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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, in Washington, U.S, January 6, 2021.

Jim Bourg | Reuters

Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, called on the IRS on Friday to investigate groups that helped organize a rally that led to the deadly riot at the Capitol.

As CNBC reported, several nonprofit organizations were involved with organizing the Jan. 6 rally, led by President Donald Trump, in front of the White House. Trump encouraged his supporters to march on the Capitol as Congress was set to confirm Joe Biden's election as president. Hundreds of people invaded the Capitol, and at least five people died, including a police officer.

Several of these organizations are known as dark-money groups because they do not publicly disclose their donors.

In a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig, Wyden said some of these groups "may have been involved in inciting or facilitating these illegal acts." In light of that, the Oregon Democrat called for Rettig and the IRS to launch an investigation into the role they played in what took place on Capitol Hill.

He warned that such groups could lose their tax-exempt status if they engaged in illegal activity.

"I urge the IRS, in coordination with other law enforcement agencies to investigate the extent to which tax exempt organizations were involved in any part of the Capitol insurrection or actions leading up to that event, and to the greatest extent of the law, revoke the exempt status of those organizations that played a role in inciting or committing violence and other illegal acts," Wyden said.

He called on the IRS to provide the committee a report on their findings.

Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump climb a wall during a protest against the certification of the 2020 presidential election results by the Congress, at the Capitol in Washington, January 6, 2021.

Jim Urquhart | Reuters

With Democrats set to gain control of the Senate this month, Wyden will likely become chairman of the finance committee, giving him and his party more power over such an investigation.

The letter cites reporting by CNBC, which highlights groups that pushed claims of voter fraud in the buildup to last week's rally. While there have been a few isolated instances of voter fraud, federal and state officials have said no widespread voter fraud occurred, contrary to Trump's claims.

"To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election,"former U.S. Attorney General William Barr said before he resigned in December.

While Wyden's letter does not mention any specific organization, several conservative groups were involved in organizing the rally.

Pro-Trump student group Turning Point USA's affiliated 501(c)(4) nonprofit group, Turning Point Action, bused supporters to the rally. A Turning Point Action spokesperson previously told CNBC that the students got back on their buses after the rally, did not take part in the march, and condemned the violence on Capitol Hill.

Prior to the rally, Charlie Kirk, a founder of the group, promoted the idea that there was some form of fraud taking place and the election was stolen from the president.

The group that largely organized the Jan. 6 rally is Women for America First, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit. Its Facebook page shows it was calling on supporters to be part of what it described as a "caravan" to Washington for the event. A recent post said to meet at an address in Virginia on Jan. 5, the day before the rally, to "join the caravan to D.C."

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A top Senate Democrat calls for IRS probe of dark-money groups that helped organize rally before riot - CNBC

Protesters gather near the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind., in August ahead of the scheduled execution of Keith Dwayne Nelson, who was convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering at 10-year-old Kansas girl. Democrats are pushing new legislation to outlaw federal executions. Michael Conroy/AP hide caption

Protesters gather near the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind., in August ahead of the scheduled execution of Keith Dwayne Nelson, who was convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering at 10-year-old Kansas girl. Democrats are pushing new legislation to outlaw federal executions.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, the incoming chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., are unveiling legislation that would seek to end federal capital punishment, putting a focus on the issue as their party prepares to take over complete control of Congress, along with the White House.

The Democratic proposal, shared first with NPR, comes as the party will have unified control of Congress after victories in two Georgia Senate races, a change in fortunes for Democratic legislative priorities. The legislation would end capital punishment at the federal level and require the resentencing of all federal inmates on death row.

"There are three lives that hang in the balance this week alone," Pressley said, speaking along with Durbin in an exclusive joint interview. "And this is why we reintroduced this bill this week and are urging Congress to act immediately to pass it. State-sanctioned murder is not justice."

Former Attorney General William Barr announced in July 2019 that the Justice Department would resume federal executions, ending what had been a nearly two-decade hiatus. At the time, Barr and Justice Department officials said they were carrying out the will of judges and juries and providing justice for "staggeringly brutal murders."

The federal government executed 10 prisoners last year, more civilian prisoners than all the states combined over the same period. And more executions are scheduled for the final days of the Trump administration before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

"Here we are in the closing hours of the Trump administration, when they are in a mad dash to give pardons for federal crimes committed by their friends, and an equally mad dash to try to execute these people who have been on death row for years, if not decades," said Durbin, who will take over as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the coming weeks. "That is just unconscionable."

For his part, Biden has said he wants to work with Congress to pass a law to eliminate capital punishment at the federal level and to "incentivize" states to follow that example.

Last year, transition spokesman T.J. Ducklo told NPR that "the president-elect opposes the death penalty, now and in the future, and as president will work to end its use."

Pressley said she has been in "active conversation" with the Biden-Harris transition team about the issue, and that she is "very optimistic" about the chances for passage of the legislation. Late last year, she led her colleagues in a letter to the incoming administration, calling on it to abolish the death penalty as well as to use executive action to end all federal executions.

"I'm calling on him to use that full authority with the stroke of a pen to halt all federal executions and save lives," Pressley said. "He should also require the Department of Justice to no longer seek the death penalty for future cases, and permanently dismantle the Terre Haute facility where those federal executions take place."

But ultimately, Pressley said, passing the legislation is critical so that the end of capital punishment at the federal level has the force of law, preventing a future president from reinstating it.

Give that the Senate will be divided 50-50, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as the tiebreaker, there will still be partisan hurdles to cross. It is unclear whether such a proposal would garner support among House and Senate Republicans.

Durbin said that the Senate will still take up a broader criminal justice reform package.

"The Senate Judiciary Committee, throughout our modern history, has always played a leadership role on issues of the moment," Durbin said. "It really was the focal point of a national conversation on issues of justice. It unfortunately, in the last few years abandoned that role."

Durbin added that he hopes that as chairman, "we can restore the role of this committee in the new Congress on a bipartisan basis."

Support for capital punishment is at its lowest point over the past five decades, according to Gallup polling. While there have been declines in support for the death penalty among Democrats and independents, according to Gallup's historical data, support among Republicans has remained relatively steady.

Pressley said she believes there was a "very significant flashpoint" in the debate over capital punishment when the Justice Department proceeded last month with the execution of Brandon Bernard. Bernard spent more than half of his life on death row for a crime committed when he was 18. In the final days of his life, he pleaded with President Trump to grant him clemency, and his case drew high-profile attention.

Pressley, who introduced similar legislation in 2019, said that she saw an "outpouring" of support for ending federal capital punishment in the days surrounding Bernard's execution.

Durbin also acknowledged changing public sentiment.

"Because of DNA and other methods of investigation, we have discovered that many people who have been sentenced to death were innocent," Durbin said. "One-hundred seventy-three people in the last few years have been exonerated on death row. We got it wrong. The system of justice failed."

One of the longest-standing criticisms of capital punishment is the racial disparities in the United States. Some studies have shown that defendants convicted of killing white victims are sentenced more harshly than those who have killed Black victims.

"While we're in the midst of this national reckoning on racial justice, abolishing the death penalty must be a part of that discourse but also our legislative actions," Pressley said.

Durbin added, "If we truly believe that all lives matter, and Black lives matter, and brown lives matter and the lives of poor people matter, it's time for us to make sure that our system of justice reflects that."

Link:
Democrats Unveil Legislation To Abolish The Federal Death Penalty - NPR

January 14, 2021

Madam Speaker,

On behalf of the Democratic Party of North Carolinas 5th Congressional District, we respectfully request action to address the seditious behavior of our Representative, Virginia Foxx. By objecting to certification of the electors from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Ms. Foxx sought to disenfranchise millions of Pennsylvanian voters in support of the loser of that Commonwealths election, Donald J. Trump. By continuing through with the objection, Ms. Foxx sided with those who incited the attack on January 6, 2021, and those insurrectionists who invaded the Capitol facility, threatening the lives of the Vice-President, Members of Congress (including yourself), as well as the Congressional and Capitol facility staff.

Ms. Foxx has claimed to object out of an abiding respect for the Constitution in reflection of supposed violations of Article II, Section I of the Constitution in which there is no stated direction as to how the states manage their election process regarding Presidential electors. The reality is that the Republican Members publicly stated goal in raising multiple objections to states elector certification was to overturn the election in favor of the defeated President Trump. This action goes against the intent of the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which sought to minimize Congressional involvement in election disputes. This grossly un-democratic attempt to subvert the will of the people reflects a violation of her duty as called to in the Amendment XIV of the Constitution, Section 3:

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

As constituents of Ms. Foxx, we want to be very clear that we do not feel adequately represented by an individual who would publicly stand with insurrectionists. We want to make clear that this is not done in hopes to undermine the recent election that Rep. Foxx fairly won despite many similar election process changes in our great state of North Carolina that were done in Pennsylvania. The sheer hypocrisy in challenging the results of Pennsylvania, where Biden won, but not North Carolina, where Trump was victorious, is obvious in their ultimate intentions: disregarding the will of the majority of Americans as reflected in the Electoral College totals. We recognize that due to targeted gerrymandering by the NCGOP-led NC General Assembly any replacement for Ms. Foxx in the Fifth District would come from special election that a Republican candidate is favored to win.

Therefore, we respectfully request that the House of Representatives conduct an investigation for Ethics Violations regarding Ms. Foxxs aforementioned Acts of Sedition. If the two-thirds vote necessary for expulsion cannot be secured, we request that the House of Representatives formally censure Ms. Foxx on behalf of her constituents in the 5th Congressional District.

Signed

5th District Democrats of North Carolina Executive Committee

District Officers:

Charlie Wallin Chair Watauga

Emily Hogan-Secretary Watauga

David Griffith-Treasurer Burke

Betsy Wells-1st Vice Chair-Democratic Women Representative Cleveland

Peggy Rumbold-2nd Vice Chair Alexander

Mandy Marxen-3rd Vice Chair Wilkes

County Chairs:

Larry Price Alexander

Tom Smith Alleghany

Ralph Sorrell Ashe

Pam Genant Burke

Tiege West Caldwell

Lynn Dorfman Catawba

Curtis Pressley Cleveland

Daniel Caudill Gaston

Diane Tilson Watauga

Kathryn Charles Wilkes

Other Members:

Rusty Henson Watauga

Cynthia Atwood Alleghany

Brandon Whitaker Wilkes

Polly Jones Ashe

Nancy Miller Catawba

Joyce Coleman Cleveland

Cortney Bohannon Rutherford

Jerry Crisp Burke

Barbara Kirby Gaston

Anna Robinson Rutherford

Cezanne Vielkanowitz Gaston

David Wilson Brown Gaston

Jeanne Supin Watauga

Robin Jordan Gaston

Collen Balco Alexander

Gale Jones Minority Affairs Liaison- Burke

Cliff Moone-Parliamentarian Catawba

Dorian Palmer-Western Regional Director of Young Democrats-Burke

Nancy Moore-Senior Democrats Representative-Gaston

Wilkes County Officers:

Kathryn Charles, Chair Wilkes County

Brandon Whitaker, 1st Vice Chair Wilkes County

Mandy Marxen, 2nd Vice Chair Wilkes County

Richard Madison, 3rd Vice Chair Wilkes County

Judy Miller, Secretary Wilkes County

Connie Cox, Treasurer Wilkes County

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LETTERS / The Letter that the 5th District Democrats of North Carolina Have Sent to Speaker Pelosi Concerning the Actions of Rep Virginia Foxx - High...

Salena Zito Published 11:00 p.m. ET Nov. 25, 2020

Howland Township, Ohio Tim Ryan says there is a certain kind of letdown you feel when you lose your home county even in an election that you win.

"It certainly does sting," he said bluntly.

The former presidential candidate won his 10th congressional race over Republican Christina Hagan to represent the five counties of Mahoning, Portage, Stark, Summit and Trumbull that make up the legendary "valley" by 7 percentage points. But he fell short by 1.5 points in the place he calls home.

"It was a tough year for a lot of moderate Democrats around here and around the country," said Ryan.

Ryan lays the blame on a brand that voters in Middle America do not trust to have their back, Zito writes.(Photo: Nati Harnik, AP)

Youngstown State University political science professor Paul Sracic said when the 13th Congressional District seat was drawn after the last census, it was one of the most Democratic seats in the Ohio delegation.

"Ten years later, the core of the district has seemed to have turned Republican," he said. "In Trumbull County alone, we lost a state senator. We lost the state rep. We lost the long-term county commissioner. In Portage County, we lost the state rep. We lost a county commissioner in Stark County and five countywide elected seats."

Ryan lays the blame on a brand that voters in Middle America do not trust to have their back, which especially hurts in a district legendary for its support from working-class Democrats.

"Our brand is not good," he said. "We have 70 million people who either hate us or are afraid of us or believe there is this vast spread of socialism in our party. It is why we lost so many seats in the House, or some seats were a lot closer than we wanted."

Ryan points to a quote he heard last week from Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report that he says summarizes how much elections have changed: "It used to be that all politics are local, now it seems that all local politics are national."

Going into last Tuesday, Republicans were projected to lose 15 to 20 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Not only did that not happen but Republicans may also gain up to 13 new seats.

Ryan also lays the blame on Twitter, where too many staffers, congressional members and the media volley outrages back and forth at each other or set social justice lines in the sand. Such issues never fly in places like his hometown of Niles, Ohio. While it leads everyone in the vacuum of Twitter to think those are the issues voters care about, Ryan adamantly disagrees.

"That is just not the case. Voters don't care about the last Twitter fight," Ryan said. "They care about jobs and the economy."

On Sunday, a dust-up between Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Conor Lamb erupted on Twitter, when she called the lack of digital presence in his campaign a poor strategy for Democrats, highlighting his tight race in western Pennsylvania.

He clapped back with a remark about her not having to face a real challenge in a general election, and Twitter went crazy. It is the very thing in which Ryan says he has no interest in engaging.

Ryan acknowledges members like Ocasio-Cortez have a much larger megaphone than he or any other centrist Democrats trying to do their best to represent their districts. But he's hoping Joe Biden's megaphone is the one that prevails.

"In the election, I thought he did a good job. He fended off the energy stuff. He fended off the police stuff, saying we got to sit down with the police and law enforcement and the civil rights groups and take the temperature down," Ryan said. "I mean, he had good answers to these provocations, and that's why I think he's got a real shot to rebrand the party."

Ryan's frustration with his party's leadership and brand is nothing new. Four years ago, he ran against Nancy Pelosi for the House speaker position after the 2016 presidential election results had placed the Democrats in a historic minority.

Pelosi won. But the Democrats gained back seats in 2018, only to lose many of them again on Election Day. This time, he says, he won't challenge her for the speakership role.

"There are many people who think my party has abandoned them," Ryan said. "I think if we start having really tangible results on the economy, on COVID, a good infrastructure package, we have the chance to head toward the midterm on a pretty good economy."

He went on to say: "Then it could be an interesting time to be running for a Democrat. Under a new brand with a good economy, it could look more li the Clinton economy of '96, than the Clinton economy in '94."

He added, "Joe Biden has a moment to put a new name, a new brand on the party. If he can do that, we can stop our losses."

Salena Zito is a CNN political analyst, and a staff reporter and columnist for the Washington Examiner. She reaches the Everyman and Everywoman through shoe-leather journalism, traveling from Main Street to the beltway and all places in between.

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Opinion: Moderate Democrats on the party: 'Our brand is not good' - The Detroit News

Activists who have been pushing to rein in the excesses of a highly punitive system hope the resulting glow will help advance their agenda, which includes such measures as banning no-knock warrants, making police disciplinary records public and rethinking lengthy sentences for juveniles.

They also hope that voters will distinguish between calls to defund the police, which Republicans used to vigorously attack Democrats, and bipartisan efforts to improve accountability and fairness. Mr. Trump kept the two issues separate, attacking Democrats relentlessly for what he said was their failure to support law enforcement, while running a Super Bowl ad about a woman to whom he gave clemency.

I actually think the winning argument was you can be for law and order, and you can be for second chances, said Holly Harris, the executive director of the Justice Action Network, a nonpartisan advocacy group. You can be supportive of the police and also think the punishment should fit the crime.

This nuance does not always play with voters. In Georgia, Senator Kelly Loeffler, a Republican, trashed her Republican opponent, Representative Doug Collins, for his support of criminal justice reform, edging him out to face the Democratic challenger, the Rev. Raphael Warnock, in a runoff.

But outside of bitter political contests, criminal justice reform offers something for just about everyone: social justice crusaders who point to yawning racial disparities, fiscal conservatives who decry the extravagant cost of incarceration, libertarians who think the government has criminalized too many aspects of life and Christian groups who see virtue in mercy and redemption.

At the federal level, both parties have proposed police accountability bills. Senator Lindsey Graham, the Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has recently signaled that he is open to reinstating parole for federal prisoners, which was eliminated during the tough-on-crime 1980s. President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. has promised to reduce incarceration and supports abolishing mandatory minimum sentences and expanding mental health and drug treatment.

Relatively few voters ranked the criminal justice system at the top of their list of concerns, even after the killing of George Floyd in May thrust policing into the national spotlight.

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Here's One Thing Republicans and Democrats Agree On: Criminal Justice Reform - The New York Times