Tag Archives: insurrection

crime news

What would happen if …

I have been rolling around a notion that came to my attention the other day and which I shared on this blog.

It came from former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade, who said the 1/6 House select committee has enough evidence to refer to Justice Department officials an allegation that Donald J. Trump committed involuntary manslaughter by refusing to call off the 1/6 insurrection.

Thus, I cannot get rid of the thought that if DOJ actually indicts Trump on such a criminal act, the MAGA crowd would launch into orbit. It would explode. It would go utterly, completely and irrationally ballistic.

I don’t think it will happen, but a part of me wonders if DOJ has the stones to do, well … the seemingly impossible.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot, Donald Trump

Manslaughter charge for Trump? What the … ?

1 Comment

Five people died in the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, an event that Donald J. Trump could have stopped with a single verbal order to his maniacal followers that day.

He didn’t say a word. He let the attack on our government continue. The event turned bloody. Now comes this tidbit from a former U.S. attorney, Barbara McQuade, who says Trump could face manslaughter charges for his role in provoking the assault and for his abject failure to stop it.

Wow, man!

Is that for real? McQuade believes the 1/6 House select committee has compiled enough evidence to refer to Justice Department legal eagles a criminal referral seeking a manslaughter indictment.

McQuade wrote this in making the case: Under federal law, involuntary manslaughter occurs when a person commits an act on federal property without due care that it might produce death. To establish a criminal case of manslaughter against Trump, prosecutors would need to prove each of the elements of that offense beyond a reasonable doubt: an act, committed without due care, that caused death.

First, did Trump commit an act that could constitute the actus reus for manslaughter? His statements at the Ellipse in which he urged the crowd to march to the Capitol could be an act that constitutes this element. Recent evidence that this was not a “metaphorical” statement, but rather a coordinated plan, would make the statement even more egregious because it would mean that Trump had time to reflect on the potential deadly consequences of his actions.

Oh, boy. I don’t know that the committee needs to go that far. It seems to me it has enough evidence to seek plenty of criminal indictments that stop short of accusing Trump of manslaughter.

Still, the idea does make one ponder what might be coming down the road.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news, national news

Here comes the report!

I already have marked down — in a manner of speaking — the date in which the House 1/6 select committee is set to reveal its findings into the insurrection, the attack on our government and whether the Donald J. Trump did what many millions of us know he did.

Which is that he incited the assault intending to stop the transition of power to the Joe Biden presidential administration.

Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., has spilled a few of the beans, meaning he has told us the committee plans to issue “criminal referrals” to the Department of Justice. In other words, the panel is going to recommend that someone gets indicted for the hideous events of 1/6.

The big date is Dec. 21. Think of the irony for just a moment. That is the date of the winter solstice, meaning it’s the day with the shortest span of daylight during the calendar year. The day of prolonged darkness, therefore, could be the darkest day in Donald J. Trump’s life. Why? Because the panel well might recommend indictments for the 45th POTUS for his role in inciting the attack and for purposely doing nothing to stop it as the mob stormed Capitol Hill.

There had been reports of disagreements among committee about the focus of the report. Rep. Liz Cheney reportedly argued for the committee to focus intensely on Trump’s role; others said the focus should turn elsewhere, such as recommending steps to prevent future such assaults.

There can be both.

I also want to caution us all about what the referrals might involve. They could recommend indictments related to the assault. There could be referrals to cases involving witness tampering. The field happens to be wide open.

My own belief is that Trump committed at least one demonstrable offense in calling for the insurrection and for refusing to stop it.

I am going to await the date of the panel’s report with keen interest.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news, national news

Now comes the 1/6 panel

Donald J. Trump’s business organization is guilty of tax fraud. That appears to be the prelim to the main event, which is ready for the bell-ringing any day now.

The House select 1/6 committee examining the insurrection and Trump’s role in inciting it is set to make its findings known to the public. Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson has spilled the beans, telling us that there will be “criminal referrals” contained in the report.

Hmm. Let’s see. Who might the committee “refer” for indictment? My hunch is that it will include Trump his own self.

Let us be clear. The committee cannot indict anyone. It must hand that duty over to the Justice Department, or the agent DOJ has chosen to represent it. That means the special counsel Jack Smith is likely to get the referral, given that Attorney General Merrick Garland has recused himself from any direct investigation into the insurrection or the document theft from the White House.

The only curiosity left to satisfy is learning whether fire-breathing Republican committee member Liz Cheney got her way in singling out Trump’s role. There reportedly has been something of a rift between Cheney and other panel members over how to focus its final report; others reportedly wanted to shy away from Trump’s role in the insurrection and focus instead on the systemic failures that led to it.

Whatever …

If the committee is going to make a criminal referral, it ought to go all the way to the top of the food chain. That would mean Donald John Trump.

I believe it has collected more than enough evidence to take this remarkable step toward seeking full accountability for that terrible day in our nation’s history.

Let ‘er rip, committee members.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Those books … they’re all true!

I have been able to purchase and read several volumes Donald J. Trump’s political career and the term he served as president.

“Rage,” “Betrayal,” “Peril,” “Confidence Man,” “One Damn Thing After Another” all seem to harp on a single theme. They speak to Trump’s narcissism, his arrogance, his ignorance of the law and of government, his lies, his lack of compassion or empathy, his phony faith.

They all come from differing perspectives. Even the book by William Barr, the former attorney general in the Trump administration, touches on all of those “qualities” exhibited by Trump.

Here’s the amazing thing about it all. They’re all true! They speak accurately, as we all have watched this individual’s behavior before, during and after his single term as president.

Yes, that first draft of history is being written. It looks to me as though the final form is taking shape.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Trump gets pounded … again!

OK, this time the body blow comes from a three-judge panel comprising all Republican-appointed federal judges who have ruled against Donald J. Trump’s effort to fight the U.S. government’s prosecution of crimes that the ex-POTUS allegedly committed.

The judges — two of whom were appointed by Trump himself — have tossed out the special master appointed to oversee the investigation into the theft of classified documents from the White House the end of Trump’s term as president.

Their ruling was as clear as it can possibly get. The special master has no authority to oversee such a probe, which belongs exclusively to the Department of Justice.

Is this strike three for The Donald?

It would seem so. The ex-president has run out of options on every level of these legal investigations into his conduct.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has named a special counsel to examine the 1/6 insurrection and the White House document-pilfering scandal. The special counsel, career prosecutor Jack Smith, is proceeding full bore. The House select committee examining the insurrection and Trump’s incitement of it is wrapping up its work.

If I were a betting man, I would wager that indictments are on the way.

Let there be justice!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Slammer awaits Oath Keepers’ boss

Well, what are we to make of the verdict that figures to send a disbarred Yale-educated lawyer to prison for a long time after being convicted of conspiring to commit sedition against the United States of America?

Stewart Rhodes has been convicted in federal court of seditious conspiracy for his role in organizing and launching the attack on the U.S. government on Jan. 6, 2021.

This is — to borrow a phrase — a big fu**ing deal!

Rhodes happens to lead the Oath Keepers, a vicious right-wing “militia” group that conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. They were among the traitors who beat Capitol Police officers nearly to death as they stormed into the Capitol Building. They were chanting “Hang Mike Pence!,” they sought House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, some of them defecated on the floor of the nation’s government.

They call themselves “patriots.” They are traitors!

This is the group that led the frontal assault on our government, the traitors that Donald J. Trump termed “very special people” who he said he “loves.”

The verdict today now takes the chief Oath Keeper out of the game. It effectively decapitates this dangerous organization. Will there be someone to step forward? Oh … maybe, but the Oath Keepers now ought to be on notice that they face future prosecution if they take part in the kind of hideous treachery that occurred on 1/6.

My hope now is that Stewart Rhodes gets the lengthiest prison sentence available under the law.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news, national news

Not all Rs are evil … honest!

Contrary to what some readers of this blog might presume, your blogger doesn’t hate all Republican politicians. Far from it.

The detestable Republicans out there are the subscribers to the MAGA cult doctrine espoused by believers in The Big Lie.

These are the pols among the cabal of cultists who refused to impeach or convict a president who incited the assault on our government, who sought to overturn the results of a free, fair and legal presidential election. Beyond that, there exists to this very minute Republicans who are willing to put country ahead of party.

These also are Republicans whose future concerns me as we move past the midterm election and look ahead to the 2024 election. About one-third of the Senate will be on the ballot and among those up for re-election are the likes of Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, the lone Republican who voted to convict Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial.

We witnessed already the damage that election deniers and MAGA worshipers can do to Republican officeholders. I am concerned, thus, for the future of the likes of Sen. Romney, who values his oath to the nation more than loyalty to an individual.

My congressional district in North Texas is going to be represented by a MAGA follower. I look for Republican Rep.-elect Keith Self to be front and center on the calls to look high and low for dirt on Hunter Biden, Anthony Fauci and would vote to impeach President Biden for make-believe transgressions.

We need more thoughtful pols — Democrats and Republicans — who understand that compromise is the most critical ingredient in creating good government.

I know they’re out there.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news, national news

Kinzinger stands tall

I wrote earlier today about the heroism U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney has exhibited in her defense of the oath she took to protect the Constitution against the assault on it led by Donald J. Trump.

Another Republican House member deserves high praise. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois has stood tall alongside Cheney in his criticism of Trump’s conduct post-2020 presidential election.

The major difference between Kinzinger and Cheney rests in the way their political careers are concluding. Whereas Cheney suffered a GOP primary defeat at the hands of a Trump/MAGA supporter, Kinzinger is leaving office on his own terms. He chose not to seek re-election this year and, thus, he declared himself to be a lame duck.

His lame-duck status has elevated him to a spot on the 1/6 House select committee examining the event — the attack on the Capitol by the mob of traitors that led to Donald Trump’s second impeachment.

Kinzinger has stood strong and firm against attacks leveled at him by the MAGA cultists who insist The Big Lie is true, that the 2020 election was “stolen” from Trump.

There surely will be a day when the Republican Party will shed its Donald Trump-crafted identity. That it will return to a party of principle and policy. I hope when that day arrives that Adam Kinzinger will be a part of that revival.

This earnest young man who served his country in uniform has earned the nation’s gratitude for standing firmly in support of the Constitution he pledged to protect.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Liz Cheney: GOP hero

1 Comment

Now that I am in the mood to hand out kudos to public officials who are leaving the stage, I want to say a word or two in praise of a congresswoman I never imagined praising for her work on my behalf.

Stand tall, Liz Cheney.

Cheney is a Republican from Wyoming who this summer got drummed out of office in the GOP primary by a candidate who was promoted by the former POTUS. Why? Because Cheney chose to stand for the Constitution, chose to honor her oath to protect and defend the Constitution and because both of those matters went counter to the wishes of the POTUS who refused to do either.

She became a target of the MAGA cultists who profess fealty to Donald Trump.

Cheney hasn’t wavered in her commitment to the Constitution. She continues to serve on the House select committee formed to examine the 1/6 insurrection/attack on the Capitol. She blames Trump for inciting the attack. She has vowed to do all she can to prevent Trump from ever entering the Oval Office again. She is one of two Republicans — the other being Adam Kinzinger of Illinois — to serve on this committee; I will have more to say about Kinzinger later.

Liz Cheney makes no apologies for her staunch conservative views. She voted with Trump more than 90% of the time during Trump’s term in office. I truly understand her philosophy. She remains adamantly pro-gun, pro-life, anti-tax, and pro-small government. She is a conservative’s conservative.

Cheney also is equally adamant that she must follow her oath. She has done so gloriously in rising up against the ex-president who incited the assault on our government in an effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

I salute this public official. I wish her all the very best.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com