Table Of Content
- Bipartisan senators reach a general agreement on updating Electoral Count Act
- Ivanka Trump says she 'accepted' Barr's conclusion that election wasn't stolen
- Proud Boys leader and 2 associates plead not guilty to seditious conspiracy
- Cheney says Trump made no calls to National Guard or law enforcement. "Vice President Pence did each of those things."
The congressional hearing on Columbia University's response to antisemitism has now been adjourned. His lawyer has accused David Weiss, the special counsel overseeing the yearslong case, of “bowing to Republican pressure” by bringing the charges. “There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business because it did not happen,” the president’s son said in those remarks. Further angering Republicans, Hunter Biden did come to the Capitol on the day specified by the subpoena — but not to testify. Capitol complex — a couple hundred feet away from the awaiting GOP investigators — and delivered a rare public statement defending his business affairs and castigating the yearslong investigations into him and his family. Hunter Biden’s only remarks to reporters were when asked why he had his father on speaker phone several times during business meetings.
Director Wray's Opening Statement to the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United ... - Federal Bureau of Investigation
Director Wray's Opening Statement to the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United ....
Posted: Wed, 31 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Bipartisan senators reach a general agreement on updating Electoral Count Act
To review, a national commission empowered to investigate the very questions House Republicans now regard as "crucial" was killed by Senate Republicans — without a whimper from House Republicans. The Republicans who now complain these hearings are occurring in an election year have chosen to forget the national commission originally proposed would have long since been done by now — if not for Senate Republicans killing it. Capitol police officer Caroline Edwards, who will testify Thursday night, has arrived at the hearing.
Ivanka Trump says she 'accepted' Barr's conclusion that election wasn't stolen
Rep. Liz Cheney — one of two Republicans on the select committee, and a member of House GOP leadership before she was stripped of her role — had explicit words for members of her party during her opening remarks. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Tuesday that California Highway Patrol officers had arrested a gang member in San Onofre who shot a deputy in the back as he sat on his department motorcycle at a West Covina stoplight. Ahead of Wednesday's hearing, several Jewish faculty members at Columbia and its sister school, Barnard College, warned against the "weaponization" of antisemitism on college campuses. "And we advocate for a campus where all students, Jewish, Palestinian, and all others, can learn and thrive in a climate of open, honest inquiry and rigorous debate." "I thought the witnesses approached this hearing today in a very candid and sincere way. It was clear they recognize this is a very real challenge on campus and it's something colleges across the country are wrestling with." "It's impossible to win a hearing, but it's easy to lose a hearing and end up on TV," said Christopher Armstrong, a lawyer at Holland & Knight who advises clients on how to respond to congressional investigations.
Proud Boys leader and 2 associates plead not guilty to seditious conspiracy
GOP Rep. Liz Cheney said that the committee will be focused on "getting to the truth" of what happened on Jan. 6 in a nonpolitical, nonpartisan way, while speaking to reporters after the first hearing. "As you know several committees [have] had opportunities to talk to leadership in the Capitol police, and the Metropolitan police, but this was an opportunity we felt necessary in order to find out what those individuals who had to fight the rioters on Jan. 6 had to endure," he continued. Chair Bennie Thompson told CNN that the select committee will “soon” issue subpoenas, but he declined to say who would be targeted.
Officer Edwards said "never" had her patriotism been called into question before Jan. 6
This was largely due to tough questioning from Stefanik, who refused to accept the presidents' vague, prepared answers. "I hope that we continue to center the experiences of Jewish students on these other campuses and continue to work to fight antisemitism all across the country." They said dozens of students have been disciplined and students who participated in unauthorized events have been suspended.
Trump’s alleged gag order violations continued to lurk in the background of the trial. Judge Juan Merchan held a hearing Tuesday on some of those alleged violations, with another hearing scheduled for next week based on other statements. But heading into the weekend, Merchan still hasn’t ruled on the matter, so the defendant hasn’t faced even minimal consequences for his apparent serial violations of a court order. In the trial that’s happening, Manhattan prosecutors gave their opening statement and called their first witness, David Pecker. The former National Enquirer publisher testified that he agreed with then-candidate Trump and fixer Michael Cohen to look out for negative stories impacting the 2016 campaign. Pecker is an important first witness, setting the stage for the Stormy Daniels hush money payoff at the center of the case.
The closely watched hearing included several tense exchanges between members of Congress and Columbia representatives. All four Columbia officials testifying before Congress unequivocally stated that calls for the genocide of Jews violate the university’s code of conduct. David Greenwald, the co-chair of the board of trustees at Columbia, told Stefanik Massad's comments were "abhorrent" and he should be removed from the position.
Also, federal courts have repeatedly upheld the power and legislative purpose of the select committee, despite repeated Republican and Trump White House attempts to suggest it is illegitimate and lacks congressional standing. "That time when I talked about falling behind MPD's line, I remember because I had been kind of shielded away because I was holding those stairs — so I wasn't able to see what was really going on over here," she said. The deadly attack injured more than 100 police officers, halted Congress' counting of the Electoral College votes for more than five hours and forced lawmakers into lockdown when pro-Trump rioters overran the US Capitol Police. U.S. Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards, who the committee says was the first law enforcement officer injured by rioters storming the Capitol grounds, and Nick Quested, a filmmaker who documented the Capitol that morning, will serve as witnesses during the prime-time hearing that begins at 8 p.m.
Vice Chairwoman Rep. Liz Cheney said one of her fellow Republicans, Rep. Scott Perry, sought a pardon from Trump after Jan. 6, 2021. In recorded video testimony, Marc Short, Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, said Pence was ultimately more loyal to the Constitution than he was to President Trump amid pressure to overturn the Electoral College vote. Michael Luttig, a former federal judge who advised Pence's team, will testify that Eastman "was wrong at every turn." Since then, McCarthy has downplayed Jan. 6, and said "everybody in the country" bears some responsibility for what happened that day.
The White House has dismissed the impeachment inquiry as baseless and worked to focus the conversation on policy instead. Hunter Biden’s legal team, on the other hand, has gone on the offensive against GOP critics, most recently filing suit against the Internal Revenue Service after two of its agents raised whistleblower claims to Congress about the handling of the investigation. Garland then said repeatedly that he purposely kept the details of the investigation at arms length, to keep a promise not to interfere. The central line of questioning in Republicans’ arsenal surrounded allegations that the Justice Department interfered in the yearslong case into Hunter Biden and that the prosecutor in charge of that case did not have the full authority he needed to bring the necessary charges to the younger Biden. She is currently based out of Austin, Texas, and writes and edits about local, state and national politics. In 1800, our country almost came unglued following the election that eventually elevated Jefferson to the presidency, which ended Federalist rule.
Whatever precise form that immunity takes remains to be seen in the court’s decision. The ruling might not theoretically save Trump from a trial in the federal election interference case, because at least some of the acts described in the indictment couldn't possibly be deemed "official." But the delay might help Trump anyway. Further litigation over applying the justices’ new immunity test to Trump’s case could add even more delay to the already-delayed case.
"You are right," Columbia trustee Claire Shipman responded to one lawmaker, "we have a moral crisis on our campus." When Suzanne Bonamici, a Democrat from Oregon, asked whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated Columbia's code of conduct, all four Columbia representatives provided a clear "Yes it does." “Legislators who are genuinely concerned about social media platforms’ practices have better options at their disposal, and we continue to urge lawmakers to lean in to those rather than undermining the First Amendment rights of millions of Americans,” Johnson said. Since lawmakers introduced their latest proposal targeting the app last month, the company has launched a major counteroffensive against the effort, enlisting scores of users through pop-up notifications to bombard lawmakers with calls voicing opposition to the legislation.
Miller said he believed the Trump's speech earlier in the day did have a "cause and effect" impact on those who listened and later stormed the Capitol when asked if he thinks Trump was responsible for the riot. "I think I'd like to modify my original assessment, based on-," Miller said in today's hearing. The case — the only one addressing the attack of Sicknick, who later died — has taken on new meaning in recent weeks after the prosecutors characterized it as a key moment where protesters coordinated to overcome police in a way that allowed the Capitol to fall.
Republicans have also focused a large part of their investigation on whistleblower allegations that there has been political interference in the long-running Justice Department investigation into Hunter Biden. “Our job is not to take orders from the president, from Congress, or from anyone else, about who or what to criminally investigate,” the attorney general said. Republicans on the committee — led by Rep. Jim Jordan, the chairman — set the tone with accusations that the Justice Department is favoring the Biden family, while targeting his opponent, Trump. WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans clashed with Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday, accusing him and the Justice Department of the “weaponization” of the department’s work in favor of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter. Advocates for reforming the Electoral Count Act of 1887 argue that it's outdated and doesn't provide clear guidance about the role that Congress plays in certifying election results.
Finally, US Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell asked the members of the committee to give law enforcement the "tools" to prevent future attacks like Jan. 6. US Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn said he echoed the sentiment of the other officers and added that a "hitman" sent the insurrectionists to the Capitol that day. He called for the committee to conduct "an investigation into those actions and activities which may have resulted in the events of Jan. 6," and whether or not there was "a collaboration between those members, their staff, and these terrorists." Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger applauded the officers who testified today and other officers who "fought like hell to preserve our democracy" on Jan. 6. "We represent the good side of America, the people that actually believe in decency, human decency, and we appeal to just the good in people, and that's what we want to see," the officer added.
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