Barry Loudermilk Wasted $250K Making Security Footage available on Rumble
In response to Barry Loudermilk’s report on January 6, his counterpart of the committee, Joe Morelle, released a response. [Alternate link]
I’ll say more about its central Speech and Debate argument; as I’ve noted, DOJ can’t investigate Liz Cheney without falling afoul of the same Speech and Debate that protected Scott Perry from investigation for his role in the insurrection.
But there’s an important detail that deserves its own post.
There’s a long section of the report that describes right wing efforts to make security footage from January 6 available. It describes how, rather than hosting the video on the Committee’s own website, right wingers chose to post it on Rumble instead. It includes a quote from USCP Acting Director of Intelligence Julie Farnham about the downsides of doing so: It meant making the content readily available to extremists.
Ms. Farnam: Well, the audience is largely extremists, and those are people who have — not everyone, but some of them have celebrated the threats to our democracy and have worked to undermine our democracy. And so having that security information makes it even more dangerous for the people trying to protect the Capitol and more dangerous for all the Members of Congress.188
And for the privilege of making security video readily available to extremists, the report reveals, Republicans paid $250,000.
In other words, Barry Loudermilk and Mike Johnson wasted tax payer money to make themselves and their colleagues less safe.
Somewhat OT, apologies.
Here are the connections, Russian and Chinese, for Susie Wiles, Trump’s COS:
https://bylinetimes.com/2024/11/12/lobbyists-oligarchs-and-power-the-pro-putin-network-raising-fears-of-foreign-influence-in-trumps-team/
After watching Trump’s absolutely insane ‘press conference’ (as much as I could stomach), I predict that the Speech and Debate Clause isn’t going to deter his DOJ from going after his enemies.
He’s totally nuts and drunk with power. I’ve never seen anything like that press conference, at least since Idi Amin.
I have only a wikipedia understanding of Rumble (a YouTube alternative with a group of investors from 2021 that includes Thiel, JD Vance, Vivek Ramaswamy): users who post videos to Rumble can make money from the content.
So I wonder whether Loudermilk, in addition to making colleagues who work at the Capitol less safe, received any profit from posting the Capitol security footage to Rumble (instead of on the governement website)?
[I see Judge Cannon is back at it–defending Trump–and now attempting to block Smith’s report to the DOJ from being publically released]
I do not understand how Judge Cannon can even in jest try to block the report of J6, purported to be Vol 1 of Smith’s 2 volume report as it was in another courtroom in DC…WTF?
She seems to me to have always had an unjustifiably exalted opinion of her own intelligence and thus her importance to the Republic – a self-election as a second Publius.
Perhaps the simplest explanation works best. My theory is that Cannon did her sweeping ruling to force a SCOTUS review since two separate circuits are likely at odds. It assumes the 11CA will back her (though that isn’t likely given earlier 11CA smackdowns of Cannon) but at this point there is no other path to force SCOTUS review. All Convict-1 needs is two weeks and he can spike all of it.
Judge Cannon may be eyeing a promotion.