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Trump to pardon a corrupt NY politician -- prosecutor says it is proof of his empathy: report
January 18, 2021
President Donald Trump is considering a wave of pardons during his final days in office.
"Those under consideration include such disparate figures as Sheldon Silver, the disgraced former New York Assembly speaker, and the rapper Lil Wayne, who pleaded guilty last month to a gun charge. Rudolph W. Giuliani says he does not expect one, and Stephen K. Bannon's chances seem to have dimmed," The New York Times reported Monday.
<p>"Among those under consideration for a pardon or a commutation is Mr. Silver, who was convicted twice on corruption charges and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/20/nyregion/sheldon-silver-sentencing-prison.html" target="_blank" title="">sentenced to prison last summer</a>, two people briefed on the discussions said. Mr. Silver was prosecuted by Preet Bharara when he was the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Bharara was fired by Mr. Trump in 2017, and has since become an outspoken critic of the president's handling of the Justice Department," the newspaper noted.</p><p>Bharara offered his analysis on Twitter, arguing it was proof of Trump's empathy.</p><p>"People who say Trump has no empathy are wrong. He has the utmost empathy for degenerate, corrupt, disgraced politicians who perhaps remind him of himself," Bharara argued.</p><p><br/></p><p><br/></p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d22b1d57f98587a48b253c9288b1a59a" id="9dbd8"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1351317988356591621"><div style="margin:1em 0">People who say Trump has no empathy are wrong. He has the utmost empathy for degenerate, corrupt, disgraced politic… https://t.co/8QqOohRTRh</div> — Preet Bharara (@Preet Bharara)<a href="https://twitter.com/PreetBharara/statuses/1351317988356591621">1611014289.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Texas man arrested after threat he'd 'overpower any standing army' upon returning to the Capitol
January 18, 2021
Troy Anthony Smocks allegedly attended the Capitol Hill insurrection and threatened to return, this time with weapons. It's unclear if Smocks was on an FBI list of wanted suspects prior to his public declaration, but he was arrested last week after making his most recent threats.
The New York Daily News reported Monday that the Dallas man made the statement on Jan. 6 after the Capitol attack, which killed five people.
<p>After returning to Texas, Smocks posted on Parlor: "So over the next 24 hours, I would say lets get our personal affairs in order. Prepare our weapons, and then go get'em. Lets hunt these cowards down like the Traitors that each of them are. This includes RINOS, Dems, and Tech Execs. We now have the green light. [All] who resist US are enemies of Our Constitution, and must be treated as such. Today, the cowards ran as We took the Capital. They have it back now, only because We left. It wasn't the building that We wanted. . . it was them!"</p><p>Federal court documents cite his Parler account as "'ColonelTPerez' or @Colonel007," despite having not served in the armed forces or law enforcement. The posts were seen at least 54,000 times, the affidavit says. Documents also revealed that he has several aliases Troy Perez, Tony Sanders, Kenneth Harris and Vincent Shelton.</p><p>Smocks appears to have a complicated past attempting to create a false identity and forging an armed forces ID card among other things, <a href="https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/dallas-man-in-custody-following-capitol-riot/2529788/" target="_blank">NBC DFW reported</a>. </p><p>"In 2010, he sued the federal government, naming Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid as defendants. In the suit, he challenged whether anti-terrorism law is constitutional," the report also said. </p><p>According to travel records, Smocks did travel from Texas to Washington, D.C. on Jan 5 and intended to flee the United States on Friday. </p><p>he has been "charged with threats in interstate commerce, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison," said NYDN.<br/></p><p><a href="https://nypost.com/2021/01/18/tx-man-busted-in-threat-to-return-to-capitol-with-weaponsd" target="_blank">Read the full report. </a></p>
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Giuliani was able to have his vote counted because of process he hypocritically bashed: CNN
January 18, 2021
On Monday, CNN's KFILE reported that Rudy Giuliani voted with a provisional ballot — a practice he publicly opposed during the Trump team's effort to overturn the results of the presidential election.
According to Em Steck and Andrew Kaczynski, Giuliani was forced to do this because his name was missing from the voter rolls when he showed up at a Manhattan precinct to cast his ballot.
<p>"Giuliani's registration was moved to his Long Island home in August and his registration in New York City was purged in September. Giuliani told CNN he did not know why his registration was moved to his Long Island home in August and contested that he changed his registration at all," said the report. "Giuliani swore in an affidavit oath that he was registered to vote in the Manhattan district and cast his ballot there. A New York City Board of Elections official told CNN the vote would count, citing a provision in the state's election law."</p><p>Giuliani denies that he ever changed his address, and claims this whole episode suggests possible fraud among election workers in New York.</p><p>However, in the immediate aftermath of the election, Giuliani tried to cite the number of provisional ballots being cast in Pennsylvania as evidence that Biden's victory was fraudulent.</p><p>"To give you another example, we have 17,000 provisional ballots cast in Pittsburgh," said Giuliani at one event. "Do you know what a provisional ballot is? Provisional ballot usually happens [sic] this way, and about 15 of the 17,000 happened this way: you walk in and you say, 'I'm here to vote today.' 'Oh, Mr. Giuliani, you already voted.' 'I did? I don't remember voting.' 'Oh, yes. Yes. You cast an absentee ballot.' 'No, I didn't.' 'Yes, you did.' 'No, I didn't.' 'Yes, you did.'"</p><p>Even Trump's Justice Department <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2020/11/bill-barrs-justice-department-wants-nothing-to-do-with-rudy-giulianis-crazy-election-accusations-report/" target="_blank">refused</a> to pursue Giuliani's provisional ballot conspiracy theory.</p>
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