Dial 'I' for Insurrection. House committee eyes phone records. Remembering Dave Allen (Page 1/1)
rinselberg SEP 01, 10:36 AM
You could imagine--well, maybe if you were "stoned" enough--the House Select Committee opening a day's hearings by reprising a Dave Allen joke.

Which raises three obvious questions:
  1. Am I (currently) "stoned"..?
  2. What House Select Committee?
  3. Who's Dave Allen?
Three questions, with three answers:
  1. No, but my current state will do.
  2. The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 riot and incursion at the Capitol Building.
  3. The late Dave Allen (1936-2005), the Irish-born comedian whom I came to know of from U.S. broadcasts of the "Dave Allen At Large" show from the BBC.
First, the Dave Allen joke. It goes like this:

quote
A Dublin man, about 30, with just a trace of alcohol on his breath - but not drunk - enters the confessional in his small, neighborhood Catholic church.

"Father, I've been terrible sinful. I've been makin' phone calls."

Phone calls?

"I call up young women and when they answer the phone, I don't say anythin'. But my breathin' gets very fast and loud - like a dog pantin'."

Oh, I see. How many phone calls?

"Two already, this week."

Put two quid in the collection box on your way out. May God be with you.

One week later:

"Father, I've been terrible sinful agin. I made two more phone calls."

I'm not surprised. Sinful habits are hard to break. Put two quid in the collection box and may God be with you.

Two weeks later:

"Father ..." But the priest cuts him off in midsentence.

How many phone calls?

"Three."

Put three quid in the box on your way out. May God be with you.

"All I got is a fiver."

Put it in the box and have two more phone calls.


Now it seems that the House Select Committee has an idea that certain members of Congress may have been indulging in "sinful phone calls" on, or before January 6; to wit:

"January 6 committee to ask telecommunications companies to preserve phone records of members of Congress who participated in 'Stop the Steal' rally"
Ryan Nobles, Zachary Cohen, Annie Grayer and Whitney Wild, for CNN; August 30, 2021.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/08...-congress/index.html

Certain members of Congress, all Republicans, and some relatives and friends (or associates) of former President Trump himself, according to what CNN describes as "multiple sources." What preservation of "records" entails:

quote
In its request to Verizon, for example, the Select Committee asks that the cell site location information, call data records and content, cloud or storage content and subscriber information be preserved. The committee also asked that if the company cannot respond to its request without alerting the specific subscriber or account in question to contact the committee directly.

"As Chairman Thompson previewed last week, the Select Committee today sent letters to 35 private-sector entities, including telecommunications, email, and social media companies, instructing them to preserve records which may be relevant to the Select Committee's investigation. The Select Committee is, at this point, gathering facts, [and] not alleging wrongdoing by any individual," a spokesperson for the Committee said in a statement.


This was the subject of a lively discussion last night (Tuesday) among "Last Word" anchor Lawrence O'Donnell and MSNBC contributors Neal Katyal and John Heilemann, during which Neal Katyal, a former Acting Solicitor General of the United States, ventured a distinction between "attorney client privilege" and "legislator conspirator privilege. That's right at the start of this 7+ minute segment from Tuesday night's broadcast:

[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 09-02-2021).]

rinselberg SEP 02, 08:00 PM

Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives Andy Biggs, Lauren Boebert, Mo Brooks, Madison Cawthorn, Matt Gaetz, Louie Gohmert, Paul Gosar, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jody Hice, Jim Jordan and Scott Perry.

[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 09-02-2021).]

rinselberg SEP 04, 05:27 AM
"Make it an even dozen"


quote
The select panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection has asked for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s phone records to be preserved as it expands its inquiry, a committee source confirmed Thursday.

McCarthy’s name was included in a broad request the select panel sent Monday to social media platforms and telecommunications companies, asking them to preserve records that could be relevant to the probe of the attack. Although the request does not mean the committee will necessarily take the subsequent step of seeking McCarthy’s records, the panel’s move means the minority leader now faces a threat of having his personal data subpoenaed.


That adds McCarthy’s name to a list of 11 other Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives, as described in my previous "blog entries" in this thread.

"McCarthy's phone records among those eyed by Jan. 6 investigators"
Nicholas Wu and Heather Caygle for Politico; September 2, 2021.
https://www.politico.com/ne...investigators-509199

Also in the report:

quote
The [House Select Committee] is continuing to escalate its investigation even as the House takes its summer recess.

[The committee's chair, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.),] announced Thursday morning [that] he had appointed Rep. Liz Cheney, one of only two Republicans on the [committee], as its vice chair, a further elevation of the Wyoming conservative by Democrats that comes as she remains on the outs with many House GOP colleagues.


Last but not least, let's not overlook that Olivia Beavers contributed to this report in Politico.

[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 09-04-2021).]