Daily Archives: January 3, 2022

Donald Trump was met with cheers are chants at the "Save America" rally on Jan. 6. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images hide caption

Donald Trump was met with cheers are chants at the "Save America" rally on Jan. 6.

Editor's note: This story contains language that may be offensive.

"I was standing amid thousands of Trump supporters on the lawn rising up to the Washington Monument," says NPR's Tom Bowman. "Then Trump came on stage to raucous applause."

Bowman was reporting from the "Save America" rally in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6. Up until the point when former President Trump began speaking, the rally held a festive air, almost like a football game, he said. "Some Trump supporters were singing YMCA but using the letters M-A-G-A."

But things were different at the Capitol building, where I was standing with Hannah Allam, NPR's extremism reporter. The far-right group the Proud Boys had just shown up and were organizing a crowd to head for the rally. We had quietly embedded ourselves with them as they began to walk west on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Then suddenly, they stopped. And turned around. The rally was on its way to us.

Moments earlier, Trump had claimed election fraud, called the results "bull****" and told the crowd to meet him at the Capitol. Thousands complied, many not even waiting for Trump to finish his speech.

What happened next is still a bit of a blur. Hannah and I saw a roaring sea of people and flags moving toward us. I barely had time to change the batteries in my recording equipment before we were surrounded.

And everyone knows what happened next.

Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following the rally. Samuel Corum/Getty Images hide caption

Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following the rally.

It's been a year since that pro-Trump mob broke through the Capitol doors and windows, attacked law enforcement and media and vandalized the building as lawmakers were rushed to secure locations. Five people died in or as a result of the attack and 140 police officers were assaulted, along with members of the media.

As it was unfolding, we asked one of the rioters, who called himself "Joe from Ohio," what the goal was.

"The people in this house, who stole this election from us, hanging from a gallows out here in this lawn for the whole world to see, so it never happens again," he said. "That's what needs to happen. Four by four by four, hanging from a rope out here for treason."

A makeshift gallows with a noose was actually built on the Capitol grounds that day but was never used.

A noose was seen on makeshift gallows as Trump supporters gathered on the west side of the U.S. Capitol. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

A noose was seen on makeshift gallows as Trump supporters gathered on the west side of the U.S. Capitol.

On another side of the Capitol, Tom Bowman was talking to Natalie O'Brien and Chris Scalcucci, a couple from Detroit. He asked them why they were doing this.

"The Republic falling," O'Brien said. "And becoming corrupt and unmanageable. And our vote not mattering at all whatsoever."

This was my view as the crowd surged to the Capitol. Lauren Hodges hide caption

This was my view as the crowd surged to the Capitol.

"Because we love our country," Scalcucci added. "And we don't want it to fall in the hands of these evil people. The stuff that they do, it's unforgivable."

"Our tax dollars pay for this monument. This is kind of our property," O'Brien said.

For many who participated in the siege, it felt like a patriotic act. They were loyal Americans protesting what they had been told was a stolen election.

But as arrests continue and jail sentences begin, how have the consequences reshaped the narrative?

Last month, news broke that Mark Meadows, Trump's then-chief of staff, texted with Fox News hosts on Jan. 6. They were asking Trump to make a public statement to his supporters and call off the riot. But by that evening, the same hosts had a different story.

"There are some reports that Antifa sympathizers may have been sprinkled throughout the crowd," Laura Ingraham said on her show that night.

And that narrative spread.

A protester holds a Trump flag inside the U.S. Capitol near the Senate Chamber. Win McNamee/Getty Images hide caption

A protester holds a Trump flag inside the U.S. Capitol near the Senate Chamber.

Months later, Tom Bowman and I went back to the Capitol grounds in Sept. for the "Justice for J6" rally. A lot of the people we spoke to had also been there on Jan. 6. And yet, they were echoing the story they had heard on Fox News.

"Those weren't Trump supporters," said a man named Phil from Kentucky, claiming the only people breaking in were dressed all in black.

"So they were black helmets, black clothes, black backpacks who started busting the windows first," said Janie, a nurse from South Carolina, who said she saw members of Antifa and Black Lives Matter committing the violence. She also claimed the Trump supporters were actually trying to fight them off. But when we mentioned we were on site that day, she admitted that she never actually came close enough to the Capitol to see any violence.

We let her know that the Proud Boys were dressed in all black that day, having planned to forego their usual colors of black and yellow in order to be "incognito."

"I didn't know that," she said.

Protesters who claim to be members of the Proud Boys gather outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Protesters who claim to be members of the Proud Boys gather outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

But the thread attempting to blame Antifa and Black Lives Matter was repeated by former President Trump himself as recently as two weeks ago. In an interview with Candace Owens on Dec. 21, he also said it was FBI informants instigating the crowd.

But we know who was there.

So far, more than 700 people have been charged. The defendants are largely white, and 13% of them have ties to the military or law enforcement. More than 100 of them have alleged ties to known extremist or fringe organizations, like the pro-Trump conspiracy theory QAnon, the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, and the Three Percenters, a part of the anti-government militia movement. But the bulk had no ties to extremist groups.

Supporters of those charged in the Jan. 6 attack attend the 'Justice for J6' rally near the U.S. Capitol on September 18. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images hide caption

Supporters of those charged in the Jan. 6 attack attend the 'Justice for J6' rally near the U.S. Capitol on September 18.

Tampa Bay attorney Bjorn Brunvand represents several people who were at the Capitol that day, including Robert Scott Palmer, who was recently sentenced to five years in prison for assaulting law enforcement officers with a fire extinguisher, a wood plank and a flagpole. His is the longest such term yet.

"He believed in the lies that were being professed by former President Trump and his accomplices," Brunvand said.

But he said his client has had a major change of heart since his arrest.

"It went from 100% support for President Trump and the idea that the election was fraudulent at the beginning ... to the recognition that he was misled. He's sitting in a detention facility here in Washington, D.C. and this big powerful former president who said 'meet me at the Capitol', he's too busy playing golf and has no interest in any of the guys that have been arrested," Brunvand said.

Donald Trump at the "Save America" rally on Jan. 6. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images hide caption

Donald Trump at the "Save America" rally on Jan. 6.

He said Palmer took President Trump's words that day as a directive. That he did it for him. And now he feels abandoned.

"Not only did he not show up, he's not there for anyone who were there and supposedly were there to save democracy and save the country. When in fact, they were doing quite the opposite," Brunvand said.

But the idea of Jan. 6 did not die with the day. The University of Chicago Project on Security and Threats has been tracking insurrectionist sentiment in the U.S. for a year now. It found that 21 million share the same beliefs that motivated rioters that day.

In other words, millions of Americans support the idea of political violence. Researchers call it "an American insurrectionist movement" that, a year after the attack on the Capitol, is still alive and well.

See the article here:

Trump still says his supporters weren't behind the Jan. 6 attack but I was there - NPR

Its become almost a religion in the Republican Party, said Jason Shepherd, the former Cobb County, Ga., GOP chair, who resigned from his local party after it voted to censure Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, one of Trumps political enemies. You have your believers, and you have your heretics, and anyone who isnt willing to follow Trump 100 percent, or wants to question Trump, thats now the new definition of a RINO (Republican in Name Only).

One year after the riot at the Capitol, nearly three-quarters of Republicans still believe Trumps baseless claim that Joe Biden won the presidency due to voter fraud, according to a Monmouth University poll. Rank-and-file Republicans interest in litigating the events of Jan. 6 has faded. And according to a Quinnipiac University survey, nearly 8 in 10 Republicans want Trump to run for president again in 2024.

Its extraordinary, said Ralph Reed, the Republican strategist and founder of the Faith & Freedom Coalition. You could make the argument that hes in a stronger position within the Republican Party today than he perhaps ever has been.

In many ways, Reed continued, with Republican candidates across the country all clamoring for Trumps endorsement, the party may be moving in a more conservative, more populist and more Trumpian direction with him out of office than if he had been reelected.

For a split-second last year, it seemed that Trumps grip on the GOP had broken. Following the riot at the Capitol, Karl Rove, the Republican strategist, said Trump was effectively tarnished for all time and incapable of running in 2024. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who worked on Trumps 2016 campaign, said Trumps legacy had been wiped out. Republicans who had previously supported Trump were urging him not to run again.

He is not the leader of any Republican Party I recognize, Scott Jennings, who worked for President George W. Bush, said at the time.

Yet a year later, Trumps leadership of the party is indisputable. His political committees have amassed more than $100 million. His allies have expanded their reach throughout the partys infrastructure in the states. And together with Trump, they are methodically running Trump-critical Republicans from the fold.

Reps. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, two of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump following the riot at the Capitol, have already announced they will not seek reelection this year. In Wyoming, state Republican Party leaders voted in November not even to recognize Rep. Liz Cheney, another impeachment backer and a fierce Trump critic, as a member of their party. Trump is intervening in Senate and gubernatorial primaries across the midterm map.

Look, if youre a Senate candidate or a House candidate, what you dont want is Trump endorsing against you, said Bob Heckman, a Republican consultant who has worked on nine presidential campaigns, including Sen. Lindsey Grahams in 2016.

One longtime Republican strategist said, He will torture everyone, and campaigns will have to have a segment of their strategy based on Trump, and how hes going to react.

In part, Trump is capitalizing on the same midterm election dynamic that is lifting all Republicans this year, as the out-party historically performs well in a presidents first midterm. But Trump is also benefiting from a unique, one-to-one comparison with his Democratic successor. Bidens public standing took a hit following the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan last summer, including the deaths of 13 U.S. service members in a terrorist attack, and his public approval ratings have also suffered amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and legislative impasses in Washington.

Shelley Kais, chair of the Republican Party in Pima County, Ariz., described Trump, with his frequent broadsides against Biden that set the tone in conservative media, as leading the way doing the compare and contrast. And in public opinion, there is little daylight between them. Trumps favorability rating, at about 43 percent, is not strong in normal political terms but its nearly identical to Bidens job approval rating, according to the FiveThirtyEight polling average.

What has helped President Trump more than anything is President Biden, said Randy Evans, a Georgia lawyer who served as Trumps ambassador to Luxembourg. He continued: Its Bidens bad year that has literally re-energized the Trump base.

Early last year, Republicans enthusiasm for Trump appeared at least tempered by the events of Jan. 6. But evidence is everywhere that no longer is the case. In March, 79 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said it was important to prosecute people who rioted at the Capitol, according to a Pew Research Center poll. But by September, that percentage had fallen more than 20 percentage points, to 57 percent, and a majority of Republicans say too much attention is paid to the riot.

And among Republicans, the rear view of the riot has only gotten better for Trump. In a Quinnipiac University poll last fall, two-thirds of Republicans said they dont view the riot at the Capitol as an attack on government, and 77 percent of Republicans say Trump bears no responsibility or not much responsibility for the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6. (Indeed, in a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll, more Republicans said congressional Democrats were responsible for the events of Jan. 6 than said Trump was responsible for it.)

Nor is Trump shying away from that day. In announcing his news conference last month, he wrote, remember, the insurrection took place on November 3rd, it was the completely unarmed protest of the rigged election that took place on January 6th.

Trumps brand is fighting back on political correctness, and when youre fighting like that, everything you do is on brand, said a Jeff Roe, a Republican strategist who managed Texas Sen. Ted Cruzs presidential campaign in 2016. So its kind of hard to screw it up, because hes always fighting.

Of Trumps ability to maintain support and generate crowds while out of office, Roe said, Its insane what he can do. Crazy. Its almost like weve gotten used to it, but you stand back from it, its insane.

Donald Trump speaks during a rally protesting the electoral college certification of Joe Biden as president in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo

Trump may still fade or decide not to seek the White House again in 2024. He will be 78 by the time of the general election, and though he is now widely expected to run again, a weak performance in the midterms could damage him. His preferred Senate candidates in a handful of states have already stumbled.

On top of that, the Jan. 6 select committee investigating Trumps effort to overturn the result of the 2020 election is still working, with the potential that its findings will spark criminal prosecutions. In mid-December, the committee released a series of text messages from lawmakers and Fox News hosts urging Trumps chief of staff, Mark Meadows, to press Trump to do more to end the violence.

This Jan. 6 committee is going to have an impact on how everybody sees what happened that day, and how everybody sees Trump, said Heckman, the Republican consultant. Some of the stuff weve seen the emails and texts that were going to Trump have rattled a lot of people on the Republican side.

But Trump has rattled Republicans so often before and with no significant long-term effect that few are confident anything could displace him in the party.

After Jan. 6, there was a two- to three-day window where his most hardcore supporters where even they were a little blown away, surprised by what happened, said former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh, who unsuccessfully challenged Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2020. But by the end of that first week, theyd regrouped.

A year later, Walsh said, Trump is by far more influential in the GOP than he was in the final month of his presidency.

He survived that, Walsh said. Hes stronger than ever."

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At time of Capitol prayer service Jan. 6, Trump will deliver remarks doubling down on the Big Lie - POLITICO

The Republican National Committee is paying for former President Donald Trumps personal legal bills, which is legal, politically savvy and deeply informative about the future of the Republican Party. The RNC is not spending this up to $1.6 million on competitive federal or state races. It is not spending this money to push policy proposals. It is spending this money to pay for lawyers that Trump had to hire to defend himself in criminal and civil fraud investigations that do not relate to his time as president.

Members of the RNC executive committee overwhelmingly voted to foot the legal bills of a self-proclaimed billionaire whose company is being investigated for possible fraud.

Why would the RNC do this? Because the former president who lost the last presidential election, was impeached twice and appears to have incited an attempted "self-coup" is the favored cause of the RNC. Members of the RNC executive committee, who The Washington Post reported overwhelmingly voted to foot the legal bills of a self-proclaimed billionaire whose company is being investigated for possible fraud, believe this is where their money is best spent. (Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing.)

In the movie All the Presidents Men, the man known as Deep Throat whispers to reporter Bob Woodward, Follow the money. Woodward and his fellow Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein then investigate the Watergate scandal and in so doing bring down the presidency of Richard Nixon. Over more than four decades, this phrase has become a useful shorthand to explain that if people really want to know what is going on in politics, and even uncover political corruption, they should look at money flowing to, and around, politicians.

But sometimes that money flows out in the open, right before our eyes, and it is easy to track and draw lines between politicians, those they owe and those who owe them. The RNC paying Trumps bill is an example.

The promised payments represent the continuation of the RNCs strategy to be the party of Trump, nothing more and nothing less. In 2020, the GOP opted not to introduce a new party platform. Instead, its focus was to re-elect Trump. That desire to put Trump back in the Oval Office explains this decision, as well. Trump, of course, is not a candidate, yet. But that does not matter for this unconventional relationship.

The RNCs decision to help Trumps bottom line didnt begin with payments to Trumps lawyers. Thanks, in part, to RNC patronage, Trump-owned properties raked in millions. Do you have a meeting, retreat or fundraising event? Are you a member of the RNC? You may, as a matter of pure coincidence, choose to hold that event at a Trump property.

The RNCs decision to spend its money for Trumps benefit is, naturally, driven by money. Trump is a fundraising boon for the RNC. He brings with him money the party will need not just in 2024, when it may attempt to put Trump back in the White House, but money it will need ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.

The current Supreme Court is plenty hostile to campaign finance restrictions.

So what is the solution to all this? One option is to add restrictions to the federal election laws. Federal law prohibits candidates from spending campaign money on personal expenses, including legal expenses such as these. Should the law also prohibit political parties from paying for the personal expenses of candidates, or even noncandidates, as Trump is now? This brings up plenty of legal and administrative hurdles. Lets remember that the current Supreme Court is plenty hostile to campaign finance restrictions. Even if Congress could craft and pass the proper law, it is unlikely that the Supreme Court would let it stand.

Perhaps the better solution is to do nothing. Maybe it is better to see, out in the open, who is paying for what. With the current arrangement, investigative reporters dont need to find a confidential source to whisper information and implore them to follow the money. We dont even need investigative reporters. As long as these funds are disclosed, the public can draw its own conclusions.

JessicaLevinson, a professor at Loyola Law School, is the host of the "Passing Judgment" podcast. She is also the director of the Public Service Institute at Loyola Law School, co-director of Loyola's Journalist Law School and former president of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission.

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Republican Party paying Donald Trump's legal bills is more proof he owns the GOP - MSNBC

Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article incorrectly listed the date for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which will be celebrated on Jan. 17, 2022.

Former President Donald J. Trump will hold a rally in Arizona inJanuary, a political action committee called Save America that is affiliated with the 45th president announced Thursday.

Trump will speak at 7 p.m. on Jan. 15 in Florence at the same location where theCountry Thunder music festival is held. It will be his firstrally appearance of 2022.

Trump's last visit to Arizona was July 24ata two-hour rally where he repeated his false claimthat he lost the Grand Canyon State to Joe Biden due to massive voter fraud. He came to the state seven times in 2020 prior to the election.

Kari Lake, one of several Republican candidates for governor in Arizona, announced her attendance for the upcoming rally on Twitter. She was endorsed by the former president in late September.

Trump's rally is not the only political action Arizona will see that Saturday.

Arizona also is scheduled to host another rally Jan. 15:one to ensure that the vote is accessible to all eligible participants.

The date marks what would have beenMartin Luther King Jr.'s 93rdbirthday, and Martin Luther King III, the son of the slaincivil rights leader,is coming to Phoenix with members of his immediate family to rally Congress to pass national voting standards.

Phoenix is the launching point for rallies across the country in the lead-up to the national holiday Jan.17, culminatingin Washington, D.C.

Tara Kavaler is a politics reporter at The Arizona Republic. She can be reached by email at tara.kavaler@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter @kavalertara.

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Trump headed back to Arizona: Former president to hold rally in Florence Jan. 15 - The Arizona Republic

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said former President Trump would likely have the Republican nomination for the 2024 elections if he wants to run.

"Unless there's something coming out of left field I don't see coming, it's his nomination if he wants it," Graham told guest host Pete Hegseth on "Hannity" Wednesday. "The Republican base appreciated him. We don't appreciate all the things he does sometimes. But from a policy point of view, he was the most successful president from a conservative's point of view since Ronald Reagan."

"[Trump] will be in the White House in 2024 if he runs a disciplined campaign," Graham said.

TRUMP CALLS MCCONNELL 'DISASTER,' SAYS GOP NEEDS NEW LEADERSHIP

Trump should remind Americans that he secured the southern border and destroyed the Islamic State caliphate, among other achievements, Graham said.

Republicans on Capitol Hill should talk about Trump's achievements during their elections, he added.

"Remember the Trump years on the border, ISIS, Afghanistan, [and] energy independence," Graham said. "We should talk [about this] every day."

If Republicans focus on getting through to the American people with an "America-first" message, Graham said, 2022 will be "a blowout year" for the party in the House and the Senate.

In addition to driving home the Democrats' failures, Graham continued, Republicans "need to be for things" such as securing the border, building the wall, and boosting America's energy independence.

"I'm looking for an America-first agenda led by Donald Trump that we can run on as a team and point out the flaws of the Biden agenda."

U.S. Capitol (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

"We will clean their clock. In 1994, we won 73 seats to take over the House for the first time in 40 years. If we play our cards right, we will exceed that."

Democrats are stuck between the radical left and the more moderate wing of their party, Graham said.

"The radical left has Biden in a box," Graham said.

In terms of national policies, Biden can't make a dent in cleaning up the border because the left won't allow him to, Graham said, adding that Biden has a conundrum with the left on expanding drilling for oil and natural gas for the same reason.

In terms of foreign policy, however, Graham said Biden is failing because he's Biden.

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"When it comes to foreign policy, is not a left problem. He's just incompetent. He's been wrong on about everything for 40 years."

"There's a one-two punch brewing here. Radical Islam is on the rise and raging in Afghanistan, and you have an open southern border. If something doesn't change, 2022 could be the most dangerous year for America since 1939 and the world at large."

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Donald Trump has the Republican nomination for president if he wants it: Lindsey Graham - Fox News

When the 2022 midterm elections are appraised less than a year from now, the Washington commentariat will in all likelihood render them to have been a devastating blow to Joe Bidens presidency.

Barring a historic anomaly, Democrats will have lost at least one chamber of Congress, Bidens remaining legislative goals will be placed on life support, and the growing anguish over the partys 2024 presidential nominee will transform into a panic. Yet even sooner than that, a slice of the most reliable voters will also deliver a tangible verdict on the staying power of another politician who hovers over the next pair of election cycles like no other: the former president, who hardly needs to be named.

Donald Trump will own the midterms just as much as Joe Biden will. Voters verdicts on Trump will come in Idaho, Alabama, and Georgia this spring. Then in Arizona, Alaska, and Wyoming in summer. Trump has already endorsed candidates in 2022 primary contests in all of those states. Hes made picks in nearly 40 congressional races to date, most recently training his ammunition on the House Republicans who voted for the bipartisan infrastructure package. Hes made another nine endorsements in gubernatorial primaries, including one against the GOP incumbent in Idaho.

The former presidents ultimate record in these races will serve as the first barometer of his continued strength as he eyes a comeback bid for the White House in 2024. So far, his picks have lifted challengers to GOP incumbents who have crossed him and a bevy of newcomers who are eager to align with his brand.

Make no mistake: Trump is making these picks himself. I havent seen a time where Trump is more in control than now, a Republican familiar with the ex-presidents staff told me on the condition of anonymity to protect private conversations within Trumps circle. Susie [Wiles] aint making endorsement decisions. [Bill] Stepien aint making endorsement decisions. Its a lot more him making these endorsement decisions than ever before.

Read: The complicated truth about Trump 2024

Sure, the 45th president will remain the overwhelming front-runner in hypothetical Republican presidential polling throughout the next year. But even his own allies acknowledge that his endorsement success will factor into his decision matrix. And perhaps more importantly, itll be closely gauged by the fleet of Republicans lying in wait, seeking any shred of Trumpian vulnerability to justify their own 2024 runs.

It is very important that the candidates that Donald Trump has endorsed prevail a significant majority of the time because that is a strong message to potential competing candidates of how strongly Republican primary voters like him, Representative Mo Brooks, a Trump-backed candidate for U.S. Senate in Alabama, told me, in an assessment that just happens to be self-serving.

Brooks, who appeared at the January 6 rally preceding the U.S. Capitol riot, nabbed Trumps blessing last spring, earning him a giant in-state MAGA rally this summer and a healthy double-digit polling lead even though one of his opponents, Katie Britt, is better funded. Brooks is now the undisputed favorite to be the next senator from Alabama. A Club for Growth survey showed that his support swells when people become aware that hes Trumps candidate.

But Brooks is only a baseline test for Trump. The full extent of the ex-presidents power will be measured by his ability to dislodge current officeholders, who already have their own bases of support. At this early moment, hes most obsessed with a trio of targets: Representative Liz Cheney, Senator Lisa Murkowski, and Governor Brian Kemp.

At the top of the listwith no immediate equalis Cheney, Trumps most vocal GOP critic and foe. Trump talks about Cheney so much that she regularly comes up in meetings with candidates nowhere close to Wyoming, an adviser familiar with the conversations told me.

Since endorsing Harriet Hageman, an attorney and former Trump critic, to take on Cheney, Trump has been engrossed with even minor developments in the campaign. On an almost weekly basis, he marks up printed-out copies of local-news coverage and op-eds with his signature Sharpie pen and mails Hageman notes of encouragement.

He really wanted to get this right, and I think he feels very confident he did, a former adviser to Trumps presidential campaign who is involved in the Wyoming race told me. I cannot fathom a possible scenario where Liz Cheney wins.

Trump is also 100 percent committed to defeating Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, according to Michael Wolffs book Landslide. I gave her the drilling, but shes always been nasty to me, Trump said of Murkowski, according to Wolff. The other is Kemp. Hes finished.

Trump endorsed Murkowskis opponent, Kelly Tshibaka, out of his sheer disdain for the Senate incumbent, who was one of seven Republicans who voted for conviction in his February impeachment trial. This coming February, Trump will host Tshibaka at Mar-a-Lago for a fundraiser, and he recently warned Alaskas incumbent GOP governor that his endorsement comes with one condition: The governor must not back Murkowski for a fourth term. Murkowskis favorability among Alaska Republicans has been measured at as low as 6 percent, meaning that her only path for reelection relies on Democratic votes.

Trumps contempt for Kemp still simmers from the governors certification of Georgias 2020 election results, a normally perfunctory ritual that became a scarlet letter of disloyalty in Trumpworld. Notably, Trump was patient in this instance, resisting a snap endorsement of the first Trump-loving candidate to announce a primary challenge to Kemp, and then gradually coaxing former Senator David Perdue into the race.

Trump is the only thing that could upend what should be a historic midterm for the Republican Party, Larry Hogan, the anti-Trump term-limited governor of Maryland who is mulling his own path to the White House, argues. Its the only way we can blow this thing, he told me. The people that may try to be more Trumpy to win a primary may be the least electable in the general. Thats the biggest worry I have for the Republicans.

Given what happened in Georgias runoff elections, its easy to envision a scenario in which Trump meddles so heavily and recklessly in a battleground state that the fallout from the divisiveness costs the party a governorship or a precious Senate seat. Hes already suggested that Stacey Abrams, who just launched her second shot at the governorship and harbors her own White House ambitions, might be a better governor than Kemp.

Conversely, if Trumps highest-profile picks run the table, hell look unstoppable and potentially head into 2024 as a stronger candidate than he was as an incumbent president in 2020.

Trump runs no formal endorsement process. Instead, he relies on spontaneous, freewheeling phone conversations. Hes certainly not seeking anyones approval to make a move, according to those at the other end of the line.

In early August, Trump phoned Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, and the conversation turned to Herschel Walker, the former NFL star who was on the cusp of announcing a Senate campaign in Georgia amid reports he threatened his ex-wifes life and that he exaggerated his finances. (Walker has denied making the threats.) People like a good redemption story, Cramer told Trump. And he certainly is a good redemption story. Trump liked that argument and agreed. He formally endorsed Walker just weeks later, and much of whats left of the GOP establishment soon followed suit.

Donald Trumps instincts on these things have been pretty darn good. And for a guy who had plenty of things that could derail a candidate, he demonstrated himself [that] people are looking forwards not backwards, Cramer told me. If he has a really successful track record, its going to enhance his potency. I think it will, as much as anything, help inform his decision about whether to run or not.

David Frum: Revenge of the Donald

Trump serving as the party uniter, rather than a divider? That wont be the case everywhere.

And though his primary-endorsement track record is sterling, it isnt perfect. Earlier this year, his preferred candidate, Susan Wright, lost the nomination for a special Texas House race. In 2020, a businessperson he backed in North Carolina fell to now-Representative Madison Cawthorn.

For Trump, the risk of piling up so many endorsementsespecially against incumbentsis that hell blemish a tally thats been nothing short of extraordinary to date. In places such as Ohio and Missouri, home to crowded and complex GOP Senate primaries, hes held back thus far. But the temptation to intervene will be whetted by a coterie of his former aides who are deeply involved in those races.

Trump could easily sit on the sidelines, observe the trajectory of the race and then intervene in the final weeks on behalf of the leading candidate.

Trump would never have gotten this far by playing it safe, so going all in only boosts his brand. Dethroning Cheney, Murkowski, Kemp, and a few others will also bend the makeup of the party in his favor if he ends up returning to the White House. Then again, if his big picks fall flat, Trump wont worry too much.

Hell simply deploy another time-tested Trumpian play: Hell blame them.

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Trump Will Own the 2022 Midterms as Much as Biden Will - The Atlantic

Donald Trump has hosted the New Year's Eve party at Mar-a-Lago for years. Like his Thanksgiving, Christmas, and various holiday events, the bash is open to ticket holders only. Prices vary according to buyer club members pay less than their guests but the cost still runs anywhere between $650 and $1,000 per ticket, per The Palm Beach Post.

Daily Mailobtained social media photos of the black-tie party, which show the former president smiling broadly as he accompanied wife Melania into the ballroom, and again seated at his candlelit table. Also in attendance were his sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, who posted photos of the evening to their Instagram accounts. Don Jr.posteda short video that showed his father embracing him briefly. Trump can also be seem exchanging cheek kisses with Don Jr.'s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle.

Two of the Trumps' guests were supporters who made headlines of their own in 2021. Former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is now Trump's personal attorney, came under investigation for his dealings with Ukraine, as well as for questionable conduct related to Trump's attempts to overturn the election (perABC News), while Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) is under federal scrutiny for alleged sex trafficking of a minor (perMSNBC), but he showed no sign of concern as he posed for photos with the former president.

It goes without saying that neither Trump nor his guests were wearing face masks, despite the national spike in the omicron variant of COVID-19 in recent weeks.

Excerpt from:

Who Attended Donald And Melania's New Year's Eve Party? - The List

Republican Rep. Peter MeijerPeter MeijerSunday shows preview: Omicron surge continues; anniversary of Jan. 6 attack approaches West Virginia lawmaker slams GOP colleague over support for infrastructure law Trump endorses primary challenger to Peter Meijer in Michigan MORE (Mich.) on Sunday said the GOP has no other option than to back former President TrumpDonald TrumpOne in three Americans say violence against government sometimes justified: poll Seven most vulnerable governors facing reelection in 2022 Sunday shows preview: Omicron surge continues; anniversary of Jan. 6 attack approaches MORE, pointing to the actions of the Biden administration in its first year.

During an interview on NBCs Meet the Press, host Chuck ToddCharles (Chuck) David ToddModerna says booster increases antibody levels significantly against omicron Democratic governor: Biden needs to stop calling third dose a 'booster' Sunday shows - Manchin says he cannot back Biden spending plan MORE cited Sen. Lindsey GrahamLindsey Olin GrahamMcConnell urges Thune to run for reelection amid retirement talk Democrats outraged after Manchin opposes Biden spending bill Manchin says he will not vote for Build Back Better: 'This is a no' MORE (R-S.C.), who following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol brieflybroke from Trump during a speech on the Senate floor, saying, Enough is enough.

In the words of Lindsey Graham, Enough is enough. I'm out of here, right? I'm done with this. The party is going to move on. Trump's gonna be left behind. Boy, did that not happen. Why do you think that didn't happen? Todd asked Meijer.

Meijer, who was one of 10 House Republicans who voted for Trumps second impeachment following the Capitol attack, said, There was no alternative. There was no other path.

He pointed to the partys pair of losses in the Georgia Senate runoff races and actions taken by President BidenJoe BidenKentucky governor declares state of emergency after powerful storm Seven most vulnerable governors facing reelection in 2022 At least 20 states to increase minimum wage starting Saturday MOREduring his first year in office.

"Given how President Biden, when he was elected into office, you know, said he would be moderate and look for bipartisan solutions. But then after, and, frankly, I blame the former president for this, after we lost the two Senate seats in Georgia and the Senate flipped, it became an exercise in trying to be an LBJ- or FDR-style presidency and enact transformational change in the absence of any compelling mandate from the American people to do so," Meijer said.

"So that gave the rallying signal. That created a very steep divide. And at the end of the day, theres no other option right now in the Republican Party," he added.

WATCH: After January 6th, Republicans like Lindsey Graham said enough is enough when it came to Trump. So why are Republicans still backing the former president?@RepMeijer: At the end of the day, there's no other option right now in the Republican Party. pic.twitter.com/OnUazUWu6d

Pressed by Todd on why Republicans cant seem to kick their Trump habit and why it is not the responsibility of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthyKevin McCarthy Rep. Mike Turner to replace Nunes in top House Intel spot Each state's population center, visualized Juan Williams: McCarthy's inaction is a disgrace MORE (R-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellEleven interesting races to watch in 2022 The 9 politicians who had the most impact in 2021 The top political books of 2021 MORE (R-Ky.), Meijer cited the stark polarization between the two parties.

We have a two-party system. And in the best-case scenario, each party challenges the other to do better, to be better, to have a scenario where iron sharpens iron, Meijer said.

Instead, if you have one party plumbing to the depths and the other just use that excuse to go further, to go more to an extreme, to go more away from any sort of governing consensus and towards trying to enact whatever the will of the most extreme constituency they have is, you know, that is a recipe for both parties to drive further away from anything that resembles serving the American people as a whole, he added.

Trump endorsed Meijers challenger, former Housing and Urban Development official John Gibbs, in the midterm House election. Gibbs is mounting a primary race against Meijer.

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GOP rep says Republicans have 'no other option' than to back Trump | TheHill - The Hill

To the editor: The Times reported that Park Geun-hye, the former South Korean president, is being pardoned after spending nearly five years in prison for corruption, abuse of power and taking bribes. In Israel, former President Moshe Katsav and former Prime Minster Ehud Olmert were each convicted and sent to prison.

In real democracies no one not even former presidents or prime ministers are above the law. What then-President Trump did after the 2020 election was much worse than the foreign cases cited above.

At the state, county and city levels in states with Republican governors, Trump and his enablers are systematically striking at the very roots of the countrys democratic system and institutions. Yet, Trump is allowed to roam the country peddling the Big Lie about stolen elections and contemplating a rerun for president in 2024.

Isnt there enough evidence already out there to bring about federal charges against Trump? What is the Department of Justice waiting for? County and local officials are convicted and thrown into prison for actions that are much less serious.

Charles Blankson, Fontana

Link:

So, is Donald Trump going to be punished or not? - Los Angeles Times

In this daily series, Newsweek explores the steps that led to the January 6 Capitol Riot.

On December 30, just a week before January 6, the FBI, along with the Department of Homeland Security and the National Counterterrorism Center, issued an intelligence report"Intelligence in Depth"titled "Diverse DVE Landscape Probably Will Persist." DVE refers to domestic violent extremists.

The report, shared exclusively with Newsweek, did not mention the election or Donald Trump. No mention was made of the impact of COVID. No mention was made of the two post-election protests that had already taken place in Washington DC, on November 24 and December 12, or any upcoming threats. In fact, there was no focus on the nation's capital at all.

The report covered all bases but focused on none. It's a mishmash of contorted acronyms, codes to neutrally describe what the intelligence agencies saw as the threats on the American battlefield, but careful not to explicitly label any one group. White supremacists were referred to as Racially Motivated Violent Extremists (RMVE). There were also Anti-Government or Anti-Authority Violent Extremists (AGAAVEs), Anarchist Violent Extremists (AVEs), Militia Violent Extremists (MVEs), and Sovereign Citizen Violent Extremists (SCVEs). There were others mentioned, some with and without acronyms: Abortion-Related Violent Extremists, Animal Rights/Environmental Violent Extremists and Puerto Rican National Violent Extremists.

The common linking characteristic in all of this was the term "extremist." Yet the December 30 report offered no explicit definition of what precisely was an extremist. Domestic Violent Extremists were described as "individual[s] based and operating primarily within the United States or its territories without direction or inspiration from a foreign terrorist group or other foreign power who seeks to further political or social goals wholly or in part through unlawful acts of force or violence."

A government definition of extremism is hard to come by. The definitive Department of Justice bible on the subject, "Investigating Terrorism and Criminal Extremism: Terms and Concepts," nevernot in 120 pagesdefines what extremism means. Nor does the new Department of Defense "Report on Countering Extremist Activity Within the Department of Defense," issued just this month. It merely says that members of the armed forces are restricted from participating in "extremist activities" that include "unlawful force, unlawful violence, or other illegal means to deprive individuals of their rights under the United States Constitution or the laws of the United States." The Pentagon says that this includes supporting "the overthrow of the government" and "goals that are political, religious, discriminatory, or ideological in nature." That's a fairly broad spectrum.

Few people would dispute that those who seek to further their political goals "through unlawful acts of force or violence" should be the subject of federal law enforcement attention, but without a definition of extremism, and with such a broad category of wildly different individuals and groups that fall under the domestic violent extremist umbrella, it is no wonder that the FBI had such a hard time paying attention to the many Americans who were openly threatening violence before January 6.

A senior retired FBI executive, who spoke to Newsweek on condition that his name not be used because he fears retaliation by the very extremists he is talking about, says that he sees two major constraints on the Bureau's domestic terrorism efforts. First, he says, there is too much emphasis on organized groups and searching for conspiraciesa legacy of the organized crime and then al Qaeda emphasis focusing on thwarting and dismantling groups.

Second, he says, the federal government has tied itself into a bind over the proper protocol of even following or monitoring free speech while looking for possible threats. The December 30 report, for example, was careful to note that not all extremists were prone to violence, stating that "First Amendment"-protected protest was not per se a predicate for either federal attention or further FBI investigation.

"I understand that people might be skeptical that the FBI actually safeguards civil liberties, but in today's Bureau, it's more true than false," the FBI executive says. "Yes, there have been many historical examples of overreach, [but] this level of care is equally applied to right and left."

The FBI stated in its 2021 domestic terrorism report to Congress: "Under FBI policy and federal law, no investigative activity may be based solely on First Amendment activity, or the apparent or actual race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity of the individual or group. The FBI does not investigate, collect, or maintain information on US persons solely for the purpose of monitoring activities protected by the First Amendment."

The executive says that post-January 6, with domestic terrorism a national issue and more emphasis on stopping attacks, previous constraints might loosen. But he still thinks that focusing on groupsProud Boys, Oath Keepers, etc.and imagining these groups are more powerful than they are, obscures the individuals and their actions that need to be detected and stopped.

Even after January 6, FBI Director Christopher Wray described the same vague threat picture as did the December 30 report in testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committees. Despite all that had happened, he still saw homegrown violent extremists (HMVEs)that is, "individuals radicalized here at home by jihadist ideologies espoused by foreign terrorist organizations like ISIS and al Qaeda"as the Bureau's number-one priority.

HMVEs are not to be confused with DVEs, yet they are mixed together in a way that suggests the two are equivalent. HMVEs (foreign influenced) and DVEs (non-foreign influenced), FBI Director Wray said, have a commonality in that the biggest actual threat is from so-called "lone" wolves.

According to Wray, the Bureau is "countering lone domestic violent extremists radicalized by personalized grievances ranging from racial and ethnic bias to anti-government, anti-authority sentiment to conspiracy theories."

Wray previously told the House Oversight and Reform Committee that, "over the last year, we observed activity that led us to assess there was potential for increased violent extremist activity at lawful protests taking place in communities across the United States."

The FBI says that in response to these threats, it authored 12 formal intelligence reports in 2020 relating to potential domestic terrorism. In 2019, the FBI produced 15 domestic terrorism related reports. (Each year, the FBI produces about 1,000 domestic terrorism related intelligence products.) In late August 2020, Wray says, the FBI published an analytical report "informing our partners that DVEs with partisan political grievances likely posed an increased threat related to the 2020 election.

"In that product, we noted that DVE responses to the election outcome might not occur until after the election and could be based on potential or anticipated policy changes," Wray said. In December 2020, he says, the FBI also contributed to a Department of Homeland Security Intelligence In-Depth product, which stated that the diverse DVE landscape "would probably persist due to enduring grievances."

That would be obvious to any observer. The FBI, in its formal intelligence reporting, seems to have missed the signs completely.

"The FBI and our federal, state, and local partners collected and shared intelligence and relevant public safety-related information in preparation for the various planned events" on January 6, Wray claims. But there is no evidence that any of that sharing had any impact, according to the testimony of numerous U.S. Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Department officials.

Just this past September, Wray told Congress how much "the threat" had changed 20 years after the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. "It was 9/11, after all," he said, "that turned the FBI into an agency focused on disrupting threats."

But when a national threat and a catastrophic event loomed in late 2020, FBI bureaucrats not only didn't disrupt it, they didn't even see it coming.

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Exclusive: Secret Threat Report Named Everyone Except Angry Donald Trump Voters - Newsweek