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january 6 attack
Ocasio-Cortez Warns Trump NYC Rally Was Primer for Taking Power 'by Force'
"That's what they're doing when they're inciting violence and hatred against Latinos, against Black Americans, against Americans who don't have children."
Oct 28, 2024
U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned Monday that the hate-filled campaign rally held by former Republican President Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York City was meant to further prime supporters for another January 6-style attempt to seize power by force if Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris wins next month's election.
Sunday's event—which drew comparisons to a 1939 Nazi rally that packed the iconic Midtown Manhattan arena—featured speakers including billionaire Elon Musk, conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who called the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage."
Although the Trump campaign has attempted to distance the GOP presidential candidate from Hinchcliffe's bigoted remarks, Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said during a Monday interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that Sunday's event was "not just a presidential rally," it was "a hate rally."
"I think it's important for people to understand that these are mini January 6 rallies. These are mini 'Stop the Steal' rallies," Ocasio-Cortez said, referring to the 2021 Capitol insurrection and movement born from the conspiracy theory that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential contest from Trump.
"These are rallies to prime an electorate into rejecting the results of an election if it doesn't go the way that they want, because Donald Trump and that entire cadre of people up on that stage... do not respect the law of the United States of America, and they either want to win this election or they are using rhetoric of taking it by force," she continued.
"That is what they mean, and that's what they're doing when they're inciting violence and hatred against Latinos, against Black Americans, against Americans who don't have children."
Ocasio-Cortez singled out the Republican vice presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), for "talking about watering down peoples' right to vote depending on if they can viably carry a child or not."
"We have to understand how unhinged this campaign has gotten and the only reason that the rhetoric has gotten this far is precisely because they are trying to prime the kind of froth that led to the January 6 attack on the Capitol," she said.
"And so it's very important that we connect those dots, and right now the [Trump] campaign is scrambling and they're trying to blame this rhetoric on a so-called comedian?" Ocasio-Cortez added. "This is not a comedian. This is the Trump campaign. They invited this rhetoric on their stage for a reason."
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Supreme Court Refuses to Rescue Prison-Bound Steve Bannon
When he's done serving his four-month sentence for flouting congressional subpoenas, the former top Trump adviser faces a federal trial over the We Build the Wall scam.
Jun 28, 2024
Steve Bannon, a onetime senior adviser to former U.S. President Donald Trump who was convicted of defying congressional subpoenas related to the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection, must report to prison Monday after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his 11th-hour bid to avert his four-month sentence.
In a single-sentence order with no public dissents, the Supreme Court stated that Bannon's "application for release pending appeal presented to the chief justice and by him referred to the court is denied."
In July 2022, a federal jury found Bannon guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. That October, he was sentenced to four months in prison and fined $6,500. Bannon has remained free pending appeals and has benefited from a pause imposed by Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee.
David Schoen, an attorney for Bannon, told The Washington Post on Friday: "I fully believe the conviction will be reversed and it is a shame to see it mishandled like this. He never should be going to jail for even a day."
However, Bannon not only faces four months behind bars for flouting Congress, another federal trial awaits him over his alleged conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering in connection with the
We Build the Wall fundraising scam.
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Big Business Gave Over $36 Million to GOP 'Sedition Caucus' in 2022 Election Cycle: Report
"With many of the same MAGA election deniers now holding powerful positions that could threaten democracy and fundamental voting rights, it's critical that corporations finally stand up to their extremism—not encourage more."
Feb 10, 2023
Since the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump, Fortune 500 companies and industry trade groups have given over $36 million to Republican members of Congress—the so-called "Sedition Caucus"—who attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, an analysis published Friday by the watchdog group Accountable.US revealed.
"The deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 was the result of months of election fraud lies spread far and wide by twice-impeached former President Trump and his allies. Even after all the violence that day, 147 members of Congress and eight U.S. senators kept the 'Big Lie' alive by voting against certifying the presidential election results in some states," Accountable.US noted in its report, which analyzed year-end Federal Election Commission filings for the 2022 election cycle.
"Many corporations publicly condemned the insurrection and those lawmakers who voted against certification, and some pledged to no longer donate to their campaigns. But as time has passed, the condemnation from corporate America over January 6 and the Big Lie appears to be abating," the group added. "Some of the corporations that pledged to stop funding the members who objected to certifying the election are quietly finding ways to give again."
\u201cNEW REPORT: Year-end filings revealed that major companies and trade groups donated at least $164,000 to the Sedition Caucus since Election Day \u2014 bringing the total to $36.3 million since the insurrection. \n\n\ud83e\uddf5 1/2\n\nhttps://t.co/vo4h8oR9gb\u201d— Accountable.US (@Accountable.US) 1676041373
According to the analysis, the top five donors to election objectors were the National Beer Wholesalers Association Political Action Committee ($894,500); National Automobile Dealers Association Political Action Committee ($829,500); American Bankers Association PAC ($779,000); Build Political Action Committee of The National Association of Home Builders ($663,500); and AT&T Inc. ($629,900).
Among corporations, after AT&T the biggest donors were Home Depot ($478,000); Lockheed Martin ($440,000); Boeing ($392,000); and Comcast ($382,000).
The top five election-objecting recipients were House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.); House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.); House Transportation Committee Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.); House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.); and National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Richard Hudson (R-N.C.).
The analysis also found that over two-thirds of the final lot of donations, amounting to $113,500, went to Sens. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who both objected to certifying President Joe Biden's Electoral College victory while they served in the House.
Corporate America's largesse toward Big Lie supporters stands in stark contrast with public proclamations from numerous company leaders in the wake of the January 6 insurrection. AT&T and Comcast even went so far as suspending donations to elected officials who voted against certifying the Electoral College votes, while announcing reviews of their campaign contribution policies and practices.
"Many corporations risked their reputations to reward millions to MAGA extremists in Congress that obstructed the democratic process even after a violent insurrection."
"Workers, customers, and shareholders want to work for, buy from, and invest in companies that share their values and democratic ideals," Accountable.US spokesperson Jeremy Funk said in a statement. "So many corporations risked their reputations to reward millions to MAGA extremists in Congress that obstructed the democratic process even after a violent insurrection. With many of the same MAGA election deniers now holding powerful positions that could threaten democracy and fundamental voting rights, it's critical that corporations finally stand up to their extremism—not encourage more."
Last month, a report by the government transparency watchdog showed that corporate PACs and industry trade groups have given more than $66 million to election objectors since the January 6 attack. The OpenSecrets analysis, which included more companies and PACs than the Accountable.US report, named most of the same industry groups and corporations in the top five donors—the National Association of Realtors ($909,000) topped its list—and congressional recipients as Accountable.US' list.
Also last month, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington issued its own analysis which found that just 65 of the more than 230 corporations and industry groups that "pledged to stop, pause, or re-evaluate their political giving to the 147 members of the so-called Sedition Caucus... have kept their promises not to give, while the rest have resumed giving."
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