The attorney, who helped former President Donald Trump contest the 2020 election, asserted his right against self-incrimination in a Dec. 1 letter to the Capitol riot panel.
Many of Trump’s co-conspirators are pleading the Fifth Amendment.
John Eastman, the attorney who helped former President Donald Trump pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 election, has asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, according to a letter he delivered to the Jan. 6 committee explaining his decision not to testify.
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Eastman’s decision is an extraordinary assertion by someone who worked closely with Trump to attempt to overturn the 2020 election results. He met with Trump and pushed state legislative leaders to reject Biden’s victory in a handful of swing states and appoint alternate electors to the Electoral College, effectively denying Biden’s victory.
Eastman is not the first Trump stooge to take the Fifth.
Eastman, who's also a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, would be the second known Jan. 6 committee witness to plead the Fifth to avoid self-incrimination. The other, former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark, revealed his decision to the Jan. 6 panel on the same day Burnham sent his letter.
Of course Roger Stone will do the same.
Roger Stone, Alex Jones Say They'll Likely Plead the Fifth in Response to Jan. 6 Subpoenas
Here’s what Donald Trump says about taking the Fifth.
So is Trump implying that all his buddies are guilty? 😉
Summary: Rick planned on storming the Sanctuary, and Anna was dragged along. She couldn’t really say ‘no’, even though she didn’t really want to. She hated herself for that, for the fact that she needed to get back to her father. She was missing him too much. She knew he still wasn’t the father she wanted right now, but she wanted to get back to him. It didn’t matter to her if it was the best idea.
Words: 2.6k
Warnings: short chapter but lots of action, nostalgia, they get themselves in a fucking mess, shooting, language, cursing, angst (the basics lol), Anna running away (again) in the opposite direction from last time however lol
Anna slowly opened her eyes before stretching and yawning as she sat up on the mattress. She heard the sound of the door and immediately turned her head in that direction. Rick entered and opened the cell door, letting it bang against the wall.
“I don't see the point in keeping you locked up for another minute. Take your bag and come with me.” Anna stood up, retrieved her bag and she followed him outside the house. The rays of the sun licking her pale face made her feel alive again, warming up her skin, as she progressed behind Rick.
She breathed out. This pleasant sensation brought back a memory to her. She couldn't remember exactly how old she was, but she was quite young. She must have been around four or five years old. Anna had been ill for several days, and her mother would stay home and spend her time looking after her and taking care of her. When her dad came home from high school where he worked, or on weekends when he had free time, would come spend time with her and read or tell her stories so that her mother would be able to rest. Once she had recovered, her father decided to take her and her mother for a walk in the park. He had bought her an ice cream and had carried her around on his shoulders. Her father being a very tall man, she had had the impression of being the master of the world for a whole afternoon. She was so small and so young then. So full of innocence. For her, discovering the world on her father's shoulders was her favorite activity. As Anna walked behind Rick, her eyes softened, a slight smile spread across her face.
“What's making you smile?” She looked up and saw that Rick was in the middle of a conversation with the same woman she had seen in the house the day before. She turned her head to her right, where she had heard Carl's voice addressing her. He was looking at her with an amused smile. Anna shrugged as she answered him.
“Nothing, I was thinking about something, that's all.”
“What were you thinking about ?”
She felt he wanted to continue the conversation, and she didn't need to be asked. Usually, she always responded to others in a cold or distant manner, in order to push them away. Talking to the people at the Sanctuary didn't interest her in the least, unless one of my father's wives, especially Sherry and Amber, whom she liked very much, spoke to her. The others despised Anna, without her really knowing why. Well, she might know why actually. She always acted like a fucking brat with most people at the Sanctuary. Besides, she wasn't going to lie. She preferred the company of Dwight, who often gave her figurines that he carved in his bedroom. Back in her room at the Sanctuary, she had a shelf full of them.
“It’s just… walking under the sun like that. It reminded of something from when I was a kid.” She sighed, nodding. “That's all we have left now anyway. Memories.”
“You’re right.”
Rick turned to Carl and walked over to him. He took his hat with one hand and hugged his son, whispering something in his ear that she didn’t hear. She took a step back. Rick put the hat back on Carl's head.
“This is the end of it.” A confident and determined look hung over the leader's face.
She had a cold sweat. She knew they all wanted to end it. She knew way too well that her father had made them hit rock bottom. And on the one hand, he probably deserved what maybe was going to happen to him, but on the other hand, Anna couldn't quite realize that her father might not get away with it this time. Next to him was a pickup truck with a large sheet of iron on the other side, running all the length of the vehicle. She realized she had to follow him as he got into the car. She climbed in the back and turned her head to Carl as the driver, whom she hadn't seen yet, cranked up the engine.
“Hey,” She got his attention. “I wanted to apologize-”
“For what ?”
“Last time. Back at the Sanctuary.” She pursued. “I shouldn’t have talked to you the way I did. You’re nice. So, I’m sorry.”
The car pulled away and Carl gave her a sympathetic smile, having no time to reply to her. Anna watched him walk away as she was sitting in the back of the pickup. She avoided looking straight behind them as there was a second car. She looked to the side, her head resting on her knees. After a long time, the convoy stopped. Rick got out of the pickup and walked over to a hill, a little further ahead. It took a few minutes for him to signal that the cars could restart. Anna watched it all with some nervousness. She felt like she had a lump in her stomach.
They then arrived in an endless plain. Everyone stopped again and Rick ordered the girl to get out of the back of the pickup. There were a lot of people, a lot of other cars. Anna felt like she really didn't belong, which was true. She was not in their group. She stayed not far from the pickup, waiting for someone to tell her what to do. She saw Rick talking with other survivors she had never seen before. One of them, wearing long graying dreads, had a red armband on his arm, Rick had a white one, and a short brown haired woman had a light green armband on her. A long haired man who she remembered being called Jesus, the one who had helped Daryl escape the Sanctuary, had noticed and recognized Anna. He wasn't looking at her contemptuously, just “hey, I know you.”. No more, no less. After about fifteen minutes, the convoy left for the Sanctuary and this time, Rick had put her inside a car. She mustn’t be seen, at least not right now.
They progressed towards the Sanctuary, arriving in front of all the dead chained to the gates in front of the building. The cars parked according to a very precise pattern and Anna watched them do so in silence. The survivors got out of their cars and took up their respective positions. Anna had to follow Rick and the woman with the green brassard on her arm to their own positions. Rick was hidden behind one of the metal sheets hung on the car and motioned for Anna to stand between him and the woman. The latter stared at her with contempt. There was silence for a moment before the woman next to them raised her arm. Survivors fired a burst of bullets into the air. The man with the red brassard on his arm also lifted his. Another bunch of survivors fired a second burst of bullets into the air. The woman suddenly lowered her arm and there were several bangs ringing out.
Rick watched carefully in the direction of the Sanctuary gate, through the space between the metal sheets on the cars. Suddenly, they heard a door open with a metallic creak. The voice that rose first and broke the silence, was far too familiar to Anna.
“Well, shit. Sorry.” It was her father. She fought the urge to stop hiding and run over to him, fearing that the woman next to her would kill her if she made any move. “I was in a meeting. I see you got your litte mudflaps with ya. So, I’m not exactly feelin’ a reason for us to try throwin’ lead at each other. I care about my people. I don’t want to just march them into the line of fire because I want to play “my dick is biggers than yours”. It is. We both know it. But I'm also comfortable enough to accept the fact if it wasn't. I'm certainly not gonna let my people die over that shit... like you're about to.”
Anna was watching Rick out of the corner of her eye. He remained silent, listening to his father, contempt and hatred could be read on his face, which was calm at first glance. She was also listening to her father's speech, wondering if he would hold them responsible for her disappearance. The latter brushed her questions off.
“Besides,” His voice rose again. “I firmly believe that you have something of mine. Nah, I know it. You have someone of mine. I’m sure you get who I’m talking about, Rick. So, what the hell can I do for you this time ?”
“Dwight.” Rick pointed his finger in the air, shifting aside. “Your name’s Simon. You’re Gavin. And you…”
“Regina.”
“Rick, I’d feel remiss if…” Rick cuts the man off.
“No, I know who you are. Listen, you five. The Saviors inside.” His voice was strong and carried far. “All of you have a chance to survive here. To survive this. You all can live if you surrender. Can't guarantee it any time but now. Right now.”
No one moved, at least Anna didn't hear anyone move. She was too scared to take a look at her father through the metal sheets. She was too scared to be seen, so she just stood there next to Rick, hidden, listening. Her father finally decided to speak up again, clerly unimpressed by Rick's words.
“So they surrender… and you and your little piss patrol don't kill them.” Anna knew her father was having none of it. He would never surrender because to him, it meant being weak, and he would never be weak in front of anyone, especially not Rick. “That sounds like a good deal! What about me, Rick?”
“I told you. Twice. You know what's going to happen.”
As their conversation continued like a deaf dialogue, neither of them actually responding to the other since each followed their own reasoning and speech. The moment Rick hinted again that he would kill him, their words started echoing in Anna's head as her gaze drifted into the void in front of her. Was it normal, after all she had endured to live without him, that she wanted to come out from behind her hiding place to join him ? This question to which she gave no clear answer tormented her as she felt Maggie's sidelong gaze on her. She must have been thinking that the teenager was up to something that would go against them. What she also must be thinking was that if they didn't kill Negan now, later they would have her facing them, leading the Saviors. Which was never going to happen, Anna wouln't want to do that but the woman was still probably thinking some shit like that.
She was no longer listening to what her father and Rick were saying to each other. She felt like her head was full of buzzing bees that lodged themselves in the hollow of her ears. She saw out of the corner of her eyes, that Jesus' lips were moving, but it was as if she couldn't hear anything anymore. Anna breathed out and tilted her head forward, trying to calm her breathing which was becoming choppy and difficult. The buzzing intensified, and she sat onto the ground. The buzzing became shrill hissing in her ears as explosions echoed in the distance. She put her hands over her ears, frowning. She managed to calm the ringing in her ears, but she didn't really feel much better. She looked at Rick, who was still talking to her father. Again, they weren't actually listening to each other. They were talking to try to get the upper hand but expected nothing from this exchange. Suddenly, Rick began to fire in the direction of the Sanctuary. His shot was followed by bursts of bullets which exploded the windows of the floors of the Sanctuary. The sound of the shattering glass made Anna jump and suddenly pulled her out of her torpor.
“Now !” The woman with the green armband yelled.
There were movements behind the barricades of the survivors. The woman ran towards a car. She was followed by a young girl who looked to be the same age as Anna, and sounded the vehicle's horn. It was then that Anna figured out their plan. Attract a horde to the Sanctuary, to besiege the Saviors inside the building. Rick yanked her right arm, so she stood up and understood, like a grown-up, that she had better stay with him as he continued to shoot towards the Sanctuary. She jumped up and stayed close to him, not knowing where was going. She saw Rick resting the barrel of his gun on a sheet of metal, his features strained, clenching his jaw. She understood what he was aiming for. Her father. He had fallen on the ground and got up to rush behind a car. Rick tried to shoot, but didn't hit him. He held out his gun as he changed the magazine. A motor home pulled over. Its front surface covered in metal sheets that ricocheted opponents' bullets coming from the Sanctuary, and a bald, black man jumped out at Rick's command as he fired again. He had a little white collar on his black shirt and Anna knew he was a priest. At least, before all that.
Rick bent down, stopped shooting and looking around quickly. During the time that he wasn't shooting, he grabbed her right wrist without a glance, before squeezing a black box into his hand. The motor home exploded and a heat wave and thick gray smoke spread all over the place. Anna instinctively lowered her head and winced when she felt the unpleasant lick of the warm ambient air on her face. Rick started shooting again towards where my father was hiding. He appeared to have an injured leg, but Anna wasn't too sure about that. The priest repeatedly called out Rick, but it was as if the leader of Alexandria couldn't hear him. He was in his bubble, with his very own goal to fulfill. Anna realized that he had let go off her wrist, and she took advantage of a moment of inattention to run away from him. She walked around the car she was behind with Rick and ran as fast as possible to her father's hiding place, trying to avoid the bullets firing around her. Rick yelled at her as he continued to shoot around.
“Fuck it! Annabelle !”
She glanced back, the priest held Rick back from running after the girl to bring her back with them. It all happened so quickly, she didn't think, she just gave in to her urges to get back to her father. She joined the latter and crouched down beside him. He turned his head to his daughter and a look of surprise and concern crossed his hazel eyes as he briefly put a hand on her tired and emaciated face. She still hadn’t quite recovered from her time on the road all on her own. They could hear the walkers coming, but they were stranded there. They couldn't go anywhere. Her father straightened up a bit, keeping Anna close, putting an arm around her shoulders as if to shield her from everything happening. The bursts of bullets continued, causing clouds of dust all around us. It was literally chaos. The dead had invaded the front of the Sanctuary, and they were trapped, with no obvious way out.
Trump sending armed tactical forces after immigrants in sanctuary cities
Trump sending armed tactical forces after immigrants in sanctuary cities
John Moore/Getty
…100 US Customs and Border Protection officers, including those from the SWAT-like Border Patrol Tactical Unit, will be deployed from February through May across nine sanctuary cities: Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, New Orleans, and Newark, NJ.
Border Patrol Tactical Unit agents receive special training for high-risk law enforcement…
Somalia's Islamist Shebab rebels carried out a major bomb and armed assault against the country's presidential palace late Tuesday, penetrating the heavily-fortified complex before blowing themselves up. Officials said Somalia's internationally-backed President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed were not inside the complex at the time and were "both safe". Security sources said they were with guards from the African Union's 22,000-strong AMISOM force. A Shebab spokesman confirmed that the Al-Qaeda-linked group was behind the attack, and claimed their commandos had managed to seize the president's office inside the presidential compound known as the Villa Somalia.
Source: AFP
