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Donald J. Trump White House Page 3
Jacob Pramuk

President Donald Trump, a man hyperaware of his achievements and place in history, added a first to his record on Wednesday. A week before he will leave office, Trump became the first president impeached by the House twice. The chamber charged him with high crimes and misdemeanors for inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol seven days ago. The president’s behavior in the 13 months since the first impeachment left House Democrats making a more clear-cut case than the first time around. The chamber charged Trump in a 232-197 vote, as all Democrats and 10 Republicans backed the measure. The four-page article of impeachment the chamber approved on Wednesday argues Trump fed his supporters months of false claims that widespread fraud cost him the 2020 election, then urged them to contest the results before they marched to the Capitol and disrupted Congress’ count of President-elect Joe Biden’s win. more...
New York City terminates all contracts with Trump as the business backlash against the president snowballs.
By Ben Popken and Stephanie Ruhle

New York City is severing its multimillion-dollar contracts with the Trump Organization after President Donald Trump's involvement in last week's rioting on Capitol Hill, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday on MSNBC. “The contracts make very clear that if the company and the leadership of that company is engaged in illegal activity, we have a right to sever the contract,” de Blasio said. “Inciting an insurrection against the United States government clearly constitutes criminal activity.” In a follow-up statement, the mayor's office said: “The City of New York will not be associated with those unforgivable acts in any shape, way or form, and we are immediately taking steps to terminate all Trump Organization contracts.” The contracts are for Central Park's Wollman and Lasker ice skating rinks and famed carousel — all of which the Trump Organization has run since the 1980s — and the Trump Golf Links golf course at Ferry Point in the Bronx, which it has run since 2015. more...
Christal Hayes, Nicholas Wu, Ryan W. Miller - USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – The District of Columbia National Guard was on hand at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday as the House moved forward with hearings on impeaching President Donald Trump. A tall metal fence surrounded the building as dozens of National Guardsmen stood at the perimeter cradling their rifles. Police officers and large dump trucks obstructed intersections for blocks surrounding the building, a stark contrast to security in the area last week when a mob of Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol. Inside, the parts of the Capitol open to tourists instead were home to sleeping National Guardsmen – some of whom used camouflage blankets to block the sun coming in through the window. Lawmakers, staff and members of the press tiptoed past the snoozing guardsmen, including some who were snoring. Groups of troops made a home in the massive rotunda and near two entrances of the building, including an entrance typically used by the president-elect on inauguration day but was targeted by rioters last week. more...
MSNBC

Mounting evidence from the attack on the Capitol underscores that the riot was close to being far worse. MSNBC's Ari Melber explains how the MAGA rioters went after some of Trump's targets, like Speaker Pelosi, and asserts the violence that unfolded was "the direct consequence" of Trump's efforts to turn America "into an authoritarian nation that he would lead." video...
Kevin Stankiewicz

Republican businessman Ken Langone on Wednesday blasted last week’s Capitol Hill riot, indicating on CNBC he felt “betrayed” by President Donald Trump’s actions that led up to the deadly events. “I think the biggest mistake anybody is going to make is try and rationalize what happened last week, what the president did and what that crowd did,” Langone said on “Squawk Box.” “There should be no mitigation at all. It was horrible. It was wrong. I’m shocked.” Trump’s supporters overtook the U.S. Capitol exactly one week ago in an effort to stop Congress from finalizing President-elect Joe Biden’s win in the Electoral College. Trump’s incendiary rhetoric and repeated lies about widespread fraud in the November election helped rile up his supporters and, at a speech in Washington, the president encouraged supporters who gathered in the city to march to the Capitol. “I feel betrayed,” said Langone, who has been highly supportive of Trump’s economic policies over the years while also at times criticizing the president, such as for his response to the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. more...
By Chris Isidore, CNN Business

New York (CNN Business) A growing number of businesses suddenly want very little to do with Donald Trump after he incited a mob to attack the Capitol. That could make it more difficult for the Trump Organization to do business after he leaves office. "I think it's a huge problem for him," said Michael D'Antonio, a CNN Contributor and a Trump biographer. "He created toxicity for an important part of his market. I don't know if some will ever come back. Most brands try to avoid controversy. I feel like he's forced the hands of the companies that decided to disengage." Since last week's siege of the US Capitol by Trump supporters, a growing list of banks and businesses have cut ties with him, citing violations of their rules against promoting violence — or concerns about associating their brands with Trump. Twitter and Facebook banned Trump indefinitely, taking away his biggest megaphones. Stripe is no longer processing credit card payments for his campaign, Shopify stopped operating online stores for the Trump Organization and the campaign and the PGA announced it is pulling a major golf tournament from one of his properties. It's unclear which, if any, banks will want to loan money to the Trump Organization. Deutsche Bank (DB) has decided to refrain from future business with the president and his company, a person familiar with the bank's thinking told CNN Business. The news was first reported by the New York Times. more...
After four years of tongue-biting silence that critics say enabled the president’s worst instincts, the vice president would not yield to the pressure and name-calling from his boss.
By Peter Baker, Maggie Haberman and Annie Karni

WASHINGTON — For Vice President Mike Pence, the moment of truth had arrived. After three years and 11 months of navigating the treacherous waters of President Trump’s ego, after all the tongue-biting, pride-swallowing moments where he employed strategic silence or florid flattery to stay in his boss’s good graces, there he was being cursed by the president. Mr. Trump was enraged that Mr. Pence was refusing to try to overturn the election. In a series of meetings, the president had pressed relentlessly, alternately cajoling and browbeating him. Finally, just before Mr. Pence headed to the Capitol to oversee the electoral vote count last Wednesday, Mr. Trump called the vice president’s residence to push one last time. “You can either go down in history as a patriot,” Mr. Trump told him, according to two people briefed on the conversation, “or you can go down in history as a pussy.” more...
Jacob Pramuk

President Donald Trump, a man hyperaware of his achievements and place in history, will add a first to his record on Wednesday. Seven days before the president leaves office, the House plans to charge him with high crimes and misdemeanors for inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week. Trump will become the first president impeached by the chamber twice. The president’s behavior in the 13 months since the first impeachment has left House Democrats making a more clear-cut case than the first time around. The four-page article of impeachment the chamber will vote on Wednesday argues Trump fed his supporters months of false claims that widespread fraud cost him the 2020 election, then urged them to contest the results before they marched to the Capitol and disrupted Congress’ count of President-elect Joe Biden’s win.

“He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government. He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to manifest injury of the people of the United States,” the House’s charging document reads. After the insurrection that killed at least five people, including a Capitol Police officer, Democrats have argued allowing Trump to serve out his term both lets him dodge consequences and raises the prospect of more violence before Biden’s inauguration. Still, Congress may not have enough time to push the president out of office before next week. more...
By Missy Ryan and Alex Horton

An additional 5,000 members of the National Guard could arrive to support Inauguration Day security in Washington, city officials said Wednesday, which would increase the total to at least 20,000 in a rapidly swelling security apparatus focused on the Capitol. “I think you can except to see somewhere upwards beyond 20,000 members of the National Guard that will be here in the footprint of the District of Columbia,” acting D.C. police chief Robert J. Contee III said at a news conference. A defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to comment on internal discussions, said that Pentagon officials were still working through plans for providing additional security support to the inauguration. The official said that discussions with city and federal officials over the final number of National Guardsmen to be sent into Washington were still at a notional stage, as officials plan for what is needed and take part in tabletop exercises led by the Secret Service. more...
By David Brennan

President Donald Trump's administration is entering his final week in office amid a flurry of foreign policy activity, even as the president faces possible impeachment and widespread criticism at home amid chaotic scenes of insurrection in the nation's capital. This week, the administration designated Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism and the Yemeni Houthi militant organization as a terrorist organization. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also lifted curbs on official U.S. contacts with Taiwanese officials this weekend, and on Tuesday accused Iran of becoming a new "home base" for the Al-Qaeda terrorist group. The cascade of developments has angered American allies and enemies, who are awaiting Trump's departure and preparing for a new administration led by President-Elect Joe Biden. But Trump's activities since his election loss look set to hamper Biden's efforts abroad. more...
CBS News

Washington — The United States called off last-minute trips by top envoys to visit allies in Europe and Taiwan on Tuesday in a sudden diplomatic turnaround in the chaotic final days of the Trump administration. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had been due to make a final official visit to Europe while Kelly Craft, Washington's U.N. envoy, was set to land in Taiwan on Wednesday afternoon. But the visits were suddenly scrapped a week before Democrat Joe Biden takes office and as President Donald Trump faces an all-but-certain second impeachment on a charge of inciting his supporters to storm Congress last week. The U-turn encapsulates the turbulent transition period that has enveloped Washington since Biden's November election victory. more...
By Chris Isidore, CNN Business

New York (CNN Business) New York City is seeking to terminate its business relationships with the Trump Organization in response to last week's attack on the US Capitol. On the day President Donald Trump faces a second impeachment for his role inciting the rioters who ransacked the Capitol, officials in New York City announced plans to immediately end the Trump Organization's contracts to operate the Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, the Central Park Carousel and the Wollman and Lasker ice skating rinks. "The attacks on our Capitol killed a police officer, left four rioters dead, exposed lawmakers to Covid-19 and threatened the constitutional transfer of power," the city said in a statement issued Wednesday morning. "They were a national abomination. We're reviewing whether legal grounds exist in light of these new circumstances to terminate concessions with the Trump Organization." more...
Donald J. Trump is the greatest threat America has ever faced. Before the election Donald J. Trump claimed the election would be rigged and he claimed if he did not win, it was rigged. Because someone loses and election does not mean it is rigged only someone attempting to steal and election would say that. Donald J. Trump is the one who tried to rig the election first he tried to slow down the mail so that democratic votes would not be counted when that failed he tried to get the courts to overthrow the election and give it to him. When the courts refused to help him with his coup attempt Trump tried to get state governments to overturn the election. When the courts and the states refused to help in his coup attempt he tried to House and Senate members to help in him in his coup attempt. Some in the House and the Senate tried to help in in that coup attempt.
By Natalie Colarossi

A group of former Trump administration officials and anti-Trump conservatives have pledged to raise $50 million to support the re-election of GOP lawmakers who vote to impeach the president. The new group, called the Republican Accountability Project (RAP), is meant to incentivize Republicans in Congress to hold President Donald Trump accountable after a violent mob of his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol last week. "It will ensure that ample resources are available for those principled Republicans who do the right thing and hold Trump accountable for inciting an attack on the U.S. Capitol to defend against primary challengers," the group said in a statement given to Newsweek. Bill Kristol, board chair of the group and director of Defending Democracy Together, the project's umbrella organization, added that Republicans who vote to impeach "will not be left alone." "We want to say to any Republican who votes to impeach or remove Donald Trump: You will not be left alone. We will help you against primary challenges," Kristol said. "And before the challenges emerge, we will help explain your vote to your constituents. So do the right thing. We will have your back." more...
By Nicole Gaouette, Oren Liebermann and Barbara Starr, CNN

(CNN) America's most senior military leaders condemned the violent invasion of the US Capitol last week and reminded service members of their obligation to support and defend the Constitution and reject extremism in a statement that underscored the unprecedented challenges facing the country in the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection attempt by President Donald Trump's supporters. "We witnessed actions inside the Capitol building that were inconsistent with the rule of law. The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition and insurrection," said the statement, released Tuesday and signed by America's most senior general, Mark Milley, and the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff, which is comprised of the heads of each military branch. The extraordinary statement underscores the scale of the challenge and the depth of the uncertainty and concern in Washington, where officials across the US security establishment scramble to deal with the aftermath of the chaos at the Capitol, and around the country, as all 50 states are preparing for possible violence. At the same time, federal officials are determining how best to protect lawmakers in the seat of American democracy, as more information comes to light about Trump supporters' plans to stage another attack and disrupt the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. more...
*** Trump is the opposite of God, Jesus and the teaching of the bible that we were taught as children to love one another and to help those who need help. Trump hates everyone he will not help those in need, the rich maybe but not the poor. Evangelicals and other faith leaders who supported and continue to support Trump are not religious leaders, cult leaders yes but not religious leaders unless there god is the devil. If your religious leader is supporting and telling you should support Trump you need to find a new religious leader and maybe a new faith. ***

Rick Jervis, Marc Ramirez, Romina Ruiz-Goiriena - USA TODAY

Like millions of other Americans, Franklin Graham watched the disturbing images of last week's riots at the U.S. Capitol with swelling concern and anger. Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham and head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said he was sickened to see "people attack my Capitol and break down the doors of my Capitol" and was dismayed to see how President Donald Trump riled up the protesters. "I don't think it was the president's finest moment," he said. But Graham said he doesn't expect the tumult at the Capitol to deter evangelical Christians from continuing to support Trump. "I don’t think he had any understanding in that moment of what was going to take place," he said. "None of us did." Graham added: "He regrets it."

Since his victory in a very competitive Republican primary in 2016, Trump has relied on evangelical Christians and other influential religious groups as powerful voting blocs to shore up his influence. In exchange, he has appointed more than 200 federal judges and three conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who support limits on abortion and gay marriage and other policies favored by many conservative religious leaders. In the November presidential election, 76% of White evangelicals voted for Trump and 24% for President-elect JoeBiden, according to Edison exit polls. more...
David Knowles

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a non-binding resolution on Tuesday that calls on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to remove President Trump from office. Citing Trump’s role in inciting “a massive violent invasion of the United States Capitol” on Jan. 6, the day the president had summoned his supporters to Washington to protest the certification of the Electoral College vote formalizing President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, the resolution, introduced by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., passed by a largely party line vote of 223-205. One Republican, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, was the only lawmaker to break ranks. The resolution asked Pence “to immediately use his powers under Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to convene and mobilize the principal officers of the executive departments in the Cabinet to declare what is obvious to a horrified Nation: That the President is unable to successfully discharge the duties and powers of his office.” Yet even as the House was in the process of voting on whether to proceed with the resolution, Pence released a letter that he had sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stating that he would not invoke the 25th Amendment to seek to remove Trump from office. more...
In the final days of his presidency, Trump, absent his Twitter megaphone after the deadly Capitol riot, visited the border to insist he'd kept a key promise.
By Jane C. Timm

President Donald Trump, appearing publicly for the first time since a violent mob of his supporters attacked the Capitol at his urging, took a victory lap in Texas to claim that the border wall he promised is complete. “Unlike those who came before me, I kept my promises, and today we celebrated extraordinary milestone, the completion of the promised 450 miles of border wall,” Trump said in Alamo, Texas on Tuesday, surveying a half-mile stretch of new border wall. “Nobody realizes how big that is.” The wall, which Trump famously said Mexico would pay for, was at the heart of Trump’s campaign to enact more restrictive immigration policies and Trump’s own pitch of himself as a builder-turned-politician. His crowds appreciatively chanted “build the wall, build the wall!” at rallies, and as president, Trump has visited the border numerous times to monitor construction. “I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I'll build them very inexpensively, I will build a great, great wall on our southern border,” Trump said, announcing his bid for the White House in June 2015. more...
Jacob Pramuk

Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-ranking House Republican, said Tuesday she will vote to impeach President Donald Trump, as at least three GOP lawmakers will move to charge the president from their own party with high crimes and misdemeanors. She is the highest-ranking Republican to call for the president’s impeachment in the wake of Wednesday’s deadly Capitol Hill riot, which Trump helped incite with lies and incendiary rhetoric. Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., earlier said he would support impeachment after the president stirred up a mob that attacked the Capitol last week while Congress counted President-elect Joe Biden’s presidential win. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., later joined Cheney and Katko. The riot left five people, including a Capitol police officer, dead. In a statement, Cheney said Trump “summoned this mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack.” more...
From CNN's Katelyn Polantz

DC US Attorney Michael Sherwin and Steven D'Antuono, an FBI assistant director out of Washington, vowed on Tuesday to leave no stone unturned as they treat the investigation of Capitol rioters similar to terrorism. Sherwin said he gave his prosecutors "marching orders" to pursue significant sedition and conspiracy cases as well related to the insurrection. more...
Dan Mangan

Federal authorities said Tuesday they expect to soon charge hundreds of people in connection with the Capitol riot. Officials added that they have directed a task force to gather evidence for prosecutions for sedition and conspiracy. “We are looking at significant felony cases tied to sedition and conspiracy,” said Michael Sherwin, acting United States attorney for the District of Columbia. Sherwin said more than 70 people so far have been arrested in connection with the riot last Wednesday by a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump, with another 100 or so criminal cases opened. A number of those cases have involved relatively minor charges, but Sherwin said he expected charges to be upgraded for some people. more...
By Oren Liebermann and Barbara Starr, CNN

(CNN) America's most senior general Mark Milley and the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff, which is comprised of the heads of each military branch, issued a statement Tuesday condemning the violent invasion of the US Capitol last week and reminding service members of their obligation to support and defend the Constitution and reject extremism. "We witnessed actions inside the Capitol building that were inconsistent with the rule of law. The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition and insurrection," they wrote in the statement. The statement is considered a significant step because the chiefs seek wherever possible to avoid taking stances that may have political overtones. But given what has happened, the chiefs felt it was important to make a statement given the gravity of events surrounding the inauguration. more...
By Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman

Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, has told associates that he believes President Trump committed impeachable offenses and that he is pleased that Democrats are moving to impeach him, believing that it will make it easier to purge him from the party, according to people familiar with his thinking. The House is voting on Wednesday to formally charge Mr. Trump with inciting violence against the country. At the same time, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the minority leader and one of Mr. Trump’s most steadfast allies in Congress, has asked other Republicans whether he should call on Mr. Trump to resign in the aftermath of the riot at the Capitol last week, according to three Republican officials briefed on the conversations.

While Mr. McCarthy has said he is personally opposed to impeachment, he and other party leaders have decided not to formally lobby Republicans to vote “no,” and an aide to Mr. McCarthy said he was open to a measure censuring Mr. Trump for his conduct. In private, Mr. McCarthy reached out to a leading House Democrat to see if the chamber would be willing to pursue a censure vote, though Speaker Nancy Pelosi has ruled it out. Taken together, the stances of Congress’s two top Republicans — neither of whom has said publicly that Mr. Trump should resign or be impeached — reflected the politically challenging and fast-moving nature of the crisis that the party faces in the wake of the assault by a pro-Trump mob during a session to formalize President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s electoral victory. more...
By Eric Levenson, CNN

(CNN) States across the country are increasing security at their capitol buildings ahead of what the FBI has warned are "armed protests" being planned at all 50 state capitols. An internal FBI bulletin obtained by CNN warns that armed protests are being planned at state capitols from Saturday through at least Inauguration Day next Wednesday. The bulletin also suggests there are threats of an "uprising" if Trump is removed before then. Complicating the concern is that the FBI's bulletin was not publicly released but was leaked to reporters. Federal law enforcement has yet to hold a press conference detailing the Capitol attack or laying out plans for securing President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. And the purge of Twitter and Facebook accounts promoting violent protests has made it difficult for the public to understand the extent of the issue. The startling warning, just days after a pro-Trump mob forcibly took over the US Capitol, is pushing states to increase security in case of a similar such attack at state capitols. Although many capitols are closed due to coronavirus restrictions, the warnings are particularly fraught in states that allow people to openly carry firearms or those where President Trump has falsely claimed fraud. Here's a look at how several states at the center of Trump's false fraud claims are preparing: more...
Dell Cameron  and Dhruv Mehrotra

At least several users of the far-right social network Parler appear to be among the horde of rioters that managed to penetrate deep inside the U.S. Capitol building and into areas normally restricted to the public, according to GPS metadata linked to videos posted to the platform the day of the insurrection in Washington. The data, obtained by a computer hacker through legal means ahead of Parler’s shutdown on Monday, offers a bird’s eye view of its users swarming the Capitol grounds after receiving encouragement from President Trump — and during a violent breach that sent lawmakers and Capitol Hill visitors scrambling amid gunshots and calls for their death. GPS coordinates taken from 618 Parler videos analyzed by Gizmodo has already been sought after by FBI as part of a sweeping nationwide search for potential suspects, at least 20 of whom are already in custody. The siege on January 6, which lasted approximately two hours, resulted in five deaths, including that of a Capitol police officer whom authorities say was bludgeoned with a fire extinguisher and later succumbed to his injuries. Windows were smashed, tables overturned, and graffiti scrawled and scratched into the walls of the 220-year-old building—some calling for the murders of journalists sheltering in place nearby. more...
Social media site promptly sues Amazon’s hosting service to get back online, telling a federal judge the tech giant breached its contract and abused its market power
By Matt O'Brien

AP — The conservative-friendly social network Parler was booted off the internet Monday over ties to last week’s siege on the US Capitol, but not before digital activists made off with an archive of its posts, including any that might have helped organize or document the riot. Amazon kicked Parler off its web-hosting service, and the social media app promptly sued to get back online, telling a federal judge that the tech giant had breached its contract and abused its market power. It was a roller coaster of activity for Parler, a 2-year-old magnet for the far right that welcomed a surge of new users. It became the No. 1 free app on iPhones late last week after Facebook, Twitter and other mainstream social media platforms silenced US President Donald Trump’s accounts over comments that seemed to incite Wednesday’s violent insurrection. The wave of Trump followers flocking to the service was short-lived. Google yanked Parler’s smartphone app from its app store Friday for allowing postings that seek “to incite ongoing violence in the US.” more...
Dan Mangan

President Donald Trump doubled down on Tuesday on the incendiary rhetoric that incited the Capitol riot, warning darkly that it was dangerous to the United States for him to be impeached for his conduct. Trump also claimed that his inflammatory comments at a rally shortly before the invasion of the halls of Congress by thousands of his supporters on Wednesday were not harmful. “People thought what I said was totally appropriate,” Trump told reporters when he was asked what his personal responsibility was for the violence. The riot came after he and his family members urged supporters at a rally to fight with him to reverse Joe Biden’s Electoral College win. In his comments before departing for Texas on Tuesday, Trump again used the type of language that critics say fueled the mob, calling the planned impeachment by the Democratic-led House “really a continuation of the greatest witch hunt in politics.” “It’s ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous,” Trump said in his first comments to the media since the riot, which killed a Capitol police officer and left at least four other people dead. more...
*** Voter suppression is how the GOP stays in power. ***

Analysis by Ronald Brownstein

(CNN) Even after President Donald Trump's disproven allegations of voter fraud fueled last week's deadly assault on the US Capitol, Republicans across an array of swing states are still touting his baseless allegations to advance measures that would make it tougher to vote. When Congress voted last week, in the immediate aftermath of the Trump-fueled riot, to finalize the Electoral College results declaring Joe Biden the winner of November's election, bipartisan majorities in both the House and Senate joined dozens of courts around the country in concluding that there was not meaningful fraud in the election. But despite those findings, Republicans in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Texas and likely other states including Michigan and Wisconsin are moving to roll back access to mail balloting, eliminate drop boxes, toughen voter identification laws and erect other barriers to the ballot in the name of improving voter security and restoring "faith" in the outcome. "We are seeing a continued use of the voter fraud lie and thoroughly debunked conspiracy theories over the integrity of this election to drive a vote suppression agenda," says Wendy Weiser, who directs the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law. more...
Cuomo Prime Time

President Donald Trump's niece, Mary Trump, tells CNN's Chris Cuomo that Trump is "undoubtedly" visiting Alamo, Texas, to invoke the symbolism behind the historic battle that happened there. video...
Martin Kaste

In the aftermath of Wednesday's siege of the U.S. Capitol, attention is turning to the nation's police: How many sympathized with what happened? The head of the Chicago police union minimized the severity of the riot, while his counterpart in Seattle repeated unfounded claims that the "far left" shared responsibility. Around the country, police departments are following up on reports of off-duty officers spotted in Washington. The Seattle Police Department has put two officers on paid leave as their participation is investigated. "Officers, like anyone else, should be allowed to — and are allowed to — attend rallies," says Andrew Myerberg, director of the department's Office of Police Accountability. "The question with the rally here, though, is did it go over the line of just being a political rally, to supporting insurrection or supporting a violation of the U.S. Constitution or the laws of a jurisdiction?" Myerberg asks. more...
By Devan Cole, CNN

Washington (CNN) The FBI warned of a violent "war" at the US Capitol in an internal report issued a day before last week's deadly siege, but it wasn't acted on urgently enough to prevent the domestic terrorist attack, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
The Post said that last Tuesday, an FBI office in Norfolk, Virginia, issued an "explicit internal warning that extremists were preparing to travel to Washington to commit violence and 'war.'" The report "painted a dire portrait of dangerous plans, including individuals sharing a map of the complex's tunnels, and possible rally points for would-be conspirators to meet up" in several states before heading to Washington, DC. The report runs contrary to statements made by law enforcement officials who have indicated to CNN that authorities missed key signs ahead of the siege, which left five dead and ransacked the Capitol.

It's likely to raise additional questions about why authorities were unprepared to respond to the riot and federal readiness to thwart future threats at a time when the FBI is warning of armed protests ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. The report referenced an online thread in which conspirators discussed their plans, quoting individuals as saying: "'Be ready to fight. Congress needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in, and blood from their BLM and Pantifa slave soldiers being spilled. Get violent. Stop calling this a march, or rally, or a protest. Go there ready for war. We get our President or we die. NOTHING else will achieve this goal.'" The information was "briefed to FBI officials at the bureau's Washington field office the day before the attack," the Post reported. The newspaper, however, said the document is clear that the information presented was not "finally evaluated intelligence," and that agencies receiving it "are requested not to take action based on this raw reporting without prior coordination with the FBI." more...
The Health secretary's move to not publicly back Trump represents a notable departure for the usually loyal official.
By QUINT FORGEY

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Tuesday twice declined to directly say whether he believed President Donald Trump was still able to conduct the duties of his office, and also would not comment on whether he had discussed the 25th Amendment with other Cabinet officials. In an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Azar did appear to offer a rare rebuke of the president, seemingly describing his “rhetoric” last week — which culminated in pro-Trump rioters’ deadly assault on the Capitol — as “unacceptable.” But the secretary did not elaborate on potential talks aimed at removing Trump from office. more...
Mia Jankowicz

Efforts to rush parts of President Donald Trump's border wall in his final days in office are doomed and in some places have actually harmed border security, according to campaigners. Witnesses to the work in Arizona told Insider that mountainous parts of the border were easier to reach now than when Trump took power four years ago, as the process involved building new roads over rough terrain. This is a small portion of the whole border, hundreds of miles of which have been fortified. But sources told Insider that they'd seen a resulting increase in crossings in these weak spots, which were previously too inhospitable to be much of a security concern. The campaigners Insider spoke to have opposed the wall from the start. But they said they could not help but notice the irony in the project harming its own aims. more...
By AARON MORRISON

NEW YORK (AP) — Black Lives Matter protests, 2020: Overwhelming force from law enforcement in dozens of cities. Chemical dispersants. Rubber bullets and hand-to-hand combat with largely peaceful crowds and some unruly vandals and looters. More than 14,000 arrests. The U.S. Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021: Barely more than a few dozen arrests. Several weapons seized, improvised explosive devices found. Members of a wilding mob escorted from the premises, some not even in handcuffs. The key difference? The first set of protesters were overwhelmingly Black Americans and their allies. The second group was overwhelmingly white Americans who support outgoing President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud. The violent breaching of the halls of power on Capitol Hill by the insurrectionist mob on Wednesday, which left one woman dead of a police gunshot wound, represents one of the plainest displays of a racial double standard in both modern and recent history. “When Black people protest for our lives, we are all too often met by National Guard troops or police equipped with assault rifles, shields, tear gas and battle helmets,” the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation said in a statement. “When white people attempt a coup, they are met by an underwhelming number of law enforcement personnel who act powerless to intervene, going so far as to pose for selfies with terrorists,” it said. more...
CNN

Some of America's biggest companies are suspending donations to Republican Congress members who objected to the Electoral College's votes. The growing list of those corporations, including BlueCross BlueShield, Citigroup (C), Commerce Bank and Marriott (MAR), comes after a pro-Trump mob breached the US Capitol last Wednesday to fight against the ceremonial counting of electoral votes that confirmed President-elect Joe Biden's win. video...
After Trump supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol, the Republican attorney general scrubbed the Rule of Law Defense Fund, where Moody served on the board of directors, from her online biography.
By Steve Contorno

For more than a year, the official state website for Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said the Republican is “recognized as a national leader” among her peers. Until a few days ago, the website supported this claim by mentioning Moody’s appointment to the board of directors for a conservative organization now facing blow back for its role in the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol last week: The Rule of Law Defense Fund. On the eve of Wednesday’s uprising, the Rule of Law Defense Fund sent out robocalls urging supporters of President Donald J. Trump to join what was, by this point, an escalating movement to overturn the election by force. “At 1 p.m. we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal,” said one message obtained by the Associated Press. “We’re hoping patriots like you will join us to continue to fight to protect the integrity of our elections.” As scrutiny of those messages intensified following Wednesday’s insurrection, Moody’s office scrubbed references to the Rule of Law Defense Fund from her online biography. Her website still promoted the board appointment on Friday, according to a Tampa Bay Times review. By Monday morning, it was gone. more...
An article of impeachment, charging Trump with "incitement of insurrection," is on the agenda for Wednesday.
By Rebecca Shabad

WASHINGTON — The House is set to vote on a resolution Tuesday that calls on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office. The measure says Pence should "convene and mobilize" Trump's Cabinet to activate the 25th Amendment to declare the president "incapable of executing the duties of his office and to immediately exercise powers as acting President." The resolution is sponsored by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md. The House is expected to vote on it around 10:30 p.m. ET, according to a schedule released by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. more...
Videos show pro-Trump rioters pulling three officers down a set of stairs during a violent attempt to breach the building.
By Evan Hill, Arielle Ray and Dahlia Kozlowsky

The Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol building by a pro-Trump mob left a police officer and a rioter dead. More than 50 members of the U.S. Capitol Police were injured, including 15 who required hospitalization, most of them with head wounds, according to Representative Tim Ryan, Democrat of Ohio. Of all the scenes of violence, one of the most intense occurred during a struggle to breach a west-side door, during which multiple rioters dragged police officers out of a formation and assaulted them while they were trapped in the crowd. There was widespread speculation on social media that one of the officers was Brian Sicknick — the U.S. Capitol Police officer who died after being hit in the head by a rioter wielding a fire extinguisher. But videos show the officers involved in this incident were members of the Metropolitan Police Department. Here’s how the assault happened. Shortly after 2 p.m., the mob on the Capitol’s west side forced its way through the final, thinly-defended police barricades and reached the building’s walls. Hundreds of rioters swarmed toward a west-side doorway that’s traditionally used when presidents emerge for their inauguration ceremonies. more...
Scholars are unsure how Congress could exercise authority under this provision.
By MaryAlice Parks

In search of historical guidance and legal tools to respond to the violent siege of the U.S. Capitol last week, members of Congress and legal scholars alike are re-examining a little known section of a Reconstruction-era constitutional amendment. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, in theory, gives Congress the authority to bar public officials, who specifically took an oath of allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, from holding office if they "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the Constitution and therefore broke their oath. But the provision has rarely been used or tested, and so scholars are unsure about how exactly Congress could exercise authority under this provision and to what end today. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., formally asked her colleagues on Sunday for their views on this part of the Constitution. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos that Congress was exploring many possible legal and political avenues to respond to the attack and hold the president, if not other elected officials, accountable. more...
BBC

The FBI has warned of possible armed protests across the US as Trump supporters and far-right groups call for demonstrations before Joe Biden is sworn in as president. There are reports of armed groups planning to gather at all 50 state capitols and in Washington DC in the run-up to his 20 January inauguration. Security will be tight for the event after a pro-Trump mob stormed Congress. House Democrats say a vote to impeach the president will happen on Wednesday. They accuse President Trump of "incitement of insurrection" and say the vote will be held unless Vice-President Mike Pence invokes constitutional powers to remove Mr Trump from office. There is no sign Mr Pence is prepared to do so. Mr Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris are expected to be sworn in at a ceremony at the Capitol. The Biden team had already urged Americans to avoid travelling to the capital because of the Covid-19 pandemic, a call that is now being repeated by local authorities. Security officials have said there will be no repeat of the breach seen on 6 January, when thousands of pro-Trump supporters were able to break into the building where members of Congress were voting to certify the election result. more...
By Aila Slisco

A freshman Republican congresswoman said that she may support efforts to censure all 147 of her GOP colleagues who voted in favor of objections to President-elect Joe Biden's election win hours after an angry mob of President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.

Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who was sworn in alongside other House members on January 3, made the remarks during in interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Monday. Mace insisted that she would be "looking at all of the options that are on the table" for punishing a large number of her GOP colleagues who supported efforts to overturn the will of voters, including censuring them.

"We had a constitutional crisis on Wednesday," Mace said. "I am barely a week into the job and I am looking at all of the options that are on the table. Censure should be on the table. We have to hold ourselves accountable, we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard. I am extremely disappointed with some members in my own party over their behavior and over their words." more...
By Charles Riley and Matt Egan, CNN Business

London (CNN Business) Deutsche Bank will no longer do business with President Donald Trump, a move that will cut off his business from a major source of loans that once helped fund his golf courses and hotels. Germany's biggest bank has decided to refrain from future business with the president and his company, a person familiar with the bank's thinking told CNN Business. The news, first reported by the New York Times, follows last week's deadly riot at the US Capitol. A spokesperson for Deutsche Bank (DB) declined to comment to CNN Business, citing a prohibition on discussing potential client relationships. The move is the latest example of corporate backlash against the president after his supporters vandalized the Capitol in a brazen assault that left five people dead. On Monday, Signature Bank said it had started closing Trump's personal accounts and called for the president to resign. The US bank also said it "will not do business in the future with any members of Congress who voted to disregard the Electoral College." more...
By Ed O'Keefe, Rebecca Kaplan, Major Garrett, Arden Farhi

President Trump admitted Monday that he is at least partially to blame for what transpired at the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday. That's according to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who spoke with the president on Monday and later conveyed Mr. Trump's feelings to fellow House Republicans. Multiple Republicans familiar with the exchanges confirmed the details to CBS News. The call between the president and top House Republican came on the same day Mr. Trump met face-to-face in the Oval Office with Vice President Pence for the first time since the deadly siege, during which protesters were heard chanting, "Hang Mike Pence!"

The outreach to senior Republicans comes as the House is set to vote Tuesday on a resolution calling on Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment with Cabinet secretaries to remove the president from office. If Pence and the Cabinet do not do so, the House is expected to vote Wednesday on an article of impeachment against Mr. Trump, holding him responsible for inciting the mob that assaulted the Capitol, leaving five people dead. While many congressional Republicans have voiced opposition to impeaching Mr. Trump for a second time, including McCarthy, a handful of Republican senators have signaled they are open to impeachment charges or have called on the president to resign before his term expires on January 20. more...
Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, says that one of the officers was seen taking a selfie with members of the mob and that another was directing people while wearing a MAGA hat.
By Tim Stelloh, Alex Moe and Haley Talbot

"Several" U.S. Capitol Police officers were suspended and at least 10 more are under investigation over the deadly pro-Trump insurrection last week, officials said Monday. Acting U.S. Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman said the suspensions occurred amid an internal probe. Video and other evidence appears to show that some officers and officials violated department policies, Pittman said. Pittman did not provide additional about the inquiry or specify how many people had been suspended. Earlier Monday, Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, who chairs one of the committees that oversees the Capitol Police, told reporters that one of the suspended officers appeared to have taken a selfie with members of the mob. Another officer was suspended after he was seen wearing a Make American Great Again hat and directing people inside the building, Ryan said. more...
The feds told local authorities one group has “warned that if Congress attempts to remove POTUS via the 25th Amendment a huge uprising will occur.”
Arya Hodjat

The FBI has warned local officials of potential violence from the “Boogaloo Boys” and other far-right groups at all 50 state capitols over the next week and a half. “Armed protests are being planned at all 50 state capitols from 16 January through at least 20 January, and at the US Capitol from 17 January through 20 January,” one FBI bulletin reads, according to ABC News, which obtained a copy of the memo. The bulletin reportedly goes on to tell authorities that one unnamed, armed group has “warned that if Congress attempts to remove POTUS via the 25th Amendment a huge uprising will occur.” The memo comes just days after a riot at the U.S. Capitol, in which supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the building in an effort to stop the Electoral College certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. While this effort was unsuccessful, five people died in the attack. One Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick, died after reportedly being assaulted with a fire extinguisher by rioters. Another FBI memo obtained by Yahoo News states that some members of the Boogaloo movement planning Jan. 17 rallies “indicated willingness to commit violence in support of their ideology, created contingency plans in the event violence occurred at the events, and identified law enforcement security measures and possible countermeasures.” The Dec. 29 report details threats of violence specifically at the Minnesota and Michigan state capitols—two states that President Trump instructed his supporters to “liberate” in April amid COVID-19 lockdowns on his since-deleted Twitter account. more...
By Kylie Atwood, Jennifer Hansler and Zachary Cohen, CNN

(CNN) A disgruntled State Department employee appears to have been behind bizarre changes to the department website Monday that stated that President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence's terms were over, two sources told CNN.
A State Department source and another source familiar told CNN that the early stages of an investigation suggest the changes appear to have been made by an upset staffer, but is unclear who it was or what caused their anger. On Monday afternoon, the department's biography page for the President displayed a single line: "Donald J. Trump's term ended on 2021-01-11 19:40:07." The page for Pence showed a similar message: "Michael R. Pence's term ended on 2021-01-11 19:45:15." more...
By Reuters Staff

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc on Monday said it was working to remove some QAnon products from its online marketplace, citing policies that prohibit offensive items or other inappropriate content. The world’s largest online retailer drew scrutiny for having apparel with QAnon insignia and related books up for sale days after QAnon followers joined last week’s siege of the U.S. Capitol, which left five people dead. QAnon backers have pushed conspiracies on social media based on web postings from the anonymous “Q,” citing insider knowledge of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. These include the baseless claim that Trump secretly is fighting a cabal of child-sex predators, among them prominent Democrats and figures in Hollywood. The action by Amazon follows a decision to stop hosting the web content of Parler, a social network used by some supporters of Trump. The company alleged that Parler had violated the terms of service of its cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services (AWS), for failing to deal with an increase in violent social media. Parler sued AWS on Monday in response. more...
Dan Mangan

The leader of the Republican caucus in the House of Representatives told colleagues Monday that President Donald Trump bears some responsibility for Wednesday’s riot at the Capitol, two sources told NBC News. Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California also did not rule out supporting a motion to censure Trump for his actions, according to the report. Before his conference call Monday with House Republicans, McCarthy had not said that Trump was in any way to blame for the riot, which left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer killed by the mob of the president’s supporters. more...
The first lady said last week’s assault on democracy left her “disappointed and disheartened,” because a former friend was mean to her on The Daily Beast.
Jamie Ross

Last week, five people died as rioters incited by President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol seeking lawmakers to lynch. But first lady Melania Trump has identified the worst thing about the entire horrific spectacle—people saying mean things about her online. In a deeply weird and jarring farewell statement posted by the White House early Monday morning, Melania first paid tribute to those who lost their lives in last week’s violence carried out in support of her husband, before going on to settle some scores against unspecified people who she claims have “attacked” her over the past few days since the riots. “I am disappointed and disheartened with what happened last week,” she began, in a paragraph which, at first, you assume is a condemnation of Trumpist rioters. But she then goes on to say: “I find it shameful that surrounding these tragic events there has been salacious gossip, unwarranted personal attacks, and false misleading accusations on me—from people who are looking to be relevant and have an agenda. This time is solely about healing our country and its citizens. It should not be used for personal gain.” more...
Despite thousands of troops arriving and federal charges coming down, some fringe actors were back at it.
Kelly Weill

As law enforcement retook the Capitol building on Wednesday night, the far-right coalition that had breached the building looked to its leaders for cues on their next actions. Those messages were muddled, as the movement sought to advance from a day of unprecedented destruction. The far right has spent months organizing and advertising a series of increasingly chaotic pro-Trump rallies in Washington, D.C., culminating in Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol. Ahead of that January 6 putsch, organizers announced plans to “occupy” the area outside the Capitol building, while others screen-printed “MAGA Civil War January 6, 2021” hoodies to wear to the event. But their invasion of the Capitol, against a lackluster security force, did not stop Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. On the political back foot, but enervated from the Capitol attack, the far right mulled a series of new rallies and conspiracy theories in support of Donald Trump. more...
Alt-right white supremacists are accusing each other of being feds and pushing for more terror.
Alexander Reid Ross


After a feverish couple of hours on Jan. 6, during which fascists on social network platforms dared to utter the word “revolution,” they came crashing down to reality—hopes ruined and friendless in the world after the deadly but ultimately fruitless attack on the U.S. Capitol. Now, with far-right groups feeling backed into a corner by the impending end of Trump’s presidency, divisions among them are becoming more palpable as a feeling of failure grows and extremists nihilistically turn away from talk of a “political solution” and towards white supremacist terror.

Cracks within the extreme right already presented themselves on the eve of the Trump putsch, when the outgoing president exhorted his supporters to march on the Capitol in an effort to intervene in the peaceful transition of power to the next democratically elected leader. Just days before Jan. 6, a story written by the alt-right podcaster Erik Striker reignited an ongoing row by accusing the occult Satanist branch of fascism of being a front for the FBI, “a psychological operation intended to demoralize activists and farm white ‘terrorists’ they can parade for an eager, anti-white media.” Not only was the satanic branch of fascism an unwitting tool, Striker claimed, it was actually a federal psyop. more...
By Kevin Dotson, CNN

(CNN) New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has announced that he is declining the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which he was scheduled to receive from President Donald Trump on Thursday. Belichick cited the "tragic events of last week" as leading to his decision. Pro-Trump rioters rampaged in the US Capitol last Wednesday. Five people died as a result of the chaos, including a US Capitol Police officer. House Democrats want to impeach Trump, accusing him of "incitement of insurrection." "Recently, I was offered the opportunity to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which I was flattered by out of respect for what the honor represents and admiration for prior recipients," Belichick said in a statement. "Subsequently, the tragic events of last week occurred and the decision has been made not to move forward with the award. Above all, I am an American citizen with great reverence for our nation's values, freedom and democracy." more...
Adam Piper stepped down amid backlash over a decision to send out robocalls urging people to march to the U.S. Capitol.
By Laura Strickler

The executive director of the Republican Attorneys General Association has resigned amid backlash over a decision to send out robocalls urging people to march to the U.S. Capitol. Adam Piper stepped down from his post after spending four years with the organization, a national group that represents the top law enforcement officials in their states. The organization and a fundraising arm, the Rule of Law Defense Fund, came under fire after it was reported by NBC News and other outlets that they paid for robocalls to go out the day before a pro-Trump mob invaded the Capitol last Wednesday. “Every decision Adam made on behalf of RLDF was with the best of intentions and with the organization’s best interests in mind,” Steve Marshall, the board chairman of the Rule of Law Defense Fund, said in a statement. Piper said serving Republican attorneys general has been “the honor of a lifetime and honestly a dream.” He did not respond to a request for comment. more...
Roughly 48 percent of respondents agreed that Congress should begin impeachment proceedings to remove Trump from office, compared to 44 percent who disagreed.
By NICK NIEDZWIADEK

A plurality of Americans support the effort gaining steam in Congress to impeach President Donald Trump following last Wednesday’s deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to a POLITICO/Morning Consult poll released Monday. Roughly 48 percent of respondents agreed that Congress should begin impeachment proceedings to remove Trump from office, compared to 44 percent who disagreed. Another 8 percent of those surveyed did not express an opinion on the issue, and the poll had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

A separate question, worded somewhat differently, found that majority of those polled — 53 percent — said they would approve of the House of Representatives voting to impeach Trump, compared to 40 percent who said they would not approve the idea. Support was nearly identical for the Senate convicting Trump in the event the House brought impeachment charges against the president.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has rapidly moved forward with impeaching Trump for the second time in his four years in office — a first in American presidential history — after securing majority support in the chamber. An article of impeachment was introduced Monday, setting up a vote in the coming days unless Trump resigns or is removed by members of his cabinet via the 25th Amendment of the Constitution — outcomes that appear unlikely to occur. more...
By Andrea Salcedo

The day before a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, an arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association sent out robocalls urging supporters to come to D.C. to “fight” Congress over President Trump’s baseless election fraud claims. “At 1 p.m. we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal,” said the message first reported by the watchdog group Documented. “We’re hoping patriots like you will join us to continue to fight to protect the integrity of our elections.” After the attempted insurrection on Wednesday left a police officer and four others dead, several GOP attorneys general have distanced themselves from the robocalls, insisting they didn’t know about the campaign. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, the chairman of the Rule of Law Defense Fund, the nonprofit that sent out the calls, blamed the group’s staffers. more...
Dan Mangan

The District of Columbia’s attorney general said Monday that he is looking at whether to charge Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani and U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks with inciting the violent invasion of the U.S. Capitol last week by a horde of President Donald Trump’s supporters. Karl Racine also left open the door to prosecuting President Trump himself for the same conduct once he leaves office later this month. Racine’s comments came during an interview on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” after he was shown video clips of the Trumps and the president’s personal lawyer, Giuliani, whipping up a crowd at a rally outside the White House last Wednesday, and asked about the trio and Brooks, an Alabama Republican. more...
By JEFFREY COLLINS

Republican members of Congress who voted against certifying Joe Biden’s presidential victory, even after a mob broke into the Capitol, are being denounced by critics in their home districts who demand that they resign or be ousted. Protesters, newspaper editorial boards and local-level Democrats have urged the lawmakers to step down or for their colleagues to kick them out. The House and Senate can remove members with a two-thirds vote or censure or reprimand with a majority. Rep. Madison Cawthorn “needs to be held accountable for his seditious behavior and for the consequences resulting from said behavior,” a group of Democratic officials wrote in a letter asking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to expel the North Carolina freshman who took his oath of office on Jan. 3. more...
By Holly Honderich - BBC News, Washington

Footage of the officer, identified as Eugene Goodman, shows him just steps ahead of rioters as they chase him up a flight of stairs. Mr Goodman is then seen glancing toward the Senate entrance before luring the men in the opposite direction. Five people, including a police officer, died as a result of the riots. Another officer who was on duty during the siege died by suicide this weekend, his family said. The show of bravery from Mr Goodman, reportedly an Army veteran who spent time in Iraq, comes amid criticism of Capitol police for apparent security failures during the storming of the Capitol. New York Law School criminal law professor and 20-year veteran of the New York City Police Department Kirk Burkhalter called Mr Goodman's response to rioters "tremendous". "I don't think there was any type of training that would prepare you for that situation," Mr Burkhalter said. In the video shot by Huffington Post reporter Igor Bobic, Mr Goodman, who is black, is antagonised by the group of Trump supporters - who are all white men. more...
By Peter Nickeas, Annie Grayer and Ryan Nobles, CNN

(CNN)Two US Capitol Police officers were suspended and up to 15 more are under investigation for their behavior during last week's assault on the Capitol, and federal agents will look at whether current and former law enforcement officers played a role in the riot. One of the Capitol police officers took a selfie with someone who was part of the mob that overtook the Capitol and the other wore a "Make America Great Again" hat and started directing people around the building, according to Rep. Tim Ryan, an Ohio Democrat. He didn't disclose how many other officers were under investigation but confirmed it was between 10 and 15, and didn't say what they were being scrutinized for except that it was their behavior during the riot.

Ryan added that one individual had been arrested, but he did not know if that person was a police officer or part of the National Guard. He said more details on the arrest would come later. Democratic members of the House have raised questions about potential sympathies for the attackers among the ranks of US Capitol Police. That agency hasn't responded to CNN's request for comment. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat, is among those who have others questions about whether some Capitol Police officers aided the protesters and were complicit in Wednesday's insurrection. Clyburn, for instance, said it was fishy that the rioters knew the location of lawmakers' offices. Early videos -- one showing a Trump supporter taking a selfie with a police officer near an entrance to the Capitol and another appearing to show police letting protesters into the building -- went viral on social media. more...
The department wants to corroborate reports that a detective might have been there and possibly "participated in any illegal activities."
By David K. Li, Kelcey Henderson and Ali Gostanian

Philadelphia police opened an investigation into one of their own detectives and what role the officer might have played in last week's deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol, officials said Sunday. The department is aware of "social media posts that allege that a PPD detective may have been in attendance at" Wednesday's protest, which turned violent as mobs stormed the Capitol, Philadelphia police spokesman Sgt. Eric Gripp said in a statement. The riot, egged on by outgoing President Donald's Trump lies that fraud cost him the election to President-elect Joe Biden, led to the deaths of at least five people. "An IAB investigation has been opened to determine if any PPD polices were violated by the detective, and if they participated in any illegal activities while in attendance," Gripp said. "The detective's assignment has been changed pending the outcome of the investigation." Representatives of the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #5 said the detective went to Washington, D.C., on her own time and committed no criminal acts. more...
The calls for freshman GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert’s resignation grow louder
By David Edwards

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), a gun-toting supporter of the QAnon movement, is facing backlash after she was accused of live-tweeting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) location during the attack on Capitol Hill last week. Boebert shared the tweet soon after President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol with deadly results. more...
Trump faces a single charge — "incitement of insurrection" - after the deadly Capitol riot in an impeachment resolution that the House will begin debating Wednesday.  
By LISA MASCARO , BILL BARROW and MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Poised to impeach, the House sped ahead Monday with plans to oust President Donald Trump from office, warning he is a threat to democracy and pushing the vice president and Cabinet to act even more quickly in an extraordinary effort to remove Trump in the final days of his presidency. Trump faces a single charge -- "incitement of insurrection" - after the deadly Capitol riot in an impeachment resolution that the House will begin debating Wednesday.

At the same time, the FBI warned ominously on Monday of potential armed protests in Washington and many states by Trump loyalists ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, Jan. 20. In a dark foreshadowing, the Washington Monument was being closed to the public amid the threats of disruption.

It all adds up to stunning final moments for Trump's presidency as Democrats and a growing number of Republicans declare that he is unfit for office and could do more damage after inciting a mob that violently ransacked the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday. "President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government," reads the four-page impeachment bill. "He will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office," it reads. more...
Joey Garrison USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s job approval rating has plummeted, tying the lowest point of his presidency, following last week’s mob attack on the U.S. Capitol. In a new Quinnipiac University poll released Monday, 33% of American voters said they approve how Trump is handling his job, a dramatic drop of 11 percentage points since December when 44% said they approved of his job performance. Sixty percent of voters disapprove of his job performance. It's the lowest mark for Trump since Aug. 2, 2017, when it was also at 33%. That drop came after the Senate rejected Trump's attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act and Anthony Scaramucci was removed as White House communications director just 16 days into the job. more...
Ashley Collman

A US Capitol Police officer blamed department leadership for leaving the force understaffed last week for the pro-Trump protest that resulted in rioters storming the Capitol building and wreaking havoc. The officer asked to remain anonymous, citing department policy not to talk to the media without permission. He said he was working the night shift last week and found it "puzzling" that he and his colleagues were sent home earlier than expected on Wednesday. He also said nobody asked him to come back after the attack. Insider contacted the Capitol Police for comment twice but had not received a response by Monday, two days after the first request. The officer said everybody in the department knew in advance about the pro-Trump march and thought it would be an all-hands-on-deck situation. more...
Momentum to impeach the president a second time has only grown since last Wednesday's attack.
By KYLE CHENEY, SARAH FERRIS and HEATHER CAYGLE

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has a majority of support in the House to impeach President Donald Trump, part of a two-front effort to punish and remove him for inciting the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week. Key members of the House Judiciary Committee introduced a single article of impeachment Monday that has already gathered at least 218 cosponsors, according to a congressional aide involved in the process, meeting the majority needed in the House. Pelosi signaled Sunday night that the House would vote on that article if Trump refuses to resign and Vice President Mike Pence won’t initiate other procedures to remove him. more...
By Jennifer HaberkornStaff Writer

House Republicans on Monday blocked Democrats from enacting a resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to use the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from office as Democrats forged ahead with plans to impeach the president, likely on Wednesday, for his role in inciting the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W. Va.) objected to the Democrats’ attempt to fast-track the resolution, meaning the House will reconvene Tuesday for a floor vote on the measure. Mooney, in a statement, said he opposed enacting the measure without any debate but didn’t say whether he opposed the idea of trying to remove the president. The House resolution, drafted by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), is the first step in the Democrats’ attempt to remove Trump from office just days before his term ends. more...
"Think O.J.," an adviser explained it to Trump, according to one source.
ByJonathan Karl,John Santucci, andKatherine Faulders

In the wake of Wednesday's assault on the nation's Capitol, President Donald Trump has been advised he potentially could face civil liability connected to his role in encouraging supporters who went on to storm Congress, sources familiar with the conversations told ABC News. "Think O.J.," an adviser explained it to Trump, according to one source. It was a reference to O.J. Simpson, who was found not guilty of murdering his ex-wife and a friend but later faced stiff civil damages after being sued by his ex-wife's family. Prior to Wednesday, the president and his advisers had been discussing a self-pardon -- something that would be both historic and untested in American history -- in the wake of a phone call with Trump and Georgia election officials that was made public. The sources say if the president were to self-pardon, it would only strengthen the motivation to bring civil cases against the 45th president. more...
In a court filing, the Justice Department indicated that Trump's pardon of his former campaign chief had changed its calculations.
By JOSH GERSTEIN

President Donald Trump complained loudly — and often — about the cost of the special counsel probe of his campaign’s dealings with Russia. But his pardon of Paul Manafort could undermine the federal government’s efforts to pull in at least $11 million from sales of the former Trump campaign chief’s luxurious Long Island estate and two New York City properties, the Justice Department has acknowledged. With Trump reportedly considering more pardons during his final days in office, Justice Department lawyers are still scrambling to deal with the fallout from one of the president’s highest profile grants of clemency last month. “It’s a messy legal situation,” said Margaret Love, who served as pardon attorney under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. DOJ conceded in federal court submissions Friday that Trump’s Dec. 23 pardon of Manafort has complicated legal proceedings where a Chicago bank and a secretive Nevada company are challenging the feds’ efforts to sell three multimillion-dollar homes owned by Manafort or related companies. more...
By Pamela Brown and Jamie Gangel, CNN

Washington (CNN)White House counsel Pat Cipollone and former Attorney General Bill Barr have warned President Donald Trump that they do not believe he should pardon himself, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. Barr conveyed this position to Trump before resigning last month, sources say. Trump has in recent weeks raised the idea of pardoning himself, as well as members of his family, though it is not known if he has done so since Wednesday's attack on the Capitol. Trump has been heavily criticized for his role inciting the attack. Over the weekend, the acting US attorney for the District of Columbia told NPR that top prosecutors will follow every investigative lead they can to determine people's roles in the attack, even if that involves scrutinizing government officials. White House officials are also contemplating how the federal investigation into the insurrection affects other pardons Trump has discussed, such as for his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani who called for "trial by combat" at Wednesday's rally before the Capitol was stormed. "The situation in DC has raised issues within the White House even on the pardons," one person close to the White House said. more...
Officer Howard Liebengood was 51 years old.
Claudia Koerner, Julia Reinstein - BuzzFeed News Reporters

A US Capitol Police officer on duty during Wednesday's coup attempt by Trump supporters died by suicide on Saturday, his family has announced. Officer Howard Liebengood, 51, had been assigned to the Senate Division and joined the department in 2005. Barry Pollack, a lawyer for Liebengood's family, told BuzzFeed News the officer had been at the Capitol during the insurrection. "His death is a tragedy that has deprived all of us a dedicated public servant," Pollack said. "His family has suffered a devastating loss and asks that they be given space to grieve in private." more...
By Rocco Parascandola New York Daily News

An off-duty NYPD cop has been accused of being among the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said Monday. The officer is being investigated by the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau but has not been charged. “There is one investigation that is active on one member,” Shea told NY1. “There is no name yet released because we don’t know if it’s true or not. But I can tell you anyone committing crimes certainly would have a very short shelf life with the NYPD.” It wasn’t immediately clear what exactly the officer has been accused of doing on Wednesday or how the NYPD came to learn about his role. more...
Bill Chappell, Colin Dwyer

The Trump administration says it will designate Yemen's Houthi movement a terrorist organization, in a move that has elicited consternation from international aid organizations and authorities. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the U.S. wants to "deter further malign activity by the Iranian regime" that backs the Houthis. The designation is set to take effect on Jan. 19 — the day before Trump leaves office and President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in. "If Ansarallah did not behave like a terrorist organization, we would not designate it" as one," Pompeo said in a statement about the plan. The U.S. accuses the Houthis of carrying out a deadly campaign that has destabilized both Yemen and the Middle East. The terrorist label would apply to the Houthis, whose formal name is Ansarallah, and to three of the movement's leaders: Abdul Malik al-Houthi, Abd al-Khaliq Badr al-Din al-Houthi, and Abdullah Yahya al Hakim. more...
By Nick Wadhams and David Wainer

The Trump administration will place Cuba back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism on Monday, according to two senior State Department officials, reversing an Obama-era decision and making it harder for President-elect Joe Biden to quickly revive diplomatic ties with Havana. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo is expected to indicate he’s designating Cuba because the country continues to harbor American fugitives including Joanne Chesimard, convicted of killing a New Jersey state trooper in 1973, and refuses a Colombian extradition request for National Liberation Army members linked to a 2019 bombing that killed 22.

Cuba joins only Syria, Iran and North Korea -- nations more widely condemned for fomenting terrorism -- on the U.S. list. Cuba had originally been put on the list in 1982 but was removed by President Barack Obama in 2015 as he sought to improve economic and diplomatic relations with the Caribbean nation. Biden has indicated he wants to revive the Obama-era policy of easing economic and travel restrictions in hopes that closer ties and more capitalism will pave the way for democratic change in Cuba. That strategy could include reducing restrictions on travel, investment and remittances for the island nation that are perceived to disproportionately hurt Americans and ordinary Cubans. more...
CBS News

A psychological operations officer who the Army is investigating for leading a group of people from North Carolina to the rally in Washington that led up to the deadly riot in the U.S. Capitol had already resigned her commission, CBS News correspondent David Martin reports. Commanders at Fort Bragg said they were reviewing Captain Emily Rainey's involvement in last week's events in the nation's capital, but she said she acted within military regulations and that no one in her group broke the law. "I was a private citizen and doing everything right and within my rights," Rainey told The Associated Press on Sunday. A Defense official told CBS News the Army is investigating how many soldiers from Fort Bragg accompanied Rainey to Washington. Rainey had resigned her commission after receiving a career-ending letter of reprimand for her actions at an earlier protest in the Fort Bragg area, Martin reports. more...
By JAKE BLEIBERG, SARAH BLAKE MORGAN and JAMES LAPORTA Associated Press

The Army is investigating a psychological operations officer who led a group of people from North Carolina to the rally in Washington that led up to the deadly riot in the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump. Commanders at Fort Bragg are reviewing Capt. Emily Rainey’s involvement in last week's events in the nation's capital, but she said she acted within military regulations and that no one in her group broke the law. “I was a private citizen and doing everything right and within my rights,” Rainey told The Associated Press on Sunday. Rainey said she led 100 members of Moore County Citizens for Freedom, which describes itself online as a nonpartisan network promoting conservative values, to the Washington rally to “stand against election fraud” and support Trump. She said she didn’t know of anyone who entered the Capitol and that they were headed back to their buses hours before an emergency curfew took effect. Rainey, 30, is assigned to the 4th Psychological Operations Group at Fort Bragg, according to Maj. Daniel Lessard, a spokesman for 1st Special Forces Command. Known as PSYOPS, the group uses information and misinformation to shape the emotions, decision-making and actions of American adversaries. more...
The penalties target the “inner circle” of pro-Russian Ukrainian lawmaker Andrii Derkach.
By QUINT FORGEY

The Treasury Department announced a new spate of sanctions on Monday targeting the “inner circle” of Andrii Derkach, the pro-Russian Ukrainian lawmaker who aided Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to probe unsubstantiated allegations of wrongdoing by President-elect Joe Biden and his family. The department had previously designated Derkach himself for sanctions related to foreign interference in the 2020 election in September. But on Monday, the department “took additional action against seven individuals and four entities” that it alleged were “part of a Russia-linked foreign influence network” associated with him.

“Russian disinformation campaigns targeting American citizens are a threat to our democracy,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. “The United States will continue to aggressively defend the integrity of our election systems and processes.” In his own statement acknowledging the sanctions, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Derkach “has been an active Russian agent for more than a decade, maintaining close connections with Russian intelligence services.” Those designated for sanctions on Monday included former Ukrainian government officials Konstantin Kulyk, Oleksandr Onyshchenko and Andriy Telizhenko, as well as current Ukrainain lawmaker Oleksandr Dubinsky. more...
The FBI also says an armed group has threatened to travel to Washington and stage an uprising if Congress removes Trump from office.
By Tom Winter and Andrew Blankstein

The FBI has sent a memo to law enforcement agencies across the country warning of possible armed protests at all 50 state Capitols starting Jan. 16, and also says an armed group has threatened to travel to Washington, D.C., the same day and stage an uprising if Congress removes President Donald Trump from office, according to a senior law enforcement official. The memo includes information provided by the ATF, DEA, Defense Department, Park Police, and the U.S. Marshals, among other agencies, according to the official. Some of the information came from social media, some from open source, and some from other sources of information.

The memo was first reported by ABC News. The senior law enforcement official says the FBI’s National Crisis Coordination Center distributed the update to law enforcement agencies as a summary of threat information they’ve received following last Wednesday’s deadly mob attack on the Capitol. While the memo discusses possible threats discussed by online actors for Jan. 16 through the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 20, it doesn’t mean that law enforcement agencies expect violent mass protests or confrontations in every state. For instance, a spokesperson for the FBI in Boston says, “At this point in time, the FBI Boston Division is not in possession of any intelligence indicating any planned, armed protests at the four state capitals in our area of responsibility. (ME, MA, NH, and RI) from January 17-20, 2021.” more...
Bill Chappell, Colin Dwyer

The Trump administration says it will designate Yemen's Houthi movement a terrorist organization, in a move that has elicited consternation from international aid organizations and authorities. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the U.S. wants to "deter further malign activity by the Iranian regime" that backs the Houthis. The designation is set to take effect on Jan. 19 — the day before Trump leaves office and President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in. "If Ansarallah did not behave like a terrorist organization, we would not designate it" as one," Pompeo said in a statement about the plan. The U.S. accuses the Houthis of carrying out a deadly campaign that has destabilized both Yemen and the Middle East.

The terrorist label would apply to the Houthis, whose formal name is Ansarallah, and to three of the movement's leaders: Abdul Malik al-Houthi, Abd al-Khaliq Badr al-Din al-Houthi, and Abdullah Yahya al Hakim. The action would establish steep legal hurdles for anyone seeking to conduct business with the Houthis. It would also bar members of the movement from entering the U.S. and render it unlawful for U.S. nationals to provide them with "material support or resources." That, in turn, poses grave difficulties for international relief groups working to mitigate the deadly chaos in Yemen, which the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Wrenched apart by a civil war, a ruined economy and the worst cholera outbreak in modern history, Yemen has been battered by catastrophe for years. more...
*** John Catanzara is talking out of his a-- he needs to watch the videos of the Trump insurrection and remember it was an attack on our capital that killed five people. ***

By Natalie Colarossi

The president of Chicago's largest police union defended the actions of a mob of Pro-Trump rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol—an incident that resulted in four deaths on Wednesday. John Catanzara, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 and a Trump supporter, defended the rioters in an interview Wednesday by saying "there was very little destruction of property." "There was no arson, there was no burning of anything, there was no looting, there was very little destruction of property," Catanzara told the radio station WBEZ in a Wednesday evening phone interview. "It was a bunch of pissed-off people that feel an election was stolen, somehow, some way."

He continued by voicing empathy for the rioters who felt "frustration" over the 2020 presidential election, and said that there was no violence involved in the assault on the Capitol. "Evidence matters," Catanzara said. "Until that appears, shame on them for what they did, but it was out of frustration. There's no fights. There's no, obviously, violence in this crowd. They pushed past security and made their way to the Senate chamber. Did they destroy anything when they were there? No," he said. In reality, one woman was shot and killed inside the Capitol, and three others suffered from fatal medical emergencies in connection with the riot. Additional damage in the aftermath of the assault included shattered glass, broken windows, destroyed property, and ransacked offices in the Capitol building. more...
By Jason Lemon

More than 230,000 people have signed a petition calling for President Donald Trump's removal following the attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of pro-Trump demonstrators. Hundreds of the president's supporters stormed the nation's Capitol on Wednesday as Congress convened to certify President-elect Joe Biden's electoral votes. The riot came shortly after Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol and confront lawmakers who refused to back his unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud. Trump told supporters at a rally to "fight much harder," and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani said they should have "trial by combat."

Now, hundreds of thousands of Americans want the president removed, as lawmakers discuss invoking the 25th Amendment and a possible second impeachment for the president's actions. "The daily damage he is doing to America—much of it criminal—is inexcusable. He continues to relentlessly spread conspiracy theories about voting and federal elections and is actively working to manipulate election results," the petition, launched by MoveOn's website, says. "Trump's incitement of mob violence earlier today in D.C. is just the latest in a series of insults and assaults on our democracy." more...
By Maria Caspani

(Reuters) - As investigators seek to identify rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol, police departments in Virginia and Washington state have placed officers on leave as authorities examine whether they took part in unlawful acts while off-duty. Fire departments in Florida and New York City have also said they reported to federal authorities allegations that some of their members may have been present when the mob broke into the Capitol as Congress met to certify the results of the Nov. 3 presidential election. The police department in the small town of Rocky Mount, Virginia, said on Sunday it had placed two officers on administrative leave after it learned they attended an “event” in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday while off-duty. “The Town of Rocky Mount fully supports all lawful expressions of freedom of speech and assembly by its employees but does not condone the unlawful acts that occurred that day,” the department said in a statement, saying it had notified federal authorities. more...
A late move by the Trump administration would stop enforcement of protections against discriminatory practices that have a “disparate impact” on protected groups.
By Katie Benner and Erica L. Green

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has embarked on an 11th-hour bid to undo some civil rights protections for minority groups, which could have a ripple effect on women, people with disabilities and L.G.B.T. people, according to a draft document, in a change that would mark one of the most significant shifts in civil rights enforcement in generations. The Justice Department has submitted for White House approval a change to how it enforces Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits recipients of federal funding from discriminating based on race, color or national origin. The regulation covers housing programs, employers, schools, hospitals, and other organizations and programs.

Under the change, the department would continue to narrowly enforce the law’s protections in cases where it could prove intentional discrimination, but no longer in instances where a policy or practice at issue had a “disparate impact” on minority or other groups. Civil rights groups say that the disparate impact rule is one of their most important tools for showing discrimination because it takes into account patterns of behavior that can seem neutral and compare outcomes for different groups to reveal inequities. Such cases make up most discrimination litigation, as businesses and organizations rarely disclose that they are purposefully engaging in the practice. more...
On Sunday night, Twitter banned Ali Alexander’s personal account and an account for “Stop the Steal.”
Will Sommer

Two weeks before thousands of Trump rioters breached Congress, “Stop the Steal” organizer Ali Alexander said his group wasn’t violent—“yet.” “One of our organizers in one state said, ‘We’re nice patriots, we don’t throw bricks,’” Alexander told a crowd at a Dec. 19 rally at Arizona’s state capitol. “I leaned over and I said, ‘Not yet. Not yet!’ Haven’t you read about a little tar-and-feathering? Those were second-degree burns!” Alexander, who has described himself as one of the “official originators” of the Jan. 6 rally in Washington, went on to use “yet” as a code word for violence. Then Alexander told the Phoenix crowd about his plans for Washington. “We’re going to convince them to not certify the vote on January 6 by marching hundreds of thousands, if not millions of patriots, to sit their butts in D.C. and close that city down, right?” Alexander said.

“And if we have to explore options after that…‘yet.’ Yet!” Alexander’s supporters cheered, yelling threats like “noose!” and “nothing’s off the table!” Alexander led a host of activists in ratcheting up the rhetoric ahead of Congress’ certification of the electoral votes, threatening to “1776” opponents of Trump’s re-election. Now that five people, including a Capitol Police officer, are dead, however, Alexander has gone into hiding, and the website promoting his Jan. 6 rally has been wiped from the internet. Alexander is defiant, saying he won’t “take an iota of blame that does not belong to me.” “I didn’t incite anything,” Alexander said in a video posted Friday to Twitter. “I didn’t do anything.” more...
by: Associated Press

Democratic Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey says she has tested positive for COVID-19 and believes she was exposed during protective isolation in the U.S. Capitol building as a result of Wednesday’s rioting. She was among dozens of lawmakers whisked to a secure location when pro-Donald Trump insurrectionists stormed the Capitol. A press release from her office on Monday notes that “a number of members within the space ignored instructions to wear masks.” more...
Jaclyn Diaz

The former chief of U.S. Capitol Police says security officials at the House and Senate rebuffed his early requests to call in the National Guard ahead of a demonstration in support of President Trump that turned into a deadly attack on Congress. Former chief Steven Sund -- who resigned his post last week after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for him to step down -- made the assertions in an interview with The Washington Post published Sunday. Sund contradicts claims made by officials after Wednesday's assault on Capitol Hill. Sund's superiors said previously that the National Guard and other additional security support could have been provided, but no one at the Capitol requested it. Sund told the Post that House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving was concerned with the "optics" of declaring an emergency ahead of the protests and rejected a National Guard presence. He says Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger recommended that he informally request the Guard to be ready in case it was needed to maintain security. Like Sund, Irving and Stenger have also since resigned their posts. more...
The 2022 PGA Championship will no longer be held at Trump Bedminster.
By John Santucci, Matthew Mosk, and Pete Madden

As he faces a lonely end to his presidency, Donald Trump learned Sunday evening that, in the wake of last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol, he has lost one of the relationships he values most: his partnership with the Professional Golfers' Association. While the embattled president has been hunkered down to try and preserve his political career, the PGA of America, the proprietors of one of golf's four major championship tournaments, announced that it plans to move its 2022 PGA Championship away from Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. "The PGA of America Board of Directors voted tonight to exercise the right to terminate the agreement to play the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster," said Jim Richerson, PGA of America president, in a statement. Holding the tournament at Trump Bedminster, Richerson said, would be "detrimental" to the PGA of America's brand and put the organization's ability to function "at risk." more...
By Katie Shepherd

As a mob of pro-Trump rioters attacked the Capitol on Wednesday, one man in a white hat and backpack grabbed a police officer by the helmet, dragging the officer down the stairs. Soon, other rioters kicked and punched the officer, and one man even bashed the prone figure repeatedly with a pole flying an American flag. The shocking violence against an outnumbered officer is shown in a video first aired by CNN on Sunday and which swiftly went viral, garnering more than 1.6 million views on Twitter by early Monday.

The Capitol mob: a raging collection of grievances and disillusionment The officer seen in the video, as well as in other photos and videos of the moment that later surfaced on social media, has not been officially identified. It’s also not clear the extent of the injuries the officer suffered in the attack. D.C. Metropolitan Police and U.S. Capitol Police did not immediately return a request for comment on the video late on Sunday.

The video adds a new layer of evidence documenting the brutal violence the pro-Trump mob unleashed during the attempted insurrection at the Capitol, where overrun police tried to protect the federal building. One U.S. Capitol Police officer, Brian D. Sicknick, was killed in the incident and more than 50 other police officers were injured. One rioter was fatally shot by police, and three other people died following medical emergencies. more...
By Geneva Sands, CNN

(CNN) Calls for new protests in Washington, DC, and states across the country have law enforcement bracing for more possible violence in the coming days after rioters stormed the US Capitol last week leaving five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer.
Authorities are preparing for additional personnel to help secure the nation's capital in the coming days. A Department of Homeland Security official told CNN that the breach of the Capitol will sharpen the response and planning for inauguration. "Now that it happened people will take it much more seriously," the official said, referring to last week's violence. "Now, the planners, they are all going to take it much more seriously."

Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat, said in in a statement Sunday that the Department of Defense is aware of "further possible threats posed by would-be terrorists in the days up to and including Inauguration Day." Crow spoke with Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy about the January 6 events and planning for the coming days. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has asked for additional security measures with ten days to go before Inauguration Day as Wednesday's riot has set off a shockwave of concern among federal, state and local officials for more possible bloodshed over the outcome of the 2020 election that ousted President Donald Trump from office. At the Capitol Police's request, DHS helped install fencing, which was seen going up around Capitol Hill Thursday. more...
Jaclyn Diaz

The former chief of U.S. Capitol Police says security officials at the House and Senate rebuffed his early requests to call in the National Guard ahead of a demonstration in support of President Trump that turned into a deadly attack on Congress. Former chief Steven Sund -- who resigned his post last week after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for him to step down -- made the assertions in an interview with The Washington Post published Sunday. Sund contradicts claims made by officials after Wednesday's assault on Capitol Hill. Sund's superiors said previously that the National Guard and other additional security support could have been provided, but no one at the Capitol requested it.

Sund told the Post that House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving was concerned with the "optics" of declaring an emergency ahead of the protests and rejected a National Guard presence. He says Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger recommended that he informally request the Guard to be ready in case it was needed to maintain security. Like Sund, Irving and Stenger have also since resigned their posts. Sund says he requested assistance six times ahead of and during the attack on the Capitol. Each of those requests were denied or delayed, he says. Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser also wanted a light police presence at the Capitol. She reportedly wanted to avoid a similar scenario as last summer, when federal forces responded to demonstrators opposed to police abuses who assembled near the White House. more...
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