>>18064882

In one of its final acts, the House January 6 Committee warned the White House it cannot ensure the confidentiality of certain witnesses.

Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) wrote to Richard Sauber, special counsel to President Joe Biden, saying they “fully share” a “concern for the safety, security, and reputations” of its witnesses as the panel dissolves and Republicans take control of the House this week.

Their letter, dated Dec. 30, says the committee entered into an agreement with Sauber’s office to make available “personnel” who then provided “important information” to the panel. Any other identifying information is redacted in the public version of the letter.

Under their agreement the committee “would do its utmost” to protect identities, but as of the first week of January 2023 the panel “will no longer exercise control of this material, and thus cannot ensure enforcement of the commitment to maintain the confidentiality of the identity of witnesses,” the letter adds.

After a year and a half of investigating efforts to challenge the 2020 results and the Capitol riot, the January 6 Committee last month released its final report, recommended charges against former President Donald Trump, and released dozens of witness materials. The panel posted the “vast majority” of its witness transcripts online, per Thompson and Cheney.

On Tuesday, the members of the House will gather to vote on the next speaker. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is well positioned to win, but has struggled to lock in all the votes guaranteeing a simple majority.

While working to woo GOP holdouts, McCarthy unveiled a rules package for the incoming Congress that will require the “quick transfer of records” from the January 6th Committee to the House Administration Committee. McCarthy is one of several House Republicans the January 6 Committee recommended for ethics sanctions after defying its subpoenas.

In their letter to the White House, Thompson and Cheney say official records of the committee will be archived and come under the control of the National Archives in accordance with House rules. The letter adds transcripts are being provided for “appropriate review, timely return, and designation of instructions for proper handling by the National Archives.”

“During your review, we recommend that [redacted] provide for the official file that will reside with the Archives any necessary written guidance regarding the need for limitations on release or other sensitivities,” the letter says. “Our expectation is that the transcripts with such instructions will become part of the historical record of our investigation maintained by the National Archives.”

The January 6 Committee sent a similar letter to the general counsel of the Homeland Security Department regarding the Secret Service and its agents. The public version of that letter has no redactions.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/january-6-panel-alerts-white-house-about-anonymous-witnesses

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>>18064923

get 'em, elon

>>18064929

>>18065149

Oscar-nominated actor and Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch has come under a magnifying glass himself—by the Barbados government.

The 12 Years a Slave actor and his family may be facing a financial squeeze from Barbados in the coming months, as government officials are beginning to seek reparations from former plantation-owning families. After officially becoming a republic in 2021—breaking 396 years of the British monarchy’s control over the island—Barbados government officials have begun to seek reparations from the descendants of onetime slave-owning families and plantation holders.

Cumberbatch’s seventh great-grandfather bought the country’s Cleland plantation on the north side of the island in 1728, and held ownership of it until slavery was abolished in Barbados in 1834. The Cleland plantation is said to have been home to 250 enslaved people and been the source of the Cumberbatch family’s small fortune.

Last month, the Barbados government announced its plans to pursue reparations from conservative member of the British Parliament Richard Drax, who inherited the island’s largest plantation, Drax Hall. The sugar plantation on the south side of the island is the only plantation that remains within the family of its original owners. Barbados officials have been putting the heat on Drax to hand the land back to the government. If Drax refuses, Barbados will push for compensation from an international arbitration court.

If Barbados wins out in court, it will set a precedent allowing its government to seek reparations from other wealthy descendants of enslavers, like Cumberbatch. The Telegraph reported this week that general secretary of the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration, David Denny, told the paper, “Any descendants of white plantation owners who have benefitted from the slave trade should be asked to pay reparations, including the Cumberbatch family.” Though the Cumberbatch family no longer owns Cleland plantation, the sum they were paid when slavery was abolished is said to be worth around $1 million in British pounds.

“The money should be used to turn the local clinic into a hospital, support local schools, and improve infrastructure and housing,” Denny said of the potential uses for the Drax family’s reparations.

Cumberbatch has faced familial controversy before, once revealing that his mother advised him not to use his real name for fear of reparation claims. The actor has suggested in the past that he took his role as a plantation owner in 12 Years a Slave in part to atone for his family’s past.

Barbados’ deputy chairman of the island’s national commission on reparations, David Comissiong, insisted that the call for reparations would continue for some time. When asked whether or not the Barbados government had any definite plans to pursue legal action against the Cumberbatch family, Comissiong told The Telegraph, “This is at its earliest stages. We are just beginning. A lot of the history is only really now coming to light.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/benedict-cumberbatchs-family-could-face-slavery-reparations-fight-in-barbados

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