Tag Archives: Capitol Building

Protecting The Privacy Of Americans

Posted on by

One of the things that happened after January 6th was that bank transactions and credit card transactions in the Washington, D.C., are were tracked to see who was in Washington on that day. One person I know who went to the rally and then went back to her hotel had her business’ PayPal account canceled essentially because she used her credit card to buy a hamburger. She was never anywhere near the Capitol building. How did PayPal know she was in Washington?

On Friday, The Epoch Times reported the following:

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has subpoenaed Bank of America (BoA) for information over the company’s alleged sharing with the FBI of private customer data from around the time of the Jan. 6, 2021, events in Washington.

The subpoena is part of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government’s probe “into major banks sharing Americans’ private financial data with the [FBI] without legal process for transactions made in the Washington, DC, area around Jan. 6, 2021″—the day that supporters of President Donald Trump breached the U.S. Capitol as Congress was certifying the 2020 election, which the former president has called rigged and stolen. Politico first reported the Nov. 16 development.

The committee subpoenaed relevant documents from the bank, including internal communications about the decision to transfer the information to the FBI, any communications that the bank had with the agency, and any other information. The lawmakers gave Bank of America a June 8 deadline to comply.

The article also notes:

Those who had used Bank of America accounts to purchase a firearm, regardless of when or where the transaction took place, were bumped to the top of that list.

The article includes a possible solution to this obvious invasion of privacy:

However, in a Nov. 16 letter to Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, informing him of the subpoena, Mr. Jordan, who also chairs the Weaponization Select Subcommittee, wrote that, “it is unclear what ‘legal’ process permits the FBI or BoA to share the sensitive customer information of potentially thousands of BoA customers and implicate them in a federal law enforcement investigation without any clear criminal nexus.”

After all, the Ohio congressman wrote, “If such a lawful authority exists, as BoA asserts, for BoA to freely share private financial information without any legal process or specific nexus to criminality, Congress has a responsibility to consider reforms that adequately protect Americans’ information.”

This is something to keep an eye on.

The Court Gets It Right

Posted on by

On November 10th, The Epoch Times reported that the Minnesota Supreme Court has refused to take a case designed to remove President Trump from the ballot.

The article reports:

The Minnesota Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit that sought to keep former President Donald Trump off the state’s Republican primary ballot on Wednesday, after having heard arguments on whether they should take the case.

In a brief opinion and order written by Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, the justices said the petition was dismissed without prejudice.

Free Speech for People, a liberal group, had sued on behalf of eight local voters, arguing that the secretary of state putting President Trump on the ballot would be an “error.”

The article notes the reason the group has tried to remove President Trump from the ballot:

The 14th Amendment grants citizenship and equal rights to all persons born or naturalized in the United States. Ratified after the Civil War, it also included a section that prohibited those who had participated in “rebellions” or “insurrections” against the nation from holding office.

The Minnesota petition argued that, under section three of the 14th Amendment, President Trump is disqualified from holding elected office again because he engaged in an “insurrection.”

There are some problems with this. The most obvious is the fact that generally speaking insurrectionists have guns. The only people who had guns on January 6th were the police, and the only person who was shot that day was an innocent civilian. The second problem with this charge is the speech President Trump gave on that day. In his speech on January 6th, President Trump stated, “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.” Those are not the words of an insurrectionist.

There Seems To Be Something Of A Double Standard Here

Posted on by

On Monday, The American Thinker reported the following:

An account was published Sunday in the San Marcos Record of a massive late June raid on a couple in rural Hays County, Texas that resulted in no arrest. The scale of forces deployed and the tactics used seem designed to intimidate and punish, especially considering the fact that the couple never entered the US Capitol on June 6, and were guilty only of being Trump supporters who were peacefully demonstrating.  

The article recounts the event:

Lora DeWolfe and Darrel Kennemer were startled when FBI agents, during the pre-dawn hours on June 22, broke through their gate leading up to their home which sits on seven acres in rural Hays County. (snip)

Kennemer, concerned, sprung out of bed, grabbed his AR-15 and stepped onto the porch wearing only his briefs.

The couple watched as several other vehicles, estimated between 20-30, poured onto the property, including one armored vehicle with a battering ram.

FBI agents demanded Kennemer “drop his rifle” as they exited the approaching vehicle. Kennemer responded asking if officials had a warrant, and to show him.

Agents instead began tossing a series of flashbang grenades at the 67-year-old after which Kennemer realized a group of targeting lasers on him that forced him to lay down his weapon.

The couple was placed into handcuffs, taken away from their house, and questioned while their home was being searched.

Kennemer said it wasn’t only members of the FBI present, but ATF and SWAT, too.

“All present I would say upwards of 100 agents, at an astronomical cost to the taxpayer, were on site,” Kennemer said. “The warrant wasn’t even a ‘no knock’ warrant. It could have been served with a simple knock on our door during daylight hours.”

This is abuse of power by the federal government. At the present moment, the Department of Justice is so out of control that they are willing to do this to anyone who is a Trump supporter. That is not America.

Meanwhile, Just the News reported the following on Monday:

The same U.S. Attorney’s office that has prosecuted scores of Jan. 6 protesters for trespassing and other crimes has declined to prosecute nine members of TV comedian Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show production team for unlawful entry into a congressional office building, Capitol Police announced Monday evening.

“The United States Capitol Police (USCP) has been working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia on the June 16, 2022, Unlawful Entry case that involved a group of nine people associated with The Late Show,” the department said in a press release.

“The United States Capitol Police was just informed the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia is declining to prosecute the case,” they added.

Capitol Police said they arrested the nine producers on unlawful entry charges, saying “members of the group had been told several times before they entered the Congressional buildings that they had to remain with a staff escort inside the buildings and they failed to do so.”

So a couple that did not enter the Capitol building on January 6th has their house invaded by the FBI with a SWAT team, and a group that entered the Capitol unlawfully is not charged. Meanwhile, some prisoners who were arrested in connection with January 6th are still sitting in jail with no bail and no trial.

If we don’t begin to undo this in the November election, we will no longer have a country.

Something Rotten In Denmark?

Posted on by

On June 30, The Epoch Times reported that George Tenney III, 35, of Anderson, South Carolina, pleaded guilty to opening the inner Capitol Rotunda doors during the breach on Jan. 6, 2021. But there are a few problems with this plea.

The article reports:

Federal prosecutors have charged a number of defendants, including members of the Oath Keepers, with “breaching” this entrance to the Capitol.

However, neither the huge bronze Columbus Doors on the outside, nor the magnetically secured inner doors can be opened from the outside.

Security video shows Tenney standing in the east foyer of the Rotunda and looking off-camera as if listening to someone.

Even though the inner doors can be opened in an emergency by holding the door handle down for three seconds, Tenney was able to open the left door as soon as he touched it, the video shows.

“A police officer who was outside tried to push [the doors] closed and Tenney resisted pushing against the door to try to keep it open,” the Department of Justice said in a news release.

“An employee of the House Sergeant-at-Arms then ran towards Tenney, pushing him aside in an effort to close the door.”

After assisting protesters coming through the door, “Tenney ultimately had to be pulled back inside so that the Rotunda Doors could be closed to keep other rioters from entering,” the DOJ said.

“He then retreated to the Rotunda and exited the Capitol through a window at approximately 2:32 p.m.”

The article concludes:

Despite Tenney’s admission of guilt as part of a plea bargain, serious questions remain about the Columbus Doors and who opened them, allowing crowds to stream inside the Rotunda.

The ornate doors are 17 feet tall and weigh 20,000 pounds.

Video evidence from the east side of the Capitol shows the Columbus Doors were wide open as crowds first approached the steps leading to the Rotunda on Jan. 6.

Just before the police line on the steps was breached by protesters, video shows the bronze doors were closed, and they remained so as crowds gathered outside the entrance. It is not clear why they were opened again, and by whom.

I wonder if someone who was out-of-sight was instructing Tenney on how to open the doors. If so, why?

The article notes:

Tenney faces up to five years in prison on the civil disorder charge and 20 years on the obstruction charge. He will be sentenced on Oct. 20.

It will be interesting to see how his sentence compares to the sentences already given. We already know how it compares to the non-existent sentences given to actual rioters in the summer of 2020.

The Current State Of Justice In America

Posted on by

Trending Politics posted an article yesterday about a recent attempted break-in at the U.S. Capitol.

The article quotes a Fox News article:

“Fox confirms that group of persons associated with The Late Show Stephen Colbert were arrested last night and charged with illegal entry to House office buildings after hours. Fox is told the people were arrested in the Longworth House Office Building.”

Well, one Fox News Channel co-host, Jeanine Pirro, sounded off on how those Colbert staffers are being treated in comparison with the January 6th protesters that have been locked up for months, many of them in solitary confinement, saying during a recent episode of “The Five”:

“This was the same charge levied against the vast majority of those arrested on January 6th. A lot of those people have been in solitary confinement for months.

…Jesse Watters raised questions about the incident as well, saying:

“Over the weekend you probably didn’t hear much about last week’s insurrection at the Capitol. Seven people and a menacing dog were caught stalking the halls of the Capitol harassing and intimidating members of Congress and backing on doors late at night.

Capitol police arrested them on Thursday. Held them in jail overnight and charged them with unlawful entry. The same charge many of the January 6th rioters are facing. Why haven’t we seen their mug shots? What about the video of their arrest? We have got every angle from January 6th but nothing from last week? How is this different? Because these seven guys work for the former comedian turned Biden super fan Stephen Colbert. Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and his team broke the rules and were messing around during the January 6th hearings. Apparently this was a follow-up to this bit from 2020.”

Until Americans start speaking out about the mistreatment of the January 6th protesters that are still in jail without being tried (a violation of their civil rights), the situation will not change. Please find your voice and call your congressman.

Is This A Logical Outcome?

Posted on by

Peaceful protest is part of the American culture. Unfortunately in recent years, protesters have forgotten the peaceful part.  We had problems in the sixties and the seventies when the Capitol Building was bombed by Barack Obama’s friend Bill Ayers and various other buildings were bombed. We had problems in 2020 when cities were burned to the ground. But overall, we have generally managed to keep our protests peaceful. However, we might want to look at what our more violent protests have taught our children.

On Friday, The Federalist posted an article about Quintez Brown, a 21-year-old Black Lives Matter activist.

The article reports:

Quintez Brown, a 21-year-old Black Lives Matter activist, allegedly marched into the office of Louisville, Ky., mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg on Valentine’s Day and opened fire, sending a bullet through Greenberg’s clothing before fleeing the scene. Despite the story’s shock value, corporate media can’t be bothered to do much reporting on the story — and we all know exactly why.

Despite Brown’s history as a BLM activist and his flirtation with black nationalism on social media, most media outlets have shrugged off his motive for the shooting with a “who knows?” or even tried to pin it on Republicans. Brown was also a vocal gun-control advocate and was interviewed by Joy Reid on MSNBC at an anti-gun march in 2018.

The article continues:

The Las Vegas Sun completely whitewashed Brown’s far-left associations, asininely writing that “While there’s been no indication yet that the activist had ties to any right-wing organizations, the shooting comes amid a rise in threats against politicians fueled by increasingly violent rhetoric coming from extremist Republicans.” After backlash, the Sun tweaked the sentence to admit, “[I]t’s been reported that the activist was involved in the Black Lives Matter and gun-safety movements” — but still followed the line with the original sentence in its entirety rather than issuing a correction.

ABC simply called Brown a “social justice activist,” and after the local BLM chapter helped bail him out, David Muir vaguely referred to the group as a “community organization.”

My first question is, “What is an anti-gun advocate doing with a gun?” Again, please notice that this murder was attempted to be used by the media to smear people who hold conservative beliefs.

 

The Roots Of January 6th

Posted on by

The Constitution does not grant us our rights–it specifically states that our rights come from God. The Constitution is there to protect those rights. Unfortunately, many of our leaders have forgotten that. Those on the political left have begun to use our federal agencies as an arm of the Democrat party. They have also learned to use the media to blunt the blow when information about their questionable activities is about to come out.

Yesterday American Greatness posted an article that noted the role played by The New York Times in downplaying the pending indictment against Michael Sussman. Sussman, as you probably remember, was instrumental in getting the idea that Donald Trump was colluding with the Russians out into the public square. Well, The New York Times is at it again.

The article reports:

On Saturday, the Times published a carefully constructed bombshell intended to soften the blow of an explosive scandal in the making: the FBI had at least one informant among the group of Proud Boys who marched on the Capitol on January 6. The informant, according to “confidential documents” furnished to the paper, started working with the FBI in July 2020 and was in close contact with his FBI handler before, during, and after the Capitol protest. 

“After meeting his fellow Proud Boys at the Washington Monument that morning, the informant described his path to the Capitol grounds where he saw barriers knocked down and Trump supporters streaming into the building, the records show,” reporters Alan Feuer and Adam Goldman (the Times reporter most responsible for priming the ground for news that was unfavorable to the Russia collusion narrative) wrote on September 25. “In a detailed account of his activities contained in the records, the informant, who was part of a group chat of other Proud Boys, described meeting up with scores of men from chapters around the country at 10 a.m. on Jan. 6 at the Washington Monument and eventually marching to the Capitol. He said that when he arrived, throngs of people were already streaming past the first barrier outside the building, which, he later learned, was taken down by one of his Proud Boy acquaintances and a young woman with him.”

In other words, one of the informant’s Proud Boy “acquaintances” was removing temporary barriers to allow a crowd to enter the restricted grounds around the building.

Sounds legit.

The article also notes that there was another informant who took part in the sacking of the Capitol.

The article concludes with the following story:

In fact, after Beattie’s articles posted in June, Alan Feuer, the same reporter who co-authored this weekend’s spin story, wrote a piece disclosing Rhodes had been interviewed by the FBI in May. (Feuer’s article, conveniently, was posted after FBI Director Wray testified twice on Capitol Hill this week.)

Further, in my interview with him this week, Thomas Caldwell, one of the first people arrested in the Oath Keepers case, told me Rhodes approached him during a Stop the Steal rally in Virginia last November. Rhodes told Caldwell the Oath Keepers provided security for conservatives and asked if he’d be interested in assisting in the future.

Caldwell gave Rhodes his contact information, which led to Rhodes connecting Caldwell with other Oath Keepers; plans were made to travel to D.C. and meet near the Capitol after Trump’s speech on January 6.

Caldwell’s home was raided and he was arrested on January 19, just two weeks after the protest. Prosecutors already had a trove of evidence against Caldwell, which is highly curious considering Caldwell never entered the building and was charged with no violent crime.

How did the government get Caldwell’s information so quickly? It certainly suggests the involvement of someone working on the inside, someone who immediately provided investigators with incriminating evidence.

Someone like an FBI informant.

One thing is certain; the Times damage-control article is just the tip of the FBI iceberg. And more proof January 6 was an inside job.

How are the actions of the FBI considered Constitutional?

When Our Justice System Is Unjust

Posted on by

The Epoch Times posted an article today about the treatment of some of the people who entered the Capitol Building on January 6th.

The article reports:

A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld the pretrial detention of a Capitol breach suspect largely on the basis of his past history of “violent language” though he did not commit acts of violence, potentially making it harder for other defendants accused in connection with the Jan. 6 incident to secure release ahead of their trials.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C Circuit on July 7 upheld a lower court ruling ordering the pretrial detention of Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, who faces both felony and misdemeanor charges in connection with the Jan. 6 incident, including for allegedly entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct, though he is not accused of committing violent acts.

In an opinion (pdf), Judge Robert Wilkins said that the appeals court concluded that the non-violent nature of Hale-Cusanelli’s alleged offenses weighed “just slightly” in favor of release, as did his lack of criminal history, but that this was outweighed by factors including “overwhelming” evidence against him in the case, as well as a “well-documented history of racist and violent language” and that he “has been generally engaged in hateful conduct, if not necessarily violent conduct.”

Note that the Judge considers ‘hateful conduct’ a reason to deny the pretrial release request. The man has no criminal history and was not accused of committing violence. He is essentially being held for ‘thought crimes.’ Contrast this with the dismissal of the cases against most of the people who were burning down major American cities last summer. Something is very wrong here.

The article concludes:

It is unclear how the district court’s new ruling might affect other Capitol breach defendants, with several dozen remaining in pretrial custody of the more than 535 arrested and charged in connection with the incident.

It comes as former President Donald Trump on Wednesday spoke at a press conference at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, criticizing how Capitol breach defendants were being treated.

“People are being treated unbelievably unfairly,” Trump said. “When you look at people in prison and nothing happens to Antifa and they burned down cities and killed people,” he said, referring to last summer’s unrest in the wake of the police-custody death of George Floyd.

“There were no guns at the Capitol,” Trump said, “except for the gun that shot Ashli Babbitt,” referring to the military veteran shot and killed by a Capitol police officer during the Jan. 6 incident.

At the same time, two high-profile conservative legal activists are claiming the Department of Justice (DOJ) is using a double standard in its treatment of Capitol breach suspects, compared to those who were arrested during last summer’s riots.

Why Is Washington, D.C. Becoming An Armed Camp?

Posted on by

Washington, D.C. right now is an armed camp. Logically this makes no sense. Last summer when rioters tried to burn down a church near the White House, the Mayor complained when the President removed the rioters. Now the acting Washington, D.C. Chief of Police wants to put permanent fencing around the Capitol. These are the same people who said that fences (and walls)  don’t work.

The Conservative Treehouse reported the following today:

The reality of DC elites demanding walls to protect them from the common American is a stunning shift in outlook from when the U.S. Capitol used to be considered “the people’s house.”   Alas the voices are now asking for exactly that… a permanent fence to keep the American people away from those who run government.

The article quotes an NBC News article:

The acting chief of U.S. Capitol Police called for permanent fencing around the Capitol building days after she said that the department “failed” in its efforts to protect the sprawling complex on Jan. 6 when rioters stormed the building.

“In light of recent events, I can unequivocally say that vast improvements to the physical security infrastructure must be made to include permanent fencing, and the availability of ready, back-up forces in close proximity to the Capitol,” Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman said in a statement.

The move would be a striking shift from the accessibility many Americans have enjoyed over the years visiting the grounds of “The People’s House,” such as sitting on the lawn in front of the building, accessing the trails and green spaces around the building and field trips to the steps of the Capitol by schoolchildren.

What happened on January 6th was awful. However, this is totally an overreaction. Where were these people a couple of years ago when Steve Scalise was shot? Where were these people when there were riots throughout the country last summer? Where are these people while riots continue in Portland?

This is a waste of taxpayer money. It is all for show. It is an attempt to create the narrative that conservatives are dangerous. Meanwhile, we are finding out that what happened on January 6th had little to do with conservatives.

The article at The Conservative Treehouse includes the following picture:

 

 

 

Looking For Answers

Posted on by

The Daily Wire posted the following today:

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) demanded answers Friday after video emerged on social media that seemingly depicts Capitol Police opening the doors to pro-Trump protesters and allowing them to ascend the steps to the Rotunda.

Tweeting out the video from OAN reporter Christina Bobb, Roy said, “We need answers from the Capitol Police and Congressional leadership. Now.”

As I have previously stated, this has all of the markings of a false flag operation.

The article continues:

The video shows demonstrators entering the Capitol, shuffling through the hallway, and making their way up the stairs as alarms sound and officers stand aside. One of the officers says, “I disagree with it, but…” The rest of the officer’s statement is unclear.

The Capitol Police are under intense scrutiny after Trump supporters sieged the complex Wednesday and got inside for about four hours, breaching both the House and Senate chambers. Legislators either escaped to a more secure location or sheltered in place. Protesters broke into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) office and made off with some of her belongings, including the speaker’s lectern.

The Department of Justice has warned that the intruders who stole computers and documents could also have snatched some national security secrets.

Several security officials at the Capitol have resigned after lawmakers publicly called for them to step down following the unprecedented security breach.

I seriously doubt we will be allowed to get to the bottom of this as it would expose people who have the power to remain unexposed. There were no heroes on Wednesday. There were a bunch of cowards and opportunists. Moving on will be difficult knowing that the fraud that occurred in the 2020 election will probably never be resolved and will occur again in the future.