Twenty-two former Republican members of Congress called for the impeachment of President Trump in a new letter, who they say “actively orchestrated an insurrection” against a co-equal branch of government.
Republicans Discuss Whether to Censure Trump
“Some House Republicans are privately discussing whether to censure President Trump as a way to express their disapproval about the President’s actions without going along with the Democratic effort to impeach him,” CNN reports.
“It’s unclear, though, whether they will ever get a chance to vote on such a plan. Democratic leaders have shown no willingness so far to schedule a vote on anything short of impeachment.”
Pence Upset Trump Hasn’t Reached Out
NBC News: “There is also a deepening and widespread anger among Pence’s aides and allies at how Trump seemingly discarded his most devoted soldier over his refusal to circumvent an important constitutional duty, per these people. The president’s decision not to reach out to Pence and his family while they were sheltered inside a Capitol bunker as pro-Trump rioters breached the building has particularly rankled Pence and others in his orbit.”
“The vice president himself is ‘very upset’ that Trump didn’t do more to dissuade the mob, some of whom chanted for Pence’s execution.”
Democrats Urge Biden to Go Big on Executive Actions
Politico: “The push for sweeping use of executive action has created a strange dynamic within the Democratic Party. Lawmakers are increasingly eager to cede their legislative power to Biden — but Biden says he doesn’t want it.”
“In addition to the pressure progressives are putting on Biden to immediately forgive student loan debt, they’re advocating for him to direct his attorney general to review the process for removing or reclassifying marijuana on the list of ‘scheduled substances,’ and to issue a national emergency declaration for the climate change crisis.”
Andrew Yang Hasn’t Been Living In New York City
Andrew Yang, who is running for New York City mayor, acknowledged to the New York Times that he has not lived in the city for most of the year.
Said Yang: “We’ve spent more time upstate than in the city over the last number of months, but I also spent time in Georgia, as you know, I spent time in Pennsylvania campaigning for Joe and Kamala.”
He added: “We live in a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan. And so, like, can you imagine trying to have two kids on virtual school in a two-bedroom apartment, and then trying to do work yourself?”
Republican Attorneys General Urged Protestors to ‘Fight’
The day before a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, an arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association sent out robocalls urging supporters to come to D.C. to “fight” Congress over President Trump’s baseless election fraud claims, the Washington Post reports.
From the message: “At 1 p.m. we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal. We’re hoping patriots like you will join us to continue to fight to protect the integrity of our elections.”
Southern California Republicans Face Reckoning
Orange County Register: “Voter registration data in Orange County, the one Southern California county that tracks registration numbers daily, shows the Republican party lost eight times more voters than it gained after the violence in D.C., with 600 GOP voters lost from Wednesday to Friday. That followed a month in which the party had been gaining ground among O.C. voters.”
Lawmaker Tests Positive After Sheltering During Riot
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), a 75-year-old cancer survivor, has tested positive for the coronavirus after taking shelter in a room with lawmakers who refused to wear masks during last week’s violent takeover of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, the Washington Post reports.
Capitol Police Are ‘Demoralized’
The US Capitol Police has had to respond to “a couple of incidents” of officers threatening to harm themselves in the wake of the attack on Capitol Hill. This includes a female officer who turned in her own weapon for fear of what might happen, CBS News reports.
A source said the department was demoralized: “There’s tremendous moral injury, a sense of failure weighing them down. They went home to family and were asked how did this happen. And it’s very easy for those officers to interpret that as ‘how could you let this happen?'”
No One Should Be Shocked
Hillary Clinton, writing in the Washington Post:
“Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol was the tragically predictable result of white-supremacist grievances fueled by President Trump. But his departure from office, whether immediately or on Jan. 20, will not solve the deeper problems exposed by this episode. What happened is cause for grief and outrage. It should not be cause for shock. What were too often passed off as the rantings of an unfortunate but temporary figure in public life are, in reality, part of something much bigger. That is the challenge that confronts us all.”
Pelosi Has the Votes to Impeach Trump Again
“Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats have secured enough votes to impeach President Trump for inciting an insurrection at the Capitol that left five dead. At least 218 Democrats have now signed onto an impeachment resolution, enough to pass the measure should it come to the floor later this week,” Politico reports.
Scott Says ‘Overreach’ Will Help GOP Win Back Senate
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told Fox News that Democratic “overreach” in the coming years will help propel the GOP back into the Senate majority in 2022.
Said Scott: “Over the next two years, the Democrats are going to try to do a whole bunch of things that the public doesn’t want.”
Big Majority Say Democracy Is Under Threat
A new Quinnipiac poll finds that 74% of voters say democracy in the United States is under threat, while just 21% of voters say that democracy in the United States is alive and well.
Said pollster Tim Malloy: “When it comes to whether American democracy is under threat, both Republicans and Democrats see a raging five-alarm fire, but clearly disagree on who started it.”
A majority of voters, 56%, say they hold President Trump responsible for the storming of the U.S. Capitol, while 42% say they do not hold him responsible. A slight majority, 52% to 45%, say President Trump should be removed from office.
FBI Warns Armed Group Headed for Washington, DC
The FBI has “received information about an identified armed group intending to travel to Washington, DC on 16 January. They have warned that if Congress attempts to remove POTUS via the 25th Amendment a huge uprising will occur,” according to a bulletin obtained by ABC Radio reports.
Yahoo News: “Federal authorities are warning state and local law enforcement about threats of possible violence by right-wing extremists at a series of protests planned for later this month in Washington and in state capitols.”
Historians Calls for Trump’s Impeachment
More than 300 historians and constitutional scholars have signed an open letter calling for the impeachment and removal of President Trump, saying his continuation in office after encouraging supporters to march on the U.S. Capitol posed “a clear and present danger to American democracy and the national security of the United States,” the New York Times reports.
Madigan Doesn’t Have the Votes for Illinois Speaker
Peoria Public Radio: “Embattled Illlinois House Speaker Mike Madigan (D) is facing down what could be his final two days as Speaker of the Illinois House — a title he’s held for all but two years since 1983 — after a Sunday evening vote in a private House Democratic caucus meeting left him with only 51 tentative votes for a historic 19th term as speaker.”
“That figure is nine votes shy of the 60 Madigan needs to retain his title and all the power that goes with it.”
Capitol Fax reports Madigan has suspended his campaign.
Cotton Halted Landslide of GOP Objections In Senate
“Senior Republicans are crediting Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton’s surprise break with President Trump for preventing a flood of his GOP colleagues from objecting to the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory,” the Washington Examiner reports.
Pelosi Nears Sealing Majority for Impeachment
“Speaker Nancy Pelosi is on the cusp of majority support in the House to impeach President Trump, part of a two-front effort to punish and remove him for inciting the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week,” Politico reports.
“Key members of the House Judiciary Committee introduced a single article of impeachment Monday that has already gathered 210 cosponsors, just shy of the 217 majority needed in the House.”
