Wednesday, July 13, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Trump Described As "Unhinged' During WH Meeting


The House January 6th committee's public hearing yesterday revealed that then-President Donald Trump tweeted a call for his supporters to come to Washington, D.C., on January 6th, 2021, for a protest that he said "would be wild" shortly after a heated, hours-long White House meeting that was described by a staffer as "unhinged." 

During that December 18th, 2020, meeting, Trump allies including attorney Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, and former General Mike Flynn argued over objections from White House lawyers, including White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, in favor of a plan to seize states' voting machines to try to prove fraud in the presidential election a month earlier that he'd lost to Joe Biden. It was shortly after that late night meeting, in the early hours of December 19th, when Turmp sent his tweet summoning his supporters to Washington on January 6th when Congress would be counting the Electoral College results.

 
The committee showed texts and messages in right-wing forums and videos of right-wing figures planning for January 6th after Trump's tweet, promising to fight for the president and using language of violence. Among those who made plans for the day were extremist groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. The panel also showed that Trump had planned ahead of time to go to the Capitol after the rally on the Ellipse on January 6th and it wasn't a spontaneous decision. They showed messages from rally organizers in the days ahead of the rally talking about the plan to go to the Capitol.

Rallygoer and Ex-Oath Keeper: Testifying in person was a remorseful Ohio rallygoer, Stephen Ayres, who said he intensely followed social media after the election, and went to Washington because Trump had called his supporters there. Ayres, who pled guilty last month to disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, said he hadn't planned to go to the Capitol, but headed there after Trump said to go. Also testifying was a former spokesman for the Oath Keepers, who left the group several years ago, Jason Van Tatenhove. who warned about the group and violence, saying, "What it was going to be was an armed revolution."
 

Cheney: Trump Tried to Contact Witness: Committee vice-chair Liz Cheney said Trump's team is shifting strategy and trying to suggest he received bad advice from crazy advisers and didn't understand some of the details of the situation, but rejected that by saying Trump is, quote, "not an impressionable child." Cheney also said that Trump had tried to contact a committee witness who had yet to appear in public, and that the committee had notified the Justice Department, saying, "We will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously." The next hearing, which will be held in prime time, will be on July 21st.


➤BIDEN BEGINNING MIDEAST TRIP: President Biden is beginning a trip to the Middle East today in Israel, after which he will travel to Saudi Arabia on Friday. A main goal of his trip will be assuring officials in both countries that he's committed to preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power. Biden has been trying to revive the Iran nuclear deal brokered by President Barack Obama in 2015 but discarded by President Donald Trump in 2018, but talks have stalled as Iran has made rapid gains in developing its nuclear program. While in Israel, Biden will meet with both Israeli and Palestinian officials, visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, receive Israel’s Presidential Medal of Honor, and visit with U.S. athletes taking part in the Maccabiah Games, which involve Jewish and Israeli athletes from around the globe. His time in Saudi Arabia will include attending a gathering of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
 

➤VIDEO SHOWS UVALDE POLICE WIATING IN SCHOOL HALLWAY: The Austin American-Statesman published an 80-minute video yesterday that shows heavily-armed police officers in body armor standing around in the hallway of Robb Elementary School while a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers on March 24th. The surveillance footage from a hallway camera shows what's now been known for weeks about how the officers waited more than an hour before going in after the gunman. The gunman is also seen entering the school with an AR-15 style rifle, as are two officers who approach the classrooms minutes after the gunman enters, then run back amid the sounds of gunfire. An investigative committee led by Texas lawmakers had earlier announced plans to show the video to Uvalde residents for the first time Sunday, as well as sharing their findings after weeks of closed-door testimony.


➤U.S. KILLED LEADER OF ISIS IN SYRIA IN DRONE STRIKE: The Pentagon said yesterday that the U.S. killed the leader of the Islamic State group (ISIS) in Syria in a drone strike. The U.S. carried out the strike yesterday that killed Maher al-Agal outside the town of Jindaris close to the Turkish border. President Biden said in a statement that the strike, quote, "takes a key terrorist off the field and significantly degrades the ability of (IS) to plan, resource, and conduct their operations in the region."

➤SURVEY..AMERICANS CONCERNED  WITH CHARGING EVs:  Electric vehicles might be looking more attractive to people amid high gas prices, but there's still reluctance among the majority of U.S. drivers, and a recent survey found that the logistics of where and when they'd be able to charge an electric car is the biggest barrier to Americans buying them. In the Consumer Reports poll of 8,000 U.S. adults, 61 percent named charging concerns as the top thing keeping them from switching to an electric vehicle, followed by 55 percent citing the number of miles the vehicle can go per charge, and 52 percent naming the costs of buying and maintaining an electric vehicle. Only just a little over one-third, 36 percent, said they would "definitely" or "seriously consider" buying an electric-only vehicle as their next vehicle purchase. There are currently some 49,000 public charging stations across the U.S., with the White House having said last month that President Biden has made it a goal to building a national network of 500,000 charging stations.

➤STARBUCKS CLOSING 16 LOCATIONS OVER SAFETY CONCERNS: Starbucks is planning to close 16 of its locations in several U.S. cities due to safety concerns. A spokesperson told CNN Business, "After careful consideration, we are closing some stores in locations that have experienced a high volume of challenging incidents that make it unsafe to continue to operate." The stores are located in Seattle, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Portland, Oregon, and will be closed by the end of this month.ࣸ

➤WE'RE TUNING OUT THE NEWS:  Americans are tuning out news, with Axios reporting that engagement with news content has plunged during the first half of this year compared to the first half of 2021. That's after there was already a drop in 2021 following historic highs in 2020, with news engagement in some cases even below pre-pandemic levels. Despite major news stories this year like the war in Ukraine, several deadly mass shootings, the January 6th House committee hearings and the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, it's still not as high as the news engagement driven by the first year of the pandemic and the 2020 election. Axios cites survey data as saying Americans have become exhausted by the constant bad headlines. Among some of the data, viewership of the three major cable news networks -- CNN, Fox News and MSNBC -- is down 19 percent in prime time for the first half of this year compared to the first half of 2021. However, while CNN and MSNBC are down 47 percent and 33 percent, respectively. Fox's ratings are up 12 percent in that span. News app sessions for the top 12 mainstream most-trafficked publishers fell 16 percent in the first half of 2022, and website visits for the top five news websites in the U.S. dropped 18 percent in that time period.

🏌TIGER WOODS CRITICAL OF THOSE WHO'VE JOINED LIV GOLF: Tiger Woods was critical yesterday of players who've joined the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series, in comments ahead of the start of the British Open this week. Speaking after a practice round, Woods said those who have joined, "I disagree with it. I think that what they've done is they've turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position." He also said, "[W]hat these players are doing for guaranteed money, what is the incentive to practice? What is the incentive to go out there and earn it in the dirt?"

 
🏑MALKIN AGREES TO FOUR-YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION WITH PENGUINS: Evgeni Malkin has agreed to a four-year, $24.4 million contract extension with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 35-year-old star center and Pittsburgh reached agreement on the eve of free agency, after there had been reporting earlier in the week that he was headed to the unrestricted free agent market. Malkin has spent all 16 years of his NHL career with the Penguins, winning the Stanley Cup with them three times.

🏀LEBRON CRITICIZES U.S. EFFORTS TO BRING WNBA'S GRINER HOME: L.A. Lakers star LeBron James was critical of U.S. efforts to bring WNBA star Brittney Griner home from Russia, where she's been detained since February. James said in a trailer for the latest episode of his talk show, The Shop: Uninterrupted, which airs on YouTube, "Now, how can she feel like America has her back? I would be feeling like, 'Do I even want to go back to America?'" James sought to clarify his comments later Tuesday, tweeting that he hadn't meant to disrespect what he called "our beautiful country," but that he was saying that Griner was, quote, "probably feeling emotionally along with so many other emotions, thoughts, etc inside that cage she's been in for over 100+ days!"

🏈MAYFIELD SAYS HAS NO ANIMOSITY TOWARDS BROWNS: Quarterback Baker Mayfield, who's now with the Carolina Panthers, said Tuesday that he was "shocked" when he learned earlier in the offseason that he wasn't part of the future plans of his team, the Cleveland Browns, who went out and got quarterback Deshaun Watson. But Mayfield says he has no animosity toward the Browns, and is eager for a fresh start with the Panthers. Mayfield and Sam Darnold will have an open competition for the starting QB job, according to general manager Scott Fitterer.

⚾CABRERA TIES WITH TED WILLIAMS AT 14TH ON CAREER RBI LIST: Detroit's Miguel Cabrera drove in the in the tying and go-ahead runs in the Tigers' 7-5 win over the Kansas City Royals last night (July 12th), tying Ted Williams at 14th place on the career RBI list with 1,838. Hank Aaron is the all-time leader with 2,297. The only other active player in the top 100 on the list is Albert Pujols, who is in third place with 2,170 RBIs.



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