Clue: It Was Sidney Powell with the Grifting, in Advance of the Pardon, on Lin Wood’s Plantation

In a post on the significance of the news that the DC US Attorney Office is investigating Sidney Powell’s grift, I noted that she started fundraising to perpetuate false claims about a stolen election — on November 23, 2020 — before she received a thing of value from Trump — a pardon for Mike Flynn — and before she had set up the legal vehicle to do that grifting.

I’m interested in it for a different reason: the way in which Trump named Powell as part of his team, then cut her off, and then pardoned her client and co-grifter, Mike Flynn. Only after that did she formally register the grift.

I wonder whether some smart lawyer grew concerned that Sidney Powell was claiming to represent the President even while she was representing someone asking for a pardon.

On November 15, Trump explicitly named Powell as part of his team. On November 20, Powell appeared at Rudy the Dripper’s press conference. On November 22, Rudy and Jenna Ellis made a show of cutting ties with her.

Sidney Powell is practice law on her own. She is not a member of the Trump Legal Team. She is also not a lawyer for the President in his personal capacity.

According to Maggie Haberman, either he didn’t like her appearance and/or advisors convinced Trump to separate himself from her nutjobbery. Three days later, November 25, Trump pardoned Powell’s client. The next day, after days of promising to Bring the Kraken, Powell finally started releasing her epically batshit suits. Trump has promoted them.

Powell

Indeed, it even appears some Administration lawyers are still associated with Powell’s efforts.

I’m not sure I understand whether there would be a conflict between Powell representing Trump (for free, inevitably, as all lawyers do), making desperate efforts to overturn the election at the same time she was trying to ensure her client did no prison time. If that’s a conflict, it may still exist anyway given Powell’s admission to Judge Sullivan that she had repeatedly discussed Flynn with Trump’s campaign lawyer, Jenna Ellis. The fact that DOJ packaged up altered documents to support a Trump attack on Biden may make those ties more important anyway (or lead to more details about them becoming public).

But if Powell’s involvement made Pat Cipollone and/or Bill Barr — who presumably share the challenging task of helping Trump write pardons that don’t backfire — squeamish, it might explain the timing.

In other words, one of the things that may be of interest to this grand jury is why Sidney Powell started raising money before she had the legal vehicle to do so.

But that would also focus some attention on the fact that Sidney Powell started raising money to help sowing Trump’s conspiracy theories before Trump had pardoned her client (after she told Trump, in the summer, not to do so, yet, something she made clear in a hearing on September 29).

Sidney Powell started raising funds to support her efforts to undermine the election by November 23. On November 25, Trump gave her a thing of value — a pardon for her client. Only 5 days later did Powell make such fundraising legal.

This CNBC report adds a new wrinkle to this timeline: during this same period, Powell and Flynn and Patrick Byrne were at Lin Wood’s two plantations in South Carolina. They appear to have worked in Wood’s residence, Tomotley Plantation, and stayed in Cotton Hall, which he had just purchased.

Lin Wood, a conservative trial lawyer who led a failed legal challenge against the election results in Georgia, said in a lengthy interview that shortly after the 2020 contest last November, he hosted at his massive South Carolina properties fellow right-wing attorney Sidney Powell, former Trump national security advisor Mike Flynn, former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, and Doug Logan, the CEO of cybersecurity firm Cyber Ninjas.

Jim Penrose, who says on his LinkedIn profile that he used to work for the National Security Agency, and Seth Keshel, who promotes himself on his Twitter page as a former Army captain and who has spread falsities about the election, according to the Associated Press, also made appearances at Wood’s properties, the attorney said.

[snip]

“They set up in my living room and one of the sunrooms. They looked like election central. They had computers, whiteboards. They were working,” Wood said about Powell and her team’s prior work at his residence. Southern Living magazine describes the living room at Tomotley: “Custom built-ins and a working fireplace bring warmth to the spacious living room.”

[snip]

But many of Powell’s fellow election conspiracy theorists took up residence for days at Wood’s nearby property called Cotton Hall, the veteran attorney explained. It too is considered a historic plantation in South Carolina, and it encompasses over 700 acres. The South Carolina plantations history website says its primary crop in the 19th century was rice.

[snip]

Flynn, for instance, arrived at Tomotley with Byrne days after Powell arrived, Wood said. Though Byrne stayed at Cotton Hall for only a day, Flynn took up residence through Thanksgiving.

“Flynn was here on Thanksgiving because he carved the turkey when we ate over at Cotton Hall,” Wood said during the interview.

It’s unclear why Wood shared all these details. While this report cites the Daily Beast reporting that includes the news on the grand jury investigation, it presents that story instead in the context of the “feud” between Wood, Flynn, Byrne, and Powell. If they haven’t been already, those people would all be subpoenaed in the investigation, and so this might instead be an attempt to coordinate stories or convey what questions are being asked.

But what’s interesting about the timeline is that it seems to suggest that Trump or someone close to him would have called into the plotting on the plantation.

When you pardon someone, you call them or their representative to let them know. And while it’s not certain that Flynn had arrived at the plantation yet when he got the pardon on November 25, the day before he cut the turkey at Wood’s plantation on November 26, Powell had already been there some days before Flynn showed up, meaning — at least per this reporting — she was definitely at Lin Wood’s plantation plotting propaganda to help Trump stay in office on the day of the pardon.

This also adds the delicious detail that a guy who advertised that he had been honey-potted by a woman accused of spying for Russia may have been with Flynn when he received notice he was being rewarded for refusing to admit to Mueller’s team that Trump was involved in efforts to undercut sanctions on Russia in December 2016.

This all would read like a cheap spy novel if there weren’t an accused spy and a guy who admitted he had been secretly working for another frenemy state as well.

But even aside from Byrne’s presence, it sure adds interesting details to the circumstances of Flynn’s pardon that may be of interest to criminal investigators.

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78 replies
  1. Blueridgebill says:

    I’ll note that “plantation” is a pretentious and culturally loaded word for farm. A big house is an expensive frill: and it’s historic use as a rice plantation with slave labor is a good indication of Wood’s aspirations.
    Happy new year from a longtime lurker!

    • Peterr says:

      Also, I suspect that selling a “plantation” in the South will get you a lot more money than selling a mere “farm.”

      It’s part of the real estate lingo, like “cozy” or “snug” instead of “small.”

    • P J Evans says:

      “Plantation” goes back before the southern colonies happened. (RI began as the “Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” – 1630s.)

    • Leoghann says:

      “Plantation” had a different connotation in the 17th-19th Centuries than it does now. As Blueridgebill says, it meant a farm, but a large one. “Farm” was a term for something much smaller, usually just a few acres, like what a family would own for their own crops.

      • Rayne says:

        I’m going to point out that an American “plantation” in the 17th-19th centuries means exactly what crosses many of our minds: a farm too large to be managed by the immediate family members who owned the land, requiring instead enslaved persons to provide additional labor working more than subsistence-level crop production.

        EDIT: Tomotely Plantation produced rice and relied on enslaved laborers. Seems interesting that Wood bought it in May 2020.

      • Geoguy says:

        I have to go with Rayne and PJ Evans on this one. Rhode Island was a major node in the Triangle Trade and many slaves were kept in RI on farms & plantations. The following is from thesaltysailor.com, Rhode Island Historical Society Postal History Collection, The DeWolf Family of Bristol, Rhode Island – Part II
        The Triangle Trade – Slavery Connection: “The slave trade in Rhode Island was not simply limited to supplying slaves to the south and the Caribbean. Between 1715 and 1755, the Black population in Rhode Island tripled twice and by 1755, Black slaves made up 111/2 percent of the total population in the state. Most of these slaves were used on the farms and plantations in the Narragansett and South County areas across the bay from Newport.”

        • earthworm says:

          geoguy
          is there any indication in that timeframe in RI (in the materials you cite) about enslaved native people there?

        • geoguy says:

          Hi earthworm, The materials I cite seem to pertain to only the DeWolf family and their involvement in the slave trade ( in 5 parts). For enslaved natives of the same time, maybe try newportmiddlepassage.org, “Indian Enslavement in Rhode Island” posted 11/5/17.

        • Elizabeth Hanson says:

          I think the Rhode Island designation is an extension of the term used for colonization of Ireland sponsored by the English crown in the later sixteenth century. The Ulster Plantation is the largest and best known effort of this kind.
          https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantations_of_Ireland
          There is something cinematically delicious about picturing these clowns conspiring in a white supremacy theme park. Flynn carving the Thanksgiving turkey is the best.

        • Savage Librarian says:

          Yes, which reminds me of the poem I wrote when Trump pardoned Flynn and also pardoned the Thanksgiving turkeys in 2020.

          Corn & Cob

          As Corn was separated from Cob,
          receiving a full pardon,
          Yes, siree, Bob,
          Like Adam, in the garden,

          When the grants were sworn,
          but only one could hobnob,
          I wonder if Corn
          seemed to Cob, a full snob.

          Without even a single gobble,
          or a hint of how berserk he
          could be in a squabble,
          Corn ducked being cold Turkey.

          In the swing of a dangling “what’ll
          the mob lob next,”
          Corn was the absolute model
          of a plan that was fixed but hexed.

  2. Bay State Librul says:

    Yes, it was a “corrupt” Flynn pardon that Trump lofted into the end zone for six points.
    Yet, our Constitution, which by the way, needs a complete overhaul/revision/edit/”come to Jesus/twenty-first century moment, have to date, vindicated the traitors.
    You got it Muchacho – He disabled our democratic security system and we wait.
    The fucking nerve of Navarro to term his seditious plot “The Green Bay Sweep!
    Lombardi kicked in the balls for his coaching magic?
    What Navarro really described was a blooming replay of Notre Dame’s Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, punishing democracy with their swords of lies.
    The four figures — Trump, Bannon, Eastman, and Meadows still roam the halls seeking the
    ruin of souls.
    May 2022 be the year we agree with Michael Sherwin, former acting US Attorney for DC who said last year — about sedition…”I believe the facts do support those charges”
    Charge them Merrick.

    • JamesJoyce says:

      Common Sense?

      Yes, charge them all…

      As We would be charged by a Local Prosecutor or indicted by a grand jury..

      Chances are they will all get too see a Judge after arrest, unlike George Floyd, who was never afforded a chance to see the Judge, just like Indians shedding “Tears while being marched along Trails…

      Slaveholder’s plantation was once Indian property.

      Land, stolen no different than another’s toils or assets.

      Plenty of “overt acts” to constitute “probable cause” for an attempt, which failed this time, as it did in 1923.

      This type of assault took place again ten years later in 1933.

      It was a fraudulent assault of reason and law then.

      It is a fraudulent assault of reason and law now.

      Exposure to Poison Ivy’s Pixie 🧚‍♀️ Dust and you can be made to believe anything, Batman..

      Truth doesn’t matter anymore.

      “Happy New Year”

  3. greenbird says:

    CNBC: ” … Penrose was among a group of people who met with conservative lawyer John Eastman on Jan. 5, the day before the deadly riot on Capitol Hill, attorney and independent journalist Seth Abramson reported … “

  4. OldTulsaDude says:

    “Someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this justice as a gift…..”

  5. Bobby Gladd says:

    OT:

    Happy New Year to everyone. Stay safe and well. Also, happy birthday to my wife. She turns 72 today. She had a momentary lapse in judgment nearly 48 years ago, and I pounced all over it. The rest is history.

    Pulitzer for EW. Jus’ sayin’…

    • Vinnie Gambone says:

      Where will the next Marcy Wheeler come from? This site is one of the few (only?) sources of piercing clarity one can rely on to navigate the storm of lies soaking us daily. I like many of you (I gleam) am too old to die young. We are in the fourth quarter and hoping for overtime.
      While I’m generally distraught, I find here enouragment there are tough minded observers and commentors who truely care and are devoted to the promises of this country. How do we cultivate more truth seeking as is delivered here? I worry if this well dries up.
      ” The masses of plain people can be divided into two classes,- those to whom thinking is difficult, and those to whom it is imposible.”
      Thank you all for your devotion.
      Happy New Year.

      • YancyFaith says:

        Your post brought a few much-needed tears to these jaded eyes, Vinnie. I (maybe we?) skate over the surface of these crackling lakes of ice, acting as if all is well and good. We’ll manage somehow.
        And then…
        I think of my (young adult) children.

  6. harpie says:

    I’m WAY late on this tidbit, but:

    ew: Indeed, it even appears some Administration lawyers are still associated with Powell’s efforts.

    That links to an Alan Feuer tweet:
    https://twitter.com/alanfeuer/status/1332342045516697603
    10:14 AM · Nov 27, 2020

    Here’s a question about Sidney Powell’s new “kraken” suit in Michigan: The Trump campaign has publicly distanced itself from Powell.

    Why then are two lawyers who appear to be working in the administration now “of counsel” to Powell’s new suit? […]

    Feuer shows that listed lawyers Emily P. NEWMAN and Julia Z. HALLER do indeed work IN the TRUMP administration.

    So, maybe it’s not such a surprise that NEWMAN is listed as a participant in:

    12/18/20 Bonus episode: Inside the craziest meeting of the Trump presidency
    https://www.axios.com/trump-oval-office-meeting-sidney-powell-a8e1e466-2e42-42d0-9cf1-26eb267f8723.html 2/2/21

    President Trump’s private schedule hadn’t included appointments for POWELL or the others: former national security adviser Michael FLYNN, former Overstock.com CEO Patrick BYRNE, and a little-known former Trump administration official, Emily NEWMAN. But they’d come to convince Trump that he had the power to take extreme measures to keep fighting.

    • harpie says:

      “How exactly are you going to do this?” an exasperated [White House senior adviser Eric] Herschmann asked again, later in the conversation. Newman again cited the 2018 executive order, which prompted Herschmann to question out loud whether she was even a lawyer.

      HERSCHMANN is described as:

      a wealthy business executive and former partner at Kasowitz Benson & Torres who’d been pulled out of quasi-retirement to advise Trump

    • Amers says:

      Wasn’t there a detail in that story that Trump wandered out of the room for a while? If it is the same story, that part struck me and I wondered if he was completely disinterested and thought they were all full of shit and trying to set him up for failure. Is it wrong to think Trump would privately not really trust anybody?

      • Peacerme says:

        This is very likely true. Trump would not trust anyone who did not agree with him 100%. Right now. One of my clients described having a malignant narcissistic father in the following way: “You are only as good as your last performance.” (At trying to please her father). That is to mean that no amount of good deeds or fawning, will ever protect you from the moment when you choose self preservation over loyalty to a narcissist). So the minute you disagree, there is no middle ground. Good to bad (or untrustworthy), as long as you maintain a perception not supporting of him. His trust is vapid. Only as long as it serves him.

        Trump trust no one but himself, but for anyone he perceives to be stronger than he is. He doesn’t trust them, but he covets their power and like a vampire will feed off that power. He sees it in his best interest to follow power. He sees strength and power as truth. In this way he can be exploited. He would sell his soul for more power over truth. Power to him is the ability to erase what is, in favor of his world view.

        (Therapist with 30 years working domestic violence, power and control, and healing the power dynamic in relationships, families and organizations.)

  7. Rita says:

    Powell seems better at fundraising than lawyering, which, given the current investigation, isn’t saying much.

    If I recall correctly the pardon of Flynn saved both the DOJ and Powell from a potentially embarrassing loss in court. At that point, Sydney Powell would have felt gratitude towards Trump for saving her reputation in Trump World. Nothing expresses gratitude more than free representation (pro bono?) of Trump. Of course, she wouldn’t be working for free. With these ancillary grifts, one wonders if Trump gets a cut.

    Byrne was the bankroller at the party at Tomotley. Lin Wood and Powell were the legal beagles. But why was Flynn there?

    • Fran of the North says:

      My WAG is Flynn was there to represent & brainstorm the kinetic component of the Stop the Steal strategy(s), and to then communicate the operational components to the PB’s 3% and OK leadership.

      Those bad actors would be speaking the same language, and who better to get orders from than the General himself?

  8. harpie says:

    #J6TL
    COUNTDOWN to INSURRECTION
    Continued from: https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/12/27/the-trump-to-willard-war-room-to-militia-connection/#comment-914335

    1/2/21
    – [At the WH] TRUMP, joined by MEADOWS and [Cleta] MITCHELL, calls Georgia Secretary of State Brad RAFFENSPERGER and attempts to pressure him to change the state’s vote totals from the presidential election, specifically asking to find exactly enough votes for TRUMP to win. During the call, Trump refers to U.S. Attorney PAK as the “Never Trumper U.S. Attorney there.”
    TRUMP: “So what are we going to do here folks? I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break.”
    – [At DOJ] 1] Jeffrey CLARK meets with ROSEN and DONOGHUE, confirms that his classified briefing produced no evidence of ballot or data tampering, but continues to press that DOJ should send his “Proof of Concept” letter.
    2] Clark attempts to get Rosen to reconsider sending the letter by offering to turn down Trump’s offer to install him in Rosen’s place.
    3] Clark also confirms that he has not reached out to Pak to discuss why the Georgia election fraud claims he continues to press are false, and reveals that he has instead spoken to witnesses about those claims.
    – [In DC] Once-and-near-future Congressman Pete SESSIONS meets with “folks from STOP THE STEAL”. He encourages them to keep fighting and assures them “I look forward to doing MY duty on January 6th.”
    – [At the WH / WILLARD Hotel] TRUMP, GIULIANI, EASTMAN hold CONFERENCE CALL with 300 STATE LEGISLATORS to give them evidence of alleged voter fraud and convince them to “decertify” the election results in their states. TRUMP: “You are the real power.” […] “You’re the ones that are going to make the decision.”
    – [In DC] GIULIANI, EASTMAN and EPSHTEYN appear on BANNON’s podcast to make the case directly to Bannon’s pro-Trump listeners. They discussed what Bannon called that day’s “all-hands meeting with state . . . legislators that the Trump campaign and also others are putting on.”
    – [At the CAPITOL?] About 12 GOP SENATORS are in talks to join HAWLEY in objecting to the electoral college results.
    – JORDAN and [Mo] BROOKS “co-lead conference call w 50+ CONGRESSMEN who join & fight for America’s Republic! . . . President TRUMP & CoS Mark MEADOWS speaking.” [Not-yet-sworn-in Marjorie Taylor GREENE attends]
    – [MARCY writes]: CURING THE DONALD TRUMP SPELL: THE PROBLEM https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/01/02/curing-the-donald-trump-spell-the-problem/

  9. harpie says:

    #J6TL
    COUNTDOWN to INSURRECTION
    Continued from: https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/12/31/it-was-sidney-powell-with-the-grifting-in-advance-of-the-pardon-on-lin-woods-plantation/#comment-914532

    1/3/21
    – [At the WH] 8:57 AM TRUMP tweets about the call to RAFFENSPERGER

    TRUMP: I spoke to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger yesterday about Fulton County and voter fraud in Georgia. He was unwilling, or unable, to answer questions such as the “ballots under table” scam, ballot destruction, out of state “voters”, dead voters, and more.
    He has no clue!

    RAFFENSPERGER: Respectfully, President Trump: What you’re saying is not true.
    The truth will come out

    – WaPo OpEd by all 10 living former defense secretaries
    Involving the military in election disputes would cross into dangerous territory “Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic.”

    – [At the CAPITOL] New CONGRESS seated

    – [In Quarryville, Pa] A “leadership meeting of ‘multiple patriot groups’” which James BREHENY has invited Stewart RHODES to attend [without his phone]

    BREHENY: This will be the day we get our comms on point with multiple other patriot groups, share rally points etc. This one is important and I believe this is our last chance to organize before the show. This meeting will be for leaders only.

    – John EASTMAN joins KERIK and GIULIANI staying at the WILLARD

    – Alex JONES gets specific directions from the WHITE HOUSE about timing of joint maneuvers for the 1/6/21 operation. JONES relays the message to his people.

    1:02 PM [Marcy tweets]: Lordy, there are tapes.
    The Washington Post releases a story along with a roughly one-hour-long audio recording of Trump’s conversation with Raffensperger the previous evening.

    – [At DOJ] 1] Jeffrey CLARK asks his COS Doug Smith to “please get back to DC immediately.”
    – 2] CLARK informs ROSEN that he had met with Trump and that the president intended to replace him with CLARK, who could then try to stop CONGRESS from certifying the Electoral College results.

    -[MARCY writes]: LORDY, THERE ARE TAPES https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/01/03/lordy-there-are-tapes/

    – [At the WH] 5:30 PM [DOD IG]: MILLER and MILLEY meet with TRUMP […] GEN Milley told us that at the end of the meeting, the President told Mr. Miller that there would be a large number of protestors on January 6, 2021, and Mr. Miller should ensure sufficient National Guard or Soldiers would be there to make sure it was a safe event. Gen Milley told us that Mr. Miller responded, ‘We’ve got a plan and we’ve got it covered.'”

    – [At the WH] 6PM – 9PM ROSEN, DONOGHUE, and ENGEL meet with TRUMP, CIPOLLONE, PHILBIN, and CLARK in the Oval Office. In the face of the prospect of mass DOJ resignations, TRUMP decides to keep ROSEN in place, but insists on replacing “never-Trumper” PAK with U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia Bobby CHRISTINE, because “he’ll do something about [election fraud].”

    – [After 9:00 PM] TRUMP calls DONOGHUE to alert him of claims that a DHS agent was in custody of a truck full of shredded ballots in Atlanta.

    [Thanks to MARCY for tweeting about the Quarryville Militia meeting today!]

  10. harpie says:

    #J6TL
    COUNTDOWN to INSURRECTION
    Continued from: https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/12/31/it-was-sidney-powell-with-the-grifting-in-advance-of-the-pardon-on-lin-woods-plantation/#comment-914652

    1/4/21

    [At the WHITE HOUSE]
    – TRUMP TWEETS https://www.thetrumparchive.com/

    1] 10:07 AM How can you certify an election when the numbers being certified are verifiably WRONG. You will see the real numbers tonight during my speech, but especially on JANUARY 6th. @SenTomCotton Republicans have pluses & minuses, but one thing is sure, THEY NEVER FORGET!

    2] 10:13 AM “We’ve seen in the last few months, unprecedented amounts of Voter Fraud.” @SenTedCruz True!

    3] 10:23 AM “We are not acting to thwart the Democratic process, we are acting to protect it.” @SenRonJohnson

    4] 10:45 AM The “Surrender Caucus” within the Republican Party will go down in infamy as weak and ineffective “guardians” of our Nation, who were willing to accept the certification of fraudulent presidential numbers!

    – TRUMP meets with Campaign and Administration Staff to plan for the J6 RALLY
    – TRUMP and EASTMAN meet with PENCE in the Oval Office, in an attempt to convince him to set aside the Electoral College votes of seven states on J6.

    [At DOJ]
    – U.S. Attorney PAK [GEORGIA] submits his resignation, effective immediately, as TRUMP demanded of ROSEN on 1/3/21

    [Law Enforcement / National Guard]
    -Capitol Police Chief SUND, House and Senate Sergeants at Arms, DCNG Commander WALKER hold conference call to coordinate for J6 events
    – Acting Secretary of Defense MILLER writes a memo requiring “personal authorization” for DC National Guard to employ riot control agents & other tactics at Jan. 6 “March for Trump.”. This was an unusual arrangement. https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christopher_Miller_memo_of_Jan_4_2021.jpg#mw-jump-to-license

    [?LOCATION?]
    – Some SENATORS meet with ASSOCIATES of Phil WALDRON, who informed them about the allegations of election fraud in the 38-page PowerPoint WALDRON had circulated.

    [WaPo] While the lawyers at the WILLARD were focused on promoting the legal strategy EASTMAN outlined, KERIK helped head up efforts to sift through allegations of election fraud. Phil WALDRON, a retired Army colonel who specialized in psychological operations, led a team of people who provided KERIK with analyses of state data, which purported to show fraudulent voting, according to two of the people familiar with activities at the WILLARD.

    [In the MILITIAS]
    – OATH KEEPERS leader RHODES promotes 1/6 event

    It is CRITICAL that all patriots who can be in DC get to DC to stand tall in support of President Trump’s fight to defeat the enemies foreign and domestic who are attempting a coup, through the massive vote fraud and related attacks on our Republic. We Oath Keepers are both honor-bound and eager to be there in strength to do our part […] prepar[ing] to do whatever must be done to honor our oaths[.]

    – PROUDBOY leader TARRIO arrested entering DC

    [At Campaign Rally in Dalton, Georgia]
    – TRUMP speaks at a Dalton, Georgia Senate runoff campaign event where he continues to claim that the general election “was a rigged election” and that he would “fight like hell.”
    “I hope Mike Pence comes through for us, I have to tell you … He’s a great guy. Of course, if he doesn’t come through, I won’t like him quite as much.”

  11. harpie says:

    #J6TL
    COUNTDOWN to INSURRECTION
    Continued from: https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/12/31/it-was-sidney-powell-with-the-grifting-in-advance-of-the-pardon-on-lin-woods-plantation/#comment-914652

    1/4/21

    [At the WHITE HOUSE]
    – TRUMP TWEETS https://www.thetrumparchive.com/

    1] 10:07 AM How can you certify an election when the numbers being certified are verifiably WRONG. You will see the real numbers tonight during my speech, but especially on JANUARY 6th. @SenTomCotton Republicans have pluses & minuses, but one thing is sure, THEY NEVER FORGET!

    2] 10:13 AM “We’ve seen in the last few months, unprecedented amounts of Voter Fraud.” @SenTedCruz True!

    3] 10:23 AM “We are not acting to thwart the Democratic process, we are acting to protect it.” @SenRonJohnson

    4] 10:45 AM The “Surrender Caucus” within the Republican Party will go down in infamy as weak and ineffective “guardians” of our Nation, who were willing to accept the certification of fraudulent presidential numbers!

    – TRUMP meets with Campaign and Administration Staff to plan for the J6 RALLY
    – TRUMP and EASTMAN meet with PENCE in the Oval Office, in an attempt to convince him to set aside the Electoral College votes of seven states on J6.

    [At DOJ]
    – U.S. Attorney PAK [GEORGIA] submits his resignation, effective immediately, as TRUMP demanded of ROSEN on 1/3/21

    [Law Enforcement / National Guard]
    -Capitol Police Chief SUND, House and Senate Sergeants at Arms, DCNG Commander WALKER hold conference call to coordinate for J6 events
    – Acting Secretary of Defense MILLER writes a memo requiring “personal authorization” for DC National Guard to employ riot control agents & other tactics at Jan. 6 “March for Trump.”. This was an unusual arrangement. https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christopher_Miller_memo_of_Jan_4_2021.jpg#mw-jump-to-license

    [?LOCATION?]
    – Some SENATORS meet with ASSOCIATES of Phil WALDRON, who informed them about the allegations of election fraud in the 38-page PowerPoint WALDRON had circulated.

    [WaPo] While the lawyers at the WILLARD were focused on promoting the legal strategy EASTMAN outlined, KERIK helped head up efforts to sift through allegations of election fraud. Phil WALDRON, a retired Army colonel who specialized in psychological operations, led a team of people who provided KERIK with analyses of state data, which purported to show fraudulent voting, according to two of the people familiar with activities at the WILLARD.

    [In the MILITIAS]
    – OATH KEEPERS leader RHODES promotes 1/6 event

    It is CRITICAL that all patriots who can be in DC get to DC to stand tall in support of President Trump’s fight to defeat the enemies foreign and domestic who are attempting a coup, through the massive vote fraud and related attacks on our Republic. We Oath Keepers are both honor-bound and eager to be there in strength to do our part […] prepar[ing] to do whatever must be done to honor our oaths[.]

    – PROUDBOY leader TARRIO arrested entering DC

    [At Campaign Rally in Dalton, Georgia]
    – TRUMP speaks at a Dalton, Georgia Senate runoff campaign event where he continues to claim that the general election “was a rigged election” and that he would “fight like hell.”
    “I hope Mike Pence comes through for us, I have to tell you … He’s a great guy. Of course, if he doesn’t come through, I won’t like him quite as much.”

  12. harpie says:

    Some documents from FOIA:

    DOJ COMMUNICATIONS AND DIRECTIVES ABOUT EVENTS AT CAPITOL DURING CONGRESSIONAL CERTIFICATION OF 2020 ELECTION RESULTS
    Records from the U.S. Department of Justice in response to American Oversight’s request for communications and directives about the events at the U.S. Capitol during the Congressional certification of the 2020 election results on Jan. 6, 2021.
    https://americanoversight.org/document/doj-communications-and-directives-about-events-at-capitol-during-congressional-certification-of-2020-election-results 12/30/21

    DOCS: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21119416-doj-communications-and-directives-about-events-at-capitol-during-congressional-certification-of-2020-election-results

    • harpie says:

      https://twitter.com/weareoversight/status/1478143020231008258
      6:15 PM · Jan 3, 2022

      New 1/6 Emails: “[Redacted] NG heading to Capitol now as per Sec Army,” Richard DONOGHUE, then acting deputy attorney general, emailed acting Attorney General Jeffrey ROSEN at 4:27 p.m. on Jan 6, 2021. [pdf214] [THREAD] […]

      In March, the commander of the DC National Guard, William J. WALKER, told a Senate committee that he didn’t receive authorization to deploy to the Capitol until 5:08 p.m.

      A Pentagon official at that same hearing said that Army Secretary Ryan MCCARTHY had made the decision to deploy the guard at 4:32 p.m. The official then gave contradictory answers about when exactly that decision was communicated to Walker.

      But in June, an Army official told Congress that McCarthy informed Walker at 4:35 p.m. that deployment had been authorized, a time that was endorsed by a Pentagon IG report. Walker and other DC guard officials have subsequently disputed that timeline.

      The new email could suggest that Donoghue — at the Justice Department — had been in contact with McCarthy before 4:27 p.m. and that he had been informed of the decision to send National Guard troops to the Capitol.
      [LINKs to above article/docs]

      • harpie says:

        From the DOJ Call Logs:

        4:13 PM ROSEN call from ENGEL [h-w] “(7 min) (OLC)” [8m]
        4:27 PM DONOGHUE call from CIPOLLONE [3m]
        4:31 PM DONOGHUE calls ROSEN [3m]
        4:31 PM ROSEN call from DONOGHUE [3m]
        4:34 PM ROSEN call from WHITE HOUSE Phone Number [7m]

    • harpie says:

      Continuing on that THREAD [some items I’ll add to 1/4/21 COUNTDOWN, above]

      […] Also in the new documents we obtained: Donoghue’s handwritten notes from a Jan. 4, 2021, call regarding crowd estimates and law enforcement preparations for the Jan. 6 rally that turned into the mob attack. [pdf262] […]

      • harpie says:

        An email from OLC to DONOGHUE, et al:

        [pdf249] 1/4/21 6:49 PM
        From: Rosemary Hart OLC
        To: DONOGHUE (ODAG), MORAN (ODAG), MICHEL (OAG)
        Subject: DC National Guard

        Gentlemen: I was just contacted by the Secretary of the Army’s staff, who told me it is their understanding that the Acting AG orally approved the Secretary of the Army’s plan to approve DC National Guard support to the DC Government this week to cover the planned First Amendment activities. They are going to send me a written request (maybe tonight) from Secretary of the Army formally asking Acting AG to memorialize his approval.

        Can you confirm that the Acting AG approved the request today in a meeting with the Acting SecDef and the SecArmy? If so, the approval has already been given, and the support can go forward [extra space here] all OLC will need to do tomorrow is prepare paperwork that would memorialize the oral approval. […]

        • harpie says:

          This may refer to a CALL from the hand written DONOGHUE notes, where a lot of his OWN WORDS are redacted by FBI and DOD:

          [pdf263] 1/4/21
          – SECDEF + call -DHS, DOJ, NSC
          – MPD – (b)(7)(E) officers + Capitol Police
          – 0600 tomorrow – Ops Ctr.
          (b)(5), (b)(7)(A) per DOD

          [I can’t decipher these two words: 1] ??? 2] Antifa???]

          DAG: (b)(7)(E) per FBI
          (b)(7)(E) per FBI
          (b)(5), (b)(7)(A) per DOD

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