Der Führer Trump’s Failed January 6, 2021 Coup d’é·tat Remembered; President Joe Biden Denounces Trump As Threat To Democracy

On the Morning of January 6, 2021, then President Donald Trump spoke to thousands of his upset and angry supporters in Washington, DC in front of the White House before Congress was scheduled to vote and accept the electoral college vote electing Joe Biden Presiden of the United States. For weeks prior, Trump and his supporters had been proclaiming January 6, 2021, as a day of reckoning, a day to gather in Washington to “Save America” and “Stop the Steal” of the election he had lost to Biden, but which he still maintained that he had won by a landslide.

INFLAMATORY REMARKS INSIGHTING RIOT

Der Führer Trump spoke for over one hour and ginned up his supports. The link to a transcript of the entire speech is here:

https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/donald-trump-speech-save-america-rally-transcript-january-6

The most inflammatory remarks and call to his followers to lay siege to the capital are clear and unmistakable and are worth quoting:

“We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated, lawfully slated. I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard. Today we will see whether Republicans stand strong for integrity of our elections, but whether or not they stand strong for our country, our country. Our country has been under siege for a long time, far longer than this four-year period. We’ve set it on a much straighter course.

In every single swing state, local officials, state officials, almost all Democrats made illegal and unconstitutional changes to election procedures without the mandated approvals by the state legislatures, that these changes paved the way for fraud on a scale never seen before. And I think we’d go a long way outside of our country when I say that.

We’re gathered together in the heart of our nation’s Capital for one very, very basic and simple reason, to save our democracy.

For years, Democrats have gotten away with election fraud and weak Republicans, and that’s what they are. There’s so many weak Republicans. … . The weak Republicans, and that’s it. I really believe it. I think I’m going to use the term, the weak Republicans. You got a lot of them, and you got a lot of great ones, but you got a lot of weak ones. They’ve turned a blind eye even as Democrats enacted policies that chipped away our jobs, weakened our military, threw open our borders and put America last. …
..
If they don’t fight, we have to primary the hell out of the ones that don’t fight. You primary them. We’re going to let you know who they are. I can already tell you, frankly.

But this year using the pretext of the China virus and the scam of mail-in ballots, Democrats attempted the most brazen and outrageous election theft. There’s never been anything like this. It’s a pure theft in American history, everybody knows it. That election, our election was over at 10:00 in the evening. We’re leading Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia by hundreds of thousands of votes, and then late in the evening or early in the morning, boom, these explosions of and bullshit, and all of a sudden. All of a sudden it started to happen.

Look, I’m not happy with the Supreme Court. They love to rule against me. I picked three people. I fought like hell for them, one in particular I fought. … Let them rule the right way, but it almost seems that they’re all going out of their way to hurt all of us, and to hurt our country. To hurt our country.

Today, we see a very important event though, because right over there, right there, we see the event going to take place. And I’m going to be watching, because history is going to be made. We’re going to see whether or not we have great and courageous leaders or whether or not we have leaders that should be ashamed of themselves throughout history, throughout eternity, they’ll be ashamed.

And you know what? If they do the wrong thing, we should never ever forget that they did. Never forget. We should never ever forget. With only three of the seven states in question, we win the presidency of the United States.

When you catch somebody in a fraud, you’re allowed to go by very different rules. So I hope Mike has the courage to do what he has to do. And I hope he doesn’t listen to the RINOs and the stupid people that he’s listening to. It is also widely understood that the voter rolls are crammed full of non-citizens, felons and people who have moved out of state and individuals who are otherwise ineligible to vote.

Yet Democrats oppose every effort to clean up their voter rolls. They don’t want to clean them up, they are loaded. And how many people here know other people that when the hundreds of thousands and then millions of ballots got sent out, got three, four, five, six, and I heard one who got seven ballots. And then they say, “You didn’t quite make it, sir.” We won. We won in a landslide. This was a landslide.

We must stop the steal and then we must ensure that such outrageous election fraud never happens again, can never be allowed to happen again, but we’re going forward. We’ll take care of going forward. We got to take care of going back. Don’t let them talk, “Okay, well we promise,” I’ve had a lot of people, “Sir, you’re at 96% for four years.” I said, “I’m not interested right now. I’m interested in right there.”

We will never give up. We will never concede. It doesn’t happen. You don’t concede when there’s theft involved. … Our country has had enough. We’re not going to take it anymore.”

We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated, lawfully slated.

I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard. Today we will see whether Republicans stand strong for integrity of our elections, but whether or not they stand strong for our country, our country. Our country has been under siege for a long time, far longer than this four-year period. We’ve set it on a much straighter course.

And after this, we’re going to walk down there, and I’ll be there with you, we’re going to walk down … to the Capitol and we are going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.

And we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them. Because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong.

You’re the real people. You’re the people that built this nation. You’re not the people that tore down this nation.

Now it is up to Congress to confront this egregious assault on our democracy.

So we’re going to, we’re going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue … , and we’re going to the Capitol and we’re going to try and give… The Democrats are hopeless. They’re never voting for anything, not even one vote. But we’re going to try and give our Republicans, the weak ones, because the strong ones don’t need any of our help, we’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.

So let’s walk down Pennsylvania Avenue. I want to thank you all.

TRUMP’S FOLLOWERS DID WHAT HE ORDERED THEM TO DO

Trump did not join the walk down Pennsylvania Avenue with the mob he just incited. Instead, he returned to the White House and watched on TV in the White House residence as the rioting, vandalism and killing occurred in the capitol. He waited hours before his staff urged him to do a video telling everyone to go home and that he loved them. No remorse and no condemnation.

Soon after Trump spoke, his supporters believing all Trumps lies that the election was rigged, when it was not, went to the United States Capitol to protest. The Congress had already begun the process of counting and certifying the electoral college vote. A mob was able to breach security and successfully enter the building, where one person was shot and later died.

Hundreds of pro-Trump protesters pushed through barriers set up along the perimeter of the Capitol, where they engaged with officers in full riot gear, some calling the officers “traitors” for doing their jobs. About 90 minutes later the domestic terrorists got into the building and the doors to the House and Senate were locked.

Shortly after, the House floor was evacuated by police. Vice President Mike Pence was also evacuated from the chamber, he was to perform his role in the counting of electoral votes. Some of the terrorists had even started to chant “HANG MIKE PENCE, HANG MIKE PENCE”.

The protesters first breached exterior security barriers, and video footage showed the domestic terrorists gathering and some clashing with police near the Capitol building. A number of Trump terrorists climbed up the side of the Capitol building to gain access. Windows were broken to gain access. Protesters roamed the interior of the building and went to the House Chamber and congressional offices and did property damage. In the end, 6 people died, one domestic terrorist shot and killed by capitol police with one capitol police officer succumbing to his injuries.

A link to a related blog article is here:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2021/01/15/fuhrer-trumps-january-speech-nothing-short-of-insurgency-to-overthrow-government-senate-must-vote-to-convict-and-prohbit-trump-from-holding-office/

CONGRESS RETURNS TO WORK AND CERTIFIES BIDEN 46 PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Within 7 hours after protestors took over the Capitol building and after they were evacuated from the building, the Congress returned to work and about 4:30 am in the morning on January 7, President Joe Biden was elected the new President of the United Sates. The final electoral college vote was Joe Biden 306 electoral votes, Donald Trump 232 electoral votes. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the congressional leadership wanted to continue by saying:

“Today, a shameful assault was made on our democracy. It was anointed at the highest level of government. It cannot, however, deter us from our responsibility to validate the election of Joe Biden. … To that end, in consultation with Leader Hoyer and Whip Clyburn and after calls to the Pentagon, the Justice Department and the Vice President, we have decided we should proceed tonight at the Capitol once it is cleared for use. Leader Hoyer will be sending out more guidance later today.”

Senate Republicans who planned to object to the election in multiple states Biden won withdraw their objections. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor:

“United States Senate will not be intimidated. We will not be kept out of this chamber by thugs, mobs or threats. … We will certify the winner of the 2020 presidential election.”

After Congress finally certified President Biden’s election in the early morning hours of February 7, Führer Trump said:

“Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th.”

Notwithstanding his pledge for an orderly transition of power, Trump refused to attend the inauguration of President Joe Biden as his successor. Since leaving the White House, Trump has spread the big lie.

SENATOR MITCH MCCONNELL’S ASTONISHING SENATE COMMENTS

A mere 24 hours before President Joe Biden was to be sworn in as the 46 President of the United States, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had this to say on the Senate floor the last full day of Führer Trump’s presidency:

“The last time the Senate convened we had just reclaimed the capitol from violent criminals who tried to stop congress from doing our duty. The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people. And they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like. But we pressed on. We stood together and said an angry mob would not get veto power over the rule of law in our nation, not even for one night. We certified the people’s choice for their 46th president.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/19/mcconnell-trump-provoked-capitol-attackers-460372

PRESIDENT JOE BIDENS ADDRESSES THE NATION ON JANUARY 6, 2022

On January 6, 2022, President Joe Biden denounced former President Donald Trump as a threat to democracy. Speaking in Statuary Hall in the Capitol, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the nation on a day of memorials.

The President’s speech was the most blistering speech marking a year since the deadly January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The speech was strong and methodical akin to a prosecutor summarizing the facts of the crime Trump had committed.

Following is a transcript of President Joe Biden’s full speech:

“Madam Vice President and fellow Americans, to state the obvious, one year ago today, in this sacred place, democracy was attacked. Simply attacked. The will of the people was under assault. The constitution — our constitution — faced the greatest of threats. Outnumbered in the face of a brutal attack, the Capitol Police, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, the National Guard and other brave law enforcement officials saved the rule of law.

Our democracy held. We the people endured. We the people prevail. For the first time in our history, a president had not just lost an election — he tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the Capitol. But they failed. They failed. And on this day of remembrance, we must make sure that such an attack never, never happens again.

I’m speaking to you today from Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol. This is where the House of Representatives met for 50 years in the decades leading up to the Civil War. It’s on this floor where a young congressman of Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, sat at desk 191. Above him, above us, over that door leading into the rotunda is a sculpture depicting Clio, the muse of history.

In her hands, an open book, in which she records the events taking place in this chamber below. Clio stood watch over this hall one year ago today, as she has for more than 200 years. She recorded what took place — the real history, the real facts, the real truth, the facts and the truth that Vice President Harris just shared, and that you and I and the whole world saw with our own eyes.

The Bible tells us that we shall know the truth and the truth shall make us free. We shall know the truth. Well here is God’s truth about Jan. 6, 2021. Close your eyes. Go back to that day. What do you see? Rioters rampaging, waving for the first time inside this Capitol, the confederate flag that symbolizes the cause to destroy America, to rip us apart.

Even during the Civil War that never ever happened. But it happened here in 2021. What else did you see? A mob, breaking windows, kicking in doors, breaching the Capitol, American flags on poles being used as weapons, as spears. Fire extinguishers being thrown at the heads of police officers. A crowd that professes their love for law enforcement assaulted those police officers. Dragged them, sprayed them, stomped on them.

Over 140 police officers were injured. We all heard the police officers who were there that day testify to what happened. One officer called it “a medieval battle” and that he was more afraid that day than he was fighting the war in Iraq. They repeatedly asked since that day, “How dare anyone, anyone diminish, belittle or deny the hell they were put through?”

We saw with our own eyes, rioters menace these halls, threatening the life of the Speaker of the House. Literally erecting gallows to hang the Vice President of the United States of America.

What did we not see? We didn’t see a former president who had just rallied the mob to attack sitting in the private dining room off the Oval Office in the White House watching it all on television. And doing nothing. For hours. As police were assaulted. Lives at risk. The nation’s capital under siege.

This wasn’t a group of tourists. This was an armed insurrection. They weren’t looking to uphold the will of the people. They were looking to deny the will of the people. They were looking to uphold– they weren’t looking to uphold a free and fair election, they were looking to overturn one. They weren’t looking to save the cause of America. They were looking to subvert the Constitution.

This isn’t about being bogged down in the past. It’s about making sure the past isn’t buried. That’s the only way forward. That’s what great nations do. They don’t bury the truth, they face up to it. Sounds like hyperbole, but that’s the truth, they face up to it.

We are a great nation. My fellow Americans, in life there’s truth, and tragically, there are lies. Lies conceived and spread for profit and power.

We must be absolutely clear about what is true and what is a lie. And here’s the truth. The former president of the United States of America has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election. He’s done so because he values power over principle. Because he sees his own interest as more important than his country’s interest than America’s interest, and because his bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy or our Constitution. He can’t accept he lost.

Even though that’s what 93 United States senators, his own attorney general, his own vice president, governors and state officials in every battleground state have all said. He lost. That’s what 81 million of you did as you voted for a new way forward. He’s done what no president in American history, the history of this country has ever, ever done. He refused to accept the results of an election and the will of the American people.

While some courageous men and women in the Republican Party are standing against it, trying to uphold the principle of that party, too many others are transforming that party into something else. They seem no longer to want to be the party, the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower, Reagan, the Bushes. But whatever my other disagreements are with Republicans who support the rule of law and not the rule of a single man, I will always seek to work together with them, to find shared solutions where it’s possible because we have a shared belief in democracy, that anything is possible. Anything.

So at this moment, we must decide, what kind of nation are we going to be? Are we going to be a nation that accepts political violence as a norm? Are we going to be a nation where we allow partisan election officials to overturn the legally expressed will of the people? Are we going to be a nation that lives not by the light of the truth, but of the shadow of lies?

We cannot allow ourselves to be that kind of nation. The way forward is to recognize the truth and to live by it. The big lie being told by the former president and many Republicans who fear his wrath is that the insurrection in this country actually took place on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020. Think about that.

Is that what you thought? Is that what you thought when you voted that day? Taking part in an insurrection, is that what you thought you were doing? Or did you think you were carrying out your highest duty as a citizen and voting? Former president’s supporters are trying to rewrite history. They want you to see Election Day as the day of insurrection. And the riot that took place here on Jan. 6 as a true expression of the will of the people.

Can you think of a more twisted way to look at this country? To look at America? I cannot. Here’s the truth. The election of 2020 was the greatest demonstration of democracy in the history of this country. More of you voted in that election than have ever voted in all of American history.
Over 150 million Americans went to the polls and voted that day. In a pandemic. Some at great risk to their lives. They should be applauded, not attacked. Right now in state after state, new laws are being written not to protect the vote, but to deny it.

Not only to suppress the vote but to subvert it. Not to strengthen and protect our democracy but because the former president lost. Instead of looking at the election results in 2020, and saying they need new ideas or better ideas to win more votes, the former president and his supporters have decided the only way for them to win is to suppress your vote and subvert our elections. It’s wrong, it’s undemocratic and frankly, it’s un-American.

The second big lie being told by the former president and his supporters is that the results of the election of 2020 can’t be trusted. The truth is that no election, no election in American history has been more closely scrutinized or more carefully counted. Every legal challenge questioning the results and every court in this country that could have been made was made and was rejected.

Often rejected by Republican-appointed judges, including judges appointed by the former president himself. From state courts to the United States Supreme Court. Recounts were undertaken in state after state. Georgia, Georgia counted its results three times with one recount by hand. Phony partisan audits were undertaken long after the election in several states, none changed the results. In some of them, the irony is the margin of victory actually grew slightly. So let’s speak plainly about what happened in 2020.

Even before the first ballot was cast, the former president was preemptively so in doubt about the election results. He built his lie over months, wasn’t based on any facts. He was just looking for an excuse, a pretext, to cover for the truth. He’s not just a former president. He’s a defeated, former president — defeated by a margin of over 7 million of your votes in a full and free and fair election.

There is simply zero proof the election results were inaccurate. In fact, in every venue where evidence had to be produced, an oath, to tell the truth, had to be taken, the former president failed to make his case. Just think about this. The former president and his supporters have never been able to explain how they accept as accurate the other election results that took place on Nov. 3. The elections for government, United States Senate, House of Representatives.

Elections that close the gap in the House. They challenged none of that. President’s name was first. Then we went down the line: Governor, senators, House of Representatives. Somehow those results are accurate on the same ballot but the presidential race was flawed. And on the same ballot, the same day cast by the same voters.

The only difference, the former president didn’t lose those races. He just lost the one that was his own.

Finally, the third big lie being told by a former president and his supporters is that the mob who sought to impose their will through violence are the nation’s true patriots.

Is that what you thought when you looked at the mob ransacking the Capitol, destroying property, literally defecating in the hallways, rifling through the desks of senators and representatives, hunting down members of Congress? Patriots? Not in my view.

To me, the true patriots were the more than 150 Americans who peacefully expressed their vote at the ballot box. The election workers who protected the integrity of the vote. And the heroes who defended this capital.

You can’t love your country only when you win. You can’t obey the law only when it’s convenient. You can’t be patriotic when you embrace and enable lies.

Those who stormed this Capitol and those who instigated and incited and those who called on them to do so held a dagger at the throat of America and American democracy.

They didn’t come here out of patriotism or principle. They came here in rage. Not in service of America, but rather in service of one man. Those who incited the mob, the real plotters who were desperate to deny the certification of this election, defy the will of the voters, but their plot was foiled. Congressmen, Democrats and Republicans stayed. Senators, representatives, staff — they finished their work the Constitution demanded.

They honored their oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Look, folks, now it’s up to all of us, to we the people to stand for the rule of law. To preserve the flame of democracy. To keep the promise of America alive.

The promises at risk targeted by the forces that value brute strength over the sanctity of democracy — fear over hope, personal gain over public good.

Make no mistake about it, we’re living at an inflection point in history, both at home and abroad. We’re engaged anew in a struggle between democracy and autocracy. Between aspirations of the many and the greed of the few, between the people’s right of self-determination and self-seeking autocrat. From China to Russia and beyond, they’re betting that democracies’ days are numbered.

They actually told me democracy is too slow, too bogged down by division to succeed in today’s rapidly changing and complicated world. They’re betting, they’re betting America will become more like them and less like us.

They’re betting that America is a place for the autocrat, the dictator, the strong man. I do not believe that. That is not who we are. That is not who we have ever been. And that is not who we should ever, ever be. Our founding fathers, as imperfect as they were, set in motion an experiment that changed the world, literally changed the world.

Here in America, the people would rule. Power would be transferred peacefully, never at the tip of a spear or the barrel of a gun. They committed to paper an idea that they couldn’t live up to, but an idea that couldn’t be constrained.

Yes, in America, all people are created equal. The reject of you, that if you succeed, I fail. If you get ahead, I fall behind. If I hold you down, I somehow lift myself up.

The former president who lies about this election and the mob that attacked this Capitol could not be further away from the core American values. They want to rule or they will ruin. Ruin what our country fought for at Lexington and Concord, at Gettysburg and Omaha Beach, Seneca Falls, Selma, Alabama. And what we were fighting for — the right to vote, the right to govern ourselves, the right to determine our own destiny.

With rights come responsibilities. The responsibility to see each other as neighbors. Maybe we disagree with that neighbor but they’re not an adversary. Responsibility to accept defeat then get back in the arena and try again the next time to make your case.

Responsibility to see that America is an idea. An idea requires vigilant stewardship. As we stand here today, one year since Jan. 6, 2021, the lies that drove the anger and madness we saw in this place, they have not abated. So we have to be firm, resolute and unyielding in our defense of the right to vote and to have that vote counted.

Some have already made the ultimate sacrifice in this sacred effort. Jill and I have mourned police officers in this Capitol Rotunda not once but twice in the wake of Jan. 6. Once to honor Officer Brian Sicnick, who lost his life the day after the attack and the second time to honor Officer Billy Evans, who lost his life defending this capital as well.

We think about the others who lost their lives and were injured and everyone living with the trauma of that day, and those defending this capital, to members of Congress in both parties and their staffs, to reporters, cafeteria workers, custodial workers and their families. Don’t kid yourself. The pain and scars from that day run deep.

I’ve said it many times, and it’s no more true or real when we think about the events of Jan. 6. We are in a battle for the soul of America. A battle that — by the grace of God, and the goodness and greatness of this nation — we will win. Believe me, I know how difficult democracy is, and I’m crystal clear about the threats America faces.

But I also know that our darkest days can lead to light and hope. From the death and destruction as Vice President referenced in Pearl Harbor can then triumph over the forces of fascism, from the brutality of Bloody Sunday and the Edmund Pettus Bridge came historic voting rights to this nation. So now let’s step up, write the next chapter in American history where Jan. 6 marks, not the end of democracy but the beginning of a renaissance of liberty and fair play.

I did not seek this fight brought to this Capitol one year ago today. But I will not shrink from it either. I will stand in this breach. I will defend this nation. And I will allow no one to place a dagger at the throat of democracy. We will make sure the will of the people is heard. That the ballot prevails not violence. That authority in this nation will always be peacefully transferred. I believe the power of the presidency and the purpose is to unite this nation. Not divide it. To lift us up, not tear us apart. To be about us, about us, not about me.

Deep in the heart of America burns a flame lit almost 250 years ago of liberty, freedom and equality. This is not a land of kings or dictators or autocrats. We’re a nation of laws, of order not chaos. Of peace, not violence. Here in America, the people rule through the ballot and their will prevails.

So let us remember together. We’re one nation, under God, indivisible. That today, tomorrow, and forever at our best, we are the United States of America. God bless you all. May God protect our troops. And my God, bless those who stand watch over democracy.

The link to the transcript of President Joe Bidens as well as the speech of Vice President Kamala Harris is here:

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/full-transcript-biden-harris-speak-160600892.html

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

What is disgusting and the act of a traitor is that what unfolded on January 6, 2021 was an attack on our country, our very democracy, by a President of the United States who lost his election for a second term and who still refuses to accept his defeat to this day. Der Führer Trump lost the popular vote in 2016 to Hillary Clinton by 3 million votes only to win the electoral college vote by the identical number that Biden won over Trump. Instead of giving way and cooperating with a peaceful transition of power, Trump attempted a COUP D’É·TAT of his successor who won not only the electoral college vote but the popular vote by 6 million votes.

It is clear that Trump is the first fascist ever elected President of the United States who put himself above the law, his own country and his own party. Trump has no respect for our constitution nor free elections. His view is that the only votes that count are those that are cast form him, a lesson he probably learned from Vladimir Putin or Kim Jung Un. Trump’s strongest and closest allies and supporters need to come to their senses and the realization that Trump is a traitor to our country, to them, to all of us and to our democracy. Attempting to set aside the vote of the American people was an attempt to undermine our very democracy. It was a coup d’é·tat that failed.

The same goes for the “clown car” full of the Republican House and Senate members who initially sought to seek to set aside the 2020 victory of Joe Biden by voting not to certify the electoral college vote. Their conduct likewise is nothing less than in insurrection or rebellion against the United States and are democratic form of government. They too should be removed expelled by the House and Senate and if not voted out of office by their constituents. What is so damn disgusting is that there are way too many Senate and House Republicans that still defend Trump.

The physical damage is to the United State Capitol is easily repaired. The damage to our democracy by Führer Trump and his coup d’é·tat that failed will take years to recover from, if not at all.

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About

Pete Dinelli was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is of Italian and Hispanic descent. He is a 1970 graduate of Del Norte High School, a 1974 graduate of Eastern New Mexico University with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and a 1977 graduate of St. Mary's School of Law, San Antonio, Texas. Pete has a 40 year history of community involvement and service as an elected and appointed official and as a practicing attorney in Albuquerque. Pete and his wife Betty Case Dinelli have been married since 1984 and they have two adult sons, Mark, who is an attorney and George, who is an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). Pete has been a licensed New Mexico attorney since 1978. Pete has over 27 years of municipal and state government service. Pete’s service to Albuquerque has been extensive. He has been an elected Albuquerque City Councilor, serving as Vice President. He has served as a Worker’s Compensation Judge with Statewide jurisdiction. Pete has been a prosecutor for 15 years and has served as a Bernalillo County Chief Deputy District Attorney, as an Assistant Attorney General and Assistant District Attorney and as a Deputy City Attorney. For eight years, Pete was employed with the City of Albuquerque both as a Deputy City Attorney and Chief Public Safety Officer overseeing the city departments of police, fire, 911 emergency call center and the emergency operations center. While with the City of Albuquerque Legal Department, Pete served as Director of the Safe City Strike Force and Interim Director of the 911 Emergency Operations Center. Pete’s community involvement includes being a past President of the Albuquerque Kiwanis Club, past President of the Our Lady of Fatima School Board, and Board of Directors of the Albuquerque Museum Foundation.