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JOH PRES NARCO TRAFFICKER PARDON

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YouTube

https://www.youtube.com › watch?v=Iv99Xsh6cNQ

Cleta Mitchell On Election Integrity - YouTube

17:50

Jul 19, 2026American election law lawyer and former politician Cleta Mitchell joins Roger to discuss election integrity amidst a deep national conversation about free an...

Author:Red Apple Podcast Network

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neg ad fuckery driven bc repeat fail eg doge or bad polls 10 26?

mma

Here are the right-wing media figures endorsing “despicable” ad from Ohio Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy

The ad features Democratic nominee Amy Acton’s estranged mother, who defended her husband’s reported sexual assault of Acton when she was a child

Written by Zachary Pleat

Research contributions from Gideon Taaffe

Published 10/21/26

Multiple right-wing media figures are promoting an ad released this week by Ohio Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign targeting his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, featuring her mother calling her a liar. However, Acton has been estranged from her parent since the age of 12 in 1978, when her mother defended the candidate’s stepfather against accusations he had sexually assaulted Acton for two years, then fled the state with him as he became a fugitive from charges of child sexual abuse.

In Ramaswamy’s ad, which right-wing media personalities praised as “brilliant” and “absolutely hilarious,” Acton’s estranged mother accused her of lying about her past. But court records accessed by ABC affiliate News 5 Cleveland back up Acton’s story, with the outlet reporting, “Mahoning County Court records we obtained show that Cledith Arthur was arrested and charged with sexually abusing Acton, then 12 years old. The abuse went from ages 10-12, she said.” The article continued: “After pleading not guilty, he posted bond and fled, becoming a fugitive of the state until his death in 2004. Police tried to find him for numerous years, documents state. He and Acton's mother moved to Pennsylvania, according to public records.”

Acton’s brother, Philip Stearns, issued a statement following the Ramaswamy ad’s release, saying, “It’s not surprising that Vivek Ramaswamy has stooped to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at twelve years old from our birth mother’s husband into a political talking point. … After he was arrested and Amy and I were removed from their custody, our birth mother stayed married to Amy’s rapist until he died.”

Yet some right-wing media personalities are celebrating the ad, which Ramaswamy campaign manager Jonathan Ewing said “is a campaign-ending moment for Amy Acton.” Ramaswamy also shared commentary on the ad and Acton more generally from right-wing podcaster Megyn Kelly.

Daily Wire host Michael Knowles praised Ramaswamy’s ad as “brilliant, brilliant.” Knowles added: “I think it's a very, very effective ad. It's brutal.” [The Daily Wire, The Michael Knowles Show, 10/20/26]

Newsmax host Greg Kelly: “Everybody in Ohio and the country should be listening to Amy Acton's mom.” Kelly repeatedly praised Acton’s mother, saying, “The mother speaks with love here. I believe the mother loves Amy.” He continued: “And she seems like a very nice lady, actually.” Kelly concluded: “Wow, that's some — the mother, I believe her.” [Newsmax, The Greg Kelly Show, 10/20/26]

Video

Citation

From the October 20, 2026, edition of Newsmax's Greg Kelly Reports

Podcaster and former FBI deputy director Dan Bongino said of Ramaswamy’s ad: “This is the most destructive political ad I have ever seen.” Bongino added: “How do you vote for this lady? It's her mom. That's mom dukes. Ma, mommy, mom, ma. My kid goes, Ma. How do you vote?” [Rumble, The Dan Bongino Show, 10/20/26]

Trump political operative Roger Stone used the ad to smear Acton, saying, “Turns out she’s been lying for personal gain.” Stone claimed that Stearn’s statement “seems like a poor explanation.” [Red Apple Audio Network, The Stone Zone, 10/20/26]

Gateway Pundit’s Wayne Allyn Root called the ad “absolutely hilarious.” Root used the ad to say, “The more you meet these Democrat candidates, they’re all crazy. They’re all covering up for the fact that they’ve had mental illness their whole life. They’re crazy, whacked-out people.” [The Gateway Pundit, War Zone with Wayne Allyn Root, 10/20/26]

Newsmax host on Vivek Ramaswamy attack ad featuring Amy Acton's estranged mother: “Everybody in Ohio and the country should be listening to Amy Acton's mom”

10/21/26 8:56 AM EDT

Daily Wire host praises “brilliant, brilliant” attack ad featuring Amy Acton's estranged mother: “Incredible stuff is going on”

10/21/26 9:00 AM EDT

Dan Bongino praises Vivek Ramaswamy attack ad on Amy Acton: “This is the most destructive political ad I have ever seen”

Dan Bongino rails at Republicans condemning attack ad featuring Amy Acton's estranged mother: “What kind of freaking party is this? Holy Moses, man, take the freaking gloves off.”

10/21/26

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mma 8 26

Roger Stone says national emergency declaration for elections is “brilliant” and “revolutionary”

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MMA

Roger Stone pushed for Trump to bring “longtime friend” Bill Pulte into his administration – and now wants the acting DNI to investigate “that 2020 election”

07/08/26

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How to get a Trump pardon: Forget the DOJ, call “Bobby” and other influencers

A Reuters investigation found nearly all the clemency decisions made by President Trump during his current term flouted longstanding Justice Department guidelines. In place of traditional rules, the White House relies on a network of influential advocates espousing pardons based on partisan, personal criteria.

By Marisa Taylor, Chris Prentice, Kaylee Kang and Allison Martell

June 11, 20263:50 AM PDTUpdated June 11, 2026

WASHINGTON - Days before granting him a pardon in March of last year, President Donald Trump phoned Trevor Milton, an electric-vehicle entrepreneur and Republican donor who was convicted of defrauding investors of more than $660 million.

The president, according to previously unreported details of the conversation reviewed by Reuters, told Milton that high-profile advisors convinced Trump that Milton had been unfairly prosecuted by the Justice Department of President Joe Biden. Among those who put in a good word, Trump said, was U.S. health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Milton’s treatment was unjust, Trump said, and similar to his own targeting by federal investigators around the same time. “You had a lot of support,” Trump told Milton. “Bobby Kennedy. You have to call Bobby and thank him.”

In an emailed statement, Milton didn’t answer questions from Reuters about the exchange with the president or any support he received from Kennedy or others. The Department of Health and Human Services, where Kennedy is serving as secretary, didn’t respond to requests for comment on this report.

Trump’s reference to “Bobby” is emblematic of how the president has upended the pardon process in his second administration, discarding over a century of protocol overseen by the Justice Department, or DOJ. Today, winning a pardon or other grant of presidential clemency routinely hinges upon an informal and highly personalized network of influencers and advocates appealing to Trump himself, according to a Reuters analysis of pardon, lobbying, and electoral records, as well as interviews with over 80 people familiar with clemency decisions during the president’s current term.

Pardon applicants once had to comply with longstanding DOJ guidelines, such as a five-year wait after conviction or demonstrated remorse for their crimes. Reuters’ analysis shows that under Trump, clemency now is far more dependent upon access to his inner circle. That access, Reuters found, is enhanced when an applicant can craft a narrative that resonates with the president’s own sense of victimization, a sentiment he has regularly expressed since being indicted twice by federal prosecutors during his four years outside the White House.

Reuters reviewed thousands of records to document a cast of characters involved in pardons or commutations granted by Trump since he returned to the presidency. Using public databases and artificial intelligence to help search, compile and analyze the records, reporters identified many of the recipients, their advocates and Trump administration insiders involved in clemency for more than 1,700 people since January 2025. The review found:

96% of Trump’s second-term clemency grants have gone to recipients who didn’t fulfill longstanding DOJ guidelines for such requests. Past presidents on occasion have sidestepped those rules before. But fewer than 1% of those who received clemency during the Biden administration and just 14% of recipients in Trump’s first presidency failed to meet the guidelines.
Reuters identified 290 advocates, or influencers, who publicly or privately helped secure clemency for 197 recipients. Because some of the advocates worked on behalf of multiple candidates, their efforts at times overlapped, representing 624 different acts of influence. Among the influencers, 73 helped secure more than one pardon or sentence commutation. Brett Tolman, a former U.S. attorney now in private practice in Utah, has been involved in at least 12 pardons or commutations. Roger Stone, a veteran political consultant and longtime Trump confidant, had a hand in at least five.
Of the influencers identified by Reuters, at least 110 are known Trump allies. Eleven of those received clemency themselves from Trump during his first term. High-profile advocates and pardon recipients include Stone and Angela Stanton King, a conservative author and campaign advisor to Kennedy before he ditched his 2024 run for the presidency and backed Trump.
Six people familiar with recent clemency acts said intermediaries with proven access to Trump’s entourage can charge as much as $2 million for their services. Reuters, however, couldn’t establish how much each advisor it identified had charged for help with a given pardon.

Stone and Stanton King each acknowledged to Reuters their role in advocating for pardon recipients. Stone said he received no money for his services; Stanton King declined to say how much she was paid. Tolman, the Utah attorney, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

“The constitutional authority to issue pardons and commutations rests solely with the president,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, wrote in a statement. “The White House has a rigorous pardon review process which includes the White House counsel, the Department of Justice, and ultimately the president.”

The statement didn’t answer Reuters’ questions about the president’s call with Milton or the role of Kennedy or other specific administration officials in clemency decisions.

In a separate statement, a DOJ spokesperson wrote that it plays “a key role in assisting the president with exercising his constitutional authority.” The department continues “to make recommendations to the president that are consistent, unbiased, and uphold the rule of law. There has been no departure from this long-standing process.”

Trump’s new pardon protocols, and the privileged access that has come to define them, have sparked coverage in the media and uproar among legal experts, traditionalists at the DOJ, and victims of some of the pardoned offenders. Even some of Trump’s top aides, including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, have pressed for a pause in clemency ahead of the midterm elections, fearing further criticism could harm Republican chances, according to three people familiar with discussions over the matter.

A White House official who declined to be identified disputed the assertion that Wiles has argued for a slowdown in pardons.

The Reuters review is the first to measure the scale of the influencer network and identify the repeat roles that some of these advocates are playing. Because most of the advocacy isn’t officially reported to government regulators, the news agency was unable to identify every single person involved in each act of clemency.

Roger Stone, a Trump confidant and pardon recipient himself during the president's first administration, is one of the high-profile influencers who has helped clemency seekers during the current term. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno

Reuters was also unable to determine the total amount of money, including attorney or consulting fees, involved in securing these high-profile influencers. Insiders say the value they provide is clear: “I have access, I have relationships,” Stanton King, the author and former Kennedy advisor, told Reuters. “Because of that, I’m in the perfect position to be able to advocate and make sure that someone’s name or application isn’t just sitting over somewhere in a pile getting dusty.”

In this new landscape, personal access to Trump or his confidants is more effective than traditional methods of wooing an administration. Reuters found only two successful pardon recipients who disclosed hiring registered lobbyists, a conventional path for courting influence, to work on their behalf, paying a combined $2.7 million. Another 26 people, lobbying records show, spent a total of nearly $1.9 million on lobbyists to no avail.

In her statement, the White House spokesperson wrote that “anyone spending money to lobby for pardons is foolishly wasting their money.”

Lobbyists must disclose in federal filings their persuasion efforts and what they do for the money. The hush-hush of informal influence is more difficult to track. One influencer, who asked not to be identified, has helped several clemency recipients through access to Trump’s confidants. The tactic “is a little bit like Game of Thrones – who’s in power, who’s important,” the person said. “We’ll say to a client, ‘tell us anybody you know in the political world. It could be your best friend’s cousin from elementary school.’”

That influencer was one of several who told Reuters their advocacy has included outreach to Trump family members including Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son. The person declined to elaborate on those contacts. In a statement, Andy Surabian, a spokesperson for Trump Jr., said: “Don has not advocated for any pardons for anyone during his father’s second term.”

Some pardon recipients and their advocates have gained favor by making political donations or with help from well-funded partisans or political organizations. Although criticized by some ethics experts as a possible quid pro quo, it’s not a crime for a president to grant clemency to benefactors of their campaign or party, unless an explicit agreement to sell forgiveness exists.

According to Federal Election Commission records, 10 of the recipients, influencers and companies they ran – including Milton, the EV entrepreneur – donated a total of more than $10 million to Trump-related political coffers, both before and after clemency decisions. Others, including a Florida man convicted of stealing fishing gear used to trap sharks for research, benefitted when political interest groups espoused their causes.

Compared with the past, “there’s nothing other than money, praise, partisanship and relationships that dictates who gets pardons,” said Ty Cobb, a White House counsel during the first Trump administration who is now a private attorney in South Carolina.

Clemency Connections

Roger Stone

Political Consultant

Juan Orlando Hernandez

Former President of Honduras

Scott Howard Jenkins

Former Sheriff

Michele Fiore

Former Las Vegas City Councilwoman

Michael McMahon

Former NYPD Officer

Rod Blagojevich

Former Governor of Illinois

Stone’s advocacy has helped at least five people, including a former Virginia sheriff convicted of taking bribes, receive clemency from President Trump during his current term. Photos: REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo, Andy Buchanan, Screenshot/Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office via Wayback Machine, Screenshot/City of Las Vegas via Wayback Machine, Brendan McDermid, Vincent Alban

“CREATE A STORY”

The pardon power, meant to correct injustices and allow for mercy from outside the judicial system, is entrusted to the president by the U.S. Constitution. It is broad in reach. Presidents can pardon, or forgive, any federal criminal conviction. They can commute sentences to shorter terms.

To formalize the process, and minimize any corruption associated with it, the DOJ began overseeing pardon recommendations in the late 19th century. Most presidents since have followed the department’s guidelines, but there have been exceptions.

Bill Clinton in 2001 notoriously pardoned Marc Rich, a billionaire commodities trader who fled the United States rather than face charges including tax evasion, after Rich’s associates made donations and advocated on his behalf. Joe Biden, just before leaving office, broke a public vow by pardoning his troubled son Hunter, who had recently been convicted on federal gun and tax charges.

Both former presidents have defended their clemency actions.

Starting his first day back in office, Trump outdid them all. He immediately granted clemency to the estimated 1,500 people who stormed the U.S. Capitol in 2021, none of whom would have qualified under DOJ guidelines. More than 200 other pardons and commutations have followed, including at least two pardons initiated by the White House before recipients had even sought one.

Can you create a story that is similar to what members of this administration, including the president, have gone through?

Sam Mangel, clemency consultant

Most of those subsequent recipients have employed what several people involved in the actions described as a “hybrid” process. The approach entails some combination of personal appeals, influential intermediaries, political donations, and a narrative of victimization by Biden-era prosecutors. It has enabled those who get the right access to leapfrog a line of other applicants. Liz Oyer, a former DOJ pardon attorney during the Biden administration and early in Trump’s current term, calculates the current backlog at about 20,000 applications.

Sam Mangel, a Florida clemency consultant, said he has worked on behalf of 10 successful recipients during this Trump term and is currently pressing for about 20 others. He described the process this way: “Can you create a story that is similar to what members of this administration, including the president, have gone through? Then, can you somehow get it into the hands of the White House counsel?”

Mangel declined to name his clients, but said he usually charges tens of thousands of dollars to advise them.

Milton, founder of Nikola, a failed electric vehicle manufacturer based in Arizona, was convicted in October 2022 of defrauding investors by promoting a business venture for products that didn’t work. Among other evidence cited by federal prosecutors, he famously filmed a promotional video of a truck rolling down a hill – but gravity, not electricity, was propelling it. When Trump re-entered the White House, Milton was out on bail, appealing his conviction and four-year prison sentence, and heavily courting the new president and his allies.

Trump last year pardoned Trevor Milton, shown here on his YouTube channel, following his conviction for defrauding investors in Nikola, a failed EV manufacturer, of more than $660 million. Screen capture via YouTube

In 2024, electoral records show, Milton contributed at least $1.84 million to campaigns supporting both Trump and Kennedy ahead of the presidential election. Reuters couldn’t ascertain when or where Milton and Kennedy may have first crossed paths. But Trump in his phone call to Milton in early 2025 made clear that Kennedy was a strong advocate.

Trump also spoke fondly about his own personal meeting with Milton and his family at an undisclosed place and time before the pardon. According to previously unreported details of the conversation, Trump said: “You made a great impression – your father, you and your wife.”

The president said he identified with Milton’s plight. “When I met you I said, ‘This man didn’t do anything wrong,’” Trump told Milton. He disparaged the federal prosecutors on the case. “I heard the scum that was after you was the same scum that was after everybody.”

After being pardoned, Milton expressed little of the remorse traditionally required of recipients. According to the DOJ guidelines: “A petitioner should be genuinely desirous of forgiveness rather than vindication.” In a social media post the day of his pardon, Milton wrote he was one of many Americans “railroaded by the government.” He added that “trust and confidence in the Justice Department has eroded to nothing.”

Milton, in a social media post the day of his pardon, showed little of the remorse traditionally required by Justice Department guidelines from recipients of pardons. Screenshot via X.com

In his statement to Reuters, Milton blamed a plot among the media, financial markets and federal prosecutors to “burn my company to the ground.” He said he was targeted because of his longstanding support for Trump. He offered no substantiation of those claims. “They came after me, my family, and everything I had built because of it.”

That sense of grievance is widely voiced among the president’s populist supporters. It’s a throughline for much of Trump’s mercy – from the Capitol riot clemency to the pardons he granted shortly thereafter for 24 activists convicted of interfering with abortion clinics. Then there was the pardon last November for Troy Lake, a truck shop owner in Wyoming.

Sentenced in 2024 to just over a year in prison, Lake had pled guilty to altering emissions controls on at least 344 diesel trucks. The tampering was a violation of the Clean Air Act, an environmental law long derided by conservatives. Lake’s sentence caused outcry among critics including Cynthia Lummis, a Republican senator from Wyoming. Last year, citing Lake’s case, Lummis sought to amend the act, arguing that Democrats and environmental regulators “wage war on rural America.”

Meanwhile, two military veterans, friends of Lake’s, petitioned Lee Zeldin, a retired Army Reserve lieutenant colonel and Trump’s administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. “Please reach out to the President,” they wrote in an August email reviewed by Reuters, “to request a pardon, clemency, or commutation.”

EPA spokespeople didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Holly Lake, Troy’s wife, said Zeldin’s intervention proved crucial. “That’s when we started getting some movement,” she said in an interview. The movement included a phone call from Sean Hayes, a White House attorney, to discuss a pardon. Hayes is a central figure in any pardon process, according to several people familiar with the administration’s clemency efforts.

Lee Zeldin, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, are among administration officials who have advocated for pardon recipients. The two cabinet members spoke earlier this year at a Washington event. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Reuters was unable to reach Hayes outside official White House channels for comment.

In addition to discussing her husband’s pardon, Holly Lake said, Hayes asked the couple whether they knew of other cases in which defendants had been targeted by overzealous prosecutors. They have since advocated for others prosecuted on similar charges involving emissions devices. In January, the DOJ said it would stop prosecuting such cases.

Lake, who served seven months of a yearlong sentence, told Reuters the president believes that regulatory agencies have gone too far. “They’re going rogue,” he said. “In his second term, he really realized how much is wrong out there.”

Some politically influential organizations have worked to bring cases to the White House’s attention. After Trump’s November 2024 election, the Cato Institute and the Reason Foundation, libertarian organizations dedicated to limiting the role of government, both highlighted the case of John R. Moore, Jr., a Florida boater and diver. Moore was convicted in 2022 of stealing fishing gear used to catch sharks by a company licensed to do so for research.

Moore and a colleague were fined and sentenced to probation for theft in federal waters. The men thought they were freeing the sharks from illegal capture, Moore told Reuters.

After the two libertarian organizations published opinion pieces criticizing the convictions, Jim Jordan, a Republican congressman from Ohio and Trump ally, highlighted the case in a May 2025 hearing of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. Also at the hearing were a Cato researcher and Tolman, the former U.S. attorney who has been involved in at least 12 pardons. Michael Fox, the Cato researcher, told Reuters that Tolman, while not part of Moore’s defense team, helped draw attention to the case.

“I had no idea that anyone was working on my behalf,” Moore said in a telephone interview. “I’m still surprised that my case resonated.”

After the hearing, Hayes, the White House counsel, called Marc Seitles, Moore’s attorney, to discuss a pardon that Trump ultimately announced weeks later. “I was shocked,” Seitles said in an interview, noting he hadn’t even requested a pardon yet. “He asked, ‘Can you tell us the facts and circumstances of the case?’ And of course I took full advantage of that.”

As with Lake, the Wyoming truck mechanic, Seitles said Hayes asked if he knew of other cases of prosecutorial excess. Seitles said he has since made recommendations for others.

“PUT A KIND WORD IN”

Among the most effective advocates, Reuters’ review shows, are Trump associates who themselves have received clemency. The official the White House has dubbed its “pardon czar,” responsible for organizing clemency efforts, is Alice Marie Johnson. She was pardoned by Trump during his first term after serving more than two decades in prison on a conviction related to a cocaine conspiracy and money laundering. When Trump announced her appointment last year, he described her as “an inspiration” and told her “to find people just like you,” perceived to have been victimized by the courts.

Last year Trump appointed Alice Marie Johnson, a pardon recipient during his first term, as his "pardon czar," telling her to find others who had been unfairly treated by the courts. The two appeared here at a White House event in February. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Another top advocate is Stone, the political consultant. At the end of his first administration, Trump pardoned Stone, who had been convicted in 2019 for obstructing a Congressional investigation regarding the 2016 presidential election. Stone’s connections have proven valuable for clemency seekers. Not only does he enjoy access to the White House, Stone also hosts a radio show on prominent conservative broadcasters, where he has championed some of the recipients’ causes.

In a text message exchange, Stone said he is motivated by justice, not remuneration. “I have not received a single penny,” he told Reuters. “I was moved by either prosecutorial overreach or misconduct, judicial bias, or political weaponization.” Reuters was unable to confirm his assertion.

Trump last year posted online about his pardon of Jenkins, the former Virginia sheriff convicted of accepting bribes. Jenkins, Trump wrote, was a victim of "Radical Left 'monsters.'" Screenshot via TruthSocial.com

One beneficiary is Scott Howard Jenkins, a former county sheriff in Virginia. Jenkins was convicted by a federal jury in December 2024 of accepting over $75,000 in bribes from area businesspeople in exchange for appointing them deputies. Despite vocal opposition from Virginia public officials, Stone was among several advocates who urged the administration to pardon Jenkins, an outspoken Trump supporter.

In May 2025, as Jenkins prepared to surrender for a 10-year prison sentence, Trump pardoned him. In a post online, the president said Jenkins had been “persecuted by the Radical Left ‘monsters.’” Jenkins appeared on the day of the pardon on Stone’s show. “All of you who have put a kind word in and did the work you did to communicate with the White House,” Jenkins said, “I’m forever indebted.”

Absent from Trump’s clemency: three others who cooperated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and pled guilty to paying Jenkins the bribes. Stone, by text message, said he didn’t speak up for the others because he found their testimony flawed and characteristic of the “politically motivated” trial.

In one case, prominent connections enabled a longtime Democratic operative to receive clemency. Carlos Watson and Ozy Media, his California-based media company, along with co-conspirators were found in 2024 to have defrauded investors of more than $60 million by lying about business deals with Google and Oprah Winfrey. Watson, who is African American, argued at his sentencing that prosecutors unfairly targeted him because of his race, that his conviction was “a modern lynching.”

Watson didn’t respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

An attorney for Carlos Watson, a media entrepreneur convicted of defrauding investors, reached out to influential contacts who helped secure clemency from Trump last year. Watson is pictured here in 2023. REUTERS/David Dee Delgado

With Trump’s return to office, Watson’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, turned to friends in high places, according to three people familiar with the process. Based in the president’s native city of New York, Aidala had represented figures including Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and Trump attorney, and Steve Bannon, the populist ideologue and White House strategist during the first Trump administration. Both men, accused separately of federal crimes, are themselves among Trump’s pardon recipients.

The people familiar with the process told Reuters that Bannon knew Watson before his conviction and spoke to his family about the clemency bid. Bannon told them they could use him as a reference, these people said.

Bannon in a telephone call confirmed the interaction, but declined to elaborate. Neither Aidala nor Giuliani responded to requests for comment.

Is this how Pardons work now?

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In his first year in office of his second term, Trump has pardoned a whopping 2,000 criminals who have committed all kinds of horrible acts and are still menaces to society. We’re talking Jan 6 rioters who have abused children, killed people while driving drunk, and threatened other federal workers. Mind you, these are crimes they committed AFTER being pardoned! Surely they can expect new pardons for these crimes any day now, right?

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BBC

Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, has walked free after President Donald Trump pardoned the man once characterised as the key figure in a drug trafficking scheme that flooded America with over 400 tonnes of cocaine.

Trump has said that Hernández, who was sentenced to 45 years in prison by a US court, is a victim of political persecution and has been "treated very harshly and unfairly".

The pardon has surprised some experts, given the seriousness of the crime and the administration's promised crackdown on illegal drugs flowing into the US.

Here is a look at Hernández's political career and crimes, and why Trump may have pardoned him.

400 tonnes of cocaine and a $1m bribe from El Chapo

Hernández first ran for president of Honduras, a country of 10 million people, in 2013 as the candidate for the conservative National Party. He ran again in 2017, in an election marred by fraud allegations and violent protests.

Throughout his two terms, he maintained a cordial relationship with the US. Former President Barack Obama called him one of the "excellent partners" on the migrant-children crisis, and Trump backed him as the winner of the disputed 2017 vote.

But Hernández's fortunes began to unravel in 2019.

US federal prosecutors accused him of accepting a $1m bribe from notorious drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán for his first presidential campaign in exchange for protecting narcotics routes through Honduras.

The allegations surfaced in a separate case involving his brother, Juan Antonio "Tony" Hernández, who was arrested in Miami in 2018 on charges of smuggling cocaine into the US. At the time, the then-president denied any involvement in his brother's crimes.

Tony Hernández was convicted in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison.

But the end of his brother's trial marked only the beginning of the ex-president's legal troubles.

Shortly after leaving office in 2022, he was arrested and extradited to the US on drug-trafficking and related weapons charges.

Reuters

Hernández was arrested, handcuffed and escorted to a US-bound plane in 2022 to face federal charges of drug trafficking.

Hernández's federal trial lasted three weeks in 2024.

US prosecutors argued that he was a central figure in a more than 18-year-long drug-trafficking scheme that funnelled over 400 tonnes of cocaine into the US - equivalent to roughly 4.5 billion individual doses.

"The people of Honduras and the United States bore the consequences," said then-attorney general Merrick Garland.

Prosecutors detailed how Hernández abused office by shielding drug traffickers armed with machine guns and grenade launchers. In exchange, he received millions of dollars to fuel his political campaigns.

Multiple branches of the state were involved, including the Honduran National Police, who protected cocaine shipments as they moved through Honduras to the US for distribution, prosecutors said.

In some cases, the drug traffickers associated with Hernández committed violent crimes and murders to quell rival gangs and grow their enterprise, they said.

During sentencing, Hernández insisted he was the victim of "political persecution".

"The prosecutors and agents did not do the due diligence in the investigation to know the whole TRUTH," he wrote in a letter following his conviction.

Trump: Hernández conviction was a 'Biden setup'

Trump announced the pardon on Friday in a Truth Social post, writing that, according to "many people that I greatly respect", Hernández had been unfairly treated by prosecutors.

In the same post, he also endorsed Tito Asfura for president of Honduras ahead of Sunday's election. Asfura ran under the same National Party ticket as Hernández.

As of Tuesday, preliminary results show the election is too close to call, forcing a hand recount of ballots.

Trump's endorsement of Asfura wasn't surprising to many, given the right-leaning National Party's ideological alignment with the current US administration.

Trump has also weighed in on the politics of other countries in the Western Hemisphere, like Brazil and Argentina.

"We've seen the President's affinity with leaders on the right that he sees as being favourable to some of interests of his administration," noted Jason Marczak, vice-president and senior director at the Atlantic Council's Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center.

But the decision to pardon Hernández simultaneously stunned some experts.

"It was hard for me to believe, because there was such an overwhelming case against Hernández," said Michael Shifter, an adjunct professor at the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University.

Mr Shifter added that what he found more puzzling was the "contradiction" between the pardon and Trump's declared policy of clamping down on drug trafficking.

Trump has repeatedly pledged to curb the flow of drugs into the US, and carried out highly controversial strikes on boats in the waters around Venezuela that his administration says are piloted by drug traffickers.

More than 80 people have been killed in a number of strikes in the Caribbean Sea since early September.

Images

While pardoning Hernández, Trump endorsed Tito Asfura for president of Honduras.

At the White House briefing on Monday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt argued that charges against Hernández were tainted by corrupt "over-prosecution" under President Biden.

Asked if the pardon undermined the US president's campaign against "narco-terrorists" on the American continent, Leavitt said the aim was to "correct the wrongs" of the justice department under Biden.

"I think president trump has been quite clear in his defense of the United States homeland to stop these illegal narcotics from coming to our borders whether that is by land or by sea," Leavitt added.

US media outlet Axios later reported that Hernández penned a four-page letter in October praising President Trump, and requesting a review of his case "in the interest of justice".

In the letter, he reportedly recalled the working relationship he and Trump had during the US president's first term, and said his case "advanced only because the Biden-Harris DOJ pursued a political agenda to empower its ideological allies in Honduras".

The outlet also reported that Roger Stone, a lobbyist and long-time Trump advisor, had told the US president that a pardon for Hernández would energise the National Party ahead of the Honduran election.

Trump subsequently told reporters on Sunday that he believed the ex-president's prosecution "was a Biden setup".

Mr Marczak of the Atlantic Council noted that the prosecution of Hernández was the result of an independent investigation by the US justice department.

But he added that the decision to pardon Hernández was in line with the Trump administration's "willingness to question decisions made during the Biden presidency".

## Honduran ex-president Juan Orlando Hernández released from US prison after Trump pardon

## Honduras presidential candidates locked in 'technical tie', official says

## Honduras ex-president gets 45 years for drug crimes

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an 11 25

11/26/2025

When six Democratic senators with military and intelligence community experience posted a video last week calling on people now serving to refuse to carry out illegal orders, President Trump and many of his supporters lost it – even though the video was simply reminding servicemembers of their obligation under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

The White House has walked back Trump’s initial outbursts calling for execution of the senators, but he said Sunday he still wants to see “the traitors that told the military to disobey my orders” in jail. He reposted a Truth social post calling the senators “traitorous sons of bitches” and “pompous traitorous communists” who “should be impeached and prosecuted.”

The senators have reported receiving death threats, and Trump allies are fanning MAGA outrage with false characterizations of the senators’ video.

Many MAGA attacks ignored the essential point of the senators’ video, which was to urge servicemembers not to obey illegal orders.

Trump adviser Stephen Miller, who has overseen official brutality against immigrants and their defenders, falsely claimed, “Democrat lawmakers are now openly calling for insurrection” and told Fox News viewers that it was “a general call for rebellion.”

Last week Libs of TikTok posteda claim that “Elected Democrats just released a video encouraging members of the military to commit treason and DEFY orders from Trump and Hegseth.”

On Sunday, the Republican National Committee sent an email claiming “Democrats want to stage a military coup” and falsely claiming that the video “called for an all-out coup against President Trump and Pete Hegseth” by “directly asking troops to disobey their orders.”

The RNC called the senators “disgusting socialists” and claimed they were “urging INSUBORDINATION.”

On Monday, the Washington Examiner’s Elizabeth Stauffer wrote that “Democrats are openly calling for a military mutiny.” She said the senators’ video had “all the hallmarks of a psychological operation lifted straight from the CIA’s playbook.”

Political dirty trickster Roger Stone claimed Monday that the video “is a call to arms for a revolt” and complained that “congressional seditionists” were emboldened by the fact that the Justice Department has not moved quickly enough to prosecute former “Deep State” officials.

Gary Bauer—yes, he’s still at it—used his daily newsletter to attack the senators for “stoking division and fueling mistrust in our government, which is the goal of our enemies”—and, let’s be honest, is the hallmark of Trump and the MAGA movement.

The Pentagon announced that Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy Captain, would be investigated and could be recalled to active duty to face a court martial over what Hegseth claimed was a “seditious” video.

Kelly and the other senators made it clear that they were not cowed by Trump’s bluster, and many of their congressional colleagues came to their defense. Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado called it “a decisive moment.” Crow wrote on X, “Trump is trying to incite violence, intimidate, and punish those who speak up to hold him accountable. But the only thing we fear is not rising to this moment and defending the country we love.”

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger said in a videothat military officers are told on “day one” of their training that they are obligated to not follow unlawful or illegal orders. Kinzinger called the Defense Department’s threat “chilling” and said it was designed to strike the fear of God into former officers who are publicly critical of Trump.

A rare critical voice from a sitting Republican came from Rep. Don Bacon who wrote that he thought the senators’ video was a bad idea, but that talk of sedition and threats of court martial were “crazy.”

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AN 8 25

For many years, Florida was considered a volatile swing state that, depending on the candidate, could go either Democrat or Republican in statewide races. Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama both carried Florida twice, and in the state's 2018 gubernatorial race, Democratic former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum just barely lost to Republican now-Gov. Ron DeSantis.

But since then, Florida has taken a deep-red turn. DeSantis ran as a far-right culture warrior in 2022 and was reelected by 19 percent; Donald Trump carried Florida by roughly 14 percent in 2024. And Florida has become a bastion of MAGA politics, from DeSantis to conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer to Sen. Rick Scott to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi (Florida's former state attorney general) to Trump himself.

In an article published by The Guardian on August 6, journalist Oliver Laughland describes a 400-mile journey across Florida —where he took a close look at the state's MAGA machine.

Laughland describes a Turning Point USA event at the Tampa Convention Center, where, in July, a who's-who of MAGA — including British comedian Russell Brand — could be found and "conspiracy theories, grievance politics and Christian nationalism" were on full display.

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"Ahead of me, Russell Brand sits on a white sofa, broadcasting live on the conservative video-streaming service Rumble," Laughland explains. "His guest is the 'alt-right' influencer Jack Posobiec. To the left, along an alleyway lined with small broadcast booths, is the longtime Donald Trump adviser and self-proclaimed 'dirty trickster' Roger Stone, who is holding court on a podcast. To the rear, on a large metal scaffold, is Steve Bannon’s 'War Room' channel, busy cutting between live footage of a small protest outside the event and adverts for various Trump-aligned products….. In the arena next to the mezzanine, a conveyor belt of MAGA superstars walk out to deliver keynote speeches, accompanied by spitting-flame cannon, pounding dubstep, spinning lasers and strobe lights."

Laughland continues, "Brand delivers a bizarre diatribe — part standup comedy, part evangelical sermon — about his newfound conversion to Christianity in a word salad of alliteration and non sequiturs…. He is immediately followed by Tom Homan, Trump’s loudmouth border czar."

But that Turning Point USA event in Tampa was only one of the MAGA-related things Laughland observed in Florida. Four hours south of Tampa, he notes, is the "Alligator Alcatraz" detention center. And Palm Beach is home to Trump's Mar-a-Lago, home to countless MAGA events.

"My colleague Tom Silverstone and I came here as the first stop on a journey across…. Florida," Laughland notes. "Once the quintessential swing state, it is now solidly Republican — and home to some of the president's vast sources of personal wealth, including his beach club, Mar-a-Lago. It is also one of the hubs of his mass‑deportation program."

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07/30/2025

Kyle Mantyla

No matter what happens, you can always count on Gene Bailey and the panelists at "FlashPoint" to suggest that some conspiracy is at work. "It seems a little fishy to me," said Bailey Tuesday night regarding the recent deadly shooting in Manhattan.

Just a reminder that Tim Barton is not going to stop making false claims just because they have been repeatedly debunked.

The threat of a tsunami following a recent earthquake never materialized and obviously that is thanks to the quick work of "prophetess" Kat Kerr, who sent the hosts of Heaven to stop it.

Roger Stone says that "New York will be a flaming wreck" by 2028 if Zohran Mamdani is elected mayor.

Finally, Hitler-loving fanboys Stew Peters and Lucas Gage have become enemies over Peters' antisemitic JProof meme coin, which Gage invested in but now claims is a scam. As such, Gage is now organizing a class action lawsuit against Peters.

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ggl 7 25

AI Overview

Roger Stone, a close associate of Donald Trump, was involved in the 2016 US presidential election in connection with WikiLeaks' release of emails damaging to Hillary Clinton's campaign

Key details about Stone's WikiLeaks connection:

Awareness and Anticipation: Stone was aware of WikiLeaks' plans to release information detrimental to Hillary Clinton's campaign. He reportedly gave the Trump campaign updates on these plans.

Boasts about WikiLeaks Ties: Former Trump campaign CEO Steve Bannon testified that Stone boasted about his ties to WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, and served as an "access point" to WikiLeaks for the campaign.

Intermediary Claims: Stone claimed to have a "back-channel" connection with Assange through an intermediary, initially naming Randy Credico.

Direct Contact with Assange: FBI documents later revealed that Stone and Assange were in direct communication via Twitter in 2017. Stone reportedly reassured Assange that he would "bring down the entire house of cards" if the US government pursued him.

Indictment and Conviction: Stone was indicted by Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation for lying to Congress and witness tampering related to his efforts to contact WikiLeaks. He was found guilty on all seven counts. The indictment stated that Stone sought stolen emails from WikiLeaks that could damage Trump's opponents and coordinated with senior campaign officials.

Trump's Knowledge: Unredacted portions of the Mueller report indicated that Trump was told in advance about the planned WikiLeaks releases of documents embarrassing to the Clinton campaign. Trump subsequently informed his advisers that he expected more releases.

Motive for the Leaks: According to his associate Jerome Corsi, Stone wanted WikiLeaks to release the Podesta emails to distract from the "Access Hollywood" tape and its fallout. Stone's motive was to damage Clinton's campaign and help Trump gain ground in the polls.

//[### Roger Stone wanted WikiLeaks dump to distract from ' ...

The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com › nation › 2019/01/29](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/01/29/roger-stone-wanted-wikileaks-email-dump-distract-access-hollywood-tape-associate-claims/)

Jan 29, 2019 — Jerome Corsi said he has told the special counsel about a conversation with Stone in which the Trump confidant, who was indicted on Friday, ...

It is important to note that:

US intelligence agencies determined that the emails released by WikiLeaks were hacked by the Russian government in an effort to damage Clinton's campaign.

While Stone was convicted of lying to Congress and witness tampering in relation to his efforts to contact WikiLeaks, he has maintained his innocence.

Trump has a personal stake in Stone's sentencing, as Stone's trial included testimony that he briefed Trump and other campaign aides on his purported knowledge of WikiLeaks' plans.

The connection between Roger Stone, WikiLeaks, and Hillary Clinton's campaign remains a significant event in recent US political history, highlighting issues of election interference and transparency.

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Steve Bannon says Roger Stone was Trump campaign’s link to WikiLeaks | PBS News

no lnx

Bannon says Roger Stone was Trump campaign’s link to WikiLeaks

:{:{Politics Nov 8, 2019}:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump’s campaign viewed Roger Stone as an “access point” to WikiLeaks and tried to use him to get advanced word about hacked emails damaging to Hillary Clinton, a former top presidential adviser testified Friday.

In reluctant testimony, former campaign CEO Steve Bannon told a federal court that Stone, on trial for lying to Congress and witness tampering, had boasted about his ties to WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange, alerting them to pending new batches of damaging emails.

“The campaign had no official access to WikiLeaks or to Julian Assange,” Bannon told the court. “But Roger would be considered if we needed an access point.”

While Stone repeatedly “implied that he had a connection with WikiLeaks,” he never stated it directly, Bannon said.

It was the first time that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign acknowledged in court that they had actively sought material from WikiLeaks, which released emails that U.S. intelligence agencies determined had been hacked by the Russian government in order to damage Clinton.

The White House had no immediate comment.

Stone, a colorful political operative and Trump ally, is charged with witness tampering and lying to Congress about his attempts to contacts WikiLeaks about the damaging material during the 2016 presidential campaign.

While Stone repeatedly “implied that he had a connection with WikiLeaks,” he never stated it directly, Bannon said.

The campaign took Stone’s boasts seriously enough to follow up, asking why expected information about Clinton wasn’t revealed when Assange held a press conference in October 2016.

Bannon, who testified in response to a subpoena, did not say anything about Trump and said Stone had not been sent by anyone on the campaign to talk to Assange.

Earlier this week, a former FBI agent testified about a flurry of phone calls between Stone and then-candidate Trump — including three calls on July 14, 2016 — the day that a massive hack of the Democratic National Committee’s servers was reported. But the agent said she did not know what was discussed on those calls.

As he left the courthouse, Bannon griped about being subpoenaed by prosecutors and Congress in addition to being interviewed several times by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team as it investigated Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

“I was forced and compelled to come here today,” he said as he climbed into a waiting SUV outside the courthouse.

Bannon’s testimony came after comedian and radio talk show Randy Credico told jurors that Stone pressured him into backing up lies he told Congress, threatening to take away his dog at one point. Credico said Stone pressed him to “go along” with a false account of the operative’s contacts with WikiLeaks during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.

“He wanted me to go along with this narrative,” Credico said in his second day of testimony.

Stone called a Credico a “rat” and a “stoolie” in a threatening April 2018 email. Credico also testified that Stone used repeated references from the movie “The Godfather Part II” to intimidate him into either backing up Stone’s testimony to Congress or refusing to testify.

“My lawyers are dying to rip you to shreds. I’m going to take that dog away from you,” he said in the email, which Credico read aloud in court. And while Credico testified he considered the threat “hyperbole,” he also said that Stone “plays hardball” and “I did not want to rile the guy.”

The radio host told the court he’s had his dog Bianca, a small breed known as a coton de tulear, since 2006. “I have no wife, no kids, I’ve been around the dog for 12 years,” he said.

Credico has occasionally provoked laughter in court and warnings from the judge.

Thursday’s testimony detailed the acrimonious collapse of the relationship between the liberal Credico and Stone, a longtime conservative operative who revered Richard Nixon so much that he has the disgraced former president’s face tattooed on his back.

Credico and Stone met in 2002 through the campaign of a third-party candidate for New York governor. Despite their political differences, Stone was a regular guest on Credico’s radio show.

“He’s good on radio,” Credico said of Stone. “He’s a good guest to have on.”

Stone, a longtime Trump confidant and conservative operative who has a tattoo of former president Richard Nixon’s face on his back, is accused of telling Congress that Credico was the source of his inside information about WikiLeaks. But Credico said he and Stone never discussed WikiLeaks before late August 2016, making it impossible that he was the “trusted intermediary” that Stone had been referring to for months.

Credico did manage to contact Assange through mutual acquaintance Margaret Kunstler, and hosted Assange on his radio show on Aug. 25, 2016. He says Stone, who had already claimed in interviews to have a back-channel link to Assange, immediately started asking Credico to put him in touch with Assange.

Prosecutors have said Stone lied about his efforts to learn more about the WikiLeaks releases because the truth about his efforts would “look bad” for Trump.

In an often-testy cross examination, defense attorney Robert Buschel tried to paint Stone as the victim of a con job by Credico, saying that the radio host repeatedly lied to Stone to exaggerate his connection and influence with Assange.

They went through the pair’s text exchanges before Credico’s September 2016 trip to London. Credico wrote to Stone that a meeting with Assange, who was sheltering from prosecution in the Ecuadoran embassy, was “on the agenda.” In reality, there was no meeting planned and the closest Credico got to Assange was delivering a letter from his radio station’s administration to the embassy offering Assange a show on their channel.

Credico said Stone was pestering him with requests and that he led Stone to believe he was working on making contact with Assange “just to satisfy him and get him off my back.”

Stone’s trial is scheduled to resume on Tuesday.

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an 6 25

The Daily Beast reports an Iranian-linked hacking group is threatening to sell emails it stole from President Donald Trump’s inner campaign circle.

The hackers, who use the pseudonym “Robert,” told Reuters they had about 100 gigabytes of emails downloaded from the accounts of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan, longtime Trump ally and political consultant Roger Stone, and Stormy Daniels, the adult film star Trump paid to keep quiet about an alleged affair ahead of the 2016 election.

Marci McCarthy, director of public affairs at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), acknowledged on X that a “hostile” foreign adversary was threatening to “illegally exploit purportedly stolen and unverified material in an effort to distract, discredit, and divide.”

Reuters authenticated some emails obtained by the hacking group in the final months of the 2024 campaign, which included settlement negotiations between Trump and Daniels and details of a financial arrangement between Trump and attorneys representing former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is now Trump’s health secretary.

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“This so-called cyber ‘attack’ is nothing more than digital propaganda, and the targets are no coincidence,” said McCarthy on X. “This is a calculated smear campaign meant to damage President Trump and discredit honorable public servants who serve our country with distinction.”

McCarthy added that “these criminals will be found and they will be brought to justice. Let this be a warning to others: there will be no refuge, tolerance, or leniency for these actions.”

Prosecuting ransomware crimes outside of U.S. jurisdiction is notoriously difficult and usually requires the resident government to join U.S. agents in building cases and arrests. Recent U.S. bombings in Iran have likely strained relations between the two nations, and the Justice Department alleged in last September that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were behind the Robert hacking group.

FBI Director Kash Patel threatened “anyone associated with any kind of breach of national security” with investigation and prosecution “to the fullest extent of the law.”

Read the full Daily Beast report at this link.

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AN 6 25

One of President Donald Trump's closest associates is now publicly calling for a Democratic member of the U.S. Senate to be killed over a bill he introduced to rein in "corruption."

In a post to his X account, Trump confidant Roger Stone insisted that Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) was compromised by the Chinese Communist Party because of a company he co-founded getting venture capital from a Chinese company. Stone wrote that Kelly should be "charged with treason and if convicted executed, consistent with federal law."

The Daily Beast reported Friday that Stone's remark was in response to Kelly officially submitting a cryptocurrency regulation bill for consideration that would prevent the president, vice president and their families from "issuing, endorsing, or sponsoring crypto assets." Kelly's bill specifically mentioned "memecoins," which is particularly noteworthy as Trump has specifically promoted memecoins named after both himself and First Lady Melania Trump.

"Trump is cashing in on his presidency and making millions from his own crypto coins — this is corruption in broad daylight," Kelly tweeted.

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The Trump family is also profiting from its crypto company, World Liberty Financial. His middle son Eric recently spoke at a conference in the United Arab Emirates, where the government of Dubai announced a $2 billion investment in cryptocurrency exchange Binance using a new "stablecoin" (a cryptocurrency with a price designed to be at or near $1 for a long period of time) from World Liberty. The deal could result in Trump directly raking in hundreds of millions of dollars.

It isn't just Democratic senators who are uneasy about Trump profiting from various cryptocurrency schemes. Republican Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) have also gently insisted that it's improper for the president to openly profit from cryptocurrency while in office, with Lummis calling for "regulatory framework" that would address the issue.

Stone was found guilty of lying to Congress about Trump's knowledge of Russian efforts to interfere with the 2016 election, witness tampering and obstruction. Even though he had been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison, Trump pardoned him during his lame-duck period in December of 2020.

Click here to read the Beast's full report (subscription required).

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an 10 24

Long before Donald Trump declared he would run for president, his first political adviser articulated the central idea that has come to define both candidate and campaign.

"Hate is a stronger motivator than love," said Roger Stone in 2008 -- and that corrosive outlook is obviously what still drives the Watergate-vintage dirty trickster and pardoned felon (although he now claims to be a born-again "Christian"). It is also what drives the man whose political persona Stone created.

The Trump campaign, and the MAGA movement at its core, embodies a malevolent spirit of hostility that endangers democracy, domestic tranquility and the very future of the nation. Both the candidate and his surrogates persistently spew out a noxious fog of deception and demonization, aimed at dehumanizing vulnerable populations that cannot fight back.

Sounding like a dollar-store knockoff of Hitler, Trump keeps intensifying his racist rants against migrants and minorities he describes as genetically inferior and predisposed to criminal conduct, from eating other people's pets to slitting the throats of young women. He has commenced a tour of cities supposedly overrun by these dark-skinned marauders, even as the local Republican officials have begged him to desist from his absurd lies and violent instigation.

But almost as toxic, and perhaps even more bizarre, is the Trump campaign's increasingly lurid, clamorous barrage of advertising aimed at trans people. So far, the Republicans and their allies have spent roughly $30 million on ads that aim to conflate trans people with murderers -- and persuading them that Democratic nominee Kamala Harris is devoted to advancing the interests of those trans killers above all else. While it is true that Harris has supported gender-affirming health care, including for prisoners, it is also true that the federal prison system under Trump provided that same care -- as the law requires.

But what is so weird -- how else to put it? -- about the Trump anti-trans crusade is its hidden underwriter. Behind the spending on much of the MAGA hate propaganda, especially the messages dehumanizing trans people, is none other than billionaire troll Elon Musk. Hatred is a more powerful motivator than love for a twisted character like Musk too, even when the object of that revulsion is his own child.

Now Musk, a pompous proponent of "conservative family values," has often bragged about littering the world with his offspring, possibly too many to identify. But what we know for certain is that he has a trans daughter who has changed her name to Vivian Wilson and successfully petitioned the courts to dissociate herself from her father.

Rarely present for Vivian when she was growing up, Musk has gone so far as to proclaim that his erstwhile son is "dead, killed by the woke mind virus," and mock his own child publicly for being "gay and slightly autistic" from an early age. Vivian says Musk knows nothing about her and has lied about being "tricked" into approving the medical treatment she says saved her life.

It is worth noting here that this same troll, who has reportedly financed millions of dollars' worth of anti-immigrant vitriol online and on the airwaves, is himself a migrant from South Africa via Canada -- and has collected more money from government, both state and federal, than any 10 million working-class noncitizens. His reintroduction of Nazism, white supremacy and outrageous conspiracies and falsehoods on his social media platform X makes him a far greater menace to American communities than those who have crossed the southern border to escape violence and seek a better life for their kids. Before the mass deportation begins, perhaps we could have a more selective approach.

Ugliness and grievance suffuse the Trump movement. They are as visible as a pustulant sore, not only in the would-be president's threatening rhetoric but in the aggressive thrust of his backers. It protrudes in different directions, always exposing the internalized fury of those around him, from his adviser Stephen Miller's desire to destroy immigrant families, to JD Vance's undisguised anger at the unmarried women who remind him of his errant mother, to Musk's festering grudge against his daughter.

An American political campaign, especially for the presidency, would normally seek to promote a vision of the future, an inspiring call to patriotism, or even a platform of policies and proposals. What Trump and his coterie of billionaires offer instead is incitement and the prospect of bloodshed, all so they can profit and loot the Treasury at will. What they are delivering already is a hellscape of hatred -- just as Stone so gleefully warned us.

===

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an 10 24

Revealed: Bundy collaborator fueled FEMA conspiracy in Hurricane Helene aftermath

Clockwise from upper right: Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, Brian Cavalier, Shawna Cox, Pete Santilli, Jon Ritzheimer, Ryan Payne, Joe O'Shaughnessy

Jordan Green and Raw Story October 14, 2024

Only 30 minutes after billionaire Elon Musk began publicly accusing the federal government of blocking his company from delivering the satellite internet components to the disaster zone in western North Carolina, another extraordinary claim popped up on X.

“NC State Police issue statement that they will start arresting any federal employees trying to hinder rescue operations,” an Arizona man named Joseph O’Shaughnessy wrote on X Oct. 4.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, quickly disputed the claim from Musk, who owns both SpaceX and the social media platform X and would speak at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pa. the following day. But O’Shaughnessy’s claim piggy-backing off Musk's post added a new layer to manufactured intrigue: a potential clash between state and federal authorities in a region traumatized by the staggering loss.

The statement is completely false, and it comes from someone with a history of armed confrontation with the FBI and other federal agencies. O’Shaughnessy served prison time for his role in the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon in 2016 and was also charged in the standoff at Cliven Bundy’s ranch in 2014.

Prior to his involvement in the Bundy ranch standoff, O’Shaughnessy had been arrested for disorderly conduct, domestic violence and drugs, according to federal prosecutors.

“If you tie back to this guy, you’ll see that nothing reliable comes from that guy,” First Sgt. Christopher Knox, a public information officer for the N.C. State Highway Patrol, told Raw Story. “That’s not a trusted source of information. That information is not true in any way, shape or form.”

Knox pointed out that North Carolina doesn’t even have an agency called “NC State Police.” The claim is even more dubious if one considers that State Highway Patrol in North Carolina is under the command of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, an ally of Vice President Kamala Harris. From a purely partisan standpoint, it is unlikely the two agencies would end up in an adversarial position with one another.

O'Shaughnessy responded to an inquiry from Raw Story by sending an AI-generated GIF of Trump dancing through a direct message on X.

While O’Shaughnessy’s post was quickly shot down by X users who pointed out that no such agency exists in North Carolina, it landed within a matrix of false claims by Trump allies that has created a mutually reinforced narrative, belied by the facts on the ground, that the federal government is abandoning the people of western North Carolina.

O’Shaughnessy’s post was reshared 18,000 times, including Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who has a long history of promoting conspiracy theories despite a professional background that requires an ability to separate fact from fantasy astutely.

Before joining the Trump administration, Flynn held the highest military intelligence position as head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, re-shared O’Shaughnessy’s post, writing: “Finally, some good news!”

Flynn, who has persistently used his X account to push apocalyptic messages about the impending breakup of the United States, has also pushed misinformation related to the disaster. During an Oct. 4 interview with right-wing influencer Benny Johnson, Flynn said there were “reports” about “illegals” raping children, while describing the flood-ravaged region as a “warzone.”

Flynn also could not be reached for comment for this story.

Johnson, who interviewed Flynn on his show, was recently employed by a media company alleged by federal prosecutors to be a front for a Russian influence operation. Johnson and other conservative influencers linked to the company have said they were victims of the scheme. During his interview with Flynn on Oct. 4, Johnson echoed many of the same themes as his guest during his opening monologue for the segment, claiming that the federal government has “chosen” immigrants over Trump supporters.

“Our federal government has left you to die in whatever small, inconsequential town that you come from because you are a Trump voter, because you support MAGA, because you are America first,” he said.

Flynn wasn’t the only one who greeted O’Shaughnessy’s bogus claim about a state law enforcement agency challenging the federal government.

Gianna Miceli, who co-hosts a podcast that promotes sovereign citizen ideology, enthused: “Now we have a jurisdiction war happening! What a great time for people to learn some lessons about who is the government and who is not.”

“Exactly,” O’Shaughnessy responded.

In another reply to O’Shaughnessy’s thread, Miceli falsely claimed: “FEMA is a private for-profit corporation. It is not government.”

O’Shaughnessy’s false claim that a state agency in North Carolina is threatening to arrest federal agents in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election fits a pattern with not only his involvement in the 2014 Bundy ranch standoff and 2016 Malheur occupation, but also the effort to overturn the 2020 election.

Bundy ranch, Malheur occupation and Stop the Steal 2020

O’Shaughnessy was described in a federal indictment in response to the Bundy ranch standoff as a “mid-level leader and organizer of the conspiracy who, among other things: organized gunmen and other followers; led gunmen and other followers in the assault and extortion of federal law enforcement at the impound site; organized protection for members of the criminal enterprise; and organized armed patrols and security checkpoints.”

Similarly, federal prosecutors would later describe O’Shaughnessy as a “mid-level organizer” of the Malheur occupation. In a video interview during the occupation, according to the criminal complaint, O’Shaughnessy said: “I’m right now in the process of trying to set up a constitutional security protection force to make sure these federal agents and these law enforcement don’t just come in here like cowboys.”

O’Shaughnessy pleaded guilty to conspiracy to impede federal officers for his conduct during the Malheur occupation, but the government dismissed charges in the Bundy ranch case. O’Shaughnessy was sentenced to time served, and reportedly spent one year and nine months in custody for the two cases.

O’Shaughnessy has described Roger Stone, a political consultant and longtime confidant of Trump, as a “hero and a mentor.” Like Flynn, Stone was pivotal in mobilizing a pressure campaign to overturn the 2020 election. Immediately following the 2020 election, Stone privately strategized with Flynn, the Washington Post reported.

O’Shaughnessy’s Instagram account shows that he was with Stone during a dinner in Florida with Stop the Steal organizer Ali Alexander in November 2020. Another post shows dated Dec. 11, 2020, the eve of the pro-Trump Jericho March rally in Washington, D.C. includes a photo that shows Stone drinking with InfoWars conspiracy trafficker Alex Jones.

It is unclear what, if anything, O’Shaughnessy discussed with Stone, Jones and Alexander when they met on those two occasions.

A false claim that evolved out of Elon Musk’s dustup with FEMA

In his false post about state law enforcement threatening to arrest their counterparts last week, O’Shaughnessy appears to have taken a cue from Nick Sortor, a right-wing videographer who spent the past week in the Asheville area delivering Starlink terminals while producing media assailing the federal government response to the disaster.

In an Oct. 3 X post, Sortor thanked Musk and SpaceX “for bringing us another truckload of Starlinks. A photo in the post shows an officer wearing a North Carolina State Highway Patrol uniform holding a box labeled “Starlink,” while a video shows police vehicles that appear to be providing an escort for Sortor down a winding mountain road.

The following day, Sortor replied to Musk’s post accusing FEMA of preventing his engineers from allowing him to deliver supplies. In his reply, Sortor appears to reference the State Highway Patrol, while using the same misnomer that O’Shaughnessy would later use.

“Let me know where the blockades are and we’ll have the NC State Police move them out of the way,” Sortor wrote. “Already did it once, which is one reason why we have an escort now. FEMA has zero jurisdiction.

“Trust me,” he added. “They’re not going to win this one.”

Twenty-four minutes later, O’Shaughnessy made his post claiming that the “NC State Police” were prepared to start arresting federal agents.

Challenged to substantiate his claim, O’Shaughnessy responded to one detractor by writing, “Calm down stranger danger, my boys were one of the 1st on-scene to bring aid…. I am the source.”

O’Shaughnessy didn’t identify his “boys” on the ground in North Carolina, but on Sunday he praised Sortor for delivering the Starlink terminals, writing, “And everyone, please follow @nicksortor. He’s the one who made it happen.”

Manufacturing a fake turf war between FEMA and state law enforcement doesn’t help the residents of western North Carolina, Christopher Knox, the State Highway Patrol spokesperson, told Raw Story. Instead of relying on dubious accounts on X, Knox recommended that people seek information about the recovery effort from trusted sources such as the NC Department of Public Safety.

“There’s a lot of people hurting and a lot of people looking for resources,” Knox said. “We hate that there’s stuff out there slowing the response. Getting people to the right sources is a big goal of the state of North Carolina.”

NOW READ: The Purge is real: Inside the GOP's 2024 playbook to disenfranchise voters

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an 10 24

Undercover audio shared to social media by liberal filmmaker Lauren Windsor on Thursday shows Donald Trump ally Roger Stone revealing his plans to disrupt the electoral process next month if the ex-president doesn't defeat Kamala Harris.

Stone's plans involve sending "armed guards to dispute the election in Detroit," and imprisoning "former Attorney General Bill Barr if Trump returns to power," according to Windsor.

In the footage, an undercover reporter can be heard questioning Stone on August 4, 2024, during an event called "A Night with Roger Stone" in Jacksonville, Florida, while posing as the founder of a program, working to recruit "people to work in the election, in the polls, in the swing states, in Wisconsin, Arizona, and Michigan" — to get "people on the inside."

He submitted to Stone, "The fact of the matter is in 2020, we had control, and they were able to take it from us."

Stone replied, "We were never really in control."

The journalist then asked, "What do you mean?"

The Trump ally replied, "Well, I was indicted by Donald Trump's Justice Department. Donald Trump never controlled the Justice Department. [Former Attorney General] Bill Barr traitorous piece of human garbage!" Stone went on to call the former Trump AG "a piece of s—t."

"He's a CIA general counsel. He's a piece of s—t. Trump read a law review article, never checked his background, and made him attorney general. Once we get back in, he has to go to prison! He has to go to prison. He's a criminal."

The journalist then asked, "How are we going to get back in if they're in control right now, and we're on the outside?"

"First of all it's a state question, not a federal question. So it's not who controls the federal government, it's who controls the state government. They use the election system to harass you when you're in office, but this is about an election. We gotta fight it out on a state-to-state basis."

After the journalist asked what they can do to ensure Democrats don't steal the election, Stone repeated, "We have to fight it out on a state to state basis," adding, "When they throw us out of Detroit, you go get a court order, you come in with your armed guards, and you dispute it."

Watch the full video below or at this link.

===

Jan 6 #7

kelly sorelle ID'd jones, ali and roger as --> convergence of diff (militia?) groups

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Longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone has described Loomer as “my protege and confidant,” and Loomer has called Stone “one of my best friends.”They have also appeared on each other’s shows and together in public appearances. Twitter/X, [2/21/23, 9/8/23, 4/3/24, 7/23/24, 9/4/24]

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August 23, 2024 rww

Josh Fiallo @ The Daily Beast: RFK Jr. Suspends Failing Campaign to Throw His Support to Donald Trump

The independent never made it on a debate stage and had his polling numbers drop significantly after Kamala Harris became Democrats’ presumptive nominee.

Media Matters: Roger Stone and Alex Jones endorse RFK Jr. as CIA director in a second Trump administration

“He could get to the bottom who killed his uncle and his father, and he can get to the bottom who really tried to kill Donald Trump.”

Angry White Men: Joel Webbon Insists It’s Not Racist To Prefer A White Doctor Over A Black Doctor

During a recent livestream, radical Christian nationalist pastor Joel Webbon justified his decision to see a white doctor instead of a Black doctor. Webbon claimed that there is a greater likelihood that the Black doctor was unqualified, and said this “prejudgment” was neither racist nor sinful.

Khaya Himmelman @ Talking Points Memo: Georgia Election Board, Beloved By Trump, Keeps Cranking Out Rules That May Sow Chaos

Election truthers in Georgia got their latest win this week when the Republican-controlled Georgia State Election Board approved another rule that gives county election officials a new way to potentially delay certification. It’s the second time this month that the Trump-friendly board has passed a rule of this type, a particularly worrying development given how close we are to the upcoming presidential election.

Isaac Schorr @ Mediaite: Neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes Goes to War With Candace Owens for Anti-Semitic Crown: ‘She Was Coming For Our Thing’

Neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes is not happy with former Daily Wire personality Candace Owens for coming for infringing on his turf and appealing to his anti-Semitic audience.

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an 8 24

Roger Stone, the longtime Trump confidant and adviser, recently said that Georgia Gov. “Brian Kemp is going to prison” and “The federal penitentiary is [the] only place he's going.” Stone’s remarks come in the midst of Donald Trump and his right-wing media allies promising political retribution against the former president’s political enemies, including the Republican governor.

Stone is a Republican operative and commentator who has a history of bigoted, misogynistic, and violent rhetoric. He was convicted of numerous felonies and had his sentence commuted by then-President Donald Trump.

Stone is a longtime adviser of Trump’s and has said he's known the former president for more than 40 years. Axios and CNN reported in March that Stone is a regular presence at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. He has also hosted Trump officials like Alina Habba and Jason Miller on his radio show.

Trump has also repeatedly attacked Kemp this month, calling him “a bad guy” and “disloyal.”

Around the time that Trump reignited his attacks on Kemp, Stone signaled something even darker: The Trump confidant indicated that the governor will end up in prison.

Stone wrote on August 4 on social media: “Trump won Georgia and it was stolen and Brian Kemp is going to prison. The lowest form of life known to man. A true piece of shit.” He also wrote: “Stacy Abrams beat Kemp's ass. and he knows it. The federal penitentiary is only place he's going.”

Stone also wrote last September: “Kemp likely stole his election over Stacey Abrams which is why he doesn't want us looking too closely at the 2020 Election. I never want to believe it, but now I do.”

Laura Loomer, the extremist commentator who has been repeatedly cited and praised by Trump, has also attacked Kemp as “a fraud and a RINO crook.”

August 13, 2024 mma

Alan Feuer and Nick Corasaniti @ The New York Times: Former Pro-Trump County Clerk Is Found Guilty of Tampering With Voting Machines

Tina Peters, the former clerk of Mesa County, Colo., was convicted on Monday of tampering with voting machines under her control in a failed attempt to prove that they had been used to rig the 2020 election against former President Donald J. Trump.

Anna Merlin @ Mother Jones: Elon Musk’s Twitter Space With Donald Trump Was a Dumpster Fire

A heavily publicized Twitter conversation between Elon Musk and Donald Trump on Monday night began with an immediate bed-shitting technical crash. When things finally kicked off 42 minutes later with a much smaller audience, Musk blamed a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack, which did not appear to be true, as the rest of his site continued to function as normal.

Jesse Valentine @ American Journal News: Far-right extremist Jack Posobiec to speak at event for North Carolina Trump supporters

The campaign to reelect former President Donald Trump will host a virtual training event that features Jack Posobiec, a purveyor of far-right conspiracy theories.

Zack Beauchamp @ Vox: The right’s plan to fix America: Patriarchy 2.0

JD Vance and like-minded conservatives are theorizing a kind of “neopatriarchy.”

Media Matters: Roger Stone uses anti-LGBTQ slur to describe Tim Walz

“Now she’s picked, this guy, Tim Walz. Saw him at a rally. I mean, I hate to quote, Mel Brooks, in Blazing Saddles, but he was jumping around like a Kansas City f—–. This guy — really, really weird.”

===

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spearfish hack 8 24

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Right-wing media and social media users spread conspiracy theories about the Trump rally shooting

WRITTEN BY ALEX KAPLAN & PAYTON ARMSTRONG

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM JASON CAMPBELL & NOAH DOWE

PUBLISHED 07/16/24

Following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, right-wing media figures and social media users have spread baseless conspiracy theories and claims about the shooting.

They have amplified a 4chan hoax that the Secret Service gave a stand-down order during the shooting; made baseless allegations that Alex Soros was connected to the shooting; falsely claimed a protester at a 2016 Trump rally was the shooter; suggested the shooting could be attributed to the intelligence community, the “deep state,” foreign actors, or an “RNC/Israeli hit job”; and connected the assassination attempt to biblical prophecy and “the hand of God.”

## A gunman attempted to shoot Trump at a July 13 rally

On July 13, a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania, injuring Trump, killing one rally attendee, and seriously wounding two others. The 20-year-old suspected gunman reportedly opened fire from a rooftop near the rally, and was fatally shot by the Secret Service. His motivation remains unclear. The New York Times, [7/14/24]

## Far-right figures spread a 4chan hoax that there was a stand-down order before the shooting

A 4chan poster falsely claimed to be a law enforcement sniper who was at the Pennsylvania rally and said the Secret Service “refused to give the order to take out the perp.” A user on 4chan’s far-right “politically incorrect” message board (commonly known as “/pol/”) claimed to be “the officer in the famous photo of the two snipers on the roof at Trump's rally” and said that they “had the assassin in my sights for at least 3 minutes, but the head of the secret service refused to give the order to take out the perp.” The Associated Press reported that the claim was false, noting that “the Secret Service and the Butler Police Department say they have no agents, officers or employees with the name of the person claiming to be the sharpshooter.” 4chan, [7/14/24; The Associated Press, 7/15/24]

Social media users earned tens of thousands of shares and likes promoting the 4chan post. Multiple users, including QAnon figure Nicholas Veniamin, shared the 4chan posts or its claims, raking up tens of thousands of shares and “likes” on X and Instagram. According to CrowdTangle, posts on Instagram sharing the 4chan hoax received more than 80,000 interactions. Twitter/X, [7/14/24, 7/14/24, 7/14/24, 7/15/24; Instagram, 7/14/24; CrowdTangle, accessed 7/16/24; Media Matters, 3/4/22]

A post amplifying the 4chan hoax was one of the top posts on Reddit’s conspiracy subreddit. On the prominent subreddit “r/conspiracy,” a user posted an image of the 4chan post — though they added, “BIG grain of salt recommended.” The post was one of the top posts in terms of “upvotes” in a 24-hour period between July 14 and July 15. Reddit, [7/14/24, 7/15/24; Media Matters, 9/18/23]

## QAnon figures revived a baseless conspiracy theory that Alex Soros had threatened Trump, apparently suggesting it was connected to the shooting

In January, Alex Soros was baselessly accused of threatening Trump after posting an article from The Atlantic on social media. Conspiracy theorists baselessly accused Alex Soros — the son of billionaire philanthropist George Soros and a frequent target of right-wing attacks and antisemitic conspiracy theories — of threatening Trump after he posted an Atlantic article that featured stock photos of a bullet hole and someone holding cash on X (formerly Twitter). Media Matters, [1/23/24]

QAnon figure Woke Societies after the shooting: “Don’t forgot Alex Soros posted this in January of this year. Demons.” Telegram, [7/13/24; Media Matters, 4/18/22]

QAnon figure Pepe Lives Matter: “Remember when Alex Soros tweeted a bullet shot with the number 47 in this ominous tweet that people thought was about Donald Trump and now he was just shot.” Telegram, [7/13/24, 1/7/21]

QAnon figure Ben Moore, known online as “Sun Tzu,” responded to a user claiming Alex Soros “hinted at what was coming in a X post” by asking if George and Alex Soros should “be designated as enemy combatants at this point.” Twitter/X, [7/15/24; Media Matters, 4/24/24]

Ann Vandersteel, who has promoted QAnon, posted an image of Alex Soros’ tweet with the text “Remember this?” Twitter/X, [7/13/24; Media Matters, 6/7/24]

A user on the online forum GreatAwakening, which is dedicated to the QAnon conspiracy theory, shared a post saying “Y’all remember when Alex Soros posted $47 and a bullet hole?” GreatAwakening, [7/14/24; Media Matters, 6/30/20]

## Far-right figures falsely claimed a protester at a 2016 Trump rally was the shooter

QAnon figure QAnon John falsely claimed that “a guy affiliated with ANTIFA” was actually the shooter. John Sabal, known online as “QAnon John,” falsely posted that the shooter was actually “a guy affiliated with ANTIFA that was actually arrested back in 2016 for being involved in an Anti-Trump protest in Pittsburgh,” and that in response he was “calling on the FBI, DHS & DOJ to designate ANTIFA AS A DOMESTIC TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.” Reuters reported that the claim is false, noting that the 2016 protester was “not the suspect identified by the FBI as the shooter” and that the photo shared online “does not resemble the suspect identified by authorities.” Gab, [7/14/24; Dallas Observer, 8/31/21; Reuters, 7/15/24; WTAE, 4/14/16]

Longtime Trump ally Roger Stone claimed that “a number of people have contacted me to say that the shooter is not the man they’ve identified.” During an appearance on conspiracy theory network Infowars, Stone said that “a number of people have contacted me to say that the shooter is not the man they’ve identified, but rather” someone else — the same person mentioned by QAnon John — “who appears to more closely resemble the picture we've been shown that is allegedly the corpse of the shooter.” [Infowars, The Alex Jones Show, 7/15/24]

Far-right figures baselessly suggested the shooting could be attributed to the “intelligence agencies,” the “deep state,” foreign actors, or “an RNC/Israeli hit job”

White nationalist Nick Fuentes floated the idea that “the intelligence agencies” could have been behind Trump‘s shooting. During an X Space discussion following the attempted shooting, Fuentes claimed that “it was either the intelligence agencies or it was these other guys who are gonna benefit with a more favorable advocate in the White House” — after listing people and entities including former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Ukraine — who “tried to knock him out” with the attempted shooting. Twitter/X, [7/13/24]

Alex Jones claimed that the Trump shooting was “clearly” done by the “deep state.” In the X Space with Fuentes, Jones claimed of the attempted shooting, “Clearly this was deep state.” He said it was evidence of “the deep state trying to kill him,” adding, “This was no accident, in my view.” Twitter/X, [7/13/24]

White nationalist Stew Peters baselessly claimed it was “an RNC/Israeli hit job.” According to Peters, “Everyone is blaming Biden and the Dems when this was clearly an RNC/Israeli hit job.” Twitter/X, [7/13/24; Media Matters, 3/13/23]

Right-wing personality Candace Owens said that if she were a conspiracy theorist, she might think the FBI was behind the Trump shooting. While discussing on her YouTube show the FBI’s efforts to access the alleged shooter’s phone (which it has since done), Owens said, “If I were a conspiracy theorist, and I’m not — I’m not a conspiracy theorist — some people might be thinking, though, those conspiracy theorists might be thinking, like, maybe it’s because the FBI did it. Maybe the FBI doesn’t want to get into the phone that connects the kid to the deep state.” YouTube, *Candace Owens*, [7/15/24; The New York Times, 7/15/24]

QAnon figure Clandestine claimed, “Whether this was a CIA-coordinated plot, or just a lone shooter, the Deep State are responsible regardless.” Jacob Creech, known online as “Clandestine,” added, “Either they planned the hit, or their years of violent rhetoric and endless MSM propaganda, created the vitriol that led to the attack.” Telegram, [7/14/24; Anti-Defamation League, 4/5/22]

## Far-right Christian media and right-wing social media influencers invoked biblical prophecy and “the hand of God” in discussing the shooting

Charisma News, which has been a sponsor of the ReAwaken America Tour led by Michael Flynn, published multiple articles linking the assassination attempt to biblical prophecy. An article titled “3 Prophecies Fulfilled with the Trump Assassination Attempt” claimed that “at least three different prophetic voices have had words about something massive that was coming to America.” Another article, titled “Prophecy Foretold Attempted Assassination Months in Advance” and focused on a March 2024 interview with guest Brandon Biggs, stated that “the events of Saturday, July 13, appear to have fulfilled the prophecy Biggs gave in startlingly accurate fashion.” Charisma News, [7/14/24, 7/14/24; Rolling Stone, 2/28/23]

Self-described prophet Amanda Grace said “prayer matters” because the assassination attempt was “meant to kill him and by the hand of God it grazed him” and claimed the “Lord warned” her that it would happen. Grace added: “Saul did this to David. This is that same spirit rising up. Saul attempted to kill David on multiple occasions and never was able to succeed.” She also suggested that God had warned her multiple times that Trump would be hurt, claiming that “the Lord warned [on] June 8” and “he warned it again two days ago.” YouTube, *Ark of Grace Ministries*,[ 7/13/24 ; Media Matters, 5/30/24] VID]

While discussing the assassination attempt on FlashPoint, commentator and self-described prophet Lance Wallnau mentioned a prophetic “decree” and attributed Trump’s survival to “the impulse of God or an angel that enabled him to not be hit.”Wallnau said that “the brush with mortality is a moment also for President Trump to realize that God himself is preserving him. And let’s agree together in this decree that he will have an ear to hear in every key situation what the spirit of God is actually saying. And he’ll wisely and shrewdly navigate, turning to the left or to the right as the wisdom of God dictates, and that he will stay one step ahead of death.” Twitter/X, [7/13/24; Rolling Stone, 9/29/22]

Far-right figures Dom Lucre and Jack Posobiec shared a video of supposed prophet Brandon Biggs predicting three months ago that Trump would be injured. Lucre wrote that “the prophet Brandon Bible’s prophecy about Donald Trump’s assassination attempt from 3 months ago has resurfaced” and said, “This has been biblical since day one.” Posobiec, who has a penchant for spreading conspiracy theories, amplified the video to his 2.5 million followers. Twitter/X, [7/14/24, 7/14/24; The Washington Post, 8/15/17; Forbes, 7/27/23]

Christian nationalist pastor Sean Feucht shared the video of Biggs and wrote, “Prophecy from March 14, 2024 about Trump being shot in the ear in an assassination attempt!” Twitter/X, [7/14/24; Media Matters, 9/14/23]

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an 6 24

Stone — a longtime confidant of former President Donald Trump — recently revealed to two undercover journalists that Trump's 2024 campaign is already hard at work planning to challenge 2024 election results in multiple states.

In new audio obtained by Rolling Stone, documentary filmmaker Lauren Windsor and journalist Ally Sammarco spoke with Stone at an event at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate earlier this year while posing as conservative Catholics who were fans of the far-right activist. At one point in his conversation with Sammarco, Stone told her that Trump's 2024 campaign is far more prepared than the former president's 2020 campaign to dispute election results. He even suggested that Trump has friends in high places who will lend him a hand when election results are litigated.

"At least this time when they do it, you have a lawyer and a judge — his home phone number standing by — so you can stop it," Stone told Sammarco. "We made no preparations last time, none … There are technical, legal steps that we have to take to try and have a more honest election. We’re not there yet, but there’s things that can be done."

While Stone didn't say the name of the judge the campaign is allegedly close with, he did tell Windsor that the campaign was prepared to mount a multi-state offensive to disrupt certification of election results using "lawyers, judges [and] technology." He also hinted that Trumpworld viewed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon — whom Trump appointed to the judiciary just months before he was voted out of office — as a fellow traveler, given her repeated accommodations of Trump's delay tactics in the federal classified documents case.

"We are beating them,” Stone is heard saying to Sammarco. “[Trump’s] trial in Georgia is falling apart. I think the judge is on the verge of dismissing the charges against him in Florida. They’re delayed in New York City and they’re now delayed in Washington.”

That event, which happened in March, was held several months before Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts in his New York criminal trial, and Cannon last week rejected Trump's attempts to dismiss the Mar-a-Lago case. However, Cannon has been unusually slow in her oversight of the pre-trial process, and scuttled the initial May 20 trial date arguing that she would need until at least July to rule on the various pre-trial motions still pending.

Sammarco asked Stone a leading question about how the Trump campaign planned to stop "voter fraud" like "ballot harvesting," and the Trump advisor assured her that for some friendly MAGA-adjacent state governments, "it’ll be easier to stop. In other places, it won’t."

"We should be suing in half a dozen places,” Stone continued. “I mean we’re finally now on an offensive footing."

Other parts of Sammarco's conversation with Stone captured him praising the Trump-led takeover of the Republican National Committee and the elevation of his daughter-in-law, Lara, to become co-chair of the GOP's national campaign apparatus. He said this change means Republicans can spend "lots more" money on challenging elections. He then boasted about favorable "changes in state law, real-time voter list monitoring, going to court as we just did to challenge some of the vote laws," and bragged that the campaign "went into court to sue in Michigan over the hand [written] ballots."

*Click here to read Rolling Stone's report in full (subscription required).

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ALTERNET+ NO LNX

Inside the Trump Crime Syndicate

Gregg Barak May 07, 2024

Before Donald Trump criminalized the White House, Republican Party and perhaps the Supreme Court, he was the CEO of the Trump Organization — a fraudster, racketeer and patriarchal Boss of a family owned and operated criminal enterprise. He spent five decades in New York and beyond avoiding charges and prosecutions for sexual harassment, tax evasion, money laundering and nonpayment of employees.

If this wasn’t enough, Trump also busied himself by allegedly defrauding tenants, customers, contractors, investors, bankers, attorneys, students and charities, not to mention making use of undocumented workers.

In retrospect, Trump’s lifetime of lies and lawlessness appear to have prepared him for the fateful moment in which he now finds himself — in a court of law, answering for the first 34 of 88 felony counts that stem from alleged crimes he committed immediately before, during and after his presidency. Trials involving Trump’s alleged 2020 election interference and illegal retention of national secrets loom.

As the fraudster-in-chief and Benedict Arnold of our time, Trump continues to maintain his innocence and blames everybody but himself while attempting to make a mockery of the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law.

In light of Trump’s defiance, and the potential for more illegal Trumpian interference during the 2024 election, in which he is almost certain to be the Republican Party’s nominee, now is a good time to go beyond Trump and explore the criminal culpability of Trump Crime Syndicate lieutenants and Trump’s kitchen cabinet of MAGA knaves and rogues.

These are the people who have aided and abetted Trump, and continue to assist him in his single-minded quest to become the most powerful man in America.

They are worth your attention precisely because of the danger to democracy that they represent.

Criminalizing the power of the pardon with the intent to defraud

At the federal level, a gaggle of powerful Republican actors were deeply involved in the plot to overturn the 2020 election in Trump’s favor. These include — and are not limited to — Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI).

At the state level, dozens of Republican fake electors and Trump stakeholders have been criminally indicted in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, and Nevada.

All of these criminal indictments for election interference like Trump’s indictments are “basically telling the same story of corruption and venality” except for their “different charges” according to Kenneth F. McCallion, a former Special Attorney and Assistant U.S. Attorney with the DOJ who also worked for the New York attorney’s general office as a prosecutor on Trump-related racketeering cases.

But before proceeding further with this examination of presidential crime, politics and accountably, it is important to highlight Trump’s unprecedented usage of the pardon power, which facilitated the failed coup of Jan. 6, 2021, as well as Republican electioneering of 2024.

Prior to Trump, the presidential power of the pardon had always been about showing mercy and compassion. It was most certainly not a tool for rewarding criminal loyalty and weaponizing criminal conduct.

Excluding Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime “fixer” and former “partner in crime,” the Boss pardoned several of his other loyal associates, especially those within the Trump Crime Syndicate.

For example, in relation to Russian election interference in 2016, Trump pardoned his former campaign manager Paul Manafort.

Revealed for the man he is in the 1992 Center for Public Integrity report The Torturers’ Lobby, Manafort in 2019 was found guilty in the Eastern District of Virginia of two counts of bank fraud, five counts of tax fraud and one count of failing to disclose an offshore bank account.

Manafort also pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the United States and to witness tampering in the federal District of Columbia. Most of these crimes were connected to his lobbying work in Ukraine.

Then, just days before his longtime friend and campaign adviser Roger Stone’s 48-month incarceration was scheduled to begin for seven felony convictions, including impeding a congressional inquiry, Trump commuted Stone’s sentence.

And when Trump was literally leaving the Oval Office and almost out the door, he granted clemency to his former chief political strategist Steve Bannon who had defrauded Trump donors out of more than $1 million to allegedly help build the border wall between the United States and Mexico.

Trump also pardoned retired Gen. Michael T. Flynn, the only one-time White House official to be convicted as part of the Trump-Russian investigation carried out by special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III.

In the cases of both Stone and Flynn, Trump’s “forgiveness” cameafter Bill Barr, Trump’s third of five attorneys general, failed to shut down these investigations on the spurious grounds that these two perpetrators, Stone and Flynn, had been the victims of witch hunts and overzealous prosecutors.

ALSO READ: Trump vs. history: Former presidents typically implode on their comeback tours

We have also known for nearly two years since former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony before a House select committee that the pardon power does not prohibit preemptive pardons. Nine members of Trump’s kitchen cabinet requested them in the wake of Jan. 6, demonstrating their full knowledge and intent of criminal wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, Manafort, Stone, Bannon, and Flynn are back supporting Trump’s 2024 campaign as they did in 2016 and 2020. And, Trump and Putin are closer than ever. The Russian president has even publicly endorsed him this time round . It didn’t hurt that Trump seemed to have Putin’s back most, if not, all the time since he took office. Trump opposing NATO as well as Ukraine helped as well. Trump’s pardoning his own men involved in the 2016 interference seemed to condone it. His illiberal authoritarian and anti-democratic credo was another plus.

Trump’s minions began their election interference in 2015 and never stopped

Let’s begin with the criminal prosecutions related to the 2016 Russian election interference investigated by Mueller.

Mueller’s investigation led to the indictments of 34 individuals and three Russian companies. Five Trump associates and campaign officials were convicted of felonies including those mentioned above. Mueller’s final report, while finding insufficient evidence of a Trump-Russian conspiracy, did conclude that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, and expected to benefit from Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Key players in the 2016 Russian collusion affair

Paul Manafort (discussed above) according to the U.S. intelligence community was also believed to have passed internal Trump campaign and polling strategy information to Russian spy Konstantin Kilimnik.

Rick Gates, a longtime business associate of Manafort and also a former Trump campaign official, was also charged in two separate federal courts and he too plead guilty to two counts of conspiracy against the United States, lying to federal prosecutors, financial crimes, and lobbying without a license.

Michael Flynn was also pardoned by Trump and worked on the 2020 as well as the 2024 presidential campaigns. Since 2022 Flynn has had a ReAwaken roadshow with the Army of God for Trump. He was the first to plead guilty in 2017 after admitting that he made false statements and omissions in FBI interviews only days after Trump was sworn in to office. The former Army general “impeded and otherwise had a material impact on the FBI’s ongoing investigation into the existence of any links or coordination between individuals associated with the campaign and Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election.”

Roger Stone (discussed above) was the subject of the video, The Roger Stone tapes, that reveals Stone working from the Willard hotel in D.C. with Giuliani and others, and quickly checking out while the riots were taking place.

Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney and “fixer” for more than a decade,pleaded guilty in a New York federal court to one count of making a false statement to Congress as well as to other crimes committed in his taxi related business in the Southern District of New York. He spent almost three years in prison serving time concurrently for both convictions.

Cohen and David Pecker are two of the key, among, many witnesses from Trump’s inner circle testifying against their former Boss in the New York presidential election interference case.

By contrast, defendant Trump has no witnesses on his behalf. He also has no family or friends except son Eric who showed up in court on April 30 for the first time. Otherwise surrounded by only his attorneys who are devoid of any facts and some twisted law, maybe, if they are lucky.

And through testimony on Friday the defense had scored no points during cross-examination that so far could create reasonable doubt.

2020 Election Interference as part of Trump’s Kitchen Cabinet

Turning next to a review of three of the 2020 Trump election interference cases. I do so without concern with the consequences for or accountability of the fake electors because none of these individuals were either affiliated with the Trump Crime Syndicate or members of the former president’s kitchen cabinet.

Although a number of them were or are elected state officials and high-ranking members of the Republican presidential campaigns of 2020 as well as 2024.

Jeffrey Clark, DOJ unindicted co-conspirator, indicted in Georgia

John Eastman, DOJ unindicted co-conspirator, indicted in Georgia and Arizona

Rudy Giuliani, DOJ unindicted co-conspirator, indicted in Georgia, indicted in Arizona

Jenna Ellis, convicted in Georgia, indicted in Arizona

Sidney Powell, DOJ unindicted co-conspirator, convicted in Georgia

Kenneth Chesebro, DOJ unindicted co-conspirator, convicted in Georgia

Peter Navarro, convicted and in prison

Steve Bannon, convicted and out on appeal

Mark Meadows, DOJ witness, indicted in Georgia, indicted in Arizona

Boris Epshteyn, unindicted co-conspirator in Georgia, indicted in Arizona

An unidentified political consultant is also a DOJ unindicted co-conspirator

Nixon’s Watergate was ‘much ado about nothing’ compared to Trump’s failed coup and insurrection

To put Trump’s minions in perspective, a brief examination of President Richard Nixon’s henchmen is required.

In response to the criminal cover-up of the crimes involved in the attempted burglary of the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C., on June 17, 1972. Nixon was named as an "unindicted co-conspirator" on March 1, 1974, by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia. This was a wide conspiracy case that sent some of Washington's biggest names at the time to prison.

Compared to Trump’s failed coup, Nixon’s Watergate break-in and cover-up was no big deal; it certainly was not an existential threat to democracy and the rule of law. There was no violence toward the Capitol or danger to members of Congress and the vice president.

Forty federal officials were indicted or jailed in the case. These included Nixon's highest-ranking officials such as the former Attorney General and chairman of his 1972 presidential campaign John Mitchell. Along with the disgraced Mitchell there was John Dean, White House legal counsel, John Ehrlichman and H.R. Halderman (White-House senior staff), Charles Colson, special counsel to the President, and James McCord, Security Director of CREEP. They were found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury in the January cover-up trial of 1975. All of these men carried out orders that, directly or indirectly, originated with Nixon himself.

What stands out as a huge difference between the Watergate crimes responsible for forcing the resignation of Richard Nixon from the presidency of the US and the Jan 6 insurrection was that Nixon became an unindicted co-conspirator while still in office. And he received his comeuppance after only a little over two years since the crimes occurred. At the time, Nixon had been president for the better part of six years.

Trump after eight years of election interference and four years as president has yet to receive his criminal comeuppance. Even if he is convicted later this month on 34 felony counts in Manhattan, his appeals could delay his well-deserved imprisonment from occurring for at least another year or two.

By contrast, three years after Jan.6, and the violent assault on the Capitol building there have been 749 convicted and sentenced offenders. At least 467 rioters have been incarcerated in either jail or prison for an array of offenses including assaulting law enforcement officers, felonious obstructing, impeding, or interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder.

More than a dozen members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boy were convicted of the serious charges of seditious conspiracy. Additionally, 53 persons have been indicted as fake electors, many of whom have been high ranking Republican officials in the states of Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Arizona.

Compared to racketeering, Trump and company’s very complex and organized election interference that included more than 2000 rioters besieging the Capitol on Jan. 6, and hundreds more working away in seven swing states including Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Arizona.

Paradoxically, it may seem strange given the reaction of the Republicans and the Department of Justice to Nixon and Watergate, that Trump and his election interference crimes have been given a free pass by the Supreme Court.

With respect to Trump’s inner circles, a few have already pleaded guilty and many more will be held to account regardless of whether Trump is, although this is certainly a reflection on a man who boasted of surrounding himself with the “best and brightest” the nation has to offer.

Gregg Barak is an emeritus professor of criminology and criminal justice at Eastern Michigan University and the author of several books on the crimes of the powerful, including Criminology on Trump (2022) and its 2024 sequel, Indicting the 45th President: Boss Trump, the GOP, and What We Can Do About the Threat to American Democracy.

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On the eve of the Iowa caucuses, the right-wing Real America’s Voice network sponsored an online Twitter space town hall hosted by Human Events Daily podcaster and pizzagate promoter Jack Posobiec and featuring conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, former Trump official Michael Flynn, and political dirty trickster Roger Stone. The more than two-hour conversation on Elon Musk’s X platform was a window into the fearmongering and conspiracy theories being used to rile up Trump’s base for this year’s presidential election.

The MAGA celebrities had good and bad news for their fans, telling them:

Trump is heading for a landslide in the GOP primaries and victory in the presidential election;
Trump’s enemies are in a “total panic” and will stop at nothing to deprive him of his rightful power, including a “racial uprising” and “subversion.”
The MAGA movement must drive conservative turnout to record highs to overcome efforts to rig the election against Trump.

Jones and others worked themselves into a lather over recent news coverage about legal experts, democracy advocates, and members of Congress thinking about ways to protect against the prospect of a vengeance-seeking, authoritarian President Trump giving orders to misuse the military against his political opponents.

Jones claimed that Trump opponents are scheming to generate a “communist uprising” and “racial uprising” against Trump while stripping him of the power to quell the violence. “Subversion against the country is treason,” Jones said. “It is a coup.” He suggested that Trump’s enemies are “scared to kill Trump” so they are “war-gaming their plan B.”

Flynn went even further, calling the preparations to resist potential authoritarian orders by Trump “a form of subversion,” but adding that there might not even be an election. He suggested that Democrats are plotting “other scenarios” and “other plays” that would leave the country with something other than a duly elected president.

Flynn also insisted that “there’s no way in the world they’re going to allow a Joe Biden to go to a convention this summer” and said there are behind-the-scenes plans to get Biden “out of the way.”

“Do not underestimate this enemy,” Flynn said. “And I call them that very precisely because they are adversaries of our way of life, they are adversaries of our constitutional duties and responsibilities. And these are, many people are anti-American. They’re part of the Democratic Socialist Party of America, or worse, the Communist Party of America, and they are inside of our government. They’re inside of our institutions.”

Who exactly is the enemy? Among the people and institutions cited by Jones, Flynn, Stone, and Posobiec were Barack and Michelle Obama, the Clintons, former Attorney General Eric Holder, philanthropist George Soros, “globalists” in general and the World Economic Forum in particular, and “communists” in government and other institutions.

Among the plots they attributed to these enemies are a coming purge of military leadership, a potential assassination attempt, the release of a new virus before the election, and “domestic terror” in the form of a “racial uprising.” Flynn claimed that the left in America is “replaying” the “Bolshevik revolution of the 1920s.”

Jones said that Trump needs to be telling Americans that “they’re up against a deep state coup.” Flynn, who had supported calls for Trump to declare martial law in December 2020, insisted that “we’re in the middle of a coup,” adding, “The coup has been ongoing, folks.”

Jones, Flynn, and Stone posturing as defenders of democracy comes across as high-level gaslighting given that they were all deeply involved in “Stop the Steal” efforts to keep Trump in power illegally after voters rejected his bid for reelection.

“We really have a country to save and the only guy that’s capable of doing that right now in sort of the near term is Donald J. Trump,” said Flynn, who travels the country with the Christian nationalist ReAwaken America tour, which uses MAGA celebrities to draw in audiences who are then exposed to far-right ideology and conspiracy theories.

The panelists were careful to say that, while Trump’s momentum has his opponents in a panic, MAGA activists would still have to work hard to ensure his victory. Jones promised to knock on doors to help achieve the 75 to 80 percent conservative voter turnout he said would be needed to overpower attempts to rob Trump of the election.

The group also speculated about potential running mates for Trump. Roger Stone said he’d like to see former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard on the ticket, but Flynn said that he knows Gabbard and is “not a fan.” Flynn said Trump should “absolutely not” consider Nikki Haley, saying she would undermine him “from day one.” Sen. Rand Paul’s name was floated for vice president or Secretary of State. Stone said Flynn should serve as Secretary of Defense.

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The night before the Iowa caucus, self-proclaimed “prophet” Amanda Grace hosted a ” livestream event that featured several members of former President Donald Trump’s family and inner circle, among them Trump’s son Eric and his wife Lara, and his attorney Alina Habba.

The Trumps and Habba were joined by the likes of Trump confidante Roger Stone, conspiracy theorist Clay Clark, MAGA pastor Jackson Lahmeyer, and “prophet” Robin Bullock, who collectively made the case for Trump heading into the caucus.

The program began with Grace interviewing Eric and Lara Trump, and Eric declaring that his father is being guided by God.

“I think he’s created the greatest political movement in history,” Eric Trump said. “And I really do believe that someone, something is looking down and guiding him every single day because there’s no way in the world he could have been where he is today without the intervention of God.”

“I feel it. I know it,” Trump added. “I really do believe that there’s divine intervention there. I think somebody was guiding him. He’s a remarkable father. He did a remarkable job for the United States of America, and I truly pray to the Lord that he wins again [and] he sorts out this country because we are in dangerous times, and it’s scary.”

IFrame Content

The Trumps were followed by Habba, who proclaimed that Trump’s myriad legal problems are all of “demonic plan.”

“I think that there is a plan,” Habba said. “There’s God’s plan, and then there’s a demonic plan. And the demonic plan is very easily confused with real life. There’s an orchestrated thing going on here. Don’t get it twisted. We have cases lined up intentionally during election time, intentionally trying to get negative attention right before an election.”

“He’s being pulled from the campaign time and time again to be deposed, to be subpoenaed, to go to trial, to fight the fight to clear his name,” she continued. “But the people that know him and the people that have faith and are reading—the people that are educating themselves, the people that are not listening to the fake news—they will understand and they do understand and they stand with him. And honestly, we’re flipping the ones that don’t know, because their demonic plan is so obvious.”

IFrame Content

“Pray for people to open their eyes,” Habba concluded. “They like to call MAGA Republicans a cult mentality. We’re not a cult mentality; we love America. If that’s a cult, I’m happy to love America. I’m happy to be part of that.”

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tarrio looking at 30 plus years?!

oath and proud boys both convicted sedit conspir

complain lack of healthcare? screwed by hmo?

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Roger Stone under investigation by Capitol Police over threat to murder House Democrats - Alternet.org

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in 2020, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-New York) was not only critical of then-President Donald Trump, but also, of some of his loyalists — including veteran GOP operative Roger Stone. And Mediaite's Diana Falzone, along with The New Republic and The Guardian, is reporting that Stone was so angry with Nadler and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-California) that year that he made threatening remarks about them.

Falzone reports that Mediaite has obtained a copy of a recording in which Stone, in a Florida restaurant, is heard telling ally Sal Greco, "It's time to do it. Let's go find Swalwell. It's time to do it. Then, we'll see how brave the rest of them are. It's time to do it. It's either Nadler or Swalwell has to die before the election. They need to get the message. Let's go find Swalwell and get this over with. I'm just not putting up with this s*** anymore."

On July 10, 2020, Nadler tweeted comments critical of Trump and Stone, posting, "A jury found Roger Stone guilty. By commuting his sentence, President Trump has infected our judicial system with partisanship and cronyism and attacked the rule of law. @House Judiciary will conduct an aggressive investigation into this brazen corruption."

A Mediaite source told the publication, "Stone had been at war with Nadler and Swalwell for years. He just hates them."

Swalwell and Nadler have both been members of the House Judiciary Committee, which Nadler formerly chaired.

The Guardian's Martin Pengelly reports, "Swalwell is a prominent anti-Trump voice and a magnet for Republican attacks. As Judiciary chair, Nadler oversaw Trump's first impeachment, for seeking political dirt in Ukraine. In 2020, Nadler said the (Judiciary) Committee would investigate Trump's commutation of Stone's sentence on seven counts related to attempts to obstruct the investigation of Russian election interference in 2016. Stone was sentenced to 40 months but never went to prison."

The New Republic's Tori Otten notes, "Stone, a notorious conservative political operative, has long been a loyal Trump adviser and ally. Video footage released in August revealed that Stone began strategizing to overturn the 2020 election at least as early as November 5 — two days before the vote had been called."

*Read Mediaite's full report at this link.

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mma1123

Right-wing media lavish praise on Argentina’s newly elected far-right president | Media Matters for America

argentine President-elect Javier Milei is becoming a right-wing media darling in the U.S. due to his austere proposed economic policies and conservative ideology. Right-wing media figures have reacted to Milei’s electoral success by praising him, comparing him to former President Donald Trump, and attacking mainstream media for their critical reporting.}:

## Argentina's new far-right president has aligned himself with U.S. right-wing politics
- Milei, a self-described “anarcho-capitalist libertarian,” has aggressively pushed conservative positions on issues such as abortion while also promising to gut government ministries relating to issues like education, diversity, and science. Milei also proposed holding a referendum aimed at overturning Argentina’s right to abortion. Rolling Stone, [11/20/23]
- One of Milei’s defining political positions is “dollarisation,” a form of economic shock treatment, to combat Argentina’s rising inflation and ongoing financial woes.Dollarisation involves getting rid of the Argentine peso and replacing it with the U.S. dollar. Mark Weisbrot, the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, has labeled this as a “crazed, economically suicidal approach” which could majorly backfire for Argentine people. The Guardian, [11/20/23]

- Milei’s mirroring of Trump’s right-wing populist messaging — down to “Make Argentina Great Again” hats and preemptive voter fraud conspiracy theories — has led to direct praise from the former president.After Milei’s victory, Trump personally congratulated him on Truth Social, posting, “The whole world was watching! I am very proud of you. You will turn your Country around and truly Make Argentina Great Again!" The Guardian, [11/17/23; Rolling Stone, 11/20/23]
- Milei has also been linked to infamous anti-tax lobbyist Grover Norquist. In 2021, Milei promised the Argentine Taxpayers Association, sister organization to Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, that he would “cut off [his] own arm” if he raised taxes. Norquist has also gotten many Republican politicians to make similar promises by getting them to sign his organization’s “Taxpayer Protection Pledge.” The Nation, [7/21/2011; Semafor, 11/21/23; ABC News, 11/26/12]

- Mainstream media have responded to Milei’s election by pointing out his similarities to Trump and the implications his victory could have in neighboring countries.The New York Times referred to his election as “Argentina’s Donald Trump moment.” The Washington Post, [11/19/23; The New York Times, 11/20/23]

## Right-wing media reacted to Milei’s victory by praising him, comparing him to Trump, spreading voter fraud conspiracy theories, and attacking mainstream media for their coverage of him

- Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones called Milei “an anti-globalist through and through” and claimed he was an Infowars listener. Jones also praised Milei as “a follower” of former Fox host Tucker Carlson and argued his election was evidence that “people are seeing through the globalist lies at every front.” Infowars, *The Alex Jones Show*, [11/20/23]

- Newsmax host Rob Schmitt celebrated Milei, praising him for “fighting an ideology that is destroying the world one country at a time.”Schmitt argued Milei was “fighting the same disease that our nation is fighting” and “isn’t afraid to eviscerate the cancerous tumor that is the socialist politician.” Newsmax, *Rob Schmitt Tonight,* [11/20/23]

- Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk claimed that Milei’s victory was a “stimulus of hope” for the chances of Trump winning the presidency in 2024. Kirk portrayed the election as evidence that “the Western world is starting to push back against forced globalism” supposedly orchestrated by “a smaller and smaller radical group of people.” Kirk argued, “If Javier Milei can win by 11 points … Donald Trump can win next November.” Salem Media Group, *The Charlie Kirk Show*, [11/20/23]

Fox News contributor Sara Carter posted that she “love[s] Javier Milei.” Carter posted in response to a video of Milei ripping tags off a whiteboard with the names of various governmental departments, including the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health. Twitter/X, [11/20/23]

- Right-wing YouTuber Steven Crowder referred to Milei as “the madman geopolitics deserves.” He also called on Milei to “make Argentina great again.” Twitter/X, [11/20/23]
- Fox Business host Charles Payne called Milei’s election “huge and super encouraging on several fronts.” Payne also alleged that “powerful global forces'' tried to prevent Milei’s victory from “happening.” Twitter/X, [11/20/23]
- Right-wing economist Art Laffer argued Milei was “not a kook” or “far-right winger” and bet he would make Argentina “the outstanding, pro-growth economy of Central and South America” as president. Fox host Larry Kudlow concurred, adding that “the socialism they’ve been flirting with almost all over the continent hasn’t worked. … This guy might turn that around.” Fox Business, *Kudlow*, [11/20/23]
- Right-wing X account End Wokeness complained that “Argentina hand-counted all of their ballots in a few hours, but the big blue areas in our swing states take several days with machines?” Twitter/X, [11/20/23]
- Neo-Nazi collaborator Jack Posobiec claimed that the reason Argentina knew “the election result so fast” was because it “banned electronic voting machines.” Posobiec failed to mention that only Buenos Aires City residents were required to use paper ballots, and that was due to “significant delays” during the primary elections because of technical issues with the machines. Twitter/X, [11/20/23; Buenos Aires Herald, 10/21/23]
- Right-wing political operative Roger Stone praised Argentina for voting “with 100% paper ballots unlike, say, Brazil.” Twitter/X, [11/19/23]

- The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro bemoaned the “garbage press” for their coverage of Milei, calling them “international Leftist trash.” Shapiro also touted Milei’s economic policies, claiming Milei is planning to “slash spending and restore fiscal responsibility.” Twitter/X, [11/20/23]
- Conservative blog Red State also decried the press “freak-out” over Milei, claiming mainstream media “love it when far-left socialists take power."The “fairly Libertarian” Milei, the author claimed, could not be compared to Trump, and “the press attempt to tie the two together” was therefore “transparent.” Red State, [11/19/23]
- Stone also posted that it was “really enjoyable watching the elitist pukes at the Washington Post and the New York Times melt down over the election of pro-Freedom Anti-Globalist Javier Milei.” Twitter/X, [11/20/23]

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an 8 23 $ no lnx

'I was in the eye of the storm': Inside Roger Stone's plan to help Trump overturn the 2020 election

Charges may be near for Roger Stone over Jan. 6 Capitol riot: legal expert

Jordan Green

andRaw Story

August 23, 2023

Former President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants — many of them relatively obscure figures involved in the fake electors scheme — were indicted in Georgia last week, while top leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers militias have been convicted of seditious conspiracy for their role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

One person linked to the fake electors scheme, as well as to the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers has not faced any charges to date over Jan. 6. That would be political operative Roger Stone, who has been Trump’s friend and adviser for more than three decades.

Stone’s role in the effort to overturn the 2020 election is increasingly coming into focus through the halting, start-stop release of the new documentary “A Storm Foretold” by Danish filmmaker Christoffer Guldbrandsen. Footage shot by Guldbrandsen’s crew showing Stone dictating a plan to an assistant named Enrique de la Torre that calls for lobbying Republican-controlled state legislatures to send Trump electors on the basis of claims of fraud before Joe Biden was declared the winner was shown by MSNBC host Ari Melber last week.

On Aug.18, Guldbrandsenreleased the film on Vimeo, and then pulled it back while negotiating a deal for U.S. distribution. On Monday, Melber again showcased footage from the film on his MSNBC show.

One scene from before the election that was reviewed by Raw Story shows Stone vociferously articulating a strategy for Trump to use the authority of the office of president to prevent legitimate Biden electoral votes from being counted.

:{:{}:

“Oh, these are the California results? Sorry, we’re not accepting them,” Stone says, jabbing his index finger for emphasis. “We’re challenging them in court. If the electors show up at the Electoral College, armed guards will throw them out. I’m the president. F--- you. You’re not stealing Florida. I’m challenging all of it. And the judges we’re going to are judges I appointed. F--- you.”

De la Torre was deposed by the January 6th House select committee in May 2022. A senior investigative counsel asked him about Stone’s tirade, in one of at least three instances they referenced footage from Guldbrandsen’s film. The question by the senior investigative counsel indicates that Stone’s statement was addressed to de la Torre in July 2020. Gulbrandsen reportedly provided clips of his film to the committee, some of which were shown during one of its hearings in October 2022.

De la Torre invoked his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination in refusing to answer the committee’s questions. Stone likewise declined to answer the committee’s questions while invoking the Fifth Amendment and declined to produce any documents.

ALSO IN THE NEWS: Inside the MAGA plan to track and control your life

Stone could not be reached for this story, but he indicated on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, on Monday night that he had watched Melber’s segment on Guldbrandsen’s documentary, proclaiming that the footage “had all the hallmarks of Danish disinformation.”

Stone defended his statement about Republican-controlled legislatures submitting Trump electors based on purported claims of fraud during his podcast on Monday evening.

“I was in the eye of the storm late last week because I had the audacity to correctly cite Article II of the U.S. Constitution, which says that the state legislatures have the authority to certify the electors that go to the Electoral College,” he said. “And within that context, they have the authority to examine the election results. This was days before the election that I said that if there was evidence of theft, that process — which would be a very, public, open, transparent process — may have to take place.”

Three Trump electors are under indictment as co-defendants in the racketeering case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Georgia, while 13 others are cited as unindicted co-conspirators. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has separately charged 16 Trump electors in that state with conspiracy to commit election law forgery and other crimes.

In the statement he dictated to de la Torre on Nov. 5, 2020, Stone said, “We must be prepared to lobby our Republican legislatures by personal contact and by demonstrating the overwhelming will of the people in their state — in each state that this may happen.”

It remains unclear who, if anyone, might have received the memo from Stone or his associates. De la Torre could not be reached for comment for this story.

The Fulton County indictment describes one component of a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn the 2020 election as making false statements “to persuade Georgia legislators to reject lawful electoral votes cast by the duly elected and qualified presidential electors from Georgia.” The indictment describes a phone call by Trump and Giuliani to Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, in which Giuliani allegedly made false statements about fraud while Trump “importuned Bowers to unlawfully appoint presidential electors from Arizona” as “overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy.”

ALSO IN THE NEWS: 'Seething' Melania furious at Trump's use of Barron as 'political pawn': report

Similarly, the federal indictment brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith cites as one component of Trump’s alleged conspiracy to defraud the government that “on the pretext of baseless fraud claims,” Trump “pushed officials in certain states to ignore the popular vote; disenfranchise millions of voters; dismiss legitimate electors; and ultimately cause the ascertainment of and voting by illegitimate electors” in his favor.

Responding to a commentary published in the Philadelphia Inquirer questioning why he has not been criminally charged, Stone scoffed on X on Sunday: “Sorry there is no evidence whatsoever that proves my involvement in the effort to delay the certification of the Electoral College in the U.S. Senate, the riot at the U.S. Capitol, or the effort in the states to challenge the certification of electors. Guilt by association is an ugly tactic used by ignorant haters.A video in which I correctly state the effect of Article II of the Constitution, and which is both historically, and legally correct, proves nothing whatsoever.”

‘Looking for any retired military or law enforcement officer’

While maintaining a close relationship with President Trump, Stone also cultivated ties with the Proud Boys, a neofascist street-fighting group founded in 2016, which underwent a recruitment explosion after Trump signaled during a presidential debate shortly before the election: “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.”

When a graphic depicting federal judge with crosshairs superimposed over her face was published on Stone’s Instagram account in 2019,he testified that Proud Boys national chairman EnriqueTarrio was among a small number of people who had access to his phone. (Stone was subsequently convicted of obstructing a congressional investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, and later pardoned by President Trump.)

During the 2018 midterm election, futureProud Boy Joe Biggsvolunteered for an early iteration of “Stop the Steal,” a mobilization by a handful of conspiracy theorists surrounding Stone to protest a recount in the Florida Senate race between Republican Rick Scott and Democrat Bill Nelson.

Biggs, a U.S. Army veteran who was a correspondent for InfoWars, posted on Twitter in November 2018: “I’m no new Floridian. I’ve spent most of my life there and in Texas. I love both places more than life itself. Which is why I will be helping #StopTheSteal. I will back home to Florida [sic] from my other home in Texas tomorrow. We will not let radical leftists destroy our home!”

Footage from “A Storm Foretold” shows Stone describing his plan to resurrect the campaign to Guldbrandsen on Nov. 5, 2020.

“We are relaunching Stop the Steal,” Stone said. “I’m looking for any retired military or law enforcement officer who would go on the committee. Don’t care what rank, don’t care how old. Old, young, disabled, doesn’t matter.”

Around the same time, the film shows Stone speaking into a cell phone and dictating the inaugural message of the “F.O.S.” — short for “Friends of Stone” — chat onSignal, an encrypted messaging platform.

:{:{}:

“We provide information several times a day, so please monitor the F.O.S. feed so you can act in a timely fashion,” Stone said. “Let me stress that the F.O.S. feed is not a chat room, and this is not the place for prolonged discussion.”

The Signal group included protest organizers and militant leaders, allowing them to coordinate security for a series of rallies in Washington, D.C. and other cities that set the stage for Jan. 6. A copy of the chat obtained by the January 6th House select committee shows that both Tarrio and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes were members.

The Oath Keepers made outreach to military veterans and retired law enforcement the centerpiece of their recruitment pitch. According to an analysis by Raw Story, at least 14 of the 52 Proud Boys members and associates arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 attack were either military veterans or active-duty military service members.

A document turned over to the January 6th House select committee shows that Roger Stone and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes participated in the "F.O.S." chat on Signal.January 6th House select committee

The chats show Stone pushing out messaging to the protest organizers and militants, including a Nov. 10, 2020 post urging them to read a forthcoming “manifesto” that he promised would expose “the HOAX claiming Joe Biden has been elected President” and outline “President Trump’s path forward in the Courts, in the House and in the Electoral College.”

The chats also show Rhodes pledging that Oath Keepers members would provide security for VIPs at the Nov. 14, 2020 Millions for MAGA rally in Washington, D.C. as well as another pro-Trump rally held in Austin, Texas on the same day.

Rhodes also used the chat as a forum to issue a call for the Trump to use the military to declassify government secrets and to invoke the Insurrection Act “to suppress the communist insurrection” while using the military “to go after the domestic enemies at the top.”

Rhodes is currently serving an 18-year sentenceat Cumberland Federal Correctional Institution in Maryland for seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Stone said on his podcast on Monday night that he doubts that former Vice President Mike Pence will be able to testify that Trump told him he knew that he lost the election, adding, “I don’t think Trump believed it then. I certainly don’t think he believes it now.”

But the footage in Guldbrandsen’s film suggests that Stone himself harbored doubts about whether Trump could win in the waning days of the 2020 election.

:{:{}:

Speaking on the phone while riding in a car one week before the election, Stone can be heard telling an unidentified woman: “Don’t know. Totally up in the air. Not looking good. Not looking good. I say that as a professional. I’m trying to divorce my emotions from it. But it does not look good.”

The woman can be heard asking whether Stone thinks Giuliani — now a co-defendant with Trump in the Fulton County racketeering case — would be able to help Trump turn around his dim election prospects.

“Rudy is — he’s a great guy; he’s been very helpful to me,” Stone says. “He’s very loyal, but he likes booze and p---- a little too much. And he’s a single guy, so he’s getting a lot of ass.”

RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB

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Many Never Trump conservatives have lamented that in MAGA World, extremists are quick to turn against other extremists and accuse them of not being MAGA enough. Former Nancy Reagan speechwriter Mona Charen and former GOP strategist Tim Miller both made that argument after “Never Kevin” Republicans voted against making Rep. Kevin McCarthy House speaker on Tuesday, January 3. No matter how much McCarthy pandered to the MAGA movement, Charen and Miller argued in articles published by The Bulwark, it wasn’t enough for the far-right “Never Kevin” Republicans who rejected him as House speaker.

One of the “Never Kevin” Republicans who voted against McCarthy on January 3 was Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, a self-described “pro-life extremist” who has promoted the Big Lie and made the false, totally debunked claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump. But as far-right as Luna is, she isn’t without her adversaries in MAGA World. One of them is Michael Tito, an ally of veteran GOP operative and self-described “dirty trickster” Roger Stone who has accused her of practicing witchcraft.

In an article published by the Daily Beast early Wednesday morning, January 4, journalist Zachary Petrizzo describes Luna’s bitter rivalry with Tito and her battle against his accusations.

“Rep. Anna Paulina Luna came to Congress on her first day in office ready to do battle — not just with Democrats, but also, with her own party, as she became one of the 20 Republicans to vote against electing Kevin McCarthy speaker,” Petrizzo explains. “But back home in her conservative Florida district, Luna is waging a very different kind of war: a legal fight with political enemies who say she is a literal witch.”

Petrizzo reports that a letter obtained by the Daily Beast “reveals that” Luna has “retained the high-powered law firm Holland & Knight to go after” Tito because he “leveled a series of outlandish allegations against” her during a fall appearance on the “Bubba the Love Sponge Show.”

According to Petrizzo, “The letter demands thatMichael Tito, a pal of Roger Stone who mulled challenging Luna in a primary, apologize on video for his accusations, which include claims that Luna was fired from a job — and that she had a sexual liaison with Rep. Matt Gaetz.”

In that letter, attorney David J. Lisko wrote, “I am sending you this letter because of the defamatory statements you made about Ms. Luna on the Show…. You said that Ms. Luna (a devout Christian) practices witchcraft. You are hereby demanded to publicly and immediately retract each and every defamatory statement you made about Ms. Luna on the show.”

But Tito, according to Petrizzo, has consulted an attorney and has “said he isn’t backing down from any of his claims about” Luna.

Tito told the Beast, “I didn’t wake up one morning when I was going on ‘The Bubba the Love Sponge Show’ and say I am going to pull a bunch of stuff out of my a** and talk about it.”

The Stone ally alleges that it was Paloma Zuniga of Hispanics for Trump who told him that “Luna practices witchcraft.” Tito said, “That is where I heard that from. She puts spells on people.”

Luna has made plenty of accusations herself. In 2021, according to the Tampa Bay Times, she accused her political rivals of plotting to kill her.

The 33-year-old Luna, who is originally from Southern California, first ran for Congress via Florida’s 13th Congressional District in 2020, losing to Democratic then-Rep. Charlie Crist (a former Republican) by 7 percent. In 2022, Crist decided not to seek reelection and ran for governor of Florida instead; incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis defeated Crist by 19 percent.

Luna ran for Congress again in that congressional district in 2022, when she was endorsed by former President Donald Trump. That time, she won, defeating Democratic nominee Eric Lynn by 8 percent and taking over the seat formerly held by Crist.

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an me 12 22

A new transcript is shedding light on Julia “Julie” Fancelli's intent to offer $3 million to support for those who were involved in the Jan. 6 protests that transpired prior to Trump supporters storming the U.S. Capitol.

According to HuffPost, documentation of the Publix heir's testimony before the House Select Committee includes details about the donations she was willing to provide.

The report also noted that InfoWars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Stone, Trump aide Roger Stone and Charlie Kirk also benefited from Fancelli's contributions.

"Extremist conspiracy peddler Alex Jones apparently scored $200,000 from Fancelli, longtime Donald Trump aide Roger Stone was provided a private flight to Washington, D.C., and young Trump disciple Charlie Kirk — head of Turning Point USA — received $1.25 million ostensibly to transport masses of Trump supporters to the capital, according to the transcript of her questioning released by the committee Thursday," the news outlet reports.

Out of Fancelli's donation, Stone was supposed to use a quarter of the $200,000 for the "rally operating budget."

The latest on the transcript follows a previous Washington Post report about Fancelli's contribution. According to that report, she was listed as one of the largest publicly known contributors to former President Donald Trump's January 6 "Stop the Steal" rally.

"The Washington Post earlier reported that Fancelli was the largest publicly known donor to the rally — and had wired $650,000 to groups behind the 'Stop the Steal' organizing," the news outlet reports. "But the transcript of her questioning, which cites wire transfers and various communications, has revealed that her financial role was even greater than previously known. She has told the Post she had no idea the event would become violent."

As reports began circulating about Fancelli's contribution, Publix previously released a statement distancing from her actions. “We are deeply troubled by Ms. Fancelli’s involvement in the events that led to the tragic attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6,” the company said last year when questioned about her role in the rally efforts.

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an 12 22

Roger Stone is now spinning a bizarre claim about the existence of a so-called "demonic portal" that opened above the White House after President Joe Biden took office.

Stone even appears to believe the portal is visible to those who are searching for it. During a recent appearance on "The Eric Metaxas Radio Show," conservative radio host Eric Metaxas asked Stone about his thoughts on the existence of the "supernatural."

That's when Stone claimed to have seen the "portal" himself. “I think that… a portal, a demonic portal, opened above the White House around the time that the Bidens moved in,” Stone said.

He added, "This was brought to my attention by a Christian who lives in north Florida who sent me a bunch of documents and also a bunch of notations from the Bible about portals.”

Stone admitted that he was initially skeptical before saying:

So, I was skeptical about it but I looked at the photos. Also, there’s a live cam where you can actually see in real-time and there does appear to be something above the White House…At first you say, “Oh, maybe it’s a reflection. Maybe it’s an aerostat balloon. Maybe there’s a logical [explanation.]”

Out of concern, Stone also claims to have called a friend in law enforcement who works for the police department in Arlington, Va. According to Stone, his friend claims he found something.

“He called me back about two-and-a-half hours later and said, ‘You’re not going to believe this, but there’s definitely something there. Other people were there photographing it,'” Stone claims he was told.

Per Mediaite, Stone said, "if one zooms in on whatever is floating above the Biden White House, it can be seen 'swirling like a cauldron.'”

---

https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/the-jan-6-committee-exposes-how-trump-fomented-the-capitol-insurrection-every-step-of-the-way/

...Lofgen reminded the American public that Trump had been told repeatedly that he should not declare victory, that his election conspiracy theories were baseless, and that he had lost the election.

But she also revealed that the plan to declare premature victory was laid out in advance. The committee revealed that Tom Fitton—the president of Judicial Watch, a right-wing legal outfit known for spreading baseless claims of voter fraud to roll back Americans’ access to the polls—had sent a memo to Trump on Oct. 31, 2020, urging him to simply declare, “We had an election today and I won.” On Nov. 3, Election Day, at 5 p.m., long before all the votes had been counted, Fitton indicated that he had spoken to the president about the draft memo.

Former Vice President Mike Pence’s legal counsel Greg Jacob testified that Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short had also informed him of the president’s plan to prematurely declare victory, and that he had written a memo reflecting that it was imperative that the vice president could “not be perceived by the public as having decided questions concerning disputed electoral votes prior to the full development of all relevant facts.”

The committee also reviewed footage and audio recordings of Roger Stone—a longtime Trump confidant with connections to far-right groups who stormed the Capitol like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers—and Steve Bannon—former Trump campaign chief strategist and White House adviser—who bothsuggested Trump would declare victory whether or not he had the votes.

“I really do suspect that [the election result] will still be up in the air,” Stone said on Nov. 1, as shown in the video clip provided by Danish documentary filmmakers of “A Storm Foretold.” “When that happens, the key thing to do is to claim victory. Possession is nine tenths of law. ‘No, we won, fuck you. Sorry, you’re wrong, fuck you.’”

Stonealso advocated for violence. “I say fuck the voting, let’s get right to the violence,” Stone says in another clip a day before the election.

While Trump lied to the American people in public, in private, he admitted that he had lost the election, according to numerous witnesses. White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified that Trump was embarrassed to have lost to President Joe Biden and refused to publicly admit his defeat....

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an 9 22

Never Trumper Jonathan V. Last does plenty of mocking in a column published by The Bulwark on September 29, but he also has a dead-serious warning where MAGA is concerned: With authoritarian movements of the far left or far right, the “soft bois” are often followed by the “hard men.” And history, according to Last, shows that the “hard men” aren’t the least bit shy about resorting to violent, brutal methods.

Last opens the column by mocking some examples of “soft bois” in the far-right MAGA movement.

“Michael Anton is out there calling for just asking questions about having a violent revolution in America,” Last explains. “Anton is a former private-equity guy turned speechwriter whose dream is to be a chef. Per the New York Times, Anton is ‘a classically trained chef who favors French cuisine.’ He is also something of a dandy. Then there’s Roger Stone, out there calling for violence — when the voting stops the shooting starts, I guess?”

Last continues, “He once posted, and then deleted, a picture of the judge hearing his case with a crosshairs next to her head. So tough. But Stone makes Anton look like a biker. He’s a dandy’s dandy, a heavily made-up old man with a penchant for complicated glasses. is the internet troll who wants to get rid of democracy and replace it with monarchy and who thinks that mass killings by right-wingers are wrong mostly because they’re bad for the brand. Yarvin is more or less what you’d order from central casting if you were looking for ‘middle-age, basement-dwelling coder on the spectrum’…. The point I’m trying to make is that none of the outcasts and weirdos who are talking about overthrowing the liberal order in the name of the Great Common Man would be at home in a Budweiser commercial.”

But Last warns that “outcasts and weirdos” who preach violence while sitting behind a desk are often followed by the “hard men” who are willing to do the actual dirty work.And he uses the history of the Soviet Union to make his point, along with some footage of the on the U.S. Capitol Building.

“I don’t know that Trotsky and Lenin were all that butch, either,” Last argues. “In hindsight, they look like third-rate intellectuals thirsting for power. But Koba was not. He was a brutalist. And he was more than happy to take over for them.”

Last continues, “The problem is that the soft bois eventually give way to hard men, who understand and are eager to use power. What starts out as fops and dandies posing and talking tough about how super-duper double-bad they want to overthrow liberalism can eventually lead to actual men with actual weapons deciding to try it for themselves.”

---

an 922

Roger Stone, a long-time associate and ally of former President Donald Trump, previously told a camera crew he was ready for violence ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

According to CNN, the clip was filmed as part of a documentary titled “A Storm Foretold.”

Excerpts from the documentary, compiled by filmmakers Christoffer Guldbrandsen and Frederik Marbell, are reportedly expected to be included in the upcoming hearing to be conducted by the House Select Committee as they continue their investigation into the U.S. Capitol insurrection.

“F--k the voting, let’s get right to the violence,” Stone can be heard saying in a clip that CNN obtained from the filmmakers. “Shoot to kill. See an Antifa? Shoot to kill. F--k ’em. Done with this bulls--t.”

However, according to The Washington Post, Stone now insists he was “only kidding" when he made the remarks. “We renounce violence completely,” he said. “We totally renounce violence.The left is the only ones who engage in violence.”

Speaking to CNN's Don Lemon, the filmmakers shared their reaction to Stone's attempt to backpedal. According to them, Stone's remarks seemed disingenuous as he appeared to offer his take with “more of a wink and a nod.”

Stone also argued that the clip obtained by CNN appeared to be “manipulated and selectively edited.”

Stone was previously sentenced to a maximum of 40 months behind bars back in 2020 for multiple felonies, "including witness tampering, lying to Congress and obstruction," per the news outlet. However, he was one of many who received a pardon from Trump.

Watch the video below or at this link.

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lordy i hope there's tapes

8 22 stoer

...Indeed, according to the Connecticut Post, which is covering the trial, Jones’ phone records include “intimate messages with Roger Stone,”Donald Trump’s pardoned advisor, as well as with Trump. Stone was the intermediary between Trump and the Kremlin during the 2016 election. Trump later pardoned Stone for not flipping on him.

The US Department of Justice is investigating the former president’s “actions” in connection with the J6 insurrection, according to the Post. Prosecutors have empaneled a grand jury for the questioning of key Trump officials, including Mike Pence, the former vice president.

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an 8 22

Ann Coulter has a message for former President Donald Trump's supporters and allies. According to the conservative media pundit, it's time to move on from the former president because his political reign appears to be over.

According to Mediaite, Coulter's remarks came during a recent podcast segment. In an episode titled, "Trump's Done," Coulter shared her remarks via her SubStack account as she noted that she believes Trump's influence over the Republican Party is dwindling.

Coulter offered a comparison of Trump's rise to fame to that of former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who, according to Mediaite, "saw her star fade significantly after John McCain’s unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign. Coulter cited poll numbers, a Roger Stone backpedal email, and dwindling rally crowds as some of the proof Trump has become irrelevant to most Republicans."

She also weighed in with a critical assessment of the Trump supporters still attending his Make America Great Again (MAGA) rallies. “They’re like Deadheads,” Coulter said. “They’re following him from place to place. He sings the same songs.”

Although it still appears as if the former president is highly influential, Coulter argues that "loyalty among Trump 'fanatics,' is not 'indicative of a movement sweeping the nation.'”

She went on to shed light on another example of why she believes Trump's influence is waning.

Per Mediaite: "Coulter mentioned a pair of Stone emails she received from the Trump team. The first was an email “slamming” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), considered by many to be Trump’s biggest 2024 competition, should both men run for the Republican Party nomination. A second email, Coulter said, was Stone ' backpedalling' on his criticism of DeSantis after he heard complaints from conservatives supportive of the governor."

“This suggests to me Trump is not the huge hit [he was],” she said.

As for the midterm elections, Coulter believes Trump has given an illusion of influence because he made last-minute endorsements of political candidates who were already projected to win even without his support.

“Republicans, it’s not the party of Trump. It’s safe to come back, and it’s safe for Republicans to stand up and run without Donald Trump,” she said.

Coulter also predicted that Republicans may far well for the midterm elections even without Trump. “People are angry. Republicans are really angry. We are on a smooth glide path to really, really good midterm elections, and the only thing that can blow it is what probably will blow it: the Republican Party,” she said.

She concluded with a central message to Republicans, collectively. "You don’t need to suck up to Trump anymore, conservative talk radio hosts, talk TV hosts, Republicans running for office,” she announced. “He’s done. He’s over.”

---

https://www.alternet.org/

an raw 822

Congressional investigators hoped that volumes of phone texts that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones accidentally turned over to opposing counsel in civil litigation would yield answers about his involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, but the texts reportedly only cover a period through mid-2020.

Mark Bankston, who represents the parents of the children murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012, has reportedly said the cache includes texts with political operative Roger Stone, a longtime friend of former President Donald Trump who, alongside Jones, became a major tribune of the campaign to overturn the 2020 election. The effort by the House select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol to obtain the texts highlights the panel’s sustained interest in Jones’ role.

To date, Jones has not been charged in the attack, but he has played prominent roles in amplifying the messaging of the campaign to overturn the election and building the infrastructure of the protests in the run-up to the attack, culminating in his presence on the ground at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

The committee’s interest in Jones was on display during a hearing on July 12 through recorded testimony of Kellye SoRelle, general counsel for the Oath Keepers. Nine members of the far-right militia face seditious conspiracy charges. SoRelle confirmed that Jones’ name was among three prominent figureheads during the series of protests leading up to Jan. 6.

“You mentioned that Mr. Stone wanted to start the Stop the Steal rallies,” the investigator said. “Who do you consider the leader of those rallies? It sounds like, from what you just said, it was Mr. Stone, Mr. Jones and Mr. Ali Alexander. Is that correct?”

“Those are the ones that became like the center point for everything,” SoRelle responded.

Alex Jones could not be reached for comment for this story.

Through his show on the InfoWars platform, Jones provided a venue for two of the most inspirational figures involved in rallying Trump’s supporters — Stone and retired Lt. General Michael Flynn. But Jones also leveraged his celebrity and following to do his own part in mobilizing Trump’s supporters, and in spreading wild and unfounded claims about election fraud.

In a letter to Jones accompanying a subpoena compelling him to testify and turn over records, the committee took note of a Dec. 20, 2020 broadcast of “The Alex Jones Show,” one day after Trump issued a tweet summoning his supporters to DC for a “wild” rally on Jan. 6.

“He’s calling on you now,” Jones told his audience. “He needs your help. We need your help. America needs to stand up.” Jones said he wanted to see 10 million people in Washington, DC on Jan. 6, adding, “We’re going to descend on the swamp January 6th. The president is going to be attending the rallies. He’s announcing he’s going to be there. This is going to be massive.”

On Dec. 29, Jones homed in on an objective for the Jan. 6 rally, scheduled to coincide with Congress’ session to certify the electoral votes.

“Well, let’s just say you’re going to want to go to DC on the 6th,” Jones said. “It will show the globalists we know Trump really won. And it will begin the process one way or another of removing the globalist puppet Joe Biden. And I mean by impeachment or keeping him from getting in on the 20th.”

Filling in for Jones on New Year’s Eve,guest host Matt Bracken added tactical specificity to the mission.

“We’re only going to be saved by millions of Americans by moving to Washington, occupying the entire area, if necessary, storming right into the Capitol,” Bracken said. “We know the rules of engagement. If you have enough people, you can push down any kind of fence or a wall.”

Amplifying the false claims of election fraud during an InfoWars broadcast on Christmas day, Jones offered his audience a fantastical and nightmarish description of the election that was unsupported by any evidence.

“They close everything out,kick everyone out, pull out briefcases,” he said. “Chinese men and vans come in in Michigan and start just shoving it in the machine. We get the footage showing it all. They’re death-threating witnesses. They’re arresting witnesses.”

Weeks before the 2020 election was held, Stone appeared as a guest on Jones’ show on Sept. 10, 2020. There, Stone previewed an election-fraud narrative and called for martial law that would become familiar during the interregnum between the election and Jan. 6.

“The ballots on election night in Nevada should be seized by federal marshals and taken from the state,” Stone said. “They are completely corrupted. No votes should be counted from the state of Nevada if it turns out to be the provable case.We can prove voter fraud in the absentees right now.Send federal marshals to the Clark County Board of Elections, Mr. President. It’s all there.”

Prompted by Jones’ insistence that “it’s clear they think they can steal it,” Stone recommended that Trump appoint a special counsel “with a specific task of forming an election-day operation using the FBI, federal marshals and Republican state officials across the country to be prepared to file legal objections and, if necessary, physically stand in the way of criminal activity.”

On the eve of the attack on the Capitol, Stone interviewed Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisor, at the Willard hotel.

Declaring that “there’s a DNA in the American psyche” that “goes all the way back to 1776” — referring to the Revolutionary War — Flynn reeled off a string of baseless claims of election fraud.

“Everybody in this country, everybody in the world knows that this election on the third of November was a total rip-off,” Flynn said. “It was a fraudulent election. We have had foreign interference from multiple countries — I’ll rattle ’em off if you want to get into that — and Donald Trump was the clear winner. For the next four days after the third of November — from about the 4th through the 7th, 8th of November — they just started stuffing the ballot boxes. And everybody knows it, and they got caught.”

The January 6th Committee has also signaled its awareness of Jones’ involvement in organizing the rallies surrounding the mobilization on Jan. 6. Citing press reports and Jones’ own statements, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the committee chairman, mentioned in his public letter that Jones worked with two women, Cindy Chafian and Caroline Wren to organize the Jan. 6 rally at the Ellipse, and helped line up a funder, Publix heiress Julie Fancelli, to cover “eighty percent” of the cost.

Jones reportedly said after his testimony earlier this year that the January 6th Committee has already obtained text messages between him and Wren, a former campaign fundraiser who Jones identified as his “White House connection.”

Through Jones’ testimony in January, the committee also confirmed that Jones was on at least familiar terms with the leaders of the neo-fascist street brawling group the Proud Boys, who, like the Oath Keepers, face charges of seditious conspiracy. Jones disclosed that after a rally at the Georgia state capitol in Atlanta in November 2020, he saw Proud Boys at Hooters who were “drinking beer and ate cheeseburgers.” A photo posted on Telegram by Jeremy Bertino, a high-profile Proud Boy who has not been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, shows Jones seated between Bertino and national chairman Enrique Tarrio.

While Jones has so far avoided criminal charges for his role in the events of Jan. 6, two InfoWars personnel — host Owen Shroyer and correspondent Samuel Montoya — have been arrested. Shroyer is charged with knowingly entering or remaining on restricted grounds and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, while Montoya is charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building and disorderly and disruptive conduct, among other offenses.

Erika Wulff Jones, Alex Jones’ wife, went to the Capitol separately from her husband on Jan. 6, riding on the back of a golf cart with Cindy Chafian.

Alex Jones traveled with another contingent to the Capitol, as the January 6th Committee noted in its letter to him. Jones has said that the “White House” told him that after the rally at the Ellipse ended, he was tasked to lead a march to the Capitol where Trump would meet them. While Trump never made it, Jones, Shroyer and Ali Alexander marched to the Capitol.

“Go to the other side of the Capitol,” Jones said, leading the marchers to the east side of the Capitol. “That’s where Trump’s going to be.”

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an 8 22

https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/fbi-matt-gaetz-stone/

A former official for the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) recently compared members of TrumpWorld to the mafia.

During an appearance on MSNBC, Frank Figliuzzi, who worked as an assistant director in the FBI's counterintelligence division, shared his opinion of The Washington Post's recent report offering details about a "hot-mic conversation" that took place between Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and longtime Trump ally, Roger Stone.

The report highlighted a 2019 recording whereGaetz "repeatedly assured Stone that 'the boss' would likely grant him clemency if he were convicted." Figliuzzi also recalled how Stone said he was hoping the Florida lawmaker and "dozens of others" would help him circumvent his legal woes.

"It's a much larger conspiracy than I think even those of us who followed it every day could have imagined," Figliuzzi said.

The former FBI official also insists that the conversations between Gaetz and Stone appear to echo a "we're all in this together" ideology and sheds light on how members of TrumpWorld function. According to Figliuzzi, it's similar to the mafia mentality.

"You know, La Cosa Nostra, the Italian Mafia, translates as, 'This Thing of Ours,'" he said. "That's all I keep hearing here: 'We're all in this together.'"

He also noted that the mob wiretaps he'd previously heard sound relatively similar to the conversations between Gaetz and Stone. "And they're part of a criminal enterprise," he added. "It's a criminal organization. They know it. They know they're screwed with regard to legality, and they know the only way out is for the boss to get them out of it."

Business Insider also highlighted other sections of hot-mic conversation that alluded to mafia-style rhetoric.

At one point, Stone "was also heard telling Gaetz that he might have to "appeal to the big man" because most jurors surveyed for his trial despised him." The news outlet added that Gaetz "was then heard agreeing with Stone, saying Stone was 'fucked' where the trial was concerned. The congressman added, however, that he believed Stone wouldn't go to prison because the 'big guy' would not let that happen."

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https://www.rawstory.com/january-6th-hearing-spotlights-role-of-roger-stone-as-link-between-proud-boys-and-trump/

no lnx

The seventh hearing of the January 6th Committee on Tuesday highlighted the role of political consultant Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of Donald Trump, as a link between the former president and the two leading extremist groups that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) noted that President Trump pardoned Stone, along with retired Lt. General Michael Flynn, in the weeks between the Nov. 3, 2020 election and Jan. 6. During the same period, Raskin said, “Stone communicated with both the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers regularly.”

Raskin reported that the committee obtained encrypted chats from a private message group called “Friends of Stone,” or “FOS,” that included Stone, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio and “Stop the Steal” organizer Ali Alexander that “focused onvarious pro-Trump events in November and December of 2020, as well as January 6th.”

RELATED: January 6 hearing makes it clear: MAGA is a cult — and Trump is their fascist pied piper

In one chat shared by the committee, Rhodes urged chat members who couldn’t make it to Washington, DC for a Nov. 14 Million MAGA March to attend local events to support the effort to overturn the election.

“Good point,” Rhodes wrote. “Anyone who won’t be in DC needs to be at their state Capitol.”

Grant Smith, an attorney who represents Stone, downplayed his client’s participation in the chat.

“Mr. Stone was included in the group chat by whomever established it at the time,” Smith said in an email to Raw Story. “Mr. Stone did not participate in any discussions in the chat and has no recollection of ever posting anything in the chat. If there had been any postings by Mr. Stone, the committee would have included them in the evidence presented, [and] there was nothing presented. Mr. Stone engaged in only legally protected, First Amendment activities.”

Members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers have since been indicted in separate seditious conspiracy cases, stemming from their activity on Jan. 6.

RELATED: Oath Keepers chief Stewart Rhodes' son explains why he left 'daddy Trump' — and the 'far-right' cult

The committee presented video showing that during the period when the “Friends of Stone” chat was active, Rhodes called on Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act, and the Proud Boys became increasingly antagonistic towards the police.

“He needs to know from you that you are with him, that if he does not do it now while he is commander in chief, we’re going to have to do it later in a much more desperate, much more bloody war,” Rhodes said, addressing a crowd at the Jericho March in DC on Dec. 12. “Let’s get it on now, while he is still the commander in chief.”

In a separate video shown to the committee, Proud Boys angered at being prevented from assaulting leftwing counter-protesters can be seen taunting police, with one member named “Swamp Cracker” shouting, “Oath breakers! Do your f***ing job! Give us one hour.”

:{:{}:

The committee also presented videotaped testimony from Kellye SoRelle, a Texas lawyer who serves as general counsel for the Oath Keepers, that pointed to Stone as one of the key figures, alongside Alexander and InfoWars host Alex Jones, in the rallies that built momentum for Jan. 6.}:

RELATED: 'Should disturb everyone': Fox News analyst stunned by 'breathtaking' Jan. 6 hearing

:{:{“You mentioned that Mr. Stone wanted to start the Stop the Steal rallies,” the investigator said. “Who did you consider the leader of these rallies? It sounds like, from what you just said, it was Mr. Stone, Mr. Jones and Mr. Ali Alexander. Is that correct?”}:

“Those are the ones that became like the center point for everything,” SoRelle responded.}:

Beyond the “Friends of Stone” encrypted chat, Stone also appeared in public with Proud Boys leaders in the months leading up to the Jan. 6 attack.

A video from the night before the Dec. 12 rally, first reported by Just Security, showsStone flanked by Tarrio and Nordean,both of whom would become top-tier leaders in the Ministry of Self-Defense group set up as a planning committee for Jan. 6 and now face seditious conspiracy charges. Introduced by Owen Schroyer, an InfoWars media performer who is charged with entering a restricted building or grounds for his activities on Jan. 6, Stone addressed an energetic crowd outside a DC hotel.

“We will fight to the bitter end for an honest recount of the 2020 election,” Stone said. “Never give up, never quit, never surrender, and fight for America!”

As Shroyer introduces him, Stone can be seen giving a friendly nod to Tarrio. Later, as Stone speaks, Nordean appears to place his hand on Stone’s shoulder.

Stone’s relationship with the Proud Boys goes back more than five years. As noted in a report prepared for the January 6th Committee by the Khalifa Ihler Institute, Stone was recorded reciting the “Proud Boys Fraternity Creed” in May 2017, which means he is considered a “1st degree” member according to the group’s custom.

:{So close were Stone and Tarrio that the Proud Boys national chairman had access to Stone’s phone in early 2019. When Stone got in trouble for tweeting an image of the federal judge presiding over his case next to an image of gun crosshairs, he reportedly disclosed to the court that he had been sent images by multiple volunteers, :{naming Tarrio alongside Florida Proud Boys founder Tyler Ziolkowski, and InfoWars reporter Jacob Engels. Stone reportedly disclosed to the court that Tarrio and Engels had spent time at his house.}:

Ties between the Proud Boys and Trump are more nebulous, but the extremist group was galvanized by Trump’s presidential debate statement, “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by,” in response to a call for him to denounce extremists.

Proud Boys predictably responded ecstatically.

“Standing by sir,” Tarrio wrote on Parler.

Joe Biggs, who would also become a top-tier leader of the Ministry of Self-Defense and lead the Proud Boys to the Capitol along with Nordean, wrote, “Trump basically said to go f*** [antifa] up! This makes me so happy!”

On the day after the debate, Trump attempted to distance himself, telling reporters: “I don’t know who the Proud Boys are. You’ll have to give me a definition because I really don’t know who they are. I can only say they have to stand down and let law enforcement do their work.”

Other reporting has suggested Trump and his inner circle were more aware of the Proud Boys than they publicly acknowledged.

When Proud Boys marched outside a venue during Trump’s reelection campaign launch in Orlando, Fla. in June 2019, New York Times reporter Trip Gabriel tweeted: “From a disillusioned GOP operative: ‘The Trump campaign is well aware of the organized participation of Proud Boys rallies merging into Trump events. They don’t care. Staff are treating it like a coalition they can’t talk about.”

:{On Dec. 12, 2020, before Proud Boys clashed with counter-protesters, Tarrio and:{ Latinos for Trump president Biana Gracia received a tour of the White House.}::{}:

“Last minute invite to an undisclosed location,” Tarrio wrote on Parler, displaying photos of the White House steps, according to a report in USA Today.

Tarrio’s host hinted at special access, but Gracia told reporter Will Carless that “the tour was arranged through channels open to anyone by applying via a member of Congress.” But she also hinted that she received an assist to ensure that the tour took place when they were in town for the pro-Trump rally.

“We received a little help from people,” she told the newspaper.

ALSO IN THE NEWS: Here are the 10 GOP members of Congress implicated in Tuesday’s Jan. 6 hearing

Jordan Green covers extremism for Raw Story. A Kentucky native, he now lives in North Carolina, where he spent 16 years writing for alt-weeklies and freelancing for the Washington Post and other publications.

RAWSTORY+

Liz Cheney hit her GOP colleagues with a deeply wounding statement at explosive Jan. 6 hearing

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Jessie Liu fired for not roll back sentence?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/us/politics/roger-stone-federal-prosecutors.html

These Are the Roger Stone Prosecutors Who Quit the Case

The team of assistant U.S. attorneys withdrew from the case after the Justice Department overruled their sentencing recommendation and pushed for a more lenient punishment for President Trump’s former campaign adviser.

By Neil Vigdor

Feb. 11, 2020

They have clerked for Supreme Court justices, served at the State Department and orbited Robert S. Mueller III.

On Tuesday, the four main federal prosecutors working on the obstruction and perjury case of Roger J. Stone Jr. shared another distinction: They quit the case. The abrupt withdrawals came after the Justice Department overruled their recommendation for a stiffer sentence for Mr. Stone, a longtime friend and informal adviser of President Trump. One of the prosecutors resigned outright.

[The Latest: President Trump praises attorney general for intervening in Stone case.]

The prosecutors had asked a U.S. District Court judge in Washington, D.C., to sentence Mr. Stone to up to nine years in prison for obstructing a congressional investigation, witness tampering and making false statements during the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Late Monday, Mr. Trump took a swipe at the prosecutors on Twitter, saying they were beholden to Mr. Mueller and had recommended an unduly harsh sentence in Mr. Stone’s case.

Here’s what we know about the prosecutors who withdrew from the case.

Jonathan Kravis

Assistant U.S. attorney

Mr. Kravis, 42, said in a court filing on Tuesday afternoon that he had resigned from his post at the Justice Department and “therefore no longer represents the government in this matter.”

He worked in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Also, he had been a trial attorney in the public integrity section of the Justice Department’s criminal division, according to his law school biography at George Washington University, where he was listed as a professorial lecturer.

Mr. Kravis, who got his law degree at Yale University, previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. During President Barack Obama’s first term, he served as an associate White House counsel.

Mr. Kravis clerked for Merrick B. Garland, the appeals court judge who was nominated by Mr. Obama for the Supreme Court in 2016, but never got a vote by the Republican-controlled Senate. He also clerked for Justice Stephen G. Breyer of the Supreme Court.

Aaron S.J. Zelinsky

Special assistant U.S. attorney

Mr. Zelinsky, 36, was the first of the four prosecutors to file a withdrawal notice in federal court, which said that he had “resigned effective immediately” from his role as a special assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

He will remain an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, said Marcia Murphy, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Maryland, where Mr. Zelinsky worked under Rod J. Rosenstein when Mr. Rosenstein was the top federal prosecutor in the state. Mr. Rosenstein went on to become the deputy attorney general.

Mr. Zelinsky played a central role in the prosecution of George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. about his contacts with Russian intermediaries during the 2016 presidential election. Mr. Papadopoulos served 14 days in jail.

Mr. Zelinsky clerked for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy before his retirement from the Supreme Court and for Justice John Paul Stevens after his retirement. He worked for the State Department during the Obama administration and received both his undergraduate and law degrees from Yale.

Adam C. Jed

Special assistant U.S. attorney

Mr. Jed, 38, was part of the cadre of lawyers who worked for Mr. Mueller on the 22-month Russia investigation. He entered the spotlight when he argued in pretrial litigation that certain records should be sealed from the public in order to protect the open investigation.

Mr. Jed had previously worked as an appellate lawyer for the Justice Department’s civil division, where he gained recognition in 2013 for arguing that a ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional.

He also clerked for Justice Stevens, according to Harvard Law Today, an alumni publication of the university where Mr. Jed got his law degree in 2008.

Michael J. Marando

Assistant U.S. attorney

Mr. Marando, 42, became the fourth and final member of the prosecution team to withdraw from the Stone case on Tuesday.

He is an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, where he has prosecuted money laundering, fraud and sex offender cases.

In January, Mr. Marando helped to secure a 60-month prison sentence for a Virginia man who pleaded guilty to stealing over $1.3 million from companies and individuals by requiring deposits for bogus loans.

In March 2018, he secured an 18-month prison sentence for a dual citizen of Russia and Israel who had pleaded guilty to money laundering as part of an international fraud scheme.

Mr. Marando received his undergraduate and law degrees from Cornell University, according to his wedding announcement in The New York Times.

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