U.S. News

On Wednesday, CNN reported that allies of former President Donald Trump are hoping to set up an "audit" of the vote count in Georgia similar to the controversial and much-maligned GOP "audit" going on in Arizona.

"A day after Trump said in a statement that Georgia should follow Arizona's lead, former Georgia state Rep. Vernon Jones, a Trump supporter who is challenging incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in next year's GOP primary, proposed an audit Wednesday," reported Eric Bradner. In the statement, Jones said, "If Mr. Kemp refuses to demand an audit, then I will when I am elected to replace him" — even though Georgia did, in fact, conduct an audit and did not find evidence of fraud.

On Wednesday's edition of CNN's "The Situation Room," as the House took the vote to pass the bill to establish a January 6th Commission on the Capitol riot, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), a conservative Trump opponent who voted for the measure, speculated that some Republicans who voted against it are still afraid of Trump tweets — even though he's banned from Twitter.

"I think it's an easy vote," said Kinzinger. "We need answers. We need to take ownership of what was done, what led to it. This was an attack on our democracy and an attack on the number 2, 3, 4 person in line of secession for the presidency. It was the right vote. I'm pleased by the number of my colleagues that voted so far. I wish it was significantly higher. But I think, given all of the people that came out against it, it's a positive number."

President Donald Trump's former lawyer made a startling prediction speaking with MSNBC's Joy Reid on Wednesday: the former president will flip on everyone to save himself, even his own children.

Cohen explained that while the Trump Org. may seem like a large company, it's nothing more than a "glorified mom-and-pop company."

On CNN Wednesday, tax expert and Pulitzer Prize-winning Trump biographer David Cay Johnston broke down the significance of the criminal tax investigation into Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg — and the legal implications for the former president.

"Weisselberg and the Trump family go back to the 1970s. Forty years, as we know," said anchor Erin Burnett. "A former Trump employee told CNN, 'Allen knows where all the financial bodies are buried.' Trump's former longtime attorney Jay Goldberg once told me, in terms of the money trail, 'Donald could be hurt, I believe, a great deal by Allen Weisselberg.' What do you think, David, does he stay loyal here no matter what, or does he turn on Trump?"

Speaking to MSNBC's Ari Melber on Wednesday, former Trump Organization executive Barbara Res said that in her opinion, CFO Allen Weisselberg has flipped on former President Donald Trump.

"I think Weisselberg is very concerned about his kids," said Res. "I think that what they're doing is the kind of thing they did with [retired Lt. Gen. Michael] Flynn. Remember his kid? I don't think Weisselberg will let his son go to jail. So that's what he's doing."

On Wednesday, CNN reported that Allen Weisselberg, the long-time CFO of the Trump Organization and a critical figure close to former President Donald Trump's family and finances, is at the heart of a criminal tax fraud investigation by the New York attorney general's office.

"The pressure on Weisselberg is mounting from two directions with the attorney general looking into his personal taxes, while prosecutors in the district attorney's office are digging into his role at the Trump Organization, his personal finances, and benefits given to his son Barry, a long-time employee of the Trump Organization," reported Kara Scannell and Sonia Moghe.

On Wednesday, POLITICO reported that many House Republicans are angry at House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for blindsiding them when he came out publicly against the January 6th Commission. Some of them had already moved to support the measure after Democrats offered McCarthy his key demands on how to structure the inquiry.

Part of the issue, according to the report, is that the bill was co-written by a moderate Republican, Rep. John Katko of New York, who McCarthy had given imprimatur to negotiate for a bill acceptable to Republicans — which many thought he had made before McCarthy's sudden switch.

The House overwhelmingly approved the bill creating the Jan. 6 Commission modeled off of the 9/11 Commission after Republicans stood in opposition to the bipartisan panel.

The move came after the Capitol Police sent a letter to officials shaming them for refusing to stand in support of the cops who protected them.

On Wednesday's edition of CNN's "The Lead," former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara suggested that the Manhattan district attorney intends to bring charges in the criminal investigation of the Trump Organization before, according to rumors, he leaves office next year.

"The New York Attorney General Letitia James, she's essentially joining forces with the Manhattan district attorney, Cy Vance, this is his last year in office," said anchor Jake Tapper. "Does that mean that the end of this investigation might be near?"

Former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi, former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal and Donald Trump biographer Tim O'Brien all spoke to the new revelation that the New York attorney general joined the Manhattan D.A.'s case against the former president.

"I think Trump has misjudged his exposure here," said Figliuzzi. "There's hubris here and there's just bad gambling luck. So, with folks like [Paul] Manafort, [Roger] Stone, he believed that he could control them. That they were disloyal enough that he didn't trust them and needed to dangle the pardons. That he needed the pardons and commutations. I think he misjudged [CFO Allen] Weisselberg and others. I think he thought he was Teflon, this wouldn't happen. He was emboldened by [special counsel Robert] Mueller not going after his finances and I think he's misplayed this."

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) unleashed on Republicans during debate over the creation of the Jan. 6 Commission.

Screaming at the top of his lungs, Ryan said, "Benghazi, you guys chased the former SoS all over the country, spent millions of dollars. We have people scaling the Capitol, hitting the Capitol Police with lead pipes across the head, and we can't get bipartisanship. What else has to happen in this country?!"

On Wednesday, ahead of the congressional vote on the bill to establish the bipartisan January 6th Commission to investigate the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) gave a long-winded speech defending the Capitol rioters and demanding Congress investigate Black Lives Matter protesters instead.

"In this past year we have witnessed violent riots in American cities all over this country," said Greene. "There has not been a commission launched to study the reasons why that happened. There has not been an investigation to stop the BLM and Antifa riots that have hurt innocent people and attacked federal courthouses, taken over police departments, taken autonomous zones in the city of Portland and done damage to people all over the country."

Capitol Police officers issue a letter on their official letterhead saying that they have a "profound disappointment" with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for opposing the Jan. 6 Commission.

Citing the "physical trauma" and "mental anguish," the letter also acted as if the Republicans were using their opposition to the Commission to cover for GOP members.