Category Archives: US Capitol attack

US Capitol rioter who wore horned headdress sentenced to 41 months

Posted on by

Jacob Chansley, who wore a horned helmet and a fur hat, took part in the deadly attack by Trump followers

A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced the US Capitol rioter nicknamed the “QAnon shaman” for his horned headdress to 41 months in prison for his role in the deadly 6 January attack by former President Donald Trump’s followers.

Prosecutors had asked US district judge Royce Lamberth to impose a longer 51-month sentence on Jacob Chansley, who pleaded guilty in September to obstructing an official proceeding when he and thousands of others stormed the building in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s election.

Continue reading...

Mnuchin and Pompeo discussed removing Trump after Capitol attack, book claims

Posted on by

Two cabinet members considered invoking the 25th amendment, new book by the ABC White House correspondent says

Donald Trump’s secretary of state and treasury secretary discussed removing him from power after the deadly Capitol attack by invoking the 25th amendment, according to a new book.

The amendment, added to the constitution after the assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963, provides for the removal of an incapacitated president, potentially on grounds of mental as well as physical fitness. It has never been used.

Continue reading...

Steve Bannon in court on contempt charges for defying Capitol attack subpoena

Posted on by

Trump ally, indicted after defying subpoena from House panel, urges supporters to ‘stay focused, stay on message’

Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former president Donald Trump, appeared in court on Monday charged with contempt of Congress, regarding the investigation of the deadly Capitol attack.

Bannon did not enter a plea, and the brief hearing determined that he be arraigned on Thursday. He was released after being ordered to surrender his passport, report once a week to pre-trial services and report travel plans.

Continue reading...

Steve Bannon indicted for refusal to comply with Capitol attack subpoena

Posted on by

Former Trump adviser indicted by grand jury on two counts for contempt of Congress

Donald Trump’s former adviser Steve Bannon has been charged with contempt of Congress after failing to appear before a committee investigating the 6 January attack on the US Capitol.

The justice department said Bannon had been indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts: refusing to appear for a deposition and refusing to provide documents in response to the committee’s subpoena.

Continue reading...

Trump’s former chief of staff refuses to appear before Capitol attack committee – live

Posted on by

Senator Joe Manchin has said he will oppose Robert Califf’s nomination if Joe Biden selects him to lead the Food and Drug Administration.

Manchin argued that Califf’s inadequate response to the opioid epidemic made his nomination “an insult to the many families and individuals who have had their lives changed forever as a result of addiction”.

Continue reading...

Trump wins temporary victory in effort to keep White House records secret

Posted on by

The former president is asking a court to block release of material related to the House investigation into the attack on the Capitol

Donald Trump, the former US president, has been scrambling this week to make a last-ditch legal bid to block the release of sensitive White House records related to the deadly 6 January insurrection at the US Capitol – and scored a victory on Thursday when a federal appeals court allowed a temporary stay on the process.

The National Archives, a federal agency that holds presidential files, was poised to begin givingcongressional investigators hundreds of pages of documents and other material, such as video clips, that Trump wants to keep secret, on Friday.

Continue reading...

Federal appeals court grants Trump request to block release of records linked to Capitol attack – as it happened

Posted on by

Speaking at Arlington National Cemetery to mark Veterans Day, Joe Biden thanked all of those who have served in the US military.

“Our veterans represent the best of America,” Biden said. “You are the very spine of America, not just the backbone. You’re the spine of this country.”

Continue reading...

Biden to sign bipartisan infrastructure bill into law on Monday – live

Posted on by

Joe Biden met this morning with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, in the Oval Office.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, von der Leyen said she and Biden had a “very productive” discussion about the need to increase coronavirus vaccination rates.

Continue reading...

Trump White House records can be given to Capitol attack panel, judge rules

Posted on by

Trump lawyers vow to appeal move, which would allow transmission of documents as soon as this week

A federal judge in Washington has ruled that hundreds of pages of White House records from the Trump administration can be turned over to the House committee investigating the deadly 6 January attack on the Capitol, defying objections from Donald Trump.

The decision, handed down late on Tuesday by the US district judge Tanya Chutkan, clears the way for the National Archives to start transmitting the records requested by Congress as early as Friday, though attorneys for Trump immediately vowed to appeal the ruling.

Continue reading...

Trump ‘throws sand’ in gears of Capitol attack inquiry amid legal setbacks

Posted on by

Ex-president wages a court battle to thwart House committee from obtaining White House records for inquiry into the Capitol assault

Donald Trump has suffered a series of legal setbacks and more loom, as he wages a court battle to thwart a House committee from obtaining White House records for its inquiry into the 6 January Capitol assault and a new grand jury begins hearing evidence about possible crimes by his real estate firm.

Former justice officials and legal scholars say Trump’s long-standing penchant for using lawsuits to fend off investigations and opponents is looking weaker now that he’s out of the White House and facing legal threats on multiple fronts.

Continue reading...

House 6 January panel to issue new round of subpoenas for Trump allies

Posted on by

The House select committee investigating the deadly attack on the US Capitol on 6 January is poised to issue subpoenas to top Trump lieutenants involved in attempting to subvert the 2020 election results from a “command center” at the Willard hotel in Washington, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The subpoenas, which could be issued as soon as next week, reflect the select committee’s interest in events at the hotel just across from the White House, where Donald Trump’s most loyal aides plotted to keep him in office.

Continue reading...

FBI failed to act on tips of likely violence ahead of Capitol attack – report

Posted on by

The FBI and other key law enforcement agencies failed to act on a host of tips and other information ahead of 6 January that signaled a potentially violent event might unfold that day at the US Capitol, the Washington Post reported on Sunday.

Among information that came officials’ way in the weeks before what turned into a riot as lawmakers met to certify the results of the presidential election was a 20 December tip to the FBI that supporters of Donald Trump were discussing online how to sneak guns into Washington to “overrun” police and arrest members of Congress, according to internal bureau documents obtained by the Post.

Continue reading...

‘A deliberate, orchestrated campaign’: the real story behind Trump’s attempted coup

Posted on by

A startling memo, a surreal Oval Office encounter – just some of the twists in the unfolding story of Trump’s bid to cling to power, which critics say was no less than an attempted coup

On 4 January, the conservative lawyer John Eastman was summoned to the Oval Office to meet Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence. Within 48 hours, Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election would formally be certified by Congress, sealing Trump’s fate and removing him from the White House.

The atmosphere in the room was tense. The then US president was “fired up” to make what amounted to a last-ditch effort to overturn the election results and snatch a second term in office in the most powerful job on Earth.

Continue reading...

Tucker Carlson condemned over ‘false flag’ claim about deadly Capitol attack

Posted on by

Congresswoman Liz Cheney and Anti-Defamation League president denounce Fox News host’s ‘lies’ as he plugs new series

The conservative Republican Liz Cheney and the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League led condemnation of Fox News and Tucker Carlson, after the primetime host announced a series about the supposed “true story” of the deadly attack on the US Capitol on 6 January.

They denounced Carlson for spreading dangerous conspiracy theories in the latest scandal to engulf a man whose popularity belies his record of racist and untrue statements on issues from immigration to racial justice.

Continue reading...

Capitol attack panel faces pivotal moment as Trump allies stonewall

Posted on by

Questions about Trump’s role in 6 January may go unanswered unless House investigators can secure a breakthrough to obtain documents and testimony

The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack is confronting a pivotal moment as resistance from top Trump administration aides threatens to undermine their efforts to uncover the extent of the former president’s involvement in the 6 January insurrection.

The select committee remains in the evidence-gathering phase of the investigation that now encompasses at least five different lines of inquiry from whether Donald Trump abused the presidency to reinstall himself in office or coordinated with far-right rally organizers.

Continue reading...

Outrage over stalled US voting rights bill continues as activists say ‘we need action’ – live

Posted on by

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have arrived at the memorial for Dr Martin Luther King at the Tidal Basin in Washington.

The president and the vice-president will soon deliver remarks to mark the tenth anniversary of the dedication of the memorial. Stay tuned.

Continue reading...

House Capitol attack committee votes to recommend Steve Bannon prosecution

Posted on by
  • Panel unanimously approves contempt of Congress citation
  • Trump ally defied subpoena relating to 6 January insurrection

The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack voted on Tuesday to recommend the criminal prosecution of Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon, after he defied a subpoena relating to their inquiry into the 6 January insurrection.

The select committee approved the contempt of Congress citation unanimously, sending the report to the Democratic-controlled House, which is expected on Thursday to authorize the panel to go to court to punish Bannon for his non-compliance.

Continue reading...

Trump files lawsuit to block release of Capitol attack records

Posted on by
  • Ex-president challenges decision to waive executive privilege
  • White House says Trump ‘abused the office of the presidency’

Donald Trump has sought to block the release of documents related to the US Capitol attack to a House committee investigating the incident, challenging Joe Biden’s initial decision to waive executive privilege.

In a federal lawsuit, the former president said the committee’s request in August was “almost limitless in scope” and sought many records that were not connected to the siege.

Continue reading...

Malcolm Turnbull on Murdoch, lies and the climate crisis: ‘The same forces that enabled Trump are at work in Australia’

Posted on by

Systematic partisan lying and misinformation from the media, both mainstream and social, has done enormous damage to liberal democracies, the former PM writes

The United States has suffered the largest number of Covid-19 deaths: about 600,000 at the time of writing. The same political and media players who deny the reality of global warming also denied and politicised the Covid-19 virus.

To his credit, Donald Trump poured billions into Operation Warp Speed, which assisted the development of vaccines in a timeframe that matched the program’s ambitious title. But he also downplayed the gravity of Covid-19, then peddled quack therapies and mocked cities that mandated social distancing and mask wearing.

Continue reading...

FDA expert panel endorses Moderna vaccine booster shot – as it happened

Posted on by

The attorney general, Merrick Garland, will make his first appearance before the House Judiciary Committee next week. The testimony is likely to touch on everything from a severe near-total abortion ban in Texas to voting rights and gun violence.

Garland is scheduled to testify 21 October. His appearance was first reported by Politico.

Continue reading...