Capitol Insurrection Report

On November 5, 1605, Guy Fawkes was arrested for his participation in the Gunpowder Plot, a scheme by disaffected Catholic terrorists to blow up King James I and his Parliament using 36 barrels of gunpowder in the basement of the House of Lords. It seems oddly fitting that the presidential general election of 2024 is taking place on the 419th anniversary of that date. It seems very likely that the contest will drag on for days or even weeks, but the result may come down to this question: how many Americans just want to blow it all up? https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G8vSbD4YHaTmzNcF3zu1fzv75w1Hu1tWPLe9XvfiuqQ/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HIlBqFI4WAk3-ehiqMM3jw_qGT_jmLBpoLXyXGTVfOM/edit?usp=sharing https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/brothers-new-york-arrested-assaulting-law-enforcement-weapon-and-other-charges-during https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/voisine-v-united-states/ https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/21847422/stephen-leigh-voisine/ https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/ballot-boxes-set-fire-portland-vancouver-rcna177611 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/what-happens-to-trump-s-november-sentencing/ar-AA1tkenR?ocid=BingNewsSerp https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67656604/united-states-v-trump/?page=2 https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/02/jack-smith-trump-election-brief-details-00182287 https://rollcall.com/2024/11/04/outlier-or-early-warning-late-iowa-poll-confounds/ https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7484kwl55qo https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/24/americans-take-a-dim-view-of-the-nations-future-look-more-positively-at-the-past/ https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-trump-timeline/ https://apnews.com/article/trump-harris-presidential-election-2024-labor-day-151f82b59473d29a448ef1cea9afe471 https://www.wgal.com/article/pennsylvania-ballot-counting-rules-2024/62786512

Returning again to the "19th Brumaire Scenario," I examine what documentary evidence there is regarding the "OTR movement" on January 6th, 2021, when the Secret Service informed Trump they would not take him to the Capitol. It is likely that this is a key question for the evidentiary hearings in DC before Judge Chutkan, presuming these actually move forward. Key questions include what Trump's intent was in his plan to go to the Capitol, what he intended to do once there, and the possibility that Trump had intended to lead a "procession" of 10,000 National Guard personnel from the Ellipse to the Capitol as a show of force to cow Congress. I will discuss the evidence that shows that there are documents cited in the Final Report that have not been uploaded to the GovInfo site for the Committee: though insurrection apologists have asserted this is evidence of obstructing, it seems far more likely that his is evidence that there are materials the Committee thought were vital to any DOJ case that would be brought, and so were reserved for any future prosecution. The identifying information of these witnesses p[rovided by the Committee are listed: there are six anonymized transcripts cited in seven pages of Chapter 7 that may be pivotal. I include selected evidence from the documentary record, mainly the materials cited in the Final Report of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack. This includes some of the 26 documents submitted by the Secret Service and cited in the Report, the transcripts of Max Miller, Katrina Pierson, Tony Ornato, and more. I will also suggest that, while there's plenty of support for the idea that the USSS under Trump was obstructionist, the documentary evidence supports the idea that there was a "team normal" at the USSS, and these included the persons who ultimately did block the OTR movement. Although the documentary evidence is more scant than one would like, it seems probable that the final decision on the OTR movement was made by Kimberly Cheatle, who was the Assistant Director in charge of the Office of Protective Operations on January 6th, but who since has been promoted to Director. Some discussion also of the recent events in Butler, Pennsylvania, and how the evidence from January 6th shows that Donald Trump is an extraordinarily uncooperative and difficult person for the Secret Service to protect. https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GPO-J6-WITHOLDING/ [https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GPO-J6-WITHOLDING/] https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000021632_00096/pdf/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000021632_00096.pdf [https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000021632_00096/pdf/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000021632_00096.pdf] https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000030809/pdf/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000030809.pdf [https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000030809/pdf/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000030809.pdf] https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000021633_00030/pdf/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000021633_00030.pdf [https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000021633_00030/pdf/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000021633_00030.pdf] https://archive.org/details/january-6th-committee-witness-testimony-20221129-anthony-ornato-1 [https://archive.org/details/january-6th-committee-witness-testimony-20221129-anthony-ornato-1] https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000152321/pdf/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000152321.pdf [https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000152321/pdf/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000152321.pdf] https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000028929_00001/pdf/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000028929_00001.pdf [https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000028929_00001/pdf/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000028929_00001.pdf] https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/11/politics/house-gop-january-6-committee-report/index.html [https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/11/politics/house-gop-january-6-committee-report/index.html] https://www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/117118/witnesses/HHRG-118-HA06-Wstate-MatthewsE-20240417.pdf [https://www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/117118/witnesses/HHRG-118-HA06-Wstate-MatthewsE-20240417.pdf] https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000208061/pdf/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000208061.pdf [https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000208061/pdf/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000208061.pdf]

With sentencing in the hush money case coming right before the Republican National Convention, the leading contender for that party's presidential nomination has claimed that he doesn't care about his supporters, he just wants their votes, and also that suicide ought to be preferable to them than voting for his opponent. At the same time, every discussion of consequences too includes some claim that allowances ought to be made for the possibility of political violence, as if leniency for the dear leader should be a consequence of the threat of political violence posed by the Trumpist movement. No electoral or judicial process ought to be held hostage by the threat of political violence. In this episode, I examine a recent arrest made for threats against the FBI, new charges brought by the State of Wisconsin against three defendants who allegedly conspired to commit fraud, and other developments. Political violence must be deterred, and so I also revisit a "top ten" list of the worst defendants charged to date I compiled for Episode 1, Season 8, "The Worst." Each of these gets a "where are they now" treatment, and a review of their sentences, release dates, and the progress of the relevant legal processes. https://time.com/6982979/trump-conviction-judge-jail/ https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/06/politics/merchan-trump-gag-order-contempt/index.html https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59869101/united-states-v-coffee/?page=1 https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/60044813/united-states-v-mchugh/?page=2 https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59743200/united-states-v-padilla/ https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59780846/united-states-v-mckellop/ https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59704067/united-states-v-egtvedt/ https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59249721/united-states-v-foy/?page=2 https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/58955673/united-states-v-lang/ https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.226964/gov.uscourts.dcd.226964.133.0.pdf https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59291007/united-states-v-sabol/ https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59735143/united-states-v-webster/ https://www.justice.gov/usao-az/pr/arizona-man-charged-selling-guns-use-mass-shooting

"It was just a delay that somebody or somebodies were willfully, deliberately delaying making the decision." (Transcript of Major General William Walker before the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack, p 118) For three hours and 19 minutes, the NC National Guard waited in the DC Armory on January 6th, 2021, supposedly awaiting approval from Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy to deploy to the US Capitol. That order was never conveyed to Walker, although Secretary of Defense Chris Miller claims he authorized deployment at 3:04 pm, and Secretary McCarthy claims he called Walker to authorize deployment at 4:30 pm--a phone call Walker has consistently denied took place. Who were the "somebody or somebodies" who delayed deployment on January 6th, and what were their motivations? Given the conflicting accounts and the threadbare relationship between the official account of the DOD and what actually happened on January 6th, it seems unlikely we will ever see a definitive account of why the delay was felt to be necessary. Nonetheless, there is circumstantial evidence in the documentary record that shows that both the civilian and military leadership on duty on January 6th were uniform in their desire to keep both active-duty and National Guard servicemembers on the sidelines in the fight for the Capitol. The fact that this actually happened, and very much aligned with the preferences of top leadership is probably more than just a coincidence. If Trump had intended to misuse the military, why is there no record of his attempting to issue an illegal order on January 6th? Why did Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy believe it was necessary to personally develop a CONOP for January 6th, a circumstance that seems as unlikely as Jeff Bezos delivering your Amazon order? Why is it that neither General Walker or anyone else has seen the plan McCarthy supposedly developed in 20 minutes? Why was Ryan McCarthy so surprised to "I don't know what actually happened." (Miller, 115) "I -- I can't -- I don't know how to explain that." (McCarthy, 136) "You're coming up with a plan without me being involved in the plan?" (Walker, 108) Q: Was there any hesitation by DOD leadership to deploy the D.C. National Guard? A: None. No. (Milley, 258) "In fact, even in hindsight, I am really glad the cops showed up first. I'm glad that the FBI or the DEA or whoever it was, I'm glad they were the ones that showed up first and cleared the Capitol. Because they're the pros, they know how to do it. They're cops." (Milley, 275) https://www.govinfo.gov/collection/january-6th-committee-final-report?path=/gpo/January%206th%20Committee%20Final%20Report%20and%20Supporting%20Materials%20Collection/Supporting%20Materials%20-%20Transcribed%20Interviews%20and%20Depositions/%7B%22pageSize%22%3A%2250%22%2C%22offset%22%3A%220%22%7D https://www.govinfo.gov/collection/january-6th-committee-final-report?path=/gpo/January%206th%20Committee%20Final%20Report%20and%20Supporting%20Materials%20Collection/Supporting%20Materials%20-%20Transcribed%20Interviews%20and%20Depositions/%7B%22pageSize%22%3A%2250%22%2C%22offset%22%3A%220%22%7D https://www.militarytimes.com/news/2022/08/08/milley-almost-quit-over-trump-wrote-biting-resignation-letter-new-book-reveals/ https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/chairman-joint-chiefs-says-no-role-military-presidential-election-n1238772 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMrvbCVNcwE&t=1s https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/09/mark-esper-fired-defence-pentagon-donald-trump https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/17/politics/chris-krebs-fired-by-trump/index.html DOD Statement on Personnel Changes at the Pentagon > U.S. Department of Defense > Release https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/d-c-mayor-muriel-bowser-press-conference-on-capitol-protests-transcript-january-6 https://docs.house.gov/meetings/IJ/IJ00/20211213/114313/HRPT-117-NA.pdf

I interview Aquilino Gonell, formerly of the United States Capitol Police. Gonell has published American Shield, an autobiography recounting his life story from his childhood in the Dominican Republic, and New York City, his service in the Second Iraq War, and also detailing his leadership role in a Civil Disturbance Unit on January 6th, 2021, as well as the aftermath of the attack and his decision to testify before the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack. Sergeant Gonell is a recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal and the Congressional Gold Medal. https://www.counterpointpress.com/books/american-shield/ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/741940/escudo-americano-by-aquilino-gonell/ https://www.uscp.gov/department/united-states-capitol-police-memorial-fund https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/03/politics/capitol-police-officers-exclusive-interview-january-6/index.html https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg50139/html/CHRG-117hhrg50139.htm https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/01/06/remarks-by-president-biden-at-presentation-of-the-presidential-citizens-medal/