Talking Points Memo: “The U.S. attorney in Atlanta departed his post Monday, TPM has learned, after previously indicating that he would not leave until Inauguration Day. The reason for U.S. Attorney Byung ‘BJay’ Pak’s change of plans are not clear. In an internal email announcing his departure obtained by TPM, Pak cited only ‘unforeseen circumstances’ as the reason he was leaving Monday rather than Jan. 20. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment when TPM reached out about the departure. The White House also declined to comment.”

A British judge rejected an effort of the United States to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to face espionage charges for the publication of classified information, the Associated Press reports.

The judge specifically cited a high risk that the 49-year-old Assange would kill himself if he were held in the harsh conditions of American prisons, including solitary confinement, as the reason to deny extradition.

“I find that the mental condition of Mr. Assange is such that it would be oppressive to extradite him to the United States of America,” the judge said.

“Washington DC has activated the US National Guard ahead of pro-Trump protests in the capital this week. According to reports on Monday, troops were activated in the United States’ capital some 48 hours prior to the protest, which is due to take place on Wednesday. Congress, on the same day, will vote to confirm Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential race, and Mr Trump as the loser in the process. The US president, who has continued to deny his election defeat to Mr Biden despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, said last week that the protest would be ‘BIG’. It is due to take place in the President’s Park, outside the White House.”

“Thousands are expected to descend on Washington DC for the event, which has been advertised by the Trump campaign as ‘the March to Save America Rally’. It comes after two months of false allegations of election fraud pushed by the president and his allies in the Republican party, some of whom have also refused to acknowledge Mr Biden as president-elect, while citing baseless claims of election fraud” – The Independent.

The earlier tweet from Trump-supporting lawyer L. Lin Wood reported here on NatZero earlier was only one part of a morning-long conspiracy laden streak of craziness.

TL;DR: Wood thinks the intelligence agencies from 10 nations form The Lizard Squad to force world leaders into pedophilia by locking them in a room with a child and pointing a gun at them.

This blackmail scheme is conducted by members of 10 of world’s most well-known & “elite” intelligence agencies.

One of those groups was hacked by a group known as Lizard Squad. The blackmail files of rape & murder were obtained by this group & copy was provided to Isaac Kappy. https://t.co/9lCAggRrCG

— Lin Wood (@LLinWood) January 4, 2021

Read the full thread after the fold.

Business Insider: “What we’re seeing in the last few weeks is different from what we saw for the last four years. Yes, it’s remarkable and depressing that large numbers of Republican members of Congress intend to vote to reject the result of the election we just had. When Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer tried this nonsense 16 years ago, she brought along no other Senators and just a few dozen House members, and her party’s nominee didn’t play along, reflecting a sense of democratic responsibility that is obviously absent in Trump and much of today’s GOP.”

“But it’s also remarkable that so much of the party that he cowed into compliance for the last four years now intends to defy him – and isn’t just intending to vote against him but is speaking publicly about why their colleagues are wrong to give Trump what he wants. Liz Cheney, Chip Roy, and Tom Cotton, who have all vociferously rejected the plan to try to steal the election, are not exactly RINO squishes. And members are making these objections loudly to each other, as repeated leaks of tense conference calls among Republican elected officials revealed. We’ve come a long way from impeachment, when the party stood almost entirely united. Then, Romney was the only Republican in either chamber of Congress willing to say the president’s actions merited removal from office. Trump had taken over the Republican party, but now we’re back to a condition kind of like May 2016, where Trump divides his party bitterly down the middle between officials who are on board his train and those who oppose his demands and feel emboldened to say so in public.”

How can you certify an election when the numbers being certified are verifiably WRONG. You will see the real numbers tonight during my speech, but especially on JANUARY 6th. @SenTomCotton Republicans have pluses & minuses, but one thing is sure, THEY NEVER FORGET!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2021

The Sunday Post: “US President Donald Trump could be planning a trip to Scotland to avoid attending his successor Joe Biden’s inauguration, according to aviation sources. Prestwick airport has been told to expect the arrival of a US military Boeing 757 aircraft, that is occasionally used by Trump, on January 19 – the day before his Democratic rival takes charge at the White House. Speculation surrounding Trump’s plans has been fuelled by the activity of US Army aircraft, which were based at Prestwick airport for a week and said to be carrying out 3D reconnaissance of the president’s Turnberry resort. Sources at Prestwick said two US military surveillance aircraft were circling Turnberry in November, using the Ayrshire aviation hub as a base. US media has reported that Trump will break with tradition and snub the inauguration of President Joe Biden on January 20, instead announcing a re-election bid on Air Force One.”

“McDonald’s Corp is hoping 2021 is the year it cracks the crispy chicken sandwich by rolling out three different versions in the United States, the company told Reuters. The world’s biggest burger chain will add the new sandwiches – including a spicy version – on Feb. 24 as it takes on major chicken chains such as Restaurant Brands International Inc’s Popeyes, in a play for a share of a growing market” – Reuters.

Politico: “Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Monday that it was unlikely his office would open an investigation into his weekend phone call with President Donald Trump, but suggested a criminal probe could still be launched by an Atlanta-area district attorney. Because Trump personally spoke with the secretary on Saturday and recently had a conversation with the secretary of state office’s chief investigator, Raffensperger told ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ in an interview Monday morning that ‘there may be a conflict of interest’ that would inhibit any potential investigation. But Raffensperger went on to say: ‘I understand that the Fulton County District Attorney wants to look at it. Maybe that’s the appropriate venue for it to go.'”

“Saturday’s Trump-Raffensperger call came after the White House made 18 previous attempts to have Trump speak to him over last two months, a Georgia Republican familiar with the call tells [MSNBC political correspondent] Jules Jester. It was the first time Trump and Raffensperger spoke directly” reports NBC’s Peter Alexander.

“You’re dead to me Tom. True colors…memorialized on the web forever.”

– The current top comment on the Breitbart article “Tom Cotton Stands up Against Electoral College Challengers: Would ‘Establish Unwise Precedents’” posted late Sunday.

David Frum, The Atlantic: “In a bombshell conversation with Georgia’s secretary of state yesterday, President Donald Trump made monkeys of every Republican official and every conservative talking head who professed to believe Trump’s allegations of voter fraud. The president himself made clear that he had only one end in view: overturning the 2020 election. You knew this already, of course. Anyone connected to reality knew it. Even most of Trump’s political allies probably knew it. But important incentives induced people in the pro-Trump camp to pretend otherwise. And now, as so often happens, Trump has yanked away the protective deception to reveal the truth.”

“And now again, Trump presents the country with a crisis and a conundrum. What Trump did on that call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, first reported by The Washington Post this afternoon, might well have been a crime. More than that cannot be said until and unless a jury is heard from. But Trump has reason to worry about new juries today, alongside all the other juries he was worrying about yesterday. The Raffensperger tape shows Trump’s Plan A to stay ahead of the law: election tampering. That plan will reach its finale on January 6 – the point of no return, the last minute for stunts and sabotage. A shameful number of Republican members of the House and Senate have signed up for the stunts and sabotage, but not enough to prevent the inevitable outcome of a Biden-Harris inauguration on January 20.”

If asked to turn over the encryption key & other information I have to law enforcement, I will only agree to provide it directly to @realDonaldTrump, @GenFlynn or @SidneyPowell1.

I trust them.

Again, please pray for my family.

Thank you. – Lin 🙏❤️🇺🇸

— Lin Wood (@LLinWood) January 4, 2021

Politico: “Since Election Day, President Donald Trump’s followers have marched on state capitol buildings and the Supreme Court, protesting the election results. They have demonstrated in front of vote counting centers, filed lawsuits and floated illogical conspiracy theories. Now, those efforts will come to a head on Wednesday, when the most zealous members of MAGA nation – activists, fans and militia groups – plan to rally one more time in Washington in a dying attempt to keep President Donald Trump in the White House.”

“Timed to the day when Congress will formally certify President-elect Joe Biden’s win, the MAGA crowd is trying to pressure Vice President Mike Pence and Republican lawmakers to refuse to seat Biden over fabricated voter-fraud claims. It’s a doomed plan, given the makeup of Congress, the absent evidence behind the rigged election allegations and the fact that every important state has already certified Biden’s win. Yet that hasn’t stopped a swell of Trump supporters from making plans – and the president from teasing his own appearance. According to disinformation and extremist researchers, the Jan. 6 gathering will look similar to November’s Million MAGA March – a mashup of garden-variety Trump supporters and more extreme members of the far right, with no apparent central organizing apparatus. Stop the Steal, a group affiliated with pro-Trump super PACs and allies of Trump adviser Roger Stone, has filed for permits and plans to protest outside the Capitol, but other groups have also claimed to be the true official planners.”

“I share the concerns of many Arkansans about irregularities in the presidential election, especially in states that rushed through election-law changes to relax standards for voting-by-mail. I also share their disappointment with the election results. I therefore support a commission to study the last election and propose reforms to protect the integrity of our elections. And after Republicans win in Georgia, the Senate should also hold more hearings on these matters. All Americans deserve to have confidence in the elections that undergird our free government.

“Nevertheless, the Founders entrusted our elections chiefly to the states – not Congress. They entrusted the election of our president to the people, acting through the Electoral College – not Congress. And they entrusted the adjudication of election disputes to the courts – not Congress. Under the Constitution and federal law, Congress’s power is limited to counting electoral votes submitted by the states. I will not oppose the counting of certified electoral votes on January 6. I’m grateful for what the president accomplished over the past four years, which is why I campaigned vigorously for his reelection. But objecting to certified electoral votes won’t give him a second term – it will only embolden those Democrats who want to erode further our system of constitutional government” – Statement posted to Cottton’s Senate.gov website.

Axios’s Alayna Treene spoke with Patricia Murphy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the Tuesday Senate runoff: “Republicans don’t trust the election, potentially dampening turnout. Not one Republican voter Murphy has spoken to since Election Day believes that President-elect Biden won. ‘Not one, not a person,’ she said. ‘And many of them don’t even think he’ll be inaugurated on January 20’. Tying Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff together has been effective for the two Democrats – they even share a Warnock-Ossoff campaign sign. The pairing gives Warnock a boost from the younger voters expected to come out for Ossoff, and gives Ossoff the benefit of the African American voters who are expected to come out for Warnock.”

Lame duck president Donald Trump is expected to give California Republican Congressman Devin Nunes the Presidential Medal of Freedom Monday, and he’s expected to give another one to Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan next week, the Washington Post reports.

With just 16 days left in office, Trump is rewarding those Republicans who have supported him without question with recognitions.  Both Nunes and Jordan, members of the minority party in the House, were staunch defenders of Trump during his presidency, particularly during the impeachment in early 2020.

While the content of Nixonian tape of lame duck president Donald Trump threatening, cajoling and pleading with Georgia election officials is a disgusting display of ego and abuse of power, Republicans seem less concerned about the potential illegality and definite immorality of Trump’s call and more about the fact that is was (gasp!) recorded.

“Imagine calling yourself a ‘Republican’ and secretly and maliciously recording a call with the leader of your party and President of the United States THEN leaking it to The Washington Post Georgia’s Brad Raffensburger is a total disgrace and he should immediately resign in shame” – so-called conservative Charlie Kirk

“Mind boggling that @GaSecofState and his lawyers would secretly record and release a confidential settlement conference with the President. I have made open records requests to the Secretary of State which have never been acknowledged or answered. This is lawlessness.” – Georgia GOP chairman David Shafer

Georgia’s GOP chairman tweeted that lame duck president Donald Trump is going to sue the Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for releasing an audiotape of a discussion between Trump, White House personnel, campaign personnel and election officials from the State of Georgia.

President @realDonaldTrump has filed two lawsuits – federal and state – against @GaSecofState. The telephone conference call @GaSecofState secretly recorded was a “confidential settlement discussion” of that litigation, which is still pending.

— David Shafer (@DavidShafer) January 3, 2021

There are many legal hurdles that such lawsuits would have to overcome, including the fact that both Georgia and DC are single-party consent jurisdictions, meaning only party participating in the conversation must know it’s being recorded.