Crowdsourced Timeline: Tick-Tock to Insurrection and Beyond [UPDATE-3]
[NB: Check the byline. Updates or changes to this timeline will be emphasized (note dark blue font). /~Rayne]
You’ll recall Marcy’s January 8 post, “Investigate Tommy Tuberville’s Pre-Speech and Debate Actions” in which she wrote about Rudy Giuliani’s January 6 phone calls intended for Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).
EDIT: One The first call was received by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), which he handed over to Tuberville even as they were preparing to evacuate the Senate chambers. The caller was Trump.
Giuliani’s The second call, from Rudy Giuliani, was left instead on another unnamed senator’s phone.
Giuliani’s voicemail message asked Tuberville to slow down the election certification process on January 6, buying Team Trump time to get more information from states to contest multiple states’ elections with the aim for states to pull their certifications of their elections altogether.
How this would all come together and result in an overturned election wasn’t clear. What was the mechanism by which the states, which had already certified their elections, would reverse those certifications?
Last evening a missing piece dropped, deep in the Friday night news dump zone. The New York Times reported Trump and a little-known Department of Justice attorney, Jeffrey Clark, attempted a takeover of the DOJ, with the intent to use the department’s powers to persuade the state of Georgia to overturn its election results.
Overturning Georgia’s results and fraudulently awarding the state’s electoral votes to Trump wouldn’t have been enough to give Trump the election. But the same powers might have been used to pressure other states or to provide cover for states with GOP elected officials or legislature which favored Trump. We really need to know if Trump made calls to other states like the one he made to Georgia’s secretary of state to lean on him for 11,780 votes.
~ ~ ~
The following timeline has been pulled together from community members harpie’s and Eureka’s comments over the last several weeks as reports were published about the events leading up to and during the January 6 Capitol Building insurrection.
11/12/2020 — Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Chris Krebs said he expected he would be fired for CISA’s website dedicated to debunking election-related disinformation, much of which was spread by Trump and campaign associates.
11/17/2020 — Krebs was fired by Trump tweet after Krebs tweeted, “59 election security experts all agree, ‘in every case of which we are aware, these claims (of fraud) either have been unsubstantiated or are technically incoherent.’”
11/17/2020 — Michigan election officials certified the state’s election.
11/18/2020 — 8:04 AM – Trump tweets that Michigan can’t certify its election because of voter fraud.
11/18/2020 — GOP Michigan election officials attempt unsuccessfully to rescind their certification of the state’s election.
11/25/20 — Sham “hearing” in Gettysburg, PA (Rudy, Jenna, Trump via phone).
11/25/2020 — Michael Flynn pardoned by Trump.
11/30/2020 — Trump nominated Charles Flynn to be the Army’s “deputy chief of staff for operations, plans and training.” submitted a nomination for elevation of Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn to full general. Flynn began his current and ongoing role as Deputy Chief of Staff G3/5/7 in June 2019; he is retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn’s sibling.
12/01/2020 — Attorney General Bill Barr told Associated Press there was no widespread voter fraud during the November 2020 election, disputing Trump’s claims to the contrary.
12/01/2020 — Michigan’s state senate oversight committee held a 7-hour long hearing listening to testimony about the conduct of the November general election.
12/02/2020 — Rudy Giuliani appeared before Michigan’s state house oversight committee in a hearing about the conduct of the November general election; Giuliani maintained Trump won the election. Neither state senate or house oversight committees “have the power or authority to mandate a recount, audit or review of vote processes anywhere in the state.”
12/08/2020 — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton files suit with U.S. Supreme Court against Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin in an effort to force elections in these states back to their respective states’ legislatures where they could be invalidated.
12/11/2020 — Texas v. Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin dismissed by SCOTUS for lack of standing; Trump escalates pressure on DOJ leadership officials (*including Barr* and Rosen) to file suit in Supreme Court to overturn relevant states.
12/12/2020 — General Michael Flynn and Family speak at Jericho March in DC.
12/12/2020 — 8:47 AM Trump tweets, WE HAVE JUST BEGUN TO FIGHT!!! [time stamp subject to confirmation]
12/12/2020 — approx. 9:00 AM Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio posts a photo (which appears to be taken by someone else) on Parler social media platform.
12/14/2020 — Jacob Chansley (now recognized as the buffalo-headed shirtless insurrectionist) was reported to Capitol Police for 12/14 for carrying a weapon on Capitol Grounds; “higher ups” okay’d him being there.
[see https://twitter.com/mcbyrne/status/1350137671084089345]
12/14/2020 — Trump announced by tweet AG Bill Barr’s resignation effective 12/23/2020. Barr confirmed his resignation by letter to Trump.
12/15/2020 — Trump summons Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen to the Oval Office and makes requests detailed in NYT article; Rosen refuses; he “reiterated what Mr. Barr had privately told Mr. Trump: The department had investigated voting irregularities and found no evidence of widespread fraud.”
After 12/15/20 — [Date(s) TBD] Trump continues to press Rosen in phone calls and in person.
Mid December — [Date(s) TBD] Clark had been introduced to Mr. Trump by Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA); he told the president that he agreed that fraud had affected the election results. Mr. Trump quickly embraced Mr. Clark, who had been appointed with Rosen’s assistance the acting head of DOJ’s civil division in September; Clark was also the head of the department’s environmental and natural resources division, confirmed October 2018.
Mid to Late December — [Date(s) TBD] Trump complains about U.S. Attorney-Northern District of Georgia Byung J. “BJay” Pak. Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue warns Pak.
Mid to Late December — [Date(s) TBD] Clark drafts a letter that he wants Rosen to send to Georgia state legislators. Rosen and Donoghue again reject Mr. Clark’s proposal
12/19/2020 — Trump, Sydney Powell and Mike Flynn meet at WH [NYT].
“During an appearance on the conservative Newsmax channel this week, Mr. Flynn pushed for Mr. Trump to impose martial law and deploy the military to ‘rerun’ the election. At one point in the meeting on Friday, Mr. Trump asked about that idea. […]”
12/19/2020 — Trump tweets about the Solar Winds hack.
[see https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1340666651658899457 ]
12/20/2020 — Charles Flynn‘s elevation to full general from lt. general confirmed by the Senate by voice vote to be Army’s “deputy chief of staff for operations, plans and training.”.
12/21/2020 — Sidney Powell was back at the White House again, for third time in four days [NYT]
12/23/2020 — Bill Barr’s last day as AG.
12/23/2020 — Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Charles Kushner, and 23 other individuals were pardoned by Trump.
12/23/2020 — Trump arrived late evening at Mar-a-Lago for vacation through New Year’s Day.
12/30/2020 — Trump to quit FL vacation early, return to DC on 31st:
“The White House announced the abrupt change in the president’s schedule late Wednesday, hours after Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said he would raise objections next week when Congress meets to affirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the November election.”
[see https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-politics-florida-coronavirus-pandemic-mar-a-lago-87a839746b4d1a6dca7441791bbc20bc]
12/31/2020 — Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) and 10 other plaintiffs from across the GOP filed suit in Texas federal court against Vice President Mike Pence, asking the court to find Pence has the authority to certify the election, possibly throwing out the results in states previously contested by TX AG Paxton.
[see https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/31/us/politics/justice-department-mike-pence-louie-gohmert.html]
12/31/2020 — DOJ’s Rosen, Donoghue, and Clark meet to discuss Clark’s refusal to hew to the department’s conclusion that the election results were valid. Donoghue is blunt and tells Mr. Clark that what he was doing was wrong.
01/01/2021 — Trump appointee U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Kernodle dismissed Rep. Louie Gohmert’s lawsuit against VP Pence for lack of standing.
01/01/2021 — Clark tells Rosen that he was going to discuss his strategy with the president early the next week. [How and when was this decision made?] [But this meeting ended up happening “over the weekend”: Saturday 1/2/21, Sunday 1/3/21]
01/01/2021 and/or 2 — Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund confers with D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Contee III, who offered to lend a hand if trouble arose.
01/02/2021 — “Roughly a dozen Republican senators are in talks to join Missouri Senator Josh Hawley in objecting to the electoral college results when congress meets Wednesday, according to multiple Republican sources familiar with the ongoing talks.”
[see https://twitter.com/johnkruzel/status/1349198860573421568]
01/02/2021 — Trump along with on the call were WH Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, attorney Cleta Mitchell calls Georgia’s secretary of state Brad Raffensperger and the GA legal counsel Ryan Germany, pressuring him to “find 11,780 votes” in order to change the outcome of Georgia’s election. Raffensperger and Germany refute Trump’s claims he won GA’s election.
01/02/2021 and/or 01/03/2021 — [Date(s) TBD] Clark meets with Trump.
01/03/2021 — 8:57 AM – Trump tweets about the call to GA-SoS Raffensperger. Raffensperger tweets a reply, saying, “Respectfully, President Trump: What you’re saying is not true.”
01/03/2021 — Midday [time TBD] Clark informs Rosen that he had met with Trump and that the president intended to replace him with Clark, who could then try to stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College results. He says that Rosen could stay on as his deputy attorney general. Rosen insisted on talking with Trump.
01/03/2021 — Early afternoon – The Washington Post releases a story along with a roughly one-hour-long audio recording of Trump’s conversation with Raffensperger the previous evening.
01/03/2021 — Afternoon – Rosen works with Cipollone, to convene a meeting with Trump for early that evening.
01/03/2021 — Later afternoon – Donoghue convenes a call with the department’s remaining senior leaders, laying out Clark’s efforts to replace Rosen. Should Rosen be fired, they all agreed to resign en masse.
01/03/2021 — 6PM – 9PM White House meeting convened with Trump, Rosen, Donoghue, Clark, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, Deputy Counsel Pat Philbin, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel Steve Engel, “and other lawyers.”
01/04/2021 — Sund called House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving and Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger to ask for permission to request that the National Guard be put on emergency standby. Irving didn’t like the idea, Sund said; he said it would look bad because it would communicate that they presumed an emergency. He said he’d have to ask House leaders. [DID HE ASK PELOSI?] [Questionable if that was necessary. See 1:15 PM, 1/6/21]
01/04/2021 — Following Stenger’s advice, Sund calls Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, the head of the 1,000-member D.C. National Guard, to tell him that he might call on him for help. Walker says he thought he could send 125 personnel fairly quickly.
01/05/2021 — Sund [said he] briefed Irving and Stenger, who said that backup seemed sufficient.
01/05/2021 — More than 100 representatives from Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia asked for at least 10 more days, so they could investigate and then vote on the election in their state legislatures. The two-page letter with more than 60 pages of attachments was sent to Pence to purportedly show “the illegalities present in the 2020 election” and provide “evidence of a coordinated and structured multi-state effort to undermine state law protecting election integrity.”
[see https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2021/01/14/these-15-state-legislators-asked-pence-not-to-certify-election-results/]
01/05/2021 — Capitol Building CCTV feeds showed Reps. Louie Gohmert R-TX, Jim Jordan R-OH, Matt Gaetz R-FL, Lauren Boebert R-CO, Marjorie Taylor Greene R-GA, Paul Gosar R-AZ, Andy Biggs R-AZ were involved in giving ‘reconnaissance’ tours to groups 1/5.
[Disclosed on 01/13/2021 via https://twitter.com/FrankSowa1/status/1349574338060685312] Claim regarding CCTV not verified. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) later shared via Facebook live broadcast that she had seen “members of Congress who had groups coming through the Capitol that I saw on January 5th as a reconnaissance for the next day”; she and 33 other House Dems later requested an investigation into these tour(s).
01/05/2021 — Georgia’s U.S. Attorney Bjay Pak resigned unexpectedly. A “Never-Trumper” U.S. Attorney was mentioned but not named in Trump’s phone call to Georgia’s SoS Raffensperger on January 2; it’s believed Pak was the subject.
01/05/2021 — VP Pence tells Trump he doesn’t have the authority to overturn election results. Trump rejects this. (This needs to be validated as perspectives in multiple outlets are sourced to NYT’s Haberman.)
—————
01/06/2021 — Day of Capitol Building insurrection
TBD — Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) was photographed at the Women for America First event during the rally in front of the White House. [Exact time TBD; unclear how and when she gets to the Capitol Building ahead of the rioters.]
Just before 12 PM — Sund was monitoring Trump’s speech to the crowd on the Ellipse when he was called away by reports of two pipe bombs — near the Capitol grounds.
12:40 PM — The first wave of rioters arrived at the Capitol Building roughly 40 minutes after Trump had begun speaking at the Ellipse.
1:00 PM — Sund called Contee, who sent 100 District of Columbia (DCPD) police officers to the scene
1:09 PM — Sund [said he] called Irving and Stenger, telling them it was time to call in the Guard.
He wanted an emergency declaration. Both men said they would “run it up the chain” and get back to him, he said. [Questionable if that was necessary. See 1:15 PM, 1/6/21] // Sund said he called Irving twice more and Stenger once to check on their progress.
1:10 PM — Some officers arrive from DCPD.
[1:15 PM?] — [Minutes later] aides to the top congressional leaders were called to Stenger’s office for an update on the situation — and were infuriated to learn that the sergeants at arms had not yet called in the National Guard or any other reinforcements, as was their responsibility to do without seeking approval from leaders.
1:50 PM — Sund called Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, the head of the 1,000-member D.C. National Guard to tell him to get ready to bring the Guard.
1:59 PM — The Capitol Building was breached. D.C. police had hundreds of officers on the scene.
2:10 PM — Irving called back with formal approval. By then, plainclothes Capitol Police agents were barricading the door to the Speaker’s Lobby just off the House chamber to keep the marauders from charging in.
2:10 PM (est.) — Rudy Giuliani Trump called Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) around this time, before senators were evacuated, but reached Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-UT) phone. Lee handed his cell phone to Tuberville who spoke with Giuliani Trump briefly.
2:13 PM — Vice President Pence was escorted off the Senate floor. Sen. Charles E. Grassley begins presiding, but almost immediately calls a recess.
2:15 PM — Senate sealed. [WaPo]
2:17 PM — [Boebert tweets] We were locked in the House Chambers
2:18 PM — [Boebert tweets] The Speaker has been removed from the chambers.
2:XX PM — Exact time TBD – Rep. Ayanna Pressley and staff notice the panic button for her office had been removed without any notice. The button had been functional and used previously.
2:20 PM — Capitol was on lockdown. [NOTE: I have to find a cite for this]
2:21 PM — Jim Acosta from CNN tweets (link to tweet needed):
“A source close to the White House who is in touch with some of the rioters at the Capitol said it’s the goal of those involved to stay inside the Capitol through the night.”
2:22 PM — Capitol Police chief Sund requests National Guard support.
2:23 PM — A dense group of protestors rioters* has shattered the windows of the Capitol. We can hear roaring chants of “USA” outside. [VIDEO]
2:24 PM — [TRUMP TWEETS about PENCE / ECHOES CROWD: “USA”]
CROWD: ‘Where is Pence? Find Pence!’ ” and also “Fight for Trump!” [NYT]
2:26 PM — CONFERENCE CALL organized by D.C’s homeland security director, Chris Rodriguez. Among those on the screen were the District’s police chief, [D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Contee III] mayor [Bowser] and Walker. [head of the 1,000-member D.C. National Guard]
3:04 PM — [DOD said] Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller verbally authorized the activation of the entire D.C. Guard
3:45 PM — Stenger told Sund that he would ask his boss, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), for help getting the National Guard authorized more quickly. Sund never learned the result.
More of Contee’s officers had arrived and were helping remove rioters from the grounds. Capitol Police worked with other federal authorities, including the Secret Service, the Park Police and the FBI, to secure lawmakers, eject rioters and sweep the building so lawmakers could return to finish counting the electoral college votes that would allow them to formally recognize Biden’s victory later that night.
5:40PM — First National Guard personnel arrive at the Capitol.
About 7:00 PM — Rudy Giuliani leaves a voicemail message for Sen. Tuberville but on a senator’s phone.
[RUDY:] “We need you, our Republican friends, to try to just slow it down so we can get these legislatures to get more information to you.”
“If you could object to every state and, along with a congressman, get a hearing for every state, I know we would delay you a lot, but it would give us the opportunity to get the legislators who are very, very close to pulling their vote.”
After 8:00 PM — Congress reconvenes and completes certification of the election.
—————
01/13/2021 — Trump tells staff not to pay any more of Giuliani’s legal fees (unclear if this is campaign, Trump org, or White House staff, or all of the above).
01/15/2021 — MyPillow CEO Michael Lindell has a meeting in the afternoon at White House; his notes are caught on camera.
7 NOW as Acting National Security
8 him with getting the evidence of ALL the
9 as the election and all information regarding
10 people he knows who already have security
11 done massive research on these issues
12 Fort Mead. He is an attorney with Cyber-
13 and is up to speed on election issues.
14
15 [insurrection?] Act now as a result of the assault on the
16 marial law if necessary upon the first hint of any
17
18
19 Sidney Powell, Bill Olsen, Kurt Olsen.
20 Move Kash Patel to CIA Acting.
21
22 up Foreign Interference in the election. Trigger
23 powers. Make clear this is China/Iran
24 used domestic actors. Instruct Frank
25 evidence on [—–] the [—-]broad
26 account [————–]-ary
27 the line [—————] evidence
28 caus [——————-] attorney
01/16/2021 — WaPo: Acting Defense Secretary Orders NSA director to immediately install former GOP operative as agency’s top lawyer
01/17/2021 — The NSA is ‘moving forward’ to install Michael Ellis, a former GOP operative, as its top lawyer
[see https://twitter.com/nakashimae/status/1350855207270445059]
01/20/2021 — Ellis placed on leave pending an investigation.
“He will remain on administrative leave while his hiring is investigated by the Pentagon’s inspector general.”
~ ~ ~
What seemed random a week or more ago looks much less so today. If you have any item you believe is relevant to this developing timeline, please feel free to share in comments.
NOTE: Please restrict comments in this thread to content germane to this timeline. Thanks.
~ ~ ~
UPDATE-1 — 11:45 AM 23-JAN-2021 —
- Corrections made re: first known phone call to Tuberville – call was from Trump, not Giuliani, who made the second call left on a senator’s voicemail.
- Strike claim about CCTV of Capitol Building tours on January 5, add Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s observation of tours that day along with House Dems’ request for investigation into the tours.
- Added Trump’s 12/12/2020 tweet and Proud Boy Enrique Tarrio’s visit to White House same day.
- Added link to Philadelphia Inquirer story about 11/25/2020 hearing.
~ ~ ~
UPDATE-2 — 2:15 PM 23-JAN-2021 —
- 01/06/2021 2:21 PM tweet by CNN’s Acosta added
- 01/20/2021 Michael Ellis’s change in status added
~ ~ ~
UPDATE-3 — 5:40 PM 25-JAN-2021 —
* Once they are engaged in destruction they are no longer protesters but rioters.
Added these items, tweaked others:
- 11/17/2020 Michigan election officials certified the state’s election.
- 11/18/2020 Trump tweets that Michigan can’t certify its election because of voter fraud.
- 11/17/2020-11/18/2020Details about Michigan’s election certification and GOP officials attempt unsuccessfully to rescind their certification of the state’s election.
- 12/08/2020-12/11/2020 Filing and dismissal of Texas lawsuit before SCOTUS.
- 12/31/2020-01/01/2021 Rep. Gohmert’s Hail Mary lawsuit filed and tossed.
- 01/06/2021 Rep. Pressley’s panic button discovered missing.
- 01/02/2021-01/03/2021 More details about Trump’s call to Georgia secretary of state Raffensperger added.
- 01/13/2021 Trump wants to stiff Rudy.
CAVEAT: This timeline needs edges sanded off. There are some tweaks to be made but I need to hit the hay as it’s after 3:00 a.m. here. I’ll work on this as soon as I can in the morning.
Sure would love to know 1) if DOJ security has already locked down Jeffrey Clark’s federal building and network access, secured his cell phone, and 2) if Clark had made any calls to state officials in the 10 states Giuliani mentioned in his voicemail intended for Tuberville.
01/06/2021 – 2:21 pm (Eastern) Jim Acosta from CNN tweets:
A source close to the White House who is in touch with some of the rioters at the Capitol said it’s the goal of those involved to stay inside the Capitol through the night.
Thanks much, I’ll add that to the timeline. If you run across a link to the tweet(s) please add here in replies.
Here it is:
https://twitter.com/Acosta/status/1346927966144655362
4:13 PM · Jan 6, 2021
This comment thread:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/01/07/the-trump-effect-attempted-coup-edition/#comment-874576
“01/17/2021 — The NSA is ‘moving forward’ to install Michael Ellis, a former GOP operative, as its top lawyer”
01/20/2021 — Ellis has already been placed on leave pending an investigation. He may be hard to fire, but he can be reassigned.
“He will remain on administrative leave while his hiring is investigated by the Pentagon’s inspector general.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/20/us/politics/michael-ellis-nsa.html
I hope this is considered germane to the topic, even tough this is part of the aftermath & not the part leading up to insurrection.
Yeah, good question. I’d thought initially that he was removed because this appointment was inappropriate and it freaked out intelligence and military persons alike, but it looks very different after NYT’s report last night.
I’ll add Ellis’s change of status, thanks for sharing this.
You might consider going further back.
11/09/2020: (acting) SecDef Mark Esper replaced by Christopher Miller.
11/10/2020: Several sketchy people appointed within the national security complex.
– Retired Brig. Gen. and Fox personality Anthony Tata to become Pentagon policy chief
– Nunes minion Kashyap Patel to be Miller’s chief of staff
– former Flynn aide Ezra Cohen-Watnick to be undersecretary of defense for Intelligence
– Michael Ellis, who was responsible for hiding the transcript of the “perfect call” appointed as general counsel at NSA
It’s noteworthy that NSA Director Gen. Nakosone slow-walked that last one for more than two months!
https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2020/11/10/james-anderson-pentagon-policy-head-resigns/
https://www.dailykos.com/story/2021/1/22/2011075/-More-evidence-that-it-wasn-t-an-intelligence-failure
There are some restrictions on reassignment of SES personnel when there is a recent leadership change.
5 CFR § 317.901 – Reassignments.
(c) A career appointee may not be involuntarily reassigned within 120 days after the appointment of the head of an agency, or within 120 days after the appointment of the career appointee’s most immediate supervisor who is a noncareer appointee and who has the authority to make an initial appraisal of the career appointee’s performance under subpart C of part 430 of this chapter.
(1) In this paragraph –
(i) Head of an agency means the head of an executive or military department or the head of an independent establishment.
(ii) Noncareer appointee includes an SES noncareer or limited appointee, an appointee in a position filled by Schedule C, or an appointee in an Executive Schedule or equivalent position that is not required to be filled competitively.
Yes. But “for cause” may yet be established. The interim sidelining is appropriate.
Yes. I did a mini happy-dance when I heard that. Sidelining allows time to carefully examine the appointment process. If the appointment is faulty, the transfer issue doesn’t even come up.
Babbit seen in National Statuary Hall at 2:30pm.
Bellingcat has the mob with Babbitt arriving at Speaker’s Lobby doors around 2:40pm.
Some lawmakers videoed in Lobby at that time.
Babbitt shot at doors to Speaker’s Lobby at ~2:45pm.
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2021/01/08/the-journey-of-ashli-babbitt/
This is good documentation wrt the rioters’ attack on the Capitol Building, but it doesn’t appear to flesh out what we know about the conspiracy/ies . I’m going to put this on the back burner for now but thanks for sharing it.
I think it may be key to note which lawmakers were where at any given time, and what their reactions were. I am still bothered by a photo I failed to snapshot in which House members were swarming but Matt Gaetz was standing by himself wholly focused on his cell phone.
Here’s the photo of Goetz and his phone: https://twitter.com/hughfriknfraser/status/1352815140928843782?s=20
Thanks, Annieb, that’s the one. Everyone else on the floor looks anxious, even that circus clown Jim Jordan. But Gaetz is preoccupied, body language is slack, casual.
“A second clip, recorded approximately three minutes before the shooting, appears to show lawmakers and officials in the Speaker’s Lobby, just yards from Babbitt and others trying to get through. Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., the chairman of the House Rules Committee, was one of those present, a spokesperson confirmed.”
From here.
All this because djt and his family are in deep criminal and or financial trouble.
How far up the food-chain does this go?
Barr knew of the crimes to be committed and ran, any exposure to him failing to take action?
If djt was really a “like a genius”, he would have had the military at the other end of the tunnel in the Capitol.
Um…Trump incited the insurrection. Trump called to ask a senator to delay election certification.
It goes all the way to the top.
Can’t recall Trump’s tweet about Pence — was it the one saying Pence should do what’s right?
~~~~~~
This is a little off topic — ties together the conspiracy, Venn diagram:
From Twitter:
“Kyle Griffin
@kylegriffin1
“Trump’s campaign paid more than $2.7 million over two years to individuals and firms that organized the Jan. 6 rally that led to the Capitol riot.
8 paid Trump campaign officials were named on the permit for the rally, including Mick Mulvaney’s niece.”
~~~~~~
Plus this:
From bloomberg.com
Organizers of Trump Rally Had Been on Campaign’s Payroll
By Bill Allison
January 22, 2021, 12:24 PM EST
Updated on January 22, 2021, 4:40 PM EST
I’d say something to add would be the Congressional leadership calls to Gov. Hogan and his subsequent attempts to send help should be a part of ii: Also, would be the calls to Gov. Northam for help.
https://www.salon.com/2021/01/08/the-pentagon-denied-multiple-requests-to-send-national-guard-during-capitol-siege-gop-governor-says/
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2021/01/08/maryland-governor-describes-delayed-permission-to-send-national-guard/
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/532958-northam-sending-virginia-national-guard-to-dc-to-respond-to-capitol-raid
I can’t easily find any more specifics about this topic but I’d say it’s definitely something that is part of the sequence. Here’s a guess on events and times
[01/06/2021 01:30 PM]: (time approximate) – Hoyer, with Pelosi and Schumer, called Hogan pleading for help
[01/06/2021 ??:?? PM]:
Hogan said he mobilized 200 “specially trained” state troopers and “immediately” offered support but the Defense Department “repeatedly denied” approval for him to send in the state’s National Guard. (Who did he offer them to and who “repeatedly denied” approval?)
[01/06/2020 02:26 PM] Northam announces sending members of VA NG along with 200 state troopers. https://twitter.com/GovernorVA/status/1346916716614451207?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1346916716614451207%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fhomenews%2Fstate-watch%2F532958-northam-sending-virginia-national-guard-to-dc-to-respond-to-capitol-raid
[01/06/2021 03:00 PM]: (time approximate) Hogan receives a call from Sec. Army McCarthy asking, “Can you come as soon as possible?”
My Edit timed out?
Here’s some more:
[01/06/2021 ??:?? PM]: (After Hoyer called Hogan) Trump ??? resisted deploying troops
[01/06/2021 ??:?? PM]:Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller reached out to Vice President Mike Pence instead. (had to be before Hogan received his call.
Wondering aloud about the significance of Trump announcing Barr will be staying on for 9 days before stepping down.
How often had Trump done this vs. surprise-tweeting the immediate firing of a person in his administration? What happened in those 9 days from 12/14/20 and 12/23/20? Barr working on something personal for Trump? for Barr? both?
Well, one thing that evidently happened in those 9 days was that Trump immediately began pressuring the next AG, Rosen, to do the shit Barr evidently wouldn’t do and that Rosen wouldn’t do, thus Clark. But the NYT piece says that Trump began putting the screws on Rosen the day after Barr told him he was leaving, not after Barr left. I’m guessing Rosen, being unsettled by the requests and knowing Barr was leaving MAY have mentioned this to Barr, like, “hey dude, WTF?” and Barr be like, “yeah, that’s why I’m leaving, you’d be wise to do the same.”
And now I’m wondering if that advice wouldn’t have left open the door for Clark to be put there if Rosen resigned, rather than Rosen digging in the way he did.
Re what was Barr doing from 12/14/20 to 12/23/20?
For your consideration: going through files, searching for anything that could be incriminating to Trump (or that Trump wouldn’t want to see the light of day), removing said problem documents, shredding/burning…
Easily a nine day job, right?
Yes, seems very likely Barr turned down Trump’s offer to use the DOJ to overturn the elections after Barr’s 12/1/20 comment to the AP that no significant election fraud was discovered.
News at the time indicated Trump and Barr were in a Cold War of sorts, with Trump considering firing Barr. Barr’s letter of resignation, however, seems to imply Barr is dictating the day he will leave, and Trump shows a deference he usually reserves only for Putin and goes along with the plan.
By this point, I would assume Barr is not looking to protect Trump per se.
I’ll add links below, at the bottom of comments.
just saw this over on Atrios:
[01/06/2021 ??:??] Caldwell says he received messages from unspecified senders updating him of the location of lawmakers.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/conspiracy-oath-keeper-arrest-capitol-riot/2021/01/19/fb84877a-5a4f-11eb-8bcf-3877871c819d_story.html
Rayne, thanks for pulling this together, and a big Hat Tip to Eureka and harpie for the leg work.
This level of detail is required if somebody’s going to do the deep dive to get convictions for individuals who weren’t on the Capitol grounds on Jan 6.
From the Salon piece, “Boebert’s communications director, Ben Goldey, stepped down in the wake of Jan. 6, reportedly writing his resignation letter just hours after the attack.”
https://www.salon.com/2021/01/21/newly-elected-gop-members-deny-giving-reconnaissance-tours-before-capitol-attack-so-who-did/
From Axios
“Goldey, by contrast, has a more establishment pedigree. He was the press secretary at the Department of Interior until this year, and previously worked for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.”
https://www.axios.com/boebert-communications-director-quits-f99c415e-dcf9-4507-a8d9-31c87280e39a.html
With respect to Giuliani’s VM intended for Tuberville, I am curious as to whether Giuliani & Co were really in contact with anyone with anyone at the state legislatures on January 6 (I do not doubt that there were contacts in the weeks leading up to the certification day) or whether this was just an attempt to delay certification as the insurrection played out.
This is good layout.
The violent rampage in DC after the Jericho March where Flynn spoke in December and the previous DC rampage in November were probably trial runs for testing out police tactics, coordination, operation security, etc.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/11/14/million-maga-march-dc-protests/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trump-dc-rally-maga/2020/12/11/8b5af818-3bdb-11eb-bc68-96af0daae728_story.html
I suspect they got a very good idea of how closely they were being watched, what kind of response there would be, and whether there were signs of airport and airline security when they tried to get in and out of DC.
Not unlike the kind of stuff the 9/11 conspirators did before the hijackings.
I had been following Mike Flynn on alt-right media–his very public post-pardon exhortations to mob action, gun violence in particular–with an eye to whether he was building in deniability, plausible or not. To me, he seemed heedless of consequences, as if he believed his pardon had washed him clean for future actions as well as its actual scope. I don’t know (IANAL) how his incendiary behavior will be treated legally, but I sure hope he gets scrutinized.
Thanks to all who contributed to putting this together. Two items that seem important to me are: One. Early morning January 6, Trump’s last call to Pence, “You can either go down in history as a patriot,” Mr. Trump told him, according to two people briefed on the conversation, “or you can go down in history as a p—-.” And, two: the crowd starts chanting “Hang Mike Pence” sometime during the 2:00 hour. I have not been able to precisely time it yet, but if it follows Trump’s 2:24 tweet attacking Pence, then the timing of that might prove important as well. I have been trying to confirm that time, but YouTube removed the video and I have not been able to find a precise time of the chant for lynching the vice-president began.
You may be able to find what you’re looking for in comments here:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/01/08/investigate-tommy-tubervilles-pre-speech-and-debate-actions/#comment-874880
Also related to the a.m. hours of 6 January 2021, and possibly Trump’s mindset: The Georgia Senate elections were called by most news organizations between midnight and noon on the 6th. That both Republicans lost, arguably because of the distrust Trump had sown in the election process, became fact as the rally was starting. In the electoral sense, Trump and his acolytes now had literally nothing left to lose. At the very least, what they had to gain from stirring up the mob was one more distraction.
RAYNE, here’s the Trump “HAVE JUST BEGUN TO FIGHT” link, if it helps:
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1337755964339081216
8:47 AM · Dec 12, 2020
The Washington Post has a timeline for 1/6/21. It includes an early morning Trump tweet, the time (~12:33 PM?) that Trump informs the crowd at the Ellipse that Trump had spoken to Pence, and estimated time Pence releases letter ( just before 1:05pm ?) stating he’ll carry out his duties to certify the count of the Electoral College.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2021/capitol-insurrection-visual-timeline/
Some details from the NYT article which may [or may not] be important for the timeline:
12/15/20 Trump summons Mr. Rosen to the Oval Office; makes requests detailed in NYT article; Rosen refuses; and “reiterated what Mr. Barr had privately told Mr. Trump: The department had investigated voting irregularities and found no evidence of widespread fraud.”
After 12/15/20 Trump continues to press Mr. Rosen in phone calls and in person.
Mid December [?] Mr. Clark had been introduced [BY WHOM?] to Mr. Trump by a Pennsylvania politician and had told the president that he agreed that fraud had affected the election results. [Mr. Trump quickly embraced Mr. Clark, who had been appointed [by WHOM?] the acting head of the civil division in September and was also the head of the department’s environmental and natural resources division.]
Mid to Late December [Trump complains about Pak] Donoghue warns Mr. Pak
Mid to Late December Clark […] drafts a letter that he wants Mr. Rosen to send to Georgia state legislators […] Mr. Rosen and Mr. Donoghue again reject Mr. Clark’s proposal
12/31/20 Rosen / Donoghue / Clark meet to discuss Clark’s refusal to hew to the department’s conclusion that the election results were valid. Mr. Donoghue flatly tells Mr. Clark that what he was doing was wrong.
1/1/21 Clark tells Rosen that he was going to discuss his strategy with the president early the next week. [How and when was this decision made?] [But this meeting ended up happening “over the weekend”: Saturday 1/2/21, Sunday 1/3/21]
1/2/21 and/or 1/3/21 Clark meets with Mr. Trump.
Midday 1/3/21 Clark informs Rosen that he had met with Trump and that the president intended to replace him with Mr. Clark, who could then try to stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College results. He says that Mr. Rosen could stay on as his deputy attorney general.
Midday 1/3/21 News breaks that state officials in Georgia had recorded an hourlong call during which Mr. Trump pressured them to manufacture votes.
Afternoon 1/3/21 Rosen works with Cipollone, to convene a meeting with Trump for early that evening.
Late afternoon 1/3/21 Donoghue convenes a call with the department’s remaining senior leaders, laying out Mr. Clark’s efforts to replace Mr. Rosen. Should Mr. Rosen be fired, they all agreed to resign en masse.
6PM – 9PM 1/3/21 WH Meeting: Trump, Rosen, Donoghue, Clark, Cipollone, Philbin, Engel “and other lawyers”.
Thanks, harpie, Eureka and Rayne for lassoing the whirlwind. I was going to suggest adding Trump’s peremptory meeting on 15 December 2020 with Jeff Rosen. Rosen, not yet Acting AG, was apparently blindsided by Trump’s attempts to recruit him to the dead-end cause. These actions (meeting followed by phone calls) seem to me like further evidence of attempted conspiracy to overthrow the election. Since you did add them, harpie, I’m just underscoring their importance as I see it.
Thanks, Ginevra, you’re right about the importance of that Trump-Rosen meeting, especially with Barr’s resignation announced the day before.
Thanks, harpie, I’ll sort through these and add them.
REGARDING:
Mid December [?] Mr. Clark had been introduced [BY WHOM?] to Mr. Trump by a Pennsylvania politician
That’s Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Lawmaker Played Key Role in Trump’s Plot to Oust Acting Attorney General
The congressman’s involvement underlined how far the former president was willing to go to overturn the election, and Democratic lawmakers have begun calling for investigations into those efforts.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/23/us/politics/scott-perry-trump-justice-department-election.html
A couple other things from this article:
Late December Clark tells Rosen about his introduction to Trump brokered by Perry. [WHEN did the introduction take place?]
The president had called Clark directly on multiple occasions and the two had met in person without alerting Mr. Rosen.
End December Perry and Clark discuss a plan to have the Justice Department send a letter to Georgia state lawmakers informing them of an investigation into voter fraud that could invalidate the state’s Electoral College results.
They also discuss the plan with Trump.
When Clark approaches Rosen with the Georgia letter, Rosen refuses to send it.
Good Night! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…..
Rep. Scott Perry, Missouri senator [Josh Hawley] object to Pa. electoral votes, triggering debate – [AP via] pennlive.com
https://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2021/01/pa-rep-scott-perry-missouri-senator-object-to-pa-electoral-votes-triggering-debate.html
Counting of Electoral College Votes, Part 2 | C-SPAN.org
https://www.c-span.org/video/?507663-4/joint-session-counting-electoral-college-ballots
PA starts ca 40 minute mark; Perry starts the objection (speaking about his “beloved Commonwealth of Pennsylvania”) ca 41:26
1/07/2021 Rep. Scott Perry (PA-10) leads the objection to certifying Pennsylvania’s electoral votes
In real time this took place 1-7-21 between ca. 12:13 – 12:16 am (accuracy depending on which clock I was looking at):
https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/01/06/sedition-in-progress-u-s-senate-in-lockdown/#comment-874358
C-SPAN flashes the clock while he is objecting/after it had begun: 12:14am
and again when Pence gavels out of joint session: 12:15am
ETA: I’m irked enough [insert the tune Memories, with irony] that I want to use the inappropriate-inapplicable T word. Thank goodness for impulse control. And that S word.
Also, Perry’s twitter is radio silent since a condemnation of/on 6th January.
this would be known as “law-swearing” by modifier (-ous, -ious), which can sometimes beat the best Latinates (FUCKERS!); contrast “law-splaining”
Good Night. ;
12/11/2020 TX vs GA MI PA WI dismissed; Trump escalates pressure on DOJ leadership officials (*incl Barr*, Rosen) to file suit in Supreme Court to overturn relevant states
^ Date/story first reported by WSJ
Trump Pressed Justice Department to Go Directly to Supreme Court to Overturn Election Results – WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-pressed-to-change-justice-department-leadership-to-boost-his-voter-fraud-claims-11611434369
Internal links removed, emphasis added
[Goes w/arc I noted below re 11/21/2020 of (attempted/planned) tactical escalations in abuse of federal powers following losses in big/last chance suits.]
Trump “resigned” Barr 12 14 2020 right after EC formalized
^ this (Trump being dissed on DOJ taking states to SCOTUS) is what led into the scheme to replace Rosen with Clark, per WSJ
About Trump’s 1/2/21 CALL to Raffensperger:
People on the call [at least]:
Trump, Mark Meadows, Cleta Mitchell
Raffensperger, [Legal Counsel] Ryan Germany
Trump Tweeted about the call at 8:57 AM on 1/3/21, which is why Raffensperger released the AUDIO. Screenshot of that tweet:
https://twitter.com/BrendanKeefe/status/1346191481179148288
3:27 PM · Jan 4, 2021
Marcy writes about the call:
https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1345856825200144389
5:17 PM · Jan 3, 2021
Mike Lindell is the primary sponsor of Amy Kremer’s group “Women for America First,” which is ironically located in Auburn, Alabama. Tommy Tuberville, of course, was head coach at Auburn University. I haven’t looked up his or Kremer’s current addresses.
Lindell denies paying for any WFAF bus tours in January.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-protest-organizers-insight/how-trumps-pied-pipers-rallied-a-faithful-mob-to-the-capitol-idUSKBN29G2UP
Including this excerpt which mentions that the StopTheSteal “network” was recruited by WFAF to go to the Capitol:
Another group that joined with Women for America First to sponsor the protests was Stop the Steal, a network of activists who assembled in the immediate wake of President Trump’s election defeat, to organize rallies around the nation against Biden’s victory.
Women for America First brought on Stop the Steal as a sponsor, said Alex Bruesewitz, a conservative activist associated with Stop the Steal events. Stop the Steal set up a website that billed the event as a “Wild Protest,” a reference to the Trump tweet, Bruesewitz said.
Women for America First home page. Section about March for Trump.
(O/T, but 😳 – see their TOS.)
https://womenforamericafirst.org/
The weird flip flopping (in a span of 24 hours) of the two Michigan GOP officials (part of The Board of Canvassers) on 11/17/20 certifying the election (after initially refusing to do so), and then the next day 11/18/20 trying to rescind their vote certifying the election by filing an affidavit.
“Their affidavits came hours after Trump claimed that Michigan “cannot certify the election” in a tweet that was immediately flagged by the platform as disputed. “The Democrats cheated big time, and got caught. A Republican WIN!” the president said.”
https://www.newsweek.com/michigan-gop-election-officials-want-rescind-votes-certifying-results-late-night-reversal-1548592
Germane–tangent (motivation behind all the machinations…)
From Twitter:
“Tim O’Brien
@TimOBrien
·
5h
“What we’re continuing to learn, from the latest news cycle: Trump was trying to turn the Pentagon, CIA and Justice Department into puppets to help him overturn the election.
While contemplating a coup, he [Trump] fomented an insurrection that exploded into view at the Capitol on Jan. 6.” …
~~~~~~
Re: Tim O’Brien’s book TrumpNation, (from Wikipedia):
… “During depositions for the case, Trump told attorneys in December 2007, “My net worth fluctuates, and it goes up and down with markets and with attitudes and with feelings, even my own feelings.”[8][18] Trump clarified, “Yes, even my own feelings as to where the world is, where the world is going, and that can change rapidly from day to day. Then you have a September 11th, and you don’t feel so good about yourself and you don’t feel so good about the world and you don’t feel so good about New York City. Then you have a year later, and the city is as hot as a pistol. Even months after that it was a different feeling. So yeah, even my own feelings affect my value to myself.”[12]” …
~~~~~~
OMG — (expletives deleted by commenter)
~~~~~~
Heard on KCBS ~2,600 Russians arrested in protests re: Navalny — the temperature in the area?? Something like MINUS 50-58 DEGREES CELSIUS!!!!! Those are dedicated Russian Patriots!
12/20/2020 — Charles Flynn confirmed by the Senate by voice vote to be Army’s “deputy chief of staff for operations, plans and training.”
This may require some further looking into. Someone over at dkos clarified to me that the 20th was the day that the senate had confirmed Flynn’s promotion to 4-star, rather than his placement in that position. He also quoted something from C-SPAN, suggesting that Flynn already had that position.
“In June 2019, Lieutenant General Flynn assumed the position of Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7, Headquarters, Department of the Army.”
However, it’s not clear to me from this that he was already specifically the “deputy chief of staff for operations, plans and training.” Wouldn’t it make more sense that his promotion would have seen him also move elsewhere within the Pentagon? Input from veterans who understand these things better than myself is appreciated.
Regardless, another point for the timeline is the date that the senate received Flynn’s 4-star nomination from the White House: 11/30/2020. Source:
https://www.congress.gov/nomination/116th-congress/2368/all-info
subtropolis and RAYNE,
I’ve been made aware/just realized today, and clarified on that thread that the nomination and votes seem to have been for a C. Flynn promotion to Four-Stars [from Lt. Gen, I think] See:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/01/21/in-his-opinion-mooting-the-prosecution-of-mike-flynn-emmet-sullivan-reaffirmed-his-guilt/#comment-878773
Been busy — dropping a couple things here before I forget, intend to update later:
(1)
December 28: Hotel Harrington, DC Proud Boys hangout announces (on its FB page) that it will close for the 4th-6th
(insurrectionists pissed about cancelled reservations)
December 28: Ali Alexander (Stop the Steal leader) posts complaining about this (I have a screenshot will locate), and how he Gosar, Biggs (AZ), & Brooks (AL) arranged things
—
(2)
Above significant also because of Bloomberg and AP reporting on (former) Trump campaign staffers who helped arrange Jan 6th events cross-promoting Stop the Steal content on twitter (Wren on January 1st). [This reporting is more convoluted though some events are dated. It’s more of an FYI/receipts footnote]
—
(3)
There’s another insurrectionist Lindell video from January 8th (bannered with text to effect he is about to meet General Flynn and Sidney Powell)
—
(4)
In Rudy’s 1-6 voicemail he also states that they object to *ten* states, yet McConnell told them to keep it to *three* states (detail IMO worth adding to TL text you have)
—
(5)
Agree that Trump’s Dec 15th pressure on Rosen is a timeline event, had flagged that from NYT yesterday (another item which reflects poorly, too, on Barr’s whole enabling/inciting tenure wrt nonstandard policies/ announcements re DOJ and election fraud investigations)
==
re (1):
Will Sommer on Twitter: “DC’s Hotel Harrington, a popular spot for Proud Boys, says it’ll be closed on Jan 6 — the same day as a last-ditch MAGA rally to stop Congress from counting electoral votes. Angry Trump supporters who lost room reservations are fuming on The Donald. [screenshots]”
https://twitter.com/willsommer/status/1343752428609556483
9:55 PM · Dec 28, 2020
“Harry’s, the Harrington hotel bar that’s become a hub for Proud Boys and other MAGA types and been fined by violating Covid restrictions, has also said they’ll be closed Jan. 6.”
re (2):
https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/01/19/trumps-second-impeachment-has-already-had-several-beneficial-effects/#comment-878023
https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/01/22/stand-back-and-stand-by-the-proud-boys-node-of-the-january-6-attack/#comment-878563
re (3) [this would seem to be a lead-up to his later WH meeting of the 15th]:
Parlertakes🇺🇸: “Mike Lindell at approximately 3 PM ET on January 8, 2021. [embedded video]”
https://twitter.com/parlertakes/status/1347680738586447872
6:05 PM · Jan 8, 2021
Lindell captioned this video:
“I’m headed out to meet with General Flynn and Sidney Powell. All I can tell you is that Donald Trump is going to be your president for the next 4 years. It will all be revealed. -Mike Lindell”
Lindell ~opens ~ 2min video [he appears to be on a plane]: “Lotta stuff going on that I can’t say …this is the only time in history we have, to beat these guys, to – to suppress the evil… “[he then repeats their well-weathered conspiracies, so what’s the “lotta stuff” he can’t say?]
“It will all be revealed”–very significant appropriation (or simply ventriloquizing) of language from the QAnon and overlapping Armageddon/Revelation wing. Lindell was/is serving as a conduit as Trump tries to sustain a connection to these core supporters.
LOL, Rayne — check your email (technical difficulties)
There were ~50 DHS agents in tactical gear on standby within the Ronald Reagan Building on the 6th. Given that this is close to The Ellipse, I surmise that they were backup for the Secret Service during the rally.
However, after the Capitol had been breached — and shitstain was comfortably watching it all unfold on tv — they attempted to get permission to redeploy to the Capitol but were denied. They spent the most desperate hours cooling their heels blocks away. Why?
I’m sorry that I cannot provide a source. Some journalist tweeted a photo of them during the insurrection, and explained their denied attempts to come to the defense. I’m hoping that someone else knows more; specifically, the times involved.
12/19/20 Trump Tweets:
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-protests-wild-political-leaders-decry-rhetoric-chaos/story?id=75091007
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1340185773220515840
That link is to a 12/17/20 Washington Examiner article.
I remember the day after that tweet when Navarro was on TV crowing about this. “Statistically impossible”? I note how they frequently used the veneer of science and math to promulgate their lies…it’s not some crazy conspiracy…do the math!
WILL BE WILD!
Shell companies and ‘dark money’ may hide details of Trump ties to DC protests
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/01/trump-tied-to-dc-protests-dark-money-and-shell-companies/
Anna Massoglia January 22, 2021 8:50 am
12/11/20 (Friday) During a meeting at the WH Trump raises the idea of firing Barr.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/12/politics/william-barr-donald-trump-white-house-meeting/index.html
12/14/20: Moments after Electoral College count shows Joe Biden over the 270 votes needed to become President-Elect, Trump tweets Barr is stepping down. Trump’s tweet references letter that Barr presumably has already composed.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/14/politics/william-barr-out-as-attorney-general/index.html
12/14/20 Barr’s resignation letter 12/14/20
“Dear Mr.President,
I appreciate the opportunity to update you this afternoon on the Department’s review of voter fraud allegations in the 2020 election and how these allegations will continue to be pursued.”
But Barr’s letter does not do so. It merely memorializes that Trump, presumably, asked for a summary on this topic. Then perhaps Barr provided Trump with a verbal summary and plan?
Meanwhile I will go to bat (again*) for the significance of 11/21/2020 and 11/22/2020 events wrt the larger conspiracy (full-court press on the coercion of state officials and openness to insurrection) and Flynn pardon (that was the Saturday and Sunday before Flynn’s Weds./Thanksgiving Eve pardon).
[As background, recall Marcy has posted many times about that September 29 (?) hearing where Powell, acting as Flynn’s attorney, said she had been in contact with Trump _campaign_ lawyer Jenna Ellis and that Powell had asked Trump to *not* pardon Flynn, to hold off.]
11/21/2020: Trump loses that major PA case; GOP Sen. Toomey issues statement that it’s over (earlier in the day, Liz Cheney issued a put-up or shut-up statement about the voter fraud claims, too). (Toomey’s statement — the first major GOP hit — also refers to Trump’s efforts to coerce the MI legislators, etc.). Trump tweets (basically) that the state legislatures should have the “courage” to overturn the election [see Kyle Cheney below, on Trump’s most “brazen” effort]. Powell goes on Newsmax: while I’d highlighted her complaint that Bill Barr didn’t have control over DOJ, it was “infamous” for her statement that she was about to “blow up” Georgia — and Kemp and “the SoS” with it. [This “biblical” suit later became known as her “releasing the Kraken(s)”, which she did on GA and MI late Wednesday 11/25/2020 (after Flynn pardoned).] She was focused on GA (as a big/first domino due to key GOP officeholders/ runoff propaganda stumping opportunities as opposed to the other states; Newsmax host reminded her about MI).
11/22/2020: Rudy and Jenna Ellis release a statement that Powell is “working on her own” (will recheck exact quote), is not an attorney for Trump campaign or Trump personally
11/25/2020: [As above in timeline and] Powell releases suits (Kraken(s)) against GA and MI officials (she had been aiming to get the GA suit done by the 27th; the “momentum” of the Gettysburg “hearing” and the Flynn pardon likely motivated the late-night dump).
And as we all know, Flynn spent his post-pardon leisure evangelizing insurrection …
I can re-tighten that description out of explanatory ~narrative and provide links as needed.
To the point (and I wish I could draw a shaded diagram), Trump and co of necessity shift foci over time:
from courts (with background work on state legislators; reopen rallies doing some of that grunt of relationship formation) (and DOJ /federal facilities action in the +/-background, growing more ‘brutal’ from DeJoy & USPS, to Barr’s DOJ electioneering, to flirting/pushing the abuse of federal force deployment);
to state officials/ legislators (still in the courts, too, and working on abuses with misc federal depts);
to the insurrection (abuse of federal facilities; helpful malicious actors); to the inauguration. All while whipping the crowd to be ready.
—
*
https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/01/21/in-his-opinion-mooting-the-prosecution-of-mike-flynn-emmet-sullivan-reaffirmed-his-guilt/#comment-878412
Included for the Trump tweets and to show perspective/how this was taken at the time:
(emphasis added)
(Also, LOL at how hopelessly out-of-date that Politico article became, saying that no state legislators had taken up Trump’s BS, etc… … …)
On that background as to Powell-Ellis and Powell-Trump while Powell was Flynn’s attorney, Marcy e.g. here:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2020/09/29/on-a-key-issue-in-mike-flynn-case-which-fbi-agent-to-believe-doj-argued-against-doj/
https://www.emptywheel.net/2020/11/25/trump-prepares-to-pardon-an-undisclosed-agent-of-turkey-as-well-as-a-thanksgiving-bird/
https://www.emptywheel.net/2020/11/27/kraken-clemency-did-trump-issue-the-flynn-pardon-wednesday-to-avoid-potential-conflict-with-sidney-powells-batshittery/
(Just to be clear, I’m not repeating everything on this page that I already included in comments on this other page, here and vicinity:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/01/21/in-his-opinion-mooting-the-prosecution-of-mike-flynn-emmet-sullivan-reaffirmed-his-guilt/#comment-878412 )
Fodder for (aspects of) the conspiracy vs. (intentionally) broken systems: consider this an aside to the timeline, more of a BOLO.
A number of Capitol rioters are turning up as notorious participants in: (1) reopen rallies; (2) election/voting day(s)/vote counting interruptions.
[Besides those necessarily known as affiliate-long haulers like PBs and such]
Has anyone seen anything on the maga vehicle “ralliers” (terrorizers) (I believe they called these “parades”) ever being IDed/ in multiple places (like the ones in TX who tried to run/did run Biden bus and accompanying vehicles off the road)? Were any of the election-day/voting-day “honkers” IDed anywhere? Trump (and conspirators) loved and encouraged all that violent disenfranchising shit, too. Incipient insurrection.
Shoot, one more thing I meant to mention: the RAGA robocall to the rally-riot. harpie added a bunch of contextual info here:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/01/08/bunker-trumps-exposure-in-the-insurrection-makes-pardonpalooza-more-complicated/#comment-875227
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/republican-ags-group-sent-robocalls-urging-march-capitol-n1253581
I don’t recall rn that any date(s) of these calls were IDed/ don’t have one jotted w/my links.
1] Rep. Maloney seeks FBI probe of Parler’s role in Capitol attack
https://www.cyberscoop.com/fbi-probe-parler-capitol-attack-russia/
JAN 21, 2021
2] https://twitter.com/WendySiegelman/status/1352403880638894080
6:53 PM · Jan 21, 2021
3] 11/14/2020
Previously unknown backer of Bongino’s Parler identified as conservative billionaire Rebekah Mercer
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/previously-unknown-backer-of-bonginos-parler-identified-as-conservative-billionaire-rebekah-mercer/ar-BB1b0ulP
More background re Parler incl. Russia ties:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/01/09/once-again-trumps-self-victimhood-distracts-from-his-negligence/#comment-875435
hmmmm…May 2016?
That was a busy month for Trump campaign communicating with Russians.
Timofeev/Papadopoulos [5/4]
Sater/Cohen [5/4]
Kilimnick/Manafort [5/7]
See, for instance:
DID MUELLER ASK MANAFORT ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS EARLY MAY 2016 MEETING WITH KILIMNIK?
https://www.emptywheel.net/2019/02/26/did-mueller-ask-manafort-any-questions-about-his-early-may-2016-meeting-with-kilimnik/ February 26, 2019
Two things about January 5th and one more general query:
1. I see that the reference to Republican Members of Congress being captured on CCTV giving “Reconnaissance Tours” of the Capitol was excised, presumably because this source proved untrustworthy? Though there’s no mention of it in the comments as far as I can see. Anyway, one might wish to add Rep. Steve Cohen’s assertion that he saw Rep. Boebert leading a number of people on a tour either on the 5th or within a few days. Here’s the link to that: {{https://ktvz.com/politics/2021/01/18/democratic-lawmaker-accuses-boebert-of-giving-tours-prior-to-insurrection/}}
2. May be worth noting that the appendices to the letter sent to then V.P. Pence and signed by c.100 legislators consisted of 3 documents: two reports from the Thomas More Society and one with no heading but that appears to have been from some group at “got-freedom.org” (whoever that is; I haven’t taken the plunge to find out more yet). Here is a link to said material: {{https://wisconsinexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Letter-to-Pence-1.pdf}}
More generally: I wish someone who visits here could add a timeline of posts to social media made by right-wing extremist groups like Oath Keepers and Proud Boys during the weeks leading up to the failed insurrection.
re (2) I looked at their website (cached!) and didn’t see any information on who they were, and no links marked “about” or “who we are”. But they’re pushing the stolen-election/voter-fraud stories, so they aren’t Good People.
I had been wondering about creating a sub-timeline of all the tweets and speeches with “stand” phrases. Starting with the debate comment by Trump.
Here is a thing that I seem to think is important and no one else is mentioning it.
Facts alleged: Pence meets with Trump on the Jan 5th, 2021 and asserts his belief that he does not have authority/power to block congressional certification per the report in NYT.
http://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/us/politics/pence-trump-election-results.html
Fact alleged: Trump denies the assertions that Pense says he does not have authority to bloc certification at that same lunch meeting. Calls it fake news. Both stories are sourced from Haberman.
theweek.com/speedreads/958970/trump-denies-report-pence-informed-cant-overturn-election
Relevance: Trump wanted to incite the crowd against Pence when he did as he said he would. My belief is that this is a crucial part of Trumps plan to incite the crowd to outrage. He wanted to make the crowd turn on Pence to fuel their attack on the Congress. Trump repeatedly said, “We shall have to see if Mike Pence can come through for us.” But he knew this was not true and his reciting of the statement on the evening of the Fifth, after the lunch meeting and again at the Rally on the 6th, were to provoke a response from the mob that he had gathered and stoked. I think his denial was a crucial part of his plan to provoke an impassioned response from the mob and direct it at pence as well as congress.
Important point, Skilly, re proximate events.
I’d thought about this in an obverse way from one of the mobber’s behaviors that struck me oddly. In the ITV News video “Storming the Capitol — The Inside Story”, that charged (and infamous) TX realtor is seen during/about the 31 minute mark fondling the orange noose on the gallows. She says, while stroking it, “Joe Biden” (with a smile/uplilt, like a pleasant dawning idea she’s sharing with her communication partner). I’d wondered what time of day she said that — if it happened before Trump spoke — why she didn’t say, “Pence” (though I don’t know the universe of her statements or ideas, and it may be N/A in any case, as not every of the mob may have been attuned to Trump’s focus on Pence, a *somewhat* newer grudge vs the deluge of messaging they’d been consuming).
Just Security has an article w/embedded video showing the crowd’s reactions in realtime as Trump spoke. May be of interest to your point or others downstream of it.
“Fight for Trump”: Video Evidence of Incitement at the Capitol
https://www.justsecurity.org/74335/fight-for-trump-video-evidence-of-incitement-at-the-capitol/
(emphasis added)
Hi Rayne, thanks for all that work on UPDATE 3!
I think this:
Is the same meeting as :
12/31/2020 — DOJ’s Rosen, Donoghue, and Clark meet […]
See NYT:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/24/us/politics/jeffrey-clark-trump-election.html
Also, would we want to note that the plan for the letter had been made together with Perry?
See the initial article:
Yes, danke Rayne. (Lucky for you I am not up for dragging that yt vid over here for your earworm pleasure)
More on 1/5/21
[Via Justin Hendrix]
https://twitter.com/bjrich_/status/1354227754212974599
7:40 PM · Jan 26, 2021
Continuing directly in that thread:
I should have emphasized that “Tuesday” was 1/5/21.
So, he met these people at the HOTEL on Tuesday and was present at the rally on Wednesday 1/6/20. I wonder where HE stayed that night in between.
Sounds like they were ALL
“making many calls and having many meetings.”
This is a reference to the fact that sometime after the election…I’m frustrated that I can’t now figure out exactly when, every Trump daily public schedule consisted of:
But there was an additional sentence for the 1/6/21 schedule:
https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1346650145212026881
9:49 PM · Jan 5, 2021
Yet MORE about 1/5/21:
Roger Stone Used Oath Keepers as Security on the Eve of the Capitol Riot
Members of Oath Keepers, a far-right militia, were photographed backstage with Stone [on 1/5/21] and escorting him in a golf buggy to an earlier speech by [near?] the Supreme Court.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/7k9mpd/roger-stone-used-the-oath-keepers-as-security-on-the-eve-of-the-capitol-riot 1/26/21
As Marcy replied:
https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1354140861521666050
1:55 PM · Jan 26, 2021
Which HOTEL, I wonder….
So BOTH Stone AND Trump left their “patriots” in the lurch after promising to be at the CAPITOL with them, COWARDS.
Also, Trump, in his speech, tried to shift blame for “StopTheSteal” onto his supporters.
[See my comment at 2:37 below] >>>
Trump: And to use a favorite term that all of you people really came up with: We will stop the steal.
Article quotes Stone’s 1/5/21 speech “by the Supreme Court”:
Added:
Via Laura Rozen:
https://twitter.com/WilliamTurton/status/1351383425354244098
11:18 PM · Jan 18, 2021
Where IS this [looks like it might be a hotel?], and WHO are these other people?
Left foreground looks like Spazzo
Adding: I have an idea about the sliver of face visible to the right of Jones, would need to compare photos
Directions I am using are as the viewer looks at photo (so left is left and right is right, not relative to Jones’ pov)
Spazzo verdict was a split-second recognition, which I am good at, but there are probably lots of guys that look like that in their circles
^^ call this a “nevermind”: there are plenty of pix of Spazzo on the 6th (and before) with his facial hair looking flat/kepmt enough to be this guy, but the facial hair does seem longer and I don’t have time to go thru the video I’d like rn. More important it seems like it would have been really dumb for a PB to have a public meeting with the rest of the conspirators / the “clean hands” ilk the night before the “festivities”.
But the gloves might be matchable to other footage.
The youtube video of Alex Jones interviewing Mike Flynn on January 5th has been taken down, below is an embedded clip (looks like it’s inside a hotel, distinctive painting):
“January 5, 2021, General Flynn to Alex Jones: “Donald Trump will continue to be the President for the next 4 years, no doubt in my mind” [embedded clip]”
https://twitter.com/sellbooze/status/1346745045521600513
4:06 AM · Jan 6, 2021
In a search like this:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=alex+jones+hotel+mike+flynn+interview&atb=v243-1&iax=videos&ia=videos
One can still see thumbnails with additional views inside the hotel (every last yt I’ve tried has been taken down).
ALEX JONES at the CAPITOL
“Fight for Trump”: Video Evidence of Incitement at the Capitol
https://www.justsecurity.org/74335/fight-for-trump-video-evidence-of-incitement-at-the-capitol/
Ryan Goodman and Justin Hendrix January 25, 2021
Yes, he was with Ali of Stop the Steal that day — and that they had a “deal” with the WH about their “peaceful deal”:
‘Stop the Steal’ Organizer Ali Alexander in Hiding After Denying Blame for Capitol Riot
https://www.thedailybeast.com/stop-the-steal-organizer-in-hiding-after-denying-blame-for-riot
emphasis added, link removed; next para links InfoWars video/more about Jones
Man charged in Capitol riot was ‘following the schedule Alex Jones’ promoted
Man charged in Capitol riot cites Infowars’ Alex Jones
https://nypost.com/2021/01/22/man-charged-in-capitol-riot-cites-infowars-alex-jones/
January 22, 2021 | 1:14pm | Updated
“The White House told me three days before, we’re going to have you lead the march”, says Jones in video linked below (per the Independent, this video was first posted by Jones on the 6th):
Alex Jones says he paid $500,000 for rally that led to Capitol riot | The Independent
Mr Jones pushed the conspiracy theory that antifa was responsible for Trump supporters attacking the US Capitol
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/alex-jones-paid-rally-capitol-riot-b1784603.html
Monday 11 January 2021 16:05
[NOTE about this dateline besides the time difference: this was article was quoted by NY Post January 9, 2021 | 11:53am | Updated]
Kelly Morales: “1/ #CapitolRiots fueled by #AlexJones’ propaganda. Alex Jones paid $500K organize the event, admits he was directed by #Trump to lead the crowd to the Capitol. .@FBI Pls Investigate Free Speech System’s & Trump’s communications, donors & pre-election funding of infowars. [embedded video of Jones]” [thread]
https://twitter.com/RealKellyJones/status/1347306588353212417
5:18 PM · Jan 7, 2021
[NOTE: Morales’ clip stops before Jones gets to the part about “antifa”]
More from that video (elides Jones’ blaming of “antifa”, though appears to rely on Morales’ clip which excludes that topic):
Alex Jones claims he funded rally that led to Capitol chaos
https://nypost.com/2021/01/09/alex-jones-claims-he-funded-rally-that-led-to-capitol-chaos/
January 9, 2021 | 11:53am | Updated
internal links removed, emphasis added.
12/12/20: TRUMP tweets:
12/18/20 TRUMP tweets:
12/26/20 TRUMP tweets:
12/27/20: TRUMP tweets:
12/27/20 STONE and TRUMP meet at Mara-lago:
https://twitter.com/parlertakes/status/1343479434376974336
3:50 AM · Dec 28, 2020
1/1/21 TRUMP tweets:
1/3/21 TRUMP retweets: [an organizer of March for Trump bus tour] @JenLawrence21: “Now we will bring it to DC on Jan 6 and PROUDLY stand beside you!”
1/3/21: TRUMP retweets [another organizer]: Amy Kermer, “We are excited to announce the site of our January 6th event will be The Ellipse in the President’s Park, just steps from the White House!”
1/3/21 TRUMP retweets @ CodeMonkeyZ:“If you are planning to attend peaceful protests in DC on the 6th, i recommend wearing a body camera. The more video angles of that day the better. [Acct. was suspended on January 8]
1/6/21
12:00 PM [approx.] TRUMP speech:
2:38 PM TRUMP tweets [VIDEO]:
6:00 PM [approx.] TRUMP tweets:
Was that Trump’s LAST TWEET? …as in “FOREVER”?
1] A timeline of what Trump said before Jan. 6 Capitol riot
https://www.politifact.com/article/2021/jan/11/timeline-what-trump-said-jan-6-capitol-riot/ January 11, 2021
2] Twitter Deletes Trump Tweet
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/us/politics/twitter-deletes-trump-tweet.html
12/12 tweet: He tries to convince us he wasn’t aware this gathering was going to happen? LOL
12/18 tweet: “Don’t let them take it away” = Stop the Steal
12/26 tweet: Coincidental timing, I’m sure on complaining about the DOJ and FBI.
12/27 “information to follow” = coordination
12/27 Stone…unleashed:
[Reminds me of]:
1/1/21 “Locational details to follow. StopTheSteal!” = coordination
1/3/21 retweets: = coordination plus TRUMP recommends filming the revolution.
1/6/21 SPEECH
1] And to use a favorite term that all of you people really came up with: We will stop the steal.
HE IS DEFLECTING BLAME FOR #STOPTHESTEAL ONTO HIS SUPPORTERS.
2] We’re going to let you know who they are. I can already tell you, frankly.
TRUMP will tell them whom to attack.
Added: Those last two tweets…I can’t even begin to deal with right now.
Here’s the full transcript of
Trump’s 2:38 PM VIDEO tweet: