Jan. 6 committee subpoenas six who helped plan rallies
WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection is subpoenaing six more people who the panel says were involved in the organization and planning of rallies that aimed to overturn Donald Trump’s defeat in the 2020 presidential election.
The committee chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said some worked to stage the events and “some appeared to have had direct communication” with then-President Trump as they were planning.
The subpoenas were issued to Robert “Bobby” Peede Jr. and Max Miller, who the committee says met with Trump in his private dining room Jan. 4; Brian Jack, Trump’s political director at the time; and rally organizers Bryan Lewis, Ed Martin and Kimberly Fletcher.
The rallies before and during the Jan. 6 riot are a major focus of the committee’s investigation. Committee members have said they want to know who financed the events and whether organizers were in close touch with the White House and members of Congress as they planned the events.
At the largest Jan. 6 rally, on the Ellipse near the White House, Trump riled up the crowd and told them to “fight like hell.” He said he would march to the Capitol with them, but he eventually returned to the White House. Miller, a former Trump aide who is running for Congress in Ohio, said in a statement Thursday that he had received notice he would be subpoenaed and would accept it but also “defend my rights.”
“Upon taking office, I will make sure one of my first votes is to disband this partisan committee that has weaponized its powers against innocent Americans,” Miller said.
Virus outbreak: More states desperate to defend against COVID-19 are calling on the National Guard and other military personnel to assist virus-weary medical staffs at hospitals and other care centers.
People who became sick after refusing to get vaccinated are overwhelming hospitals in certain states, especially in the Northeast and the Upper Midwest. New York, meanwhile, announced a statewide indoor mask order, effective Monday and lasting five weeks through the holiday season.
“We’re entering a time of uncertainty, and we could either plateau here or our cases could get out of control,” Gov. Kathy Hochul warned Friday.
The seven-day rolling average for daily new cases in the U.S. rose over the past two weeks to 117,677 by Thursday, compared to 84,756 on Nov. 25, Thanksgiving Day, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has soared to about 54,000 on average, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Britain virus: Tighter restrictions to curb the coronavirus came into force in Britain on Friday, as the government faced new allegations that officials flouted rules they had imposed on the nation with lockdown-breaking parties last Christmas.
Face masks are once again compulsory in indoor public spaces in England under the measures British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced this week to slow the spread of the new omicron virus variant. Vaccination passes will be
needed for nightclubs and large events starting next week, and residents will be told to work from home, if possible.
The emergence of omicron, which is spreading quickly in Britain, has shaken the government’s hopes that vaccinations would be enough to keep the virus in check. British scientists and officials say omicron spreads more quickly than the currently dominant delta variant and likely is more resistant to current vaccines. It is not yet clear whether it causes more severe or milder cases of COVID-19.
The return of restrictions is unwelcome for many, and revelations of apparent rule-breaking by government officials during tough lockdowns last winter have heightened opposition to the new measures.
Georgia election audit: Days after announcing his candidacy for governor, Republican David Perdue further embraced debunked claims
of electoral fraud in Georgia’s 2020 presidential race by joining a lawsuit seeking to prove he and former President Donald Trump were cheated out of election victories.
The suit claims that fraudulent or counterfeit ballots were counted in Fulton County, the state’s most populous jurisdiction, although investigators rebutted the same claims previously.
Perdue’s lawsuit amplifies claims that the former senator has made this week since announcing a challenge to incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday. Perdue told Axios and Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he wouldn’t have certified Georgia’s 2020 results if he had been governor then, unlike Kemp. Georgia law says the governor must certify results.
Taiwan loses ally: Taiwan lost Nicaragua as a diplomatic ally after the Central American country said it would officially recognize
only China, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory.
“There is only one China,” the Nicaraguan government said in a statement Thursday announcing the change. “The People’s Republic of China is the only legitimate government that represents all China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory.”
“As of today, Nicaragua breaks its diplomatic relations with Taiwan and ceases to have any official contact or relationship,” it added.
The move increases Taiwan’s diplomatic isolation on the international stage, even as the self-governed island steps up official exchanges with countries such as Lithuania and Slovakia, which do not formally recognize Taiwan as a country. Now, Taiwan has 14 diplomatic allies remaining.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed “sadness and regret” and said it would immediately recall its diplomatic staff.
College admission scandal: The last parent ensnared in Operation Varsity Blues — the nationwide college admissions bribery scandal — has agreed to plead guilty, federal prosecutors said.
Authorities said I-Hsin “Joey” Chen, 67, of Newport Beach, California, paid $75,000 to have someone correct his son’s answers on a college entrance exam.
Under a plea deal Chen will plead guilty to wire fraud and honest services wire fraud in exchange for serving a nine-week prison term, according to a statement Thursday from the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston.
The terms of the deal also call for Chen to serve a year of probation, perform 100 hours of community service and pay a $75,000 fine, prosecutors said.
Chen paid William “Rick” Singer, a college admissions consultant, $75,000 to bribe a test administrator to allow a proctor to change his son’s ACT answers and boost his score, prosecutors said.