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Marjorie Taylor Greene downplays speaking at a conference founded by white nationalist
Aaron Navarro - Yesterday 10:17 PM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/marjorie-taylor-greene-downplays-speaking-at-a-conference-founded-by-white-nationalist/ar-AAUotda?ocid=msedgntp
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia on Sunday downplayed her attendance and speaking slot at a fringe right-wing conference with ties to white nationalists earlier this weekend. She first told CBS News that she didn't know who the organizers of the event were and their views.
Greene, who was in Orlando, Florida, to attend and speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), was also a surprise guest miles away at the America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC). That event was organized by Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist who started the event in 2020. Fuentes attended the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville in 2017.
Congressman Paul Gosar of Arizona spoke at the same event in 2021 and sent in a pre-record 30-second clip to AFPAC this year. Former Congressman Steve King of Iowa, who was taken off the U.S. House committees for racist remarks, also spoke at this year's conference. Idaho Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin also attended.
Video of the conference on Saturday showed Fuentes and attendees cheering for Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as approving of comparisons between Putin and Adolf Hitler. Fuentes also called the attack on the U.S. Captiol on January 6 "awesome."
In her remarks at AFPAC, she said she was "tragically heartbroken" to be a member of this Congress and that "everything this Congress does—is evil."
Greene's attendance received criticism from a range of Republicans, including Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
"I don't know them, but I'm reminded of that old line from the 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' movie where - where one character says, 'Morons, I've got morons on my team.' And I have to think anybody that would sit down with White nationalists and speak at their conference was certainly missing a few IQ points," Romney told CNN on Sunday.
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a response that "white supremacy, neo-Nazism, hate speech and bigotry are disgusting and do not have a home in the Republican Party."
In a response on Sunday, Greene criticized "identity politics" and said outcry to her remarks is an attempt to "cancel" her and said she wouldn't do it to other Republicans "even if I find some of their statements tasteless, misguided or even repulsive at times."
"It doesn't matter if I'm speaking to Democrat union members or 1,200 young conservatives who feel cast aside and marginalized by society," Greene said in a statement. "The Pharisees in the Republican Party may attack me for being willing to break barriers and speak to a lost generation of young people who are desperate for love and leadership."
On Saturday at CPAC, Greene told CBS News she did not know about Fuentes' or the group's views. After being told they were a white nationalist group, she said she did not endorse those views.
"It wasn't an alignment. It was to talk about getting everyone together to save our country," she said.
The Republican Jewish Coalition quickly denounced Greene's attendance on Saturday and called her and Gosar's attendance "appalling and outrageous." Senator Rick Scott of Florida, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, criticized "racial politics" but added he "completely disagrees" with Greene's attendance.
"We were all born in this world in the image of god, and we all ought to have the same opportunities," he told CBS News at CPAC on Saturday. Scott has called for the elimination of asking for someone's race or ethnicity on any government form.
Other Republican members of Congress at CPAC either ignored questions about Greene, or said they hadn't heard of it.
While listing out allies in Congress during his remarks at CPAC on Saturday, former President Donald Trump also introduced Greene.
"A person who is very shy, does not like speaking her mind. But she does it anyway, Marjorie Taylor Greene," he said, to cheers in the crowd.
First Capitol riot trial set to open in D.C.
By Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney - 1h ago
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/first-capitol-riot-trial-set-to-open-in-d-c/ar-AAUpfvP?ocid=msedgntp
Nearly 14 months after a mob stormed the Capitol and threatened the certification of Joe Biden’s win in the presidential race, the first trial is set to open Monday for one of the more than 750 people charged in connection with the attack.
Jury selection is scheduled to get underway in U.S. District Court in Washington for Guy Reffitt, 49, a Texas oil rig worker facing five felony counts, including civil disorder, seeking to obstruct the Electoral College count, carrying a firearm into a restricted area and obstruction of justice.
In addition to being the first Jan. 6 defendant to go on trial, Reffitt holds another distinction: the only person known to have been turned in by one of his own children.
Before Reffitt even left his Texas home for the Jan. 6 event, his son Jackson had contacted the FBI to report the extremism exhibited by his father, who is alleged to be a member of a “Three Percenters” militia group. Prosecutors say they intend to play several audio recordings Jackson made on his cell phone of his father following the Jan. 6 attack.
The trial is the first test of the Justice Department’s effort to transform its massive Jan. 6 manhunt — one that officials say has been the most complex investigation in U.S. history — into arguments that will convince a D.C. jury to convict. Prosecutors have spent much of the last year collecting and synthesizing massive troves of evidence, much of it drawn from security camera footage, social media posts, text messages and videos taken by thousands of rioters as they breached the building. Merely organizing that evidence has taken the government months and led to protracted delays.
In the meantime, more than 200 rioters have pleaded guilty, primarily to misdemeanor offenses, and received sentences ranging from probation to six months in jail. A handful of felony defendants who pleaded guilty to crimes like police assault and obstruction have received sentences ranging between eight months and about five years in prison.
Reffitt’s trial will stand out, even among the most extreme Jan. 6 cases because of the role of his children — and a militia member that DOJ says has been granted immunity to testify against Reffitt.
Prosecutors said Jackson and his younger sister Peyton are expected to testify at the trial that their father urged them not to cooperate with the FBI.
“If you turn me in, you’re a traitor, and you know what happens to traitors … Traitors get shot,” Guy Reffitt said, according to prosecutors. They also allege he said to his daughter that if he found out that he was being recorded or his comments were posted on social media, he would put a bullet through her phone.
Those remarks led to the obstruction of justice charge Reffitt faces along with the obstruction of an official proceeding charge. Each carries a potential 20-year jail sentence. Prosecutors also intend to call several Capitol Police officers, FBI agents, a former Senate aide who was present on Jan. 6, and a Secret Service agent familiar with the movements of then-Vice President Mike Pence.
Reffitt’s attorney, William Welch, has dismissed his client’s comments as “idle threats,” and he has gotten some support for that view from Reffitt’s daughter Peyton.
During a bail hearing last March, Peyton Reffitt confirmed that her father made a reference to shooting traitors, but she did not view it as a threat.
“He said words that crossed the line, but I knew that there were no — there was zero intention behind those words,” Peyton Reffitt said then. “I mean, he says things that cross the line all the time, but I didn't feel threatened at all.”
Jackson didn’t testify at that hearing, but has done a series of interviews describing his outrage at his father’s actions and explaining his decision to turn his dad in. Jackson told ABC News that he did not think his father was actually going to shoot him, but he still felt intimidated.
“I think the way he’s been manipulated into thinking by these extremist groups and what’s been fed to him, it is worrying enough that I don’t know what he was going to do next.”
Video from the day of the riot shows a man prosecutors have said is Guy Reffitt wearing a blue jacket and a GoPro-type video camera clashing with police on the West Terrace of the Capitol. At one point, the man who appears to be Reffitt can be seen rinsing his eyes, apparently from the effects of tear gas deployed by rioters, police or both.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
@RepMTG
Since the media will lie about me, hear for yourself.
https://twitter.com/RepMTG/status/1497625943254388743
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