Writer comes forward with new sexual harassment allegations against Rev. Jesse Jackson
November 07, 2017
James Sasso, a lawyer who helped investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, explained how so many people were deceived and radicalized into attacking one of the greatest symbols of American democracy, in an interview published at VICE on Sunday.
"You’re concerned about the regular, everyday people who distrusted government so much they followed Trump and attacked," said reporter Todd Zwillich. "We have a long history of distrust in government in this county. But it doesn’t always result in a mob trying to stop the peaceful transfer of power, or the bombing of a federal building. So what’s different here?"
"You’re right, distrusting government isn’t new at all. But what’s changed that can make it worse?" said Sasso. "Clearly social media, the way algorithms amplify information, has warped and heightened distrust. If you lean conspiratorial, this model will keep pushing you further down a rabbit hole and eventually, you believe in QAnon. On top of that, income inequality is as bad or worse than in the Gilded Age. And there’s a lot of research that shows income inequality drives polarization and it drives people who feel left out to distrust what government is doing. Racial animus is layered on top of that, clearly. So there’s all these things happening at once to make people open to being hijacked by opportunistic politicians like Donald Trump."
Sasso made clear he wasn't excusing the rioters, or blaming the whole thing on the "economic anxiety" trope. "I don’t think we can afford to ignore people who do feel left out in that way," he said. "It’s just that the explanation for why they’re left out isn’t always as simple as 'blue collar worker in Ohio lost a job to globalization.' It’s also very likely a rich person in Georgia, who harbors racial animus for a long time and found an outlet.
Almost 1,000 people have been charged, convicted, or taken plea deals in connection with the Capitol attack as of this writing — with the offenses ranging from misdemeanor unlawful picketing and trespassing, to assaulting law enforcement officers, to seditious conspiracy charges for the higher-ups in the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers groups.
Trump was impeached for a second time based on inciting the insurrection, on his way out of office. He is now facing a special counsel investigation into his role in the plot to overturn the 2020 election.
Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) revealed that the spy balloons that happened under Donald Trump were never discussed outside of the Pentagon.
Fox reported that the former president and his national security officials never had spy balloons that came over the United States under his administration. According to Waltz, the Pentagon is saying that there have been spy balloons over the U.S. in the past, including some over Florida that he said he was previously told about.
"I don't ever recall somebody coming into my office or reading anything that the Chinese had a surveillance balloon above the United States," former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told CNN. "I would remember that for sure."
According to the report, a senior administration official told Fox Sunday that "U.S. intelligence, not the Biden administration, but U.S. intel assesses PRC government surveillance balloons transited the continental U.S. briefly at least three times during the prior administration and once that we know of at the beginning of this administration, but never for this duration of time."
That confirms what Waltz had posted earlier on Sunday morning.
"The Office of the Secretary of Defense has informed my office that several Chinese balloon incidents have happened in the past few years - including over Florida. Why weren’t they shot down?" he asked. "And according to several Trump Admin national security officials - they were never informed of these intrusions by the Pentagon."
It's unknown why the Pentagon would not have informed the top officials, but it could be why the former president would have asserted that nothing like that happened under his leadership.
Waltz, a former Green Beret, hasn't revealed any further details what he was told in the past Chinese spying.
Fox cited Defense Secretary Chris Miller, who said that he'd "never heard of a Chinese spy balloon while he was in government." He served as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
A simple search turned up at least one incident of a Chinese spy balloon over India in 2019 from Tibet. Other balloons have now been spotted over Columbia and Costa Rica, CNN reported Sunday afternoon.
It's unclear whether the Pentagon will answer questions publicly on past balloons or whether that information is considered to be classified.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani criticized President Joe Biden for not using secret evaporation weapons on a suspected Chinese spy balloon to "make it melt."
On his Sunday WABC radio program, Giuliani argued that Biden should have disregarded military advice, instead shooting down the balloon over U.S. soil.
"You need a president when you're in a war," he said. "We don't have a president. And we have people around him that are either weaklings, dummies, crooks, or communists. So, it is completely outrageous for a Chinese balloon to be on one inch of American territory."
"And if by now, we can't shoot down a Chinese balloon without danger to ourselves, shame on us!" he bellowed. "What are we doing with all that money? We can't shoot it down without danger to ourselves."
Giuliani recalled the September 11 attack when he said terrorists "evaporate[d] the World Trade Center."
"They can make it go away, make it melt," he complained. "And we can't shoot a balloon down and make it melt? Don't give me this stuff! This is where you need a president."
Listen to the audio clip below from WABC. You can also listen to it at this link.
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