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Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia asserted over the weekend that former President Donald Trump's right-wing mob would have pulled off a successful coup had she and erstwhile Trump adviser Steve Bannon organized the January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol.
"I want to tell you something, if Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won. Not to mention, we would've been armed," Greene said Saturday night at the annual New York Young Republican Club dinner, during which the club's president instructed a throng of white nationalists and other far-right figures, including Donald Trump Jr., to prepare for "total war."
U.S. Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), who has called for the expulsion of Greene and other congressional Republicans accused of helping to plot the deadly insurrection, responded on social media by asking, "And then what?"
\u201cTell us more\u2026and then what?\u201d— Cori Bush (@Cori Bush) 1670820931
As Rolling Stonereported Sunday:
Greene's comments about that day seem to imply that she was not involved with the planning of Jan. 6. Two anonymous sources who organized the pro-Trump rally that preceded the Capitol attack have told Rolling Stone they recalled working with Greene on the rally. "I remember Marjorie Taylor Greene specifically," one organizer said.
"I remember talking to probably close to a dozen other members at one point or another or their staffs." Greene's communications director told Rolling Stone in October of last year that the congresswoman was involved only in planning to object to the electoral certification on the House floor, not the rally.
But in testimony she gave under oath this year, when Greene was asked if she recalled hearing anyone mention there would be potential violence on Jan. 6 or if she talked to fellow House Republicans or the White House about Jan. 6 protests, she answered repeatedly, "I don't remember."
Greene is among the GOP lawmakers accused of giving reconnaissance tours of the Capitol to insurrectionists before the deadly attack. She has also been a staunch defender of the rioters jailed for violently attempting to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory, referring to them as "political prisoners."
More than 950 people have been arrested so far. That includes nearly 300 individuals who have been charged with assaulting or obstructing law enforcement as well as two leaders of the far-right Oath Keepers militia who were recently convicted of seditious conspiracy. In the immediate aftermath of Trump's failed coup, Greene and 146 other congressional Republicans voted to reverse Biden's decisive win.
"Very soon," historian Harvey Kaye warned Monday morning, House Democrats "hand over power to the likes of her."
A New York judge on Thursday granted the state Attorney General Letitia James' request for an independent monitor to supervise the businesses of former U.S. President Donald Trump, who is a defendant in a fraud lawsuit recently filed by James.
"Time and time again, the courts have ruled that Donald Trump cannot evade the law for personal gain."
New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron issued an order approving James' motion for the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee Trump's dealings with financial institutions, as well as any major asset sales.
In a statement welcoming Thursday's order, James said that "time and time again, the courts have ruled that Donald Trump cannot evade the law for personal gain."
"Today's decision will ensure that Donald Trump and his companies cannot continue the extensive fraud that we uncovered and will require the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee compliance at the Trump Organization," she added. "No number of lawsuits, delay tactics, or threats will stop our pursuit of justice."
James accuses the former president and other members of his business organization of "engaging in ongoing and extensive acts of fraud in the preparation of Mr. Trump's annual statements of financial condition" in violation of state executive and criminal laws.
In September, James' office sued Trump and three of his children--Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric Trump--for what the lawsuit called "staggering" fraud.
According to James, "Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization used fraudulent and misleading asset valuations over 200 times in 10 years on his annual financial statements."
\u201cDonald Trump and the Trump Organization cannot move assets to evade liability and an independent monitor will be installed to oversee financial compliance at the Trump Organization.\n\nNo matter how powerful you are, everyone has to play by the same set of rules.\u201d— NY AG James (@NY AG James) 1667506667
"Since Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization became aware of [the attorney general's] investigation, they have continued to engage in many practices they knew to be improper or fraudulent," James' office asserted, "including on Mr. Trump's 2021 statement of financial condition."
Former President Donald Trump and his two eldest children, Donald Jr. and Ivanka Trump, have agreed to be questioned under oath next month by lawyers with New York Attorney General Letitia James' office unless the state's highest court intervenes, a filing revealed Wednesday.
The deal to begin the questioning on July 15 comes after a New York appeals court last month upheld a lower court's ruling that the trio must sit for depositions as part of James' civil investigation into the Trump Organization's business practices.
Trump attorney Alina Habba "said soon after that ruling that she would appeal the matter to the Court of Appeals," The New York Timesreported, noting that it's not clear if the state's top court "will agree to hear the case, but if it does, the three Trump family members may still have a hope of avoiding the interviews."
\u201cDonald Trump, Don. Jr, and Ivanka to sit for deposition in New York Attorney General probe starting Friday July 15th.\u201d— JOSH RUSSELL (@JOSH RUSSELL) 1654715133
The Associated Pressnoted Wednesday that "the former president had plenty of experience with such questioning during his business career, and he gave a deposition just this past October in a lawsuit filed by protesters who said his security team roughed them up during his first presidential campaign."
His other adult son, Eric Trump, was deposed for the New York probe in 2020 and invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 500 times in six hours to avoid answering questions.
Separate from the deposition deal on Wednesday, a New York state judge--who previously held the ex-president in civil contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena related to James' investigation--ordered Trump to provide her office with additional information.
"Leaving the contempt order in place is the simplest, most effective way to get the job done," said Judge Arthur Engoron, according toCNN--which noted that Trump now has "until June 17 to submit affidavits from the Trump Organization's accounting, marketing, hotel, golf, and legal departments explaining the units' document destruction and retention policies."