<ul class="summary-list"><li>Top DOJ officials testified how they pushed back on attempts to cast doubt on the 2020 election. </li><li>A DOJ official nearly was named acting AG in return for advancing Trump's false election fraud claims.</li></ul><p>Donald Trump was grasping for the <keyword id="11897354" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="justice-department" source="Orion">Justice Department</keyword> to help overturn his defeat in the 2020 election, and he found his man in a little-known lawyer named <keyword id="12737804" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="jeff-clark" source="Orion">Jeff Clark</keyword>.</p><p>In those hectic weeks after the election, Clark went from heading the Justice Department's environmental division to accepting an offer to become acting attorney general — a post from which he planned to advance Trump's false claims of election fraud, according to witnesses testifying to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.</p><p>Clark nearly ascended to that role, the committee revealed, and his support for Trump's effort as a lame duck president to pressure the Justice Department would catapult him out of obscurity and make him a subject of criminal probes.</p><p>On Thursday, the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol put Clark center stage at a hearing focused on Trump's attempts to throw the full weight of the Justice Department behind his baseless claims of election fraud. The hearing featured testimony from former acting Attorney General <keyword id="14148273" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="jeff-rosen" source="Orion">Jeff Rosen</keyword> and two other onetime top Justice Department officials who pushed back against Clark and Trump as the former president and his allies seized on increasingly bizarre conspiracy theories to cast doubt on the election results.</p><p>It was an effort by Trump to have the Justice Department "help legitimize his lies," said <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bennie-thompson-january-6-riot-committee-trump-congress-2022-6">Rep. Bennie Thompson</a>, a Democrat from Mississippi and the chair of the <keyword id="12562349" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="house-january-6-committee" source="Orion">House January 6 committee</keyword>.</p><p>Spanning more than two hours in the late afternoon, the House January 6 committee's fifth public hearing captured the drama that unfolded inside the Justice Department and White House as Trump looked to some of the country's most senior and important law enforcement officials to help him remain in power. It also came just hours after the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/federal-investigators-fbi-trump-justice-department-jeff-clark-election-overturn-2022-6">news broke</a> that federal investigators had searched Clark's suburban Washington home as part of a widening criminal probe into Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.</p><p>In testimony Thursday, Rosen and two other Justice Department officials recounted how Trump's own appointees threatened to resign en masse if the then-president followed through with appointing Clark as acting attorney general. On video, former Attorney General <keyword id="11949070" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="william-barr" source="Orion">William Barr</keyword> delivered a grave assessment of how the transition would have unfolded — or not — if the Justice Department hadn't promptly investigated claims of election fraud and found them baseless.</p><p>And at the end, the House committee presented evidence that at least <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cheney-to-reveal-gop-republican-colleagues-sought-jan-6-pardons-2022-6">six GOP lawmakers</a> — Reps. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/matt-gaetz-trump-pardon-january-6-committee-december-2022-6">Matt Gaetz</a>, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Andy Biggs, Louie Gohmert, Scott Perry, and Mo Brooks — sought pardons from Trump in the weeks before he left office.</p><p>Here are the takeaways from the latest House January 6 committee hearing:</p><h2><div type="image" title="Jeff Clark and Jeff Rosen" height="4368" width="5824" msid="92423098" hostid="261" sizebytes="367954"></div></h2><h2>Taken aback by Jeff Clark</h2><p>Clark was known <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-clark-trump-slow-coup-doj-2020-election-2021-10">inside the Justice Department</a> as an unassuming presence — until the waning weeks of the Trump's presidency. </p><p>On Thursday, Rosen recalled that he was "surprised to hear" in late 2020 that Trump even knew of Clark. But it was a sign of how Clark had emerged inside the Justice Department as a fervent supporter for Trump's false election fraud claims.</p><p>The surprise didn't end there. As Clark advanced Trump's baseless claims, he proposed sending a letter to officials in Georgia falsely stating that the Justice Department had evidence that could lead the swing state to rescind its certification of Biden's victory.</p><p>The draft letter landed on the desk of Rosen's top deputy, Richard Donoghue, with a thud. On Thursday, Donoghue recounted having to read the draft letter multiple times out of disbelief.</p><p>"It was so extreme to me, I had a hard time getting my head around it initially," Donoghue said.</p><p>Donoghue recalled trying to persuade Clark that the letter would inappropriately insert the Justice Department into <keyword id="11893346" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="politics" source="Orion">politics</keyword> and make assertions that were "actually contrary to the facts." But Clark, he said, was unfazed by the argument that an intervention by the Justice Department could send the country spiraling into a "constitutional crisis."</p><p>"He didn't seem to appreciate it," Donoghue said.</p><div type="image" title="Rosen" height="3662" width="4895" msid="92423099" hostid="261" sizebytes="501454"></div><h2>Questions of competency</h2><p>In one of the most riveting portions of the hearing, the three former Justice Department officials recounted a Sunday meeting in early January 2021 inside the Oval Office. On the table was Rosen's job.</p><p>Rosen requested the meeting after Clark informed him that he had accepted Trump's offer to step in as acting attorney general. But inside the Oval Office, it was Donoghue who spoke most forcefully in defense of keeping Rosen as acting attorney and preventing Clark from thrusting the Justice Department into Trump's bid to remain in power.</p><p>Donoghue remembered his argument focusing on a central point: Trump's scheme was doomed for failure and Clark lacked the competence to carry it out.</p><p>"It's impossible. It's absurd. It's not going to happen, and it's going to fail," Donoghue <a href="https://twitter.com/MeidasTouch/status/1540080928608833536?s=20&amp;t=WlFbdqa3BjCr3oz-OsUPsQ">recalled</a> saying.</p><p>"It's not going to happen. He's not competent," he added.</p><p>Donoghue underscored that Clark had no experience in criminal law and had never appeared before a grand jury or trial jury. On Thursday, Donoghue recalled voicing doubt that Clark could find his way to FBI Director Chris Wray's office and whether Wray would even recognize him.</p><p>At one point in the meeting, Clark tried to defend himself and said he had handled complicated appeals and civil cases. That defense drew an immediate rebuke from Donoghue, who had previously recounted his response in a closed-door deposition with the House January 6 committee.</p><p>"That's right. You're an environmental lawyer. How about you go back to your office, and we'll call you when there's an oil spill," Donoghue told Clark.</p><div type="image" title="Bill Barr and Donald Trump" height="1787" width="2382" msid="92423101" hostid="261" sizebytes="264640"></div><h2>Bill Barr and the election fraud investigations</h2><p>In a closed-door deposition before the House January 6 committee, Barr <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/live-january-6-committee-public-hearing-trump-insurrection-2022-6#bill-barr-says-hes-not-sure-we-would-have-had-a-transition-at-all-to-biden-if-doj-hadnt-investigated-trumps-baseless-voter-fraud-claims">suggested</a> that Trump might not have left office voluntarily if the Justice Department had not proactively investigated claims of election fraud and determined that they lacked merit.</p><p>"I'm not sure we would have had a transition at all," Barr said, in deposition footage that the House January 6 committee aired Thursday.</p><p>"I sort of shudder to think what the situation would have been if the position of the department was: We're not even going to look at this until after Biden's in office," he added.</p><p>Barr's grave assessment came in response to a question about why he had authorized election fraud investigations at all rather than "follow the regular course of action and let the investigations occur much later in time." Reflecting on his final weeks as attorney general, Barr said he felt the "responsible thing to do was to be in a position to have a view as to whether or not there was fraud."</p><p>"Frankly, I think the fact that I put myself in the position that I could say that we had looked at this and didn't think there was fraud was really important," he added.</p><div type="image" title="Reps. Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene speak outside the US Capitol on January 6, 2022." height="2709" width="3613" msid="92423102" hostid="261" sizebytes="289048"></div><h2>Pardons, please</h2><p>In a grand finale to Thursday's hearing, the House January 6 committee identified six Republican lawmakers as having requested pardons from Trump in the aftermath of the attack on the Capitol. Among them was Rep. <keyword id="11923746" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="matt-gaetz" source="Orion">Matt Gaetz</keyword>, a Florida Republican <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/matt-gaetz-timeline-allegations-sex-trafficking-joel-greenberg-doj-investigation-2021-5">facing a federal sex trafficking investigation</a>.</p><p>The House committee revealed the requests, in part, through recordings of depositions with former Trump aides, including one who recalled how <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/matt-gaetz-trump-pardon-january-6-committee-december-2022-6">Gaetz began asking for a pardon weeks</a> before other Republican lawmakers.</p><p>"Mr. Gaetz was personally pushing for a pardon, and he was doing so since early December," said Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, in testimony aired by the committee on Thursday.</p><p>"I'm not sure why," she added. "Mr. Gaetz had reached out to me to ask if he could have a meeting with Mr. Meadows about receiving a presidential pardon."</p><p>GOP Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania also asked for pardons, according to the testimony of former Trump <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cheney-to-reveal-gop-republican-colleagues-sought-jan-6-pardons-2022-6">administration officials</a>.</p>

January 6 hearing takeaways: Pardon pleas, more Bill Barr, and a riveting account of how Trump turned to the Justice Department and a loyal lawyer to 'help legitimize his lies'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="853040" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="ACLU">ACLU</keyword> and the New York-based law firm Perry Guha LLP are suing Attorney General William Barr and the Bureau of Prisons director on behalf of <keyword id="6369848" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="michael-cohen">Michael Cohen</keyword>.</li><li>They say that Cohen, <keyword id="3828720" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="President-Donald-Trump">President Donald Trump</keyword>'s former lawyer, is being unjustly held in prison because he's writing a book about Trump.</li><li>Cohen was briefly released from prison due to COVID-19 concerns earlier this year, but was taken back into custody in July after refusing conditions of his house arrest, the Bureau of Prisons said.</li><li>Days before he was taken back into custody he was seen <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-cohen-may-have-violated-prison-release-terms-2020-7">dining at a Manhattan restaurant</a> and the ACLU said he had tweeted about his book.</li></ul><p>The American Civil Liberties Union and a private law firm have filed a lawsuit against Attorney General William Barr and the Bureau of Prisons director on Monday on behalf of Michael Cohen, saying Donald Trump's former lawyer is being unjustly held in prison because he's writing a critical book about the president.</p><p>The lawsuit was filed late on Monday night by the ACLU and Perry Guha LLP, a New York-based law firm.</p><p><a href="https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-files-first-amendment-challenge-against-michael-cohens-retaliatory-imprisonment">The lawyers said in a statement</a> that keeping Cohen in prison violates the <keyword id="916586" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="First-Amendment">First Amendment</keyword>, and are calling for him to be released and put on home confinement.</p><p>"The government cannot imprison Michael Cohen for writing a book about President Trump," Ben Wizner, director of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, said in the statement. "The gag order that the government sought to impose on Mr. Cohen was an unconstitutional prior restraint, and his continued imprisonment is part of a dangerous pattern of retaliation against Trump critics."</p><p>The Bureau of Prisons told Insider it would not comment on pending legal matters. The Department of Justice didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.</p><p>Cohen, who started his three-year prison sentence in 2019 after pleading guilty to tax, bank, and campaign finance crimes, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-cohen-released-from-prison-early-coronavirus-report-wsj-2020-5">was briefly released from prison and put on home confinement</a> in May, over COVID-19 concerns.</p><p>While in home confinement, federal officers asked Cohen to sign an agreement that prohibited him from speaking on social media or to the press, the ACLU said, adding that the agreement "unusual."</p><p>The same month, the Trump Organization <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-michael-cohen-lawyers-demand-stop-writing-book-2020-5">sent Cohen a cease-and-desist letter</a> over his "tell-all" book about the president, according to <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/michael-cohens-early-prison-release-coronavirus-concerns-rescinded/story?id=70456164">ABC News</a> and <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/michael-cohen-back-behind-bars-as-early-prison-release-called-off">the Daily Beast.</a> The Trump Organization said at the time that Cohen had signed a non-disclosure agreement that barred him from disclosing information about Trump, his family, or the company.</p><p>Cohen, according to the ACLU, said he never signed an NDA with the Trump Organization.</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-cohen-back-in-custody-after-early-prison-release-2020-7">Cohen was sent back to prison</a> on July 9 after refusing conditions of his house arrest, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-cohen-back-in-custody-after-early-prison-release-2020-7">the Bureau of Prisons told Insider earlier this month.</a></p><p>Days earlier, Cohen had been seen <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-cohen-may-have-violated-prison-release-terms-2020-7">dining at a Manhattan restaurant</a>, apparently in violation of the terms of his early release. He had also tweeted about putting finishing touches on his book, the ACLU said.</p><p>"This case is about a brazen assault on the First Amendment and the rule of law. We trust that our Constitution will prevail and that free speech will continue to be protected, for our client and for all others by extension," Danya Perry, founding partner of Perry Guha, said in ACLU's statement. </p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-cohen-may-have-violated-prison-release-terms-2020-7">Michael Cohen may have violated the terms of his prison release by eating out at a restaurant in Manhattan</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-michael-cohen-lawyers-demand-stop-writing-book-2020-5">Trump's lawyers have reportedly demanded that Michael Cohen stop writing a 'tell-all' book about the president</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-has-been-charged-in-russia-investigation-mueller-trump-2017-12">Here's everyone who has been charged, convicted, and sentenced in the Russia probe so far</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lev-parnas-michael-cohen-working-for-trump-like-cult-expert-2020-1">Lev Parnas and Michael Cohen are right to think working for Trump was like being in a cult, according to a cult expert</a></li></ul>

The ACLU is fighting to get Michael Cohen out of prison, saying the Justice Department went after him for writing a book about Trump

<br />
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/52865445.cms" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" /><br /> At the tender age of 12, <keyword id="3436550" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="azad-chaiwala">Azad Chaiwala</keyword> had made the ultimate decision- he had decided to be a polygamist.<br />
<br />
After making his first million in the UK, he got married at 22 and immediately informed his wife and his in-laws of his future plans that involved having multiple wives and atleast 20 children.<br />
<br />
However, a decade later, he still has just one wife.<br />
<br />
As he soon found out, finding a wife offline is not as easy as he thought it would be. He soon took his search online, but realised that there are no options on the web which would help him with his quest.<br />
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That was all the push that the 33-year-old businessman needed.<br />
<br />
Chaiwala who calls himself, a ‘serial entrepreneur’ set up a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=dating+website&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">dating website</a> to help <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=muslim+men&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Muslim men</a>, facing the same problem as him- find a second wife.<br />
<br />
In the past, he had built almost a dozen web-based businesses that were clocking over 50 million unique monthly users<br />
<br /> The website that’s called <keyword id="3436551" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="SecondWife-com">SecondWife.com</keyword> has already seen more than 35,000 people sign up for its services and is popular among Muslim men in Leicester.<br />
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Chaiwala, who is of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=pakistani&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Pakistani </a>origin, believes that his website promotes ‘old-fashion values, morality and fidelity.’<br />
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<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/52866234.cms" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" /><br />
Contrary to the name, people using the website are not limited to just finding their <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=second+wife&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">second wife</a>. They are free to come back to search for their third or fourth wife, as well. Infact, Chaiwala himself plans to select his next two wives from this very website.<br />
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His logic is simple- Muslim men need more than one wife “to ward off the danger of divorce or of falling into any illicit relationship outside marriage,”<br />
<br />
He further adds that his intention is to change the way the concept of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=polygamy&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">polygamy </a>is perceived.<br />
<br /> Citing figures from a documentary film on <keyword id="6359380" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="polygamy">polygamy</keyword>, Chaiwala states that are over 20,000 Muslim families practicing polygamy in the UK. And, he is certain that more and more people should practice polygamy too.<br />
<br />
And, to achieve that he takes help from the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=quran&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Quran</a>. Users are greeted with this verse when they open SecondWife.com<br />
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"Then marry women of your choice, two or three, or four, but if you fear that you will not be able to deal justly, then only one."<br />
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Encouraged by the unprecedented success of SecondWife.com, Chaiwala decided to build another dating website that would help non-Muslims take to Polygamy.<br />
<br />
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/52866250.cms" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" /><br />
<br /> The dating site is called <keyword id="3436552" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Polygamy-Com">Polygamy.com</keyword> and caters to Western clientele of all faiths. It's particularly popular among women and has garnered more than 7,000 members since its launch last year.<br />
<br />
This website greets its users with the banner, “Welcome to the world of polygamy’’ and shows a culturally-diverse family before proclaiming, “We want bigger, stronger families.”<br />
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According to Chaiwala, polygamy is not a foreign concept, at all. " We already practice a very corrupt form of it in the shape of pornography, easy hookup apps where you can swipe for an encounter, strip clubs and extra marital affair websites.... except they all have a very bad effect on the fabric of society that is the family. Polygamy keeps families together and makes them bigger and stronger."<br />
<br />
However, not everyone is in board with Chaiwala’s line of thinking. Infact, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=bigamy&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">bigamy</a> is illegal in <keyword id="11101" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Britain">Britain</keyword> and can land one with a seven-year jail sentence.<br />
<br /> <keyword id="301995" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Khalid-Mahmood">Khalid Mahmood</keyword>, the MP for <keyword id="3436549" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="perry-barr">Perry Barr</keyword> and a Muslim himself has come out against Chaiwala’s websites and termed them utterly stupid, and thinks it puts one at a huge disadvantage in terms of laying claims on their partner’s financial situation.<br />
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Chaiwala, on the other hand, dismisses these statements and instead believes that he is doing nothing wrong as his religion allows men to have upto four wives.<br />
<br />
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/52866267.cms" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" /><br />
“People go to a nightclub and have a one-night stand and that’s the end of it. Men go with prostitutes; people look for swingers' clubs. A man wants to get married to multiple partners in an honourable manner, he wants to share his love and resources - why do you have an issue with that? It is not for everyone – some men are not physically, or financially, capable of taking care of other women."<br />
He further claims that it is very difficult for men to window shop wives from his websites as it does not let men abuse the system.<br />
<br />
Though, women can sign up for free on his websites, men have to pay.<br />
<br />
“And, even after that, they are not provided with access to all women, their pictures or contact details. For that, they need to initiate a conversation”, he signs off.<br />



Meet Azad Chaiwala who set up SecondWife.com, a dating website that lets Muslim men find their second wife

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c3dcc3fbd773061db6d6415-2000/ap19009803001612.jpg" border="0" alt="william barr" data-mce-source="Associated Press/Alex Brandon" data-mce-caption="Attorney General nominee William Barr departs after a meeting with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019 in Washington." /></div></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Attorney General nominee William Barr is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, and is expected to field questions on his criminal-justice record.</li><li>Barr has come under scrutiny over a 1992 report on which he signed off, "The Case for More Incarceration," which advocated for more prisons and complained America was "incarcerating too few criminals."</li><li>But much of America has undergone a paradigm shift since the early 1990s - even conservatives and top Republicans have veered away from the tough-on-crime rhetoric championed in the past.</li><li>Barr appeared to anticipate criticism, and said in his prepared remarks that he intended to respect recent criminal-justice reforms such as the First Step Act, which President Donald Trump signed in December.</li></ul><p>President Donald Trump's Attorney General nominee, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/william-barr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">William Barr</a>, is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, and appears to have already anticipated criticisms of his tough-on-crime record.</p><p>One document, in particular, has come under scrutiny in the wake of Barr's nomination to the post, which critics have seized upon as evidence that Barr could run the Justice Department much as his predecessor Jeff Sessions did - with the mindset that more incarceration and harsher sentencing will reduce crime.</p><p>In July 1992, Barr signed off on a <a href="https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/139583NCJRS.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> titled "The Case for More Incarceration," which argued for building more prisons, linked rising crime rates with lack of incarceration, criticized probation and early-release programs, and declared that America was "incarcerating too few criminals, and the public is suffering as a result."</p><p>"There is no better way to reduce crime than to identify, target, and incapacitate those hardened criminals who commit staggering numbers of violent crimes whenever they are on the streets," Barr wrote in the introduction to the report.</p><p>Yet the criminal-justice landscape has dramatically shifted over the past three decades, with increasing numbers of liberals and conservatives alike realigning their views on the value, purpose, and cost of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-mass-incarceration-prison-jails-charts-2017-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">jailing and imprisoning millions</a> of Americans each year.</p><p>In the years since Barr's first term as attorney general, which began in 1991, America's prison population has continued to balloon. More than 2 million people are currently incarcerated, compared to a federal and state prison population of <a href="https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p91.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">800,000 in 1991</a> - a population explosion that <a href="https://www.nap.edu/read/18613/chapter/7#155" target="_blank" rel="noopener">studies have shown</a> yields few benefits when it comes to reducing crime.</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/poll-first-step-act-criminal-justice-reforms-most-americans-approve-2018-12">Most Americans approve of the bipartisan, Trump-backed criminal-justice reforms that the Senate passed</a></em></p><h2>'Chronic, violent criminals'</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5becfc16f556fc0a996cc133-2400/ap18318792349296.jpg" border="0" alt="Trump First Step Act" data-mce-source="AP Photo/Andrew Harnik" data-mce-caption="President Donald Trump speaks about H. R. 5682, the &amp;quotFirst Step Act&quot; in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018, which would reform America's prison system." data-link="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Trump/f7981bca7e4f43c79fcaf4abd1fae01a/29/0" /></div></div></div></p><p>In his <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/14/politics/read-william-barr-senate-testimony/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prepared remarks</a> to the Senate Judiciary Committee released on Monday, Barr appeared to recognize that his past views on mass incarceration required explanation. He gave a nod to criminal-justice reforms championed by the Trump administration, including the recently signed First Step Act, and vowed to implement it "diligently."</p><p>He also acknowledged that times had changed since his last term as attorney general, and that the public's attitude toward incarceration - along with the crime rate - has undergone a monumental shift in the last three decades.</p><p>"We must continue the progress we have made on violent crime while, at the same time, recognizing the changes that have occurred," he said. But he also gave a warning against complacency toward violent crime, promising to "keep up the pressure on chronic, violent criminals."</p><p>Barr's old tough-on-crime attitude flies in the face of what even conservatives have been arguing for years - that maintaining massive prison populations is not only fiscally irresponsible, but has failed to reduce crime.</p><p>The conservative advocacy group Right on Crime, for instance, has championed criminal-justice reform efforts such as the First Step Act, and has recruited <a href="http://rightoncrime.com/right-on-crime-signatories/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prominent Republicans</a> like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. </p><p>"We can make mandatory sentences tougher, we can make them more stringent. But to do so would show that we're really ignoring an entire body of scholarship, and decades of actual research on this topic showing that these punishments don't necessarily beget the better public safety outcomes," Right on Crime director Derek Cohen told INSIDER last year.</p><p>But criminal-justice reform advocates have criticized Barr's record and argued that he's done little to show that his position has changed since the early 1990s.</p><p>"Barr was an ardent champion of policies that have transformed America into the world's leading incarcerator, and there's little reason to believe that his opinions have changed," the American Civil Liberties Union's Sagiv Galai <a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/smart-justice/mass-incarceration/william-barr-was-ardent-champion-mass-incarceration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>. "The Senate Judiciary Committee must inquire as to whether he still believes that prison expansion is the best response to crime."</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/justice-reform-advocates-warn-first-step-act-is-just-the-start-2018-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">Critics are warning that the criminal-justice-reform bill being hailed as a bipartisan victory doesn't go nearly far enough</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/william-barr-prepared-testimony-mueller-allowed-complete-work-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">William Barr says in prepared testimony that Mueller should be allowed to 'complete his work' on the Russia probe</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/barr-confirmation-hearings-judiciary-committee-senators-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">These are the Judiciary Committee Senators to watch during attorney general nominee William Barr's confirmation hearings</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/william-barr-attorney-general-roe-v-wade-abortion-1992-2019-1" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">William Barr, Trump's attorney general nominee, said Roe v. Wade 'will fall' in unearthed CNN interview from 1992</a></li></ul>

Attorney general nominee William Barr helped write the handbook on mass incarceration in the 1990s - but he says he realizes times have changed

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Very few members of Trump's former cabinet have endorsed his 2024 re-election campaign.</li><li><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-cabinet-endorsements-rcna96648" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC News</a> reached out to over 40 former cabinet members, finding just 4 publicly endorsed Trump.</li></ul><p>Of 44 members of former President Donald Trump's cabinet, less than 10% have publicly endorsed him in his 2024 presidential run. </p><p>Only four of Trump's former cabinet members openly endorsed his re-election run, according to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-cabinet-endorsements-rcna96648" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC News</a>. Several didn't respond to the outlet or declined to comment, while some told NBC they were actively working to prevent his nomination. </p><p>The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on Sunday. </p><p>The four former cabinet members supportive of Trump 2024 were Matthew Whitaker, former acting attorney general; Mark Meadows, Trump's former chief of staff; Russell Vought, Trump's former budget chief; and Richard Grenell, former acting director of national intelligence, according to NBC. </p><p>Requests for comment made to the four men through their websites, nonprofits, and social media were not immediately answered on Sunday.<em> </em></p><p>Meanwhile, other former members of Trump's cabinet have been vocal against his run for re-election, such as former Attorney General Bill Barr, who <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-barr-star-house-january-6-committee-hearings-trump-2022-6">testified extensively</a> against Trump before the House January 6 committee. In interviews, he's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/barr-says-trump-troubled-man-who-deserves-indictment-classified-documents-2023-6">called Trump a "troubled man"</a> who must face justice. </p><p>"I have made clear that I strongly oppose Trump for the nomination and will not endorse Trump," Barr told NBC News. Asked if the 2024 race ends up in a rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden, Barr told NBC he'd "jump off that bridge when I get to it."</p><p>Similar comments came from Mick Mulvaney, another one of Trump's former chiefs of staff, according to NBC. </p><p>"I am working hard to make sure that someone else is the nominee," Mulvaney told NBC. "I think he's the Republican who is most likely to lose in a general election, of all our leading candidates. If anyone can lose to Joe Biden, it would be him."</p><p>Trump wasn't shy about axing members of his administration when he felt they weren't performing or were working against him. The dynamic may be coming back to haunt him.</p><p>"They're not friends; they're not hanging on forever," Barbara Perry, the director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia, told NBC. "They're going to skip out, or he's going to push them out in some instances."</p><p>Trump said in October <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/campaigns/3698747-trump-very-disloyal-if-pence-other-cabinet-members-ran-in-2024/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he would find it "very disloyal"</a> if former Vice President Mike Pence or other members of his cabinet ran for president in 2024. Pence is running, though he is <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/pence-christie-start-primary-low-marks-gop-voters-poll-finds-rcna91612" target="_blank" rel="noopener">polling</a> in the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/08/politics/2024-presidential-race-pence-struggle/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">single digits</a> – well behind Trump. </p>

Just 4 of Donald Trump's 44 former cabinet members have publicly endorsed his 2024 run

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The first hearing from the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot was held Thursday.</li><li>Reps. Bennie Thompson and Liz Cheney spoke most of the time, with a focus on Donald Trump.</li></ul><p>The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol held its first hearing Thursday night after overseeing hundreds of interviews, sifting through thousands of documents, and issuing dozens of subpoenas.</p><p>The committee offered an overview of its findings that then-President Donald Trump was at the heart of a multistage attempted coup to retain power, and it showcased bits of testimony from former Attorney General Bill Barr, Capitol rioters, a Capitol Police officer, a documentary filmmaker, Proud Boys, and even the president's elder daughter, Ivanka Trump.</p><p>The committee's chair, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, and its vice chair, Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, presented the committee's case to show Trump attempted to subvert the 2020 presidential election and bring to light his allies who assisted him along the way.</p><p>Here are the main takeaways from the two-hour hearing:</p><h2>Hearings will show Trump and his allies staged 'an attempted coup'</h2><p>Thompson <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/january-6-committee-hearings-trump-mounted-an-attempted-coup-2022-6">didn't mince his words</a> in his introductory speech Thursday evening.</p><p>"Donald Trump was at the center of this conspiracy, and ultimately, Donald Trump, the president of the United States, spurred a mob of domestic enemies of the Constitution to march down the Capitol and subvert American democracy," Thompson said.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Pod Save America  (@PodSaveAmerica) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1535054199234342912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2022</a></blockquote><h2>Cheney said Trump led a misinformation campaign that provoked the Jan. 6 violence</h2><p>In a statement, Cheney said Trump invested millions of dollars in campaign funds to purposely spread "false information, running ads he knew were false and convincing millions of Americans that the election was corrupt and he was the true president."</p><p>"As you will see," Cheney added, "this misinformation campaign provoked the violence on January 6."</p><p>Cheney, a Republican who has been outspokenly critical of Trump since the January 6 attack, also alleged that Trump or his allies were carrying out a multistep plan to block Joe Biden from taking office even though Biden won the Electoral College vote.</p><p>"Over multiple months, Donald Trump oversaw and coordinated a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/liz-cheney-trump-oversaw-7-part-plan-to-overturn-election-2022-6">sophisticated seven-part</a> plan to overturn the presidential election and prevent the transfer of presidential power," Cheney said. "In our hearings, you will see evidence of each element of this plan."</p><h2>Ivanka Trump says she 'accepted' the attorney general's opinion there was no election fraud</h2><p>The committee showed a short clip of a video testimony from Ivanka Trump, part of the eight hours she spent before the committee. She was asked about Barr's assertion there was no fraud to be found to overturn the presidential election.</p><p>"It affected my perspective," <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ivanka-trump-accepted-doj-found-no-fraud-to-overturn-election-2022-6">she said</a>. "I respect Attorney General Barr. So I accepted what he was saying."</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—BBC <keyword id="11893589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news" source="Orion">News</keyword> (World) (@BBCWorld) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1535063284969250819?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2022</a></blockquote><h2>Several members of Congress asked for pardons</h2><p>Cheney said Rep. Scott Perry, who refused to testify to the committee, directly asked for a pardon from Trump for working to install Jeff Clark as attorney general to further investigate the results of the election in a possible attempt to undermine confidence in a vote the Homeland Security Department had already called "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dhs-breaks-from-trump-2020-election-most-secure-in-history-2020-11">the most secure in American history</a>." She also said several other Republican members of Congress asked for pardons from the president.</p><h2>Trump's comment at a presidential debate was said to have 'tripled' Proud Boys membership</h2><p>At the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-biden-first-debate-biggest-moments-takeaways-highlights-video-2020-9">first presidential debate</a> in September 2020, Trump told the Proud Boys in a statement to "stand back and stand by." A member of the Proud Boys testified to the House committee that the president's comment effectively "tripled" the membership of the far-right group. Its former leader Enrique Tarrio also said he wished he made T-shirts of the moment.</p><p>Members of the Proud Boys stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and some are accused of coordinating to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/proud-boys-members-stopped-capitol-police-from-sealing-capitol-tunnels-2021-2">prevent the Capitol Police from sealing off the tunnels</a> of the building.</p>

January 6: The biggest takeaways from the first hearing about the Capitol attack and its ties to Trump

The most shocking revelations from the January 6 committee's public hearings on the Capitol attack

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="11931775" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="january-6-committee" source="Orion">January 6 committee</keyword>'s primetime hearings begin on Thursday, June 9 at 8pm ET.</li><li>The committee plans to publicly present their findings about the <keyword id="11897870" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="january-6" source="Orion">January 6</keyword> Capitol attack.</li></ul><p>After interviewing hundreds of people, sifting through thousands of documents and issuing dozens of subpoenas, the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol will make their findings public during six hearings in June.</p><p>The committee hopes to present the most comprehensive account yet of the deadly assault on Congress, and lay out the forces, decisions, and people who fueled the riot in early 2021. They seek to prove the unprecedented threat that the mob, which was trying stop the official certification of the 2020 election results, posed for American democracy.</p><p>The first hearing is scheduled for this Thursday, June 9th at 8 p.m. ET. The second one is expected to be held on June 13, at 10 a.m. ET.  Here's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/house-january-6-committee-live-hearing-schedule-2022-6">how to watch the January 6 committee hearings</a> via TV and streaming.</p><p>Insider has reported that the committee is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jan-6-committee-hearing-time-abc-news-president-goldston-primetime-2022-6">expected</a> to air previously unseen footage from the day of the insurrection and pre-taped interviews the committee conducted during its exhaustive 10-month-investigation that aims to deepen Americans' understanding of the events that day and the risks it posed to the peaceful transfer of power. <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/06/02/january-6-public-hearings-witness-luttig">Axios</a> also reported that they will showcase official White House photographs from the insurrection that has not been disclosed publicly.  </p><p>In May, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/17/us/politics/jan-6-committee-transcripts.html">Department of Justice began requesting documents</a> from the January 6 committee as part of their investigation into the insurrection, and those who instigated it.</p><p>The panel is composed of seven Democrats, and two Republicans — Vice Chair <keyword id="12010990" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="liz-cheney" source="Orion">Liz Cheney</keyword> and <keyword id="11900984" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="adam-kinzinger" source="Orion">Adam Kinzinger</keyword> of Illinois. Chairman <keyword id="11931776" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="bennie-thompson" source="Orion">Bennie Thompson</keyword>, a Democrat from Mississippi, told Insider in a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/january-6-committees-bennie-thompson-hearings-in-june-2022-6">recent interview</a> that "our democracy…stands to lose if we don't get it right."</p><p>Here's what you need to know about how to watch, and what to expect from lawmakers and witnesses, the committee, and its Republican opponents.</p><h2><strong>Who is expected to testify?</strong></h2><p>Details are trickling out about key witnesses who may appear during the first hearing. The committee has struggled to get top Republican politicians, like former Vice President <keyword id="12069606" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mike-pence" source="Orion">Mike Pence</keyword>, to appear. Here's who we know will provide live testimony:</p><ul><li><a href="https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/1533961531234344960?s=12&amp;t=95aFSl-CxqZEvIjnczTEJg">Nick Quested</a>, a documentary filmmaker who followed members of the far-right group the Proud Boys on January 6, will testify on June 9, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/06/us/politics/proud-boys-charged-sedition-capitol-attack.html">according to the New York Times</a>.</li><li>Caroline Edwards, a Capitol Police officer who was injured in the attack, will also appear on June 9, according to the Times.</li></ul><p>CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/02/politics/primetime-hearing-announced-january-6/index.html">reported</a> that the committee invited top Pence aides Greg Jacob and Marc Short to testify, but it's not clear if they will appear. The committee also reached out to former federal Judge J. Michael Luttig, CNN reported. A top aide to the White House chief of staff at the time of the Capitol breach, Cassidy Hutchinson, contributed to the panel's investigation and is expected to deliver key testimony, the Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/04/jan-6-committee-set-make-its-case-public-with-prime-time-hearing/">reported</a>.</p><h2><strong>Who has the committee interviewed so far?</strong></h2><p>The committee has conducted over 900 interviews during its investigation — with notable figures like Ivanka Trump, the daughter of former president <keyword id="11914386" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="donald-trump" source="Orion">Donald Trump</keyword>. </p><p>Chairman Bennie Thompson told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/02/politics/ivanka-trump-january-6-committee-bennie-thompson/index.html">CNN</a> that Ivanka Trump talked with the committee about her activities at the White House on the day of the insurrection.</p><p>He also told CNN that her husband Jared Kushner, who was also a White House adviser during the Trump administration, was also interviewed. </p><p>"There were questions asked about what she was doing at the time that the insurrection was occurring at the Capitol, and she told us," he told the outlet. </p><p>Last week, William Barr, who served as the attorney general under the Trump administration, <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/former-attorney-general-bill-barr-182211058.html">met</a> with committee investigators. He was seen entering the US capitol building Friday afternoon. Barr stepped down in the aftermath of Trump's election loss and in a recent book <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/barr-trump-off-the-rails-2020-presidential-election-book-2022-2">criticized</a> Trump for listening to "whack jobs" peddling conspiracy theories about election fraud.</p><p>Media outlets have reported that the House select committee has interviewed other individuals such as Alyssa Farah, a former communications director and several of Mike Pence's aides including  his national security adviser, Keith Kellogg. </p><p>It has also been reported that former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump's tough line immigration policies, also met with the committee.</p><h2><strong>What has the committee looked into?</strong></h2><p>The January 6 committee has focused on a number of areas, including the law enforcement and government response to the attack, and the communications between conservative lawmakers and the White House in the days leading up to the riot and on the day of the attack itself.</p><p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/06/fake-trump-electors-ga-told-shroud-plans-secrecy-email-shows/">They will also likely zero in on plans by Trump's allies</a> to install fake "alternate electors" in states that the former president stood to lose in the 2020 election. These individuals planned to go against the voters' wishes and cast electoral votes for Trump, rather than Biden, even if Trump lost the state.</p><h2>Who has been subpoenaed?</h2><p>The committee issued subpoenas to several Republicans requesting for them to cooperate in its investigation. Some of these Republicans include Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Mo Brooks of Alabama and Ronny Jackson of Texas. </p><p>The committee has also requested for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Republican Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania to cooperate with their investigation.</p><p>The vast majority of these Republican lawmakers have refused to cooperate in the House select committee's investigation. Trump advisers Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro both face criminal contempt charges, with Navarro <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-navarro-indicted-defying-house-january-6-capital-riot-2022-6">indicted</a> on Friday.</p><p>Brooks told <a href="https://thehill.com/news/sunday-talk-shows/3505461-mo-brooks-testimony-before-jan-6-panel-should-be-public-occur-after-senate-primary-runoff/">FOX News</a> that he would refuse to testify before the committee if it is in private or before his Senate primary runoff election on June 21.</p><p>"I don't want this witch hunt committee and <a href="https://thehill.com/people/nancy-pelosi/">Nancy Pelosi </a>trying to interfere with a Republican primary election for the United States Senate in Alabama," he said.</p><h2><strong>What can we expect from Republicans?</strong></h2><p>The January 6 hearings will scrutinize Trump and his top advisers, and the Republican Party is planning to mount an aggressive defense. The party plans to cast the hearings as "illegitimate," "rigged," and hyper-partisan, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/5/31/23148789/rnc-january-6-committee">Vox </a>and <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/06/03/trump-january-6-hearings-republicans">Axios </a>reported. </p><p>The Republican National Committee plans to paint "Democrats as the real election deniers" and "remind voters that law enforcement investigations have taken place," according to a memo obtained by Vox. </p><p>House Republican leadership, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Elise Stefanik, will likely play a crucial role in defending Trump from any fallout from the January 6 hearings, Axios reported.</p><p>Stefanik is<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elise-stefanik-accuses-jan-6-panel-of-being-performative-with-public-hearings-2022-6"> already attempting to get ahead of the hearings</a>, calling the events "<keyword id="128640" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nancy-pelosi" source="Orion">Nancy Pelosi</keyword>'s partisan, political witch hunt" <a href="https://twitter.com/RepStefanik/status/1533149713486204934">in a tweet</a> on June 4.</p><p>Meanwhile, conservative and pro-Trump media will play a role in hammering home the party's message, according to Axios.</p>

January 6 committee: What to expect from live hearings that start today into the Capitol riot and Trump's role

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Reverend Perry Cleek, the pastor who attended an event at the White House with President <keyword id="6354862" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="trump">Trump</keyword> and other officials on July 13, tested positive for <keyword id="8763838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="covid-19">COVID-19</keyword> a week after the meeting occurred.</li><li>Rev. Cleek was attending a roundtable event focused on US law enforcement after his donations to police officers in his community drew media attention around the country.</li><li>The pastor started experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 on July 21, the website for CBS and ABC Tennessee affiliate WJHL-TV first reported. </li></ul><p>A pastor from northeastern Tennessee who met with President Donald Trump and other administration officials at the White House on July 13 started experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and tested positive for the virus one week later.</p><p>Reverend Perry Cleek of the Lighthouse Missionary Baptist Church in Jonesborough, Tenn. attended the televised roundtable event attended by President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and Attorney General William Barr to discuss law enforcement. </p><p>The White House invited Rev. Cleek to the event after his $1,000 donations to police officers in his community drew media attention around the country.</p><p>The pastor started experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 on July 21, the website for CBS and ABC northeastern Tennessee affiliate station <a href="https://www.wjhl.com/local-coronavirus-coverage/local-pastor-who-gained-national-attention-for-supporting-police-now-has-covid-19/">WJHL-TV first reported</a>. Rev. Cleek said he was tested for the virus prior to attending the event, and said he tested negative at the time, according to WJHL-TV's report. </p><p>Rev. Cleek also said he was never "close" to President Trump while attending the event. A video of the event broadcast on C-SPAN shows he was sitting next to A.G. Barr. <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?473831-1/president-trump-holds-law-enforcement-roundtable">Nobody seated at the table</a> — including Rev. Cleek, Trump, Pence, and Barr — wore a face mask, according to footage in the video. </p><p><div type="image" title="trump mask 1" height="2000" width="3000" msid="77309674" hostid="261"></div></p><p>The pastor told WJHL-TV that he never experienced a fever, only a cough, and a feeling of weakness, then <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-symptoms-loss-of-smell-taste-covid-19-anosmia-hyposmia-2020-3">lost his ability to taste and smell</a>, a symptom associated with the virus. </p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-symptoms-loss-of-smell-taste-covid-19-anosmia-hyposmia-2020-3">If you've lost your sense of smell or taste, you could be a 'hidden carrier' of the coronavirus</a></em></p><p>It is not possible to know whether Rev. Cleek contracted the virus during the event.</p><p>Still, his experience comes as people in the Trump administration and close to government officials have tested positive for COVID-19 even as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/five-times-the-trump-administration-downplayed-the-coronavirus-2020-3">President Trump has tried to downplay</a> the severity of the virus.</p><p>Robert O'Brien, the White House national security adviser, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-natsec-adviser-robert-obrien-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-2020-7">tested positive for COVID-19</a> earlier this week, Bloomberg reported. In May, a member of the US Navy detailed to the White House who serves a personal valet to President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/valet-to-president-trump-navy-member-tests-positive-for-covid-19-2020-5">tested positive for the virus</a>. </p><p>The situation with Rev. Cleek also highlights the risks associated with not wearing face masks, which health officials say are critical for preventing the spread of the coronavirus. His church has canceled in-person services. </p><p>"My biggest fear is that I'm going to get a phone call that I've passed it along to some of our precious elderly people or even someone in my own family," Cleek told WJHL-TV, adding it is a "serious illness."</p><p>He is self-quarantining at his home and is hoping to preach a sermon remotely, according to WJHL-TV's report. </p>

A Tennessee pastor tested positive for COVID-19 one week after meeting with Trump and administration officials at the White House

<ul class="summary-list"><li>President <keyword id="6354484" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Donald-Trump">Donald Trump</keyword>'s week was filled with meetings, rallies, and a debate before his positive <keyword id="8763838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="covid-19">COVID-19</keyword> test early Friday.</li><li>Pictures show Trump maskless and in close contact with family, staff, and supporters over the past several days. </li></ul><p>President Donald Trump attended a series of White House meetings, campaign rallies, and a presidential debate in the days leading up to his positive COVID-19 test, possibly exposing dozens of people, if not more, to the virus.</p><p>Photos show Trump maskless and in close contact with members of his family, staff, and supporters over the past week. His early Friday morning announcement that he contracted the virus triggered a whirlwind of testing and contact tracing inside the White House and among others whom Trump has recently interacted with. </p><p>The president is currently quarantining at the White House with First Lady Melania Trump, who also tested positive. Both <a href="https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/1312046490077061121">are experiencing</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-cold-like-symptoms-after-getting-covid-19-not-asymptomatic-2020-10">mild symptoms</a> so far.</p><p>The <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">news</keyword> comes after Trump <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-told-woodward-he-always-downplayed-threat-of-covid-19-2020-9"> downplayed</a> the severity of the virus at the onset of the pandemic and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-repeatedly-downplayed-covid-19-after-telling-woodward-very-deadly-2020-9">continued to do so</a> in the months afterward. He has been criticized for frequently ignoring and acting against the public health guidance coming from within his own administration, including <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/8-times-trump-refused-to-wear-mask-downplayed-effectiveness-2020-7">flip-flopping</a> on mask-wearing and hosting <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-rally-boasts-skirting-coronavirus-measures-north-carolina-2020-9">campaign events</a> with thousands in attendance.</p><h3><strong>Saturday, Sept. 26</strong></h3><div type="image" title="GettyImages donald trump amy coney barrett" height="502" width="1004" msid="78453657" hostid="261"></div><p>Trump announced Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his Supreme Court nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a Rose Garden ceremony. Barrett tested negative for the virus on Friday, according <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/judge-barrett-tested-coronavirus-daily-last-had-contact-trump-saturday-white-house-says">to the White House.</a></p><div type="image" title="GettyImages guests" height="512" width="1024" msid="78453666" hostid="261"></div><p>Guests at the event included Barrett's family, Vice President Mike Pence, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Attorney General William Barr, former Trump counsel Kellyanne Conway, and more. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-chief-of-staff-mark-meadows-says-he-fully-expects-staffers-to-get-covid-2020-10">Pence, Meadows</a> and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/2020-10-02-trump-covid-n1241780/ncrd1241838">Barr</a> have reportedly tested negative on Friday. Notre Dame University President <a href="https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/notre-dame-president-tests-positive-for-coronavirus/2348232/">John Jenkins</a> and Republican <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/utah-sen-mike-lee-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-2020-10">Sen. Mike Lee of Utah</a>, who also attended, have tested positive.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Benjy Renton  (@bhrenton) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1312068816386617345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 2, 2020</a></blockquote><div type="image" title="AP trump rally" height="600" width="1200" msid="78453667" hostid="261"></div><p>The president later traveled to Pennsylvania for a campaign rally, speaking on stage to thousands of supporters. Many Republican congressmen from the state <a href="https://www.ydr.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/10/02/trump-tests-positive-covid-19-days-after-pa-rally-thousands/5892319002/">were also in the crowd</a>, including Reps. Scott Perry, Dan Meuser, Lloyd Smucker, Fred Keller, John Joyce and Mike Kelly. </p><h3>Sunday, Sept. 27</h3><div type="image" title="APdonald trump" height="2326" width="4652" msid="78453670" hostid="261"></div><p>The president held a press briefing with former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.</p><div type="image" title="Trump" height="1366" width="2048" msid="78453673" hostid="261"></div><p>Trump also attended a ceremony at the White House to honor Gold Star families, along with military advisers, Pence, his wife Karen and Defense Secretary Mark Esper.</p><h3>Monday, Sept. 28</h3><div type="image" title="GettyImages trump" height="512" width="1024" msid="78453674" hostid="261"></div><p>Trump was pictured on the south lawn of the White House with Steve Burns Lordstown Motors CEO and top trade adviser Peter Navarro discussing an all-electric pickup truck.</p><div type="image" title="AP trump" height="1642" width="3284" msid="78453677" hostid="261"></div><p>Trump provided an update to the national <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> response during a briefing at the Rose Garden.</p><h3>Tuesday, Sept. 29</h3><div type="image" title="donald trump melania trump" height="3000" width="6000" msid="78453690" hostid="261"></div><p>The president and first lady boarded Air Force One en route to Cleveland, Ohio, for the first presidential debate. His son Donald Trump Jr. and girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, a campaign adviser, were also seen boarding the plane.</p><div type="image" title="Donald trump mask" height="1883" width="3766" msid="78453704" hostid="261"></div><p>Trump showed his mask during the debate against former Vice President Joe Biden and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-coronavirus-mocked-biden-face-mask-presidential-debate-2020-10">mocked his opponent</a> for his frequent mask-wearing.</p><div type="image" title="GettyImages debate" height="487" width="975" msid="78453717" hostid="261"></div><p>Biden and his wife, Jill, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/joe-biden-tests-negative-for-coronavirus-after-trump-diagnosis-2020-10">tested negative</a> on Friday. Others at the debate, including White House senior advisers Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, have also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ivanka-trump-and-jared-kushner-test-negative-for-covid-19-2020-10">tested negative.</a></p><h3>Wednesday, Sept. 30</h3><div type="image" title="trump" height="1024" width="2048" msid="78453722" hostid="261"></div><p>Trump spoke to reporters on the south lawn of the White House.</p><div type="image" title="GettyImages trump" height="512" width="1024" msid="78453724" hostid="261"></div><p>Trump later traveled to Minnesota for a campaign rally. Hope Hicks travelled with him to the event on Air Force One. She reportedly started showing symptoms at the event and tested positive for COVID-19 the next day.</p><h3>Thursday, Oct. 1</h3><div type="image" title="GettyImages trump" height="470" width="941" msid="78453726" hostid="261"></div><p>The president headed to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, for a fundraiser. Hours later, at about 1 am ET, he announced on Twitter that he had tested positive for the virus.</p>

You Searched For "perry barr" and got 13 results

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