Latest news with #January6
The Hill
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Judge dismisses suit seeking to block ID of FBI agents who investigated Jan. 6 cases
A federal judge on Thursday agreed to a request by the Trump administration to dismiss a suit that sought to block the release of the names of thousands of FBI agents who worked on Jan. 6 cases. U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb, a Biden appointee, expressed sympathy for agents who went to court seeking limitations on the Trump administration after the Justice Department demanded a list of all who had done investigative work on the cases of rioters. 'Plaintiffs filed these cases in a whirlwind of chaos and fear,' Cobb wrote, adding that 'some former January 6 defendants, now pardoned and at large, called for FBI agents to be doxed (or worse).' 'Since then, the dust has settled some—and this case has evolved,' Cobb continued. FBI agents have been in court since February, filing the case shortly after eight top career FBI officials were fired, and principal Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, now nominated for a lifetime appointment to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, demanded the list. But Cobb determined that the Justice Department does not appear poised to act on agents' fears that a list would be used not only to fire agents but release their identities as an act of retribution. 'The Court ordered expedited jurisdictional discovery to cut through the chaos and allow Plaintiffs to shore up their standing allegations,' Cobb wrote. 'That discovery revealed no evidence that Defendants are on the verge of disclosing Plaintiffs' identities, nor have Plaintiffs plausibly alleged that such a disclosure is imminent. The Court must therefore dismiss Plaintiffs' disclosure-related claims.' Attorneys for the FBI Agents Association said they were prepared to return to court if the government did not fulfill its pledge. 'We are proud to defend the FBI employees who bravely investigated the January 6th attacks. The Court acknowledged that the disclosure of agents' names would endanger them and accepted the Government's claims that it would not do so. We stand ready to return to Court immediately if the Government does not live up to its obligations,' attorneys Margaret Donovan and Chris Mattei said in a statement. Bove has not denied the list will be used to review the work of the thousands of agents who played a role in the cases of Jan. 6, 2021, rioters and did not foreclose the possibility that some could be fired. Agents were also asked to fill out a questionnaire about their role in the sprawling investigation. 'No FBI employee who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner with respect to January 6 investigations is at risk of termination or other penalties,' Bove wrote shortly after requesting the list.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former January 6 defendant now advising justice department's ‘weaponization working group'
A former FBI agent who allegedly shouted 'kill 'em!' at law enforcement officers during the January 6 insurrection is now advising a 'weaponization working group' in the Trump justice department, a sign of the elevated role rioters are playing since they were granted clemency by the president. Jared L Wise has been named an adviser or counselor to Ed Martin, the advocate for January 6ers who was previously acting as US attorney for Washington DC and is now leading the weaponization working group, the New York Times and ABC News reported on Tuesday. The contours of Wise's role are not clear. The move is a further embrace by the Trump administration of those who stormed the US Capitol in 2021 seeking to overturn Trump's electoral loss and shows how fundamentally the justice department has shifted on January 6 since Trump won last November, tailoring itself to his retribution agenda. Related: US Capitol rioter ordered to pay damages for assaulting cop who later died by suicide The justice department's prosecution of Wise was under way when Trump took office in January, so it was one of many cases that were dismissed before a verdict. He had been charged with two felonies and four misdemeanors, and he had pleaded not guilty. On his first day in office, Trump granted clemency to all who were convicted or charged for their roles in the January 6 riot, including those charged with violent acts. The justice department, under the Biden administration, had identified Wise in footage inside the US Capitol and engaging with police among a group of protesters outside. Video footage from a Metropolitan police department body camera showed Wise saying to police officers: 'You guys are disgusting. I'm former – I'm former law enforcement. You're disgusting. You are the Nazi. You are the Gestapo. You can't see it … Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you!' The department's press release on Wise notes that once violence broke out against law enforcement officers in front of him, Wise said, 'Yeah, fuck them! Yeah, kill 'em!' and then, in the direction of people who were attacking the police line: 'Kill 'em! Kill 'em! Kill 'em!' Before attending the January 6 riot, he was an FBI special agent and supervisory special agent from 2004 to 2017, according to the justice department. He was also an operative for the rightwing media outlet Project Veritas, where he was 'assigned to infiltrate teacher unions in Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan and Kentucky', according to the New York Times. The justice department's weaponization working group was set up in February to analyze instances in the previous four years in which 'a department's or agency's conduct appears to have been designed to achieve political objectives or other improper aims rather than pursuing justice or legitimate governmental objectives', according to a memo announcing it. This includes the investigations into Trump, prosecutions of January 6 defendants, anti-abortion protests and supposed anti-Catholic bias. Martin, whose nomination to become the US attorney for DC was withdrawn after it became unclear how he could secure confirmation, is a vocal and frequent advocate for January 6 defendants. Stanley Woodward, who had defended people involved in the insurrection and many others in Trump's orbit over the years, is now in the No 3 position in the justice department, associate attorney general. Solve the daily Crossword
Washington Post
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
In London, theatergoers reenact storming of the U.S. Capitol
LONDON — In a city well-known for political theater, the show at Stone Nest, a performance venue in the heart of London's West End, took the concept to a new level. For the last month, audiences have been reenacting the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol in one of the most violent and divisive days of modern American democracy.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Don't forget': mural brings attention to the January 6 rioters pardoned by Trump
Audrey Southard-Rumsey pushed a flagpole into a police officer's chest. Ralph Celentano shoved an officer over a ledge. Pauline Bauer accused Democrats of stealing an election and trafficking children and demanded: 'Bring Nancy Pelosi out here now. We want to hang that fucking bitch.' These are just three of the stories told on the Wall of Shame, a public installation by artist Phil Buehler that launched on 4 July in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York. The giant red, white and blue mural aims to document and highlight the stories and alleged crimes of more than 1,575 people involved in the January 6 2021 attack on the US Capitol who were pardoned by Donald Trump. The project is the third in what might be called Buehler's art against autocracy trilogy, a series of collaborations with the non-profit Radio Free Brooklyn. It began in 2020 with the Wall of Lies, a 50ft mural displaying more than 20,000 lies told by Trump during his first term in office. The second installation, the Wall of Liars and Deniers, was a mural displaying the 381 Republican politicians running in the 2022 midterm elections who denied Democrat Joe Biden's legitimacy as president. Related: The ongoing fight to replace racist monuments in the US: 'requires a lot of perseverance' 'Artists can have more power than Fox News to turn this around,' Buehler says in a Zoom interview from his Brooklyn studio, reflecting on the struggle for truth in the Trump era. 'Boy, would Magaland hate it if culture, music and art [pushed back]. You've got to double down the other way and start flooding this zone with art as Trump tries to erase it.' The Wall of Shame is a 50ft-long, 10ft-tall outdoor mural featuring the pardoned Trump supporters, colour-coded to distinguish their actions: violent rioters appear in red, those who damaged property are shown in blue, and the remaining individuals are depicted in white. The combined effect resembles a Star and Stripes that has imploded. Buehler spent about 100 hours gathering the rioters' stories, charges and sentences from research by National Public Radio (NPR) and formatting them to be printed on waterproof vinyl and hung outdoors on a fence. NPR had about a thousand photos of the rioters, so Buehler enlisted a friend to track down a further 500 pictures; only about 10 are now missing. He adds: 'Artists can do it in a different way. I'm just presenting facts. It's almost seducing people with a visual that they then approach and go, that's pretty cool, what is that? Then you can read these things and we're benefiting from NPR's reputation having factchecked this.' The rioters are easy to dismiss as an amorphous mob; the mural is a reminder that each is a person with their own career, family and personal demons. Guy Reffitt, 48, from Wylie, Texas, allegedly told his family that he had taken his gun to the US Capitol on January 6 and said to his child: 'If you turn me in, you're a traitor. And you know what happens to traitors. Traitors get shot.' But Pamela Hemphill, 68, from Boise, Idaho, refused Trump's pardon and expressed remorse, describing the police as 'heroes' and the rioters as 'very dangerous people'. Buehler reflects: 'I could see patterns. It's very tribal. Trump was successful in almost stealing red, white and blue as their symbol. They all call themselves patriots on this wall. They all bought into the big lie that the election was stolen. 'Their social media posts and messages that were part of the record when they were indicted show that they believed a lot of the other lies like Pizzagate – we've got to stop the pedophiles taking over. They're in a media bubble. They believe it and they're in it together and they did see themselves as patriots.' The project aims to foster solidarity and courage among those who oppose authoritarianism. Buehler recounts how the defacement of the Wall of Lies by the far-right group Proud Boys galvanised the community, leading them to cut out the Proud Boys graffiti and spraypainted hearts all over it and raise money for a bigger mural. 'How are we going to survive the next four years? This runs through your head. Then what can I do? Community gives you courage. Marching in those parades gives you courage to fight against this. We're using this symbolic art piece to rally around a different flag.' The Wall of Shame – installed at the same location as the Wall of Lies – was provoked by Trump's decision on his first day back in office to grant clemency to about 1,500 individuals charged or convicted in connection with the January 6 insurrection, including people found guilty of assaulting police officers. Democrats called the move an affront to justice and democracy. Yet the controversy has been almost forgotten in the fast-paced news cycle, overwhelmed by a deluge of Trump drama from Elon Musk to Signalgate to tariffs to protests in Los Angeles to military strikes on Iran. But Buehler insists: 'We look at that as the first of his steps in his march toward authoritarianism. 'OK, let's pardon all the people that rioted.' 'It's interesting what we've seen since. He sent thousands of national guard and marines to LA for mostly peaceful protests. I don't know if it's ironic or telling that, during the January 6 riots, he watched them on television on the other side of DC and didn't do anything and then pardoned them. A hundred and forty cops got hurt and now this year [FBI director] Kash Patel is saying, 'Touch a cop, go to jail.' I guess the unsaid part is, 'Touch a cop, go to jail unless it's for Trump and what Trump wants.'' The artist adds: 'He's since followed it up with some illegal deportations. He disobeys the courts constantly. He's turned the White House into a car dealership showroom with Tesla. And now he's starting a war [against Iran] without the authorisation of Congress. I guess we're trying to highlight that was the first thing. Don't forget that one: the pardon of the rioters. That was his first act of trying to emulate Putin and become an authoritarian leader.' Trump has been waging war on reality for a decade, conjuring a mirror world in which up is down and black is white. He has described the January 6 rioters as patriots and martyrs while dismissing those who protested against immigration enforcement raids in LA as 'insurrectionists'. When he faced criminal investigations he blamed the 'weaponisation' of the justice department, while any negative media coverage is routinely branded 'fake news'. Rob Prichard of Radio Free Brooklyn, who initially suggested that Buehler tackle the January 6 pardons, finds something Orwellian in Trump's attempts to rewrite history and dominate the cultural space. The president has seized control of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and ordered the removal of so-called 'improper, divisive or anti-American ideology' from Smithsonian Institution museums, forcing the resignation of the director of its National Portrait Gallery. Speaking from Park Slope, Brooklyn, Prichard, 69, says via Zoom: 'As a nation we are as close to autocracy as we've ever been. It seems like fascism is basically a war on consensus reality and we need to put a pin in those points where it's so obvious that it's not true. 'Trump's entire political career is predicated on a demonstrable lie, saying Barack Obama was born in Kenya, and because we never called him out on it properly in the first place, it just continues. If you can get away with it you play the hand again. Steve Bannon [a rightwing podcast and former Trump adviser] is flooding the zone. We need to flood the zone too but with the truth.' The colour-coding of the mural is intentional, designed to reclaim a national symbol from what the creators perceive as its co-option by Trump supporters. Prichard adds: 'We're not ceding the red, white and blue. We claim it and we claim the true meaning of representative democracy. 'I have hope because for one thing, autocracy and fascism is predicated on violence and the threat of violence. Both violence and the threat of violence are untenable. They can't be. You just can't maintain them forever and it has to break. The fever has to break eventually and either there's complete submission or we liberate ourselves. I don't see complete submission. That's part of our DNA.' Prichard does not use words such as fascist lightly. His 91-year-old mother is German and was forced to join Hitler's youth movement when she was seven years old. 'She remembers it. She is deathly afraid of Trump. If she were 10 years younger, she would probably move to Germany permanently.'
France 24
07-07-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Trump, Brazil's Lula clash over politically charged coup trial
Trump accused Brazilian authorities of carrying out a "WITCH HUNT" against the 70-year-old firebrand, warning they should "LEAVE BOLSONARO ALONE." His comments drew a quick and sharp rebuke. Brazil's leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva set diplomatic niceties aside and hit back at Trump's "interference," adding that "no one is above the law." Bolsonaro is facing trial, accused of leading a "criminal organization" that plotted a coup to keep him in power after his 2022 election loss. He faces up to 40 years in prison if found guilty. According to prosecutors, the alleged coup plot failed due to a lack of support from the military high command. The case carries echoes of Trump's prosecution over the January 6, 2021, attacks, when his supporters overran the US Congress to try to reverse his election loss. Trump pleaded not guilty, and the case was abandoned when he was reelected president -- giving him immunity from prosecution. Bolsonaro has similarly protested his innocence, while trying to rally supporters with a series of protests that have further polarized Brazilian politics. Repercussions The cases have drawn the Trump and Bolsonaro families together, with the Brazilian ex-leader's sons lobbying hard to have a Supreme Court judge hit with US sanctions and for Trump to weigh in. That effort now appears to have succeeded, with unclear repercussions for relations between the largest economies in North and South America. Bolsonaro's son Eduardo praised Trump's post and said it "would not be the only news coming from the United States in the near future." Trump addressed the case at length in a social media post and suggested Bolsonaro was the favorite in next year's election -- despite being banned from running because he spread misinformation about the voting system. "I have watched, as has the World, as they have done nothing but come after him, day after day, night after night, month after month, year after year!" Trump said in the Truth Social post. "It happened to me, times 10," Trump said. "I have gotten to know Jair Bolsonaro, and he was a strong Leader, who truly loved his Country -- Also, a very tough negotiator on TRADE," Trump said. Like Trump, Bolsonaro claims to be the victim of political persecution. Bolsonaro senior thanked Trump for his support and his defense of "peace, justice and liberty" in a social media post. Trump's comments came as Lula hosted representatives from China, Russia, Iran, and other nations for a BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro. Leaders attending the summit criticized Trump's tariffs and his bombing of Iran, drawing the US president's ire and a threat of 10 percent additional tariffs on each BRICS-aligned country. In a sign of how fraught US-Brazil ties are, Lula insisted BRICS members were independent and did not want an "emperor." © 2025 AFP
