MAGA Twitter is going nuts with two “BIG” reveals, so expect the basement crowd to be giddy over Trump declassifying “Obamagate” documents and James O’Keefe with Jack Dorsey caught on tape with something something about censorship or whatever the fuck they’re crying about these days.

What’s unclear is how any of this helps them at this point. Trump lost and will be out of office in less than six days from now. These kind of EXPLOSIVE ALLEGATIONS are really only useful when they have the potential to cause an impact on an election. I fail to see what this is going to do to Jack Dorsey or Barack Obama/Joe Biden, especially when it’ll be at least two years before any time-wasting Republican-led Congressional hearings will happen.

Maybe it’s that mindset that they can’t get out of. Four years of looking at every news article through the lens of how it can be spun as a reason to vote for Trump can’t be easy to switch off, especially when you have the emotional maturity level of an eight year old Power Rangers fan – or a fan of some other show with zero moral complexity and the good guys always win at the end of every episode, which I guess would fairly accurately describe most Fox News programming.

President-elect Joe Biden announced his $1.9 trillion plan, called the American Rescue Plan, to get the economy rolling once he takes office, including additional direct stimulus payments to individuals, according to CNBC.

The proposal will be one of two proposals Biden will present to the soon-to-be Democratically-controlled Congress. The second, to be presented in February, will deal with long-term stabilization and growth issues like creating jobs, reforming infrastructure, combating climate change and advancing racial equity.

From CNBC, the items Biden will push for include:

Daily Beast: “An Arkansas man caught on video beating a Washington, D.C., cop with an American flagpole during the Capitol riots was charged on Thursday. Peter Francis Stager has been charged with obstructing a law enforcement officer for allegedly beating a Metropolitan Police officer who was guarding an entrance of the U.S. Capitol.”

“Prosecutors allege in a criminal complaint that members of the MAGA mob who stormed the building last Wednesday grabbed the officer, dragged him down a flight of stairs, and forced him into a ‘prone position,’ before ‘forcibly and repeatedly’ hitting him in the head and body with ‘various objects.’ Video footage of the violent attack shows Stager with a large group on the stairs of the Capitol building and holding a flagpole. Another video shows Stager hit the officer while he ‘remained prone on the steps’ of the government building. The FBI said they learned of Stager’s identity from a confidential informant who saw the videos on social media.”

The FBI arrested 40-year-old Eduard Florea of Queens, New York on Thursday for weapons violations after finding a cache of weapons and ammunition in his home to arm the Proud Boys on a second attack on the Capitol in Washington, the New York Times reports.

Florea admitted to FBI agents that he was supporter of the Proud Boys and had been in DC when members of the far-right extremist group vandalized Black churches in Washington.

Officials were tipped off that Florea posted threats on the life of incoming Democratic Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock as well as support for the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on January 6th.  “[D]ead men can’t pass laws,” Florea posted on Parler, the now disabled social media platform favored by domestic terrorists and conservatives.

Federal agents found more than 1,000 rounds of rifle ammunition, two dozen shotgun rounds, 75 military-style combat knives, two hatchets and two swords when they executed a search warrant on the home of the software engineer. 

“Trump has repeatedly spoken by phone with Steve Bannon in recent weeks to seek advice on his campaign to overturn his re-election defeat, reconciling with his once-estranged ex White House strategist, sources tell me” reports Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs.

More stuff (appears to be Abe Lincoln bust) leaving the West Wing this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/4fjkVPmiMS

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 14, 2021

Federal law enforcement officials have issued a series of bulletins to local government officials and law enforcement agencies warning them that domestic terrorist and extremist groups feel “emboldened” and are likely planning follow-up actions, CNN reports.

The warnings, coming from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and Office of the Director of National Intelligence, noted that these insurrectionists believe their coup attempt at the Capitol on January 6th was a success, giving them a platform from which they can raise their profiles and impact.

The January 6th attack came after thousand of people heard calls for violence from the likes of Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Rudy Giuliani, who told the crowd they would have to “fight” to overturn certified election results and “save” the country. 

The Department of Justice Inspector General released a report laying blame for the roundly-criticized immigrant family separation policy on top DoJ officials, particularly former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein, NBC News reports.

The policy, in place for two months in 2018, resulted in thousands of children being separated from their parents, who were then deported.  Hundreds of children are still not reunited with their parents despite multiple court orders for the administration to reunite the families.

The IG report finds that Sessions and Rosenstein instructed local federal prosecutors that they should carry out prosecutions of adults even if they were the sole custodian of children as they crossed the border.

Washington Post: “Dozens of people on a terrorist watch list were in Washington for pro-Trump events Jan. 6, a day that ended in a chaotic crime rampage when a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, according to people familiar with evidence gathered in the FBI’s investigation. The majority of the watchlisted individuals in Washington that day are suspected white supremacists whose past conduct so alarmed investigators that their names had been previously entered into the national Terrorist Screening Database, or TSDB, a massive set of names flagged as potential security risks, these people said. The watch list is larger and separate from the ‘no-fly’ list the government maintains to prevent terrorism suspects from boarding airplanes, and those listed are not automatically barred from any public or commercial spaces, current and former officials said.”

“The presence of so many watch-listed individuals in one place – without more robust security measures to protect the public – is another example of the intelligence failures preceding last week’s assault that sent lawmakers running for their lives and left five others dead, some current and former law enforcement officials argued. The revelation follows a Washington Post report earlier this week detailing the FBI’s failure to act aggressively on an internal intelligence report of Internet discussions about plans to attack Congress, smash windows, break down doors and ‘get violent . . . go there ready for war.'”

New York State Attorney General Leticia James has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that New York City Police officers have practiced abusive and illegal procedures that violated people’s civil rights, NBC News reports.

James seeks a federal oversight board to review NYPD practices, which she said came into the national spotlight during enforcement efforts at this year’s civil rights marches following police killings of unarmed Black people around the country.

In a Thursday press conference, James said that during those protests, police officers “repeatedly and without justification used batons, fist strikes, pepper spray, and other physical force” against protesters.

“When Taco Bell announced it was removing potatoes as part of its menu ‘streamlining’ efforts this summer, vegetarians and nightshade fans alike cried out in agony. The potato was the chain’s ‘secret weapon’” and was a hearty filling for anyone who wanted to avoid meat but wanted something more than just beans and cheese. But apparently enough people yelled at Taco Bell that they are now bringing the potatoes back on March 11. Sometimes bullying works!”

“The Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes and the Spicy Potato Soft Taco will live más, and as before customers can substitute potatoes for the filling in any other offering. Taco Bell’s global chief food innovation officer Liz Matthews explained that because of the coronavirus pandemic, and the lack of indoor dining, the company was focused on paring down the menu so it could get customers through the drive-thru quickly. And while Matthews says the company expected some complaints about god’s own tuber, it received more than she expected. ‘I feel like I’ve almost heard from everybody in the country on the potato bites,’ she said” – Eater.

“On Dec. 8, someone made a simultaneous transfer of 28.15 bitcoins – worth more than $500,000 at the time – to 22 different virtual wallets, most of them belonging to prominent right-wing organizations and personalities. Now cryptocurrency researchers believe they have identified who made the transfer, and suspect it was intended to bolster those far-right causes. U.S. law enforcement is investigating whether the donations were linked to the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol. While the motivation is difficult to prove, the transfer came just a month before the violent riot in the Capitol, which took place after President Trump invited supporters to ‘walk down Pennsylvania Avenue’ and ‘take back our country'” Yahoo News reports.

“Right-wing figures and websites, including VDARE, the Daily Stormer and Nick Fuentes, received generous donations from a bitcoin account linked to a French cryptocurrency exchange, according to research done by software company Chainalysis, which maintains a repository of information about public cryptocurrency exchanges and whose tools aid in government, law enforcement and private sector investigations. Chainalysis investigated the donations after Yahoo News shared the data points about the transaction. According to one source familiar with the matter, the suspicious Dec. 8 transaction, along with a number of other pieces of intelligence, has prompted law enforcement and intelligence agencies in recent days to actively investigate the sources of funding for the individuals who participated in the Capitol insurrection, as well as their networks. The government is hoping to prevent future attacks but also to uncover potential foreign involvement in or support of right-wing activities, the source said.”

Washington Post: “The D.C. Attorney General’s office has notified Donald Trump Jr. that it wishes to interview him as part of a lawsuit alleging that President Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee improperly funneled money to the president’s business, a attorney general’s official said.”

“D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine’s lawsuit, filed in January 2020, alleges that the Trump Inaugural Committee – a tax-exempt nonprofit – wasted $1 million of donors’ money on an overpriced, little used ballroom at the president’s D.C. hotel, and then paid a $49,000 hotel bill that should have gone to the Trump Organization. The official in Racine’s office spoke on the condition of anonymity because the notice asking Trump Jr. to sit for a sworn deposition is not public. The official declined to say what questions investigators wanted to ask Trump Jr.”

GOP Congressman Peter Meijer of Michigan, one of ten Republican members of Congress to vote Wednesday to impeach Donald Trump for a second time, told MSNBC that he and the others are anticipating threats to their safety in the aftermath of their votes.

https://youtu.be/bs1WpPPTD78

“Many of us are altering our routines, working to get body armor, which is a reimbursable purchase that we can make, Meijer said.  “It’s sad that we have to get to that point. But our expectation is that someone may try to kill us.”

“Trump, to a fault at times, values the appearance of loyalty over expertise. This is, no doubt, one of Trump’s faults. In addition, he’s been poorly advised by people who were part of the deeply entrenched bureaucracy. Add to that the fact that many of the agencies he was constitutional in charge of (including the DOD!) were actively working to thwart him and his agenda.”

“My point is that when you’re surrounded by both open traitors and secret fifth columnists, rewarding loyalty is one way to keep the knives out of your back. Not permanently, mind you, as plenty of his recently-resigned cabinet members have decisively proven. But if I spent four years with everyone around me was constantly trying to betray me, I suspect I’d value loyalty over expertise as well. Especially considering that many of the ‘experts’ are swamp creatures from the DC cesspool” – The current top comment on the RedState.com article “Trump Unleashes His Wrath on Rudy Giuliani” posted Thursday afternoon.

Inaugural workers place Biden/Harris bunting across the street from the White House ahead of next week's Inauguration. pic.twitter.com/02b0kA2Fjj

— Doug Mills (@dougmillsnyt) January 14, 2021

First time unemployment claims jumped nearly 25% in one week, with 965,000 people filing for support as the nation saw new spikes in the coronavirus and states taking steps to curb the spread of the virus.

According to the Department of Labor, the number of first time claimants increased from the previous week’s total of 784,000, a 23% increase.  Currently, more than 18 million Americans are receiving unemployment benefits, 850% higher than the same week one year ago.

The states with the largest increases were Louisiana, Kansas, Texas and Georgia, while Illinois, California, Maryland and Florida saw the largest decreases.

New York Times: “A man who was photographed holding a Confederate battle flag inside the U.S. Capitol last week during the riot was arrested Thursday in Delaware, two law enforcement officials said. The man, Kevin Seefried, was wanted by the F.B.I., which had sought help from the public to identify him and had widely circulated a dispatch plastered with images of him.”

“In a bulletin, the agency said that it was looking for assistance to identify individuals ‘who made unlawful entry’ into the Capitol, and asked the public to reference photograph #30 when providing a tip on the whereabouts of the man with the Confederate flag, now identified by The New York Times as Mr. Seefried. The F.B.I. had received more than 126,000 photographic and video tips as of earlier this week, as agents also scrubbed airline passenger manifests and video of air travelers to and from Washington to find potential suspects.”

“Many U.S. Secret Service agents have stood guard in Washington’s elite Kalorama neighborhood, home over the years to Cabinet secretaries and former presidents. Those agents have had to worry about death threats, secure perimeters and suspicious strangers. But with the arrival of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, they had a new worry: finding a toilet.”

“Instructed not to use any of the half-dozen bathrooms inside the couple’s house, the Secret Service detail assigned to President Trump’s daughter and son-in-law spent months searching for a reliable restroom to use on the job, according to neighbors and law enforcement officials. After resorting to a porta-potty, as well as bathrooms at the nearby home of former president Barack Obama and the not-so-nearby residence of Vice President Pence, the agents finally found a toilet to call their own. But it came at a cost to U.S. taxpayers. Since September 2017, the federal government has been spending $3,000 a month – more than $100,000 to date – to rent a basement studio, with a bathroom, from a neighbor of the Kushner family” – Washington Post.

National security and law enforcement agencies have recommended that the entire National Mall be closed to the public for the Biden-Harris inauguration amid threats of violence from domestic terrorist groups of Trump supporters who believe Biden’s election was fraudulent, NBC News reports.

Federal law enforcement officials have cited increasing chatter among domestic terrorists in a recent call to local authorities, calling on them to be extra vigilant in the upcoming days before the inauguration.

A large open lawn, the National Mall runs from the Capitol to the Washington Monument and is typically open to the public.  During Barack Obama’s inauguration, more than one million people gathered to watch the ceremonies.  Donald Trump’s inauguration attracted significantly fewer people.