Biden rallies public to pressure Republicans on virus aid

WASHINGTON (AP) - Leaving Donald Trump and his impeachment in the rearview mirror, Joe Biden is embarking on his first official trip as president to refocus Congress on coronavirus relief and to cement public support for his $1.9 trillion aid package.

With his prime-time moment - a Tuesday evening CNN ...

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Democrats lean on Ku Klux Klan Act to hold Trump and Giuliani accountable for Capitol riot

Republican enablers may have let former President Donald Trump get away with inciting a deadly Capitol riot, but his recent impeachment acquittal isn't squelching the seemingly endless and much-deserved flood of lawsuits against Trump. The NAACP, Rep. Bennie Thompson, of Mississippi, and the civil rights legal firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll filed a suit against the former commander in chief Tuesday in federal court.

In the suit, the advocates allege that Trump, his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, and the hate groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers "conspired to incite" the march to the Capitol to disrupt “by the use of force, intimidation and threat,” Congress’ certification of President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. “The insurrection at the Capitol did not just spontaneously occur—it was the product of Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani lies about the election,” Joe Sellers, a partner at Cohen Milstein said in a news release announcing the lawsuit. “With the Senate failing to hold the President accountable, we must use the full weight of the legal system to do so. The judicial system was an essential bulwark against the President during his time in office, and its role in protecting our democracy against future extremism is more important than ever.”

Trump urged the march to the Capitol during his Save America rally on January 6, and an insurrection that left Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick dead, reportedly hit with a fire extinguisher, followed. More than a dozen other police officers were injured; three people died in medical emergencies; and one rioter was shot and killed when she attempted to breach the Capitol.

Thompson, the NAACP, and Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll cited the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 in their lawsuit, which is intended to “protect against conspiracies, through violence and intimidation, that sought to prevent Members of Congress from discharging their official duties.” 

The legal team stated in the suit:

“The insurrection at the Capitol was a direct, intended, and foreseeable result of the Defendants’ unlawful conspiracy. It was instigated according to a common plan that the Defendants pursued since the election held in November 2020, culminating in an assembly denominated as the “Save America” rally held at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021, during which Defendants Trump and Giuliani incited a crowd of thousands to descend upon the Capitol in order to prevent or delay through the use of force the counting of Electoral College votes. As part of this unified plan to prevent the counting of Electoral College votes, Defendants Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, through their leadership, acted in concert to spearhead the assault on the Capitol while the angry mob that Defendants Trump and Giuliani incited descended on the Capitol. The carefully orchestrated series of events that unfolded at the Save America rally and the storming of the Capitol was no accident or coincidence. It was the intended and foreseeable culmination of a carefully coordinated campaign to interfere with the legal process required to confirm the tally of votes cast in the Electoral College.”

The NAACP cited in its news release a segment of Giuliani’s remarks at the Save America rally last month. “If we’re right, a lot of them will go to jail. So let’s have trial by combat,” the unscrupulous attorney said. The NAACP also quoted the former president in its release. “So we are going to … walk down Pennsylvania Avenue… we’re … going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country,” Trump said at the rally.

1 hour before MAGA stormed the Capitol: Trump: "We're going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue... and we're going to the Capitol... we're going to try and give our Republicans ... the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country." He specifically incited it. pic.twitter.com/ROoVictxqa

— Brent Black (@brentalfloss) January 6, 2021

NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement that Trump needs to be held accountable both "for deliberately inciting and colluding with white supremacists to stage a coup" and for "his continuing efforts to disenfranchise African-American voters." “The insurrection was the culmination of a carefully orchestrated, months-long plan to destroy democracy, to block the results of a fair and democratic election, and to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of African-American voters who cast valid ballots,” Johnson added. “Since our founding, the NAACP has gone to the courthouse to put an end to actions that discriminate against African-American voters. We are now bringing this case to continue our work to protect our democracy and make sure nothing like what happened on January 6th ever happens again.”

Thompson called January 6 "one of the most shameful days in our country’s history," and he added that "it was instigated by the President himself." “His gleeful support of violent white supremacists led to a breach of the Capitol that put my life, and that of my colleagues, in grave danger,” the congressman said. “It is by the slimmest of luck that the outcome was not deadlier.

“While the majority of Republicans in the Senate abdicated their responsibility to hold the President accountable, we must hold him accountable for the insurrection that he so blatantly planned,” he added. “Failure to do so will only invite this type of authoritarianism for the anti-democratic forces on the far right that are so intent on destroying our country.”

Rep. Thompson is also seeking punitive damages which is A+ trolling insofar as it may force Trump to admit he’s a broke ass. pic.twitter.com/vQY3IpWn2I

— ⚓️🚢Imani Gandy 🚢⚓️ (@AngryBlackLady) February 16, 2021

New Daily Kos/Civiqs poll: Majority of Americans blame Trump for attack on U.S. Capitol

The best antidote to hot takes is hard data, and the latest Daily Kos/Civiqs poll is here with your cure. This survey of 1,513 adults was conducted online from Feb. 12-15 and reveals that 53% of Americans think that Donald Trump deserves “a great deal” of blame for the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. A majority of Americans (53%) also believe that Trump’s conduct was grounds for impeachment, and 54% say that the Senate should bar Trump from holding any federal office in the future. These attitudes are sharply divided along partisan lines: 79% of Republicans believe that Trump is not at all to blame for the Jan. 6 violence at the Capitol.

Other noteworthy findings in this month’s poll include:

  • A whopping 70% support sending at least $1,400 in coronavirus relief to most Americans (24% say the payment should exceed $1,400).
  • 54% of Americans support the Biden administration’s proposed $1.9 trillion stimulus bill in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  • 68% of Americans have noticed unusual delays in postal service over the past several months. A plurality (49%) support the Biden administration replacing the current members of the United States Postal Service Board of Governors, including Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, versus only 18% who oppose this.
  • More than one in three Americans (36%), including 64% of Democrats, believe that a college education should be free.

Additional issues surveyed include views on student loan debt relief, the stimulus child allowance proposal, and viewership of Fox News, Newsmax, One American News Network, and MSNBC.

This poll’s numbers reveal that not only do Americans support the Biden administration’s COVID-19 relief plan, but also that Americans hold Trump responsible for the Jan. 6 violence at the U.S. Capitol and believe that he should be barred from holding public office forever.

Civiqs is an award-winning survey research firm that conducts scientific public opinion polls on the Internet through its nationally representative online survey panel. Founded in 2013, Civiqs specializes in political and public policy polling. Results from Civiqs’ daily tracking polls can be found online at civiqs.com.

Johnson: McConnell doesn’t ‘speak for the conference’ on Trump’s culpability for riot

Sen. Ron Johnson said Tuesday that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's excoriation on Saturday of former President Donald Trump put him out of step with the GOP caucus he leads.

McConnell voted Saturday to acquit Trump on the single article of impeachment brought by the House of Representatives accusing the former president of inciting the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. But in remarks on the Senate floor, the minority leader called Trump "practically and morally responsible" for the riot and explained that he voted to acquit only because he believed that the Constitution does not allow for the Senate to convict a former president.

Johnson (R-Wis.) said Tuesday that McConnell's position on Trump put the minority leader at odds with the bulk of his own party.

"From my standpoint, Leader McConnell speaks for himself," Johnson said in a Tuesday interview with The Ross Kaminsky Show. "In this case, I don’t believe he speaks for the conference, and I think he needs to be a little careful. You know when I speak, I do actually try and take in mind how it might reflect on the party."

Johnson also said that he doesn't believe McConnell's comments are reflective of what "the vast majority of Republican senators" feel.

The Senate acquitted Trump on Saturday with 57 lawmakers voting to convict the president — 10 short of the required number — and 43 voting against. The vote was nonetheless historic, marking the first time in more than 150 years that more than half of the Senate voted to convict a president on impeachment charges.

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