Jeff Danziger lives in New York City. He is represented by CWS Syndicate and the Washington Post Writers Group. He is the recipient of the Herblock Prize and the Thomas Nast (Landau) Prize. He served in the US Army in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Air Medal. He has published eleven books of cartoons and one novel. Visit him at DanzigerCartoons.com.
Advertising
Start your day with National Memo Newsletter
Know first.
The opinions that matter. Delivered to your inbox every morning
Pat Cipollone
Youtube Screenshot
A federal grand jury has reportedly subpoenaed former Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone as the Department of Justice conducts its probe into the events of January 6, 2021.
First reported by ABC News, the unnamed sources cited were unclear about what track of the investigation Cipollone may have been asked to testify about, but it is widely reported there are two major prongs the Justice Department is reviewing: former President Donald Trump’s fraudulent gambit to advance fake electors in battleground states and conspiracy to obstruct government proceedings. It is possible the latter could involve seditious conspiracy.
During the hearings, Cipollone’s private testimony punctuated or corroborated other accounts from witnesses who were in close proximity to Trump as the path to January 6 unfolded.
He told the committee how he expressed his concern to Trump that his election fraud claims were not credible. He also urged Trump to concede the victory to now President Joe Biden. On the day of the attack, Cipollone recounted how he pleaded for an “immediate and forceful response, statement, [or] public statement that people need to leave the Capitol now” as Trump idled inside the White House as blood was shed.
Pat is saying to Meadows, they're literally calling for the vice president to be f-ing hung.
— Brandi Buchman (@Brandi_Buchman) June 28, 2022
You heard him Pat, he thinks Mike deserves it and he doesn't think they're doing anything wrong.
Cipollone says, this is f-ing crazy.
Cipollone witnessed discussions where the president and his advisers spoke of seizing voting machines as well as a bid by Trump to effectively capture the Justice Department by having a lackey lawyer at the agency, Jeffrey Clark, send letters to states proclaiming voter fraud where none existed. The attempt only failed after a host of senior-level Justice Department attorneys threatened a mass resignation.
The request for Cipollone to appear comes as other senior Trump administration officials have testified before a grand jury. Last week, Marc Short and Greg Jacob, the former chief of staff and counsel to ex-Vice President Mike Pence, reportedly went before one. Both Short and Jacob ultimately cooperated with the Jan. 6 committee.
Others in Trump’s circle who advanced efforts to overturn the 2020 election, like attorneys Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, and Jenna Ellis have come under increasing scrutiny by the DOJ. Federal agents have already seized Eastman’s phone and raided Clark’s house.
And according to court records, there appears to be some significant overlap: Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Windom, who appeared on the docket for the Eastman phone warrant, is also leading the department’s probe into the fake electors for Trump scheme.
Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.
Related Articles Around the Web
- Jan. 6 committee hearing: Hutchinson recalls Trump's fury on Jan. 6 ›
- Jan. 6 committee subpoenas Pat Cipollone, former WH counsel ... ›
- Jan. 6 committee subpoenas former White House counsel Pat ... ›
- Pat Cipollone: Federal grand jury subpoenas ex-Trump WH counsel ... ›
- Former White House counsel Cipollone subpoenaed by federal ... ›
Keep reading...
Show less
Blake Masters
Youtube Screenshot
Arizona Republicans chose millionaire venture capitalist Blake Masters on Tuesday to be their 2022 nominee for U.S. Senate, despite his history of overt racism and anti-LGBTQ bigotry.
Masters will face incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) in the November midterm elections.
Former President Donald Trump gave Masters his "Complete and Total Endorsement" in the Republican primary race. But even with Trump's backing, Masters only received about 39% of the vote against the rest of the GOP field, including Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and businessman Jim Lamon.
In June, Masters told the right-wing advocacy group FreedomWorks that he would be open to ending Social Security as we know it. In Arizona, roughly 18.3% of residents and 24.5% of voters are over the age of 65, according to U.S. Census data.
"We need fresh and innovative thinking," Masters said. "Maybe we should privatize Social Security, right? Private retirement accounts, get the government out of it."
Masters has repeatedly made bigoted comments.
On April 11, he told the right-wing Jeff Oravits Show podcast that America's gun violence problem was mostly a problem for people of color.
"We do have a gun violence problem in this country, and it's gang violence, right?" he baselessly argued. "It's gangs. It's people in Chicago, St. Louis shooting each other. Very often, you know, Black people, frankly. And the Democrats don't want to do anything about that."
Masters has frequently attacked LGBTQ rights.
He proposed a federal "Don't Say Gay" law based on Florida's bigoted law, claiming "your tax dollars should not fund radical gender ideology and weird sex instruction for children."
He also supports businesses denying service to LGBTQ customers.
He opposes same-sex marriage equality because marriage's "point is procreation and creating children."
Masters promises on his campaign website that he will "crack down on crime," especially "deadly mob violence." But he also touted the endorsement of Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who egged on the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection and then sold campaign coffee mugs commemorating his fist pump to the mobs storming the building.
His campaign has benefited from at least $15 million in super PAC donations from his former boss, the conservative tech billionaire Peter Thiel.
Thiel, who co-founded PayPal and Palantir Technologies, has extensive ties to white nationalists and co-wrote a 1998 book that claimed, "The purpose of the rape crisis movement seems as much about vilifying men as about raising 'awareness.'" Thiel apologized for the "insensitive, crudely argued statements" in 2016.
Political experts rate this fall's Arizona Senate race a "toss-up."
Kelly, a former astronaut and the husband of former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ), was elected to the Senate in a 2020 special election. He says he is seeking a full term "because Washington is broken and Arizonans deserve independent leadership focused on solving the problems we face."
Reprinted with permission from American Independent.
Related Articles Around the Web
- GOP Senate Candidate Blake Masters Threatens to Sue Arizona ... ›
- Blake Masters Is Peter Thiel's Dream Candidate—and a Total ... ›
- Races to Watch in Arizona's Aug. 2 Primary | Elections | US News ›
- Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters embraces Trump's extreme ... ›
- Arizona Republicans nominate racist venture capitalist Blake ... ›
Keep reading...
Show less
