The FBI has arrested a man with ties to the Koch Brothers in connection with the January 6th attack at the U.S. Capitol.

Brandon Prenzlin, who until this week was a grassroots coordinator at FreedomWorks, was arrested in Arlington, Virginia, on Sept. 17, according to an arrest warrant unsealed on Thursday. He faces four misdemeanor charges in connection with January 6th: knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

The FBI affidavit lays out Prenzlin’s alleged activities inside the Capitol on January 6th, and shows how they were able to build a case against Prenzlin by citing his presence on social media. Prenzlin has posed for photos with former Vice President Mike Pence as well as Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who has spoken at “Stop the Steal” events and was photographed with another Jan. 6 defendant facing more serious charges.
https://twitter.com/FreedomWorks/status/1417552366925135881

The FBI affidavit doesn’t explicitly say it, but it suggests that online sleuths known as the “Sedition Hunters” played a role in the case against Prenzlin. The sprawling community of open-source investigators, often working under the #SeditionHunters hashtag, has been working to identify the hundreds of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. The Sedition Hunters website, where a photo of Prenzlin was labeled as No. 640 on a list of “Sedition Insiders,” noted before Prenzlin’s arrest that he had been identified.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday offered more evidence that school mask requirements can help keep children healthy and in classrooms, showing lower spikes in pediatric coronavirus cases and fewer school outbreaks in places that require them.

In an analysis of 520 U.S. counties, the CDC found that pediatric cases rose more sharply in places without school mask requirements. And in a separate report that looked at Arizona’s two most populous counties, the agency found that schools without mask requirements were 3.5 times as likely to experience an outbreak than schools with them.

Though polls show that a majority of parents support mask requirements — and despite recommendations from pediatricians and the CDC — schools remain bitterly divided over whether to implement them. Opponents of mask mandates say parents should get to decide whether their children wear them.,,,

The CDC looked at pediatric case data for about 17 percent of U.S. counties and found that, on average, pediatric cases rose after schools reopened. But counties without mask requirements saw larger increases — about 18 cases per 100,000 more — than those with them. Among the counties the CDC studied, a majority — about 62 percent — did not have school mask mandates.

Cain is referring to a basic provision of the law, known as Senate Bill 8, that essentially deputizes ordinary citizens — in Texas or outside the state — to sue anyone they suspect has engaged in “conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion.” If successful in court, the vigilante — er, plaintiff — will be awarded at least $10,000 per illegal abortion. Presumably, that bounty will be paid by the defendant, in addition to court costs and attorneys’ fees.

Cain, the baby-faced Deer Park Republican, arguably the most inept lawmaker in the Texas Legislature, favors cowboy hats and boots and no doubt envisions himself as a squinty-eyed Man with No Name, a young and relentless Clint Eastwood on the vigilante trail of abortion providers and staff, friends and family, Uber drivers and anyone else who might offer assistance to a woman facing one of the most serious decisions of her life. (SB 8 makes no mention of the father.)

Now, Cain has company. The first abortion vigilante to step up and take action under the blatantly unconstitutional Texas law is an Arkansas man named Oscar Stilley, who describes himself as a “disbarred and disgraced” attorney.

Stilley told the New York Times that he served a decade in prison after being convicted in federal court of tax evasion and conspiracy and is now under house arrest. According to a U.S. Justice Department press release, he hasn’t paid federal taxes since 2010.

Stilley said he decided to file suit after reading an op-ed in the Washington Post last Saturday by Dr. Alan Braid, a San Antonio physician who wrote that on the morning of September 6 he had “provided an abortion to a woman who, though still in her first trimester, was beyond the state’s new limit. I acted because I had a duty of care to this patient, as I do for all patients, and because she has a fundamental right to receive this care.”

Cain is referring to a basic provision of the law, known as Senate Bill 8, that essentially deputizes ordinary citizens — in Texas or outside the state — to sue anyone they suspect has engaged in “conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion.” If successful in court, the vigilante — er, plaintiff — will be awarded at least $10,000 per illegal abortion. Presumably, that bounty will be paid by the defendant, in addition to court costs and attorneys’ fees.

Cain, the baby-faced Deer Park Republican, arguably the most inept lawmaker in the Texas Legislature, favors cowboy hats and boots and no doubt envisions himself as a squinty-eyed Man with No Name, a young and relentless Clint Eastwood on the vigilante trail of abortion providers and staff, friends and family, Uber drivers and anyone else who might offer assistance to a woman facing one of the most serious decisions of her life. (SB 8 makes no mention of the father.)

Now, Cain has company. The first abortion vigilante to step up and take action under the blatantly unconstitutional Texas law is an Arkansas man named Oscar Stilley, who describes himself as a “disbarred and disgraced” attorney.

Stilley told the New York Times that he served a decade in prison after being convicted in federal court of tax evasion and conspiracy and is now under house arrest. According to a U.S. Justice Department press release, he hasn’t paid federal taxes since 2010.

Stilley said he decided to file suit after reading an op-ed in the Washington Post last Saturday by Dr. Alan Braid, a San Antonio physician who wrote that on the morning of September 6 he had “provided an abortion to a woman who, though still in her first trimester, was beyond the state’s new limit. I acted because I had a duty of care to this patient, as I do for all patients, and because she has a fundamental right to receive this care.”

Earlier this month, one of former president Donald Trump’s best-known attorneys — veteran litigator Marc E. Kasowitz — withdrew from a case where Trump had been sued for defamation.....

It’s unclear why Kasowitz stopped representing Trump in the defamation case, which was brought by former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos, or how Trump chose Habba to represent him in that suit and the one against the Times. Neither Trump nor Habba responded to requests for comment Wednesday.....

In the past, Trump turned to a different attorney, Charles Harder, for lawsuits against media outlets. Harder was known for representing wrestler Hulk Hogan in a lawsuit against the website Gawker, which resulted in a $140 million judgment and the bankruptcy of the site. Harder told The Post on Wednesday that he was no longer working for Trump, but otherwise declined to comment.

In recent weeks, three of Trump’s high-profile attorneys have withdrawn from cases where they represented him or his family. None offered a public explanation.

In addition to Kasowitz, Marc Mukasey — who had previously represented Trump’s foundation and business — withdrew from a case where he was defending Eric Trump against inquiries from the New York attorney general. Mukasey declined to comment.

Joanna Hendon, of the firm Alston and Bird, had defended Trump against a lawsuit that alleged he defrauded customers by endorsing a scheme to market video phones. But Hendon — who had represented Trump since 2018 — withdrew in August, saying in a court filing that the change had been Trump’s decision.

Trump replaced her firm with a much smaller one, Robert & Robert, located in the Long Island town of Uniondale, N.Y. Robert & Robert lists five attorneys on its website. In that case, neither Trump’s old attorneys nor his new ones responded to requests for comment Wednesday.