Pelosi Comes Unglued As She Claims Small Inauguration Is ‘Not A Concession To The Terrorists’

Posted on January 16, 2021 by LifeZette

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) got defensive during her weekly press conference on Friday as she addressed plans for Joe Biden to have a scaled-down inauguration next week.

Pelosi Comes Unglued

“For a long time now, weeks, it has been determined that we would have a very small inauguration because of COVID,” Pelosi said, adding “that in order to have the distancing and the rest on the platform and then some people down below, it would be necessary to limit it.”

She went on to say that it is “most disappointing” because “we’re excited about nominating a new President of the United States, but not at the risk of people’s health and well-being and, indeed, their lives.”

“So this is always going to be small,” Pelosi continued, before mentioning the Capitol riots last week.

“Now, with the insurrection of last week, it is necessitated by security to have more security but hasn’t changed the nature of the swearing-in,” she said. “I think it’s important for people to know that. This is not a concession to the terrorists. It is a recognition of the danger of COVID.”

Pelosi Says Lawmakers Could Be Prosecuted Over Capitol Riots

Pelosi also said that any lawmakers who played a role in assisting the Capitol rioters last week may face criminal prosecution.

“If in fact it is found that members of Congress were accomplices to this insurrection, if they aided and abetted the crime, there may have to be actions taken beyond the Congress in terms of prosecutions,” she said, according to Politico.

Pelosi specifically singled out a rioter who was wearing a sweatshirt that read “Camp Auschwitz,” a reference to the concentration camp that killed over one million Jews during World War II.

“To see this punk with that shirt on and his anti-Semitism that he has bragged about to be part of a white supremacist raid on this capitol requires us to have an after-action review,” Pelosi said.

This comes days after Pelosi led the charge in the House impeaching President Donald Trump for a second time.

This piece was written by James Samson on January 16, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post Pelosi Comes Unglued As She Claims Small Inauguration Is ‘Not A Concession To The Terrorists’ appeared first on The Political Insider.

Ex-FBI Director James Comey Calls On Biden To ‘Consider’ Pardoning Trump

Posted on January 15, 2021 by LifeZette

Former FBI Director James Comey spoke out this week to surprisingly say that Joe Biden should “consider” pardoning Donald Trump when he takes office next week as Democrats continue their efforts to impeach the current president for a second time.

Comey Says Biden May Want To Pardon Trump

“I obviously think he belongs in jail, but I don’t think pursuing that is in the best interests of the entire nation, so I think the wiser decision would be not to pursue him,” said Comey, who has long been no fan of Trump’s. He added that it is crucial that whatever Biden’s decision on this is, that he explain it to the American people.

“Be transparent about why you’re doing what you’re doing,” he continued.

When Comey was asked if Biden should pardon Trump like “Ford did Nixon,” he said that he did not know, but that Biden “should at least consider it.”

“Now I don’t know whether Donald Trump, he’s not a genius, but he might figure out that [if] he accepts a pardon, that’s an omission of guilt, the United States Supreme Court has said,” he continued, going on to say that he doesn’t even know if Trump would accept the pardon if offered it.

“But as part of healing the country and getting us to a place where we can focus on things that are going to matter over the next four years, I think Joe Biden is going to have to at least think about that,” Comey said.

“Donald Trump belongs in jail.”

Ex-FBI Director @Comey says while he “obviously believes” the president should be in jail, he doesn’t think “pursuing that is in the best interests of the American people”, adding Joe Biden should "consider" pardoning Donald Trump#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/RUghKyq5nW

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) January 13, 2021

Possibility Of Trump Being Prosecuted

The House voted on Wednesday to impeach Trump for a second time for allegedly inciting the Capitol riots last week. Some have even called for him to be prosecuted for the riots, but legal experts have said that this will be difficult to do.

“Legal experts have said it could be difficult to charge Trump with a crime related to last week’s deadly rioting at the Capitol by his supporters that led to the president’s second impeachment on Wednesday,” The Hill reported. “But the president and his company could face scrutiny for possible financial crimes in the Southern District of New York, they have noted.”

This piece was written by James Samson on January 14, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post Ex-FBI Director James Comey Calls On Biden To ‘Consider’ Pardoning Trump appeared first on The Political Insider.

AOC Claims She ‘Thought She Was Going To Die’ During ‘Close Encounter’ In Capitol Riot

Posted on January 13, 2021 by LifeZette

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) took to Instagram on Tuesday to claim that she thought she “was going to die” in the Capitol riots last week after a “close encounter” shook her to her core.

AOC Claims She Was In Danger During Capitol Riot

“I did not know if I was going to make it to the end of that day alive,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a lengthy video posted to Instagram. “Not just in a general sense, but in a very, very specific sense.”

“I can tell you that I had a very close encounter where I thought I was going to die,” she added. “And you have all of those thoughts where, at the end of your life…all of these thoughts come rushing to you. And that’s what happened to a lot of us on Wednesday and I did not think – I did not know if I was going to make it to the end of that day alive.”

Ocasio-Cortez claimed that she could not go into any further detail about this “close encounter” due to security concerns. However, she added that it was not an exaggeration to say that “many, many members of the House were nearly assassinated.”

“We were very lucky that things happened in certain minutes that allowed members to escape the House floor but many of us nearly and narrowly escaped death,” she said.

AOC Discusses The Future

At another point in her video, Ocasio-Cortez answered a question from a follower who asked if there is discussion in Congress on “truth and reconciliation or media literacy initiatives” to help with healing.

“I can say, there is absolutely a commission being discussed but it seems to be more investigatory, in style rather than truth and reconciliation, so I think that’s an interesting concept for us to explore, and I do think that several members of Congress, in some of my discussions, have brought up media literacy because that is a part of what happened here and we’re going to have to figure out how we rein in our media environment so that you can’t just spew disinformation and misinformation,” Ocasio-Cortez. said.

Ocasio-Cortez and her radically liberal “Squad” have been leading the charge when it comes to the Democratic effort to impeach President Donald Trump in the wake of the Capitol riots.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@aoc)

This piece was written by James Samson on January 13, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post AOC Claims She ‘Thought She Was Going To Die’ During ‘Close Encounter’ In Capitol Riot appeared first on The Political Insider.

Every minute of AOC’s hour-long Instagram video about the pro-Trump insurgency is worth watching

Posted on January 13, 2021 by Marissa Higgins

On Tuesday night, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hopped onto an Instagram live video and shared her experience during the pro-Trump insurgency at the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday. In a moving address straight to followers (of which more than 100,000 people joined in to listen and watch), the progressive lawmaker said she had a “very close encounter” with the rioters and “I thought I was going to die.” She repeated the chilling sentiment later in the hour-long video, saying, “I did not know if I was going to make it to the end of that day alive.” She did not give more details on the encounter, citing security reasons.

What did she give more details on? Her concerns about sheltering with some Republican lawmakers. Why? Because she was afraid some of them might give up her location or enable chances for her to be hurt or kidnapped by insurgents. Let’s dive more into that horrifying possibility, as well as the lawmaker’s discussion of trauma and political nihilism, below.

“I didn’t even feel safe going to that extraction point because there were QAnon and white supremacist members of Congress who I felt would disclose my location and create opportunities to allow me to be hurt,” Ocasio-Cortez stated. She did not explicitly name the colleagues she thought might expose her to danger.

"Let me give you a sneak peek,” she stated in an address to Republican Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz. “You will never be president. You will never command the respect of this country, never. Never. And you should resign.”

Ocasio-Cortez also stressed that the two conservatives essentially cast their votes in an effort to overturn election votes “not out of genuine belief” but instead out of “political ambition.” She also described Donald Trump as a “traitor to our country,” which, of course, he is.

“I don't want to see the Republican Party talk about blue lives ever again,” Ocasio-Cortez said in reference to a Capitol police officer losing their life during the riot. “This was never about safety for them. It was always a slogan. … Because if they actually care about the rule of law, they would speak up when people break the law."

Ocasio-Cortez also spoke intimately about trauma, saying, “You have all of those thoughts where, at the end of your life, these thoughts come rushing to you. That’s what happened to a lot of us on Wednesday. I did not know if I was going to make it to the end of that day alive. And not just in a general sense, but in a very specific sense." She also brought up that in addition to members of Congress, staffers, and even the children of lawmakers, were at the Capitol that day.

On a personal level, Ocasio-Cortez said she found herself sleeping more in the days after the riot, and that, “to me is telling me that my body is going through something and my brain is trying to heal."

People, as usual, were impressed by the progressive’s ability to connect with people—even at 11 PM on a weeknight.

.@AOC just gave an impassioned speech about impeachment to more than 100,000 people on Instagram at 11 o’clock on a Tuesday night. Her natural political skills, spontaneous eloquence and fluency with social media are so striking, especially at a national moment like this.
— Liam Stack (@liamstack) January 13, 2021

AOC is giving a Gettysburg Address level oration over Instagram live right now "White supremacy is doomed to fail... supremacy is a myth, so they resort to violence"
— Prerna Jagadeesh (@PrernaJagadeesh) January 13, 2021

Watching @AOC’s Instagram live and knowing as it happens that it’ll be featured in history books one day as a piece of important oratory of the moment is really something.
— Amanda Litman (@amandalitman) January 13, 2021

And her transparency was, as ever, moving and important.

Turns out the first moment of real human solidarity I've felt in the past 6 traumatizing days is watching @AOC's unbelievably moving instagram live with a bunch of friends and strangers who feel the same way on twitter at 11PM
— Helen Brosnan (@HelenBrosnan) January 13, 2021

Watching @AOC's instagram live helped me finally recognize all of the anger and grief and fear that's become so commonplace that I don't even notice I'm feeling it anymore. I'm really grateful for that.
— Taylor (@taylorjeanjn) January 13, 2021

AOC almost died the other day and got on Instagram Live to talk to us about trauma and what’s actually happening behind closed doors. Her transparency is a gift and will hopefully save lives pic.twitter.com/prLImsgDFT
— ilana kaplan (@lanikaps) January 13, 2021

In speaking about nihilism in politics, Ocasio-Cortez really hit home with an emotional address, saying, “What claim will you have? That you rule over a destroyed society? That the ashes belong to you?" Those are questions every member of the Trump administration should answer.

You can also watch snippets of the live stream on YouTube below.

YouTube Video

Update: This statement from fellow progressive Squad member Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s chief of staff Sarah Groh about realizing panic buttons had reportedly been “torn out” of the Congresswoman's office adds another unsettling and chilling element.

According to Ayanna Pressley’s chief of staff Sarah Groh, the panic buttons in the Congresswoman’s office were all “torn out—the whole unit.” They don’t know why or who did it. https://t.co/MLhxhi7nUp pic.twitter.com/l7wgoHOJKN
— Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) January 13, 2021

Meghan McCain Demands Ivanka And Jared ‘Be Held Accountable’ After Capitol Riots

Posted on January 12, 2021 by LifeZette

On Tuesday’s episode of the ABC talk show “The View,” Meghan McCain said that White House senior advisor Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner “need to be held accountable” in the wake of the Capitol riots last week.

McCain Discusses Capitol Riots

“They’re talking about police departments all over the country, about possible domestic attacks on all Capitols from domestic terrorists,” McCain said. “We’re living in a time that it feels like we’re in a banana republic.”

“I don’t understand why people on Capitol Hill aren’t demanding that this end, because as long as we take no culpability for what happened, and I say we as the collective Republican Party, there’s no future for the party,” she added. “There is none if the president is going to keep saying things like that, and we’re not going to hold him accountable. This is dead. We can call it over.”

McCain’s cohost Whoopi Goldberg then chimed in to say, “All of those folks sitting there, knowing that this is a lie, for me, this is treason. You know that this is a lie. This has been predicated on a lie the entire time. And y’all just sit there and let it happen. You are the problem.”

McCain On Ivanka And Jared

That’s when McCain zeroed in on Ivanka and her husband.

“His family needs to be held accountable for this too,” McCain said. “Don’t let Ivanka and Jared off just because they are not saying anything right now. Apparently, they’re in hiding. Do not let these people off the hook.”

“All of these people need to be held accountable,” she concluded. “The reason why I never sounded the five-fire alarm before this point in time is because I always thought maybe there was a moment when it would be an absolute, utter, cataclysmic constitutional emergency, which is where we truly are at right now. Don’t let anybody off the hook. I beg everyone.”

TRUMP SPEAKS ON PUSH TO IMPEACH A 2ND TIME: The co-hosts discuss the president reacting to Democrats introducing an article of impeachment Monday and discuss the extent of the accountability for the Capitol riot. https://t.co/f8u2wbJuik pic.twitter.com/oBtrx5MsOV

— The View (@TheView) January 12, 2021

This comes one day after McCain referred to the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol of being “domestic terrorists,” adding that they should be sent to Guantanamo Bay.

This piece was written by James Samson on January 12, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post Meghan McCain Demands Ivanka And Jared ‘Be Held Accountable’ After Capitol Riots appeared first on The Political Insider.

Hillary Clinton gets brutally honest about what our nation needs to do if we want to heal post-Trump

Posted on January 12, 2021 by Marissa Higgins

Less than one week after a group of pro-Trump insurgents rioted and stormed the U.S. Capitol, former U.S. secretary of state and 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton published a smart, somber analysis in The Washington Post. Surprising few, Clinton calls for Donald Trump to be impeached. She discusses the grief, horror, and trauma that comes with an insurgency at the Capitol. But she also discusses the white supremacy that enabled Trump—who wasn’t surprised by the violent riot in Washington, D.C. last week—and, perhaps most importantly, what President-elect Joe Biden must prioritize as president.

Let’s discuss her op-ed below.

Clinton (accurately) points out that Trump ran for office “on a vision of America where whiteness is valued at the expense of everything else.” During his time in the White House, he emboldened white supremacists and conspiracy theorists and sowed a deep mistrust in some of the nation’s fundamental values, like a free and fair election, for example. Most recently, Clinton argues, when it came to the riotous attack on the Capitol, “Trump left no doubt about his wishes, in the lead-up to Jan. 6 and with his incendiary words before his mob descended.”

The obvious answer most Democrats, progressives, moderates, and even some Republicans agree on? We need to prosecute the domestic terrorists who attacked the Capitol. But as Clinton points out, it’s not actually enough to merely “scrutinize — and prosecute“ them. According to Clinton, “We all need to do some soul-searching of our own.”

Clinton points out that many, many people in this nation were not in the least bit surprised by what happened last Wednesday. Who? Many people of color. Why? Because, as Clinton puts it, “a violent mob waving Confederate flags and hanging nooses is a familiar sight in American history.” In bringing us through recent horrors, Clinton references police violence during Black Lives Matter protests and stresses the fact that if we want unity and some degree of healing, that process “starts with recognizing that this is indeed part of who we are.”

In practical terms, Clinton outlines a few key starting points. She wants to see social media platforms held accountable in efforts to stop the spread of violent speech, new state and federal laws to hold white supremacists accountable, and tracking the insurgents who stormed the Capitol.

In the biggest, most immediate picture, Clinton wants to see Trump impeached and believes the Congress members who enabled him should resign immediately. Unsurprisingly, she also argues that “those who conspired with the domestic terrorists should be expelled immediately.”

There are currently 159 House members and 24 senators who are on record supporting impeachment and removal. Regardless of where your members of Congress stand, please send them a letter.

Meghan McCain Blasts Capitol Rioters As ‘Domestic Terrorists’ Who Should Be Sent To Guantanamo

Posted on January 11, 2021 by LifeZette

On Monday’s episode of the ABC talk show “The View,” conservative cohost Meghan McCain blasted the Capitol rioters as “domestic terrorists” who should be sent to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

Meghan McCain Attacks Capitol Rioters

“I just think we need to treat the domestic terrorists the way we do actual terrorists,” she said. “I think we need to consider all the possibilities. I’m not against sending these people to Gitmo, That may sound extreme. These are domestic terrorists who attacked our own republic. They should be treated the same way we treat Al-Qaeda.”

McCain also called on Republicans to impeach President Donald Trump before he leaves office.

“People are really worried about violence on Inauguration Day. I think they have to send a direct message, Republicans and Democrats, that this cannot stand and there have to be ramifications for what happened,” McCain said. “This is one of the worst domestic terror attacks in our history.”

“I have said this on this show numerous times: Facts are stubborn things. Normally I say it in relationship to Democrats — now I’m saying it to Republicans,” she added.

“If President Obama had incited this kind of riot, where he had lied to his voters, lied about the election and then sent a mob of people up on Capitol Hill where the vice president could have been killed or worse, there would be absolute bedlam worse than we’re seeing now,” McCain said.

Whoopi Goldberg chimed in with a simple “oh my God” in agreement with McCain’s sentiment.

McCain Doubles Down

“So the problem I’m having now, and I’m just speaking to my own party — there has to be intellectual consistency in this,” McCain continued. “Because we always go on TV and say we are the party of law and order, we are the party of the ideals, we are the party of ramifications for people that screw with America, we’re gonna put a boot in your you-know-what if you screw with the American way. I have said that.”

“So why is it different when it’s MAGA supporters?” she continued. “That’s where I’m really confused right now. If we let this stand and we don’t have 100% for impeachment, the 25th amendment, anything and everything to get him out now — the existential threat of violence is still here.”

.@MeghanMcCain: “They have to send a direct message, Republicans and Democrats, that this cannot stand and there have to be ramifications.”

“If we let this stand and we don’t have 100% for impeachment [or] the 25th Amendment… the existential threat of violence is still here.” pic.twitter.com/6anKqVy4nH

— The View (@TheView) January 11, 2021

Democrats are making moves this week to impeach Trump, but it remains to be seen if they will be successful.

This piece was written by James Samson on January 11, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post Meghan McCain Blasts Capitol Rioters As ‘Domestic Terrorists’ Who Should Be Sent To Guantanamo appeared first on The Political Insider.

AOC Calls For Trump To Be Impeached – ‘We Came Close To Half Of The House Nearly Dying’

Posted on January 10, 2021 by LifeZette

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) spoke out on Sunday to call for President Donald Trump to be removed from office due to the Capitol riots last week.

AOC Calls For Trump To Be Impeached

“I absolutely believe that impeachment should be scheduled for several reasons,” Ocasio-Cortez said on Sunday while appearing on ABC’s “This Week.”

“One, of course, our main priority is to ensure the removal of Donald Trump as president of the United States,” she added. “Every minute and every hour that he’s in office represents a clear and present danger not just to the United States Congress but frankly to the country.”

“But in addition to removal, we’re also talking about complete barring of the president, of Donald Trump from running for office ever again and in addition to that, the potential ability to prevent pardoning himself from those charges that he was impeached for,” Ocasio-Cortez continued.

AOC Doubles Down

Not stopping there, Ocasio-Cortez doubled down as she talked about supporters of Trump storming the Capitol last Wednesday.

“We have to understand that what happened on Wednesday was insurrection against the United States,” she said. “That is what Donald J. Trump engaged in, and that is what those who stormed the Capitol engaged in. The process of healing is separate and, in fact, requires accountability. And so if we allow insurrection against the United States to happen with impunity, with no accountability, we are inviting it to happen again. That’s how serious it is.”

“I don’t believe that perhaps my colleagues weren’t in that room, perhaps my colleagues were not fully present for the events on Wednesday, but we came close to half of the House nearly dying on Wednesday,” Ocasio-Cortez added.

“If a foreign head of state, if another head of state came in and ordered an attack on the United States Congress, would we say that should not be prosecuted? Would we say there should be no response to that? No. It’s an act of insurrection,” she concluded. “It’s an act of hostility, and we must have accountability because, without it, it will happen again.”

Democrats are set to officially launch their latest impeachment effort on Monday.

This piece was written by James Samson on January 10, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The post AOC Calls For Trump To Be Impeached – ‘We Came Close To Half Of The House Nearly Dying’ appeared first on The Political Insider.

Federal Prosecutor Could Bring Criminal Charges Against President Trump For Capitol Violence

Posted on January 8, 2021 by Rusty Weiss

A federal prosecutor, questioned about President Trump’s role in the Capitol riots, refused to rule out criminal charges.

Michael Sherwin, the acting U.S. Attorney for D.C., repeatedly assured reporters in a press call that he would investigate and charge “all actors” involved in Wednesday’s riot.

Journalists pressed Sherwin about Trump’s speech and what motivating factor it may have been in inciting supporters to storm the Capitol later in the day.

“I don’t want to sound like a broken record,” Sherwin said following a question specifically about the President.

“I’m going to stand by my earlier statement – we’re looking at all actors here, and anyone that had a role and the evidence fits the elements of a crime, they’re going to be charged.”

Asked whether the U.S. Attorney’s office will scrutinize Trump’s role in inciting the storming of the Capitol, Michael Sherwin, the acting U.S. Attorney in Washington, said that “all actors” are being looked at https://t.co/7rlQGd3JhX

— Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) January 8, 2021

Sherwin Considering Criminal Charges For Trump, Refused To Prosecute BLM Rioters

Sherwin told reporters that prosecutors had filed 55 criminal cases, but warned: “In no regard is that the end … This is just the beginning.”

In September though, at the height of the Black Lives Matter riots across America that saw vandalism and arson at an exponentially greater degree, Sherwin dropped charges for all but one individual in his district.

“Noting the mass arrests three weeks ago of 42 people who police said were in a group that spray-painted buildings and set fire to patio umbrellas … acting U.S. attorney Michael Sherwin told Bowser in his own letter that he had no choice but to drop charges against all but one defendant,” the Washington Post reported.

It should be noted that @USAO_DC had no problem dropping charges against BLM and Antifa rioters back in September

Federal Prosecutor Doesn’t Rule out Charging Trump over Capitol Riot https://t.co/Ikahz4Dwjm via @BreitbartNews pic.twitter.com/nTQajVq7zL

— Rusty Weiss (@rustyweiss74) January 7, 2021

In a letter to Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, Sherwin advised that “facts and evidence will dictate criminal charges, not political leveraging or personal agenda.”

His letter was in response to Bowser’s own letter which accused Sherwin of lacking the “willingness” to prosecute protesters for crimes.

Here’s U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin who suggests he could criminally charge @realDonaldTrump saying in September, in regards to BLM riots, “facts and evidence will dictate criminal charges, not political leveraging or personal agenda.”

He dropped charges in all but 1 case. https://t.co/SUJCIcF8JE

— Rusty Weiss (@rustyweiss74) January 7, 2021

Democrats Are Unleashing Everything They Can To Erase President Trump

The Capitol riots have unleashed Democrats to pursue every avenue they have been fantasizing about over the past four years to remove President Trump from office and destroy his life.

The possibility of criminal charges would be a dream come true for the “resistance.”

And it would exemplify the double standard applied to Democrats and Republicans when it comes to criminal justice.

It was the left who spent months inciting violent protests and causing riots.

Remember – it was Maxine Waters who told her followers to accost Republicans at the grocery store.

It was Cory Booker who told supporters that they need to “get up in the face” of some members of Congress.

It was leftists who attacked Sarah Sanders and Ted Cruz in a restaurant.

Democrats were never threatened with criminal charges.

JUST IN: Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer calls for President Trump to be removed from office via the 25th Amendment. He says if that doesn’t happen, Congress should impeach Trump.

“What happened … was an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president.”

— NPR (@NPR) January 7, 2021

Democrats and a handful of cowards in the Republican Party have been calling for the impeachment of the President despite his term ending in less than two weeks.

Some members of Trump’s cabinet are reportedly considering using the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office before the 20th, with Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer gleefully jumping aboard.

They never let this man govern as President from day one. Now they’re going to erase him from history.

The post Federal Prosecutor Could Bring Criminal Charges Against President Trump For Capitol Violence appeared first on The Political Insider.