Tag: investigations
Cassidy Hutchinson

Johnson Fears Disclosure Of Salacious GOP Texts To Hutchinson

Former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson was a key witness for the January 6 Select Committee in 2022, and in 2024, she was among the conservative Republicans who said she would be voting for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris for president.

Hutchinson told NBC News, "I have known for quite a long time, number one, that I would never in my life vote for Donald Trump ever again."

Now, with President Trump back in the White House, Hutchinson's name is back in the headlines — and she is being mentioned as a possible witness by a pro-Trump U.S. House subcommittee.

But according to the Washington Post, House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-LA) staff is warning aides to Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) that subpoenaing Hutchinson could bring to light "embarrassing information" and sexually explicit texts she allegedly received when she was working in the White House during Trump's first presidency.

The Daily Beast's Josh Fiallo reports, "Trump's return to power has Republicans clamoring to seek retribution against political foes who probed Trump, his advisers, and his supporters about the infamous day. Sordid texts supposedly sent to Hutchinson appear to have thrown a wrench in at least a portion of those plans, however."

Fiallo adds, "Rep. Barry Loudermilk, a Republican from Georgia, floated the idea of issuing a subpoena to Hutchinson seeking digital communications that might implicate Trump rivals like former Rep. Liz Cheney in wrongdoing."

Fiallo notes, however, that the "supposed texts are not stopping Loudermilk from pushing forward with an investigation — or, reinvestigation, as it’s been called — entirely."

"Johnson has still asked Loudermilk to chair a new select subcommittee to scrutinize those who probed the Capitol attack," the Daily Beast reporter explains. "Joe Biden issued [former Rep. Liz] Cheney a blanket preemptive pardon to protect her from criminal prosecutions. Hutchinson, a witness called to testify by Cheney, did not receive such a pardon."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Judge Aileen Cannon

Judge Cannon Allows Release Of Special Counsel Report On Trump Coup

On Monday, January 13 — a week before Donald Trump's second inauguration — the news broke that Judge Aileen Cannon had OK'd the release of part of former special counsel Jack Smith's final report on his two criminal cases against the president-elect.

Smith's final report contains two volumes: one dealing with Smith's Mar-a-Lago documents case (which Cannon dismissed), the other dealing with Smith's election interference case (which Judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed without prejudice at Smith's request after Trump won the 2024 election). And Cannon gave the go-ahead for the release of the election interference portion of the report, while setting a January 17 hearing for the classified documents part.

After the news broke, CNN's Dana Bash brought on legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid for analysis.

Reid told Bash, "What we were looking for today is whether she would try to block (the full release) of Jack Smith's reports. As a special counsel, he is required by regulation to submit reports detailing his investigative decisions to the attorney general. He has submitted two reports to Attorney General Merrick Garland…. The classified documents report is not expected to be released anytime soon, because that case is still active."

Reid added, "Trump had co-defendants in that case. Their cases are still active even though Trump's has been dismissed. So, all eyes are on the January 6 report. And…. Judge Cannon cleared the way for this report to possibly be released. "

Reid noted, however, that based on conversations with sources, she "wouldn't be surprised" if Trump's lawyers "appealed" Cannon's ruling and went "higher up the legal food chain to try to block this release."

Reid told Bash, "Even though sources on both sides tell me there's not a lot of news in this report….. the Trump team had made it clear: They are going to fight Jack Smith and the Justice Department every step of the way."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Matt Gaetz

Damning Text Messages Detonated The Gaetz Ethics Bombshell

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has been the subject of two separate investigations related to alleged sexual misconduct: an actual criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and a probe by the House Ethics Committee.

The DOJ investigation was concluded, and Gaetz — who denied the allegations against him — was never charged with anything. But the House Ethics report was made public on Monday, December 23, and the allegations include paying for sex with a 17-year-old girl.

In an article published on Christmas Eve 2024, USA Today reporter Josh Meyer describes the role that text messages play in the report's "bombshell accusations."

Meyer explains, "Some of the (Ethics) Committee's damning allegations come from the former congressman's own words and actions, according to details within the long-awaited report made public Monday. Others comprise text messages, financial records, photos and interviews of people closest to him, the Committee report said, including a former friend who's now in prison and an ex-girlfriend who both used a 'sugar dating' site linking older men with younger women."

After the House Ethics report was released, many of Gaetz's critics — including Democrats and Never Trump conservatives — were also highly critical of President-elect Donald Trump for picking Gaetz for U.S. attorney general.

Gaetz, however, withdrew from consideration, and Trump has picked former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi for that position.

The House Ethics report alleges, "The record overwhelmingly suggests that Representative Gaetz had sex with multiple women at (a) party, including the then-17-year-old, for which they were paid."

Meyer notes, "Much of that evidence came from text messages by Gaetz and his associates, according to the report. In one text exchange obtained by the (Ethics) Committee, Gaetz balked at a woman's request for money after he accused her of 'ditching' him on a night when she was feeling tired, claiming she only gave him a 'drive by,' the report said. The woman asserted to Gaetz that she was being 'treated differently' than other women he was paying for sex, the report added."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Mike Davis

MAGA Lawyer Threatens Private Investigations Of Senators Who Oppose Hegseth

During a late November interview with The Bulwark's Sarah Longwell, attorney and Never Trump conservative George Conway predicted that many GOP senators, in 2025, will be too "spineless" to reject Donald Trump's most "appalling" nominees. Conway, however, noted that Republicans will have only a small U.S. Senate majority next year, and that Trump's nominees could "go down" if a handful of GOP senators have enough of a "spine" to reject them.

Trump's MAGA allies, according to Conway and other Trump critics, won't hesitate to threaten and bully Senate Republicans who refuse to confirm his more controversial nominees.

MAGA Republicans often threaten members of their party with primary challenges if they stand up to the president-elect. And far-right MAGA attorney Mike Davis, during an interview for Politico's Playbook column, threatened non-compliant Senate Republicans withanother tactic: hiring private investigators to probe their backgrounds.

Politico's Adam Wren, in a Playbook column published on December 8, reports that Davis is "mobilizing his Article III Project to become the tip of the spear in building pressure from the base on Republican senators to confirm" former Fox News host Pete Hegseth (Trump's pick for defense secretary).

Davis told Politico, "The Article III Project is very excited about this new standard that drinking and womanizing is disqualifying for public office. I'm very happy to hire investigators for senators and use that standard."

Davis has never shied away from violent or inflammatory rhetoric.

In a November 6 post on X, formerly Twitter, the attorney said of Democrats, "Here's my current mood: I want to drag their dead political bodies through the streets, burn them, and throw them off the wall. (Legally, politically, and financially, of course.")

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

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