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US Monthly Headline News January 2021 Page 1
*** More bulls*** from the rabbit Republicans Biden is not even in office so he could not have abused his power. ***

By Keith Griffith For Dailymail.com

Newly elected Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has said she plans to file articles of impeachment against Joe Biden on the first full day of his presidency, alleging 'abuse of power.' Greene - a conspiracy theorist who follows QAnon and who was a 9/11 truther - announced the provocative move in an interview with Newsmax on Wednesday night, insisting it was not merely symbolic, despite the futility of her plan with Democrats controlling the House. 'We cannot have a president of the United States that is willing to abuse the power of the office of the presidency and be easily bought off by foreign governments, foreign Chinese energy companies, Ukrainian energy companies,' Greene said. 'So on January 21 I will be filing articles of impeachment on Joe Biden,' added Greene, a Georgia Republican with a history of touting conspiracy theories, and an ardent Trump loyalist. She and Lauren Boebert, who has also previously spouted QAnon claims are being nicknamed the Qaucus by critics. more...
*** Republicans are defending Trump after Trump's multiple coup attempts that lead to insurrection what does that say about the Republican Party they are traitors to our country. ***

Jaclyn Diaz

Some Republicans who broke from the GOP to back the Democrats' historic second impeachment resolution for President Trump are facing heat from their local Republican parties for how they voted. More than a year ago, all House Republicans voted against the president's first impeachment. On Wednesday, 10 GOP members joined with every Democrat to impeach Trump, some of whom were the sole representative from their state's delegation to vote that way. Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, Jaime Herrera Beutler Washington, John Katko of New York, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Peter Meijer of Michigan, Dan Newhouse of Washington, Tom Rice of South Carolina, Fred Upton of Michigan and David Valadao of California voted to impeach. The choice to split from the party's majority comes with a risk that those members could face political blowback for their votes and lose support altogether from their state's Republican Party come the next election. Cheney, the No. 3 in the House Republican leadership as the GOP conference chair, is getting flak from the Wyoming Republican Party and her congressional colleagues. more...
Bruce Vielmetti Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MILWAUKEE – Prosecutors in Wisconsin have asked a judge to order Kyle Rittenhouse to stay out of bars, and away from violent white power groups like the Proud Boys. The request comes a week after Rittenhouse was seen drinking at a tavern outside of Kenosha after pleading not guilty — via Zoom from his lawyer's office in Racine — at his arraignment Jan. 5 on homicide and other charges related to the Aug. 25 violence in Kenosha. Rittenhouse, who is free on $2 million bail, had just turned 18 two days earlier. After the hearing, he, his mother and several other adults went to Pudgy's Pub in Mount Pleasant. He was seen drinking beer while wearing a t-shirt reading Free as F---.  Rittenhouse is charged with shooting and killing two people and wounding a third during the Kenosha unrest in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Blake was shot in the back and left paralyzed. The officer who fired the shots won't be charged, prosecutors said this month. Rittenhouse's attorney responded that his client doesn't belong to or associate — even online — with such groups and called the state's motion "a not-so-thinly veiled attempt to interject the issue of race into a case that is about a person’s right to self-defense." more...
By Omar Jimenez and Joe Sutton, CNN

(CNN) Prosecutors are asking the Kenosha County Circuit Court to modify the bond conditions of Kyle Rittenhouse, who is facing homicide charges in the death of two men during protests last August, according to a motion filed by the Kenosha County District Attorney's Office on Wednesday. The office is requesting that Rittenhouse be prohibited from possessing or consuming alcohol or being in any establishment that serves it; be prohibited from making any public display of any "white power" or "white supremacy" signs, symbols, or hand gestures; and not have any contact with any known militia members or members of any violent white power/white supremacist groups including the group identified as the "Proud Boys." The 17-year-old is out on a $2 million bail after being arrested in connection with a fatal shooting in Kenosha. Rittenhouse is alleged to have been in the midst of protests that had broken out in the Wisconsin city over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, and authorities allege he fired at protesters. Rittenhouse was arraigned January 5 on two felony charges of homicide in the deaths of two men and a felony attempted homicide charge in the wounding of another man. more...
By Aila Slisco

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Wednesday that House members who ignore new security procedures, including refusing to walk through metal detectors, will soon be subject to fines of $5,000 or more. Multiple Republican representatives have either refused to take part in the new security screenings or have been outspoken in denouncing them. The refusals began after security was enhanced on Tuesday, following last week's insurrection by violent supporters of President Donald Trump, who stormed the Capitol as Congress was meeting to certify President-elect Joe Biden's victory. "On behalf of the House, I express my deepest gratitude to the U.S. Capitol Police for the valor that they showed during the deadly insurrection on the Capitol, as they protected the lives of the staff and the Congress," Pelosi said in a statement. "Sadly, just days later, many House Republicans have disrespected our heroes by verbally abusing them and refusing to adhere to basic precautions keeping members of our Congressional community, including the Capitol Police, safe." more...
By Sarah Polus

Three Republican Georgia state senators who supported President Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results were demoted Wednesday, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports. Two days into the state assembly's winter session, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R) took action against state Sens. Brandon Beach of Alpharetta, Matt Brass of Newnan and Burt Jones of Jackson. The demotions mean that Duncan will no longer chair the Transportation Committee, and Jones will be replaced as lead the Insurance and Labor Committee. Brass will now oversee a banking committee — a lesser position than he previously held, according to AJC. While the demotions were somewhat expected, not all members of the assembly who support the president's efforts faced penalties, the AJC points out. The changes come as Georgia has experienced significant recent political upheaval. more...
By Ben Mathis-Lilley

Last Wednesday, the U.S. Capitol was overrun by a mob of Donald Trump supporters. Some of them were armed; some carried flex cuffs, as if planning to restrain hostages; some reportedly attacked a police officer, who later died, with a fire extinguisher. A number of far-right Republican representatives have, in the past, celebrated the extremist groups (the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and so forth) whose members were among those who occupied the building. Two members, Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks and North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn, spoke at the “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House that directly preceded the attack. It is, incredibly, not completely out of the question at the moment to wonder whether there are members of the House who might want to participate in violent action against Democrats, should it occur again. It is in this context that Capitol police are now asking representatives to walk through metal detectors before entering the House floor. more...
AP

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- A foundation has ended the lease for a fraternity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that was one of three Greek chapters linked to a drug trafficking ring. The lease for the Kappa Sigma fraternity will end on Jan. 18, one month after local and federal law enforcement officials announced that two of the fraternity's members were charged in October with federal drug crimes, news outlets reported Tuesday. The Alpha Mu Housing Foundation, a nonprofit corporation that owns the property, will take over the Kappa Sigma house. Foundation President Benjamin Cone III notified the chapter about the lease in a recent letter. "Based on the very serious allegations against the Chapter and the actions of the University and Fraternity, the Foundation has no choice but to terminate the Lease, effective immediately," Cone said in a news release issued by a Raleigh-based public relations firm. 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...
By Brian Fung, CNN Business

(CNN Business) Amazon Web Services filed its response to Parler's lawsuit on Tuesday, blaming the social media platform favored by the far-right for filing a "meritless claim" against the cloud computing giant and citing a liability shield often maligned by President Donald Trump: Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934. AWS's legal brief argues that it is Parler, not Amazon (AMZN), that breached the terms of its contract and that Parler's removal from AWS's hosting platform was a "last resort." "This case is about Parler's demonstrated unwillingness and inability to remove from the servers of Amazon Web Services ('AWS') content that threatens the public safety," Amazon wrote, "such as by inciting and planning the rape, torture, and assassination of named public officials and private citizens." more...
By Rebecca Klar

Amazon is urging a judge to keep the social media platform Parler offline, citing a series of death threats against top tech executives and elected officials posted to the site ahead of last week's deadly Capitol riot, according to a court filing from Tuesday.  Parler sued Amazon on Monday, alleging Amazon Web Services (AWS) violated antitrust law and breached the companies’ contractual arrangement when the tech giant removed the platform that is popular with conservatives because of its hands-off approach to content moderation. Attorneys for Amazon defended the company's move on Tuesday, saying Parler demonstrated an “unwillingness and inability” to remove content that “threatens the public safety, such as by inciting and planning the rape, torture, and assassination of named public officials and private citizens.” more...
By Zoe Christen Jones

Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and others in his administration are expected to be charged for their role in the Flint water crisis, sources confirmed to CBS News. The ongoing crisis, which began in 2014, exposed residents of the majority Black community to high levels of lead and was also blamed for an outbreak of Legionnaires disease. Snyder, former health director Nick Lyon and other former officials are expected to face charges, although specifics have not been announced. Since 2014, at least 15 current or former state and city officials and staff have been indicted in connection to the water crisis. Some of those charges had previously been dismissed, but the forthcoming charges are believed to stem from a newer investigation brought about by Governor Gretchen Whitmer's administration. more...
By Chandelis Duster, Manu Raju and Daniella Diaz, CNN

(CNN) The decision to require members of Congress to walk through metal detectors in the wake of last week's deadly siege has further inflamed tensions on Capitol Hill, at times prompting shouting matches between Republicans and Capitol Police. Members of both parties expressed frustration Tuesday night at the long lines ahead of the entrance to the House floor. Many Republicans view the measure as invasive, but several Democrats called them necessary as they increasingly view their colleagues across the aisle as security threats. And it's all contributing to a sense of roiling fury in Congress ahead of a rancorous impeachment vote Wednesday.

Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, a newly sworn-in Republican who ran in large part on a message emphasizing her commitment to Second Amendment rights and has bragged about her desire to carry a weapon on Capitol Hill, got into an altercation with police officers and initially refused to show police what was in her bag Tuesday night. She was eventually allowed into the chamber.
"It is a shame that Nancy Pelosi is trying to disarm Members of Congress in the very place that needed more protection on January 6," she said in a statement. "It is clear metal detectors would not have deterred the violent acts we saw; this political stunt does nothing to improve the safety of Members in the Capitol complex." more...
Dartunorro Clark and Alex Moe and Haley Talbot
Tue, January 12, 2021, 7:32 PM PST

WASHINGTON — Several Republican members of Congress on Tuesday complained about — or outright bypassed — the metal detectors to enter the House floor, which were ordered put in place by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., after last week's deadly riot at the Capitol. Ahead of a House vote Tuesday evening calling for Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office, the Republican members expressed anger and frustration in accessing the chamber. Republican Reps. Louie Gohmert of Texas, Steve Stivers of Ohio, Van Taylor of Texas, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Debbie Lesko of Arizona and Larry Bucshon of Indiana, among others, were seen not complying with police at checkpoints or complained about the measure's implementation, according to press pool and media reports. more...
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 Juliegrace Brufke

A group of conservative lawmakers are plotting to oust House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (Wyo.) from her leadership role, citing issues with her announcement that she would vote to impeach President Trump for inciting last week's riot at the Capitol. GOP lawmakers behind the effort, which are largely made up of members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, have begun circulating a petition led by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) on Wednesday to remove the Cheney — who is the highest-ranking Republican woman in leadership — from her role. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a founding member of the Freedom Caucus and a top Trump ally, took aim at Cheney on Wednesday morning ahead of the vote, arguing her views don’t reflect the majority of the House GOP conference. more...
By Chandelis Duster and Christina Carrega, CNN

(CNN) A US Secret Service officer is under investigation after accusing lawmakers of treason and sharing conspiracy theories about the election on social media, according to The Washington Post who obtained images of the comments. News of the investigation comes as law enforcement agencies broaden their investigations into what role their own officers played in the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol as they look through social media posts. In one image, the newspaper reported Monday night, the secret service officer posted a meme on Facebook titled "Here's to the Peaceful Transition of Power" with President Donald Trump shaking hands with himself in the Oval Office. A day after the siege on the US Capitol, a comment was posted using the officer's name that criticized attempts to remove Trump from office and accused lawmakers who accepted the electoral college vote of "committing treason on live tv." 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...
Matt Sepic and Brian Bakst

The FBI says members of a far-right group that wants to foment a second civil war scouted out the Minnesota State Capitol ahead of a pro-Trump rally planned for this weekend. A memo to law enforcement from the FBI's Minneapolis field office says that "a few Minnesota-based followers of the Boogaloo movement" identified police sniper locations and said buildings with snipers would "need to be blown up" to protect Boogaloo fighters. The Dec. 29 memo, first obtained by Yahoo News, says the group did not plot a specific attack, but would use violence if a fight broke out. A spokesperson for the FBI in Minneapolis says the bureau doesn't comment on its internal discussions, but agents are identifying potential threats and are sharing the information with other agencies. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told CNN Tuesday morning that such threats would not go unanswered. 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...
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...
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...
Peter Overby

Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, one of the most prolific donors in conservative politics, died Monday night at the age of 87 due to complications from treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, according to a statement from Las Vegas Sands, the company he founded. Adelson made his fortune — a net worth of around $35 billion according to an estimate by Forbes — in the casino hotel industry. He spent much of it backing conservative politicians in the U.S. and Israel, shaping the political debate of both countries. He was in the first wave of superwealthy Americans to take advantage of the Supreme Court's controversial Citizens United ruling, which opened the doors to eight- and nine-figure political donations so long as the money goes to independent superPACs and not candidates or party committees. 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...
By Brian Fung, CNN Business

(CNN Business) Facebook will begin removing all content that mentions the phrase "stop the steal," a full 69 days after Election Day. The social media giant said in a blog post that it will ramp up enforcement against the phrase because it was used by those who participated in last week's riots at the US Capitol. "With continued attempts to organize events against the outcome of the US presidential election that can lead to violence, and use of the term by those involved in Wednesday's violence in DC, we're taking this additional step in the lead up to the inauguration," Guy Rosen, Facebook's VP of integrity, wrote in a post about the company's preparation for Inauguration Day. 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 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 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...
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...
FBI bulletin reportedly details calls for ‘storming’ of buildings and courthouses if Trump is removed from power before inauguration
Martin Pengelly and Tom McCarthy

Michigan banned the open carry of guns inside its Capitol building on Monday, following mob violence last week at the US Capitol and last year’s storming of the Michigan statehouse. The Michigan ban came as reports detailed FBI warnings about possible violence at state capitols and in Washington in the run-up to the 20 January inauguration of Joe Biden. An FBI report on 29 December, quoted by Yahoo News, warned that “some [Trump] followers 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”. In Washington last Wednesday, a US Capitol police officer and four others were killed in an attack by Trump supporters. Political fallout from that event continues in parallel with a federal effort to arrest participants in the insurrection. Donald Trump has said he will leave power but has not dropped his baseless claim that his election defeat was caused by voter fraud. 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...
Kelsey Vlamis

A top Georgia election official said Rudy Giuliani "lied" over election-fraud claims by presenting a deceptively edited video as evidence, despite having access to the full footage. Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for Georgia's secretary of state, made the comments in a "60 Minutes" interview that aired Sunday, during which he described President Donald Trump's claims of voter fraud as "fantastical, unreasonable," and "lacking in any factual reality." Sterling, a Republican who voted for Trump, told the interviewer Scott Pelley that Giuliani presented a selectively edited video to Georgia state senators as evidence of election fraud. In a clip shown on "60 Minutes" of Giuliani presenting the video, he calls it a "powerful smoking gun." Giuliani's video, which also aired in national Trump campaign ads, claims to show cases of ballots removed from under a table and "added in secret." 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...
Katie Canales

Parler, the far-right social media service, is suing Amazon over antitrust violations, according to a court filing submitted on Monday. The move comes after Amazon knocked Parler off its cloud-hosting service after it said Parler failed to moderate threats of violence following last week's deadly siege on the US Capitol. Parler alleges that Amazon's decision was politically motivated and breaches a contract between the two companies that entails Amazon's cloud-hosting service supporting posts published on Parler. According to the lawsuit, AWS is required to provide Parler with a 30-day notice before terminating service. It also alleges that Amazon's action is anti-competitive since it didn't take similar action against Twitter, Parler's rival that also uses AWS. more...
Republicans, including Sen. Josh Hawley, have condemned violence but haven't backed down from baseless claims of fraud and irregularities.
By Jane C. Timm

After a mob stormed the Capitol based on President Donald Trump's election fraud lie, some top Republican allies have called for peace while still leveling the same baseless claims of widespread voter fraud that fanned the flames of violence. In almost the same breath as he condemned the rioters who temporarily disrupted Congress from its normal process of affirming President-elect Joe Biden's win, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., the first Republican to announce his intent to object to the certification, suggested Biden's victory was illegitimate.

“We do need an investigation into irregularities, fraud,” Hawley said, before staring directly into the camera in a video his office would promptly upload to YouTube and saying, “We do need a way forward together. We need election security reforms.” In a statement, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, condemned the violence, too. Still, he said, his calls for an investigation into voter fraud were the “right thing to do," before adding, “I very much wish Congress had not set aside these concerns.”

Allegations of voter fraud and irregularities have been used by Republicans to sow distrust in the American electoral system for decades, experts said, laying the groundwork for Trump's sweeping claim that widespread fraud denied him a second term and priming the party's base to believe him despite his inability to prove it. These same falsehoods, the experts said, will be used to restrict ballot-box access in the future.

"The same lies that drove the insurrections were also being repeated on the floor of the Congress by the people trying to upend the people’s votes," said Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. "And those are the same lies we’re going to hear in state capitols by people trying to restrict the vote." Hawley and Cruz, who are widely believed to be eyeing bids for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, have been fiercely criticized for their roles in stoking the unrest that led to the deadly clashes in the nation's capital. more...
By A.J. Nwoko

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Twitter has defined the voice of the Trump Administration for the past four years, but after Wednesday’s deadly insurgence at the US Capitol, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have permanently banned the president. Virginia Senator Amanda Chase is facing similar suspensions from Facebook after the social media giant says she spread false claims about the riots. The move is drawing criticism from Trump, Chase, and others who are calling the decision a violation of free speech. But VCU constitutional law expert, Dr. John Aughenbaugh, says that isn’t the case. “What Twitter did does not violate the First Amendment of the constitution,” Aughenbaugh said. “The First Amendment applies to the government, and Twitter or Facebook, or any other social media platform, by and large, is a private sector actor and therefore the First Amendment does not apply.” more...
*** The GOP is full of shit they have no problem when they don’t want to provide service to someone who they do not agree with but if you don’t service them because of your beliefs they are up in arms screaming about how unfair that is, the just plain bull shit. Free speech does not give you the right to yell fire in crowed theater nor the right to threaten someone life you do not agree with and does not give you the right to incite violence against people who do not agree with you. ***

Less than 24 hours after Trump’s ban from Twitter, Republicans seized on the issue for the midterm elections and beyond.
By DAVID SIDERS

Republicans are fuming, but the timing of Donald Trump’s Twitter ban couldn't have been better for the party. Fractured in the aftermath of Trump’s defeat and a riot the president helped incite at the Capitol, the GOP found a unifying foil in the social media platform’s erasure of the president — elevating Big Tech‘s status in the culture wars from an annoying foe to archvillain.

For institutionalist Republicans weary of litigating Trump’s role in the insurrection, the ban — and the sudden silencing of Trump’s bullhorn — served as a diversion. And for the base of the party, it offered a rallying point for broader grievances about “cancel culture” and perceived attempts to censor conservative viewpoints. Less than 24 hours after the ban, Republicans were preparing to seize on the issue for the midterm elections and in 2024.

“A level of censorship that would make China proud,” James Dickey, the former chair of the Texas Republican Party, said Saturday, describing the ban as a “wake-up call for everyday Americans.” Dickey predicted Republicans “100 percent” will campaign on the unrestrained power of social media and other technology firms in the midterms — and some GOP strategists were planning to capitalize on the controversy surrounding Twitter even sooner. more...
Authorities are more than twice as likely to break up a left-wing protest than a right-wing protest.
By Maggie Koerth

As images from Wednesday’s riot by pro-Trump extremists at the U.S. Capitol filled our TV screens and social media feeds, one thing was notably absent: the kind of confrontation between police and protesters that we saw during the Black Lives Matter protests last summer. Even though the Capitol mob was far more violent — and seditious — than the largely peaceful BLM demonstrators, police responded far less aggressively toward them than toward BLM protesters across the country. Researchers who track this sort of thing for a living say that fits a pattern.

Instead of National Guard troops being posted en masse around landmarks before a protest even began, we saw the Defense Department initially deny a request to send in troops — and that was after the Capitol had been breached. Instead of peaceful protesters being doused in tear gas, we saw a mob posing for selfies with police and being allowed to wander the corridors of power like they couldn’t decide whether they were invading the Capitol or touring it. Instead of President Trump calling these violent supporters “thugs,” as he called racial justice protesters, and advocating for more violent police crackdowns, we saw him remind his followers that they were loved before asking them nicely to go home. more...
In the House, a shockingly large number of first-time lawmakers opposed the Electoral College vote, including Georgia's Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
By Seth Masket, director of the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver

This week’s biggest political story was undoubtedly the violent attempted coup perpetrated by President Donald Trump’s supporters at the U.S. Capitol. But we should not forget the legislative event that this long-planned insurrection coincided with, and indeed was largely motivated by. Some eight Republican senators and 139 Republican House members objected to the Electoral College vote confirming President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. As has been written previously and exhaustively, these objections were always doomed to fail.

But the objections did their job of providing a public spectacle and a rallying cry for insurrectionists. It prolonged and drew attention to a process that, for nearly every presidential election, has served as a rubber stamp. It served as a chance for Republican members to signal their fealty to Donald Trump above all else. It gave them an opportunity to say that they would rather lose American democracy than see Trump lose an election.

Importantly, some members protested the presidential election results in their own states. That is, they objected to the electoral systems that put them in office. Others objected to the elections that put their new colleagues in office. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., was sworn in on Sunday as Doug Jones’ replacement — one of his first acts as a senator was to object to a free and fair election. Indeed, he did so after Wednesday’s violent events. He was one of three newly minted senators to register such objections. more...
Betsy DeVos relentlessly promoted school choice and ended many Obama-era rules. She shares few similarities with her likely successor, Connecticut state education chief Miguel Cardona.
By NICOLE GAUDIANO and CAITLIN EMMA

Betsy DeVos will soon step down from her perch as Education secretary, ending her four-year run as the most polarizing person to have led the department. The Michigan billionaire, education philanthropist and staunch supporter of school choice will be remembered as a Cabinet secretary who successfully delayed and dismantled Obama-era rules at all levels of education. Her nomination to the Education Department’s top office in 2016 attracted more opposition than almost any other nominee and confrontations with public education advocates persisted throughout her term, especially during the coronavirus crisis, when she aggressively pushed for schools to reopen. more...
The companies pulled support for the “free speech” social network, all but killing the service just as many conservatives are seeking alternatives to Facebook and Twitter.
By Jack Nicas and Davey Alba

Parler, a social network that pitches itself as a “free speech” alternative to Twitter and Facebook, is suffering from whiplash. Over the past several months, Parler has become one of the fastest-growing apps in the United States. Millions of President Trump’s supporters have flocked to it as Facebook and Twitter increasingly cracked down on posts that spread misinformation and incited violence, including muzzling Mr. Trump by removing his accounts this past week. By Saturday morning, Apple listed Parler as the No. 1 free app for its iPhones. But, by Saturday night, Parler was suddenly fighting for its life. First, Apple and Google removed the app from their app stores because they said it had not sufficiently policed its users’ posts, allowing too many that encouraged violence and crime. Then, late Saturday, Amazon told Parler it would boot the company from its web-hosting service on Sunday night because of repeated violations of Amazon’s rules. more...
MSNBC

Chris Hayes: “It is entirely possible that there were people in that crowd, looking to apprehend, possibly harm, and possibly murder the leaders of the political class that the President, and people like Mo Brooks, and even to a certain extent Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, have told them have betrayed them." video...

NBC News congressional reporter Haley Talbot was inside when the violence and chaos started. video...

The Washington Post’s Capitol Hill reporter Rhonda Colvin and video journalist Lindsey Sitz were reporting live from the Capitol on Jan. 6 when a pro-Trump mob stormed the building. This is their account of the harrowing hours that followed. video...
By Christina Zhao

The shirtless rioter who was pictured storming the U.S. Capitol in an outfit of horns and fur has told the FBI that he came to Washington D.C. on Wednesday "at the request of the President." Jake Angeli, 32, of Arizona, whose real name is Jacob Anthony Chansley, was arrested on Saturday and charged with "knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds," according to the Department of Justice. A Capitol Police arrest affidavit shows that Chansley called into the Washington Field Office for the FBI on January 7, one day after the riots, and "voluntarily" confirmed to officials that he was the "male in face paint and headdress in the Vice President's chair in the Senate." Chansley, who was among the mob that broke into the Capitol as lawmakers met to formally certify President-elect Joe Biden's 2020 presidential election win, said he "came as part of a group effort, with other 'patriots' from Arizona, at the request of the President," according to the document. more...
By Brian Stelter, CNN Business

(CNN) News outlets are publishing more and more videos, photos and testimonials from Wednesday's pro-Trump riot on Capitol Hill. And it's becoming clear that as heinous as the attack looked in real time, on live TV and in our social feeds, it was even worse than we knew then. It was even more violent. It was even more treacherous. And Trump's behavior was even more disturbing. On Wednesday we witnessed history through a handful of soda straws, to borrow a metaphor from the 2003 Iraq invasion.

Journalists bravely covered the riot in real time and deserve enormous credit for doing so. But in the fog of chaos, it was impossible to see the full picture as it was happening. The public didn't find out that a US Capitol Police officer was gravely wounded until Thursday, for example. Officer Brian D. Sicknick died Thursday night, and federal prosecutors have now opened a homicide investigation. As is the case with many traumatic events, it has taken some time for the reality to sink in. "I was in the crowd and didn't realise how bad it was until a day or two after," reporter Richard Hall of The Independent, a British newspaper, tweeted Saturday. Reconstructions of the events and follow-up reporting by news organizations are bringing it into focus.

CNN aired a horrifying video Friday night, first published by investigative outlet Status Coup, showing a police officer pinned between a door and the mob. The officer screamed in agony. There are all sorts of practical reasons why these scenes weren't shown live on Wednesday. Inside the Capitol, many correspondents were locked down and shepherded to secure locations along with lawmakers. For more on the absolute terror of this ordeal, read NBC reporter Haley Talbot's account from inside the House chamber. On the outside, some reporters had a hard time getting news out because wireless towers were overwhelmed. Additionally, some news crews were threatened by groups of Trump supporters, making the working conditions even more difficult. more...
Sidney Powell and Lin Wood are faced with the possibility of being disbarred over their attempts to change the 2020 presidential election.
DeMicia Inman

According to Law And Crime, the city has requested that a federal judge order any sanction possible against the ‘Kraken’ team. The group was named after the fictional Clash of the Titans octopus-like monster who had super strength. Detroit’s counsel David Fink informed the outlet of the factors that went into the decision. We have been horrified by the inappropriate actions of these attorneys and the plaintiffs themselves, and we have intended to seek any sanction the court can order,” Frink remarked. According to the legal outlet, he added that a judge would have “inherent power” to refer disbarment or suspension proceedings to the chief judge. more...
Graig Graziosi

Donald Trump launched an expansive campaign to convince more than 150 Republican officials to overturn election results in his favour, a new report claims. A Politico report outlined the unprecedented steps Mr Trump took to convince Republican lawmakers at various levels of power to use their authority to overturn election results in his favour. In one instance, Mr Trump contacted Monica Palmer, who sits on a board that confirms the election results for Wayne County, Michigan – the state's most populous county. Shortly after the call, Ms Palmer said she wanted to rescind her vote to authorise the election results, which showed that Joe Biden had won. Though her efforts were ultimately in vain, they were just the beginning of Mr Trump's attempts to sway lawmakers into fraudulently naming him the election victor. more...
Non-partisan expert brought in for ‘assessment of Smartmatic and recent claims about the company’
Louise Hall

Fox has aired a series of unusual news packages debunking baseless claims of electoral fraud made on the network in the wake of a legal threat filed against the broadcaster by an electronic voting company. The segment, which aired during the shows of Fox hosts Lou Dobbs, Jeanine Pirro and Maria Bartiromo’s over the weekend, featured an interview with voting technology expert Eddie Perez. The shows, whose hosts are ardent supporters of the president, were all mentioned in a demand letter from Smartmatic threatening legal action over an accused “disinformation campaign” against the company by Fox News.

In the clip, the nonpartisan expert from the Palo Alto-based Open Source Election Technology, debunks claims about the company platformed on the network. “There are lots of opinions of the integrity of the election, the irregularities of mail-in voting, of election voting machines and voting software,” Mr Dobbs said in a preface to the interview. more...
*** Trump did not want to send the National Guard against white protesters but had no issue sending them again black protesters. ***

By Lauren Giella

After the chaos of the raid on the Capitol on Wednesday, there is still much confusion over the response of federal law enforcement and the delayed authorization of the National Guard and police support. While President Donald Trump initially encouraged his supporters to march to the Capitol, he later asked the mob to "remain peaceful," nonviolent and support law enforcement in a tweet that said, "I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order – respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!

Minutes later, Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweeted that the president directed the National Guard to protect the Capitol. In a video posted on Twitter on Thursday, Trump repeated the claim, saying, "I immediately ordered the National Guard and federal law enforcement to secure the building and expel the intruders."

After the video was posted, it was widely reported that Trump was not directly involved with the deployment of the National Guard on Wednesday. In a statement Wednesday, Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller did not mention working with Trump. He said he "spoke separately with the Vice President [Mike Pence] and with Speaker Pelosi, Leader McConnell, Senator Schumer and Representative Hoyer about the situation at the U.S. Capitol." more...
*** It is not the left we need to worry about it is right wing media and the radical right that we need to worry about before they destroy our country. ***

Brian Schwartz

A web of pro-Trump dark money groups helped organize the rally that led to a deadly riot on Capitol Hill. During the rally on Wednesday, President Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to march to the steps of Congress to protest the results of the Electoral College vote that certified Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election. “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them,” Trump said at the rally just in front of the White House before the riot started. After the rally, Trump supporters marched to the steps of Congress and broke into the U.S. Capitol building.

At least five people have been pronounced dead, including a police officer. Though the Justice Department has said Trump himself is not expected to be charged, acting D.C. U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin had previously acknowledged he’s “looking at all actors” that had a role in Wednesday’s attack. Trump is currently embroiled in yet another potential impeachment inquiry following the riot. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said that unless the president resigns, the House will move ahead with a motion for impeachment. more...
Lauren Feiner

Twitter permanently suspended President Donald Trump’s account on Friday. The company said in a tweet it made the decision “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” Twitter said it feared Trump’s most recent tweets were being interpreted as supporting the rioters and that plans for future armed protests had already been proliferating both on and off the platform, including a proposed attack on the U.S. Capitol and state capitol buildings on Jan. 17. The suspension amounts to a ban: Trump can no longer access his account and his tweets and profile picture have been deleted. Trump had 88.7 million followers prior to his suspension. Institutional accounts such as @POTUS and @WhiteHouse are still active.

Trump later tweeted a statement from the @POTUS account before it appeared to be deleted. Later Friday, the same statement was shared by the Trump campaign’s Twitter account before that entire account was permanently. “As we’ve said, using another account to try to evade a suspension is against our rules,” a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement. Twitter said it would not suspend intuitional accounts like @POTUS unless it had to in order to avoid real-world harm, but that it could limit those accounts’ capabilities. Those accounts will be transferred to the next administration. more...
Ryan W. Miller USA TODAY

Rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol this week were still being identified Saturday as more video came out showing the chaos of the deadly mob incited by President Donald Trump. Among those arrested was the rioter seen sitting at the desk of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Republican legislator from West Virginia and a suburban Chicago CEO. House Democrats plan to introduce an article of impeachment as early as Monday, likely an article alleging "incitement of insurrection."

Meanwhile, Trump was banned from Twitter late Friday "due to the risk of further incitement of violence," the social media company said, adding that there was a risk of "future armed protests" at the Capitol. Trump attempted to evade the ban by tweeting from other accounts, which have also been banned or had tweets deleted. Earlier, he said he would not attend Biden's inauguration, an event for which ADL (formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League) says extremists have begun plotting their next coup attempt. more...
By Nancy Ognanovich

Josh Hawley, first-term Republican senator and former state attorney general from Missouri, has faced unrelenting blowback for his role in challenging Joe Biden’s defeat of President Donald Trump, as violent riots erupted at the Capitol. Hawley, along with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, led the ultimately doomed effort to upend Biden’s electoral wins in key states, and both attempted to raise campaign funds off their efforts.

That push, including an image of Hawley saluting protesters with a fist pump before they stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, triggered criticism from fellow senators, the two largest newspapers in his state, a major donor, and a former Republican senator who aided his rapid political rise. It also led Simon & Schuster to cancel a contract for Hawley’s upcoming book, “The Tyranny of Big Tech.” The publishing company said it “cannot support Senator Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat to our democracy and freedom.” more...
Guess what happens when you tell people, over and over, that they’re being robbed? They may believe you.
By Peter Kafka

For more than two months, Fox News has been telling its viewers that the presidential election has been stolen. Or, at the very least, it could have been stolen. Now, facing the fatal consequence of that lie — a riot at the US Capitol that left at least four people dead — America’s most popular news network is telling its viewers the events were sad but also understandable. Because voters think the presidential election was stolen. “We got to this sad chaotic day for a reason. It is not your fault; it is their fault,” Fox’s Tucker Carlson said last night in his opening monologue, arguing that “millions of Americans sincerely believe the last election was fake.”  You could hear the same argument throughout all of Fox’s programming Wednesday night. “Does anybody in the media, anybody in the left, do they want to understand how hundreds of thousands of Americans, what motivated them to leave their homes and their towns and their cities and often fly or come long distances to be at the massive rally?” Sean Hannity asked Wednesday night. And Fox and Friends host Brian Kilmeade had at least part of an answer: It was a “frustrated electorate” who felt they “haven’t had their day in court.” more...
CNBC.com staff

This is CNBC’s live blog covering the latest news on the U.S. Capitol riot, calls for Trump’s impeachment, and the Biden transition. More than 200 lawmakers in the Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives are now calling for President Donald Trump’s removal from office in the wake of a mob attack on Congress that left at least 5 people dead including a police officer. Though calls for Trump’s removal are growing, either through impeachment or the 25 Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, time is short with less than two weeks to go until President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. It’s also unclear whether there is enough Republican support to execute such a move. Vice President Mike Pence is said to oppose ousting Trump with the 25 Amendment, a process that would require majority support from the president’s Cabinet. And so far, no Republican in the Senate has openly backed a second impeachment of Trump. more...
Kelly Tyko USA TODAY

Radio host Rush Limbaugh's Twitter account has been deactivated. Twitter confirmed to USA TODAY that the account wasn't suspended but "deactivated by the owner." Limbaugh is considered the leading conservative talk radio host and has been on the airwaves for more than three decades. He has been an adamant supporter of President Donald Trump and his Twitter account, @RealRLimbaugh, had a similar to the style of Trump's @realDonaldTrump. more...
BBC

Parler styles itself as "unbiased" social media and has proved popular with people banned from Twitter. But Google said the app had failed to remove posts inciting violence. Apple has also warned Parler it will remove the app from its App Store if it does not comply with its content-moderation requirements. On Parler, the app's chief executive John Matze said: "We won't cave to politically motivated companies and those authoritarians who hate free speech!" more...
The social networking app favored by conservatives has been given 24 hours to institute a moderation policy.
Ryan Mac, John Paczkowski

Apple has given Parler, the social network favored by conservatives and extremists, an ultimatum to implement a full moderation plan of its platform within the next 24 hours or face expulsion from the App store. In an email sent this morning and obtained by BuzzFeed News, Apple wrote to Parler’s executives that there had been complaints that the service had been used to plan and coordinate the storming of the US Capitol by President Donald Trump’s supporters on Wednesday. The insurrection left five people dead, including a police officer.

"We have received numerous complaints regarding objectionable content in your Parler service, accusations that the Parler app was used to plan, coordinate, and facilitate the illegal activities in Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021 that led (among other things) to loss of life, numerous injuries, and the destruction of property,” Apple wrote to Parler. “The app also appears to continue to be used to plan and facilitate yet further illegal and dangerous activities.” more...
By Jon Swaine, Dalton Bennett, Joyce Sohyun Lee and Meg Kelly

Two previously unreported video clips obtained by The Washington Post shed new light on the fatal shooting by police of Trump supporter and Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt as she and other rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Babbitt and others were attempting to breach a barricaded door inside the Capitol building on Wednesday afternoon, angrily demanding that three U.S. Capitol Police officers who were guarding the door step aside, one of the clips shows. The officers moved away as colleagues in tactical gear arrived behind the rioters, according to the clip and other video posted online. Roughly 35 seconds after the officers moved away, as she climbed up toward a broken section of the unguarded door, Babbitt was shot by an officer on the other side. more...
“At 1:00 p.m., we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal,” said the voice on the recording, which was obtained by NBC News.
By Laura Strickler and Lisa Cavazuti

An arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association, a national group representing the top law enforcement officers in their states, sent out robocalls encouraging people to march to the U.S. Capitol the day before the building was stormed by a pro-Trump mob. “At 1:00 p.m., we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal,” said the voice on the recording, which was obtained by NBC News.

The calls, which did not advocate violence or suggest the building should be breached, was sent out by the Rule of Law Defense Fund, a fundraising arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association. The groups share funding, staff and office space in Washington, D.C. In a statement to NBC News, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who runs the fund, said the calls were sent out without his knowledge.

“I was unaware of unauthorized decisions made by RLDF staff with regard to this week’s rally,” said Marshall, who assumed his role Nov. 10. “Despite currently transitioning into my role as the newly elected chairman of RLDF, it is unacceptable that I was neither consulted about nor informed of those decisions. I have directed an internal review of this matter.” A website set up to promote the rally that preceded the Capitol incursion lists the Rule of Law Defense Fund as one of the participating organizations. The site has since been taken down. more...
The dissent channel is rarely used except for formal protests of U.S. policy.
By Conor Finnegan

More than 100 U.S. diplomats have signed a cable to protest President Donald Trump's remarks that led to the ransacking of the Capitol building Wednesday, according to three sources familiar with the cable. This rare use of the dissent channel, a formal procedure for diplomats to protest U.S. policy straight to the State Department's leadership, comes as America's image suffers a blow from the violent scenes in Washington, where Trump encouraged his supporters to interrupt the symbolic vote in Congress that ratified his opponent Joe Biden's victory.

But they are not the only ones speaking up. A Trump appointee at the agency, Gabriel Noronha tweeted that Trump "needs to go" for fomenting "an insurrectionist mob that attacked the Capitol" and taking "every opportunity to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power." Hours after those tweets, the White House fired Noronha, who was a special adviser to the special envoy for Iran and a department spokesperson. more...
The president’s preferred megaphone cited “the risk of further incitement of violence.” It acted after Facebook, Snapchat, Twitch and other platforms placed limits on him.
By Kate Conger and Mike Isaac

OAKLAND, Calif. — Twitter said on Friday that it had permanently suspended President Trump from its service “due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” effectively cutting him off from his favorite megaphone for reaching the public and capping a series of actions by mainstream sites to limit his online reach. Twitter said in a blog post that Mr. Trump’s personal @realDonaldTrump account, which has more than 88 million followers, would be suspended immediately. The company said two tweets that Mr. Trump had posted on Friday — one calling his supporters “patriots” and another saying he would not go to the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20 — violated its rules on glorifying violence.

The tweets “were highly likely to encourage and inspire people to replicate the criminal acts that took place at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021,” Twitter said, referring to the storming of the Capitol by a mob of Trump loyalists. Within minutes, Mr. Trump’s account on Twitter was no longer visible or accessible. The move was a forceful repudiation by Twitter of Mr. Trump, who had used the platform to build his base and spread his messages, which were often filled with falsehoods and threats. Mr. Trump regularly tweeted dozens of times a day, sending flurries of messages in the early morning or late evening. In his posts, he gave his live reactions to television news programs, boosted supporters and attacked his perceived enemies. more...
John Haltiwanger

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday implored her Republican colleagues to embrace the push to remove President Donald Trump from office after he provoked an attempted coup at the US Capitol earlier in the week. "To my GOP colleagues: know that this President incited an insurrection against and incited his mob to find, harm, and possibly kill not just Democrats, but you, too. He *will* allow opportunities of physical harm against you if you aren't sufficiently loyal to him. Remove him," the New York Democrat said in a tweet.

Ocasio-Cortex has ripped into Trump and his GOP enablers over the few days, explicitly blaming them for the violence at the Capitol. She's singled out GOP Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley in that regard. Five people died as a result of the chaos at the Capitol on Wednesday, during which the insurrectionists could be heard shouting "where's Mike Pence." Trump made Pence a target of the violent mob's ire by scapegoating the vice president over his election loss. more...
CNN

Members of Congress are sheltering in place as pro-Trump rioters storm the US Capitol. video...
Images apparently showing Richard Barnett of Arkansas in the speaker's office became emblematic of the mayhem that tore across the U.S. Capitol.
By Pete Williams and Erik Ortiz

WASHINGTON — A man photographed casually sitting with his foot on a desk in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office at the U.S. Capitol while a pro-Trump mob rampaged the halls of Congress was arrested Friday, law enforcement officials said. Richard Barnett, 60, of Gravette, Arkansas, was taken into custody in his home state on federal charges of entering and remaining on restricted grounds, violent entry and theft of public property, according to a Department of Justice official. Further details were not immediately available.

Images, apparently of Barnett, were splashed across social media as the deadly mayhem unfolded in the nation's capital on Wednesday, just as Democratic and Republican lawmakers convened to count the Electoral College votes. Members of Congress condemned the violence and rioting, which was preceded by a rally led by President Donald Trump who told his supporters to swarm the Capitol in defiance of the election results.

Also charged Friday in connection with the rioting at the Capitol was a state lawmaker from West Virginia, Republican Del. Derrick Evans, who had recorded and then deleted a video of himself joining the throng. A petition has been started for him to step down. more...
Summer Meza

President-elect Joe Biden announced some economic priorities on Friday, but Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) promptly poked some holes in his plans. Biden began laying out his framework for the next round of COVID-19 relief, reports The Washington Post, and said his plans include a multi-trillion-dollar package that would provide "more direct relief flowing to families, small businesses," in part via $2,000 stimulus checks.

But Manchin, who Axios notes will become an increasingly important player as a moderate in the Democrats' razor-thin Senate majority, seemed taken aback by Biden's promise. "I don't know where in the hell $2,000 came from. I swear to God I don't," he said. "That's another $400 billion dollars." Since Republicans are united in opposing larger checks, resistance from a single Democrat could throw a wrench in Biden's plans. more...
By Erik Larson

Former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell was sued for defamation by the voting-machine company she repeatedly placed at the center of a vast and unfounded election conspiracy that she claimed switched votes to favor President-elect Joe Biden.

The complaint filed Friday by Dominion Voting Systems Inc. seeks $1.3 billion from Powell, who filed numerous unsuccessful court cases seeking to overturn the election results. She was dumped by the Trump campaign not long after a Nov. 19 press conference in which she claimed that agents from Iran and China infiltrated Dominion’s voting machines to help Biden, and that the software had ties to Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, who died in 2013.

“Powell’s wild accusations are demonstrably false,” the company, based in Toronto and Denver, said in the complaint. “Acting in concert with allies and media outlets that were determined to promote a false preconceived narrative about the 2020 election, Powell launched a viral disinformation campaign about Dominion that reached millions of people and caused enormous harm to Dominion.” more...
Tom Porter

A man arrested during the riots at the US Capitol was carrying 11 Molotov cocktails and an assault rifle, a federal prosecutor said Thursday. Mike Sherwin, the acting US attorney for the District of Columbia, gave a press conference describing action taken by prosecutors against members of the pro-Trump mob which attacked the Capitol building on Wednesday. Sherwin told reporters that 15 federal charges had been filed against people present at the riots for offences including illegally entering the Capitol, possessing a firearm and stealing congressional property. Among those facing federal charges was the unnamed man arrested with the Molotov cocktails, a type of makeshift explosive. Sherwin described the devices as "ready to go." more...
KIMBERLEE KRUESI and JONATHAN MATTISE

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — U.S. Attorney’s Office of Middle Tennessee on Friday said FBI agents searched the homes and offices of state lawmakers. The searches included the homes of former GOP House Speaker Glen Casada, state Rep. Robin Smith and Casada's former House chief of staff, Cade Cothren, U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman David Boling confirmed. The office of Republican Rep. Todd Warner was also searched, according to House Speaker Cameron Sexton.

Boling declined to provide any further information regarding the nature of the searches and how many lawmakers were involved. A spokesman for the FBI referred all questions to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Republican Gov. Bill Lee told reporters Friday that he had spoken to current Sexton, a Republican from Crossville, about the searches, describing them as “FBI raids.” “It’s certainly very concerning. I know very little about that. There’s been no FBI outreach to us,” Lee said. “But I have confidence that Speaker Sexton is on top of the situation and we’ll learn more as this unfolds.” Sexton later told reporters that he was in “full cooperation” with law enforcement authorities, adding that he had been made aware of an ongoing investigation into several lawmakers since taking over the top leadership seat in mid-2019. He declined to provide details about the nature of the investigation. more...
Irwin Rivera is being held without bail after allegedly stabbing his sisters on Jan. 7 as they slept in his home, according to online records and ESPN.
By Ryan Gajewski

UFC fighter Irwin Rivera was arrested Thursday, Jan. 7 for allegedly stabbing his two sisters in Boynton Beach, Fla. According to online records, the 31-year-old mixed martial artist has been charged with two counts of premeditated murder in the first degree. However, according to an incident report obtained by ESPN, he has been charged with two counts of attempted murder. He was taken into custody by the Boynton Beach Police Department with no bond set. more...
Kate Duffy

CEOs of major companies across the US said they have fired employees who stormed the US Capitol Wednesday after seeing photos and videos of them on social media. The pro-Trump mob forced their way into the Capitol building during a joint session of Congress to confirm the victory of President-elect Joe Biden in the presidential election. Business leaders spoke up about the violence in Washington, condemning it "sad and shameful." But others who have seen their employees participating in the riots on social media have taken matters into their own hands. Goosehead Insurance announced Thursday that Paul Davis, an associate general counsel, was no longer working at the Texas-based company. Davis, wearing a red cap with the words "make America great again," had posted on Instagram that he was peacefully demonstrating in Washington and had later been tear gassed. more...
By AJ Willingham and Carma Hassan, CNN

(CNN) As images and social media posts of Wednesday's insurrection at the US Capitol circulate online, some of those who were present are being identified, and some have lost or left their jobs because of it. Navistar, a direct marketing company in Maryland, announced that an employee had been terminated after he was photographed wearing his company ID badge inside the breached Capitol building. "While we support all employees' right to peaceful, lawful exercise of free speech, any employee demonstrating dangerous conduct that endangers the health and safety of others will no longer have an employment opportunity with Navistar Direct Marketing," the company said in a statement provided to CNN.

A Texas attorney named Paul Davis is no longer employed at his company, Goosehead Insurance, after social media posts appeared to show him talking about his participation in Wednesday's events. In one video, Davis says, "we're all trying to get into the Capitol to stop this." In further posts on Facebook's Stories feature, Davis said he was "peacefully demonstrating" the whole time, and was not trying to actively break into the Capitol. "I said 'trying to get into the Capitol,' meaning to voice a protest. Not in any violent way," he wrote. On Thursday, a Twitter account belonging to the Westlake, Texas-based company tweeted: "Paul Davis, Associate General Counsel, is no longer employed by Goosehead." CNN reached out to Goosehead for further comment and was directed to a voicemail message that stated, "The Goosehead employee involved at the Capitol is no longer employed." more...
By Joe Sutton, CNN

(CNN) Authorities in California have arrested the woman allegedly involved in an incident in which a jazz musician said his 14-year-old son was attacked by a woman who falsely accused him of taking her iPhone. Miya Ponsetto, 22, was arrested Thursday during a traffic stop near her home in Piru, located in Ventura County, the Ventura County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. Authorities say she was arrested for a "fugitive warrant in connection with a recent assault at a New York City hotel." She was booked at the Pre-Trial Detention Facility in Ventura and is being held without bail, the sheriff's office said. Ponsetto was contacted by sheriff's deputies during a traffic stop near her home. "She did not stop for deputies until she reached her residence, and she refused to get out of the car. Deputies forcibly removed her from the vehicle and arrested her for the outstanding warrant," according to the news release.

What happened in New York City
The alleged assault happened at the Arlo SoHo boutique hotel in New York City last month. Trumpeter Keyon Harrold posted a video taken with his phone that shows the woman making claims against his son. more...
Capitol Police rejected offers of federal help to quell mob
By COLLEEN LONG, LOLITA BALDOR, MICHAEL BALSAMO, and NOMAAN MERCHANT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three days before supporters of President Donald Trump rioted at the Capitol, the Pentagon asked the U.S Capitol Police if it needed National Guard manpower. And as the mob descended on the building Wednesday, Justice Department leaders reached out to offer up FBI agents. The police turned them down both times, according to senior defense officials and two people familiar with the matter.

Despite plenty of warnings of a possible insurrection and ample resources and time to prepare, the Capitol Police planned only for a free speech demonstration. Still stinging from the uproar over the violent response by law enforcement to protests last June near the White House, officials also were intent on avoiding any appearance that the federal government was deploying active duty or National Guard troops against Americans.

The result is the U.S. Capitol was overrun Wednesday and officers in a law enforcement agency with a large operating budget and experience in high-security events protecting lawmakers were overwhelmed for the world to see. Four protesters died, including one shot inside the building. The rioting and loss of control has raised serious questions over security at the Capitol for future events. The actions of the day also raise troubling concerns about the treatment of mainly white Trump supporters, who were allowed to roam through the building for hours, while Black and brown protesters who demonstrated last year over police brutality faced more robust and aggressive policing. more...
By Niv Elis

One Capitol Police officer is in critical condition and 15 were hospitalized after up to 60 officers were injured after a violent pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol on Wednesday. "I'm livid about the whole thing," said Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), who added that several police were hit in the lead with lead pipes. Ryan chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that funds the more than 2,000-member police force. The panel has opened investigations into the security failure that led to protesters supporting President Trump breaching the Capitol. That included entering the Senate chamber. The Ohio Democrat said police were able to hold off the violent mob for an hour and fifteen minutes, but backup such as the National Guard did not arrive in time to prevent the crowds from overtaking law enforcement. Ryan said that the up to 1,500 Capitol Police present plus another 1,000 D.C. Metropolitan Police were overwhelmed by an estimated crowd of over 10,000 people. more...
An armed rioter and another man who slugged a cop were among the first charged in connection with the Capitol coup attempt.
William Bredderman, Adam Rawnsley, Pilar Melendez

So much for a “peaceful” protest. Authorities announced the first federal charges this afternoon against the Trump mob who invaded the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday afternoon—including a rioter armed to the teeth with a semi-automatic rifle and nearly a dozen Molotov cocktails “ready to go.” Michael Sherwin, acting U.S. attorney for D.C, put it simply at a press conference Thursday afternoon: “It was a very dangerous situation.” He said prosecutors are filing federal charges in 15 criminal cases related to Wednesday’s violence. They include the man arrested with his “military semi-automatic rifle” and 11 Molotov cocktails, another rioter wielding a pistol, and a third protester who repeatedly punched a police officer.

“We will bring the most maximum charges we can,” Sherwin said. “This is just the beginning.” When asked whether he was planning to investigate the White House, Sherwin insisted that all options are still on the table and that his probe of the riots is ongoing. The top prosecutor added his office is also looking to bring charges against people who may have organized the riot. “We’re trying to deal with the closest alligators to the boat right now,” Sherwin said. “Those are the people who obviously breached the Capitol, created violence and mayhem there and then exited. But yes, we are looking at all actors here, not only the people that went into the building.” more...
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

(CNN) Josh Hawley looked like he had seen a ghost. The 40-something Missouri Republican senator was clearly shaken and uncertain of himself Wednesday night as he spoke on the Senate floor -- decrying the violence that had led to the seizure of the US Capitol by pro-Trump forces earlier in the day, even while still trying to defend his much-publicized plan to object to the Electoral College results in several states. "Violence is not how you achieve change," Hawley cautioned. "Violence is not how you achieve something better."

Well, yes. But, maybe -- just maybe -- Hawley should have realized that BEFORE he decided to become the first senator to sign on to the objection to the Electoral College, ensuring that there would be both debate and votes on these objections.
It was more than a little ironic then that the man who let the genie out of the bottle was suddenly condemning what that genie did. Who could have known that encouraging false -- and debunked -- claims about nonexistent fraud could lead ardent Trump supporters to act on their dissatisfaction and anger when gathered in a large group in Washington? Man, what a shock! Not. more...
Rioters encouraged and praised by Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol Building on Wednesday, leaving the halls of Congress vandalized and strewn with debris.
By Wilson Wong

Hundreds of President Donald Trump's supporters swarmed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, leaving the halls of Congress with broken windows, vandalized walls and ransacked offices. Among the wreckage were pieces of broken furniture, battered doors and heaps of trash littering the hallway floors. A thick film of dust and tear gas residue remained throughout the building that contains the Senate and the House of Representatives. Stolen and damaged items were reported in elected officials' offices, including the wood and gold placard above House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office. Staff spent the night cleaning up the debris of the chaotic and at times violent riot that left four people dead — three who died of "medical emergencies" and one woman who was fatally shot by a U.S. Capitol Police officer. In one photo, four bullet holes can be seen in the glass of the House doors. Stickers on the glass contained phrases like, "F--- antifa!" and "Not my president" under a photo of Biden. more...
By Dominick Mastrangelo

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh took a dismissive tone to those calling for an end to violence after the ugly scenes of a mob insurrection at the Capitol, comparing the rioters to the colonists who sparked the American Revolution. "We're supposed to be horrified by the protesters," Limbaugh said on his program on Thursday. "There's a lot of people out there calling for the end of violence ... lot of conservatives, social media, who say that any violence or aggression at all is unacceptable regardless of the circumstances." Limbaugh added: "I am glad Sam Adams ... Thomas Paine ... the actual tea party guys ... the men at Lexington and Concord, didn't feel that way.”  

Limbaugh said Wednesday's unrest was a result of months of American citizens being "fed up" with left-leaning political activism in the country.  “Yesterday, hundreds of thousands of people — Americans who have gotten tired of being ignored and lied about and smeared as racists by these very Democrats in the media and the popular culture,” Limbaugh said. “Americans who have gotten fed up with having elections stolen from them by the Democrats, including the White House. Now they think two more Senate seats have been stolen, and they thought they were going to be stolen even before the election.” Other conservative voices were highly critical of the mob, unlike Limbaugh. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who many critics have blamed for the chaos because he was one of the lawmakers to object to the election certification process, called the rioters "domestic terrorists." more...
Aaron Sanderford

Hours before a political mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, potential Nebraska gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster was in the crowd Wednesday as President Donald Trump rallied supporters near the White House to keep fighting to overturn the election results. Herbster, a Republican who owns a Falls City, Nebraska, ranch and a Kansas City-area business, also met Tuesday in Trump’s private residence in his Washington, D.C., hotel with Trump’s sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, and other campaign advisers. They discussed how to pressure more members of Congress to object to the Electoral College results that made Joe Biden the winner. more...
By Nicole Chavez, CNN

(CNN) As hundreds of supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol, breaking windows and wreaking havoc, politicians and activists were among the many who drew comparisons between the police response on Wednesday to that of last year's Black Lives Matter protests. The death of George Floyd -- a Black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd's neck -- in May of 2020 prompted hundreds of protests nationwide over the summer. In many cities, including the nation's capital, police met protesters with tear gas, violence and arrests.

However, Wednesday's protests, many pointed out, were different. The Black Lives Matter Global Network, one of the most well-known organizations fighting for the well-being of Black people, described Wednesday's riots as a "coup." The group said it was "one more example of the hypocrisy in our country's law enforcement response to protest." "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 group said in a statement. "Make no mistake, if the protesters were Black, we would have been tear gassed, battered, and perhaps shot." Here's a look at the protests from last year, compared to those on Wednesday. more...
By Robert Klemko, Kimberly Kindy, Kim Bellware and Derek Hawkins

When Chanelle Helm helped organize protests after the March 13 killing of Breonna Taylor, Louisville police responded with batons, stun grenades and tear gas. The 40-year-old Black Lives Matter activist still bears scars from rubber bullets fired at close range. So Helm was startled and frustrated Wednesday to see a White, pro-Trump mob storm the U.S. Capitol — breaking down barricades, smashing windows and striking police officers — without obvious consequence.

“Our activists are still to this day met with hyper-police violence,” Helm said. “And today you see this full-on riot — literally a coup — with people toting guns, which the police knew was coming and they just let it happen. I don’t understand where the ‘law and order’ is. This is what white supremacy looks like.” Helm and other activists across the country who spent much of 2020 facing off with law enforcement officers while protesting police brutality and racial inequality watched with a mixture of outrage and validation as the president’s supporters stormed the Capitol building during sessions of the House and Senate. more...
N'dea Yancey-Bragg, John Bacon USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – An eerie quiet blanketed the area around the U.S. Capitol early Thursday, hours after thousands of protesters overwhelmed police and breached the building in an unprecedented assault on the Democratic process. Four deaths and more than 50 arrests later, the Capitol lawn was nearly deserted and  silent, a stark contrast from the cheering and chanting of Wednesday's unrestrained boisterous crowd. There was little evidence of Wednesday’s riot except for debris, folding chairs and discarded signs.

The citywide curfew, which went into effect at 6 p.m. Wednesday, ended at 6 a.m. Mayor Muriel Bowser, however, announced a 15-day extension of the public emergency "to ensure peace and security" through the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. National guard members in what appeared to be bullet proof vests were posted along surrounding streets as news crews set up near where rioters destroyed camera equipment the day before. more...
By Jenny Gross and Luke Broadwater

Even after a mob of Trump supporters swarmed and entered the Capitol on Wednesday, a handful of Republican senators and more than 100 Republican representatives stood by their decisions to vote against certifying the results of the presidential election. Congress certified the election of Joseph R. Biden Jr. early Thursday, ending attempts to overturn the results in two states. Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri, Ted Cruz of Texas, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Roger Marshall of Kansas and John Kennedy of Louisiana voted to overturn the results in Arizona, while 93 senators voted against. Mr. Hawley, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Tuberville, Ms. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Marshall and Senators Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Rick Scott of Florida voted to overturn the results in Pennsylvania, while 92 voted against it. The House rejected the Arizona challenge by a vote of 303 to 121 and rejected the Pennsylvania challenge by a vote of 282 to 138. more...
Jason Owens

Following a violent attack by supporters of President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had a message for Republican senators who stoked the election conspiracy theories that sparked Wednesday’s insurrection. Speaking with media ahead of a game against the Los Angeles Clippers Wednesday, Kerr suggested that Sens. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Josh Hawley do the same before meeting at the Capitol.

“I wish that people like Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Josh Hawley had to do pregame media before they met in Congress,” Kerr said. “It would be great for them to answer the question: ‘Are you happy now? Do you keep moving the line back? Does this change anything? Are you going to continue to enable?’”

Why did Kerr single out senators? Hawley, a Trump loyalist representing Missouri, was the first senator to announce that he would object to the counting of electoral college votes that confirm President-elect Joe Biden as Trump’s successor. Hawley cited baseless election theories spouted by Trump that votes in some states that went for Biden were invalid. more...
John L. Dorman

The US Capitol in Washington, DC, a beacon of American government, became the scene of a dystopian nightmare on Wednesday, fueled by the debunked electoral grievances of President Donald Trump. Trump's 2016 victory was a breakthrough for many Republicans who wanted a more confrontational form of conservatism, but nearly four years after the president's single term, the skies were lit by flash-bangs from law enforcement munitions trying to maintain order in the nation's capital. The country has long been politically polarized, with sharp ideological divergences over issues like abortion, race, and guns dominating the public sphere for years. But peaceful presidential transitions have been the norm throughout American history, with supporters of political candidates respecting the democratic process. more...
By Meryl Kornfield

After supporters of President Trump descended on the U.S. Capitol building, hoping to stop the counting of electoral college votes, lawmakers and experts alike repeated a phrase to describe the violent mob: “domestic terrorists.” “Those who performed these reprehensible acts cannot be called protesters; no, these were rioters and insurrectionists, goons and thugs, domestic terrorists,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a speech after lawmakers reconvened. “They do not represent America.”

“What happened today was domestic terrorism,” GOP spokesman Michael Ahrens tweeted. “Our soldiers have died carrying the American flag into battle for our freedom. To see that flag used in the name of unfounded conspiracy theories is a disgrace to the nation, and every decent American should be disgusted by it.” Members of both political parties pointed to the destruction of government property, threats to law enforcement and two explosive devices found near the Capitol as acts of terrorism as far-right extremist groups rallied in the nation’s capital to contest the results of the presidential election. In the media, CNN executives told the organization’s journalists that they could refer to the siege as “domestic terrorism.” more...
Savannah Behrmann USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – Several House Democrats called for President Donald Trump to be impeached afterhis supporters rioted and stormed the United States Capitol Building, saying that the president "incited violence." After the pro-Trump rioters breached the Capitol while Congress was counting Electoral Votes, Vice President Mike Pence had to be swept to a secure location, and the Senate chamber evacuated. Lawmakers, staff members, reporters and others on Capitol Hill were forced to shelter-in-place for hours as the rioters forced their ways onto the Senate floor, and into the office of lawmakers. In social media posts later removed by Twitter and Facebook, Trump told the rioters "we love you" but asked them to "stay peaceful,'' and taped a video urging them to go home while referring to "a fraudulent election'' that "was stolen from us.'' more...
Tom Winter and Andrew Blankstein

Law enforcement officials across the country expressed shock over the chaos at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, with some saying police were "entirely unprepared" and others calling the response "embarrassing." Many said it was the failure of the Capitol Police to prevent the physical invasion of the building by pro-Trump rioters that concerned them most. Carmen Best, who was chief of the Seattle police from 2018 to September and is now an NBC News contributor, said that, like many other Americans, she watched the events at the Capitol unfold on television. "I was wondering, where were the cops? If they don't get there soon, what else could transpire? It felt like a very long time, and I'm sure millions of people were also watching and thinking the same thing," Best said.

While she said she did not want to be overly critical of the Capitol Police, given that facts were still coming to light, she said the response "took way too long." A senior law enforcement official with decades of experience handling high-profile security events at a major-city police department raised national security concerns in light of the breaches of senior congressional leaders' offices. The official wondered what documents were exposed, what computers were unlocked and what phone numbers were out in the open when rioters entered the offices. The official was also concerned that foreign intelligence officers could have been mixed in with the crowd. Many officials who spoke to NBC News condemned decisions made by supervisory officers when it came to preparation. more...
N'dea Yancey-Bragg, John Bacon, Ryan W. Miller, Jorge L. Ortiz, Trevor Hughes, Grace Hauck, Will Carless, Jordan Culver - USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The nation's lawmakers took to their electoral duties late Wednesday amid broken glass and smashed doors in the U.S. Capitol following an historic day of havoc wrought by pro-Trump rioters who breached the building in hopes of thwarting President-elect Joe Biden's victory. Vice President Mike Pence affirmed Biden's win early Thursday. Thousands of rioters had gathered at the National Mall to protest the election results. At a campaign-style rally about an hour before the mob broke through police lines at the Capitol, Trump had urged them to go to the building. D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee said the chaotic day included four fatalities: a woman who was shot by the U.S. Capitol Police, as well as three others — two men and one woman — who died in “separate medical emergencies.” Police had made "in excess of 52 arrests," including 26 on U.S. Capitol grounds, he said. more...
By Shashank Bengali, Kate Linthicum, Erik Kirschbaum

For four years, the world has watched with surprise, horror and in some places glee as President Trump battered one democratic norm after another, exposing the so-called leader of the free world as just another troubled and deeply divided nation. Still, the planet was little prepared for the stunning scenes Wednesday, when a pro-Trump mob, some flying Confederate flags, stormed the U.S. Capitol to disrupt a congressional vote certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral victory. “That rhetoric of American exceptionalism has lost a lot of shine in recent years, but nobody expected this to happen,” said Carlos Bravo Regidor, a political analyst and a professor at CIDE, a public research center in Mexico City. “This is a reckoning or a coming to terms with the fact that the U.S. can no longer be seen as a beacon of hope and democracy.” more...
Pro-Trump rioters also stormed legislative buildings in Kansas and Minnesota as a mob in D.C. breached the Capitol.
Pilar Melendez, Blake Montgomery

As violent chaos unfolded Wednesday inside the U.S. Capitol, rioters fueled by President Donald Trump’s election conspiracies clashed with cops at legislative buildings across the country. Armed militia members gathered outside the Georgia Capitol building just as the pro-Trump protesters entered the U.S. House and Senate chambers around 2 p.m. ET. According to reporters on the scene, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the most recent subject of the president’s pressure campaign to overturn the results of the election, was evacuated along with senior staff members.

Rioters also stormed the statehouse in Kansas, reportedly moving inside the first floor of the Topeka Capitol’s rotunda before gathering in a circle, according to KSN. In St. Paul, Minnesota, a mob entered the state Capitol building and banged on the door of the House press gallery. At least a thousand protesters also gathered at the state Capitol building in Phoenix, Arizona, where some in the crowd reportedly brought a guillotine. “We will never recognize Joe Biden as our president, ever,” activist Stacy Gentile said to the crowd, according to the Arizona Mirror. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam declared a statewide state of emergency over the violence in Washington, D.C., and a curfew in Alexandria and Arlington. more...
by Solomon Jones

I felt a growing sadness as I listened to a recording of Donald Trump begging, bullying, cajoling and threatening Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in an attempt to make him do something he can’t—overturn Trump’s loss in the presidential race, via the state now poised to send a historic rebuke to the GOP’s exclusionary politics. Others, including former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and former federal prosecutor Elie Honig, have said the president’s roughly hourlong call to Raffensperger, published by the Washington Post, could expose the president to state and federal charges of election fraud. In listening to what Trump said, I thought Bharara and others were right. “But they are shredding ballots, in my opinion, based on what I’ve heard,” Trump told Raffensperger as lawyers and staffers listened in. “And they are removing machinery, and they’re moving it as fast as they can, both of which are criminal finds. And you can’t let it happen, and you are letting it happen. You know, I mean, I’m notifying you that you’re letting it happen. So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state.” more...
By Julia Horowitz, CNN Business

London (CNN Business) The New York Stock Exchange will delist three Chinese telecommunications stocks to comply with an executive order from the Trump administration — its second about-face on the issue this week. The exchange said Wednesday that it would end trading of shares in China Mobile (CHL), China Telecom (CHA) and China Unicom (CHU) on Jan. 11. The decision comes after President Donald Trump banned Americans late last year from investing in firms that the US government suspects are either owned or controlled by the Chinese military. The NYSE has now abruptly changed its position on the issue twice, sowing confusion among investors and whipsawing the companies' stocks. The exchange first announced last week that it would bar shares of China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom. But it reversed course on Monday, citing "further consultation with relevant regulatory authorities." more...
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