SATURDAY
CONGRESS IS ON THE MOVE CONCERNING
THE SHAMEFUL EVENTS OF JANUARY 6, 2021 AT THE U.S. CAPITOL. US REP. PAUL GOSAR IS
IN THE HOT SEAT IN THE MATTER. HE WAS ALSO IN THE NEWS ON JUNE 29, 2021, OVER
HIS FUNDRAISER WITH WHITE NATIONALIST NICK FUENTES. FOR DETAILS, SEE: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2021/06/29/rep-paul-gosar-full-white-nationalist-no-republican-condemnation/7798458002/.
RACHEL MADDOW’S REPORT FROM AUGUST
30, 2021, SHE DISCUSSES THE DEMANDS FOR TELEPHONE RECORDS ON SOME INDIVIDUALS
INCLUDING TRUMP HIMSELF, HIS FAMILY AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.
LOCATED ON THE FOLLOWING VIDEO AT:
MARKERS 00:00 TO 02:36
JIM JORDAN ON HIS CONVERSATIONS WITH
EX-PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SURROUNDING THE INSURRECTION OF JANUARY 6, 2021. A
HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE THE EVENTS SEEK MATERIAL ON “INDIVIDUALS
WHO MAY HAVE RELEVANT INFORMATION...” THE JANUARY 6 COMMITTEE HAS ISSUED
DEMANDS TO SOME GOVERNMENT SOURCES, TRUMP, HIS FAMILY & OTHER GROUPS “TO
PRESERVE” PHONE RECORDS CONCERNING TRUMP CONVERSATIONS. THE CONGRESSIONAL
MEMBERS WHOM RACHEL MADDOW NAMES ARE LAUREN BOBERT, MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE, JIM
JORDAN, ANDY BIGGS, PAUL GOSAR, MO BROOKS, MADISON CAWTHORNE, MATT GAETZ, LOUIE
GOHMERT, JODY HICE, & SCOTT PERRY.
AT MARKERS 2:36 TO 04:58
IN THE SAME PODCAST, RACHEL MADDOW’S
GUEST REP. ELAINE LURIA, D VA, TALKS ABOUT THE ACTIONS OF THE INVESTIGATORY
COMMITTEE, OF WHICH SHE IS A MEMBER. FOR DETAILS ON THE GROUP, SEE:
“THE HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE TO
INVESTIGATE THE JAN 6 ATTACK ON THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL.” [NOTE: FOR DAILY
UPDATES ON PRESS RELEASES ABOUT THE INVESTIGATORY COMMITTEE, GO TO “LATEST
NEWS,” AT https://january6th.house.gov/]
AT MARKERS 05:00 TO 07:30
PHONE RECORDS HAVE ALREADY BEEN
DEMANDED FROM “A TOTAL OF 35 ENTITIES” ON TRUMP RELATING TO THE JAN 6 EVENTS,
FROM THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND 7 OTHER GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES, GIVING THEM A 2
WEEK DEADLINE TO PRODUCE RECORDS. FOLLOWING THAT, SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES WERE
GIVEN THE SAME DEMAND, INCLUDING FACEBOOK, 4CHAN & OTHERS FAVORED BY
RIGHTISTS. IN ADDITION, A NUMBER OF TELECOM COMPANIES HAVE BEEN WARNED TO
PRESERVE THEIR RECORDS ON SOME REPUBLICAN MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE AS WELL RE THEIR
PARTICIPATION IN THE “STOP THE STEAL RALLY” THAT PRECEDED THE INSURRECTION.
FOR MADDOW'S ANALYSIS, GO TO:
Watch Rachel Maddow Highlights: August 30th | MSNBC
368,499 views Aug 31, 2021
UPS 7K DOWNS 423
A FULLER REPORT ON THIS STORY IS
FOUND AT AZCENTRAL.COM, WEBSITE FOR PHOENIX, AZ DAILY PAPER THE ARIZONA
REPUBLIC.
Phone records sought for Reps. Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, others in Jan. 6 probe, report says
Ronald J. Hansen
Arizona Republic
Published 11:51 am MT, august 30, 2021; updated 8:20 pm MT, august 30, 2021
The special House committee
examining the Jan. 6 riot is reportedly planning to seek phone records from
former President Donald Trump and other Republicans involved in the "Stop
the Steal" rallies, including Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar of Arizona.
The Democrat-led investigation hopes
to examine the records of 11 GOP members, as well as those of Trump and his
adult children, according to CNN.
Neither Biggs nor Gosar were
immediately available for comment.
Both men opposed the creation of the
special committee and have cast it as a partisan attack on Republicans.
It isn't surprising that Biggs and
Gosar would receive scrutiny from the committee.
Ali Alexander, a Texas man viewed as
the lead organizer in the "Stop the Steal" rallies, singled out Biggs
and Gosar, along with Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., for their assistance in a video
published before the deadly melee. Brooks is among those whose phone records
may be sought.
Alexander called Gosar the
"spirit animal" of the effort. Gosar attended at least one rally in
Phoenix and referenced "Stop the Steal" dozens of times on social
media before Jan. 6.
Biggs has maintained he had no role
in it and never contacted Alexander. He did provide an audio message played by
Alexander at a rally in Phoenix that he has said Gosar's aides requested.
Both Biggs and Gosar were part of a
report of social media posts by those who voted against certifying the election
compiled earlier this year by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who is a member of
the special committee.
The committee, headed by Rep. Bennie
Thompson, D-Miss., already has made records requests for communications
involving Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence and other top officials, as
well as White House visitor and call logs.
Citing unnamed sources, CNN reported
the panel now wants to review records for lawmakers who "either attended,
spoke, actively planned or encouraged people to attend" rallies for
"Stop the Steal."
In addition to Biggs, Brooks and
Gosar, the panel reportedly wants to review phone records for Republican Reps.
Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, Matt Gaetz of
Florida, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Jody Hice of Georgia, Jim Jordan of Ohio,
Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.
Reach the reporter Ronald J. Hansen
at ronald.hansen@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4493. Follow him on Twitter
@ronaldjhansen.
Subscribe to our free political podcast, The Gaggle.
WHITE NATIONALIST NICK FUENTES HAS
PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN PRO-TRUMP RALLIES AND ONLINE PUBLICITY. SEE THE
FOLLOWING FROM CHICAGOTRIBUNE.
Cancel proof? Activists are trying to get Nick Fuentes, a far-right video streamer from the western suburbs, kicked off the internet. It might be impossible.
By JOHN KEILMAN
CHICAGO TRIBUNE |
MAR 29, 2021 AT 5:00 AM
PHOTOGRAPH -- Nick Fuentes, center,
speaks at a pro-Trump rally in Washington on Nov. 14, 2020. His group calls
itself the Groypers after a cartoon associated with the alt-right. (Zach D.
Roberts/NurPhoto)
For someone who has been
deplatformed as thoroughly as anyone this side of Donald Trump, Nick Fuentes is
still easy to find online.
The FBI has called the far-right
streamer from Chicago’s western suburbs a white supremacist in a court
document, and nearly every major social media platform has banished him for
hate speech violations. Many technical service providers and consumer apps
won’t work with him, either.
Yet Fuentes has a verified Twitter
account with 125,000 followers. Hundreds of his video clips continue to
circulate on YouTube, a platform that terminated his channel a year ago. And
despite being expelled from a livestreaming site after the deadly U.S. Capitol
riot, which he cheered from nearby, he has built what he calls a “cancel-proof”
website to host his nightly show.
Fuentes’ continuing visibility shows
the difficulty of erasing someone from the internet, no matter how scorned.
Social media platforms have varying standards about impermissible speech,
banned content is easily recirculated and plenty of tech companies are willing
to support intolerant websites.
“Conventionally, it’s over for
people (if they are removed) from two or three of their major platforms,”
Fuentes told the Tribune. “But you know, I’m 22. I’m a Zoomer. I know about how
the internet works. … It’s not doing as much damage as they think.”
Deplatforming has become a hot issue
after Facebook, Twitter and other services suspended Trump in the wake of the
Capitol siege, saying he condoned or glorified violence. Trump, who has hinted
he’s developing his own social platform, has accused them of trying to “silence
conservative voices.”
Republican legislators around the
country have drafted bills meant to limit social media companies’ ability to
evict users. Meanwhile, some Democrats want to establish a federal agency that
would address hate speech, disinformation and other social media issues.
But Elon University computer
scientist Megan Squire, one of Fuentes’ most dedicated adversaries, said
extremists are already venturing beyond established social networks.
“A lot of them will just find some
kind of (website) host that will put up with them and take their money and then
hope the media pressure dies down, which it usually does,” she said. “(Fuentes)
will figure it out, I’m sure, and I’ll still pressure whatever company he
decides to go with to take him down. So it’s cat and mouse.”
To the extreme
Fuentes attended Lyons Township High
School, where he was student council president and a member of the speech and
Model U.N. teams. One former classmate recalled him as a talented public
speaker with seemingly mainstream conservative views.
But after his graduation in 2016, he
embraced the extreme right. In a speech before an anti-immigration group, he
said he had grown convinced immigrants were taking jobs from Americans and
dooming the Republican Party to irrelevance (Fuentes, incidentally, says he is
descended from Mexican immigrants and sometimes refers to himself as Latino).
In 2017, Fuentes attended the Unite
the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a young woman named Heather
Heyer was run over and killed by an avowed neo-Nazi. Fuentes pronounced the
event “incredible” in a Facebook post, adding that “a tidal wave of white
identity is coming … once the word gets out, they will not be able to stop us.”
PHOTOGRAPH -- Nick Fuentes hangs a
green screen while preparing to shoot his online show "America First"
in a friend's dorm room at Boston University on March 3, 2017. (Craig F.
Walker/The Boston Globe)
PHOTOGRAPH -- Linda Jenkins talks
with Boston University student Nick Fuentes, a young conservative and host of a
nightly, hourlong web video show titled "America First," during a
rally in front of the Marsh Chapel in Boston on Mar. 1, 2017. (Jonathan
Wiggs/The Boston Globe)
Fuentes went on to broadcast his
“America First” message through a YouTube show. He says he is not a white
supremacist or white nationalist, but he speaks in dire terms about immigration
eroding what he calls America’s “white demographic core.”
He has also made numerous racist
comments online, frequently employs homophobic invective and in one video, cast
doubt on the Holocaust (he later said he was joking).
Devin Burghart of the Institute for
Research and Education on Human Rights, which issued a report about Fuentes
last year, said despite Fuentes’ ability to “present different guises to
different audiences,” his white nationalist views are clear.
“Fuentes very much strikes me as the
Zoomer generation’s David Duke in terms of moving this stuff to a large
audience and making it more politically viable — which, given the racism and
anti-Semitism and genocidal fantasies that come along with it, is utterly
terrifying,” he said.
Shrinking footprint
In 2019, Fuentes’ digital footprint
started to shrink. Twitch, a streaming platform used mostly by gamers, banned
his content for hate speech. Reddit did likewise a few months later.
Fuentes said he also lost access to
Facebook, Instagram, Apple’s podcast app, TikTok, Discord, Clubhouse, Spotify
and DLive, along with business and consumer services like PayPal, Venmo,
Patreon, Airbnb, Shopify, Amazon Web Services, Stripe, Streamlabs and Coinbase.
Most significantly, Fuentes was
kicked off YouTube for repeatedly violating the service’s guidelines against
“content that encourages hatred of another person or a group of people.”
The termination, however, was not
the end of his YouTube presence: Other YouTubers featured him as a guest on
their shows, and his followers continued to share his content on the platform.
YouTube said it removes videos that
come from banned channels, but otherwise makes decisions based on the content
of a video, not who appears in it. After the Tribune inquired about a copy of
Fuentes’ Holocaust video, YouTube took it down, but other versions remain.
Twitter is now Fuentes’ biggest
platform. It has its own policies on hate speech and has expelled many of his
followers, but Fuentes said he’s careful his tweets don’t cross the line.
A Twitter spokesperson told the
Tribune that Fuentes has not violated its rules. Michael Edison Hayden, of the
Southern Poverty Law Center, who has argued with the company about Fuentes’
account, disagreed.
“He’s playing a very careful game,”
Hayden said. “With a verified handle on Twitter, it’s given him a great deal of
legitimacy. … If Twitter chose to stop having a relationship with him, his
audience will dissipate pretty quickly.”
Dark web future?
Genevieve Lakier, a law professor at
the University of Chicago who specializes in First Amendment issues, said
social media platforms are within their rights to ban whomever they want, and
she doubted the legal remedies envisioned by conservatives will pass constitutional
muster.
Still, she was alarmed at the idea
that companies providing the basic tools to run a website — things like hosting
or credit card processing — could be pressured to withhold their services. She
said those calling for someone’s digital exile today could become tomorrow’s
targets.
“Would we be so happy about that?”
she said.
Fuentes still has accounts on the
social networks Telegram and Gab, which take a relaxed approach to moderation
and have been accused of harboring extremists. Still, he said, he anticipates
the day when content gets pushed off the open internet to the dark web, where
it would be funded by cryptocurrency (his merch store already accepts Litecoin)
and available only to those with specialized browsers.
That should be a troubling scenario
for all, he said.
“Deplatforming is radicalizing
people,” he said.
Jared Holt, who studies extremism
for the Digital Forensic Research Lab, said that reasoning is backward. People
like Fuentes get deplatformed, he said, because “their ideas are toxic and
harmful. ... Pushing them to the fringes destroys their ability to build
massive political power.”
Holt said Fuentes has clear designs
on gaining real world influence. He was an integral part of Trump’s “Stop the
Steal” rallies, has created a foundation to raise financial support for his
movement and last month put on a political conference that featured a sitting
congressman, Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, as a speaker.
He also recently launched a website
to recruit congressional candidates. Among the screening questions is whether
the prospective office seeker is comfortable being associated with Fuentes and
would “willingly and publicly defend and support him if confronted on your
connection.”
For all his confidence about his
digital prowess, Fuentes appears to fear losing what remains of his social
media presence. He has fretted about the possibility of being kicked off
Twitter, and when Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas denounced Gab as an
“anti-Semitic platform,” he ranted on his livestream that Abbott was an enemy
of free speech.
“If we don’t have access to the
internet and social media, it’s over,” Fuentes said. “We’re done.”
John Keilman is a general assignment reporter for the Chicago Tribune, based in the suburbs. He writes about sports, education, health, drug abuse and many other subjects. Before joining the Tribune in 2001, he worked as a reporter in Virginia, Maryland and Ohio. Tips about strange occurrences, public outrages and inspiring people always welcome.
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