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The complaints filed with the Hill’s police department and the House Ethics Committee allege sexual harassment by the New York Republican.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
Tag: Capitol
The Capitol Police is mum about a complaint filed by a former prospective employee of George Santos — which adds to a growing list.
Musk blows off Dems in first Capitol tour as Twitter CEO
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Twitter didn’t reply when asked why Musk didn’t schedule meetings with the minority party in the House.
Democrats, for their part, still want to hear from him, even as they don’t put much faith in their Republican colleagues to hold him accountable.
When it comes to Musk primarily meeting with conservatives, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) said: “I think it’s seriously a mistake and I think it would be a good thing to have him come in and explain himself.”
She said she wants Musk to testify before her House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Innovation, Data and Commerce — although as the newly appointed ranking member she doesn’t set the agenda for that panel anymore.
Musk’s partisan trek through Congress stands in sharp contrast with many of his tech CEO brethren. Other D.C. regulars like Apple CEO Tim Cook purposely make their visits bipartisan, and while Musk is making inroads with the current party in power in the House, there are risks to taking sides so brazenly. For one, Democrats still control the Senate, and, of course, the political winds in Washington can turn on a dime, leaving allies on the outs and previously spurned lawmakers in positions of power.
But, at least this time around, the people who set the agenda in the House — members like Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the House GOP no. 2, as well as Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), who’s panel has substantial jurisdiction over Twitter — were the recipients of Musk’s attention.
In that same meeting was Jordan (R-Ohio), who runs the Judiciary Committee and serves as a standard-bearer for Republicans in their ongoing war with the Biden administration, as well as Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.). Comer is bringing in former Twitter executives on Feb. 8 to testify about their handling of a news story about Hunter Biden’s laptop. Notably absent from that hearing agenda is Musk, who bought the company in October, and has since won Republican accolades for his “free-speech” approach to content moderation.
In fact, during the meeting Musk waived attorney-client privileges for some information that Comer had requested for his upcoming hearing, Comer said in an interview. “That was my only ask,” Comer said. One of the expected witnesses is Twitter’s former chief legal counsel Vijaya Gadde who Comer requested to testify about her decision to remove the New York Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop.
Accommodating the GOP is in keeping with Musk’s current political outlook. He endorsed the GOP ahead of the midterm elections, welcomed former President Donald Trump back to Twitter and obligingly dumped a series of “Twitter files” to make the case that Democrats and previous company executives colluded to restrain speech on the platform, along with several other conservative-friendly moves. In all, Musk has in recent months aligned himself with Republicans in ways that are relatively unusual for a tech billionaire — but could prove beneficial when it comes to potential GOP oversight, or lack thereof.
“It just shows the Elon approach to Washington. When you think of all these things that tech execs did to avoid the appearance of impropriety and then Musk blasts through this and is like, ‘I don’t care,’” said a former Twitter communications officer who also worked on the Hill and asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely. “That’s the type of stuff that is just a complete change. It’s just a huge departure from congressional norms.”
In his meeting with Republicans, they discussed the importance of the First Amendment, alleged censorship of conservatives and potential reforms to tech’s coveted liability shield known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, Jordan said in an interview.
It appears that Musk’s goodwill tour is already reaping rewards, with the House Energy and Commerce Committee announcing Monday that its first tech CEO hearing is focused not on Musk — but on TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew and the handling of U.S. data on the Chinese-owned app. And with Jordan passing over big-tech foe Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) to lead the Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel, there’s seemingly less GOP appetite for taking a shot at breaking up the big tech platforms this Congress.
“I don’t think there’s any question that the Republican leadership has made it very clear that they are going to protect big tech from any regulation or any effort to restore competition in the digital marketplace,” said Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), the antitrust subcommittee ranking member and the cosponsor of tech competition bills with Buck last Congress.
It’s not clear what leverage the snubbed Democrats have to hold a powerful exec to account, even if he persists in tweaking them on his platform.
“I am deeply concerned with how he’s running that company into the ground,” said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) when asked about Musk’s leadership of Twitter and time on the Hill. “It seems like a vanity project that is going wrong with an explosion of hate speech on that platform.”
Schiff then stepped into his Tesla sedan after a Monday night vote and drove off.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )Capitol Police arrest alleged police impersonator with stash of knives
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Capitol Police arrested a man Monday evening near the Hill accused of impersonating law enforcement and possessing multiple weapons.
Secret Service had already wanted to question the suspect, identified by authorities as 37-year-old Max Eli Viner, when Capitol Police spotted him near the building Monday evening, according to a Tuesday release from the department. When he was searched, Capitol Police officers found multiple knives with him and a chain saw blade.
Secret Service officers arrived later and searched Viner’s vehicle, where they found fake police equipment, shell casings, a smoke grenade and a gas mask. The release did not specify why Secret Service wanted to question him.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )It’s a familiar time of the year on Capitol Hill: Members are forming new caucuses left and right.
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If you have an issue of interest, Congress probably has a caucus for that.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )Capitol Police boost security preparations ahead of Tyre Nichols footage release
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Five Memphis police officers were charged with murder and other crimes Thursday related to the death of Nichols, who died on Jan. 10. Nichols, who is Black, was stopped by police on Jan. 7. The officers, all of them also Black, were fired by the department last week.
Officials are expected to release video footage from the beating on Friday, though it’s not yet clear how extensive the disclosure will be.
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), who represents Memphis, discussed the potential for protests on the floor Thursday, urging “peaceful” demonstrations.
“It could be a situation where people want to exercise their First Amendment rights to protest actions of the police department, and people should. But they should be peaceful and calm … I pray for my city,” Cohen said in a floor speech on Thursday.
D.C. police said they are also “fully activating” the force on Friday in preparation for possible protests. The House is expected to be in session for several hours Friday as they complete consideration of an energy bill related to drilling on public lands. The Senate will be out of session.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )Capitol Police officers to attend sentencing of man who maced Sicknick on Jan. 6
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The family wrote a series of pained and impassioned letters to the court urging a harsh sentence for Khater. It wasn’t immediately clear whether members of Sicknick’s family would also attend the sentencing hearing.
Prosecutors echoed their sentiment, agreeing that Khater bore responsibility for Sicknick’s death and urging Hogan to impose a 90-month sentence.
“While Julian Khater’s spray assault on Officer Sicknick ultimately was not determined to be the direct cause of his death,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Gilead Light wrote in a 30-page sentencing memo, “Officer Sicknick’s tragic demise, so close in time to the traumatic events of that day, underscores the seriousness of the offense committed by Khater and his fellow rioters.”
Khater’s attack became a significant flashpoint in the Jan. 6 riot. In addition to spraying Sicknick, he sprayed Caroline Edwards, a Capitol Police officer who had already been injured during the initial breach of police lines that afternoon. Edwards was a witness at the Jan. 6 select committee’s first public hearing and described the horrors she witnessed as a mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters surged past police lines and into the Capitol.
The sentencing hearing is sure to be wrenching, a stark reminder of the real-world pain caused by the Jan. 6 attack. While many Capitol Police officers have taken the trek to the courthouse to testify in Jan. 6 trials or make victim impact statements in cases in which they were personally scarred by the actions of a particular defendant, Friday’s hearing appears to be the first organized, collective action by a large swath of the department in support of a fallen officer.
Other Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Department officers died subsequent to the events of Jan. 6, including at least two by suicide. One member of the mob, Ashli Babbitt, was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer as she tried to breach the House chamber. Several others in the crowd that day died amid the chaos.
Khater’s family has pleaded with Hogan for leniency.
“I am not excusing his actions, your Honor, only pleading for a second chance for Julian to truly live a life of service and repentance,” his mother, Eleanor Khater, wrote in a letter to the judge. “I place my son in your hands, in the desperate hope that you will show him compassion and leniency.”
In a sentencing memo urging Hogan to give Khater a sentence of time-served — his 22 months of post-arrest detention — his attorneys Joseph Tacopina and Chad Seigel cited Khater’s anxiety disorder and a pervasive mob mentality as the root causes of his behavior.
“A climate of mass hysteria, fueled by the dissemination of misinformation about the 2020 election, originating at the highest level, gave rise to a visceral powder keg waiting to ignite,” Tacopina and Seigel wrote. “And that is precisely what occurred.”
The attorneys also described Khater’s pretrial detention as “extraordinarily harsh,” particularly amid restrictions imposed as a result of the Covid pandemic.
Khater was born in New Jersey, but his father moved the family to war-torn Lebanon when he was 5, until 2006, when his family fled and returned to the United States. He agreed to attend Trump’s Jan. 6 rally when asked by a friend, George Tanios, to join him. Tanios has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor offenses stemming from the attack.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
Three active-duty US marines arrested for participating in Capitol attack
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Three active-service US marines, all with ties to intelligence work, were arrested this week for taking part in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol, according to federal documents newly unsealed.
The men, all long-serving, were taken into custody on Wednesday on four charges, bringing to 12 the number of US military members charged in connection with the deadly insurrection by supporters of outgoing president Donald Trump as they tried to prevent the certification by Congress of his defeat by Joe Biden. The news was first reported by military.com.
The three were named as Micah Coomer, Joshua Abate and Dodge Dale Hellonen. According to the documents, unsealed on Thursday, they spent more than an hour together wandering around the Capitol rotunda, and at one point placed “a red Maga hat on one of the statues to take photos with it”, indicating Trump’s Make America Great Again election slogan.
Investigators noted social media posts by Coomer, including one where he stated he was “glad to be apart [sic] of history”, and a chat with another Instagram user in which he explained he was there because he was “waiting for the boogaloo”, a term popular with rightwing extremists and white supremacists to signify a race-related civil war.
Marine corps records provided to military.com show all three have been enlisted for more than four years, have good conduct medals, and that each works in “demanding jobs” tied to the intelligence community. At least one holds a “significant” security clearance.
In a statement to the outlet, a spokesperson said the service is “aware of an investigation and the allegations” and said it was “fully cooperating with appropriate authorities in support of the investigation”.
The men face misdemeanor charges including trespass, disruptive and disorderly conduct and obstructing government business.
According to the 13-page document compiled by FBI special agent Kelsey Randall of the agency’s joint terrorism taskforce, investigators “learned” of Coomer’s social media posts and, after obtaining a search warrant, identified the two others from images contained in them.
Security footage from the Capitol showed the three entering the building together through a door near the Senate chamber, and moving further inside as part of a mob of dozens of others, many wearing Trump’s signature Make America Great Again red caps.
Additional proof came from cell phone records showing the three were in the building, Randall wrote.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
