever Congress can add to them, but from those accused who have a right to demand access to any evidence the prosecution may use against them in court.

Government prosecutors are obligated to either produce the depositions they rely on, in full, or put that evidence aside. What's the actual argument for Congress leaving evidence prosecutors say they can use, in a file somewhere in the Capitol instead of handing it over?

It's as if there's actual pleasure being had at watching hurdles being placed in front of the DOJ. What the hell are we doing if we're not going to use what Congress has achieved to actually advance justice?

And why are some actively fighting the very people working to make that accountability Congress seeks more consequential than just a segment on the evening news?

June 13, 2022

Merrick Garland: "Not obstructed (by memos or opinions) from pursuing investigation in any way"

Duty To Warn 🔉 @duty2warn 1h
Today, Merrick Garland confirms there is no memo or legal opinion that in any way would hinder, prevent, or obstruct prosecution at the highest level. He also eagerly says he is watching the hearings as are the Jan 6 prosecutors

The Tennessee Holler @TheTNHoller 33m
Q: “Does DOJ policy limit pursuing charges against senior current or former government officials?”

GARLAND: “We are not obstructed from pursuing our investigation in any way.” #TrumpInsurrection

watch: (love the part where he patiently explains to the press why those of us outside of his investigation aren't supposed to know what's actually going on:

https://twitter.com/mrobbinsnyc/status/1536436968892076035

"We are proceeding with full urgency with respect, as I've said many times before, to hold all perpetrators who are criminally responsible for Jan. 6 accountable, regardless of their level, their position and regardless of whether they were present at the events on Jan. 6," Garland said. "We're just going to follow the facts wherever they lead."

https://www.wfae.org/united-states-world/united-states-world/2022-06-13/the-attorney-general-and-federal-prosecutors-are-watching-all-of-the-jan-6-hearings

June 12, 2022

If you believe the Jan. 6 committee, you have to accept that DOJ is on the same track

...to prosecuting Trump.

___In the hearing we saw committee chairs, Thompson and Cheney begin to outline their case which links the actions of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers directly to the Trump White House.

Jan. 6 Panel Is Drawing A Straight Line From Trump To The Proud Boys And Oath Keepers
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/jan-6-panel-is-drawing-a-straight-line-from-trump-to-the-proud-boys-and-oath-keepers/ar-AAYjonH

The DOJ has been making that case since the beginning of the year, gradually, in court with several arrests of members of these two groups, many of whom are already said to be cooperating with the Justice Dept. investigators about their role in the conspiracy.

...a week ago:

June 6, 2022
Proud Boys leader and lieutenants charged with seditious conspiracy
The group is the second whose members face the federal rare charge in the Capitol attack

___Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, the former longtime chairman of the extremist group Proud Boys, was indicted on a new federal charge of seditious conspiracy with four top lieutenants on Monday. The charges expand the Justice Department’s allegations of organized plotting to oppose through violence the certification of President Biden’s election victory, culminating in the attack on the Capitol by a mob on Jan. 6, 2021.

A 10-count superseding indictment returned Monday morning charges Tarrio, Pezzola and three other existing defendants — Ethan Nordean of Washington state, Joe Biggs of Florida and Zachary Rehl of Pennsylvania — with “opposing the lawful transfer of presidential power by force,” eventually mustering and coordinating the movements of as many as 300 people around the Capitol that day. The defendants are accused of fomenting and spearheading a riot that stormed the Capitol, eventually forcing the evacuation of Congress as it met to confirm the 2020 election results.

Federal prosecutors previously leveled the historically rare charge of seditious conspiracy for the first time in the Jan. 6 attack against Stewart Rhodes, the founder and leader of the extremist group Oath Keepers, and 10 associates. Since the charges were filed in January, a year after the violence, two of the other defendants, Joshua James of Alabama and Brian Ulrich of Georgia, and one other Oath Keeper member, William Todd Wilson of North Carolina, have pleaded guilty to the charge and are cooperating with the Justice Department.

In April, a Tarrio co-defendant, Charles Donohoe of North Carolina, pleaded guilty to two felony counts including obstructing an official proceeding of Congress. His plea provided insights into the plans and intention of the group to disrupt the electoral vote confirmation. Tarrio and the others pleaded not guilty to a previous indictment that charged them with offenses including conspiring to obstruct Congress or impede police in a civil disorder.

The new charges add two counts, seditious conspiracy, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging any duties.

read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/06/06/tarrio-proud-boys-seditious-conpiracy/

...from DOJ:

Monday, June 6, 2022
Leader of Proud Boys and Four Other Members Indicted in Federal Court For Seditious Conspiracy and Other Offenses Related to U.S. Capitol Breach

New Charges in Superseding Indictment

WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned a superseding indictment today charging five members of the Proud Boys, including the group’s former national chairman, with seditious conspiracy and other charges for their actions before and during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Their actions disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

The defendants include Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, 38, of Miami, Florida, the former national chairman of the Proud Boys; Ethan Nordean, 31, of Auburn, Washington; Joseph Biggs, 38, of Ormond Beach, Florida; Zachary Rehl, 37, of Philadelphia, and Dominic Pezzola, 44, of Rochester, New York. All previously were indicted and remain detained. They pleaded not guilty to charges contained in earlier indictments.

The superseding indictment adds two charges to the earlier indictment: one count of seditious conspiracy, and one count of conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging any duties. All defendants now face a total of nine charges, and Pezzola faces an additional robbery charge. The defendants are scheduled to appear for a hearing on June 9, 2022, in the District of Columbia

According to court documents, the Proud Boys describe themselves as members of a “pro-Western fraternal organization for men who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world, aka Western Chauvinists.” Through at least Jan. 6, 2021, Tarrio was the national chairman of the organization. In mid-December of 2020, Tarrio created a special chapter of the Proud Boys known as the “Ministry of Self Defense.” As alleged in the indictment, from in or around December 2020, Tarrio and his co-defendants, all of whom were leaders or members of the Ministry of Self Defense, conspired to prevent, hinder and delay the certification of the Electoral College vote, and to oppose by force the authority of the government of the United States. On Jan. 6, 2021, the defendants directed, mobilized, and led members of the crowd onto the Capitol grounds and into the Capitol, leading to dismantling of metal barricades, destruction of property, breaching of the Capitol building, and assaults on law enforcement. During and after the attack, Tarrio and his co-defendants claimed credit for what had happened on social media and in an encrypted chat room.

A sixth defendant, who was earlier charged with the group, pleaded guilty on April 8, 2022. Charles Donohoe, 34, of Kernersville, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers.

read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/leader-proud-boys-and-four-other-members-indicted-federal-court-seditious-conspiracy-an-0


and, from January:

January 13, 2022
Leader of Oath Keepers and 10 Other Individuals Indicted in Federal Court for Seditious Conspiracy and Other Offenses related to U.S. Capitol Breach

WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment yesterday, which was unsealed today, charging 11 defendants with seditious conspiracy and other charges for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, which disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress that was in the process of ascertaining and counting the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

According to court documents, Elmer Stewart Rhodes III, 56, of Granbury, Texas, who is the founder and leader of the Oath Keepers; and Edward Vallejo, 63, of Phoenix, Arizona, are being charged for the first time in connection with events leading up to and including Jan. 6. Rhodes was arrested this morning in Little Elm, Texas, and Vallejo was arrested this morning in Phoenix.

In addition to Rhodes and Vallejo, those named in the indictment include nine previously charged defendants: Thomas Caldwell, 67, of Berryville, Virginia; Joseph Hackett, 51, of Sarasota, Florida; Kenneth Harrelson, 41, of Titusville, Florida; Joshua James, 34, of Arab, Alabama; Kelly Meggs, 52, of Dunnellon, Florida; Roberto Minuta, 37, of Prosper, Texas ; David Moerschel, 44, of Punta Gorda, Florida; Brian Ulrich, 44, of Guyton, Georgia, and Jessica Watkins, 39, of Woodstock, Ohio. In addition to the earlier charges filed against them, they now face additional counts for seditious conspiracy and other offenses.

Eight other individuals affiliated with the Oath Keepers, all previously charged in the investigation, remain as defendants in two related cases. All defendants – except Rhodes and Vallejo – previously were charged in a superseding indictment. The superseding indictment has now effectively been split into three parts: the 11-defendant seditious conspiracy case, a seven-defendant original case, and a third case against one of the previously charged defendants.

In one of the related cases, the original superseding indictment, charges remain pending against James Beeks, 49, of Orlando, Florida; Donovan Crowl, 51, of Cable, Ohio; William Isaacs, 22, of Kissimmee, Florida; Connie Meggs, 60, of Dunnellon, Florida; Sandra Parker, 63, of Morrow, Ohio; Bernie Parker, 71, of Morrow, Ohio, and Laura Steele, 53, of Thomasville, North Carolina. The other case charges Jonathan Walden, 57, of Birmingham, Alabama.

The three indictments collectively charge all 19 defendants with corruptly obstructing an official proceeding. Eighteen of the 19 defendants – the exception is Walden – are charged with conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiring to prevent an officer of the United States from discharging a duty. Eleven of the 19 defendants are charged with seditious conspiracy. Some of the defendants are also facing other related charges.

read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/leader-oath-keepers-and-10-other-individuals-indicted-federal-court-seditious-conspiracy


related:

Marcy Wheeler: The January 6 Militia Witnesses Are Cooperating with DOJ, Probably Not the January 6 Committee
https://www.emptywheel.net/2022/06/11/the-january-6-militia-witnesses-are-cooperating-with-doj-probably-not-the-committee/

"The import of Trump's December 19 tweet was clear even in real time..."
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216791329

June 10, 2022

Where the Justice Department is headed

from CNN:

May 9 - Federal grand juries have met every day since mid-April in the downtown Washington courthouse, approving indictments related to January 6 nearly every day. Prosecutors assigned to these cases and law enforcement witnesses frequently pop in and out of the confidential proceedings.   

As of last week, prosecutors have signed up more than 10 defendants as cooperators against Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, whose leaders are charged with separate conspiracy allegations. The case against the Oath Keepers has taken several steps forward in recent days, with two new cooperators against Rhodes and others announced in the past week.  

Attorney General Merrick Garland has publicly professed the investigation would proceed methodically. In most criminal investigations, that often means prosecutors pursue less significant figures to plead guilty and potentially cooperate as they gradually build evidence for higher-profile cases. Garland specifically noted in January that the federal evidence-collection efforts would dig into both physical and digital evidence and money.   

Federal investigators also have sought to bolster the conspiracy cases by drawing connections to violence that occurred at other rallies in the weeks before January 6, according to the sources and court filings. DOJ officials believe that could help prosecutors show there was a pattern of violence, and that the Capitol riot wasn't just a spontaneous event, sources say.

In court last week, prosecutors also disclosed how the Oath Keepers' leader Stewart Rhodes called an unnamed person on speakerphone from a hotel suite on the evening of January 6, asking to speak directly to Trump and urging the person to tell Trump to call upon groups like the Oath Keepers to "forcefully oppose the transfer of power."

Prosecutors have said they expect to bring more charges against people affiliated with extremist groups. Grand jury activity continues apace. And investigators are talking to a wide range of people, including organizers of pro-Trump rallies that preceded the US Capitol attack, while seeking information about attempts to impede the certification of President Joe Biden's electoral win.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/09/politics/oath-keepers-january-6-election-fraud-trump/index.html

...from May:

Federal investigation into Trump fake elector probe expands to multiple states

(CNN)Federal investigators have interviewed Republicans in Georgia about interactions with people in former President Donald Trump's orbit and his 2020 reelection campaign, as the Justice Department's sprawling criminal probe into efforts to put forth alternate slates of electors to displace Joe Biden electors expands to multiple states.

Investigators have sought answers this month from Gartland and others connected to the GOP in Georgia and in Michigan -- both in FBI interviews and in grand jury subpoenas for documents and testimony. Investigators are looking at whether the Trump campaign played a role in the submission of false election certificates, according to people approached by the Justice Department.

The federal probe's aggressiveness in the battleground states around the electors issue has not been previously reported. The DOJ has charged hundreds of rioters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and in recent months, investigators have broadened their scope, seeking information about people in more politically connected circles.

The subpoenas also seek any communications with more than two dozen named Trump campaign officials, attorneys and Georgia electors. CNN reported Wednesday that a recent subpoena related to the alternate electors sought communications with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Trump campaign lawyer Justin Clark, right-wing attorney John Eastman and others.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/26/politics/doj-georgia-republicans-trump-fake-elector-probe/index.html

There are other things to watch (Katelyn Polantz, CNN’s senior reporter for crime and justice's read in on what’s happened and what to expect) ...

CNN - As for complex investigations that cross more into elite political circles, we know the DOJ is asking witnesses not only about the Trump electors, but also about the organizing of the pro-Trump rally on January 6, and about members of the government who may have tried to obstruct the 2020 presidential vote result. Those investigations touch on many, many players potentially up to and including Trump.

There’s always been a bit of a disconnect between the public perception of this investigation and the actual steps being taken in it. There’s ample criticism of Garland being slow and not aggressive, but the Justice Department has charged more than 800 defendants and secured guilty pleas from more than a third of those. That is a massive undertaking for the adjudication of justice. It is the largest federal investigation in history.

The crime of the breach of Congress occurred on January 6, 2021, and it was shortly after the one-year anniversary that we saw the DOJ’s first seditious conspiracy charge land. That was also when we picked up indications that the investigation had expanded outside of just those on the grounds that day and into political circles.

As any prosecutor will tell you, investigations take time. The DOJ has five years, under the law, to investigate and prosecute as they see fit. We just reached the end of the first quarter.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/were-learning-a-lot-more-about-the-dojs-january-6-investigations/ar-AAYcc4j?ocid=BingNewsSearch

June 10, 2022

DOJ is working as hard as the Jan. 6 committee, maybe harder, and could use more help from them

...new court filings in John Eastman vs. Benny Thompson (Jan. 6 committee chairman) seek to obtain republican Sen. Mike Lee's texts between Mark Meadows and others plotting to keep Biden's victory from being certified in Congress which he's argued are privileged. Some of the communications have been denied House investigators by the court; others have not.

DOJ is seeking the same documents and others through their own subpoenas issued by grand juries set up in their ongoing investigations into the Jan. 6 insurrection, even as they prosecute the more than 840 arrests in nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia they've made so far.

Approximately 185 federal defendants have had their cases adjudicated and received sentences for their criminal activity on Jan. 6. Approximately 80 have been sentenced to periods of incarceration. Approximately 57 other defendants have been sentenced to a period of home detention..
https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/17-months-jan-6-attack-capitol

Some key points surrounding the John Eastman emails:


Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1 15m
New court filings raise questions about Republican Mike Lee's involvement in election subversion efforts:

Leaked texts suggest Lee was a participant in the plot to keep Trump in office — and court documents could now prove problematic for Lee's defense.

Leaked text messages between Utah Sen. Mike Lee and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows suggest Lee was a participant in the plot to keep Donald Trump in office... Recently released court documents could prove problematic for Lee’s defense.

Recently filed court papers from the Jan. 6 select committee contain an email from John Eastman, who was guiding Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, that cast some doubt on Lee’s explanation. Eastman was trying to shield 159 emails from the committee but was ordered by a federal judge to turn over those documents on Tuesday.

On December 8, Lee texted Meadows, “If a very small handful of states were to have their legislatures appoint alternative slates of delegates, there could be a path.”

If states had sent competing slates of electors to Congress, Eastman’s scheme alleged that then-Vice President Mike Pence had the authority to determine which slates would count. Or, as Eastman claimed, Pence could throw out all electoral votes from that state, which could throw the election to the House of Representatives or delay the certification to give state legislators more time to act.

On Jan. 3, 2021, Lee texted Meadows several times, stressing the need for action by state legislators...

https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2022/06/09/new-court-filings-raise/

DOJ wrote to the Jan. 6 committee in April requesting their witness transcripts and depositions:

Legal experts believe the US Justice Department has made headway with an important criminal inquiry and could be homing in on top Trump lawyers who plotted to overturn Joe Biden’s election, after the department wrote to the House panel investigating the January 6 Capitol attack seeking transcripts of witness depositions and interviews.

While it’s unclear exactly what information the DoJ asked for, former prosecutors note that the 20 April request occurred at about the same time a Washington DC grand jury issued subpoenas seeking information about several Trump lawyers including Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, plus other Trump advisers, who reportedly played roles in a fake electors scheme.

In replying to the justice department’s letter, the January 6 panel chair Bennie Thompson stressed that the committee’s inquiry is continuing and that “we told them that as a committee, the product was ours, and we’re not giving anyone access to the work product … we can’t give them unilateral access” and called the DoJ request “premature.”

But Thompson also told reporters last month the committee may allow some materials requested to be reviewed in the panel’s offices.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/03/us-justice-department-trump-lawyers-criminal-inquiry

...another report of the DOJ's requests of the House:

May 17 - Federal prosecutors have asked the House of Representatives committee investigating the 6 January 2021 attack on the Capitol to provide transcripts of witness interviews and depositions taken by committee members and staff, according to a New York Times report.

A “person with knowledge of the matter” told the Times committee chairman Bennie Thompson has not reached any agreement with Attorney General Merrick Garland or other Justice Department officials regarding what, if any, documents will be provided.

But the department has been in communication with the panel since 20 April.

Because the select committee — which has interviewed over 1,000 witnesses — has spoken to many of the planners involved in Mr Trump’s efforts and involved in planning the rally which proceeded the riot, obtaining transcripts of the depositions and interviews would allow prosecutors to skip conducting interviews of their own and present the documents as evidence to a grand jury.

https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/justice-department-asked-jan-6-211055700.html

Judge David O. Carter has further ordered that the House get more John Eastman emails, including electors discussions and other planning:

Jun. 8 - A federal judge has decided the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection should get access this month to 159 emails of right-wing attorney John Eastman that largely relate to his efforts on behalf of Donald Trump to try to block the 2020 election result.

The judge — as he did previously related to another set of Eastman emails — decided one of the emails could be evidence of the planning of a crime, specifically Eastman and Trump’s efforts to thwart Congress certifying the election result on January 6, 2021.

“Dr. Eastman’s actions in these few weeks indicate that his and President Trump’s pressure campaign to stop the electoral count did not end with Vice President Pence — it targeted every tier of federal and state elected officials. Convincing state legislatures to certify competing electors was essential to stop the count and ensure President Trump’s reelection,” Carter, of the Central District of California federal court, wrote on Tuesday night.

Carter separately says some emails illuminate how Eastman and others discussed avoiding a post-election court decision that would hurt their plan to convince Vice President Mike Pence to block Biden’s electoral college win.

“Dr. Eastman and President Trump’s plan to stop the count was not only established by early December, it was the ultimate goal that the legal team was working to protect from that point forward,” Carter wrote.

https://krdo.com/politics/cnn-us-politics/2022/06/08/house-to-get-more-eastman-emails-on-eve-of-first-january-6-hearing-including-electors-discussions-and-other-planning/

DOJ's has set up grand juries which have made identical subpoenas for many of the same documents as the House panel, for Eastman and others:

The Justice Department has stepped up its criminal investigation into the creation of alternate slates of pro-Trump electors seeking to overturn Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory in the 2020 election, with a particular focus on a team of lawyers that worked on behalf of President Donald J. Trump, according to people familiar with the matter.

A federal grand jury in Washington has started issuing subpoenas in recent weeks to people linked to the alternate elector plan, requesting information about several lawyers including Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani and one of his chief legal advisers, John Eastman, one of the people said.

The subpoenas also seek information on other pro-Trump lawyers like Jenna Ellis, who worked with Mr. Giuliani, and Kenneth Chesebro, who wrote memos supporting the elector scheme in the weeks after the election.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/25/us/politics/pro-trump-lawyers-elector-scheme.html

DOJ has been unraveling the claims of privilege and seeking documents and other communications in court since at least January:

Jan. 25 — The Justice Department is investigating the fake slates of electors that falsely declared Donald J. Trump the victor of the 2020 election in seven swing states that Joseph R. Biden Jr. had in fact won, a top agency official said on Tuesday.

“Our prosecutors are looking at those, and I can’t say anything more on ongoing investigations,” Lisa O. Monaco, the deputy attorney general, said in an interview with CNN.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/25/us/politics/justice-department-trump.html

The House Jan. 6 committee is still resisting sending witness transcripts and depositions to DOJ, as requested several times by Justice Dept. lawyers working simultaneously on obtaining Trump's cohort's communications:

DOJ says it still hasn't received any of the Jan. 6 committee's transcripts despite ongoing talks

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney (Politico senior legal affairs reporter) 14m
HAPPENING NOW: DOJ says in court (during a fortitously timed Proud Boys hearing) that it anticipates the Jan. 6 select committee releasing all 1,000 witness transcripts in September, along with its final report.

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney
That could occur during or right around the timing if the Proud Boys trial, which is slated to begin in August, and both sides in the case are concerned about what affect this could have on their timing.

https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1534978925599793152

https://twitter.com/BarbMcQuade/status/1526866404523315202

"...obtaining transcripts of the depositions and interviews would allow (DOJ) prosecutors to skip conducting interviews of their own and present the documents as evidence to a grand jury."
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/justice-department-asked-jan-6-211055700.html