#but pardoning the jan 6th insurrectionists

[socialjusticeinamerica]

[fangirl-nadir]

Oh ffs, now they're threatening him with the death penalty? God, those fuckers are scared shitless of this guy and are desperate to cover things up

[thashining]

14th amendment

[6ilent-9ufferer]

Denounce Trump’s Pardons of January 6 Insurrectionists | Civic Shout

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Oliver Willis at Daily Kos:

Vice President-elect JD Vance promoted a debunked conspiracy theory about the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, while trying to prove to Trump supporters that he is in agreement with those sympathetic to the attack. The problem began after Vance appeared on Fox News Sunday and said that Trump would not apply a blanket pardon to everyone involved in the riot.

“If you protested peacefully on January the 6th, and you’ve had Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice treat you like a gang member? You should be pardoned. If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned,” Vance said. This prompted a reaction from conservative commenters who are upset that Vance seemed to be backing away from Trump’s earlier promises.   A typical response in this vein came from the account of conservative podcasters The Hodge Twins, who wrote, “Video gets released of cops shooting innocent J6 protesters and @JDVance goes on Fox News and tells the world that only non violent protesters should get pardoned. Better rethink what you just said JD.” Vance responded and noted, “I donated to the to the J6 political prisoner fund and got ROASTED for it during my senate race. I've been defending these guys for years.” The incoming vice president then asserted, “There were federal informants in the crowd. Do they get a pardon? I don't think so. The president saying he'll look at each case (and me saying the same) is not some walkback.”

This is false: A December report released by the independent Justice Department inspector general’s office examined the agency’s response to Jan. 6 and determined that there were no FBI employees on the scene nor were any FBI informants authorized to participate in the attack. Conservatives—almost since the day of the attack, have sought to push the narrative that the people who attacked the Capitol were not Trump supporters, or that the so-called “deep state” was involved in provoking the attack. In fact, Trump’s nominee to serve as secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, has pushed similar conspiracies.

See Also:

HuffPost: JD Vance Leaves 'Gray Area' For How Trump Will Pardon Jan. 6 Prisoners

VP-elect J.D. Vance ticked off January 6th Insurrectionists over his comments made on Fox News Sunday opposing pardons for violent people.

From the 01.12.2025 edition of Fox's Fox News Sunday:

[darkmaga-returns]

Former President Trump's announcement to pardon all January 6th prisoners sparks controversy and condemnation, viewed as an attempt to undermine justice and whitewash the Capitol protest events.

Biden considers preemptive pardons for Congress members linked to election interference, contrasting with Trump's sympathy towards innocent protesters led into the Capitol by police.

The Gateway Pundit reveals the sham committee overseeing the January 6 investigation illegally destroyed crucial evidence, raising transparency and accountability concerns.

Allegations against Trump, including 'star witness' Cassidy Hutchinson's claim of seizing a limo, point to a cover-up to incriminate him unjustly, plus the torturing of Jan. 6th prisoners to try to make them lie and say Trump told them to be violent insurrectionists.

Trump's strong response to the committee's actions reflects frustration with the ongoing witch hunt, while speculations of pardons for figures like Liz Cheney and Adam Schiff deepen political tensions and raise questions about justice and accountability.

In a shocking turn of events, former President Donald Trump's announcement of pardoning all the January 6th prisoners upon taking office in January has stirred a wave of controversy and condemnation. The move, seen as a blatant attempt to undermine ju

[collapsedsquid]

In early October, federal prosecutors praised [Jon] Schaffer’s “substantial” cooperation in the Jan. 6 investigation and recommended that he serve no time in prison. The Republic reports that they instead asked for Schaffer to receive three years of probation, including six months of house arrest, along with the previously stated restitution, fine, and community service. He provided information for other cases to the U.S. government and testified before a grand jury. The recommendation also follows a June Supreme Court ruling that limited prosecutors’ ability to charge Jan. 6 insurrectionists with obstruction and several delays to Schaffer’s sentencing date. [...] Three months [after his Jan. 16, 2021 charging] later, the Department of Justice offered [Jon] Schaffer a plea deal, reducing his charges to “Obstruction of an Official Proceeding” and “Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds with a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon.” The former charge carried a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release. The latter charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, another $250,000 fine, and another period of supervised release up to three years. In its paperwork, the DOJ said it would recommend between 41 and 51 months in prison and a fine between $15,000 and $250,000. For his cooperation, the government also offered to place him in witness protection. Schaffer signed the doc the next day and was released on personal recognizance as he awaited sentencing.

Was looking up what happened to the Iced Earth Jan 6th guy in preparation for my Inauguration Day joke, sentencing to 3 years probation only happaned a few months ago, maybe he could be pardoned by Trump but since he's a fuckin snitch perhaps Trump could find some additional charges or could simply tweet his current name and address.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

January 5, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JAN 6, 2024

President Joe Biden launched his reelection campaign today with a speech at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. He spoke after a visit to nearby Valley Forge, where General George Washington quartered his troops from December 1777 to June 1778 during the Revolutionary War in which the former colonies sought to establish their independence from Great Britain.

Biden began the speech by outlining what the soldiers in the Continental Army quartered at Valley Forge had fought for. “America made a vow,” Biden said. “Never again would we bow down to a king.”

A “ragtag army made up of ordinary people” fought for what Washington called “a sacred cause,” he said: “Freedom, liberty, democracy. American democracy.” Valley Forge, he said, “tells the story of the pain and the suffering and the true patriotism it took to make America.”

Three years ago, he said, when insurrectionists tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power on January 6, 2021, “we nearly…lost it all.”

“Today, we’re here to answer the most important of questions,” Biden said. “Is democracy still America’s sacred cause?... This is not rhetorical, academic or hypothetical. Whether democracy is still America’s sacred cause is the most urgent question of our time.”

“And it’s what the 2024 election is all about.”

Biden described Trump’s attack on American democracy and warned that “Donald Trump’s campaign is about him, not America, not you.” Biden remembered the “smashing windows, shattering doors, attacking the police” of January 6. He recalled the rioters erecting a gallows while the crowd chanted, “Hang Mike Pence,” hunting for then–House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and injuring more than 140 police officers. 

Like the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, Biden emphasized that while the whole world was watching the attack in horror and disbelief, and even as staff, family members, and Republican leaders pleaded with Trump to do something, the former president watched events unfold on the television in a little room off the Oval Office and “did nothing.”

Biden repeated the condemnation of former representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) when he called that refusal to act “among the worst derelictions of duty by a president in American history.”

The president went on to explain how Trump continued to lie that he had won the 2020 presidential election despite losing recounts and 60 court cases. For those lies, Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani was ordered last month to pay $148 million to election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss for defamation, and the Fox News Corporation agreed to pay $787 million to Dominion Voting Systems for lying that their machines had switched votes from Trump to Biden.

Then, when he had exhausted all his legal options, Trump urged his supporters to assault the Capitol. Since then, more than 1,200 people have been charged with crimes related to the events of that day; nearly 900 of them have pleaded guilty or been convicted. 

Trump has called those insurrectionists “patriots” and has promised to pardon them if he is returned to office. But normalizing violence as part of our political system destroys the reasonable debate and peaceful transition of power that is at the heart of democracy. Biden identified this danger, warning: “Political violence is never, ever acceptable in the United States political system—never, never, never. It has no place in a democracy. None. You can’t be pro-insurrectionist and pro-American.” 

Biden noted that Trump has promised to continue to assault democracy, threatening “a full-scale campaign of ‘revenge’ and ‘retribution’...for some years to come.” Trump has said he “would be a dictator on day one,” called for the “termination of all the rules, regulation, and articles, even those found in the U.S. Constitution,” and echoed the language used in Nazi Germany by calling those who oppose him “vermin” and talking about the blood of Americans being poisoned by immigrants. 

“There’s no confusion about who Trump is and what he intends to do,” Biden said. 

Immediately after January 6, 2021, “even Republican members of Congress and Fox News commentators publicly and privately condemned the attack,” he said. “But now…those same people have changed their tune…. [P]olitics, fear, money, all have intervened. And now these MAGA voices who know the truth about Trump on January 6th have abandoned the truth and abandoned democracy.”

“They made their choice,” Biden said. “Now the rest of us—Democrats, independents, mainstream Republicans—we have to make our choice. I know mine. And I believe I know America’s. We will defend the truth, not give in to the Big Lie. We’ll embrace the Constitution and the Declaration, not abandon it. We’ll honor the sacred cause of democracy, not walk away from it.”

“Today, I make this sacred pledge to you,” he said. “The defense, protection, and preservation of American democracy will remain, as it has been, the central cause of my presidency.” 

“America, as we begin this election year, we must be clear,” Biden said. “Democracy is on the ballot. Your freedom is on the ballot.” “The alternative to democracy is dictatorship—the rule of one, not the rule of ‘We the People.’”  

“Together, we can keep proving that America is still a country that believes in decency, dignity, honesty, honor, truth,” he said. “We still believe that no one, not even the President, is above the law…. [T]he vast majority of us still believe that everyone deserves a fair shot at making it. We’re still a nation that gives hate no safe harbor…. We still believe in ‘We the People,’ and that includes all of us, not some of us.” 

In “that cold winter of 1777,” Biden said, referring back to the soldiers at Valley Forge, “George Washington and his American troops…waged a battle on behalf of a revolutionary idea that everyday people—like where I come from and the vast majority of you—…that everyday people can govern themselves without a king or a dictator.”

Americans “take charge of our destiny,” Biden said. “We get our job done with…the help of the people we find in America, who find their place in the changing world and dream and build a future that not only they but all people deserve a shot at.” 

“This is the first national election since [the] January 6th insurrection placed a dagger at the throat of American democracy,” Biden said. “We all know who Donald Trump is. The question we have to answer is: Who are we? That’s what’s at stake. Who are we?” 

And then he answered his own question, concluding with his characteristic faith in the American people. “After all we’ve been through in our history, from independence to Civil War to two world wars to a pandemic to insurrection,” he said, “I refuse to believe that, in 2024, we Americans will choose to walk away from what’s made us the greatest nation in the history of the world: freedom, liberty.”

“Democracy,” he said, “is still a sacred cause.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[boreal-sea]

I'm listening to opening arguments for the Supreme Court opening arguments about whether or not Colorado has a right under section 3 of the 14th Amendment (insurrectionists can't hold office) to remove Trump from their ballot.

All of this is based on civil war policy, if you didn't know what the 14th Amendment was.

Trump's lawyer is arguing that section 3 is not "self executing", which means the state can't prevent Trump from being on the ballot themselves - he could run, but then when he got elected, Congress would have to pardon him by a 2/3rds vote for him to actually be president.

Trump's lawyer's first argument: Using Section 3 of the 14th Amendment is placing a new requirement on candidates before they are elected that is not stated in the Constitution.

One of the justices said that for her the issue are: in what sense does history say that states can enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment against their own office holders, can they enforce it against federal officers, and can they enforce it against the office of president?

Trump's lawyer is claiming a state cannot do those things because of an earlier ruling (Griffin's Case) (not a Supreme Court case).

One of the judges has said "so you're not making a constitutional argument" to Trump's lawyer - aka he's not relying on the Constitution, he's relying on a secondary case.

When asked how he'd argue this case without Griffin's case, Trump's lawyer admits it'd be much harder because every other part of the 14th amendment has been self executing.

They are discussing a bit what "self executing" means.

Sotomayor has noted that other qualifications can disqualify a candidate prior to running (e.g. age). She is questioning why section 3 is different. Trump's lawyer is claiming that because Griffin's case set precedent that section 3 is not self executing, that states cannot ban him from the ballot, because Congress may pardon him from that after he is elected.

According to Trump's lawyer, being an insurrectionist is allegedly not categorical because Congress could pardon him afterwards. He is arguing that if someone's category could change via a vote, it isn't fair to impose it as a limit on the candidate prior to the election, and should therefore not disqualify Trump from being on the ballot.

Trump's lawyer's second main argument: Trump and the office of president is exempt from section 3 due to its phrasing.

Trump's lawyer is also arguing that technically, "president" isn't on the list in section 3. A lot lays in the importance between "officers" and "office" - in this case, the difference means if you are an officer you cannot hold an office - you can't be both. The President isn't an officer, he holds the position of the office of the president. This means Trump specifically is excluded from the wording of this because he never actually was an officer, and has only held office.

Paraphrase of some of the justices: "Why would they have written that presidents who were never officers would be excluded from section 3? Why would they have done that at the time of the civil war, when there was a strong motivation to keep any inssurectionist out of office?"

Trump's lawyer is also claiming Trump has presidential immunity and can't be prosecuted for anything about Jan 6th anyway.

[edward-cabrini]

It's still wild to me that America became a de facto elective monarchy in my lifetime. All the right components for it have always been around, just that since Trump got elected America has been speed running the death of its democracy.

The supreme court has upheld that any official act by the head of state is not prosecutable and gave no guidance and what is or is not an official act. Beyond a few broad strokes, such as commanding the armed forces.

The electoral college system means there's essentially a voting noble class that decides who gets to be the monarch of America. Whilst typically they vote for the winner of the popular vote in their state, faithless electors have no punishment for not voting with their state. Meaning that if a presidential candidate was charismatic or corrupt enough, they could secure the electoral college votes and ignore the popular vote entirely.

During the attempted insurrection on Jan 6th, the local police force allowed insurrectionists into the capitol building and didn't call for aid from the national guard until much later. With a couple of notable exceptions, the police force was ready to throw the last vestiges of democracy out the window.

I'm yet to even mention the various executive powers of office the American monarch has, but let us quickly discuss pardoning criminal acts. In the UK, the act of pardoning someone is done by pardon review committee. No one person has the authority to overturn the decisions made in a court of law. In America, the president can pardon you for a crime you have committed; have allegedly committed; or even one you will commit/are committing. Whether or not you can get a pardon is, very much so, determined by how much the monarch likes you.

Anyway, all this to say that it's been very useful in my own writing to follow the nonsense. Fiachra's journey from charcoal burner to Earl and candidate for a crown. Has been informed in no small part by the troubles in America.

Somewhere I saw a post that was like, "any state can turn blue if enough people vote."

This is very true. And with so much at stake here, you shouldn't assume that people won't turn out in droves to vote blue even in red states.

Project 2025/Agenda 47 isn't the kind of thing that normal, everyday Republicans actually want. Trumpers are a weird bunch. As we raise more awareness, your Republican swing voter types are going to be like, "hey uh, wait, this isn't what I want" and a lot of them are going to start eyeing Harris.

So even if you live in a red state, don't assume that your vote is meaningless. Do not. For one minute. Assume this.

[eugenedebs1920]

Within the first 72 hours of Trumps’s illegitimate (because insurrectionist are barred from holding office) second term we saw unconstitutional dictatorial decrees (executive orders gives too much validity to these unlawful orders), we saw repeals of the equal opportunity act, instated by LBJ, we saw the beginning stages of “schedule F” removing nonpartisan bureaucrats from their fields of expertise (authoritarians hate any expertise that would contradict their lies), we saw a dictatorial decree denying the existence of trans Americans, we saw Trump show absolute disrespect to police officers and American democracy itself by pardoning ALL the Jan 6th insurrectionists, including the leaders of the Proud Boys and The Oath Keepers, openly white supremest groups, we saw Trump repeal the price restrictions on pharmaceutical drugs enacted through Biden, causing prices to rise over 1000% in some cases, we saw Trump give a green light to the oil industry to pillage public lands that belong to the American people. We also saw Trump’s homie, Elon Musk give the solute of that party in Germany from WWII (don’t want the algorithm to suppress my post by using the German N word), heard Trump basically say that Elon “knows computers, those sweet vote counting computers. And we won Pennsylvania in a landslide” idiotically confessing to rigging the election, and Trump stock his cabinet with the makers of the dystopian manifesto, Project 2025 which he said he wouldn’t and didn’t even know them.

Meanwhile the price of eggs has risen nearly $2, the war in Ukraine still rages on, and the promises made on the campaign go unheeded.

Due to the cowardice of Republicans, an archaic system of representation still in place to appease slave states, the deception of the American people by corporations and the wealthy through the ungodly corrupt ruling on Citizens United, the complacency of the mainstream media to report on this, and the racism and ignorance of maga, this will be white washed, barely reported, or ignored all together.

This lack of a ruling by the North Carolina Supreme Court is a huge win, not simply in comparison to the losses dealt to the Constitution, marginalized groups, and the rule of law, but for democracy itself!

Trump gave the permission structure to straight denial of election results, knee capping the very foundation of our democracy. Showing those who have no respect for our country that it’s acceptable to violate the will of the people in their pursuit of power.

The National Republican Party in collaboration with this Republican judicial candidate had the intention to test the waters of their antidemocratic ideas on election denialism, and it failed after a long fought battle.

The courts are the only hope in protecting this country from the complete dismantling of our democratic constitutional republic, and as of today, we can mark a win on the pro-democracy side.

The road will be long, the fight will be brutal, and the need for resistance imperative. Yet we will defeat this authoritarian regime together with the help of judges who hold true to their oath.

Not all is lost. We have to keep up the resistance and not capitulate. 

No kings in America friends! Hail democracy!

[mylionheart2]

Donald Trump pardoned the January 6th insurrectionists because he's going to use them again and you can bet that they and the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys are already planning something. This time there will be no intel to warn anyone bc now Trump controls the FBI and all our intel agencies.

[parttimereporter]

This is the Biden statement

Our nation relies on dedicated, selfless public servants every day. They are the lifeblood of our democracy. Yet alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties. In certain cases, some have even been threatened with criminal prosecutions, including General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, and the members and staff of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.

These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions. General Milley served our nation for more than 40 years, serving in multiple command and leadership posts and deploying to some of the most dangerous parts of the world to protect and defend democracy. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he guided our Armed Forces through complex global security threats and strengthened our existing alliances while forging new ones. For more than half a century, Dr. Fauci served our country. He saved countless lives by managing the government’s response to pressing health crises, including HIV/AIDS, as well as the Ebola and Zika viruses. During his tenure as my Chief Medical Advisor, he helped the country tackle a once-in-a-century pandemic. The United States is safer and healthier because of him. On January 6, 2021, American democracy was tested when a mob of insurrectionists attacked the Capitol in an attempt to overturn a fair and free election by force and violence. In light of the significance of that day, Congress established the bipartisan Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol to investigate and report upon the facts, circumstances, and causes of the insurrection.

The Select Committee fulfilled this mission with integrity and a commitment to discovering the truth. Rather than accept accountability, those who perpetrated the January 6th attack have taken every opportunity to undermine and intimidate those who participated in the Select Committee in an attempt to rewrite history, erase the stain of January 6th for partisan gain, and seek revenge, including by threatening criminal prosecutions. I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing. Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong—and in fact have done the right thing—and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances.

That is why I am exercising my authority under the Constitution to pardon General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the Members of Congress and staff who served on the Select Committee, and the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee. The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense. Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country.

7:53 AM · Jan 20, 2025

[streamingfanatic1963]

JD Vance vows pardons for those who 'protested peacefully' on Jan. 6 - Washington Examiner

So they plan on releasing the January 6th Insurrectionist who stormed the Capitol. Why am I not surprised 🙃 😕 😏 😳 #PresidentMusk

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Dean Obeidallah at The Dean's Report:

Donald Trump’s idea of being patriotic is not about supporting the United States. It’s about supporting those who help him. That’s why Trump has long praised and defended the Jan 6 terrorists who were helping him attempt to remain in power despite losing the 2020 election. Now Trump is taking this support to a new level by welcoming to his exclusive country club in New Jersey an awards show called the “J6 Awards Gala” created to honor those who attacked the Capitol—including those who brutally beat police officers. This is akin to Osama Bin Laden holding an awards event four years after 9/11 to honor those who waged that terrorist attack. And it’s just as vile and anti-American.

The website for this Sept. 5 event--organized by the Stand in the Gap Foundation--boasts that Trump has been invited to speak—although reports are he’s not expected to attend. But the event website notes other visible Trump allies will be speaking including Rudy Guiliani and former advisor Peter Navarro—who was released in July from prison after serving three months for refusing to comply with the House Jan 6 committee’s investigation. It's no surprise that this event is being held at one of Trump’s marquee properties given his track record. The GOP’s 2024 presidential nominee has hailed the attackers as  “patriots” and vowed to pardon those convicted of crimes— including those “who assaulted officers.” And last year—to little media attention--he spoke at a fundraiser at this very Trump golf course in support of the Jan 6 insurrectionists. Trump has even  kicked off campaign rallies with an announcer asking the crowd to “please rise for the horribly and unfairly treated January 6 hostages” followed by a recording of the national anthem performed by people incarcerated in connection with the attack. Indeed, it’s these Jan 6 prisoners who sang that song--which Trump lent his voice to--who will be honored at the upcoming event at Trump’s golf course.

[...] In addition, the organizer of this J6 awards ceremony is Sarah McAbee, the wife of Ronald Colton McAbee, a former sheriff’s deputy who was sentenced to nearly six years in prison for assaulting police officers on Jan. 6. As DOJ detailed, McAbee despicably held down another police officer who had been “knocked to the ground, kicked, and stripped of his baton by other rioters” enabling the crowd to viciously beat him. As a result, “the officer sustained physical injuries, including a head laceration, concussion, elbow injury, bruising, and bodily abrasions.” These are just some of the Jan 6 attackers expected to be honored at Trump National Golf Club  in New Jersey. Interestingly, the country club’s website explains that for large events like weddings or galas, organizers need to contact the club management to utilize a “membership sponsored program.”  Did Trump sponsor this event? Did he waive this requirement? It’s unclear but one thing is certain: Trump has not denounced the event, called for it be canceled or demanded his photo be removed for the website promoting the “J6 Awards Gala.” At this point, even if Trump were pressured and ultimately denounced the J6 awards gala, it would ring hollow given his record of praising and defending the attackers.  These are Trump’s people and Jan 6 was his attack. As the House Jan 6 committee’s final report summed up well, “the central cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump, whom many others followed,” adding, “None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him.”  

At the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, NJ, Donald Trump is set to welcome the domestic terrorist-honoring J6 Awards Gala on September 5th.

Trump himself is invited to speak but currently isn’t confirmed; however, Peter Navarro, Bo Loudon, Colby Covington, and Rudy Giuliani are just a few of the confirmed speakers.

[contemplatingoutlander]

“The American people did not fall for the Left’s fear mongering over January 6th.”

--Karoline Leavitt, incoming Trump WH press secretary

What began as a strained attempt to absolve Mr. Trump of responsibility for Jan. 6 gradually took hold, as his allies in Congress and the media played down the attack and redirected blame to left-wing plants, Democrats and even the government. Violent rioters — prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned — somehow became patriotic martyrs. [...] But with his return to office, Mr. Trump now has the platform to further rinse and spin the Capitol attack into what he has called “a day of love.” He has vowed to pardon rioters in the first hour of his new administration, while his congressional supporters are pushing for criminal charges against those who investigated his actions on that chaotic day.

Trump and the GOP have worked hard to rewrite what we all witnessed with our own eyes. In order to exonerate Trump, they have lied, spread half-truths, or taken isolated bits of information out of context. But the facts do NOT support the GOP's disinformation campaign.

We must never forget what happened.

We must remember the calls to "Bring out Pence!" and "Hang Mike Pence!" after the mob erected a gallows.

We must remember that Trump further incited the anger of the rioters (after the mob entered the Capitol) with a tweet accusing Pence of lacking “courage.”*

We must remember that about 60 seconds after Trump tweeted about Pence, rioters entered the Crypt, just underneath the floor where Pence and his family were hiding. The mob was eventually only about 40 feet away from Pence.

We must remember that what happened next for Pence and his family was hours of fear.

We must remember that many of the insurrectionists were armed.

A "Mother Jones" investigation of public video footage and documents from dozens of federal criminal investigations reveals various trump supporters who went to the capitol that day armed for battle.

Not only with hockey sticks flagpoles, baseball bats, and bear spray, but also with tasers, knives, and guns.

Finally, we must remember that despite advisors' pleas, Trump did nothing to stop what was happening for quite some time--because he thought that Mike Pence, quote, "deserves it."

LIZ CHENEY (June 9, 2022): You will hear testimony that, quote, “the president did not really want to put anything out” calling off the riot or asking his supporters to leave. You will hear that President Trump was yelling and, quote, “really angry” at advisers who told him he needed to be doing something more. And, aware of the rioters' chants to “hang Mike Pence,” the president responded with this sentiment: quote, “Maybe our supporters have the right idea,” Mike Pence, quote, “deserves it."

To me it's SURREAL that Trump and the GOP have succeeded in convincing millions of Americans that their alternate reality version of Jan. 6th was true--and that Trump might have the power as president to actually turn his alternative reality version into "history."

__________________ Video & image sources for my gifs (before edits): gif 01 (aa + bb), gif 02, gif 03, gif 04, gif 05 (cc + dd + ee), gifs 06 & 07, and gif/manipulated image 08 (ff +  gg) Liz Cheney video source & transcript sources (hh + ii + jj)