Social media drove many of the Capitol rioters to engage in violent actions to overturn former president Donald Trump's election loss, and social media also helped implicate many of them in criminal activity.
House impeachment managers intend to use video posted on social media from the Jan. 6 attack as evidence against the former president, whose Senate trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 9, and Facebook and Twitter posts has helped authorities make charges against 170 alleged participants in the riot.
"I just know that when I saw this was happening I was afraid he would be there," said the ex-wife of retired Air Force Reserve officer Larry Brock, according to an affidavit. "I think you already know he was there. It is such a good picture of him and I recognize his patch."
Social media also played a major role in the attack's planning, and relatives of those charged say that Facebook and other platforms sent participants on a path of increasing political radicalization before they charged into the Capitol to undo the election results.
"He's been a lot more, I don't want to say aggressive, but a lot more scared," said 18-year-old Jackson Reffitt, who turned in his father Guy Reffitt to authorities.
The elder Reffitt got involved with "far-right extremist" groups online, according to his son, who said his father's social media activity "snowballed" into violent actions.
"He would never say the stuff he did to me a couple of years ago," Jackson Reffitt said, "not once would he even think about something like that."
A bottle of whiskey or a chew toy for dogs? Unless you've had too much to drink from said bottle, it's admittedly difficult to confuse the two.
US distillery Jack Daniel's is suing a dog products maker, however, arguing that its plastic squeaky toy called Bad Spaniels, which resembles the famous black label whiskey bottle, is violating copyright law.''
It also takes issue with toilet humor on the label.
The case going in front of the Supreme Court on Wednesday may have wider ramifications for how copyright law is applied in the United States as its nine judges weigh whether free speech trumps intellectual property rights.
In its suit against Arizona-based VIP Products, Jack Daniel's says that not only is the rectangle-shaped plastic bottle visually similar to its famous whiskey, but that Bad Spaniels is also hurting the reputation of Jack Daniel's with tasteless jokes.
While the label on the Tennessee whiskey advertises a 40 percent alcohol content, Bad Spaniels is described as containing "43 percent poo" that may end up on your "Tennessee carpet."
"To be sure, everyone likes a good joke," Jack Daniel's said in a legal filing to the Supreme Court. "But VIP's profit-motivated 'joke' confuses consumers by taking advantage of Jack Daniel's hard-earned goodwill."
The spirits maker, which is owned by Kentucky-based Brown-Forman Corp., took legal action in 2014, when the dog toy appeared on the market. After an initial court victory, Jack Daniel's lost on appeal.
As the case made its way to the Supreme Court, Jack Daniel's was backed by other big American corporations, such as food giant Campbell, whose soup cans were featured in Andy Warhol's famous paintings, and clothes makers Patagonia and Levi Strauss, who argued that such humor can hurt their reputations.
But VIP Products is unconvinced.
"Freedom of speech begins with freedom to mock," the company said in a legal filing. "Objects of mockery, satire, or parody—government officials, artists, celebrities, iconic brands—may bristle at negativity or loss of control over public discourse, but they are the price of fame."
The Supreme Court must issue a ruling in the case before June 30.
© Agence France-Presse
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) has signaled a willingness to haul Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg into Congress to explain his investigation of former President Donald Trump's hush money payments to Stormy Daniels.
However, Washington Post columnist Greg Sargent believes "it’s not clear that Jordan... has thought this through," as this course of action could lead to a counteroffensive from Democrats.
Among other things, such hearings would constantly remind Americans that Trump paid money to an adult film star to cover up an affair he'd had shortly after his third wife had given birth to their son.
"If and when there is an indictment, we will be able to reconstruct all the facts of this case in a way that makes sense to the American public,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) tells Sargent.
RELATED: Trump bizarrely says charges against him 'can't be brought' in latest rant against Manhattan DA
Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY), meanwhile, tells Sargent that Jordan's actions will make it easy for Democrats to argue that House Republicans are "using the official power of Congress to effectively coordinate with a criminal defendant."
Sargent adds that he finds it very difficult to imagine that Republicans will really want to burn political capital defending Trump from such an unseemly scandal.
"But do vulnerable House Republicans really want to vote on a criminal referral for law enforcement, all to defend Trump from sleazy hush-money charges?" he asks. "It’s doubtful. Doing so could yoke the House GOP ever more tightly to Trump."
The Koch family's effort to sink Donald Trump's third re-election campaign is more of a last gasp than a return to form, according to insiders.
Americans for Prosperity are pledging $75 million to "turn the page" on Trump in the 2024 Republican primary, sources told Semafor, but some former staffers and allies inside the Koch network say the political machine that once rivaled the RNC no longer has much relevance within the conservative movement.
“I really think they lost focus, they lost drive," said Frayda Levin, a former AFP board member and a member of Club for Growth’s board. "It wasn’t clear anymore what they wanted to achieve. I really wonder what their mailing list is these days. My sense is that there’s not a whole lot of energy, that they’re trying to recreate something that isn’t there.”
The GOP has shifted away from AFP's positions on a variety of topics, including immigration, since Trump's rise, and some question whether the organization will survive remaining founder Charles Koch when he retires or passes away, following the 2019 death of his brother David.
READ MORE: Trump's 11th-hour attempt to thwart New York indictment blows up in his face: analysis
AFP has tried to cultivate a post-partisan brand in recent years, while still lobbying for economically conservative bills in GOP state legislatures, but the changes Trump has foisted on the Republican Party has undercut their influence -- despite protests from organization leaders.
“AFP was more effective on every measure than it had ever been: more activists, more effective and successful policy engagement, including economic issues, and greater financial stability,” said former AFP president Nancy Pfotenhauer. “It’s remarkable what they have done in the states. And as you know, states lead federal efforts on the policy front.”
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