QOTD -- A Shameful Ending

 

"... This is the last of the prosecutions seeking to hold accountable those responsible for the events of January 6. That book is now closed. Today’s epilogue diminishes the gravity of that day, denigrates the work of the prosecutors and law enforcement officers who secured these convictions, and excuses criminal acts that caused a centuries-long pillar of our democracy—the peaceful transfer of presidential power—to buckle. The court cannot write a different ending..." -- U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta, concluding his Memorandum Opinion and Order, dismissing with prejudice the case of United States of America v. Elmer Stewart Rhodes III, et al.  Rhodes, of course, is the bastard who runs the un-American fascist militia Oath Keepers that played such a primary and violent role in the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol, as detailed in Mehta's memorandum.  The Malignant Fascist's "Justice" Department had moved to dismiss the original indictment against Rhodes and his fellow thug fascists, clearly at the behest of the MF, the then coup leader himself.  Mehta had no authority under law to deny the "Justice" Department's motion to dismiss the case.  But, Rhodes et al. were all just part of what the MF calls "a day of love," right?

Erasing The History Of January 6

 

On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Trump-led mob attack on the Capitol, the plaque honoring the sacrifices of the police officers who defended the Capitol during the Trump-led violent insurrection on January 6, 2021, has been removed.  From the Associated Press:

"Approaching the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, the official plaque honoring the police who defended democracy that day is nowhere to be found.

It’s not on display at the Capitol, as is required by law. Its whereabouts aren’t publicly known, though it’s believed to be in storage.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has yet to formally unveil the plaque. And the Trump administration’s Department of Justice is seeking to dismiss a police officers’ lawsuit asking that it be displayed as intended. The Architect of the Capitol, which was responsible for obtaining and displaying the plaque, said in light of the federal litigation, it cannot comment.

Determined to preserve the nation’s history, some 100 members of Congress, mostly Democrats, have taken it upon themselves to memorialize the moment. For months, they’ve mounted poster board-style replicas of the Jan. 6 plaque outside their office doors, resulting in a Capitol complex awash with makeshift remembrances.

'On behalf of a grateful Congress, this plaque honors the extraordinary individuals who bravely protected and defended this symbol of democracy on Jan. 6, 2021,' reads the faux bronze stand-in for the real thing. 'Their heroism will never be forgotten.'"  (our emphasis)

It's no wonder that the MAGA cult and its leader want any evidence of their everlasting shame to be erased, especially from the crime scene itself.  The fact that more than 140 Capitol and Metropolitan Washington police were injured, many severely, with two dying in the aftermath, can't be erased from our civic memory. The vile, anti-American actions of the Malignant Fascist and his cult that day in an attempt to unlawfully overturn the 2020 election results is part of the historical record.  The MF pardoned his cultist lawbreakers within hours of taking office last year, demonstrating his effort to erase the shame of that day and reward his most loyal mob members. 

Tomorrow's fifth year anniversary should be discussed on every broadcast and front page, but sadly the corporate media has shown their fear of the monstrous autocrat in the Oval Office.  For the rest of us, remember that day, and vow deferred justice for the police and the criminals involved.

(photo: Mia McCarthy / Politico)

 

Jack Smith: Trump "Most Culpable" For Jan. 6 Insurrection

 

The Republican lickspittles on the House Judiciary Committee tried to bury the deposition and testimony on the January 6 insurrection of former Special Counsel Jack Smith in the New Year's Eve news dead zone.  Others are here to make sure it doesn't stay buried. Anyone who's lived through the events up to and including January 6, 2021, will be familiar with the points made by Smith, and the conclusions he addresses are without question true to all but residents in the MAGA bubble.  But now it's been added to the historical record of that shameful day.  Here's an edited summary by The Independent:

Donald Trump was “most culpable” for the January 6 riot and would have been convicted in court had the case gone to trial, according to explosive testimony from former special counsel Jack Smith, released Wednesday afternoon by the House Judiciary Committee.

Smith led both Justice Department prosecutions of Trump: the first over the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters after he lost the 2020 election, and the second over his alleged concealment of classified materials at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. He testified before the Judiciary panel in a closed-door session earlier in December as the committee investigates whether Trump was politically targeted by the Justice Department under Attorney General Merrick Garland and President Joe Biden. [snip]

The release of the testimony by House Republicans on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, with Congress out of session and Washington still largely emptied out for the holidays, comes as they largely failed to prove any links between Smith’s prosecutions and the Biden White House. The president’s accusations of political weaponization have largely been overshadowed by his own very public efforts in that same vein against the likes of James Comey and Letitia James.  [snip]

Smith told the committee that he believed he could have obtained a conviction in what was seen by many as the most serious of the charges: Conspiring to deny Americans a free and fair election by pushing to overturn the 2020 election.

“Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power,” said Smith.

The former special counsel said he relied heavily on the testimony of Republican state officials for his case, similar to the investigation headed up by the bipartisan House January 6 committee in 2021.

“President Trump was by a large measure the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy. These crimes were committed for his benefit. The attack that happened at the Capitol, part of this case, does not happen without him,” Smith told the lawmakers.

Asked about the violence that day, Smith said: “Our view of the evidence was that he caused it and that he exploited it and that it was forseeable to him.”  [snip]

Pressed by Republicans to accept that the president’s statements were merely voicings of opinions protected by the First Amendment, Smith insisted in turn that Trump crossed a line by reaching out to public officials and asking them to do his bidding, as was the case in the infamous call between Trump and Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, who was asked by the president to “find” more than 11,000 votes necessary to change the results in that state.

“As we said in the indictment, he was free to say that he thought he won the election. He was even free to falsely say he won the election,” said Smith. “But what he was not free to do was violate federal law and use knowingly false statements about election fraud to target a lawful government function.”  [snip]

Even in the hours after the attack, the president was actively trying to convince members of the U.S. Senate to delay certification of the election, according to Smith. He cited testimony from Trump ally Boris Epshteyn, who told the DOJ that the White House was working to contact senators such as Lindsey Graham throughout the evening.

Smith went on to say that he was still considering charging other co-conspirators in the election conspiracy case when Trump won the election, making it a moot point... (our emphasis)

Here is a link to Smith's 255- page deposition (pdf).

Smith also stated that he fully expected to be targeted for retribution by the felonious, lying, seditionist psychopath.  We have to wonder how willing future prosecutors will be in bringing the powerful to justice. 

Americans have now twice failed a basic test of democracy by electing an unfit democracy- destroyer to the presidency.  What he failed to accomplish in 2021, as Smith has re-established, he's still engaged in, with a craven party willing to do his bidding no matter the consequences. But he's getting weaker, and we're getting stronger, so the next chapters are waiting to be written.

Jack Smith Testifies On Trump's Criminal Acts

 

Former Special Counsel Jack Smith was in front of the Republican- led House Judiciary Committee yesterday in closed session to testify on his investigations of the Malignant Fascist's attempt to overthrow the 2020 election results and his unlawful retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lardo:

Former special counsel Jack Smith told a congressional committee Wednesday that his team found "proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that President Donald Trump engaged in a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to parts of his opening statement obtained by NBC News.

Trump also “repeatedly tried to obstruct justice” to keep secret his retention of classified documents found during an FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Smith told members of the House Judiciary Committee at a closed-door hearing.

Smith said his team turned up “powerful evidence that showed Trump willfully retained highly classified documents after he left office in Jan. 2021, storing them at his social club, including in a bathroom and a ballroom where events and gatherings took place.”

House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, subpoenaed Smith to testify as part of Republican efforts to investigate the special counsel's office. Smith's investigations led to two indictments of Trump: in the classified documents case and in the 2020 election interference case. Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case in July 2024, and a separate judge agreed to drop the 2020 case in November 2024 after Trump won re-election.

Trump has repeatedly called for Smith to be prosecuted.

Facing a renewed wave of Republican attacks on his investigations into Trump, Smith was expected to try to use the hearing to correct what his team has described as mischaracterizations about the special counsel investigation.

Smith had wanted to testify in a public setting, but House Republicans refused to accommodate his request.

After the hearing Wednesday, House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., joked that Jordan “made an excellent decision in not allowing Jack Smith to testify publicly, because had he done so, it would have been absolutely devastating to the president and all the president’s men involved in the insurrectionary activities of Jan. 6.” [snip]

Pushing back against criticism of his team's decision to obtain and analyze the phone call records of nine congressional Republicans, Smith told members of the committee that those records “were lawfully subpoenaed and were relevant to complete a comprehensive” investigation.

“January 6 was an attack on the structure of our democracy in which over 100 heroic law enforcement officers were assaulted. Over 160 individuals later pled guilty to assaulting police officers that day,” Smith said. “Exploiting that violence, President Trump and his associates tried to call Members of Congress in furtherance of their criminal scheme, urging them to further delay certification of the 2020 election.”

“I didn’t choose those Members," Smith added, “President Trump did.”

Smith’s report on Trump’s efforts to overturn the election found that Trump “inspired his supporters to commit acts of physical violence” on Jan. 6, 2021, and that Trump knowingly spread “demonstrably and, in many cases, obviously false” claims about the election as part of the effort.

Smith is not expected to testify about Volume II of his report, which focused on Trump’s handling of classified documents... (our emphasis)

The lawless schemes and treasonous behavior the Malignant Fascist engaged in has been laid out in courts for the last three or four years, and needs no further exposition. We look forward to a release of Smith's statement (but probably won't see a transcript of his testimony as long as MAGAt loon Rep. Jim "Gym" Jordan (R-OH) is heading the committee).  The Malignant Fascist has talked about Smith as a potential target for one of his vengeful prosecutions.  Perhaps he's been deterred at least until now by the certainty that, in reviving the January 6 and classified documents cases, he would be opening them up to a whole new cycle of reminding the American public what a treasonous, lawless, corrupt person they've elected.  What little we've seen of Smith's closed door testimony provided a glimpse of the danger to the MF of re-opening those prosecutions to public scrutiny, especially in an election year.

(Photo:  Smith arriving at yesterday's hearing / J. Scott Applewhite, AP)

DOJ Fires More Jan. 6 Prosecutors

The Associated Press reports that at least three Federal prosecutors involved in prosecuting the violent Trumpist insurrectionists of January 6 have been summarily fired.  From the report:

"The Justice Department on Friday fired at least three prosecutors involved in U.S. Capitol riot criminal cases, the latest moves by the Trump administration targeting attorneys connected to the massive prosecution of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Those dismissed include two attorneys who worked as supervisors overseeing the Jan. 6 prosecutions in the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington as well as a line attorney who prosecuted cases stemming from the Capitol attack, the people said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.

A letter that was received by one of the prosecutors was signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi. The letter did not provide a reason for their removal, effective immediately, citing only 'Article II of the United States Constitution and the laws of the United States,' according to a copy seen by The Associated Press." (our emphasis)

The only real reason the corrupt Attorney General could have given was the lawless Malignant Fascist's revenge against those that fought for justice and accountability for his law-breaking cultists, who battled police and trashed the Capitol building, nearly assaulting then- Vice President Pence.  After the MF's pardon of the roughly 1,500 of his rioting cult members on his first day in office, he was on a mission to punish the Federal prosecutors and others who frustrated his attempt at a coup.  He's extended his revenge tour to major law firms that he imagines to be enemies of his because they employed lawyers hostile to his fascist agenda and his criminal activities.

(photo: John Minchillo / AP file photo)

 

Trump Tries To Bury Special Counsel's Final Report (UPDATED)

 

On the brink of regaining the power they tried to hold onto un- Constitutionally in their coup attempt on January 6, 2021, the Malignant Fascist (MF) and his MAGAt co- conspirators and enablers are feverishly at work trying to pull off the whitewash of the century:

President-elect Donald Trump and his former co-defendants in the Florida classified documents case launched an effort Monday to block the release of a final report by special counsel Jack Smith that also addresses the election interference case.

Both cases against Trump have been dismissed.

Lawyers for defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira filed a motion Monday night asking U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to block Smith, who prosecuted the case, from issuing his report. They cited the judge's previous ruling that Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional.

“The Final Report promises to be a one-sided, slanted report, relying nearly exclusively on evidence presented to a grand jury and subject to all requisite protections—and which is known to Smith only as a result of his unconstitutional appointment—in order to serve a singular purpose: convincing the public that everyone Smith charged is guilty of the crimes charged,” the four lawyers wrote.

Defense lawyers asked Cannon on Monday to hold a hearing and rule on their motion by Friday, saying they believe the release of the report is “imminent.”

Trump’s lawyers, meanwhile, sent a letter urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to stop Smith from releasing the report. In the letter, Trump’s lawyers called Smith an “out-of-control private citizen unconstitutionally posing as a prosecutor” aiming to politically harm Trump.

“Accordingly, because Smith has proposed an unlawful course of action, you must countermand his plan and remove him promptly. If Smith is not removed, then the handling of his report should be deferred to President Trump’s incoming attorney general, consistent with the expressed will of the People,” they wrote.

Trump’s lawyers said they reviewed a two-volume draft copy of Smith’s report at the special counsel’s office in Washington, D.C., over the weekend.

In his response to the emergency motion, Smith wrote that his office is working to finalize "a two-volume confidential report to the Attorney General explaining the Special Counsel’s prosecution decisions." He said that it would be Garland who decides whether any portion is released to the public and that one volume "pertains to this case." 

Smith said his office won’t transmit that volume to Garland before 1 p.m. ET Tuesday. He also said Garland "has not yet determined how to handle the report volume pertaining to this case, about which the parties were conferring at the time the defendants filed the Motion, but the Department can commit that the Attorney General will not release that volume to the public, if he does at all," before 10 a.m. Friday...

The desperation and legal grasping in the MF's filing is palpable, but we fully expect the classified documents part of the report to be responded to favorably by his pocket judge Cannon, who has been the shadow defense counsel for the MF all along.

On the other hand, Merrick Garland can do one last honorable thing here.  It won't make up for the unconscionable delay in the Justice Department's handling of the "election interference" case that allowed the MF to get off without so much as a slap on the wrist.  But making public at least the part of the report that deals with the insurrection will provide a record that must stand against the blizzard of lies and gaslighting over what happened and who was to blame for the January 6 insurrection that has been an ongoing project of the MF and MAGA world since shortly after the event. 

It will be hard enough for that history to be told with the power shifts about to occur and the media desperate to move on to new narratives.  The report has to come out.

UPDATE:  As expected --

JFC, Judge Cannon actually enjoined release of the Special Counsel report — which is mandated by statute! — and purports to keep injunction in place for three days after the 11th Circuit rules on a similar motion. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

[image or embed]

— Liz Dye (@lizdye.bsky.social) January 7, 2025 at 11:56 AM

 

 

Vid Of The Day -- January 6, 2021, Day Of Infamy

 

At just before noon four years ago, Malignant Fascist (MF) Donald Trump began his exhortation to the seditious MAGAt mob on the Ellipse to march to the Capitol to stop the certification of President Biden's victory. The unprecedented assault that followed should have been the ultimate disqualifier for the MF ever holding a position of trust again -- beyond even two impeachments and decades- long evidence of his moral and ethical turpitude.  But, here we are four years later and, for at least 77 million Americans, none the wiser.  

As Republican MAGAts work feverishly to memory- hole the disgrace of that day, and the MF promises to pardon the insurrectionists involved. we would like to share a video from the January 6 Select Committee's hearing that vividly demonstrates the fascistic violence against the Capitol, law enforcement, Members of Congress, and the Constitution itself that the MF unleashed.  We must never allow this travesty to be forgotten.

 

BONUS:  Headlines told the truth of what happened --

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

 

The good:

Jimmy Carter ’s long public goodbye began Saturday in south Georgia where the 39th U.S. president’s life began more than 100 years ago.

A motorcade with Carter’s flag-draped casket began at the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, where former Secret Service agents who protected the late president were serving as pallbearers and walking alongside the hearse as it left the medical center’s campus.

The Carter family, including the former president’s four children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, are accompanying their patriarch in a procession that will take his remains through his beloved hometown of Plains and past his boyhood home on its way to Atlanta.

Carter died at his home in Plains on Dec. 29 at the age of 100.

Families lined the procession route in downtown Plains, near the historic train depot where Carter headquartered his presidential campaign. Some carried bouquets of flowers or wore commemorative pins bearing Carter’s photo.

“We want to pay our respects,” said 12-year-old Will Porter Shelbrock, who was born more than three decades after Carter left the White House in 1981. “He was ahead of his time on what he tried to do and tried to accomplish.”

It was Shelbrock’s idea to make the trip to Plains from Gainesville, Fla., with his grandmother, Susan Cone, 66, so they could witness the start of Carter’s final journey. Shelbrock said he admires Carter for his humanitarian work building houses and waging peace, and for installing solar panels on the White House.

Carter and his late wife Rosalynn, who died in November 2023, were born in Plains and lived most of their lives in and around the town, with the exceptions of Jimmy’s Navy career and his terms as Georgia governor and president.

The procession will stop in front of Carter’s home on his family farm just outside of Plains. The National Park Service will ring the old farm bell 39 times to honor his place as the 39th president. Carter’s remains then will proceed to Atlanta for a moment of silence in front of the Georgia Capitol and a ceremony at the Carter Presidential Center.

There, he will lie in repose until Tuesday morning, when he will be transported to Washington to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol. His state funeral is Thursday at 10 a.m. at Washington National Cathedral, followed by a return to Plains for an invitation-only funeral at Maranatha Baptist Church.

He will be buried near his home, next to Rosalynn Carter.

Honoring a good man whose decency, humility, and life's work has earned him great affection and endless respect and credit.

The bad:

Sure, any religion is kind of weird, if you look at it too closely. It is faith, after all, not science. But the group Tulsi Gabbard grew up in (and possibly is still in) sure sounds like a cult. Or to use the more polite term, a “High Demand, Closed Group,” wherein the leader was worshipped like a God and some of his followers even ate his toenails, and sand from where he’d walked. Oh sorry, were you eating?  [snip]

The group is called Science of Identity Foundation (SIF), founded by an acid-dropping white surfer guy named Chris Butler, AKA Guru Dev Srila Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa, AKA Jagad Guru, AKA Sai Young, in the 1970s, as an offshoot of the Hare Krishnas, AKA the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. 

Butler got his start as a guru teaching mediation and yoga, and was drawn to the Krishnas, but he didn’t want to shave his head or wear robes or do other Hare Krishna stuff. So he founded his own thing, which involved him living with two dozen 18-to-22-year-olds in a Quonset hut under a freeway, beating bongos and arranging his followers’ marriages.

Two of his hut-dwellers were Tulsi Gabbard’s parents, Mike and Carol, who joined the group in 1983. After they got married they built an altar to him in their house. According to Mike’s sister, they were “bowing and prostrating to this white surfer guy — it was bizarre.”

Butler taught the group that outsiders were not to be trusted, and was paranoid that the mainstream Hare Krishnas were trying to kill him. Like Chuck McGill in “Better Call Saul” he had a fear of electromagnetic radiation, and places he stayed when he traveled were lined with tinfoil. He was a hypochondriac, and at one point he accused disciples of poisoning him through light bulb fumes. [snip]

Even not knowing a thing about the what sure sounds like a weird-ass cult that she grew up in, though, Gabbard is deeply, DEEPLY, EXTREMELY not qualified for the role of director of national intelligence.

It’s a cabinet-level position created after 9/11 that all 18 national intelligence agencies directly report to. The director is responsible for daily security briefings to the president, advises the National Security Council and Homeland Security Council, and directs intelligence gathering and analysis. So she would have access to all of the stuff, every little secret the US has.

Not only does Gabbard have no intelligence experience whatsoever, or any management experience, many times she’s directly acted against US interests and pushed braindead conspiracy theories, such as repeating QAnon/Russian conspiracy-theory lies about biolabs in Ukraine.  [snip]

What could explain Gabbard’s flip-flop from Bernie-hugger to Putin apologist with tweets full of lies? In 2022, her now-deceased aunt told the Independent it was cult-fueled ambition. “​It gives me no pleasure to ​note that Tulsi’s single governing principle seems to be expedience, which is in effect no principle at all.” Rejected by the Democrats, she clawed her way back to relevance by the only path available.

So, just like the boss. You’d think That Man would not want intelligence briefings potentially full of conspiracy theories and lies from the lady Russian state TV described as “our girlfriend Tulsi” shoved between his hamberder wrappers. There are literally thousands of millions of people who would be more qualified, and even loyal. But according to a Russian spokesman, he has “certain obligations.” Is giving Russia’s girlfriend a job one of them?...

So, raised in (and possibly still part of) a grifting cult, being utterly unqualified for the role of Director of National Intelligence, and a Putin apologist, reporting to another Putin apologist?  What could possibly go wrong...

The ugly:

Social media users are misrepresenting a report released Thursday by the Justice Department inspector general’s office, falsely claiming that it’s proof the FBI orchestrated the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

The watchdog report examined a number of areas, including whether major intelligence failures preceded the riot and whether the FBI in some way provoked the violence. Claims spreading online focus on the report’s finding that 26 FBI informants were in Washington for election-related protests on Jan. 6, including three who had been tasked with traveling to the city to report on others who were potentially planning to attend the events.

Although 17 of those informants either entered the Capitol or a restricted area around the building during the riot, none of the 26 total informants were authorized to do so by the bureau, according to the report. Nor were they authorized to otherwise break the law or encourage others to do so.

Here’s a closer look at the facts.

CLAIM: A December 2024 report released by the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General is proof that the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was a setup by the FBI.

THE FACTS: That’s false. The report found that no undercover FBI employees were at the riot on Jan. 6 and that none of the bureau’s informants were authorized to participate. Informants, also known as confidential human sources, work with the FBI to provide information, but are not on the bureau’s payroll. Undercover agents are employed by the FBI.

According to the report, 26 informants were in Washington on Jan. 6 in connection with the day’s events. FBI field offices only informed the Washington Field Office or FBI headquarters of five informants that were to be in the field on Jan. 6. Of the total 26 informants, four entered the Capitol during the riot and an additional 13 entered a restricted area around the Capitol. But none were authorized to do so by the FBI, nor were they given permission to break other laws or encourage others to do the same. The remaining nine informants did not engage in any illegal activities.  [snip]

These claims echo a fringe conspiracy theory advanced by some Republicans in Congress that the FBI played a role in instigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters determined to overturn Republican Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden stormed the Capitol in a violent clash with police. The report knocks that theory down. Wray called such theories “ludicrous” at a congressional hearing last year...

Wait until the MF pardons the January 6 insurrectionists "on Day 1." Wait until the Justice Department and FBI are under the control of the seditionist MAGAts.  They'll be ordering whitewash by the gallon to cover up and re-write this shameful history.  Sic transit gloria, America!

 

Trump Calls Jan. 6 A "Day Of Love"

The depraved, pathological liar the Malignant Loser said yesterday that the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol was a "day of love."  Appearing at a town hall on Univision, the sociopathic Malignant Loser downplayed the violent attack on the Capitol, in which over 140 police officers were injured, with two of them dying afterwards. One lie followed another, as NBC News reports:

"Donald Trump on Wednesday shrugged off the idea that his conduct on Jan. 6, 2021, should cost him the backing of Republican voters after a former supporter confronted him at a televised town hall and said he would not cast a ballot for the former president because of his actions that day.

In his response at the Univision event, Trump also distanced himself from the attack on the Capitol while minimizing the damage done by a mob of his supporters.

'Nothing done wrong at all,' Trump said in a lengthy response after a Republican voter from Florida said he had lost his vote because of his responses to the riot and the Covid pandemic. [snip]

He then argued that the thousands of supporters who went to Washington for Jan. 6 were not there because of him, even though he tweeted on Dec. 19, 2020: 'Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild.'

'They didn't come because of me,' Trump said Wednesday. 'They came because of the election. They thought the election was a rigged election, and that's why they came.'

In 2020, and in the years since then, Trump has falsely claimed that the election was stolen. Many of those charged in the Jan. 6 riot have cited his election lies. [snip]

At the town hall, Trump also called Jan. 6, when rioters who delayed the electoral vote count for hours injured over 140 police officers, as "a day of love."

'There were no guns down there. We didn’t have guns. The others had guns, but we didn’t have guns. And when I say we, these are people that walked down — this was a tiny percentage of the overall which nobody sees and nobody, nobody shows. But that was a day of love,' he said."  (our emphasis)

As he infamously lies about the 2020 election being stolen, the Malignant Loser wants everyone to disregard what their lying eyes saw, and believe him. He's under Federal indictment for his central role in orchestrating efforts to overturn the 2020 election, from directing the production of fake state electors, to urging State officials to "find" votes for him, to ultimately the MAGA mob action on January 6. He needs to be held accountable for that, and hopefully after the election, he will be.

(photo: Trump cultists breaking into Capitol. Reuters)

 

Sentencing The Insurrectionists

Another January 6 Trumpist insurrectionist gets his comeuppance. From AP:

"A Montana business owner and supporter of former President Donald Trump has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that interrupted certification of the 2020 Electoral College vote.

Henry Phillip “Hank” Muntzer, 55, of Dillon was also sentenced Thursday to a year of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.

Muntzer was arrested two weeks after the siege based on social media posts and videos taken inside the Capitol, according to court records.

He was found guilty in February of obstructing an official proceeding and civil disorder, both felonies, following a bench trial before U.S. District Court Judge Jia M. Cobb. Muntzer was also found guilty of four misdemeanor charges. [snip]

Muntzer was involved in physical confrontations with law enforcement officers near the Senate chamber and in the Capitol Rotunda, resisted law enforcement efforts to get him to leave and was among the last to do so, prosecutors said."

The Malignant Loser has promised to pardon the thugs and losers like Muntzer whom he summoned to the Capitol on the basis of the Big Lie about the election being stolen, and sat and watched the riot from the White House as it unfolded and resulted in over 140 police officers being injured and two subsequently dying. Although under indictment, the Malignant Loser has yet to be tried for his role in the January 6 attempt to overturn the free and fair election that removed him from the Presidency in 2020.

(photo: Missoula County Detention Facility)

 

Sentencing The Insurrectionists -- He Orta Known Better

 

Another insurrectionist gets his comeuppance (though the Trump- appointed judge went easy on him):

A Minnesota man seen tossing a police barricade over a wall during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol will himself have to spend half a year behind bars.

Paul Orta Jr., 34, of Blue Earth — a city near the southern border of the state, some 120 miles away from Minneapolis — had traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend Donald Trump’s so-called “Stop the Steal” rally, planned for Jan. 6. But he landed on law enforcement’s radar even before that: prosecutors say that Orta was one of four people on a privately-owned school bus that had been flagged to Maryland police the day before the rally.

The driver and owner of the bus were eventually arrested after firearms and ammunition were found on the bus, but Orta was searched and released by police twice — first by officers in Maryland on Jan. 5, and later that day in downtown Washington, D.C., by Capitol police.

It is unclear if Orta attended Trump’s rally — during which the then-president urged thousands of his supporters to “fight like hell” against the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral win — on Jan. 6, but by around 1 p.m. that day, he had joined a crowd of rioters that had begun to overwhelm police at the Peace Circle monument.

U.S. Capitol Police ultimately retreated from the area and tried to set up a new police line, prosecutors say, but some in the crowd — including Orta — pressed forward.

“We’re taking that s— today!” he yelled as he advanced toward the officers, prosecutors say. Within minutes, he had moved at least two temporary bike racks used by law enforcement to control the crowd, throwing them over a concrete wall. He continued to push the crowd forward, overwhelming officers again and entering the West Plaza on Capitol grounds. At around 2:07 p.m., prosecutors say, law enforcement again tried to form a police line with a metal bike rack. Orta allegedly pushed the barricade against police and “made physical contact with law enforcement officers during this push,” the Justice Department said in a statement. He then pushed against another rioter, who in turn was pushed against the bike rack barricade.

“The crowd eventually broke through the police line and advanced to the Lower and Upper West Terraces,” the statement says. “As the crowd pushed forward, Orta climbed on top of a concrete wall and raised a fist in the air.”

By the end of the month, he had turned himself in to federal authorities after having seen his picture on the FBI website, according to court filings. He was ultimately arrested in November 2023. He pleaded guilty in May to felony civil disorder, which carries a potential prison sentence of up to five years.

A sentencing memo on behalf of Orta said that he is “remorseful for his actions, deeply regrets his conduct, and is prepared to accept responsibility and the consequences for his actions.” He asked for a “non-custodial sentence with appropriate special conditions” along with $2,000 restitution.

The sentence, issued by Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, is exactly half as long as the yearlong sentence prosecutors had requested. Orta was also ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution toward the estimated $2.8 million in damage and 12 months on supervised release.

The FBI is still looking for January 6 insurrectionists, and they continue to be arrested, prosecuted, and jailed. If you recognize anyone not yet apprehended, do your country a favor and pick up the phone and call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

(Image:  Orta, inset and circled / Justice Department) 

Sentencing The Insurrectionists -- Kentucky Brain

 

Another January 6 insurrectionist "hostage" gets his comeuppance:

A Kentucky man was sentenced to prison today after he previously pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

Luke Hoffman, 40, of Dover, was sentenced to 20 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution by U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss. Hoffman pleaded guilty to two felony charges of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers on April 4, 2024.

According to court documents, Hoffman traveled from his home in Kentucky to Washington, D.C., to participate in a political rally. By approximately 1:25 p.m., Hoffman had positioned himself amid a crowd of rioters on the West Plaza of the U.S. Capitol building and grounds. There, Hoffman joined the crowd in confronting a line of law enforcement officers who were attempting to maintain a defensive perimeter between the rioters and the Capitol.

Hoffman then moved to the front of the crowd of rioters and began to verbally berate the officers manning the police line. Court documents say that when officers attempted to move a segment of metal fencing between themselves and the crowd, Hoffman reacted aggressively. He lunged forward, grabbed the fence segment, and yanked it away from the officers.

At approximately 2:28 p.m., in nearly the same location, the crowd had grown in size and intensity. As rioters began to overrun the group of officers who were still trying to defend the West Plaza, police lines gave way, and Hoffman attacked a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer. As the officer stood in line with others attempting to keep the rioters at bay, Hoffman sprang out of the crowd, screaming, “What’s up! This is our house!” He then moved toward the officer, who held his baton chest high and in a defensive posture. Hoffman grabbed the baton with both hands and tried to pull it away from the officer while continuing to scream. The officer retained the baton; however, the police line was forced to retreat.  Hoffman and the rest of the crowd marched forward toward the Capitol building.

Later, at approximately 2:30 p.m., with officers now backed into the southern portion of the West Plaza and surrounded by the crowd, Hoffman again joined the mob’s attack against police. An MPD officer who stood at the front of that group of police attempted to disperse the crowd by spaying some particularly aggressive rioters with OC spray. In response, Hoffman stepped forward from the crowd toward the officer, extended his right arm, and unleashed a burst of OC-based spray at the officer, who ducked to try to avoid it. Hoffman then retreated back into the crowd.

After attacking the MPD officer, Hoffman advanced closer to the Capitol, up to the Lower West Terrace. There, he proceeded all the way to the Lower West Terrace entrance, known as “the Tunnel,” where some of the most violent attacks against police officers occurred on January 6th.  For more than twenty minutes, Hoffman stood at the threshold of the Tunnel’s entrance, surrounded by a mob of violent rioters.

While he stood at the mouth of the Tunnel, Hoffman supported other rioters as they attacked the police officers inside. At one point, another rioter, clad in body armor and a helmet, climbed on top of Hoffman and several other rioters. As the armored rioter knelt on Hoffman’s shoulders, he used his elevated position to attack the officers inside the Tunnel with a wooden pole. Hoffman also goaded the crowd around him outside the Tunnel, waving his hand overhead, encouraging the crowd to press further. Finally, at approximately 4:05 p.m., Hoffman left the area outside the Tunnel...

This is what passes for a "patriot" in fascist MAGAworld.  When we read these descriptions that revisit the violence these sub- moron chuds visited upon police officers and the symbols of our democracy, we must resolve to never let them, or their coup leaders, escape accountability.  This year, the most important way to accomplish this is through the ballot.

(Photo: Hoffman, circled / Department of Justice)

Sentencing The Insurrectionists -- First Man In

 

Then:

Now:

Another dimbulb MAGAt insurrectionist gets his comeuppance.  We're guessing this is the only time he's been first in anything:

A Kentucky man who was the first rioter to enter the U.S. Capitol during a mob’s attack on the building was sentenced on Tuesday to more than four years in prison.

A police officer who tried to subdue Michael Sparks with pepper spray described him as a catalyst for the Jan. 6 insurrection. The Senate that day recessed less than one minute after Sparks jumped into the building through a broken window. Sparks then joined other rioters in chasing a police officer up flights of stairs.

Before learning his sentencing, Sparks told the judge that he still believes the 2020 presidential election was marred by fraud and “completely taken from the American public.”

“I am remorseful that what transpired that day didn’t help anybody,” Sparks said. “I am remorseful that our country is in the state it’s in.”

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who sentenced Sparks to four years and five months, told him that there was nothing patriotic about his prominent role in what was a “national disgrace.”

“I don’t really think you appreciate the full gravity of what happened that day and, quite frankly, the full seriousness of what you did,” the judge said.  [snip]

In the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6 attack, Sparks used social media to promote conspiracy theories about election fraud and advocate for a civil war.

“It’s time to drag them out of Congress. It’s tyranny,” he posted on Facebook three days before the riot.

Sparks traveled to Washington, D.C, with co-workers from an electronics and components plant in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. They attended then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House on Jan. 6.

After the rally, Sparks and a friend, Joseph Howe, joined a crowd in marching to the Capitol. Both of them wore tactical vests. Howe was captured on video repeatedly saying, “we’re getting in that building.”

Off camera, Sparks added: “All it’s going to take is one person to go. The rest is following,” according to prosecutors. Sparks’ attorney argued that the evidence doesn’t prove that Sparks made that statement.

“Of course, both Sparks and Howe were more right than perhaps anyone else knew at the time — it was just a short time later that Sparks made history as the very first person to go inside, and the rest indeed followed,” prosecutors wrote.  [snip]

Undeterred by pepper spray, Sparks joined other rioters in chasing Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman as he retreated up the stairs and found backup from other officers near the Senate chamber.

“This is our America!” Sparks screamed at police. He left the building about 10 minutes later...

Now, the real America invites you to enjoy a cell in a real American Federal prison for the next four years.  Unrepentant moron.

The FBI is still looking for the insurrectionists who tried to overturn our system of government on January 6, 2021.  If you recognize anyone not yet apprehended, do your country a favor and pick up the phone, 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324), or visit tips.fbi.gov.

(Top photos: Department of Justice; bottom: Sparks on August 27, 2024 / AP Photo/ Mark Schiefelbein)

 

Special Counsel Takes Action On Jan. 6 Case

Yesterday's filing of a superseding indictment (pdf) in the January 6 insurrection case against the Malignant Loser was Special Counsel Jack Smith's second action against him following Monday's appeal of Trumpist Judge Aileen Cannon's dismissal of the stolen classified documents case. The filing in the January 6 case trimmed back some of the cited evidence that might be construed as violating the Malignant Loser's "immunity" for official acts, as judged by his partisan Supreme Court this past summer, specifically his interactions with Justice Department officials. Significantly, the indictment retains all four of the original charges. From CNN:

"Prosecutors have not dropped any of the four charges that they initially brought against the former president. However, the newly retooled indictment has carved out some of Trump’s alleged conduct, including allegations about the attempts to use the Justice Department to promote his false claims of election fraud.

It also adjusts how prosecutors describe the allegations they are continuing to bring about Trump’s election subversion schemes.

'The superseding indictment, which was presented to a new grand jury that had not previously heard evidence in this case, reflects the Government’s efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court’s holdings and remand instructions in Trump v. United States,' the special counsel’s office said.

The replacement indictment thrusts the question of Trump’s effort to steal the 2020 election back into the critical final months of the 2024 campaign. For much of this year, the ex-president’s legal and political narratives merged through his claims that he was the victim of a conspiracy by the Biden administration to weaponize justice against him." (our emphasis)

The "question" of the Malignant Loser's failed, violent insurrection should never have been out of the discussion for this election year as a disqualifying action.  Yet for his cult, it was just a dress rehearsal.

Whether or not presiding Federal District Judge Tanya Chutkan will have an evidentiary hearing prior to the election is not clear. That would allow the Government to bring forth the specifics of the crimes that the Malignant Loser is accused of back into the public spotlight.  In any event, it's clear and encouraging that Special Counsel Smith hasn't dropped the ball on these two Federal cases, and is vigorously pursuing them.

(photo: Smith announcing superseding indictment. Alex Wong / Getty Images)

 

Convicting The Insurrectionists -- Cop Assaulting Cop

 

Then:

Now:

We covered his arrest.  Now another MAGAt insurrectionist gets his comeuppance, a cop no less.

A Maryland police officer was convicted on Friday of charges that he joined a mob’s Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and hurled a smoke bomb and other objects at police officers guarding a tunnel entrance.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden heard two days of trial testimony without a jury this week before he found Montgomery County Police Officer Justin Lee guilty of two felonies and three misdemeanors. The judge, who also acquitted Lee of two other misdemeanors, is scheduled to sentence him on Nov. 22.

Lee, 26, ignited and threw a smoke bomb into the tunnel entrance on the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace, where a mob of rioters attacked a group of outnumbered police officers. The device struck a police officer’s riot shield and filled the mouth of the tunnel with a large plume of smoke, prosecutors said.

“No police officer should have to endure these attacks and provocations,” McFadden said.

Lee, who remains free until his sentencing, didn’t show any obvious reaction as the judge read aloud his verdict. His attorney declined to comment after the hearing.

After Lee’s arrest last October, the police department said it had suspended him without pay. Department spokesperson Shiera Goff said police officials will be “moving ahead with termination procedures” now that Lee has been convicted.

“The actions of one individual do not define the entire department,” the department said in a statement last year.

Lee, of Rockville, Maryland, applied to be a Montgomery County police officer in July 2021 — six months after the riot. The department said it hired Lee approximately one year after the riot and didn’t know about his alleged involvement in the attack until July 2023, when it learned he was under FBI investigation.

Videos show Lee wearing a Maryland flag-patterned gaiter over his face outside the Capitol. He also wore a military-style medical bag attached to his clothes.

Lee waved at other rioters to overtake police as the mob attacked a line of officers on the West Plaza, according to prosecutors. Moving to the Lower West Terrace, Lee tossed the smoke bomb and three other “rock-like objects” at officers guarding the tunnel, the judge found. Prosecutors said Lee later joined other rioters in “spotlighting” officers inside the tunnel with a flashlight.

The judge rejected Lee’s claim that he was “just trying to make a statement” about police brutality after seeing officers use force against other rioters that day. McFadden also said he believes Lee went to the Capitol on Jan. 6 intending to disrupt Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. [snip]

More than 1,400 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Over 900 of them have pleaded guilty. Over 200 others have been convicted after trials decided by a judge or jury.

This is one of the insurrectionist "hostages" coup leader Malignant Loser would pardon upon getting into the White House again.  A person of Asian heritage fighting for White Nationalism.  A moron.

(Photos:  Top, Lee on January 6/ FBI;  lower, Lee, with his proud parents? / Jose Luis Magana, AP)

Sentencing The Insurrectionists -- FlagGaiterCopHater

 

Even now, the January 6 insurrectionists are getting their well- deserved comeuppance. Never forget, this is the kind of violent scumbag the Malignant Loser would free should he get back into power:

A California man convicted of carrying out some of the most extended and brutal assaults against police during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday.

The 20-year prison term for David Dempsey, handed down by senior D.C. District Judge Royce Lamberth, marks the second longest sentence yet for a defendant convicted in connection with the Capitol assault.

With several of Dempsey's victims from the Capitol Police and D.C. Metropolitan Police in attendance in the courtroom during the trial, prosecutors played multiple videos showing Dempsey at one of the most violent exchanges of the riot near the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol -- repeatedly striking, kicking, and throwing object after object at the police line trying to prevent the pro-Trump mob from swarming into the building.

In one video clip, Dempsey repeatedly swung a stolen metal crutch down onto an officer's helmet, cracking the face shield.

One officer who Dempsey struck testified that he believed he was going to die and that his thoughts began drifting to his family.

Judge Lamberth described Dempsey's offenses as "exceptionally egregious" before handing down the sentence, which he said was further warranted due to Dempsey's lengthy criminal history and past instances where he had attacked political opponents during protests in 2019 and 2020.

The judge, a Reagan appointee, said that "fortunately" Dempsey's efforts to break through the police line were not fruitful, as it would likely have resulted in a "bloodbath" for lawmakers sheltering inside the building.

"David Dempsey is political violence personified," a prosecutor said in making the case for Dempsey's harsh sentence.

Prior to receiving his sentence, Dempsey addressed the court and spoke of his "profound sense of regret" for his actions, issuing a personal apology to the police gathered in the room.

After receiving the sentence, however, Dempsey -- as he was escorted out by the bailiff -- made a hand sign in the air that is commonly associated with "white power" or the white supremacist Groyper movement.

Federal prosecutors have charged more than 1,265 defendants and secured prison sentences for more than 460 people involved in the Capitol attack, according to figures released early this year by the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C.

We noted Dempsey's arrest in 2021.

Giving credit where due:

Dempsey was first identified by a group of online sleuths who used open-source video and photos to supply suspect names to the FBI, as detailed in the book “Sedition Hunters” by NBC News reporter Ryan J. Reilly. The sleuths, who initially dubbed Dempsey “FlagGaiterCopHater,” even noticed his change of outfits, but he continued to wear the same Converse high-top sneakers and camouflage pants throughout.

The FBI is still looking for January 6 insurrectionists, and they continue to be arrested, prosecuted, and jailed.  If you recognize anyone not yet apprehended, do your country a favor and pick up the phone.  

(Photo:  Dempsey as FlagGaiterCopHater / U.S. Justice Department)

 

Arresting The Insurrectionists -- Arrest Two, Get Two Scotts Free

 

Two pairs of treasonous insurrectionists have their comeuppance:

A retired NASCAR driver and his son were charged Wednesday in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, according to authorities.

Tighe Scott, 75, and Jarret Scott, 48, were arrested by federal officers alongside another Pennsylvania father-son duo and charged with two felony offenses, including obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers. The pair also face five misdemeanor charges, according to the Justice Department.

The Scotts scuffled with law enforcement officers trying to hold the line outside the federal building, with police body camera footage showing the elder Scott punching at one officer’s riot shield and trying to rip another’s shield away.

When an officer shoved Scott away, his son, wielding a golf club, began screaming. He called the officers “bitches” and “vaginas,” according to charging documents, as well as “fuck you all” and “you fat motherfucker.”

Federal authorities tracked them down with the help of an anonymous tipster, who contacted the FBI in January 2022 after agents published images of the Scotts and asked for the public’s help in identifying them. The tipster said that one of the men was Tighe Scott and, though he didn’t know Scott personally, provided the FBI with “a link to an article in dirttrackdigest.com” with information about him.

The article reported that Scott lives in Pennsylvania “near his grandchildren that he sees everyday and is loving it,” and included photos of him that appeared to match the images from the Capitol riot.

Scott raced cars in the 1970s and 1980s, with the pinnacle of his career coming in 1979, when he placed sixth in the Daytona 500.

“I have a lot of good memories from that race,” he told The Morning Call.

The Scotts now face up to five years in prison on the most serious felony charges they face.

Also charged in Wednesday’s criminal complaint were Scott Slater Sr., 56, and Scott Slater Jr., age 26. Slater Jr. is accused of pitching a flagpole and an “AREA CLOSED” sign at the officers defending the Capitol, according to the Justice Department.

In the 40 months since Jan. 6, more than 1,400 individuals have been charged across nearly all 50 states with crimes related to the attack, authorities said Wednesday. The investigation remains ongoing.

(Hmmmm.  Is there something about the name "Scott," either as a surname or first name, that predisposes one to be a treasonous insurrectionist?  Not to mention two father/ son felons.  Just asking questions!)

The FBI is still looking for January 6 insurrectionists, and they continue to be arrested, prosecuted, and jailed. If you recognize anyone not yet apprehended, do your country a favor and pick up the phone, 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324), or visit tips.fbi.gov.

(Photo: These Scotts, Tighe and Jarret, didn't get off scot-free/  Department of Justice)

Sentencing The Insurrectionists -- "A Menace To Our Society"

 

Another insurrectionist gets his comeuppance, with some help from his big, ignorant mouth:

A New Jersey electrician who repeatedly attacked police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, siege at the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Friday to 12 years in prison by a judge who called him “a menace to our society.”

Christopher Joseph Quaglin argued with and insulted U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden before and after the judge handed him one of the longest prison sentences among hundreds of Capitol riot cases.

“You’re Trump’s worst mistake of 2016,” Quaglin told McFadden, who was nominated to the court by then-President Donald Trump in 2017.

Quaglin, 38, joined the mob of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol. He injured a police officer when he choked and tackled him to the ground. Quaglin assaulted other officers with stolen police shields, metal bike racks and pepper spray. He clashed with police for roughly three hours while wearing an American flag-themed “Make America Great Again” sweatshirt.

“What an outrage. What a disgrace,” the judge said.

Quaglin complained about his jail conditions and pushed conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6 siege during his rambling remarks in the courtroom. He also took issue with labeling the Jan. 6 attack as an insurrection.

“If I wanted to bring an insurrection, I would have brought a long gun,” he said.

The judge, who cut him off after several minutes, told Quaglin that his combative remarks were a “really bad idea” before sentencing.

“It’s a kangaroo court,” Quaglin responded.

Prosecutors urged the judge to sentence Quaglin to 14 years in prison. They said he was one of the most violent rioters on Jan. 6, when a mob of Donald Trump supporters disrupted the joint session of Congress for certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

The judge convicted Quaglin of six separate assaults on police. Prosecutors say he struck or pushed another dozen officers.

“Quaglin understood the constitutional significance of January 6, and intended to disrupt Congress’ certification of the 2020 election by any means necessary, including by viciously assaulting police officers for hours,” prosecutors wrote.  [snip]

McFadden convicted Quaglin of 14 counts last July after a “stipulated bench trial,” which means the judge decided the case without a jury and based on facts that both sides agreed to before the trial. Such trials allow defendants to maintain appeal rights that are waived by a guilty plea.

Quaglin traveled from his home in North Brunswick, New Jersey, to attend then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House on Jan. 6. Leaving the rally early, Quaglin recorded a video of himself as he marched to the Capitol wearing a helmet, a gas mask and a backpack.

After storming barricades near Peace Circle, Quaglin repeatedly attacked officers who were trying to hold off the mob. Capitol Police Sgt. Troy Robinson was injured when Quaglin grabbed him by the neck and tackled him to the ground.

“Quaglin’s attack ignited a short brawl,” prosecutors wrote. “With Quaglin on top of Sergeant Robinson, other rioters came to Quaglin’s assistance and chaos broke loose.”

Quaglin “waged a relentless siege” as he joined other rioters in attacking police in a tunnel on the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace, prosecutors said. He helped another rioter steal a shield from an officer. He pepper sprayed several officers in the face. And he joined the mob’s collective “heave ho” push against a police line.

“Quaglin was part of some of the most gruesome attacks in the tunnel as he worked with other rioters to ensure that officers were under constant attack,” prosecutors wrote.

Quaglin later celebrated and bragged about his participation in the riot.

“It was a great time. I got bumps and bruises. And we’re having a good time,” he said in a video posted on social media.

Defense attorney Kristi Fulnecky claims Quaglin has received inadequate medical treatment while jailed for the past three years. Fulnecky also said one of Quaglin’s former attorneys coerced him into accepting a stipulated bench trial instead of a contested trial.

McFadden told Quaglin that his actions on Jan. 6 were “shocking and lawless.”

“January 6th is not simply an anomaly for you,” the judge said. “You’ve allowed it to define you.”

 We define him as an insurrectionist MAGAt moron.

Let's bring more of these treasonous insurrectionists to justice. The FBI is still looking for January 6 insurrectionists, and they continue to be arrested, prosecuted, and jailed.  If you recognize anyone not yet apprehended, do your country a favor and pick up the phone. 

(Photo:  Quaglin, a man with his wires crossed/ Dept. of Justice)