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National security lawyer slams 'Trump Apology Land's' attacks on Cassidy Hutchinson's credibility
June 29, 2022
Allies of former President Donald Trump have been attacking January 6 committee witness Cassidy Hutchinson after it emerged that members of the United States Secret Service are disputing part of the testimony she delivered on Tuesday.
In particular, the Secret Service says it has people who are willing to testify under oath that former President Donald Trump never physically attacked a Secret Service officer in his attempts to go to the United States Capitol building where his supporters were gathering to riot.
National security attorney Bradley Moss, however, doesn't think that this particular detail matters when it comes to holding Trump criminally liable for the events of January 6, 2021, and he has written a lengthy Twitter thread in which he slams the excuses made for the former president by what he describes as "Trump apology land."
In particular, Moss says the most damning testimony from Hutchinson was about Trump's indifference to the fact that some of his supporters came to his "Stop the Steal" rally armed with weapons.
READ MORE: Conservative publication labels Trump 'unfit for power again' in scathing editorial
What's more, argues Moss, the fact that Trump still encouraged people to march to the Capitol even after learning some of them were armed leaves him legally vulnerable.
"Trump was clear before the speech he wanted to go to the Hill and march with the crowd," writes Moss. "Staff told him over and over he could not do it and promised the Hill he wouldn't. He told the 1/6 crowd anyway he was going to march with them, and USSS started making preparations to clear a path. Again, this is despite his awareness the crowd was armed, up to and including AR-15s... After the speech, Trump is told they're not marching with the crowd. Trump is pissed. He planned to march."
Given all this, concludes Moss, it would be reasonable to conclude that Trump at least wanted to have the threat of violence as a tool to intimidate Congress out of certifying the 2020 election results.
"That's it," he writes. "That's the criminal argument."
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The husband of slain Kenyan distance runner Agnes Tirop is seeking a plea bargain after initially denying a charge of murder, his lawyer said on Wednesday.
Tirop, a rising star in the world of athletics, was killed last October in her home in Iten, a high-altitude training hub in western Kenya for top runners.
Emmanuel Ibrahim Rotich was arrested after a dramatic late-night chase the day after Tirop's body was found with stab wounds, and has been in custody ever since.
The 41-year-old denied a charge of murder at a November court appearance.
But in the latest twist in the legal saga, his lawyer Ngigi Mbugua told the Eldoret High Court that Rotich was willing to plead guilty to a lesser charge in the hope of attracting a more lenient sentence.
The prosecution said it was not against the idea of a plea bargain but wanted Tirop's family to be involved in the process.
A hearing on Rotich's request will take place on September 22.
© 2022 AFP
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Legal experts urge House Select Committee to subpoena Ginni Thomas after she backs away from testifying
June 29, 2022
Legal experts are encouraging the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack to subpoena far right-wing activist and lobbyist Ginni Thomas, now that she is backing out from appearing barely weeks after saying she "looks forward" and "can't wait" to testify.
In an 8-page letter, her attorney says he needs "a better justification for why Mrs. Thomas’s testimony is relevant," The Washington Post reports.
The Committee has been interested in speaking with her since at least last summer but had declined to invite or subpoena Thomas, the spouse of a sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justice. After evidence of email correspondence between her and the infamous "coup memo" author John Eastman, the Committee said they would like to talk with her. She quickly told the right-wing Daily Caller she "can’t wait to clear up misconceptions. I look forward to talking to them."
Virginia Thomas, who goes by "Ginni," is a longtime and powerful name in Washington who actively, according to reports, pushed dozens of state and federal officials to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Her attorney says he sees no reason for her to speak with the Committee.
“Mrs. Thomas has expressed a willingness to try to come before the Committee as a means of clearing her name,” Thomas' attorney Mark Paoletta wrote in a letter, HuffPost adds. “But, based on my understanding of the facts … I do not believe there is currently a sufficient basis to speak with Mrs. Thomas.”
Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, now a law professor and MSNBC/NBC News legal analyst, is calling for Thomas to be subpoenaed.
"Thomas said she'd testify during the uproar," Vance said via Twitter. "Now, she's hoping to duck under the radar with so much other news. She should be subpoenaed like any other witness & if she fails to appear, treated like Bannon and Navarro, as she has no privilege to avoid testimony."
Attorney, MSNBC anchor, and legal analyst Katie Phang tweeted, "SUBPOENA her. Now."
Seth Abramson, an attorney and author said: "Only by issuing a subpoena to Ginni Thomas *now* does Congress have a chance of being able to work through her inevitable legal challenges and refer her to DOJ for a Criminal Contempt indictment *before* a possible handover of Congress to the insurrectionists in early 2023."
Miranda Yaver, PhD, a political science professor who teaches courses on law at Wheaton also tweeted, "Subpoena Ginni Thomas."
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