“A U.S. Capitol police officer was arrested Friday for obstruction of justice charges related to communications with a person later criminally charged for participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot by Trump supporters,” CNBC reports.
“The cop, Michael Riley, allegedly told the other person to delete Facebook posts and also deleted his own Facebook messages to and from that person.”
“A federal judge in Washington has repeatedly sentenced people who stormed the U.S. Capitol to more prison time than prosecutors sought, saying that even people who were not violent should face consequences for joining the unprecedented assault,” Reuters reports.
South Dakota state Senate Majority Leader Gary Cammack (R) “was released from jail just a week into the 2020 legislative session, but the case is sealed and it would take a judge’s order to unseal it,” KELO reports.
“So, it is unclear exactly where he was arrested, why he was arrested, and what time of day it happened.”
“Before his bond hearing began Tuesday, a federal judge warned Brandon Fellows he could be opening himself up to perjury – or even obstruction of justice – charges if he testified on his own behalf, and that he would likely be going back to jail, regardless,” WUSA reports.
“Two hours later, the judge’s warning turned out to be prescient.”
New York Times: “More than 460 American law enforcement officers have died from Covid-19 infections tied to their work since the start of the pandemic, making the coronavirus by far the most common cause of duty-related deaths in 2020 and 2021. More than four times as many officers have died from Covid-19 as from gunfire in that period. There is no comprehensive accounting of how many American police officers have been sickened by the virus, but departments across the country have reported large outbreaks in the ranks.”
“While the virus has ravaged policing, persuading officers to take a vaccine has often been a struggle, even though the shots have proven to be largely effective in preventing severe disease and death.”
“A former high-ranking Capitol Police official with knowledge of the department’s response to the Jan. 6 attack has sent congressional leaders a scathing letter accusing two of its senior leaders of mishandling intelligence and failing to respond properly during the riot,” Politico reports.
“Police in Rio de Janeiro said on Wednesday they had found a haul of Nazi memorabilia and weapons worth an estimated 3 million euros at the home of a Brazilian man suspected of raping a minor,” Reuters reports.
Said the lead detective: “He is a smart guy and articulate, but he’s a Holocaust denier, he’s homophobic, he’s a pedophile and he says he hunts homosexuals. I’m no doctor, but he seems to me an insane psychopath.”
Ten months after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, two Missouri women have been charged for their alleged participation in the day’s events, the Springfield News-Leader reports.
The FBI was able to identify the two women on security footage inside the Capitol building and then used cellphone location data to further verify they were inside the building at the time of the riot.
One of them also wrote on Facebook: “We storm Pelosi’s office and took her beer. She drinks Corona.”
“A group of about 40 former law enforcement officers, journalists, and military intel officers claim they’ve identified the Zodiac Killer as a man who died in 2018,” Fox News reports.
“A New York mother and son have been charged with theft in aiding the disappearance of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s laptop during the Jan. 6 insurrection after the FBI initially raided a home 4,500 miles away in Alaska, looking for the computer,” the AP reports.
The son “also faces a charge of possession of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun.”
“Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday ordered federal law enforcement authorities to huddle with local leaders in the coming weeks to address what the nation’s top prosecutor called a recent ‘disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence’ against educators and school board members,” Politico reports.
“Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) won’t stop the execution Tuesday of Ernest Lee Johnson, saying he believes the evidence showed the intellectually disabled man was fully aware of his crime,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
“The announcement came amid pleas for Parson to spare the life of Johnson, 61, from Pope Francis, a former Missouri governor, members of Congress and faith-based groups, who want the governor to halt execution, which is scheduled for Tuesday.”
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), the top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee’s agriculture panel, announced that he’s facing federal prosecution, Axios reports.
Said Fortenberry, on a fundraising page: “Biden’s FBI is using its unlimited power to prosecute me on a bogus charge… And right now I’m facing the Deep State’s bottomless pockets.”
It was not immediately clear what conduct the FBI may have been investigating or is prosecuting.
“A former Florida candidate for Congress was arrested this week on charges related to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol,” WTSP reports.
“In probable cause documentation, the Department of Justice — citing video and photo evidence — accuses Jeremy Brown of being on Capitol grounds in full military apparel. He, too, is said to have carried surgical trauma shears, tactical gear and zip ties on his body.”
“Klete Keller, the five-time Olympic swimming medalist from USC, agreed to a plea bargain Wednesday after facing seven federal charges for participating in the U.S. Capitol riot,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“Keller stood out amid the chaos in the Capitol rotunda thanks to his 6-foot-6 height, beard and distinctive U.S. Olympic team jacket with ‘USA’ written in large letters on the back.”
A new Pew Research survey finds there has been a 22 percentage-point drop since March in the share of Republicans who think it is very or somewhat important that federal law enforcement agencies find and prosecute those who broke into and rioted at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 (from 79% to 57%).
While a mob stormed the Capitol on January, pushing through barricades set up outside the building, the Department of Homeland Security sent an email to the Pentagon, reporting “no major incidents of illegal activity at this time,” Politico reports.
Playbook: “The International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Fraternal Order of Police put out a statement this morning explicitly saying that the police reform proposal that collapsed would not have ‘defunded the police’ and would have actually strengthened them.”
“That’s a pretty strong pushback to lead GOP negotiator Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who blamed the death of reform on Democrats trying to defund the police.”
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Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.