Author: PolitCens

U.S. President Donald Trump travels Tuesday to the southern city of Alamo, Texas, near the U.S-Mexico border, where he is expected to use one of his final days in office to highlight his administration’s efforts to curb illegal immigration.It will be his first public appearance since last Wednesday when he said in a speech to his supporters that the presidential election was being stolen and urged them to “fight” before they stormed the U.S. Capitol.His visit to Texas also comes as the Democrat-majority House of Representatives pursues efforts to remove Trump from office.US House Moves to Remove Trump from OfficeDemocrats accuse US leader of ‘incitement of insurrection’ in last week’s storming of the Capitol by a mob of Trump supportersImmigration was a major focus of Trump’s campaign for president in 2016, with his frequent calls to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.With his term set to end January 20, his administration has overseen the construction of roughly 450 miles of border wall.  The vast majority of the construction replaced existing smaller barriers along the border.The visit also comes a day after Trump’s acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf abruptly resigned.Ahead of Trump’s trip to Alamo, the Southern Poverty Law Center called for the visit to be cancelled, saying it would “only further the harm and beget more violence.”“For years, communities on the border have resisted this administration’s bigoted agenda. It’s these communities, from San Diego to Brownsville, who have been subjected to unconscionable violence inflamed by the president’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and xenophobic policies,” Efrén Olivares, deputy legal director of SPLC’s Immigrant Justice Project, said in a statement. 
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The Democrat-majority U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote Tuesday on a resolution calling for Vice President Mike Pence and members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet to use their constitutional authority to remove Trump from office.The measure, which is expected to pass, sets a 24-hour deadline for Pence to respond.WATCH: US House to Vote on Impeaching Trump Later this WeekSorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) take part in a joint session of Congress to certify the 2020 election results at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021.House leaders are also pushing ahead with a separate impeachment resolution that lawmakers are scheduled to begin considering Wednesday morning.Even though Trump’s four-year term expires at noon January 20, the four-page impeachment resolution said Trump has “demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law.”The four-page impeachment resolution cites Trump’s unfounded accusations that he was cheated out of a second four-year term by vote and vote-counting irregularities, his pressure on election officials in the southern state of Georgia to “find” him more than 11,000 votes to overtake Biden’s margin of victory in the state, and his statements at a rally last Wednesday urging thousands of supporters to march to the Capitol to pressure lawmakers to overturn the election outcome.A total of 218 Democrats have signed on to the resolution, ensuring a majority in the 435-member House without any Republican votes against the outgoing Republican president.Majority of Americans Want Trump Removed Immediately After US Capitol Violence – Reuters/Ipsos PollNearly 70% of Americans surveyed also said they disapprove of Trump’s actions in the run-up to Wednesday’s assaultBut it is unclear whether House leaders would immediately send the resolution to the Senate for a trial on whether to convict Trump and remove him from office, given that his term ends next week.Biden said it is his “hope and expectation” that the Senate could simultaneously hold an impeachment trial and confirm his Cabinet appointments after he takes office, while also approving more aid for the flagging U.S. economy weakened by the soaring coronavirus pandemic.He said Monday of the rioters, “It is critically important that there’ll be a real serious focus on holding those folks who engaged in sedition and threatening the lives, defacing public property, caused great damage — that they be held accountable.”Biden also told reporters, “I’m not afraid of taking the oath outside,” referring to next week’s swearing-in ceremony, which traditionally takes place at the U.S. Capitol’s west steps, one of the areas where people stormed the building.Even if Trump has already left office, a Senate impeachment conviction after his term ends could mean he would not hold federal office again.Republican Congressman Tom Reed said in a New York Times opinion piece that he would join an unspecified number of House colleagues in introducing a censure resolution against Trump on Tuesday as an alternative to a “hasty impeachment.”“If our leaders make the wrong decision in how to hold him accountable, it could damage the integrity of our system of justice, further fan the flames of division, and disillusion millions of Americans ─ all while failing to accomplish anything,” Reed wrote.Twitter Bans Trump, Others, Citing Risk of Violent IncitementSocial platform has been under growing pressure to take further action against Trump following Wednesday’s assault on US Capitol Trump, banned from Twitter for his false, incendiary comments alleging election fraud, has not publicly commented on the effort to impeach him a second time, which would give him a singular distinction among 45 U.S. presidents in the 245-year history of the United States.The House impeached him the first time in late 2019, accusing him of trying to get Ukraine to dig up dirt on Biden ahead of last November’s election, but the Senate acquitted him in early February.At last Wednesday’s rally near the White House, Trump told several thousand people, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”The largely white mob that walked to the Capitol quickly overwhelmed police there, storming inside in droves, breaking windows, ransacking some congressional offices and scuffling with security officials.Dozens of Trump supporters have been arrested, and authorities are scouring security videos and social media accounts the rioters posted of themselves inside the Capitol to identify other wrongdoers. Five people died in the mayhem, including a police officer whose death is being investigated as a homicide.Trump has refused to concede his defeat or congratulate Biden, but he has acknowledged there will be a “new administration” come January 20.Trump has announced that he will not attend Biden’s inauguration, ignoring a long-standing tradition in the United States of an outgoing chief executive witnessing his successor take office as a show of the peaceful transition of power in the U.S. democracy.Pence, however, does plan to attend the ceremony, which will be downscaled significantly because of the surging number of coronavirus cases in the United States.
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday defended the leadership of the U.S. Agency for Global Media against criticisms that its CEO is trying to turn the news network into a propaganda tool.     FILE – Michael Pack, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, is seen at his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Sept. 19, 2019. Pack’s nomination was confirmed June 4, 2020.He told the audience that faults should be acknowledged but, “This isn’t ‘Vice of America’ focusing on everything that’s wrong with our great nation. It certainly isn’t the place to give authoritarian regimes in Beijing and Tehran a platform.”     In support of Pack, a former conservative filmmaker, the secretary of state told the audience and those listening to a live feed, “There’s a new dawn here at Voice of America.”    He also praised the work of the network’s journalists for providing independent news to those living in authoritarian countries.    Following the speech, VOA’s new director, Robert Reilly, conducted a short conversation with Pompeo about USAGM, its mission and events in the news, but he did not make use of topical news questions provided by journalists beforehand at the network he oversees. Nor did he ask Pompeo about the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week that produced shocking images of a symbol of American democracy seen around the globe.Journalists at the network who attended the event tried to shout questions after it ended but were ignored by Pompeo. The agency said it did not allow outside reporters to attend because of limited space for coronavirus safety protocols.    Since joining USAGM in June, Pack has been criticized for actions including his dismissal of the heads of Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; and the Middle East Broadcasting Network; appointing new boards and reassigning the VOA standards editor Steve Springer. VOA’s director Amanda Bennett and her deputy Sandy Sugawara stepped down before his arrival.      A U.S. District Court in November barred Pack and his aides from directly interfering in the editorial independence of VOA until a lawsuit alleging violations is settled.Court Injunction Bars USAGM From Editorial InterferenceRuling says First Amendment of US Constitution protects agency’s journalists Pompeo echoed remarks made previously by Pack that actions were needed to correct security concerns at the agency and said the chief executive was right to end “rubber stamping J-1 visas for foreign nationals.”     In June, USAGM announced a case-by-case review of the special permit for international journalists, resulting in several losing their jobs and the right to remain in the U.S. after Pack failed to renew their requests.      VOA’s 47 language services rely on journalists with not only language skills but also the nuanced knowledge of the region they cover. VOA has to prove, when hiring a journalist on a J-1 visas, that no suitable U.S. candidate is available.      U.S. lawmakers and rights organizations including the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press have condemned Pack’s decision to not renew the J-1 visas, pointing out that it potentially puts foreign journalists at risk of harm if they are forced to return to hostile countries.    In his speech, Pompeo criticized a group of journalists at the news network who said the speech should not be broadcast live.     A letter, sent on behalf of the whistleblowers by the Government Accountability Project, said broadcasting the speech live is a violation of VOA’s law, rules and policy.      “A broadcast speech by the outgoing secretary of state on topics on which he has been widely covered should be seen for what it is: the use of VOA to disseminate political propaganda in the waning days of the Trump administration,” the letter said.  Pompeo likened the letter to “censorship, wokeness, political correctness” and the cancel culture on social media and at university campuses, where groups call for voices deemed extreme or intolerant to not be given space.“It all points in one direction — authoritarianism cloaked as moral righteousness,” Pompeo said.      David Seide, senior counsel of GAP, disputed Pompeo’s view, telling VOA, “This is not about censorship or woke-ism. This is about abiding by the law.”“The accusation that VOA employees were attempting to censor the secretary’s speech is ludicrous. The concerns voiced go to the heart of editorial independence,” said Seide, who sent the letter to Pack on behalf of a group of protected whistleblowers.   Bruce Brown, executive director of RCFP, shared that view, saying “editorial autonomy should not bend for any one nation’s interest, including our own.” Pompeo’s speech comes a little over a week before a new administration takes over. During the election campaign, a spokesperson for then-candidate Joe Biden said that if elected Biden would remove Pack from office.
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Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told his staff Monday he was stepping down, the department said Monday, the latest senior Trump administration official to resign following last week’s deadly mob attack on the U.S. Capitol. The Department of Homeland Security press office said Wolf would leave his post at 11:59 p.m. Monday. Pete Gaynor, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will take over as acting secretary, the office said. President Donald Trump withdrew Wolf’s nomination to be permanent Homeland Security secretary last week. Supporters of Trump stormed the Capitol last Wednesday in an assault that led to five deaths, dozens of injuries among law enforcement and the ransacking of lawmakers’ offices. 
 
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Concerns are growing that the storming of the U.S. Capitol last week by extremists supporting U.S. President Donald Trump may be the start of what could be a series of potentially armed and violent protests across the country leading up to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday told VOA it is examining evidence suggesting groups or individuals may be looking to incite violence or engage in criminal activity in connection with the planned transfer of power. “While our standard practice is to not comment on specific intelligence products, the FBI is supporting our state, local and federal law enforcement partners,” the bureau said in a statement. “Our focus is not on peaceful protesters, but on those threatening their safety and the safety of other citizens with violence and destruction of property,” the statement added.  An FBI bulletin, first obtained by ABC News and Yahoo News, likewise cautions about the potential for violence, in Washington as well as in all 50 states. The FBI has “received information about an identified armed group intending to travel to Washington, D.C., on 16 January,” the bulletin said. “They have warned that if Congress attempts to remove POTUS via the 25th Amendment a huge uprising will occur.” The bulletin further warned that a group is calling for the storming of state, local and federal buildings should efforts to remove Trump from office before the January 20 inauguration succeed. While not commenting on the specific threats, other government agencies are taking steps to bolster security. Members of the National Guard arrive to the U.S. Capitol days after supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 11, 2021.The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Monday it is directing the U.S. Secret Service, normally tasked with presidential security, to start its inauguration security operation this Wednesday, six days earlier than planned. DHS cited “events of the past week and the evolving security landscape,” as the reason for the change. National Guard Earlier Monday, the U.S. National Guard said it had authorized up to 15,000 members to assist with security efforts for the January 20 inauguration.  “To date, our troops have been requested to support security, logistics, liaison, and communication missions,” Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said in a statement.  NEW: FILE – U.S. National Guard members walk toward the White House from the Washington Monument in Washington, Nov. 3, 2020.The U.S. National Park Service also announced Monday it will close the Washington Monument from January 11 until after the inauguration, citing threats of violence.  “Groups involved in the January 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol continue to threaten to disrupt the 59th presidential inauguration on January 20, 2021,” NPS wrote in a statement on its website.  The NPS said other parts of the National Mall and roadways could be blocked in the coming weeks, as well.  Emergency declaration In addition, the White House late Monday announced Trump approved an emergency declaration for Washington, lasting until January 24, four days after the inauguration. The move clears the way for key federal agencies, including DHS and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate and mobilize emergency assistance should it be needed. But there is also some concern the heightened security may be needed beyond the inauguration.  “The State of the Union [presidential address to Congress] is just around the corner,” Terry Gainer, a former chief for the Capitol Police who also served as the Senate Sergeant-at-arms, told a webinar Monday. “The Right to Life March will happen [January 29],” Gainer added. “The ongoing discussions with the impeachment – all sorts of things that would attract wrongdoers to come there, as well as protesters who should legitimately protest and have a right to do it.” In contrast to the latest warnings and increased precautions, both the FBI and the Washington Metropolitan Police have said there was no intelligence before last Wednesday’s planned protests to suggest portions of the crowd could become violent. Allegations of pushbackOutgoing U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund has told The Washington Post that he met with pushback from military officials, and that security officials in the House of Representatives and the Senate denied his request to ask the National Guard to be ready to help ahead of last week’s attack on the U.S. Capitol.  “If we would have had the National Guard, we could have held them at bay longer until more officers from our partner agencies could arrive,” Sund told the Post.  But the U.S. Army late Monday refuted Sund’s suggestions that military officials sought to deny any requests for help.  “I did not make the statement or any comments similar to what was attributed to me by Chief Sund in the Washington Post article,” Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt, the Director of the Army Staff, countered in a statement. “But [I] would note that even in his telling he makes it clear that neither I, nor anyone else from DoD, denied the deployment of requested personnel,” Piatt added. FILE – Capitol Police in riot gear push back demonstrators trying to break a door of the U.S. Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021.A Pentagon spokesman said last week that U.S. Capitol Police did not make a request for National Guard backup before the riot that left five people dead, including a Capitol police officer. A second officer who responded to the assault on the Capitol died off duty.  Pro-Trump rioters overwhelmed the outnumbered Capitol Police and spent several hours inside the building Wednesday as security rushed lawmakers to safety. Authorities took hours reasserting control of the building, with Capitol Police eventually getting help from the National Guard, local police and federal law enforcement agencies.  In the wake of the attack, several lawmakers have questioned Capitol Police preparation. Sund, Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger and House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving have all resigned. VOA’s Esha Sarai contributed to this report.
 
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Nearly three-quarters of U.S. voters say democracy is under threat in the wake of a deadly mob attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to a new poll by Quinnipiac University.The national poll of registered U.S. voters released Monday found that large numbers of both Republican and Democratic voters believed that democracy is under threat, at 77% and 76% respectively. Independents were slightly less inclined to agree at 70%.U.S. President Donald Trump gives an address a day after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington.A majority of voters, 56%, said they held U.S. President Donald Trump responsible for the storming of the U.S. Capitol last week, while 42% said they did not hold him responsible.Trump urged thousands of his supporters to march to the Capitol during a January 6 rally near the White House where, as he had for weeks, he leveled unfounded accusations that he was cheated out of reelection. After his supporters stormed the Capitol, Trump tweeted for them to “stay peaceful” and “support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement” but also told them in a video, “We love you, you’re very special.”A majority of voters, 52% to 45%, said Trump should be removed from office before he leaves the White House on January 20. However, when broken down by party, the overwhelming majority of Republicans, 87%, thought Trump should not be removed from office, while the overwhelming majority of Democrats, 89%, believed he should. Independents were more evenly split, with 55% favoring removal, and 43% against it.Voters were also split by party on whether or not there was widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, as Trump has claimed. Republicans said 73% to 21% that there was widespread voter fraud, while Democrats said 93% to 5% that there was not. Independents said 60% to 30% that they do not believe there was widespread voter fraud.Voters were split on whether they considered the storming of the Capitol an attempted coup. Forty-seven percent said they thought it was a coup attempt, 43% said they did not, and another 10% were not sure.On several questions, voters were nearly united, including on the view that the individuals who stormed the Capitol should be held accountable, with 91% of respondents agreeing.Voters also widely agreed, 81% to 12%, that extremism is a big problem in the United States.“There’s no ambivalence on how to treat the mobs that breached the Capitol, and there is nearly the same level of alarm from Republicans and Democrats over extremism establishing a troubling foothold,” said Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy in a press release.U.S. President-elect Joe Biden speaks about the protests taking place in and around the U.S. Capitol in Washington.Looking ahead to the presidency of President-elect Joe Biden, only 31% of voters believe Biden will be able to unite the country while 56% said they expect partisan divisions to remain the same as they are now. Fourteen percent said they were not sure.The poll surveyed 1,239 registered voters nationwide from January 7 to 10. 
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Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser is discouraging people from coming to the city for the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and instead is urging them to participate virtually. The mayor is citing both coronavirus concerns as well as the attack on the U.S. Capitol building last week.Speaking to reporters at a briefing Monday, Bowser also said she sent a letter requesting that President Donald Trump declare a “pre-emergency disaster” for the District of Columbia ahead of Biden’s inauguration January 20.The mayor said this year’s inauguration poses “several unprecedented challenges that exceed the scope of our traditional planning processes,” including the pandemic and the events of last Wednesday, when Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol.Preparations take place for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 8, 2021.Additionally, Bowser said she has written to acting Homeland Security chief Chad Wolf, requesting that his agency adjust its approach to the inauguration in several specific ways.Bowser is calling for the special security period now in effect for the event to be extended from January 20 through 24. Bowser is asking the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate an effort to establish a security force deployment plan to protect all federal property. She has called on that effort to involve the departments of Defense and Justice along with U.S. Congress and Supreme Court. She said doing so will ensure that the Metropolitan Police Department can focus on its local mission in the District’s eight wards.There has been no immediate comment from Wolf’s department, but last Thursday, he issued a statement saying that what happened at the Capitol was “tragic and sickening.”Separately, Bowser is asking the Department of the Interior to cancel public gathering permits through January 24.If you missed today’s situational update, here’s a thread with some key highlights.
You can also view the full presentation by visiting the following link: https://t.co/onF4sbXmShpic.twitter.com/rADVcaR1b4
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) January 11, 2021The mayor ultimately assessed in her request over the weekend that despite the security assets the city has in place, “significant preparedness gaps remain that cannot be remedied without this emergency declaration and direct federal assistance.”Bowser said a similar pre-emergency declaration was issued in 2009 ahead of President Barack Obama’s inauguration.Bowser cited “new threats from insurgent acts of domestic terrorists” in her letter.The District of Columbia does not have jurisdiction over the Capitol and other federal property within its borders. 
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U.S. President-elect Joe Biden is taking another step in his effort to revamp the country’s intelligence agencies, announcing Monday he will nominate career diplomat William Burns to be his director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
 
Burns, a 33-year U.S. State Department veteran, has served under both Republican and Democratic presidents, serving as ambassador to Russia under former U.S. President George W. Bush and as deputy secretary of state under former President Barack Obama.
 In a video released Monday, Biden praised the 64-year-old Burns as an “exemplary diplomat”, saying he shares the belief that intelligence must be apolitical.
 
“It’s time to restore the independence of our intelligence community, and equally critical to restore trust and confidence in our career officials, including those at the CIA,” the president-elect said.  “Bill Burns is exactly, exactly the right person for that job.”I’m asking Ambassador Bill Burns to lead the Central Intelligence Agency because he’s dealt with many of the thorniest global challenges we face. As a legendary career diplomat, he approached complex issues with honesty, integrity and skill. That’s exactly how he’ll lead the CIA. pic.twitter.com/ypnuH016BV— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 11, 2021If confirmed, Burns would replace current CIA Director Gina Haspel, who served in the agency for more than three decades before becoming the first woman to lead the nation’s premiere spy agency in 2018.
 
Haspel has largely kept her public appearances to a minimum during her tenure, marked by increased antagonism between the White House and the U.S. intelligence community, though she has publicly clashed with outgoing President Donald Trump.
 
One of the most notable clashes came in January 2019, when she and other intelligence officials contradicted numerous White House claims during a threat briefing for lawmakers..@CIA declines comment on @POTUS assertions Dir Gina Haspel told him her testimony before the Senate #Intelligence Committee was “mischaracterized…distorted” or how she and the president are now on “the same page!” pic.twitter.com/ApK6UOalsc— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) January 31, 2019Earlier this month, Haspel oversaw a new look for the CIA’s website in an effort to recruit a more diverse workforce.
 
In a statement, she said she hopes the redesign “piques the interest of talented Americans, giving them a sense of the dynamic environment that awaits them here.”JUST IN: New year, new-look website for @CIA – focused on recruitment”With a completely revamped website…CIA aims to attract talent by creating an engaging, unique, and streamlined experience for applicants” per the spy agency in an email pic.twitter.com/zyxcg5fB0Z— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) January 4, 2021In the video released Monday by Biden’s transition team, Burns called intelligence, “the first line of defense for America – the indispensable basis for sound policy choices.””I’ll always do my best to deliver that intelligence w/honesty and integrity, and without a hint of partisanship,” he said.  
 
Burns also promised, if confirmed, “to strengthen trust & intelligence cooperation with our allies and partners.”
 
In addition to threats such as the great power competition from Russia and China, terrorism, and cyberspace, Burns said the CIA will have to confront the “increasingly powerful challenges” of climate change and health security.
 
The career diplomat’s nomination appears to be resonating with former intelligence and security officials, who took to Twitter to praise his selection.
 
“Bill Burns is deeply respected for his integrity, honesty, & commitment to the workforce,” wrote Norman Roule, a former national intelligence manager for Iran in the Office of the Director or National Intelligence, calling Burns a “strong choice.”Bill Burns is deeply respected for his integrity, honesty, & commitment to the workforce. He will arrive w great respect for the IC & its work. His significant experience abroad & thoughtful approach to challenges make him a strong choice. https://t.co/91TmqLdepv— Norman Roule (@Norman_Roule) January 11, 2021“He will bring a level of principled integrity that is much need today, both in Washington and on the world stage,” wrote Ali Soufan, a former FBI supervisory special agent.Bill Burns is one of the most decent, most respected diplomats I’ve ever known. He will bring a level of principled integrity that is much needed today, both in Washington and on the world stage. Great choice! https://t.co/90NhkR3Gcg— Ali H. Soufan (@Ali_H_Soufan) January 11, 2021“My sense is that this in fact will be a very popular choice” said Marc Polymeropoulos, a former senior CIA intelligence service officer.  “He has in fact worked very well with the CIA field personnel…in his overseas postings.”My sense is that this in fact will be a very popular choice within IC circles- a titan in the foreign policy world, well respected overseas-he has in fact worked very well with CIA field personnel (the most grumpy crew😉) in his overseas postings. https://t.co/UkEl1H9QIK— Marc Polymeropoulos (@Mpolymer) January 11, 2021Since his retirement in 2014, Burns has been running the Carnegie Endowment of International Peace.
 
He has received three Presidential Distinguished Service Awards and the highest civilian honors from the Pentagon and the U.S. intelligence community.  
 
Burns attended LaSalle University in Philadelphia where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history and earned a master’s and doctoral degrees in international relations from Oxford University, where he studied as a Marshall Scholar. 
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U.S. first lady Melania Trump on Monday said she was “disappointed and disheartened” by the storming of the U.S. Capitol by a mob of supporters of her husband looking to overturn his loss for re-election, but also said it was “shameful” that she was the subject of what she characterized as “salacious gossip” and “unwarranted personal attacks.” In a statement from the White House, the first lady voiced her grief at the deaths of six people linked to last Wednesday’s mayhem at the Capitol, including Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, and a second officer, Howard Liebengood, who had responded to the chaos at the Capitol but committed suicide over the weekend while off duty. “Our nation must heal in a civil manner,” Melania Trump said. “Make no mistake about it, I absolutely condemn the violence that has occurred on our nation’s Capitol. Violence is never acceptable.” Capitol police officers in riot gear push back demonstrators who try to break a door of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)She added, “I implore people to stop the violence, never make assumptions based on the color of a person’s skin or use differing political ideologies as a basis for aggression and viciousness. We must listen to one another, focus on what unites us, and rise above what divides us.” President Donald Trump urged thousands of his supporters to march to the Capitol during a January 6 rally near the White House where, as he had for weeks, leveled unfounded accusations that he was cheated out of re-election.President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a rally Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)Hours later as his supporters stormed the Capitol, he urged them to “go home” but also told them, “We love you, you’re very special.”  In the early hours of January 7, after police restored order in the Capitol, lawmakers certified the Electoral College victory of Democrat Joe Biden, who is set to be inaugurated as the country’s 46th president in nine days.  FILE – Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, former senior advisor to first lady Melania Trump.“I wish I could say I was shocked by President Trump’s actions, but sadly I cannot, or say I don’t comprehend Melania’s silence and inactions, but pathetically, they are both expected,” Wolkoff wrote. “Melania knows how to ‘Be Best’ at standing up and reading from a teleprompter and not from the heart. She and her husband lack character and have no moral compass.” Melania Trump also appeared to be saying farewell to her time in the White House before her husband’s term ends at noon on January 20.“It has been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your First Lady,” she said.FILE – President Donald Trump walks with first lady Melania Trump at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in Cleveland, Ohio, Sept. 29, 2020.“I want to thank the millions of Americans who supported my husband and me over the past 4 years and shown the incredible impact of the American spirit. I am grateful to you all for letting me serve you on platforms which are dear to me.” President Trump on Monday ordered American flags to be flown at half-staff through Wednesday at sunset to honor Sicknick and Liebengood.  
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U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House of Representatives will offer a resolution Monday calling on President Donald Trump’s Cabinet to invoke the 25th amendment, removing him from office.In a letter to her Democratic colleagues, Pelosi said if Vice President Mike Pence does not respond within 24 hours, the House will proceed with impeachment.“In protecting our Constitution and our democracy, we will act with urgency, because this president represents an imminent threat to both. As the days go by, the horror of the ongoing assault on our democracy perpetrated by this President is intensified and so is the immediate need for action,” the letter read.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 8 MB480p | 12 MB540p | 15 MB720p | 31 MB1080p | 63 MBOriginal | 188 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioUS Lawmakers Discuss Next Moves as Nation Grapples to Understand Violence at Capitol BuildingThe push to remove Trump from office in his final days comes amid growing calls to hold him accountable for last Wednesday’s mayhem that left five people dead at the U.S. Capitol as a mob of Trump supporters stormed past police into the building.Neither Trump nor the White House responded to Pelosi’s move on Sunday.President-elect Joe Biden has taken a hands-off stance on the impeachment move against the outgoing president who has yet to concede the election but has acknowledged there will be a “new administration” in Washington come January 20.“In 10 days, we move forward and rebuild — together,” Biden said Sunday on Twitter.In 10 days, we move forward and rebuild — together.— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 10, 2021One of Pelosi’s top congressional lieutenants, Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, told the “Fox News Sunday” show that the House could vote on impeachment within days, even though Trump’s four-year presidency ends next week with the inauguration of Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.Given that Trump will be out of office shortly, there is little likelihood that the Senate would hold an impeachment trial before his term ends, although it could do so after he leaves, and if it convicts him, keep him from ever holding federal office again.But Clyburn said the urgency to impeach Trump for a second time is paramount.“Our business is to impeach, basically an indictment,” Clyburn said. “Our vote is our voice, and our vote is a voice of disapproval.”Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a long-time Trump critic, said she would introduce two articles of impeachment against Trump on Monday for “abuse of power” for pressuring election officials in the southern state of Georgia to overturn Biden’s narrow win there and “incitement of violence for orchestrating an attempted coup against our country” with the storming of the Capitol.In Photos: Electoral College ProtestsProtesters back President Trump’s objection to the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the November electionAt least 180 House Democrats have signed on to the impeachment effort, but that number is short of the 218 majority in the 435-member House, and no Republicans have voiced their support for it.About two-thirds of the House Republican caucus voted last week against accepting the election results in the eastern state of Pennsylvania, one of a half dozen states Biden narrowly won to capture the presidency.Trump and the White House have remained silent on the possible impeachment. The White House says Trump is scheduled to visit Texas on Tuesday to highlight his administration’s work on a border wall separating the U.S. from Mexico.Republican Senator Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican and head of the committee planning Biden’s inauguration, told CBS News’s “Face the Nation” show that Trump’s impeachment and removal from office “clearly is not going to happen between now and the last day he is in office.”Two Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, have called for Trump to resign, but the president has told advisers he does not plan to do so.“I think at this point, with just a few days left, it’s the best path forward, the best way to get this person in the rear-view mirror for us,” Toomey said Sunday on CNN, in calling for Trump to quit voluntarily. “That could happen immediately. I’m not optimistic it will.”“I don’t think there’s any doubt, none in my mind, that the president’s behavior after the election was wildly different than his behavior before,” Toomey said. “He descended into a level of madness and engaged in activity that was just absolutely unthinkable and unforgivable.”In Extraordinary Rebuke, US Diplomats Blast Trump for Capitol RiotForeign service officers say last week’s events may badly undermine US credibility to promote and defend democratic values abroad, call for Trump’s removal from officeMeanwhile, some U.S. diplomats have condemned Trump’s incitement of the assault on the Capitol and called for use of the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to declare him as incapacitated and remove him from office.The overseas envoys, using what is known as the State Department’s “dissent channel,” said they feared last Wednesday’s siege may badly undermine U.S. credibility abroad to promote democratic values.”Failing to publicly hold the president to account would further damage our democracy and our ability to effectively accomplish our foreign policy goals abroad,” said one of the cables that was sent to State Department leadership.The assault on the Capitol is also having financial repercussions for the president and other Republicans.The PGA of America announced late Sunday it is terminating an agreement to hold the 2022 PGA Championship, one of golf’s four major tournaments, at Trump’s Bedminster course in New Jersey.In a statement, PGA of America President Jim Richerson did not mention Trump or Wednesday’s events, but said holding the tournament at the Bedminister course would be “detrimental to the PGA of America brand.”Marriott International, the world’s largest hotel company, and health insurance giant Blue Cross Blue Shield each said Sunday they would suspend donations to U.S. lawmakers who voted against certifying Biden’s election win.Major banks, including JPMorgan and Citigroup, have announced a pause in all political donations. 
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Parler, a social network service popular with conservatives, went offline Monday after its web hosting service Amazon suspended it for allowing posts that encourage violence.
 
Before the site went down, Parler CEO John Matze accused Amazon and other tech giants of a “war on free speech.”
 
Google banned Parler’s smartphone app from its app store on Friday, also citing Parler’s allowance of posts that seek to incite violence in the United States.
 
Apple instituted its own Parler ban on Saturday.
 
The two-year-old Parler saw an increase in users in recent months as social media giants Facebook and Twitter stepped up enforcement of posts that violated their policies.
 
Both Facebook and Twitter suspended President Donald Trump’s accounts last week after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.
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With U.S. President-elect Joe Biden set to be inaugurated on Jan. 20, one question being debated is whether Congress will pursue a second impeachment of outgoing President Donald Trump over his alleged role in last Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol building. Michelle Quinn reports.
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U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer warned Sunday about the threat of violence at the January 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, especially in the aftermath of last week’s storming of the U.S. Capitol by thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump trying to block Biden’s ascension to power.Schumer, soon to be the Senate majority leader, said he spoke with FBI Director Christopher Wray on Saturday “to urge him to relentlessly pursue the mob of violent insurrectionists, incited by President Trump, who attacked the United States Capitol and killed a police officer, as well as guard against potential additional attacks.”Schumer said, “The threat of violent extremist groups remains high and the next few weeks are critical in our democratic process with the upcoming inauguration.”FILE – Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) speaks to reporters with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi looking on, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 20, 2020.Similarly, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, in a letter dated Saturday, asked acting Homeland Security chief Chad Wolf to extend the three-day period for the national security designation currently surrounding the inauguration to a two-week period starting Monday and extending to January 24.Bowser also asked Wolf for other unspecified “direct federal assistance” to plan for the quadrennial inauguration, federal law enforcement help during the inauguration so the city’s police force can tend to normal patrols throughout the city and daily FBI threat briefings throughout the inauguration period.The mayor said she wants the federal Interior Department to reject requests for public gathering permits throughout that period.She said her requests were “essential to demonstrating our collective resolve in ensuring the constitutional transition of power.”Trump announced Friday that he would not be attending Biden’s inauguration, which would make him the first president in modern history who will not attend his successor’s swearing-in.  Vice President Mike Pence is expected to attend, as will former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.FILE – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is sworn in as his wife Jill Biden watches during the inauguration of President Barack Obama in Washington, Jan. 20, 2009.Missouri Republican Senator Roy Blunt who is overseeing Biden’s inauguration told the Missourinet website that he spent time Thursday reviewing FBI intelligence reports on the attack on the Capitol. He said the smaller inauguration crowd, prompted by COVID-19 restrictions, will be easier to handle than the more typical 200,000 attendees.And the Secret Service, which is leading a team of law enforcement agencies in providing security for the inauguration, issued a statement Friday that it has been working for more than a year “to anticipate and prepare for all possible contingencies at every level to ensure a safe and secure Inauguration Day.”Law enforcement personnel were overwhelmed as thousands of Trump’s supporters stormed into the Capitol last Wednesday trying to block congressional certification of the Electoral College vote showing Biden had defeated Trump.  Several lawmakers, including Democratic Senator Chris Murphy have questioned how law enforcement could have missed warnings of the coming attack. He told NPR on Friday that, “you didn’t have to be on the dark web to know that something really terrible might happen on Wednesday.”  And calls for similar protests are continuing online, Twitter said in a statement Friday.“Plans for future armed protests have already begun proliferating on and off-Twitter, including a proposed secondary attack on the U.S. Capitol and state capitol buildings on January 17, 2021,” it said.Just as numerous Trump adherents had called for the protest on social media accounts, similarly, there are calls for more demonstrations as Biden is inaugurated as the country’s 46th president, in an event organizers are calling a “Million Militia March.”Some organizers, calling themselves “common folk who are tired of being tread upon,” are also calling for an “Armed March on All State Capitals” for January 17, three days ahead of the inauguration. 
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WASHINGTON/NEW YORK/BANGALORE — Marriott International, the world’s largest hotel company and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) said Sunday they will suspend donations to U.S. lawmakers who voted last week against certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.”We have taken the destructive events at the Capitol to undermine a legitimate and fair election into consideration and will be pausing political giving from our Political Action Committee to those who voted against certification of the election,” Marriott spokeswoman Connie Kim said, confirming a report in Popular Information, a political newsletter.BCBSA, the federation of 36 independent companies that provide health care coverage for 1 in 3 Americans, said “in light of this week’s violent, shocking assault on the United States Capitol, and the votes of some members of Congress to subvert the results of November’s election by challenging Electoral College results, BCSBA will suspend contributions to those lawmakers who voted to undermine our democracy.”Five people lost their lives, including a police officer, when supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in an attempt to disrupt the formal recognition of his election defeat.  JPMorgan Chase said Sunday that it will pause all contributions from its political action committee for at least the next six months, saying “the focus of business leaders, political leaders, civic leaders right now should be on governing and getting help to those who desperately need it most right now. There will be plenty of time for campaigning later.”Citigroup said in a memo to employees seen by Reuters that it reviewed lawmakers who led the charge against the certification of the Electoral College results and found it gave $1,000 to the campaign of Republican Senator Josh Hawley.”We want you to be assured that we will not support candidates who do not respect the rule of law,” wrote Candi Wolff, head of Citi’s global government affairs. “We intend to pause our contributions during the quarter as the country goes through the Presidential transition and hopefully emerges from these events stronger and more united.”A Walmart Inc spokesman said it conducts a review after every election cycle to “examine and adjust our political giving strategy. As we conduct our review over the coming months we will factor last week’s events into our process.”In a related development, U.S. digital payments company Stripe Inc will stop processing payments for Trump’s campaign website following the riot, a company spokesperson said. 
 
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U.S. lawmakers who were in lockdown when a violent mob breached security at the Capitol last week likely have been exposed to the coronavirus, Congress’ attending physician warned Sunday.
 
“On Wednesday January 6, many members of the House community were in protective isolation in a room located in a large committee hearing space,” Dr. Brian Monahan wrote in an email to lawmakers.
 
“The time in this room was several hours for some and briefer for others. During this time, individuals may have been exposed to another occupant with coronavirus infection.”Here’s the letter from Dr. Brian Monahan to all members of Congress and staff. pic.twitter.com/SeqNoPA6B0— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) January 10, 2021Monahan didn’t specify how many members were in the room or who, if anyone, from the room is known to have tested positive.
 
Many lawmakers and staff have expressed outrage as images surfaced of Republican members of Congress not wearing masks during the lockdown.
 
On Wednesday afternoon, hundreds of supporters of President Donald Trump, angry over his loss to Joe Biden in the Nov. 3 election, forced their way into the building that contains the House and Senate while lawmakers were meeting in a joint session to certify Biden’s victory.
 
Many photos show rioters not wearing masks.  
 
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Efforts to hold President Donald Trump accountable for his role in inciting the mob that overran the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday gained momentum Saturday, with Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives announcing they will offer articles of impeachment as early as Monday.Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from the state of California, who helped draft the charges against Trump, tweeted Saturday afternoon that the articles had 180 co-sponsors, although no Republicans were among them.UPDATE to the update: We’ve just hit 180 cosponsors of the Article of Impeachment drafted by Rep District of Columbia National Guardsmen stand outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after a day of rioting Trump supporters.“It’s also very difficult in a situation in which the president is not in a coma or not otherwise physically incapacitated that he can’t function or operate because under the 25th Amendment, once it is invoked the president can notify Congress that he is able to discharge the powers of the office and take that power back,” said John Hudak, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution.An overwhelming number of Democratic lawmakers – and some Republicans – have expressed support for removing Trump from power or censuring his actions.Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has called for Trump to resign, making her the first Republican senator to endorse a presidential resignation.“I want him to resign,” she told The Anchorage Daily News. “I want him out. He has caused enough damage.”“He hasn’t been focused on what is going on with COVID,” Murkowski said. “He’s either been golfing, or he’s been inside the Oval Office fuming and throwing every single person who has been loyal and faithful to him under the bus, starting with the vice president. … He needs to get out.”Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey declined Saturday on Fox News to commit to voting in favor of Trumps removal despite saying he had “committed impeachable offenses.” However, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse told CBS News that he would definitely consider impeachment.But House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy indicated he does not support impeachment.President-elect Joe Biden has said Trump wasn’t fit for office, but he declined to endorse Democratic calls that he be impeached for a second time. Biden said the situation would be different if Trump were not leaving office in less than two weeks.“If we were six months out, we should be doing everything to get him out of office. Impeaching him again, trying to evoke the 25th Amendment, whatever it took,” Biden said. “But I am focused now on us taking control as president and vice president on the 20th and to get our agenda moving as quickly as we can.”Trump was impeached on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in December 2019 but was acquitted in a trial in the U.S. Senate in February 2020. No American president has ever faced two impeachment votes.“There are two reasons to pursue impeachment,” said Paul Berman, a professor of law at the George Washington University School of Law. “One is simply to make it clear that a sitting president inciting an insurrection against the United States government is perhaps the worst thing that a president could ever possibly do. And that statement needs to be made. Second, and more pragmatically, if he were impeached, and convicted, that would prevent him from running for office in the future.”
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The White House pushed the top federal prosecutor in Atlanta to resign before Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoff because President Donald Trump was unhappy that he wasn’t doing enough to investigate Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.The Justice Department on Tuesday tapped a new federal prosecutor to lead the Atlanta office, a day after the Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, Byung J. “BJay” Pak, abruptly resigned.Pak’s resignation drew attention because Trump appeared to refer to him in a recent phone call with Georgia’s secretary of state in which the outgoing Republican president asked state officials to try to “find” enough votes to overturn the results of the Nov. 3 election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.In a recording obtained by numerous media outlets, Trump appeared to complain during the call about Pak without naming him, saying there was a “Never Trumper U.S. attorney” in Georgia.The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said that at the behest of the White House, a senior Justice Department official called and told Pak he needed to step down because he was not pursuing the voter-fraud allegations to Trump’s satisfaction.The White House declined to comment while the Justice Department and Pak did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment on Saturday.Democrat Raphael Warnock defeated Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Jon Ossoff unseated Republican David Perdue in Tuesday’s runoffs, giving Democrats control of the U.S. Senate.
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