“President Trump today privately — and falsely — blamed ‘Antifa people’ for storming the Capitol, even though clear video and documentary evidence exists showing the rioters were overwhelmingly Trump supporters, Axios reports.
In a tense, 30-minute-plus phone call this morning with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Trump trotted out the Antifa line.
McCarthy would have none of it, telling the president: “It’s not Antifa, it’s MAGA. I know. I was there.”
“Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) strongly endorsed adding photo ID requirements for absentee ballots on Monday at the start of a legislative session that’s sure to be shaped by a debate over voting laws after epic turnout helped Democrats flip Georgia in the race for president and sweep the Senate runoffs,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
“The Justice Department and the F.B.I. have embarked on a nationwide manhunt to track down scores of people who attacked the Capitol last week, as they grapple with the fallout from the widespread government failure to protect the building,” the New York Times reports.
“Investigators are pursuing more than 150 suspects for prosecution, a total that is almost certain to grow… Analysts are also scouring intelligence to identify any role that domestic terrorist organizations or foreign adversaries may have played in radicalizing Americans who were among the rioters.”
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“The breakup between the business world and the Republican Party is rapidly accelerating in the wake of last week’s deadly pro-Trump riot at the Capitol, posing a serious financial threat to the party just as it’s being stripped of power in Washington,” Politico reports.
“Ten major companies so far, including some of the biggest corporate givers in politics, have decided to withhold contributions to Republican lawmakers who objected to the certification of the Electoral College votes, and dozens more are stopping all of their political donations after the riot.”
New York Times: “The moves are notable because corporations and their employees are active players in the political process, making campaign contributions through PACs and helping politicians raise funds in myriad ways.”
“He has no future in the Republican Party. When the base of the party is not booing you, but chanting hang you, that’s a bad sign.”
— Former GOP strategist Stuart Stevens, quoted by the Washington Post, on Vice President Mike Pence.
President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence spoke for the first time after a deadly riot of Trump supporters broke out at the US Capitol with Pence inside, CNN reports.
They met in the Oval Office, had what was described as a good conversation and discussed the week ahead while “reflecting on the last four years of the administration’s work and accomplishments.”
Washington Post: Inside the remarkable rift between Donald Trump and Mike Pence.
“In the span of four days, President Trump’s family business has lost its online store, the buzz from Mr. Trump’s promotional tweets about its luxury resorts and bragging rights as host to one of the world’s most prestigious golf tournaments,” the New York Times reports.
“The mob attack on Congress last week by Mr. Trump’s supporters has spurred a reckoning for the Trump Organization by businesses and institutions, at a scale far greater than his previous polarizing actions.”
“And the Trump brand, premised on gold-plated luxury and a super-affluent clientele, may not fully recover from the fallout of his supporters violently storming and vandalizing the U.S. Capitol, hospitality analysts say and some people close to the business acknowledge.”
“New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has turned down President Trump’s invitation to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the wake of the riots last week at the U.S. Capitol,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Belichick’s pivot is a sharp rebuke of a president who has faced calls from Democratic lawmakers, and some Republicans, to be removed from office.”
“House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) declared his opposition Monday to impeaching Trump, arguing that members of Congress should refrain from doing so for the sake of national unity,” the Washington Post reports.
“He’s the most masculine person to ever hold the White House as the president of the United States.”
— Trump campaign spokesman Hogan Gidley, on Fox News, when asked if President Trump feels emasculated from “the social media crackdown.”
President Trump would almost certainly have Secret Service agents charged with protecting him even if he winds up in prison, former agency officials told Business Insider.
“Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) is exploring using an obscure, post-Sept. 11-era authority to reconvene the Senate as the House barrels toward a likely impeachment vote of President Trump this week,” the Washington Post reports.
“In 2004, the Senate majority and minority leaders were given the power to bring the Senate back into session in times of emergency, and the senior Democratic aide said Schumer is exploring this option to allow for a potential impeachment trial for Trump to begin immediately after the House transmits the articles to the Senate.”
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, writing in the Bangor Daily News:
“My first thought was that the Iranians had followed through on their threat to strike the Capitol, but a police officer took over the podium and explained that violent demonstrators had breached the entire perimeter of the Capitol and were inside.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo posed for a photo with freshman Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), who has promoted conspiracy theories and revealed details about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s whereabouts on social media during last week’s deadly siege of the U.S. Capitol, the Kansas City Star reports.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf is resigning from the Trump administration effective at 11:59 p.m. Monday, citing “recent events,” ABC News reports.
“Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the incoming chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) are unveiling legislation that would seek to end federal capital punishment, putting a focus on the issue as their party prepares to take over complete control of Congress, along with the White House,” NPR reports.
Fiona Hill: “Some have said it’s not a coup because the U.S. military and other armed groups weren’t involved, and some because President Trump didn’t invoke his presidential powers in support of the mob that broke into the Capitol. Others point out that no one has claimed or proved there was a secret plan directed by the President, and that Trump’s efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election could never have succeeded in the first place.”
“These observations are based on the idea that a coup is a sudden, violent seizure of power involving clandestine plots and military takeovers. By contrast, Trump’s goal was to keep himself in power, and his actions were taken over a period of months and in slow motion.”
“But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a coup attempt. Trump disguised what he was doing by operating in plain sight, talking openly about his intent. He normalized his actions so people would accept them. I’ve been studying authoritarian regimes for three decades, and I know the signs of a coup when I see them.”
“Facebook said it is removing all content mentioning ‘stop the steal,’ a phrase popular among supporters of President Trump’s claims about the election, as part of a raft of emergency measures to stem misinformation and incitements to violence on its platform in the lead up to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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