Mike Davis
@mrddmia
Nonsense.
1. Biden moved these stolen classified records twice:
a. Before January 20, 2017 (left White House)
b. After moving into new office in February 2018
Biden had these stolen classified records in his personal files.
Garland must appoint a Special Counsel.
https://truthsocial.com/@mrddmia/posts/109668072085658693
Paul Sperry
@paulsperry_
REWIND: AG Garland cited Trump's entry into race & his boss Biden's plan to run again as reasons for naming special counsel to investigate Trump. He's now got a more direct conflict probing Biden for same thing, yet he's not naming special counsel for him?
https://twitter.com/paulsperry_/status/1613041631380344832
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Delivers Remarks on the Appointment of a Special Counsel
Washington, DC ~ Friday, November 18, 2022
Good afternoon.
I am here today to announce the appointment of a Special Counsel in connection with two ongoing criminal investigations that have received significant public attention.
The first, as described in court filings in the District of Columbia, is the investigation into whether any person or entity unlawfully interfered with the transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election or the certification of the Electoral College vote held on or about January 6, 2021.
The second is the ongoing investigation involving classified documents and other presidential records, as well as the possible obstruction of that investigation, referenced and described in court filings in a pending matter in the Southern District of Florida.
I am joined today by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves, and Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division Kenneth Polite. Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen could not be here. He is currently in Germany, representing the Department at the G7 home affairs and security ministerial.
U.S. Attorney Graves has been ably leading the investigations into the events leading up to and on January 6. He and dozens of assistant U.S. Attorneys and other prosecutors have taken on the monumental task of conducting over 900 prosecutions in defense of our democratic institutions.
Criminal Division prosecutors under the able leadership of Assistant Attorney General Polite have played a significant role in those prosecutions.
Assistant Attorney General Olsen has been ably leading the team responsible for investigating the matter involving classified documents and other presidential records, as well as the possible obstruction of that investigation.
All of the career prosecutors assigned to these matters are conducting their work in the best traditions of the Department of Justice.
I also want to recognize the efforts of the many FBI agents and other law enforcement personnel who are assigned to these matters. They are working courageously and steadfastly, and are serving our nation honorably. I am grateful to them. We all are.
The Department of Justice has long recognized that in certain extraordinary cases, it is in the public interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently manage an investigation and prosecution.
Based on recent developments, including the former President's announcement that he is a candidate for President in the next election, and the sitting President's stated intention to be a candidate as well, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a Special Counsel.
Such an appointment underscores the Department's commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters. It also allows prosecutors and agents to continue their work expeditiously, and to make decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law.
The Special Counsel will conduct parts of the first investigation I just mentioned: the investigation into whether any person or entity unlawfully interfered with the transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election or with the certification of the Electoral College vote held on or about January 6.
This does not include prosecutions that are currently pending in the District of Columbia, or future investigations and prosecutions of individuals for offenses committed while they were physically present on the Capitol grounds on January 6. Those investigations and prosecutions will remain under the authority of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
The Special Counsel will also conduct the investigation involving classified documents and other presidential records, as well as the possible obstruction of that investigation.
Today, I signed an order appointing Jack Smith to serve as Special Counsel. The order authorizes him to continue the ongoing investigations into both of the matters that I have just described and to prosecute any federal crimes that may arise from those investigations.
Mr. Smith is a veteran career prosecutor.
He began his prosecutorial career in 1994 as an Assistant District Attorney with the New York County DA's Office. In 1999, he became an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, where over the course of nine years he prosecuted matters ranging from gang murders of police officers to civil rights violations. From 2008 to 2010, he served with the International Criminal Court, where he supervised war crimes investigations.
In 2010, Mr. Smith returned to the Justice Department to serve as chief of the Public Integrity Section, where he led a team of more than 30 prosecutors who handled public corruption and election crimes cases across the United States. In 2015, he agreed to serve as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, later becoming the Acting United States Attorney.
Most recently, Mr. Smith served as the chief prosecutor for the special court in the Hague charged with investigating and adjudicating war crimes in Kosovo. Mr. Smith will begin his work as Special Counsel immediately, and will be returning to the United States from The Hague.
Throughout his career, Jack Smith has built a reputation as an impartial and determined prosecutor, who leads teams with energy and focus to follow the facts wherever they lead.
As Special Counsel, he will exercise independent prosecutorial judgment to decide whether charges should be brought. Although the Special Counsel will not be subject to the day-to-day supervision of any official of the Department, he must comply with the regulations, procedures, and policies of the Department.
I will ensure that the Special Counsel receives the resources to conduct this work quickly and completely. Given the work done to date and Mr. Smith's prosecutorial experience, I am confident that this appointment will not slow the completion of these investigations.
The men and women who are pursuing these investigations are conducting themselves in accordance with the highest standards of professionalism. I could not be prouder of them.
I strongly believe that the normal processes of this Department can handle all investigations with integrity. And I also believe that appointing a Special Counsel at this time is the right thing to do. The extraordinary circumstances presented here demand it.
Mr. Smith is the right choice to complete these matters in an even-handed and urgent manner.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-merrick-b-garland-delivers-remarks-appointment-special-counsel
>>18122196 Paul Sperry: REWIND: AG Garland cited Trump's entry into race & his boss Biden's plan to run again as reasons for naming special counsel to investigate Trump. He's now got a more direct conflict probing Biden for same thing, yet he's not naming special counsel for him?
Paul Sperry
@paulsperry_
BREAKING: One of the "personal attorneys" of Biden who "discovered" the Top Secret papers Biden kept at his private DC office wasDana Remus, who'd worked w Obama-apptd ArchivistDavid Ferrieroto "review" Trump's records. Remus left WH 1 mo before "discovering" Biden's secret stash
https://twitter.com/paulsperry_/status/1613048676015915009
Paul Sperry Retweeted
Congressman Troy Nehls
@RepTroyNehls
Speaker McCarthy confirms that Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell, and Ilhan Omar are getting kicked off the Intel and Foreign Affairs Committees.
Promises made. Promises kept!
https://twitter.com/RepTroyNehls/status/1612836421802381312
Paul Sperry
@paulsperry_
NEW:James Baker has finally deleted his Twitter bio@thejimbaker listing him as Twitter's deputy general counsel. And his LinkedIn.It's official: he's gone. But what smoking guns did he deep-six before he was discovered vetting #TwitterFiles? Was under Hill preservation orders
https://twitter.com/paulsperry_/status/1612867522906263557
Paul Sperry
@paulsperry_
BREAKING: Day after I broke this story on 7/7/21 ID'ing Lt. Byrd as cop who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt, USCP moved Byrd into "Distinguished Visitor Suite" @ Presidential Inn @ Andrews AFB & hid him there for 6 mos for >$33k in taxpayer $. Checked in 7/8/21
https://twitter.com/paulsperry_/status/1612641648600645633
Lt. Michael L. Byrd shot Ashli Babbit: The Capitol Cop Who Killed Unarmed Jan. 6 Rioter
By Paul Sperry, RealClearInvestigations
July 7, 2021
Most police departments — including Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police — are required to release an officer’s name within days of a fatal shooting. Not the U.S. Capitol Police, which is controlled by Congress and answers only to Congress. It can keep the public in the dark about the identity and investigation of an officer involved in a shooting indefinitely.
Which is what happened with the Jan. 6 shooting of Ashli Babbitt, an unarmed protester in the U.S. Capitol riot who was fatally wounded by a plainclothes police lieutenant as she attempted to breach a set of doors inside the building.
nbcsandiego.com
Video shot at the riot shows the Capitol officer in a hall outside the House chamber carefully advancing (at around 34:55), aiming …
YouTube/Jayden X
YouTube/National File
… and then shooting, hitting Babbitt, above, as she tried to climb through a smashed window, Trump flag on her back. The fatal gunshot blew her backward.
YouTube/National File
For the past six months, as Congress has proposed legislation to reform police departments across the country, the Capitol Police has stiff-armed government watchdogs, journalists and even lawyers for Babbitt, who have sought the identity of the officer and additional details about the shooting. The USCP still refuses to release his name, in stark contrast to recent high-profile police shootings around the nation.
In February, USCP issued a press release promising to “share additional information once the investigation is complete.” But Justice Department investigators closed their probe in April, clearing the officer of criminal wrongdoing in Babbitt’s death, which the medical examiner ruled a homicide. And last month, the D.C. Police — which shares jurisdiction with the Capitol Police and has led the investigation into Babbitt’s shooting — concluded its own internal review of the shooting without making any findings, according to spokeswoman Kristen Metzger.Still, USCP continues “stonewalling the public," according to the head of the police union.
“That’s my department’s attorneys for you,” United States Capitol Police Labor Committee Chairman Gus Papathanasiou told RealClearInvestigations. “There is definitely a transparency issue. The department needs to answer those questions. They are stonewalling the public.”
Withholding the name of the officer who fired the fatal shot — the only round fired by anyone during the four-hour siege — has bred speculation on the Internet and led to the mistaken identification of at least one officer. USCP Special Agent David Bailey was wrongly fingered as the shooter on social media and conservative news sites.
After RCI called attention to the false rumor in an email to USCP, followed by a story on the issue, USCP's communications chief officially knocked it down as “misinformation.”
Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg News
Lt. Byrd was investigated for leaving his department-issued Glock-22 firearm unattended in a Capitol restroom. A Glock-22 was used in the Babbitt shooting.
Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg News
Now a new name has surfaced in the Babbitt imbroglio — Lt. Michael L. Byrd — and while USCP Communications Director Eva Malecki won’t confirm he is the shooter, in this case she isn’t denying it.
In a little-noticed exchange, Byrd was cited by the acting House sergeant at arms during a brief discussion of the officer who shot Babbitt at a Feb. 25 House hearing. Both C-SPAN and CNN removed his name from transcripts, but CQ Transcripts — which, according to its website, provides “the complete word from Capitol Hill; exactly as it was spoken” — recorded the Capitol official, Timothy Blodgett, referring to the cop as “Officer Byrd.” His name is clearly audible in the videotape of the hearing (see video embed further below).
Byrd appears to match the description of the shooter, who video footage shows is an African American dressed that day in a business suit. Jewelry, including a beaded bracelet and lapel pin, also match up with photos of Byrd.
In addition, Byrd’s resume lines up with what is known about the experience and position of the officer involved in the shooting — a veteran USCP officer who holds the rank of lieutenant and is the commander of the House Chamber Section of the Capitol Police.
Following the shooting, Byrd’s Internet footprint was scrubbed, including his social media and personal photos.
“Officer Byrd” is named in a videotape of House testimony (around 39:20).
Phone calls and emails to Byrd, who lives in Maryland where he remains on paid administrative leave, went unanswered. His attorney would neither confirm nor deny that the 53-year-old Byrd is the shooter, and warned that disclosing his name poses a safety risk to the officer.
The Babbitt family is frustrated USCP won’t release any information about the incident other than the terse and vaguely written statement it issued on Jan. 7: “[A] sworn USCP employee discharged their service weapon, striking an adult female.”
Because Congress has exempted the USCP from Freedom of Information Act requests, the family is suing the D.C. Police “for documents that identify the officer who shot Babbitt … as well as notes and summaries of what the officer said regarding the shooting and the reasons he discharged his weapon.” (The D.C. Police has led the investigation into Babbitt’s shooting.) A hearing before a judge is scheduled for Sept. 3. Washington-based watchdog Judicial Watch also is suing for the records.
Aaron and Ashli Babbitt, from "Justice for Ashli Babbitt" on Twitter (@ForAshli.) Aaron Babbitt plans a wrongful-death lawsuit over her killing.
“They sit back and they completely refuse to release the name of their own police officer that was involved in a shooting of an unarmed woman,” said Ashli Babbitt’s husband, Aaron. "It’s ridiculous, it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Babbitt has hired a Maryland lawyer specializing in police-abuse cases who plans to file a wrongful-death lawsuit against USCP and the officer, seeking at least $10 million in damages.
The attorney, Terry Roberts, said he has received no information from USCP about the case, even though he contacted the department's general counsel in May. But he said an investigator in his office has positively identified the shooter from a “painstaking” analysis of photos and videos taken by journalists and witnesses inside the Capitol, as well as from tips from citizens and other information.
He said a key witness is Taylor Hansen, a freelance journalist who films protests around the country and was outside the Speaker’s Lobby with Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran, when she was shot. Hansen claims to have identified Byrd as the officer who opened fired on Babbitt, striking her in the lower left shoulder.
"Hansen was present when Ashli was shot,” Roberts told RCI. "He has spoken with my investigator. He provided a reliable and accurate account of what he saw; he also made a video recording, which proved useful."
Roberts said he is not ready to name the officer as a defendant in the lawsuit until he meets federal regulations for filing personal-injury claims against government agencies and employees, which could take several more weeks. However, he told RCI, “He’s a guy who left his service revolver in a bathroom.”
From "Justice for Ashli Babbitt" on Twitter. Slain in the U.S. Capitol at 35, she was an Air Force veteran.
In February 2019, Lt. Byrd was investigated for leaving his department-issued Glock-22 firearm unattended in a restroom on the House side of the Capitol, even though the potent weapon, which fires .40-caliber rounds, has no manual safety to prevent unintended firing. Fortunately, the abandoned gun was discovered by another officer during a routine security sweep. A Glock-22 was used in the Babbitt shooting.
Byrd addressed the blunder at a roll call the following morning, reportedly telling fellow officers that he would “be treated differently” because of his rank as a lieutenant.
At the time, Malecki assured the press that “appropriate actions will be taken” against Byrd. Asked recently what disciplinary actions were administered, the USCP spokeswoman declined comment.
Unlike other police forces, USCP does not have to disclose records on police misconduct.
More than 700 complaints were lodged against Capitol Police officers between 2017 and 2019, but brass won’t say what the alleged violations were or how the department resolved them. They also won’t disclose how many complaints are in any individual officer’s file.
While the USCP has an inspector general, he does not make reports public, unlike other agency watchdogs. His report on Jan. 6 remains secret.
Critics say the 193-year-old agency is in dire need of reform. They point out that even the Secret Service complies with FOIA requests and releases reports and audits by its internal watchdog. The Capitol Police, in contrast, won’t even reveal how many sworn officers it has on hand.
“Unlike the [D.C. Police] and the vast majority of local police forces, the USCP provides little public information about its activities,” complained Daniel Schuman, policy director of the D.C. watchdog group Demand Progress, in a recent letter to the heads of the congressional panels who have oversight authority over USCP.
D.C. law requires police to identify the officer involved in a police shooting within five business days after an officer-involved death or serious use of force. Officials must publicly release the names and body-camera recordings of all officers involved in the death or use of force. The law does not cover the Capitol Police, however, even though D.C. Police work in conjunction with that agency on homicide cases and fatal traffic accidents.
The Babbitt shooting has thrust this double standard into the national spotlight.
Some lawmakers on the USCP oversight committees are clamoring for changes, starting with the immediate release of the name of the officer who shot Babbitt. They allege that Capitol Police are protecting an officer who killed an unarmed citizen from public scrutiny.
“In many instances, when a law enforcement officer kills an individual for any reason, that officer's name is publicly released. But not in the case of Ashli Babbitt,” said GOP Rep. Paul Gosar, who sits on the House Oversight Committee. “Instead, there is a determined effort to cover up the full circumstances of this homicide.”
Mark Schamel, the Washington attorney defending the officer, warned that revealing his client’s name could put his life in jeopardy. He said the officer has received “credible" death threats and has gone into hiding. He would not provide further details about the type of threats or whether they have been reported to the FBI. Schamel also declined to say if authorities have provided the officer a protective security detail.
Asked about any threats made against Byrd, USCP General Counsel Tad DiBiase told RCI in an email that "one of our officers has received death threats, threats to his family, and numerous vile, racist sentiments directed at the officer." Without elaborating, he said "these threats are currently under active investigation by the USCP and the FBI."
The only publicly known threat made against the officer who shot Babbitt came from Garret Miller, who was arrested in Texas in part because of threats he made two weeks after participating in the Capitol riot. However, Miller circulated the wrong photos of the officer on Facebook, falsely identifying Officer Bailey, who is also African American. Miller remains in federal custody.
The FBI and USCP declined to answer when asked if any threats have been directed against Lt. Byrd specifically.
https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2021/07/07/naming_the_capitol_cop_who_killed_jan_6_rioter_ashli_babbitt_779601.html
>>18122233, >>18122235, >>18122236, >>18122237 Paul Sperry: Lt. Michael L. Byrd shot Ashli Babbit was moved by USCP into "Distinguished Visitor Suite" @ Presidential Inn @ Andrews AFB & hid him there for 6 months for $33k in taxpayer $. Checked in 7/8/21
for notables
GOP Sen. Grassley to undergo surgery following hip injury
Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley will undergo surgery, his office has announced.
Grassley, 89, previously injured his hip in an as-yet-unspecified incident, but is expected to make a full recovery, according to The Hill.
The senior lawmaker won an eighth term as Senator in the November 2022 midterms, easily triumphing over his Democratic opponent.
Iowa GOP Sen. Joni Ernst expressed her well-wishes on Twitter, saying "Join me in praying for a speedy recovery for [Grassley]. I know he’ll be back on his 4am running routine in no time!"
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that the surgery involved an open-heart procedure. The senator’s statement did not say that.
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/health/gop-sen-grassley-undergo-open-heart-surgery-following-hip-injury
The Dirty Truth
@RealDirty
Kevin McCarthy’s first interview after becoming speaker of the house
https://truthsocial.com/@RealDirty/posts/109668525450184671
https://rumble.com/embed/v227zs6/?pub=4
https://rumble.com/v24u4le-kevin-mccarthys-first-interview-after-becoming-speaker-of-the-house..html
Kevin McCarthy’s first interview after becoming speaker of the house
https://rumble.com/embed/v227zs6/?pub=4
https://rumble.com/v24u4le-kevin-mccarthys-first-interview-after-becoming-speaker-of-the-house..html
okay