A must-read in the New Yorker from Luke Mogelson:
“The Capitol was breached by Trump supporters who had been declaring, at rally after rally, that they would go to violent lengths to keep the President in power. A chronicle of an attack foretold.”
North Carolina Democrats Want Cawthorn Expelled
Democratic leaders from North Carolina’s western-most district are calling for the expulsion of freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), alleging his “seditious behavior” helped incite the “insurrection” at the U.S. Capitol last week, Fox News reports.
Quote of the Day
“I think the president for all intents and purposes is not the president. He’s just nuts. He’s going crazy.”
— Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), quoted by CBS News.
Ex-Ted Cruz Staffers Are ‘Disgusted’
New York magazine: “Intelligencer spoke to more than half-a-dozen former Cruz staffers who have spent the past week trying to reconcile the man they once believed in with the politician they saw on January 6 when — hours after a mob tore through the Capitol — Cruz voted to throw out electoral votes from states that voted for Joe Biden, just as the rioters and Trump wanted. They say their former boss has become unrecognizable to them.”
Feds Edge Closer to Sedition Charge In Capitol Riots
“Federal prosecutors on Thursday for the first time described last week’s assault on the U.S. Capitol as a ‘violent insurrection that attempted to overthrow the United States Government’ — and one they consider to still be underway,” Politico reports.
“FBI and Justice Department officials have emphasized that more serious charges are on the horizon, after an initial round of lesser charges were leveled to ensure they corralled some of the most dangerous offenders.”
Lawmakers Could Face Charges In Capitol Riots
“Lawmakers who interacted with the pro-Trump protesters who rioted at the Capitol last week could face criminal charges and will almost certainly come under close scrutiny in the burgeoning federal investigation into the assault,” Politico reports.
“Unlike with the president, there’s no Justice Department policy shielding members of Congress from legal accountability while in office.”
McCarthy Rejects Call to Kick Cheney from Leadership
“House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy rejects calls within the Republican Caucus to remove Rep. Liz Cheney from party leadership over her vote to impeach President Trump,” Politico reports.
Online Extremists Ignore Trump’s Call for Calm
Politico: “A vast swath of the president’s diehard base in MAGA Nation — the conspiracy theorists, the militia members, and the followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory — has disregarded Trump’s Wednesday remarks. Instead, they are dissecting his phrases and using those cues as rallying cries, doubling down on their plans to keep the MAGA movement going after Trump leaves the White House.”
“The absence of a formal Trump concession to President-elect Joe Biden has emboldened their chatter and bolstered their ideology. So, too, has the clamp-down by social media platforms on MAGA extremist content — Trump’s own posts included — which has given white nationalist and unapologetically fascist groups openings to recruit Trump fans to their cause.”
Vice News: Desperate QAnon believers think Trump spoke to them in Morse code.
Covid-19 Death Toll Is Even Worse Than It Looks
Wall Street Journal: “The recorded death count from the Covid-19 pandemic as of Thursday is nearing 2 million. The true extent is far worse. More than 2.8 million people have lost their lives due to the pandemic, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of data from 59 countries and jurisdictions. This tally offers the most comprehensive view yet of the pandemic’s global impact. Deaths in these places last year surged more than 12% above average levels.”
Overwhelming Opposition to Capitol Attacks
“The vast majority of Americans say they oppose the actions of the rioters who stormed and ransacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, while smaller majorities say President Trump bears responsibility for the attack and that he should be removed from office and disqualified from serving again,” according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Rioters Included Highly Trained Ex-Military and Cops
“As President Trump’s supporters massed outside the Capitol last week and sang the national anthem, a line of men wearing olive-drab helmets and body armor trudged purposefully up the marble stairs in a single-file line, each man holding the jacket collar of the one ahead,” the AP reports.
“The formation, known as ‘Ranger File,’ is standard operating procedure for a combat team that is ‘stacking up’ to breach a building — instantly recognizable to any U.S. soldier or Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was a chilling sign that many at the vanguard of the mob that stormed the seat of American democracy either had military training or were trained by those who did.”
Tuberville Suggests Delaying Inauguration
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) questioned the timing of Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20 in an interview with WIAT.
Said Tuberville: “We probably could have had a swearing-in and inauguration later after we got this virus behind us a little bit. Again, we’re talking about Washington, D.C..”
“However, the 20th Amendment to the Constitution requires that the inauguration and swearing-in of a new President take place on January 20th. It wasn’t clear if Tuberville was aware of that during the interview.”
Lankford Apologizes for Questioning Election Results
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) apologized to Black Tulsans on Thursday for not recognizing that his involvement in questioning presidential election results would offend them, Tulsa World reports.
Lankford acknowledges that his actions “caused a firestorm of suspicion among many of my friends, particularly in Black communities around the state. I was completely blindsided, but I also found a blind spot.”
Biden Postpones Inaugural Rehearsal
A rehearsal for Joe Biden’s inauguration scheduled for Sunday has been postponed because of security concerns, Politico reports.
Pelosi Endorses McAuliffe for Virginia Governor
“Speaker Nancy Pelosi is endorsing Terry McAuliffe’s campaign in a very crowded Democratic primary that will winnow the field of those seeking to be the next governor of Virginia,” Axios reports.
“McAuliffe, who already served one term as governor, faces competition from four other Democrats. He’s looking to Pelosi to help burnish his credentials with female and progressive voters in this year’s contested race.”
Democrats Win Contested Race In Pennsylvania
“Republicans who control Pennsylvania’s state Senate said they will stop blocking a Democrat from taking his seat in the chamber after his unsuccessful GOP challenger lost another bid in court Tuesday to overturn the results of the close race,” the AP reports.
Biden Picks More Women for Cabinet Than Predecessors
“President-elect Joe Biden has chosen more women for his cabinet than his six predecessors had at the start of their administrations, according to new research from the Brookings Institution, after women played a key role in his November election win,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Trump Plans to Live at Mar-a-Lago
“Donald Trump plans to fly to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida the morning of Joe Biden’s inauguration, where several current White House staff are expected to work for him or his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, after his presidency,” Bloomberg reports.
“Trump intends to live at the Palm Beach resort, the people said, though some of his future neighbors are trying to stop him from taking up permanent residence.”
