Canadian and US authorities have thwarted a terrorist plot and arrested several suspects, Canadian media said Monday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is scheduled to hold a press conference at 3:30 p.m. (1930 GMT) to provide details, while Canada's public broadcaster said federal police and intelligence agents, as well as their US counterparts, were involved in the investigation.
Donald Trump has shown an unusual interest for an ex-president in down-ballot races around the country -- often at odds with the Republican Party he continues to dominate.
The twice-impeached one-term president has endorsed seemingly random candidates in primary elections for state senate, secretary of state and even Staten Island borough president, but they all have have some type of link to his failed efforts to overturn his own 2020 election loss, reported Politico.
"Donald Trump is continuing to add to the chaos in the Republican Party [and] it's confusing the average Republican voter," said Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican critic who is not seeking re-election. "The only question that seems to matter when Trump is making his endorsements is: 'Are you with us on the election conspiracy stuff?' Not, 'Do you believe in smaller government? Do you support law enforcement? Do you believe in lower regulations?' Instead, it's, 'Are you with me?'"
Trump has endorsed state Rep. Mark Finchem, a QAnon conspiracist and "Stop the Steal" participant, for Arizona secretary of state and Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA) against Georgia's incumbent secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, who refused to help overturn his loss there, and he's also backing Georgia state Sen. Burt Jones, who asked Gov. Brian Kemp to call an emergency special session to overturn the state's election results, in the open GOP primary for lieutenant governor.
"[Trump's] early picks clearly come with a tinge of revenge," said John Sellek, a Michigan-based GOP consultant. "How the primaries turn out is still up in the air, due to redistricting and how the races evolve. But his impact on nominations decided at the state GOP convention is likely total and complete. We should expect more endorsements to come."
The former president has made so many endorsements in so many races that it's impossible to tell how much of an effect his backing will actually have, but the pattern is clear.
"Obviously, Trump is a score-settler," said Rep. Ryan Costello, a GOP critic who is considering a bid for Pennsylvania's open Senate seat. "Is Trump a kingmaker in a Republican primary? In many cases, yes. In a safe Republican seat, you'll have a certain type of candidate he endorses who will win. But in swing seats, you could have a Trump candidate win the primary and lose the general because Trump is so toxic. That doesn't bother Trump. But it's a problem when we want to win more seats in the midterm."
On Friday, POLITICO reported that former President Donald Trump's legal team is reviewing "hundreds" of documents from the National Archives and Records Administration requested by the House select committee on the January 6 Capitol attack, as part of their investigation — but that they are subject to the Biden administration's decision even if they try to block them.
"That move kicks off a process that will result in some tough decisions for Biden's White House counsel, both politically and legally," reported Betsy Woodruff Swan. "That's because the office will have to decide whether to sign off on any efforts from Team Trump to keep sensitive White House communications from becoming public."
"When it comes to document after document relevant to the Jan. 6 panel's expansive request, Biden White House lawyers will likely face the same tough dilemma: They can either send Congress the material over Trump's objections, entering unprecedented legal territory about the treatment of former presidents; or they can withhold materials from Hill allies, thereby stymieing investigators' access and potentially generating significant political fallout," continued the report.
The Capitol riot committee was created over the furious objections of Republicans in Congress, who killed a bipartisan 9/11 style commission and boycotted naming their own members, although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) installed two Republicans on the committee anyway. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has even threatened telecommunications companies with retaliation if they comply with subpoenas to turn over phone records from Republican members of Congress, a threat some experts have said could be illegal.
Trump, for his part, has attacked the committee from day one, referring to their work as "pathetic" and speaking favorably of the rioters who broke into the Capitol in response to his "Stop the Steal" conspiracy theories.
A federal judge says so-called QAnon shaman Jacob Chansley has become a "mascot" for the conspiracy theory group — adding that if he is released from jail, his supporters could quickly raise money for him to flee.
U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth made the statements in a decision ordering that Chansley, a Capitol insurrectionist who pleaded guilty earlier this month, will remain behind bars until he is sentenced.
Lamberth said although Chansley's attorney claims he has "repudiated" QAnon, he has not "personally indicated as such to this court."
"Still, regardless of any repudiation, there is no doubt that he is a mascot for the QAnon movement," Lamberth wrote in the order filed last week. "Hundreds of attendees joined Chansley's September 3, 2021 plea-agreement hearing on the public access line, and at least once this Court's proceedings were interrupted with shouts of 'Freedom!'"
Lamberth said Chansley failed to show "clear and convincing evidence" that he is not likely to flee.
"Given his high-profile status as a member (or former member) of this group, the government has alleged he is able to 'quickly raise large sums of money for travel through non-traditional sources' and has previously 'demonstrated an ability to travel long distances using untraceable methods,'" Lamberth wrote, adding that Chansley's proposed "plan" for pre-sentencing release was inadequate – in part because it cites "family ties" including his mother, who believes he "has done nothing wrong" and is "innocently sitting in a prison cell."
"The court is pleased to see the evolution in Chansley's thinking from the virulent statements he made immediately after the January 6 Capitol riot ... to his acceptance of responsibility at his plea-agreement hearing. The court hopes that Chansley's change of heart is sincere," Lamberth wrote, adding that in another Jan. 6 case, his hopes were "dashed" when the defendant – one day after being sentenced — made comments that directly conflicted her "contrite" statements to the court.
"But the court is also disappointed that Chansley's acceptance of responsibility was not more fulsome," Lamberth wrote. "Harm befell the nation as a result of Chansley's actions. Given Chansley's serious crime — and the Court's general requirement to detain pre-sentencing defendants 'as a background rule' — it would take more than a perfunctory acknowledgement of contrition to convince the court that his change of heart decreased his flight risk."
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