A Trump fanatic from New York has been sentenced to 33 months in prison for offenses including threatening Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and illegally possessing over 1,000 rounds of ammunition. The individual in question, Eduard Florea, had previously been convicted of a firearms-related felony in New York, making his illegal possession of that ammunition especially serious. Apparently, he posted his threats on the right-wing social media site known as Parler, where on January 5 of this year (among a slew of other comments), he wrote that “Warnock is going to have a hard time casting votes for communist policies when he’s swinging with the f***ing fish,” according to a press release issued by the Justice Department.
Liz Cheney says Meadows' text messages leave "no doubt" the White House knew what was happening as the Capitol was engulfed by rioters on Jan. 6.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) December 14, 2021
Notably, Florea also posted online on January 6 about his intentions to head to Washington, D.C., and participate in violence beyond the initial storming of the Capitol. As he put it at one point, “Mine are ready….I am ready…. we need to regroup outside of DC and attack from all sides… talking to some other guys….I will keep watching for the signal.” (The message “Mine are ready” would presumably refer to firearms.) This dangerous lunacy can be tied directly to former President Donald Trump — Florea and the “other guys” to whom he was speaking weren’t operating in a vacuum. For months, Trump had pushed the lie that the presidential election had been somehow rigged for Biden and that action needed to be taken.
Ethics watchdog American Oversight has sued the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to compel the release of docs including any comms that top Trump officials may have had with Fox, the Trump campaign, or other proponents of the Big Lie in the weeks surrounding Jan. 6.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 17, 2021
Breon Peace, who serves as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, commented as follows about Florea’s sentence:
‘With today’s sentence, the defendant faces serious consequences for threatening the life of United States Senator Raphael Warnock as part of his effort to foment violence at the Capital on January 6, 2021 in connection with attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. This Office is deeply committed to protecting our democratic institutions and preserving our democracy, and will vigorously prosecute those who would undermine our founding principles as a nation by threatening the safety of our elected representatives or those who seek elected office.’
JUST IN: The Jan. 6 committee has subpoeaned James WALDRON, who sent a PowerPoint outlining options to oveturn the election to Mark Meadows on Jan. 5.
Details TK w @nicholaswu12
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) December 16, 2021
In the time since the attack on the Capitol by his supporters, Trump has repeatedly sought to excuse their actions, potentially setting up a future showdown with stakes that are similar in seriousness to those that surrounded January 6. Through it all, most Republican leaders are sticking by the former president, and it’s the few who aren’t down with justifying violence — like Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), and others –who have somehow become the pariahs within the Republican party.
UPDATE on Trump's new "media company":
No customers
No revenue
No product
One (1) SEC investigation
One (1) lawsuit alleging "brazen fraud"https://t.co/82VacH830w pic.twitter.com/mOMsvu75Af
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) December 17, 2021
