Latest news with #J6
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's pick for a key watchdog role is irresponsibly unqualified for the job
Picking Paul Ingrassia to lead the U.S. Office of Special Counsel is not like putting the fox in charge of the hen house. It's more like setting fire to the whole farm. On Thursday, President Donald Trump nominated the former far-right podcast host to lead the important albeit little-known federal agency office. OSC is not to be confused with the special counsel position recently occupied by Jack Smith, who was appointed under federal regulations by Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Trump for alleged violations of criminal law. Instead, OSC is an independent agency created by Congress as part of the Civil Service Reform Act in the wake of the Watergate scandal. The office protects whistleblowers and other federal workers from unlawful employment practices. OSC also enforces the Hatch Act, the law that bars political activity in the federal workplace. The nature of the work demands an experienced investigator who is scrupulously apolitical. Ingrassia is anything but. The 30-year-old Ingrassia has been a lawyer for only three years. He previously worked at the Claremont Institute, the same far-right think tank that brought us John Eastman, a key alleged architect of the 2020 election's fake elector scheme. According to its website, Claremont is currently 'working to undermine the Left's hold over America's institutions and conscience.' Ingrassia doesn't have the legal experience for the role. But he has something more important, at least for this administration. Early in Trump's second term, Ingrassia served as the president's liaison to the Justice Department, where he referred to himself as Trump's 'eyes and ears,' according to NBC News. He was reassigned to the Department of Homeland Security after he reportedly clashed with DOJ officials by pushing to hire candidates with 'exceptional loyalty' to Trump, reports ABC News. His views on the Jan. 6 riot are extreme, even by MAGA standards. In December, Ingrassia called for not only pardons of the Jan. 6 defendants, but also for $1 million per family in reparations. He advocated for Trump to 'expressly name, in a public proclamation, any judge and prosecutor involved in the J6 scam — and call on them to resign from their offices, and pressure Congress to undertake impeachment proceedings against them if they do not cooperate.' Ingrassia also urged Congress to make Jan. 6 a national holiday to place 'the day's events in their proper historical context: as a peaceful protest against a great injustice affecting our electoral system.' Ingrassia has referred to former Vice President Mike Pence as a traitor who belongs in 'the ninth circle of hell.' Of course, all private citizens are entitled to express their opinions, but someone who is either as delusional or sycophantic as Ingrassia is, in my opinion, simply unfit to lead an agency that is tasked with enforcing nonpartisanship. In February, Trump fired the prior head of OSC, Hampton Dellinger, a Joe Biden appointee who was only one year into a five-year term set by Congress. Dellinger challenged his removal, alleging it violated a federal law that prohibits termination except for 'inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.' A court had found Dellinger's dismissal unlawful, but Dellinger dropped his lawsuit when an appeals court declined to reinstate him. Trump's move to effectively neuter OSC may be in response to the agency's oversight during his first term, when investigators found that 13 senior administration officials violated the Hatch Act by campaigning while conducting official government business. A loyalist at the helm of the agency could help Trump avoid similar findings. What's more, without an independent watchdog in charge, whistleblowers may be reluctant to come forward with complaints of fraud, waste and abuse at federal agencies. Federal employees will also lose their advocate in cases of prohibited personnel practices, such as discrimination, coercing political activity or violations of our merit system in the civil service. This move threatens the integrity and efficiency of our civil service. The selection of Ingrassia to lead OSC rivals the nomination of Ed Martin as U.S. attorney in Washington. Trump ultimately withdrew Martin's nomination after he failed to earn support from key Republican senators. Martin now leads the Justice Department's 'Weaponization Working Group' and serves as Trump's pardon attorney, where he has already processed two dozen pardons that include corrupt public officials, business executives and Trump supporters. Last week, Martin posted on social media, 'No MAGA left behind.' Like the U.S. attorney position, the head of the Office of Special Counsel must be confirmed by the Senate. For the sake of our federal workforce and the important work they do for our country, let's hope this nomination meets the same fate as Martin's. This article was originally published on
New York Post
10-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Trump advisory board member wants Jan. 6 to be a national holiday: ‘Will look like July 4'
Jan. 6 should be a national holiday, one Trump advisory board member declared, guaranteeing that in 10 years 'it will look like July 4.' The push to create a new US holiday 'has been on my mind for four years, I just didn't have the chutzpah to talk about it,' Jason Meister, 43, told The Post. 'That would be the biggest way to honor these American heroes who risked their lives, freedom and honor to protest what they perceived to be a stolen election.' 3 Jason Meister wants January 6 to be a national holiday. Jason Meister/ Instagram The former Trump surrogate, who sits on the Trump 2020 Advisory Board, is also pushing for J6 'political prisoners' to sing the National Anthem at the 2027 NFL Draft, which is set to take place at the National Mall. The New Jersey lawyer, who was in the Big Apple when protestors stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, plans to raise the issue with Trump the next chance he gets. Meister also hopes to see the J6ers memorialized in Trump's 'National Garden of American Heroes' monument, which is scheduled to open in time for the US' 250th birthday on July 4, 2026. 3 Meister is also pushing for Jan. 6 'political prisoners' to sing at the draft. Newsmax 2 'The elites weaponized J6 to crush dissent. These men and women have lost everything – jobs, families, their very liberty – for refusing to kneel,' said Meister, who blasted the 'hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars' used to 'investigate, prosecute, and imprison more than 1000 Americans' who were exercising their First Amendment rights 'without due process.' 3 Meister wants Jan. 6 to be known as 'Patriot's Day' Getty Images Bring out the barbeque and fireworks, said the fired-up MAGA man. 'J6 must be celebrated and forever known as Patriot's Day,' he said. 'American citizens exercised their right of assembly and redress. All of these Americans were unarmed. 'In response, the regime murdered a woman who was protesting and sent thousands more to federal prison without fair trial.' The family of Ashli Babbitt, the unarmed US veteran who was shot to death by a federal officer on Jan. 6, settled a $30 million wrongful death suit earlier this month with the DOJ. 'We talk about due process for illegal gangbangers who beat their wives,' fumed Meister. 'I want to celebrate these heroes who sacrificed it all to protect our democracy.'
Miami Herald
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
What is the Insurrection Act? What To Know as Donald Trump Deadline Hits
President Donald Trump's administration will on Sunday learn whether a report by its top officials recommends using the Insurrection Act in response to immigration concerns. Since assuming office, Trump has made curbing illegal immigration a top priority and has dispatched troops to the southern U.S. border to support Customs and Border Patrol operations. To a similar end, January, Trump issued an executive order declaring a border emergency and requesting a report from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem within 90 days on whether to invoke the act. The request said he wanted a "joint report to the president about the conditions at the southern border of the United States and any recommendations regarding additional actions that may be necessary to obtain complete operational control of the southern border, including whether to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807." Former Assistant Attorney General for Virginia Gene Rossi told Newsweek that Trump was likely to invoke the act. "Emboldened with a second term and a popular vote victory, President Trump will likely invoke the Insurrection Act for immigration and other purposes," he said. "That these likely invocations, if any, will come from a convicted felon with his own J6 insurrection tendencies means that we are entering '1984' territory that would make George Orwell pea-green with envy." Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, with the president facing accusations of having incited the insurrection, which he has always strongly denied. The 19th-century statute, would allow the use of active-duty military personnel to perform law-enforcement duties within the United States, including arresting migrants. It is a combination of different laws enacted by Congress between 1792 and 1871. It has not been used often and in the past was invoked by President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and by President Ulysses S. Grant against the Ku Klux Klan. President Dwight D. Eisenhower used it to order federal troops to escort Black students into Little Rock Central High School after Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus refused to comply with a federal desegregation order. It was also used by President George H.W. Bush during the 1992 riots in Los Angeles that left 63 dead, around 2,300 injured and more than 12,000 arrested. Despite Trump's wishes, Hegseth and Noem are not expected to recommend invoking the act, according to CNN. The expected recommendation says that migrant crossings have significantly decreased—under 300 per day, compared to well over 1,000 in previous years—and that current levels are sufficient for managing the situation. According to CNN, officials have given warnings that invoking the act could overwhelm current detention capacities. However, administration officials have not officially confirmed whether or not they will recommend the act being invoked. "At the president's direction, the DHS and DOD [Department of Defense] are developing a joint report assessing the conditions at the U.S. southern border and recommending actions to achieve full operational control of the border," the DHS said in a statement issued to the press. Related Articles Fact Check: Is Donald Trump Declaring Martial Law?Fact Check: Does the Stimulus Bill Nullify the Insurrection Act?We Didn't Need the Insurrection Act After Hurricane Katrina and Don't Need It NowEsper Flipflops and Leaves Troops in DC as Trump Spars With Mattis 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
MAGA Meltdown After CNN Host Says Network ‘Does Not Hate Our Country'
A collection of conservative commentators promptly came to Donald Trump's defense after CNN anchor Dana Bash corrected the president's latest criticism of the network—that it 'hates' the United States. CNN has long been a central target of Trump's attacks on the press. He has routinely called it—and the press at large—the 'enemy of the people' for reporting he deems unflattering. He showed his animosity once again Monday during an Oval Office meeting with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, claiming the network 'hates our country.' Trump also berated CNN's Kaitlan Collins for merely asking why his administration is refusing to bring home a Maryland man it mistakenly deported to El Salvador a month ago. The president demanded that Collins praise him instead. Bash responded moments later. 'I just want to say, for the record, since we heard President Trump say in the Oval Office that CNN hates our country—CNN does not hate our country,' she said on Inside Politics. 'That should go without saying. I've been here for 32 years, and I see a rhetorical device in him saying such a thing.' The MAGAsphere dutifully jumped into action. Former Turning Point USA Chief Creative Officer Benny Johnson wrote in response to a clip of Bash: 'Just another lie from the Communist News Network.' Right-wing YouTuber DeVory Darkins listed brief examples of what he believed disproved Bash's correction: 'Russia hoax, J6, Hunter Biden laptop, Joe Biden's mental decline, Wuhan COVID lab leak, and so many more.' 'Remember either pushing those narratives or burying the others? CNN is the mouthpiece for the Democratic Party and the Washington D.C. deep state,' he added. Other commentators similarly weighed in. Additionally, the X account for the conservative website gave its own one-word 'fact check' of Bash, and nothing else. In 2022, Trump acted upon his perceived grievances with CNN in court. Yet his $475 million defamation lawsuit was tossed the following year by a judge he had nominated.
The Guardian
18-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Man charged in US Capitol attack announces run for Senate in Florida
A man accused of battling police with a baseball bat and shield during the January 6 riot at the US Capitol announced a run for the US Senate in Florida. 'WE ARE TAKING OVER THE CAPITOL AGAIN,' Jake Lang, a prominent January 6 defendant, wrote on X, announcing he is seeking the seat vacated by now secretary of state Marco Rubio in 2026. Lang never stood trial for charges related to his role in the insurrection, seeking continual delays in his case until he was pardoned alongside about 1,600 others who participated in the Capitol attack when Donald Trump took office. During his time in the DC jail, what he calls the 'DC gulag', Lang tried to organize a militia, which was initially called the North American Patriot and Liberty Militia, or Napalm. He created online fundraisers, collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars for January 6 defendants. He appeared in the media while in jail and since he was pardoned, talking about the Capitol charges and emerging as one of the most vocal members of the so-called J6 community. Lang has not expressed regret for his actions on 6 January 2021 and has frequently referred to himself as a political prisoner. Photo and video footage of him on that day show him repeatedly fighting police and yelling things such as 'This is our house. We paid for this fucking building.' At one point in the riot, he wore a gas mask and beat police with a shield and bat, the justice department alleged, in an entrance to the Capitol that saw some of the most violence. He posted on social media afterward and wrote: 'arrest me.' Now he wants to go back to the Capitol as a US senator and he thinks he can defeat the Republican who was appointed to the seat, former Florida attorney general Ashley Moody. He filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Elections Commission in February. 'January 6 was a cry for change, and I am that change,' he said in his announcement video. 'The tree of liberty is thirsty, America. We may have won the 2024 election, but the revolution has just begun. We're going back to the Capitol, and this time as your next elected officials and lawmakers.' Lang did not respond to requests for comment. He previously told the Guardian he was 'not ashamed' of his actions on January 6 and that he believes the day 'ended up being the imagery that the American people and the world needed to see of a united America – Black, white, Asian, Spanish, gay, straight, Christian, Muslim – all standing united together against a tyrannical oppression, against a Marxist coup d'etat'. On his campaign website, he notes that he will have a '100% TRUMP AMERICA AGENDA' and includes priorities like mass deportation, sealing the border, 'large tax cuts' and preventing world war three. Lang is from New York and previously told a local publication in his home town that he was considering a run for the US House in a district there. He also told the River Reporter that he hadn't voted for Trump until 2024, from inside the DC jail. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion He told the Miami New Times he chose to run in Florida instead because, in his time there since being released from jail, he has found more acceptance. 'They love the Jan Sixers,' he said. 'As I've been going around these last 50 days here in Florida, making campaign videos and seeing business owners and friends of mine here and talking to strangers in the public, I've had dozens of people cry on my shoulder, come out and congratulate and hug and consider us to be patriot heroes and founding father-style leaders.' Some Florida Republicans have said they don't see Lang as a serious contender. Jake Hoffman, executive director of the Tampa Bay Young Republicans, told the Florida Phoenix: 'Every cycle, both parties have insane candidates with a less than 0% chance of winning enter a race, but they do it anyway. This is one of those cases.' Other J6ers have run for political office, but none successfully. Jacob Chansley, the rioter known as the 'QAnon shaman' who dressed in horns and shirtless as he entered the Capitol, filed paperwork in 2023 for a congressional run as a libertarian. Ryan Zink talked about his January 6 charges during his unsuccessful run for Congress in Texas and called himself a 'political prisoner'. Enrique Tarrio, the Proud Boys leader who was convicted of seditious conspiracy related to the Capitol attack, also is reportedly considering a run for office in Florida. He told the Miami New Times in February that it was a 'maybe thing' and that he's considering vying for the US House seat vacated by Matt Gaetz. 'If I do run, I want to be in that building that they accused me of trying to storm,' he told the publication.
