2020 Election: Predictions, Results and Reactions

[Voronwë the Faithful]

You may recall the testimony of Judge Luttig, a conservative icon, at one of the 1/6 Select Committee hearings. His twitter thread on Pence's claim is right on the money.

[N.E. Brigand]

Yesterday this filing (192 pages long) in the lawsuit brought by the Dominion voting machine company against Fox News revealed that many Fox employees knew full well that allegations by Trump supporters of voter fraud were false. Nonetheless Fox continued to allow those supporters to make those claims on their networks.

And CNN now reports that one revelation in the filing was unknown to Jan. 6th Committee: President Trump attempted to call into Lou Dobbs's show on Fox Business on the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021 -- while the insurrection was underway. Dobbs apparently was amenable to having Trump on that day:

“But Fox executives vetoed that decision,” Dominion’s filing continued. “Why? Not because of a lack of newsworthiness. January 6 was an important event by any measure. President Trump not only was the sitting President, he was the key figure that day.”

The network rebuffed Trump because “it would be irresponsible to put him on the air” and “could impact a lot of people in a negative way,” according to Fox Business Network President Lauren Petterson, whose testimony was cited by Dominion in the new filing.

The Committee was unable to complete a timeline of Trump's activities on January 6th. Now we know one small piece of what he was up to.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

ETA: This is a non-paywall link to the Times article that was shared on Twitter: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/us/t ... 5jZskPk-Tr

[N.E. Brigand]

ETA: This is a non-paywall link to the Times article that was shared on Twitter: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/us/t ... 5jZskPk-Tr

An AP story abouts Emily Kohrs's experience as the grand jury's forewoman is also a really interesting piece, mostly for giving a sense of the experience, although one notable fact is that several people got immunity deals to testify.

Korhs "didn’t vote in 2020 and was only vaguely aware of controversy swirling in the wake of the election." She'd never heard Donald Trump's infamous phone call with Brad Raffensberger before her work on the grand jury.

[N.E. Brigand]

Nice little summary here of how the 14,000 hours of video that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy yesterday had the Capitol Police provide to Fox News's Tucker Carlson could be used to more effectively attack Congress and kill members of Congress.

[N.E. Brigand]

ETA: This is a non-paywall link to the Times article that was shared on Twitter: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/us/t ... 5jZskPk-Tr

An AP story abouts Emily Kohrs's experience as the grand jury's forewoman is also a really interesting piece, mostly for giving a sense of the experience, although one notable fact is that several people got immunity deals to testify.

Kohrs "didn’t vote in 2020 and was only vaguely aware of controversy swirling in the wake of the election." She'd never heard Donald Trump's infamous phone call with Brad Raffensberger before her work on the grand jury.

Have we seen the actual instructions from the judge about what the former special-purpose grand jurors may and may not discuss? The little peek into how the grand jury functioned was interesting, but in her many media appearance, I am concerned that Kohrs may be saying things that could put any possible indictments in jeopardy.

Edited to add: Lisa Rubin says that so far, Kohrs hasn't said anything that would undermine potential proseuctions.

[N.E. Brigand]

ETA: This is a non-paywall link to the Times article that was shared on Twitter: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/us/t ... 5jZskPk-Tr

An AP story abouts Emily Kohrs's experience as the grand jury's forewoman is also a really interesting piece, mostly for giving a sense of the experience, although one notable fact is that several people got immunity deals to testify.

Kohrs "didn’t vote in 2020 and was only vaguely aware of controversy swirling in the wake of the election." She'd never heard Donald Trump's infamous phone call with Brad Raffensberger before her work on the grand jury.

Have we seen the actual instructions from the judge about what the former special-purpose grand jurors may and may not discuss? The little peek into how the grand jury functioned was interesting, but in her many media appearance, I am concerned that Kohrs may be saying things that could put any possible indictments in jeopardy.

Edited to add: Lisa Rubin says that so far, Kohrs hasn't said anything that would undermine potential proseuctions.

However, just because such efforts would be likely to fail doesn't mean they won't be tried. CBS reports that lawyers for possible defendants are "preparing to move to quash any possible indictments by DA based on the public statements by the forewoman of the special grand jury." Even if the moves aren't successful, they probably would further delay the process.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Well, its not like they (Trump et al.) would not latch on to some other bogus theory to try to delay the process. I don't love that she is out making the rounds, but she clearly is not doing anything illegal.

[N.E. Brigand]

The Washington Post reports that "Arizona's top prosecutor concealed records debunking election fraud claims." Mark Brnovich, the Republican who was the state's attorney general from 2015 until last month, had this information by last September but kept it secret. The Post reports that the shows that investigators found that claims made about voter fraud in 2020 were false, and also that the people who were making those claims in public refused to do so when questioned under oath. Also people working for the "True the Vote," which claimed to be uncovering proof of voter fraud, told the Attorney General's office that they were FBI informants, but that wasn't true.

See further this brief analysis of some investigative findings that were withheld last fall.

[RoseMorninStar]

I hope there will be some accountability? Or is that no longer a thing for those at the top?

[N.E. Brigand]

"Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Subpoenaed in Jan. 6 Investigation" (New York Times).

[Voronwë the Faithful]

More on the Pence subpoena.

[N.E. Brigand]

"Judge rejected Perry’s bid to shield thousands of emails from Jan. 6 investigators" (Politico).

"Perry" is U.S. Representative Scott Perry, a Republican Congressman from Pennsylvania who was mixed up in Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The Department of Justice seized his phone a long time ago but haven't been allowed to read his messages. The judge in the headline is Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the D.C. district of the federal courts. What we learned tonight, because she unsealed her ruling, is that of more than 2,000 messages on the phone that Perry claimed were privileged by the Speech & Debate Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which protects members of Congress, she believes fewer than 200 are actually protected and that DOJ should get to see the rest of them. That ruling was put on hold subject to appeal. Earlier this week, a three-judge panel of the D.C. circuit appeals court hearing the case seemed to some observers to more sympathetic to Perry.

[N.E. Brigand]

Ugh. Brandi Buchman, one of just three reporters who are offering live coverage of the Proud Boys trial, has just been told by her employer, Daily Kos, that she is being laid off as of tomorrow. Recognizing the importance of Buchman's work and of this trial, Marcy Wheeler is arranging to pay Buchman to continue coverage through the end of the trial.

[N.E. Brigand]

NBC: "FBI arrests man dubbed 'Sedition Panda' for allegedly storming Capitol wearing bear head."



At some point in the next month or two, I expect the total number of people charged for their actions on Jan. 6th will surpass 1,000.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Ugh. Brandi Buchman, one of just three reporters who are offering live coverage of the Proud Boys trial, has just been told by her employer, Daily Kos, that she is being laid off as of tomorrow. Recognizing the importance of Buchman's work and of this trial, Marcy Wheeler is arranging to pay Buchman to continue coverage through the end of the trial.

I saw Buchman's post saying that she had been laid off, but I did not see that Wheeler had offered to help. Good on her. I have mostly been following the seditious conspiracy trials through Roger Parloff's posts (when I am able to), but Buchman's coverage has been very good, too.

[N.E. Brigand]

There's a new filing in Dominion's lawsuit against Fox News, and it reveals that Fox owner Rupert Murdoch shared "confidential information" about candidate Joe Biden's 2020 campaign ads, before they aired on Fox, with Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of and White House aide to Biden's rival, President Donald Trump.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

More importantly (from the point of view of the case):



ETA: Also this:

[N.E. Brigand]

Fox News of course is not covering this case, so its viewers are unlikely to learn that the company's leader, Rupert Murdoch, told Paul Ryan in late 2020 that Fox News primetime host Sean Hannity "has been privately disgusted by Trump for weeks."

[N.E. Brigand]

CNN: "Top Republicans question McCarthy over release of January 6 footage as speaker vows deliberate approach."

Belatedly they have concerns about what sharing the footage with Tucker Carlson might mean for their security.