Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) tested positive for coronavirus Monday night, her office said, after she was in lockdown during Wednesday’s siege of the Capitol with “Republican lawmakers who cruelly and selfishly refused to wear masks,” the Seattle Times reports.
Jayapal is the second Democratic member of Congress to test positive since the siege on the Capitol. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) announced a positive test earlier Monday.
“Following the Capitol siege, the right-wing media landscape is beginning to split between entities that want to double down on pro-Trump rhetoric and those that want to stick with the establishment,” Axios reports.
“The future of the Republican Party, in part, hangs on whether fringe conservative media or traditional conservative commentary will dominate with audiences.”
New York Times: “Tracking what may be planned in the coming days could become even more difficult as the groups take to lesser-known networks and apps that can’t be easily monitored.”
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Bloomberg: “The two men, meeting in the Oval Office, agreed that people who broke into the Capitol don’t represent Trump’s ‘America First’ movement and pledged to continue their work on behalf of the country for the remainder of their term.”
“It was a good conversation in which Trump and Pence discussed the week ahead and reflected on the last four years of the administration’s work.”
ABC News: “In the wake of Wednesday’s assault on the nation’s Capitol, President Trump has been advised he potentially could face civil liability connected to his role in encouraging supporters who went on to storm Congress.”
“‘Think O.J.,’ an adviser explained it to Trump, according to one source. It was a reference to O.J. Simpson, who was found not guilty of murdering his ex-wife and a friend but later faced stiff civil damages after being sued by his ex-wife’s family.”
Politico: “House Democrats, dozens of whom were locked inside the chamber as mobs descended, held a security call Monday evening with the acting chief of Capitol Police and the acting House Sergeant-at-Arms to discuss ways to further improve safety measures.”
“The call, which detailed more potential threats, further raised alarms in the caucus, according to people listening.”
“When Pelosi was reunited with her staff hours after the deadly siege at the Capitol, the speaker didn’t even have to ask — she could see the terror reflected in their eyes,” Politico reports.
“Now as the House prepares to impeach President Donald Trump this week for inciting the insurrection that shook the core of U.S. democracy and left five dead, the undertaking for Pelosi isn’t simply a matter of politics.
“Law enforcement authorities, responding to threats of violence before the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration, will deploy up to 15,000 National Guard troops to the nation’s capital and set up checkpoints in the city to avoid the botched response that helped rioters overrun the Capitol last week,” the New York Times reports.
Politico: “Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team informed members on a private call Monday they will need to return to the Capitol — for many, the first time since the Jan. 6 attacks — on Tuesday night. Impeachment is scheduled for consideration at 9 a.m. Wednesday, if Trump refuses to resign and Vice President Mike Pence won’t initiate other procedures to remove him.”
“After days out of sight following the Capitol siege, President Trump travels to Texas to trumpet one of the pillars of his presidency: his campaign against illegal immigration,” the AP reports.
“Trump will be flying Tuesday to Alamo, Texas, a city in the Rio Grande Valley near the U.S-Mexican border. The city is named after the San Antonio mission where a small group of Texan independence-fighters fended off Mexican forces during a 13-day siege. Most of them died but the mission became a symbol of resistance for Texans, who eventually defeated the Mexican army.”
“Trump’s visit — no doubt a symbol of the president’s defiance — comes as he spends the final days of his presidency isolated, aggrieved and staring down the prospect of a second impeachment after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol last week in an effort to halt the peaceful transition of power.”
The Trump campaign has not used its millions-strong email list since the riots at the Capitol, Vice News reports.
Salesforce, its email provider, says it has taken action to prevent Republicans from using “our services in any way that could lead to violence.”
“House Democrats are poised to impeach him on Wednesday. But President Trump is not expected to mount a forceful White House defense against charges he incited last week’s deadly riots inside the U.S. Capitol,” Politico reports.
“Trump knows he’s unlikely to be removed from office with Republicans controlling the Senate until next week and only a few days left of his term. The president has also grown increasingly isolated, distrusting the same aides and advisers he had relied on during prior crises in his presidency, including White House Counsel Pat Cipollone.”
“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.”
“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.
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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