Trump cultists

CNN reports: Federal prosecutors say Daniel Caldwell, 49, used a chemical spray against a line of officers that were blocking rioters from entering the Capitol. It happened amid a massive melee with police, who used batons and pepper spray to fend off the crowd, according to footage of the incident that was cited in court filings. Hours after the riot, …

Law & Crime reports: Bar complaints were filed earlier this week against three attorneys who worked on lawsuits aimed at overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election. Each of the accused attorneys is named in a complaint concerning the case stylized as Gohmert v. Pence, a lawsuit filed by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.) late last year which asked a …

The New York Times reports: Led by loyalists who embrace former President Donald J. Trump’s baseless claims of a stolen election, Republicans in state legislatures nationwide are mounting extraordinary efforts to change the rules of voting and representation — and enhance their own political clout. At the top of those efforts is a slew of bills raising new barriers to …

Expect death threats from the red hats after this: Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who joined a challenge to Pennsylvania’s Electoral College results when Congress was certifying presidential election votes, conceded Sunday that President Biden “absolutely” won the 2020 election fairly. Asked by “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace, “Did Joe Biden win this election fair and square?” Scott responded “Absolutely.” …

Fox News reports: Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke about how the previous administration’s “America First” policy benefited the world at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday. Pompeo also criticized the Paris Climate Accord, calling it was a “job-destroying joke.” “We all want clear safe drinking water, but the Paris Agreement was a fantasy for …

The Insider reports: Rep. Kevin McCarthy on Saturday said he’d wager his own home on Republicans reclaiming a House majority in 2022. “We’re going to get the majority back. We’re five seats away,” he told a crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference. “I would bet my house. My personal house. Don’t tell my wife, but I will bet it,” …

Law & Crime reports: A federal grand jury has indicted six members of the “Proud Boys,” federal prosecutors said in a Friday news release. Indicted are William Chrestman, 47, Christopher Kuehne, 47, and Ryan Ashlock, 21, of Kansas; Louis Enrique Colon, 44, of Missouri; and Felicia Konold, 27, and Cory Konold, 25, of Arizona. As Law&Crime previously noted, Felicia Konold …

USA Today reports: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Cecily Strong) stopped by the Weekend Update desk to explain her views on gender to anchor Colin Jost. “I love science,” she said. “I’m always talking science. Unless that science is about climate change, coronavirus, space lasers, evolution, the metric system, the rhythm method, breastfeeding, living on Mars, Jesus’ skin color or Santa’s …

The Washington Post reports: Cawthorn said a close friend had crashed the car in which he was a passenger and fled the scene, leaving him to die “in a fiery tomb.” Cawthorn was “declared dead,” he said in the 2017 speech at Patrick Henry College. He said he told doctors that he expected to recover and that he would “be …

Snopes reports: The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was underway in late February 2021 in Orlando, Florida, complete with a golden statue of former U.S. President Donald Trump. And it wasn’t long before controversy unfolded. Eagle-eyed social media users claimed that the stage where Sen. Ted Cruz, Donald Trump Jr., and others made speeches looked eerily like a Nazi or …

The Wrap reports: There’s a lot going on this weekend at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) but perhaps nothing will top this video of Roger Stone dancing to a Trump rapper on the streets of Orlando. The unidentified rapper performed his song in front of a giant SUV with Donald Trump’s face painted on Sylvester Stallone’s body from “Rambo.” …

The Washington Post reports: Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) said Saturday that he opposed “white racism,” hours after speaking at a far-right conference whose organizer spoke approvingly of the Capitol insurrection while delivering a white-nationalist speech. “I want to tell you, I denounce . . . white racism,” Gosar said during a panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference. “That’s not appropriate.” …

The San Jose Mercury News reports: When Kimberly Guilfoyle left California 17 years ago, bound for cable news stardom in New York City, she was a highly-regarded San Francisco prosecutor and the telegenic wife of San Francisco’s Mayor Gavin Newsom. Now there’s talk that Guilfoyle could return to California to run for political office. But she’d find that many residents …

Mediaite reports: Tommy Zegan says he was inspired to create the enormous gold statue of Donald Trump because he felt that other less flattering statues of the president were not doing him justice. Made of painted fiberglass, the statue was assembled in Mexico and painted in Tampa, Florida. It’s for sale for $100,000. Zegan says he also made a stainless …

“There’s something very emotional about having your president get silenced, get shut down, have his Twitter account and everything else shut down. “And then the way the election ended was just, it was really upsetting to these people and they really — it’s jarring to see this socialist policy just coming at them every day. “The fact that the president …

Politico reports: Richard Grenell, a top ally of former President Donald Trump, strongly hinted at a run for California governor in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday morning. In his CPAC address, the former U.S. ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence railed on California and said he has “never seen a better case …

The Hill reports: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) played golf with former President Trump ahead of his appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Florida on Saturday, according to Paxton. Paxton shared a photo of himself and Trump on the golf course with the caption “Beautiful day in Mar-a-Lago with my favorite President. Headed to @CPAC next. …

Politico reports: The Justice Department has abandoned its efforts to seize three properties owned by Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, who received a pardon from the former president in December. The real estate includes Manafort’s 10-bedroom, 6-bath home at Bridgehampton, Long Island, valued at $11 million on Zillow, as well as an apartment in New York’s Chinatown and …

The New York Times reports: The F.B.I. has pinpointed an assailant in its investigation into the death of Brian D. Sicknick, a Capitol Police officer who was injured while fending off the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol last month and later died, according to two law enforcement officials briefed on the inquiry. In a significant breakthrough in the case, …

The Hill reports: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo), who seemed to have become something of a pariah in the Senate since his Electoral College objections on Jan. 6 and his fist-pumping show of encouragement to a pro-Trump crowd outside the Capitol earlier that day, received a boisterous ovation at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday. Hawley, who admits he’s …