Great article! This connects a lot of bad actors in a way that makes sense because if the mob attack was successful in either killing Pence or Congress OR sufficient chaos to delay the count for GOP states to decertify their Biden Electors, there had to be a war room for coordinating all the key conspirators to mob the media and create a consensus that favored a pro-Trump outcome. None of the confusion we saw after Reagan was shot, when Al Haig said he was in control. Trump needed all hands on deck and everyone assuring the media that what Trump and the GOP was doing was legit. Penrose would be key to that misinformation campaign. The Willard War Room is a major missing link. The Capitol attack mob looks less spontaneous all the time. Super job with this article!
I'm beginning to think that the Willard Hotel is where the literal War Room was on Jan. 6th. Or one of them. Proud Boy Gabriel Garcia was live-streaming at the front of the Pezzola PB group and during later attacks inside. His indictment describes him narrating tactical maneuvers. Marcy Wheeler at emptywheel.net discusses the idea that the live-stream was being watched by others not at the site, as there are voices of people in a quiet location giving directions to those on the ground. Where was Mike Flynn during the insurrection? I've been looking to see if it's in any articles, but if it is, I'm not seeing it. If anyone can point me to it I'd appreciate it.
Another of her articles questions how the PBs, and possibly Oath Keepers, knew the National Guard was on the way before the National Guard did. At 3:38 pm, P.B, Charles Donahoe, who had left the Capitol for some reason, called for a regrouping for a 2nd assault. His indictment then says that plan was "short-lived" as he then (at an unspecified time, but apparently not much later) "advised the group that the National Guard and 'DHS agents' were 'incoming.'"
At 3:40, two minutes after Donahoe's call to regroup, O.K. Joshua James (who was a passenger on one of the golf carts that raced to the Capitol) called "Person Ten" of the O.K. indictment for 3 minutes. At 4:00, James' fellow golf cart passenger Roberto Minuta had two phone conversations with O.K. Stewart Rhodes, and at 4:10, an unidentified O.K. told everyone "stand your ground." But then, they did nothing.
To put that into the timeline, it was 3:04 that Miller authorized (and see below about "authorized" vs "deployed") the guard to assist the Metro PD and 3:19 that Army Sec'y Ryan McCarthy called Democratic leaders in the Capitol and he called Mayor Bowser at 3:26. Between 3:48 and 4:10, McCarthy traveled from the Pentagon to the MPD, where he discussed how the Guard deployment would work. At 4:32, Miller ordered the Guard to assist the Capitol Police (while McCarthy is negotiating with the MPD on the deployment instead.) Of course, that order didn't get to General Walker until 5:08 pm.
It would appear that the P.B.s and the O.K.s got the news that the Guard was being deployed while McCarthy was in transit to what would, as of 4:32, become the wrong place. And then there was a nice, long hang in mid-air between the 4:32 order and Gen. Walder getting the order and deploying. The P.B.s and O.K.s had about an hour to clear their people from the area while the rest of the MAGAs they incited into a raging mob attacked the Lower West Tunnel, giving them cover. The article is here:
Something I'm not seeing discussed further anywhere is that on January 4th, Miller authorized McCarthy to DEPLOY the 40 member (Guard?) Quick Reaction Force staged at Joint Base Andrews if civil authorities requested help. Mayor Bowser called McCarthy at 1:34 pm and requests assistance. This is mentioned in an article on "Just Security," about the official and unofficial DoD timelines. The article explains that there was confusion about "authorization" and "deployment" on Jan 6. A military action can be authorized, but it can't be put into operation until it is "deployed." DoD was using "authorized" on Jan. 6, which was interpreted by civilians (Congress and D.C, government) as "deployed." But this article, while taking pains to explain the difference, states that McCarthy was already authorized to deploy the QRF at any point that day. The article at Just Security is here: https://www.justsecurity.org/76117/the-official-and-unofficial-timeline-of-defense-department-actions-on-january-6/
(And I don't know why my links don't seem to be "hyper-linked." Sorry about that.
In another recent article, Wheeler describes the indictment and Statement of Facts for Anthony Puma. He shot hours of video with a GoPro. The Feds have his video. Wheeler posts some of the screengrabs from those videos that are in Puma's Statement of Facts. Among them is a close up of one of the golf carts en route to the Capitol. She states that they were en route from the Willard Hotel, although I don't see that in the Statement of Facts on the Gov. website. You really should see the golf cart picture to get an idea of what that adventure looked like and to realize the level of detail the DOJ knows. This is just a still from a long video. I'd love to see the actual video. The part about Puma is the third part of the article, titled "Anthony Puma's GoPro is Arrested." : ) Link: https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/05/31/crystalizing-conspiracies-fourth-superseding-james-breheny-pumas-gopro-redacted-and-the-willard-hotel/
Thank you for making this information available to the rest of us. The depth and breadth of the network that has been organized and funded to demolish our country's democratic governance and institutions is beyond astonishing.
Thanks again Seth for all the intricately detailed work you do. I really feel much of your work will be a great resource as the Biden Gov't gains traction in its work to prevent fascism taking hold in the US. By the way, this seems a good forum for me to give my two-cent's worth about Ali Alexander. Not sure if the penny has dropped yet for most people, but Ali Alexander was the one who laid the pipe bombs. Somebody on twitter even went to the trouble of lining up pictures of his stance and proportions compared to the stance and proportions of the pipe-bomb guy, and it is striking how exactly the same they are in arm length/body length/leg shape and body ratios. For people who keep insisting it is a woman, I am beginning to wonder if some of them are bots placed specifically all over twitter to cloud the fact that it really is Ali. Just sayin'. Again, many thanks to you. You will be one of the many who actually do help save America.
Ah ha I kept saying the bomb-planters arms were too long to be female. And those were clean stylish fly sneakers. That criteria is very prevalent in certain groups.
Not sure if anyone's seen Sandi Bachom's hypothesis that the pipe bombs were meant to go off around the time of Trump's speech, and that was meant to be when the military were called in under Trump's direction/Martial law, but for some reason they didn't go off as planned. Personally I find that a very compelling theory.
I should have saved it when I first saw it. I tried to retrace my steps to find it but either I can't or it's gone. A couple of people posted similar, less exhaustive pic comparisons that are pretty easy to find, but even those are quite convincing. Broad/flat in the shoulders, a short slight build, with comparatively long arms that have an outward curvature as he walks, wide-spaced hips legs etc., it really is him in shape and gait. I could recognize most of the people I know even if they had a paper bag over their heads just by those simple 'tells', and he is pretty unique. I am 100% certain the FBI has already ascertained that it IS him, they just really want someone to reveal his location. I must admit I am surprised anyone is showing this much fealty to him. All I can think is they really must be zealots? Otherwise, they would have sold him out ages ago.
Also, do we know anything about Wray? I am starting to suspect the FBI for being somehow compromised. It's not like he's Osama Bin Laden in another country populated by other zealots. It's getting pretty weird that he hasn't been collected yet.
Bannon had a YouTube of a broadcast going on concurrent with the insurrection from a vehicle with a vantage point opposite the Capital. Posted with twitter, so I @ it to FBI. No longer available. Fairly relevant to be so prepared.
How do you separate emotions from reporting. I have myself so angry I have a headache. Which agency(s) investigate this type of, geez, what do I call it, treason? It must be exhilarating to piece this together, but how in the world do you not run around with your hair on fire?
After this article, I have a better understand of what their plan was, and how they're putting a better plan in place right now. Keep up the momentum, Seth.
Maybe Pence agreed to all this and then figured out the plan was to kill him as a way to shake things up and cement Trump calling for his continued presidency. When it became clear he was intended to be sacrificed he certified. I’m unsure exactly where he fit in with this plot.
Keep digging for the truth! This is making more and more sense! This is why no response was be taken! Thank God we didn’t bend to the bogey men! Now- we must stop them !
Amazing, Seth. Thank you for your unrelenting efforts. Wish we could know that someone is doing something about this. Too many unanswered questions about January 6th - who was involved, who knew what, who orchestrated, who benefited from the insurrection. Is it all about oil and money? Waiting for the next info drop.
It's ultimately about power. Power goes to those with the weapons and money to intimidate or beat others into submission. And there will always be people who crave money and power and believe they are uniquely entitled to it at any cost (because the rest of us are mere objects to them.)
Seth, I'm glad Catgirl mentioned the Proud Boys on evening of January 5th; I know that the prosecution's filing docs against Nordean & Biggs indicate that they sent a message in their encrypted messaging app to the other PB's re: having just concluded a meeting at roughly 9:15 pm Jan 5th.
It makes me wonder if Roger Stone's OathKeepers bodyguard crew (who guarded him at the Willard & in the VIP waiting area Jan 5th etc) weren't also looped into the greater Willard war room communications as well.
I think the meeting of Nordean and Biggs was with other Proud Boys to divide the Proud Boys who came to DC into groups and assign radios/frequencies and standardize plans of attack, etc. Of course, if we could tie that meeting to the Oath Keepers that would put another knot in the dragnet. There was a meeting of many different militia groups in Pennsylvania on Jan 3 or 4 to coordinate plans among militias.
Wait, "mysterious ex blackwater employee"????? Where is that information? That ties in Erik Prince. Or maybe it WAS Erik Prince, since all Blackwater employees are now "ex Blackwater" I'm sure he was involved, but he's not showing up yet.
!!!!!THANK YOU!!!! (Yes, I'm screaming that in excitement.) I'm going to have to find a way around WP paywall. I've found enough of the article on other sites to see what you're talking about.
After reading the article, I agree it's not Prince. Too lowly of a position. He'd never allow himself to be "appointed" anything by Rhodes. But I'm sure he was skulking around somewhere. Also, it seems the person in question is known as "Whip" and I've been trying to find him in older articles about Rhodes/Oath Keepers. No luck yet.
I'm just really worried about the state of our democracy and wonder just how long it will take for these treasonous fucks to be charged and subsequently incarcerated. Meanwhile, the rest of the Repugnancians are busy carrying the water in covering the ongoing coup d'etat...
How long will Our entire country be held hostage by Repugnancians?!?
First rate. Terrific. Fact upon fact. Ms Thomas needs to be subpoenaed, talk or plead 5th, & be charged as a plotter. (I insist on a NY "perp walk") If she someday resides in a prison, she might pen a cleverly written book. (Perhaps as a Putin fundraiser?) Meanwhile, her husband, Justice Thomas, should resign in disgrace (today) and keep his yap shut about any public issue going forward... His pouting "silent years" may turn out to be the ethical high water mark of his disappointing. wrong-headed judicial career. The reputations of Justice Thomas current and former law clerks will be forever diminished by their relationship with Justice Thomas and his bulldozer spouse. As individuals, and as a couple, they are a stain on the SC and what Founders intended it to become 230 years ago....If we keep the EC... we are "Gohmert caliber" fools.
Great article! This connects a lot of bad actors in a way that makes sense because if the mob attack was successful in either killing Pence or Congress OR sufficient chaos to delay the count for GOP states to decertify their Biden Electors, there had to be a war room for coordinating all the key conspirators to mob the media and create a consensus that favored a pro-Trump outcome. None of the confusion we saw after Reagan was shot, when Al Haig said he was in control. Trump needed all hands on deck and everyone assuring the media that what Trump and the GOP was doing was legit. Penrose would be key to that misinformation campaign. The Willard War Room is a major missing link. The Capitol attack mob looks less spontaneous all the time. Super job with this article!
I'm beginning to think that the Willard Hotel is where the literal War Room was on Jan. 6th. Or one of them. Proud Boy Gabriel Garcia was live-streaming at the front of the Pezzola PB group and during later attacks inside. His indictment describes him narrating tactical maneuvers. Marcy Wheeler at emptywheel.net discusses the idea that the live-stream was being watched by others not at the site, as there are voices of people in a quiet location giving directions to those on the ground. Where was Mike Flynn during the insurrection? I've been looking to see if it's in any articles, but if it is, I'm not seeing it. If anyone can point me to it I'd appreciate it.
Wheeler's article is here: https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/03/22/were-proud-boys-using-livestream-for-command-and-control-and-other-operational-questions/
Another of her articles questions how the PBs, and possibly Oath Keepers, knew the National Guard was on the way before the National Guard did. At 3:38 pm, P.B, Charles Donahoe, who had left the Capitol for some reason, called for a regrouping for a 2nd assault. His indictment then says that plan was "short-lived" as he then (at an unspecified time, but apparently not much later) "advised the group that the National Guard and 'DHS agents' were 'incoming.'"
At 3:40, two minutes after Donahoe's call to regroup, O.K. Joshua James (who was a passenger on one of the golf carts that raced to the Capitol) called "Person Ten" of the O.K. indictment for 3 minutes. At 4:00, James' fellow golf cart passenger Roberto Minuta had two phone conversations with O.K. Stewart Rhodes, and at 4:10, an unidentified O.K. told everyone "stand your ground." But then, they did nothing.
To put that into the timeline, it was 3:04 that Miller authorized (and see below about "authorized" vs "deployed") the guard to assist the Metro PD and 3:19 that Army Sec'y Ryan McCarthy called Democratic leaders in the Capitol and he called Mayor Bowser at 3:26. Between 3:48 and 4:10, McCarthy traveled from the Pentagon to the MPD, where he discussed how the Guard deployment would work. At 4:32, Miller ordered the Guard to assist the Capitol Police (while McCarthy is negotiating with the MPD on the deployment instead.) Of course, that order didn't get to General Walker until 5:08 pm.
It would appear that the P.B.s and the O.K.s got the news that the Guard was being deployed while McCarthy was in transit to what would, as of 4:32, become the wrong place. And then there was a nice, long hang in mid-air between the 4:32 order and Gen. Walder getting the order and deploying. The P.B.s and O.K.s had about an hour to clear their people from the area while the rest of the MAGAs they incited into a raging mob attacked the Lower West Tunnel, giving them cover. The article is here:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/04/05/how-did-the-proud-boys-have-better-lines-of-communication-about-national-guard-reinforcements-than-the-national-guard-did/
Something I'm not seeing discussed further anywhere is that on January 4th, Miller authorized McCarthy to DEPLOY the 40 member (Guard?) Quick Reaction Force staged at Joint Base Andrews if civil authorities requested help. Mayor Bowser called McCarthy at 1:34 pm and requests assistance. This is mentioned in an article on "Just Security," about the official and unofficial DoD timelines. The article explains that there was confusion about "authorization" and "deployment" on Jan 6. A military action can be authorized, but it can't be put into operation until it is "deployed." DoD was using "authorized" on Jan. 6, which was interpreted by civilians (Congress and D.C, government) as "deployed." But this article, while taking pains to explain the difference, states that McCarthy was already authorized to deploy the QRF at any point that day. The article at Just Security is here: https://www.justsecurity.org/76117/the-official-and-unofficial-timeline-of-defense-department-actions-on-january-6/
(And I don't know why my links don't seem to be "hyper-linked." Sorry about that.
This comment is fantastic. Thank you for clarifying all that.
In another recent article, Wheeler describes the indictment and Statement of Facts for Anthony Puma. He shot hours of video with a GoPro. The Feds have his video. Wheeler posts some of the screengrabs from those videos that are in Puma's Statement of Facts. Among them is a close up of one of the golf carts en route to the Capitol. She states that they were en route from the Willard Hotel, although I don't see that in the Statement of Facts on the Gov. website. You really should see the golf cart picture to get an idea of what that adventure looked like and to realize the level of detail the DOJ knows. This is just a still from a long video. I'd love to see the actual video. The part about Puma is the third part of the article, titled "Anthony Puma's GoPro is Arrested." : ) Link: https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/05/31/crystalizing-conspiracies-fourth-superseding-james-breheny-pumas-gopro-redacted-and-the-willard-hotel/
Oh, they are. Never mind. :)
The hyper-links, I meant.
Thank you for making this information available to the rest of us. The depth and breadth of the network that has been organized and funded to demolish our country's democratic governance and institutions is beyond astonishing.
Thanks again Seth for all the intricately detailed work you do. I really feel much of your work will be a great resource as the Biden Gov't gains traction in its work to prevent fascism taking hold in the US. By the way, this seems a good forum for me to give my two-cent's worth about Ali Alexander. Not sure if the penny has dropped yet for most people, but Ali Alexander was the one who laid the pipe bombs. Somebody on twitter even went to the trouble of lining up pictures of his stance and proportions compared to the stance and proportions of the pipe-bomb guy, and it is striking how exactly the same they are in arm length/body length/leg shape and body ratios. For people who keep insisting it is a woman, I am beginning to wonder if some of them are bots placed specifically all over twitter to cloud the fact that it really is Ali. Just sayin'. Again, many thanks to you. You will be one of the many who actually do help save America.
And I hope whoever went to all that trouble to do the forensic work on Ali Alexander received the FBI reward.
Ah ha I kept saying the bomb-planters arms were too long to be female. And those were clean stylish fly sneakers. That criteria is very prevalent in certain groups.
Not sure if anyone's seen Sandi Bachom's hypothesis that the pipe bombs were meant to go off around the time of Trump's speech, and that was meant to be when the military were called in under Trump's direction/Martial law, but for some reason they didn't go off as planned. Personally I find that a very compelling theory.
Katie do you have a link by any chance ?
I should have saved it when I first saw it. I tried to retrace my steps to find it but either I can't or it's gone. A couple of people posted similar, less exhaustive pic comparisons that are pretty easy to find, but even those are quite convincing. Broad/flat in the shoulders, a short slight build, with comparatively long arms that have an outward curvature as he walks, wide-spaced hips legs etc., it really is him in shape and gait. I could recognize most of the people I know even if they had a paper bag over their heads just by those simple 'tells', and he is pretty unique. I am 100% certain the FBI has already ascertained that it IS him, they just really want someone to reveal his location. I must admit I am surprised anyone is showing this much fealty to him. All I can think is they really must be zealots? Otherwise, they would have sold him out ages ago.
Also, do we know anything about Wray? I am starting to suspect the FBI for being somehow compromised. It's not like he's Osama Bin Laden in another country populated by other zealots. It's getting pretty weird that he hasn't been collected yet.
I don’t understand why MSM isn’t reporting any of this. All Americans deserve to know the truth.
Bannon had a YouTube of a broadcast going on concurrent with the insurrection from a vehicle with a vantage point opposite the Capital. Posted with twitter, so I @ it to FBI. No longer available. Fairly relevant to be so prepared.
How do you separate emotions from reporting. I have myself so angry I have a headache. Which agency(s) investigate this type of, geez, what do I call it, treason? It must be exhilarating to piece this together, but how in the world do you not run around with your hair on fire?
After this article, I have a better understand of what their plan was, and how they're putting a better plan in place right now. Keep up the momentum, Seth.
Maybe Pence agreed to all this and then figured out the plan was to kill him as a way to shake things up and cement Trump calling for his continued presidency. When it became clear he was intended to be sacrificed he certified. I’m unsure exactly where he fit in with this plot.
If you google Elise Stefanic there are pictures where she is wearing the same skirt.
Keep digging for the truth! This is making more and more sense! This is why no response was be taken! Thank God we didn’t bend to the bogey men! Now- we must stop them !
Amazing, Seth. Thank you for your unrelenting efforts. Wish we could know that someone is doing something about this. Too many unanswered questions about January 6th - who was involved, who knew what, who orchestrated, who benefited from the insurrection. Is it all about oil and money? Waiting for the next info drop.
It's ultimately about power. Power goes to those with the weapons and money to intimidate or beat others into submission. And there will always be people who crave money and power and believe they are uniquely entitled to it at any cost (because the rest of us are mere objects to them.)
Seth, I'm glad Catgirl mentioned the Proud Boys on evening of January 5th; I know that the prosecution's filing docs against Nordean & Biggs indicate that they sent a message in their encrypted messaging app to the other PB's re: having just concluded a meeting at roughly 9:15 pm Jan 5th.
It makes me wonder if Roger Stone's OathKeepers bodyguard crew (who guarded him at the Willard & in the VIP waiting area Jan 5th etc) weren't also looped into the greater Willard war room communications as well.
I think the meeting of Nordean and Biggs was with other Proud Boys to divide the Proud Boys who came to DC into groups and assign radios/frequencies and standardize plans of attack, etc. Of course, if we could tie that meeting to the Oath Keepers that would put another knot in the dragnet. There was a meeting of many different militia groups in Pennsylvania on Jan 3 or 4 to coordinate plans among militias.
Wait, "mysterious ex blackwater employee"????? Where is that information? That ties in Erik Prince. Or maybe it WAS Erik Prince, since all Blackwater employees are now "ex Blackwater" I'm sure he was involved, but he's not showing up yet.
!!!!!THANK YOU!!!! (Yes, I'm screaming that in excitement.) I'm going to have to find a way around WP paywall. I've found enough of the article on other sites to see what you're talking about.
After reading the article, I agree it's not Prince. Too lowly of a position. He'd never allow himself to be "appointed" anything by Rhodes. But I'm sure he was skulking around somewhere. Also, it seems the person in question is known as "Whip" and I've been trying to find him in older articles about Rhodes/Oath Keepers. No luck yet.
Thanx... I think...
I'm just really worried about the state of our democracy and wonder just how long it will take for these treasonous fucks to be charged and subsequently incarcerated. Meanwhile, the rest of the Repugnancians are busy carrying the water in covering the ongoing coup d'etat...
How long will Our entire country be held hostage by Repugnancians?!?
First rate. Terrific. Fact upon fact. Ms Thomas needs to be subpoenaed, talk or plead 5th, & be charged as a plotter. (I insist on a NY "perp walk") If she someday resides in a prison, she might pen a cleverly written book. (Perhaps as a Putin fundraiser?) Meanwhile, her husband, Justice Thomas, should resign in disgrace (today) and keep his yap shut about any public issue going forward... His pouting "silent years" may turn out to be the ethical high water mark of his disappointing. wrong-headed judicial career. The reputations of Justice Thomas current and former law clerks will be forever diminished by their relationship with Justice Thomas and his bulldozer spouse. As individuals, and as a couple, they are a stain on the SC and what Founders intended it to become 230 years ago....If we keep the EC... we are "Gohmert caliber" fools.
Please check your website contact messages this evening