January 6 Committee Subpoenas Four Of Trump’s ‘Elite Strike Force Team’ Of Lawyers

Now we’re getting somewhere, going after the corrupt Republican lawyers who were among the Coup Plotters behind the January 6 , 2021 insurrection. They should all be prosecuted and disbarred.

The New York Times reports, Jan. 6 Panel Subpoenas Giuliani, Digging Into False Vote Fraud Claims:

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol on Tuesday subpoenaed Rudolph W. Giuliani and other members of the “elite strike force team” that pursued a set of conspiracy-filled lawsuits on behalf of former President Donald J. Trump in which they made unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

In addition to Mr. Giuliani, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer and a ringleader of the group, the panel subpoenaed three others who played central roles in his effort to use the courts, state legislatures and Congress to try to overturn his defeat.

Jenna Ellis drafted two Coup Memos on how Mr. Trump could invalidate the election results by exploiting an obscure law. Sidney Powell, the “Krazy Kraken Lady” lawyer who worked on many of the lawsuits with Mr. Giuliani, ran an organization that raised millions of dollars based on false claims that election machines were rigged. Boris Epshteyn, Eric Trump’s Russian-born friend, pursued allegations of election fraud in Nevada and Arizona and is said to have participated in a call with Mr. Trump on the morning of Jan. 6, “during which options were discussed to delay the certification of election results,” the committee said.

Wait, what about the other two corrupt lawyers on Trump’s “elite strike force team,” Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing? They are fact witnesses. Have they agreed to cooperate and testify to the committee? Is this why they are not subpoenaed?

And what about Sidney Powell’s “Kraken” team partner in crime, Lin Wood? Both have already been sanctioned by a court for “a historic and profound abuse of the judicial process.” ‘Profound abuse’: Judge disciplines pro-Trump lawyers over election lawsuit. Why is this lunatic not subpoenaed?

And what about Trump lawyer Cleta Mitchell, who was on Trump’s phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger “to find 11,780 votes”? Attorney who assisted Trump on call with Georgia officials resigns from law firm. That phone call alone violated at least four federal criminal laws, not to mention Georgia state laws for which a grand jury is currently reviewing the evidence. 4 criminal laws that Trump may have violated in his Georgia election call. Cleta Mitchell is a fact witness, and is just as corrupt as the other corrupt lawyers subpoened by the January 6 Committee. Is the committee just looking at Georgia separately?

“The four individuals we’ve subpoenaed today advanced unsupported theories about election fraud, pushed efforts to overturn the election results or were in direct contact with the former president about attempts to stop the counting of electoral votes,” Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the chairman of the committee, said in a statement.

The subpoena to Mr. Giuliani, obtained by The New York Times, seeks all documents he has detailing the pressure campaign he and other Trump allies initiated targeting state officials; the seizure of voting machines; contact with members of Congress; any evidence to support the bizarre conspiracy theories pushed; and any arrangements for his attorney’s fees.

The panel instructed the four witnesses to turn over documents and submit to an interview in February.

* * *

The committee said in a letter to Mr. Giuliani that its investigation had revealed “credible evidence” that he participated in attempts to “disrupt or delay the certification of the election results,” persuade state legislators to “take steps to overturn the election results” and urge Mr. Trump to order the seizure of voting machines.

Mr. Giuliani claimed fraud at a series of unofficial state legislative hearings, and even argued one election fraud case himself, in federal court in Philadelphia, where he suffered a decisive defeat. A humiliating defeat.

“Voters, not lawyers, choose the president,” the court declared at one point.

https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1479125070232576005

On Jan. 6, speaking to a crowd of Trump supporters before the attack on the Capitol, Mr. Giuliani called for “trial by combat.” Later, as the building was under siege, he called lawmakers in an attempt to delay the certification of Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory. [In furtherance of the Coup Memos.]

“Senator Tuberville, or I should say Coach Tuberville, this is Rudy Giuliani, the president’s lawyer,” Mr. Giuliani said in a voice mail message intended for Senator Tommy Tuberville, Republican of Alabama, but mistakenly left on the phone of Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah. “I’m calling you because I want to discuss with you how they’re trying to rush this hearing and how we need you, our Republican friends, to try to just slow it down.”

Ms. Ellis, the committee said, “prepared and circulated” two Coup Memos analyzing the constitutional authority for former Vice President Mike Pence to reject or delay counting electoral votes from states where Mr. Trump’s allies had attempted to arrange for the submission of an alternate slate of electors. In the memos, obtained by Politico, Ms. Ellis advised that Mr. Pence had the authority to not count electoral votes from six states in which the Trump campaign falsely alleged there was widespread fraud.

Ms. Powell, the Krazy Kraken Lady, was among the leading promoters of some of the most far-fetched and fantastical claims of widespread voter fraud, including a bizarre conspiracy theory alleging a vast plot by China, Venezuela and the financier George Soros to hack into Dominion Voting Systems machines to flip votes away from Mr. Trump to Mr. Biden.

She, too, urged Mr. Trump to seize voting machines, according to the committee.

In December, Mr. Trump considered naming Ms. Powell to be a special counsel overseeing an investigation of voter fraud, even after his campaign had sought to distance itself from her as she aired wild and baseless claims about Dominion voting machines. [Still does.]

Her organization, Defending the Republic, raised $14.9 million between December 2020 and July. Ms. Powell’s group has more than $9.3 million in funds on hand, according to an independent audit filed with Florida, which investigated the organization and alleged multiple violations of state law. [Just another grifter.]

Mr. Epshteyn reportedly attended planning meetings at the Willard Hotel in the days leading up to Jan. 6, the committee said. (See, Ahead of Jan. 6, Willard hotel in downtown D.C. was a Trump team ‘command center’ for effort to deny Biden the presidency). The panel, citing reporting from The Guardian, said he also participated in a call with Mr. Trump the morning of Jan. 6 that included a discussion of Mr. Pence’s “unwillingness to deny or delay the certification.” (See, Trump called aides hours before Capitol riot to discuss how to stop Biden victory).

Mr. Giuliani is facing a defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems, alleging he carried out “a viral disinformation campaign about Dominion” made up of “demonstrably false” allegations, in part to enrich himself through legal fees and his podcast.

Reminder: There is also a criminal investigation into Mr. Giuliani’s dealings in Ukraine. F.B.I. Searches Giuliani’s Home and Office, Seizing Phones and Computers (May 2021).

In June, his law license was suspended after a New York court ruled he made “demonstrably false and misleading statements” while fighting the results of the 2020 election.

An internal memo made public through a defamation suit filed by a Dominion employee revealed in November that Mr. Trump’s campaign had determined many of the outlandish claims they were making about election machines were untrue.

* * *

Robert Costello, a lawyer for Mr. Giuliani, called the subpoena “political theater” and said Mr. Giuliani would be covered by executive privilege, should Mr. Trump invoke it, as well as attorney-client privilege.

“They’re not going to charge Rudy Giuliani with anything, and they’re also not going to get any information from Rudy Giuliani factually,” he said, adding: “Did they even call me and even ask if Rudy would voluntarily talk to them?”

Spare me your theatrics, Mr. Costello. We both know that your client would never voluntarily testify. There is no executive privilege, and any attorney-client privilege is waived by the crime-fraud exception. Your client, like all of these corrupt Republican lawyers have two options, (1) Come clean, and testify truthfully as to eveything they know; or (2) plead the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination and hope that the Department of Justice does not prosecute them (sadly, this appears to be a good bet).

None of these corrupt Republican lawyers who were among the Coup Plotters behind the January 6 , 2021 insurrection are ever going to testify. They will fight their subpoena in court, and when they lose and have to testify, they will all plead the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination. That should at least lead to their disbarment from the practice of law.

You remember what Donald Trump said in 2016: “You see the mob takes the Fifth” … “If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?”

As for DOJ prosecutions, I am growing pessimistic. The Washington Post reports, The Justice Dept. alleged Jan. 6 was a seditious conspiracy. Now will it investigate Trump?

The Justice Department’s decision to charge Oath Keepers with seditious conspiracy last week makes clear that prosecutors consider the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol part of an organized assault to prevent the peaceful transfer of presidential power.

But so far the department does not appear to be directly investigating the person whose desperate bid to stay in office motivated the mayhem — former president Donald Trump — either for potentially inciting a riot or for what some observers see as a related pressure campaign to overturn the results of the election.

The House select committee on Jan. 6 is investigating both matters, separate from the Justice Department, and has aggressively pursued information about Trump and those closest to him. But FBI agents have not, for example, sought to interview or gather materials from some of Trump’s most loyal lieutenants about their strategy sessions at the Willard hotel on how to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to participants in those meetings or their representatives.

The department has not reached out to the Georgia secretary of state’s office about Trump urging its leader to “find” enough votes to reverse his defeat, a person familiar with the office said, even as a local district attorney investigates that matter.

The Trump campaign has not received requests for documents or interviews from the FBI or Justice Department related to Jan. 6 or the effort to overturn the election results, and federal prosecutors have not sought to interview those with knowledge of Trump’s consideration of a plan to install an attorney general more amenable to his unfounded claims of massive voter fraud, according to people familiar with the matter who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing case. The Justice Department inspector general is investigating the aborted plan and could ultimately ask prosecutors to consider whether crimes were committed.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has vowed to hold accountable all those responsible for the Jan. 6 riot — whether they were at the Capitol or committed related crimes. “The actions we have taken thus far will not be our last,” Garland said in a Jan. 5 speech marking the anniversary of the Capitol breach.

But some legal analysts say they worry Garland might be moving too cautiously. Or not al all.

“The other shoe has yet to drop — that is: When will the Justice Department promptly and exhaustively investigate the part of the coup attempt that I believe came perilously close to ending American constitutional democracy, basically, without a drop of blood?” said Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe, a constitutional scholar and outspoken Trump critic.

A spokesman for the D.C. U.S. attorney’s office, which is leading the criminal investigation, declined to comment (per policy).

If Merrick Garland is not up to the task of defending the government against seditious insurrectionists who carried out a failed self-coup plot on January 6, 2021 he should resign now and give President Biden an opportunity to appoint an aggressive prosecutor as his next Attorney General. These traitorous sonsuvbitches need to be prosecuted and locked away promptly.