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GOP Faces Reckoning with Corporate America

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“The challenge by some Republicans to the 2020 election results last week is fueling a rift between the party and big companies and could accelerate changes to the GOP’s fundraising base,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“In the week since more than 100 Republicans objected to the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s win, at least a dozen U.S. corporations said they would reconsider donating money from their political-action committees to lawmakers who sided with President Trump’s challenge to the results.”

Acting Attorney General Warns Against Violence

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In a three-and-a-half minute video posted on YouTube, acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen warned anyone seeking to disrupt the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden that authorities will take swift action in response.

Said Rosen: “I want to send a clear message to anyone contemplating violence, threats of violence or other criminal conduct: We will have no tolerance whatsoever for any attempts to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power on Jan. 20 that our Constitution calls for. We will have no tolerance for any attempts to forcefully occupy government buildings. There will be no excuse for violence, vandalism or any other form of lawlessness.”


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The Impeachment Timeline

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President Trump is almost certainly going to be impeached by the House of Representatives today for a second time. More than a dozen Republicans may join Democrats.

Playbook: “Things are still fluid, but expect the House to convene at 9 a.m. for initial debate and a pair of procedural votes. Around lunchtime — though it could certainly slide to later — we expect the start of two hours of debate on the article of impeachment. That will be followed by the House impeachment vote, likely in the mid- or late afternoon.”

“The vote should take between 40 minutes and an hour. And once the gavel comes down, it is likely that Trump will have been impeached — again.”

Top Republicans Want Trump Done

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“Top Republicans want to bury President Trump, for good. But they are divided whether to do it with one quick kill via impeachment, or let him slowly fade away,” Axios reports.

“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would be more likely than not to vote to convict Trump — a green light for other Republican senators to follow.”

“House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy would love a Trumpless world, but doesn’t want to knife him with fingerprints. This school of thought wants to let Trump do himself in, without a big party fight over his sins and sentence.”

Washington Post: The GOP inches toward a desperate decoupling with Trump.

Biden Picks Samantha Power to Lead Foreign Aid Agency

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“Signaling a dramatic new direction for U.S. foreign assistance, President-elect Joe Biden is expected to announce Wednesday that he will nominate former U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power to head the U.S. Agency for International Development,” NBC News reports.

“Biden is also expected to enhance Power’s role by elevating the position to membership on the National Security Council.”

Ocasio-Cortez Says She Feared for Her Life

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) revealed during an Instsgram live stream there were “traumatizing” moments during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol when she legitimately feared for her life.

Said Ocasio-Cortez: “I thought I was going to die. I did not know if I was going to make it to the end of that day alive.”

He added: “I didn’t even feel safe going to that extraction point because there were QAnon and white supremacist members of Congress who I felt would disclose my location and create opportunities to allow me to be hurt.”

McConnell Leaning Towards Convicting Trump

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“There’s a better than 50-50 chance that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would vote to convict President Trump in an impeachment trial,” sources tell Axios.

“This would represent one of the most shocking and damning votes in the history of American politics, by the most powerful Republican in Congress. McConnell’s vote would open the door to the possibility that Trump could be convicted and prohibited from running for president again.”

Trump Business Backlash Is Part of ‘Cancel Culture’

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Eric Trump told the Associated Press that hits to his father’s business empire since the deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol are part of a liberal “cancel culture.”

He said his father will leave the presidency with a powerful brand backed by millions of voters who will follow him “to the ends of the Earth.”

Asked directly in his interview if he felt his father incited the crowd, Eric Trump paused and then the line went dead.

Lawmakers Gave ‘Reconnaissance’ Tours of Capitol

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Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) made a startling claim that some members of Congress led groups of people through the Capitol Building on a “reconnaissance” tour one day before the riot that laid a deadly siege on the government’s legislative branch, the Bergen Record reports.

Said Sherrill: “I’m going to see they are held accountable, and if necessary, ensure that they don’t serve in Congress.”

National Guard Troops Will Be Armed for Inauguration

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New York Times: “As up to 15,000 troops continued to arrive in Washington from all over the country, Defense Department officials had been weighing whether to deploy them with arms. Mr. McCarthy has decided that at the very least those around the Capitol building will carry weapons, said the officials, who confirmed the decision on the condition of anonymity.”

“Mr. McCarthy’s decision came after a meeting with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California. Ms. Pelosi, according to congressional staff members, demanded that the Pentagon take a more muscular posture after a mob, egged on by President Trump last week, breached the Capitol.”

Washington Post: Secret Service launches massive security operation to protect Biden inauguration.

Pence Is Done with Trump’s ‘Bullshit’

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“After four-and-a-half years of unbending loyalty, Vice President Mike Pence is ready to move on from Donald Trump. All it took was the president inciting a riot that, quite literally, put Pence’s life in danger,” Politico reports.

Said a former Pence adviser: “Pence is done with Trump’s bullshit. He’s not going to give a prime time speech saying, ‘F you Donald Trump,’ but in his own way he is going to just get to the finish line and keep his head down.”

New York Times: Pence reached his limit with Trump. It wasn’t pretty.

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan 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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