Congress debating objection to PA votes
Shortly after midnight, Republicans compelled a second debate over the 20 Electoral College votes from Pennsylvania.
Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., objected to his residence state’s certificates, and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., signed on – triggering separate debates and votes within the House and Senate over that slate.
Perry asserted with out proof that there have been “multiple constitutional infractions” concerned in Pennsylvania’s election. He didn’t elaborate.
Vice President Mike Pence stated the House and Senate would withdraw from the joint session and debate the objection.
Hawley’s spokesperson stated he would yield his debate time to velocity up the method. But it’s not clear if that may occur within the House. As with the tussle over Arizona, the Pennsylvania objection will virtually actually be defeated.
– Deirdre Shesgreen
GOP objections of Michigan, Nevada votes fizzle
An effort by House Republicans to object to the awarding of Michigan’s 16 electoral votes and Nevada’s six electoral votes to President-elect Joe Biden failed when no home-state senators signed on.
No shock there for the reason that senators representing these two states are all Democrats.
Georgia freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Michigan) and Alabama GOP Rep. Mo Brooks (Nevada) lodged their objections primarily based on considerations that claims of voting irregularities weren’t correctly investigated.
Both states have already licensed their outcomes and courtroom rulings have rejected claims by the Trump marketing campaign of widespread voter fraud.
– Ledyard King
House Republicans’ objection of Georgia’s electoral votes fails, missing help from a senator
No Republican senators signed on to a GOP-backed House objection of Georgia’s 16 electoral votes, defeating the trouble to reject the state’s votes for President-elect Joe Biden.
Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., raised to object to Georgia’s electoral votes. He stated 74 Republican colleagues signed on as nicely, arguing the election in Georgia was “faulty and fraudulent.”
But he stated Republican senators who beforehand agreed to help the objection withdrew their names following the riot on the Capitol.
“Prior to the actions and events of today we did, but following the events of today, it appears some senators have withdrawn their objection,” he said.
Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., who was likely to object to Georgia’s results, said she had backed off her threat following the afternoon’s violence.
“I cannot now in good conscience object to the certification of these votes,” Loeffler stated.
– Joey Garrison
House defeats objection of Arizona’s electoral votes
The House voted 303-121 Wednesday night to reject a GOP objection to Arizona’s 11 electoral votes for President-elect Joe Biden hours after rioters supporting President Donald Trump violently stormed the Capitol building.
The objection, which required support from both chambers to pass, failed earlier in the Republican-controlled Senate by a 93-6 vote.
Eighty two Republicans joined Democrats in voting to reject the objection.
Lawmakers will now return to a joint session of Congress, which is tasked with counting the Electoral College votes that confirms Biden’s 306-232 electoral victory.
“What some are doing in this House and Senate today will not change the outcome of the election, which is the clear and insurmountable victory of President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said.
House members and senators broke into separate two-hour sessions after Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., objected to Arizona’s electoral vote. The session was delayed when rioters entered the Capitol.
It’s unclear how many other states that Trump has contested will receive objections after some Republican senators dropped support following the day’s violence.
Among those who supported the Arizona objection was Alabama Republican Rep. Mo Brooks, arguing that Biden’s win should be thrown out in Arizona due to “compelling and irrefutable” proof that more than 1 million undocumented immigrants voted for the Democratic nominee. Numerous courts found no evidence of widespread fraud.
Arizona Democrat Ruben Gallego refuted the claims, saying GOP objectors were blindly following the conspiratorial and self-serving whims of Trump.
“You are better than this,” he said, imploring Republicans to change their minds. “Save your souls … Preserve this democracy.”
Republican Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, also broke with Republican colleagues to vote against the objection.
“And that vote may well sign my political death warrant,” he said. “But so be it. I swore an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States – and I will not bend its words into contortions for political expediency and then claim I am honoring that oath.”
– Joey Garrison and Ledyard King
DC Police: 4 deaths surrounding protests, 1 shot by police
D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee said four people died around the Capitol grounds during rioting Wednesday, including one woman who was shot by police and three people who suffered medical emergencies.
A mob broke into the Capitol building while Congress was counting votes from the Electoral College. As protesters attempted to gain access to the House chamber, they were confronted by plainclothes Capitol police officers.
“One Capitol police officer discharged their service weapon, striking an adult female,” Contee said. She was transported to a hospital, but died, he said. She has not been publicly identified as officials contact her next of kin.
Metro police will investigate the shooting, as is customary in any shooting involving an officer from any agency in the district, Contee said.
Three others – one adult woman and two adult men – appeared to suffer separate medical emergencies and died “around Capitol grounds,” Contee said.
“Any loss of life in the district is tragic,” he said.
Police recovered two pipe bombs, one at the Democratic National Committee and one at the Republican National Committee, Contee said. A cooler found in a vehicle on Capitol grounds held a long gun and Molotov cocktails, he said.
– Bart Jansen
52 arrests in riots at US Capitol
Washington, D.C. officials announced more arrests were made following Wednesday’s storming of the Capitol by rioters as D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser extended a districtwide state of emergency through Inauguration Day.
Bowser said Wednesday’s events were “an unprecedented assault on our U.S. democracy,” laying the blame at President Donald Trump’s feet and saying he needed to be held responsible.
Calling the riot “stunning and shameful,” D.C. acting Police Chief Robert Contee said the police made 52 arrests Wednesday, of which four arrests were weapons-related. Police found two pipe bombs and recovered six firearms, he said.
Fourteen Metro police officers were injured as rioters confronted police outside the Capitol and forced their way into the building. One officer was pulled into a crowd and is hospitalized, Contee said. One suffered significant facial injuries from a projectile and is also hospitalized, he said.
“These officers should be commended for their work,” Contee said. “They fought hard.”
– Nicholas Wu
Senate rejects objection to Arizona’s vote for Biden
The Senate voted 93-6 Wednesday to reject an objection to Arizona’s 11 Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden, after earlier rioting unified senators of both parties to confirm the legitimacy of his 2020 election victory against President Donald Trump.
The House must still vote on the Arizona objection, but any objection must be approved by both chambers in order to be accepted. After the House vote, lawmakers will return to a joint session of Congress and continue counting the Electoral College votes in alphabetical order by state.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, raised his objection about Arizona with Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., in an effort to create a commission to audit election results during the next 10 days.
But Arizona and all other states have already certified and lawsuits challenging those results have been uniformly rejected in scores of federal courts. The Justice Department found no widespread voter fraud.
The six supporters of the objection were Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Roger Marshall of Kansas and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama. The vacant seat was held by former GOP Sen. David Perdue of Georgia, whose term ended earlier this week and who lost his Senate runoff race to Democrat Jon Ossoff.
Rioting at the Capitol on Wednesday prompted senators of both parties to slam mob violence and reinforce Biden’s victory. Several of the more than dozen Republican senators who raised objection abandoned their complaints. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., said she dropped her objection because of the lawlessness and siege of the Capitol.
But Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said Congress was the place to lawfully and peacefully raise questions about the election. Hawley said violence is never tolerated, but an investigation was still needed into election irregularities in states such as Pennsylvania.
Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said there is bipartisan agreement across his state that “our election was fair, secure and lawful.”
“There is simply no evidence to justify the outrageous claims of widespread voter fraud or election irregularities suggested by those seeking to overturn the election,” Casey said.
– Bart Jansen
Rep. Elise Stefanik stands by objection to votes in several states
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., maintained her objection to Electoral College votes in several states, despite some Republican colleagues now saying they will no longer object following the riot that overtook the U.S. Capitol Wednesday.
“Tens of millions of Americans are concerned that the 2020 election featured unconstitutional overreach by unelected state officials and judges, ignoring state election laws,” she said on the House floor. “We can and we should peacefully and respectfully, discuss these concerns.”
Stefanik claimed there were issues in states like Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan, where she condemned rulings by judges and secretaries of states on voting verification.
“I believe that the most precious foundation and the covenant of our republic is the right to vote, and the faith in the sanctity of our nation’s free and fair elections, and we must work together in this house to rebuild that faith, so that our relief elections are free, fair, secure and safe,” she said.
– Rebecca Morin
Romney: GOP lawmakers who object ‘complicit in an unprecedented attack against our democracy’
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, delivered a biting rebuke to President Donald Trump and his GOP allies, saying his Republican colleagues who refused to drop their objections to Biden’s win will be judged harshly by history.
“We gather due to a selfish man’s injured pride,” Romney said of Trump, “and the outrage of supporters who he has deliberately misinformed for the past two months.”
Romney said the attack on the Capitol was “an insurrection incited by the president” and added: “Those who choose to continue to support his dangerous gambit by objecting to the results of a legitimate democratic election will forever be seen as being complicit in an unprecedented attack against our democracy … That will be their legacy.”
Romney said instead of pandering to Trump supporters who believe his false claims, lawmakers should tell them the truth. “That’s the burden, that’s the duty, of leadership,” he said. “And the truth is that President-elect Biden won the election. President Trump lost.”
Republicans who insisted on pursuing their objections were doing it to further their own personal ambitions.
“What’s the weight of personal acclaim compared to the weight of conscience?” he asked.
– Deirdre Shesgreen
McCarthy calls mob attack on US Capitol ‘the worst of America’
The top Republican in the House slammed a pro-Trump mob’s assault on the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, saying “we saw the worst of America this afternoon.”
Despite his scorching criticism, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., a close ally of President Donald Trump, did not call out the president for encouraging supporters at a morning rally near the White House to march to the Capitol.
Trump wanted his followers to show their support of dozens of Republican lawmakers challenging President-elect Joe Biden’s Nov. 3 victory over Trump that every state already certified. Their attack on the Capitol building forced lawmakers to suspend their largely ceremonial tabulation of the electoral votes and flee for their safety.
“No one wins when this building and what it stands for are destroyed,” McCarthy said, while praising the efforts of law enforcement agencies to protect members of Congress and their aides. “Let’s show the country the mob did not win.”
– Ledyard King
Former President Jimmy Carter says he’s ‘troubled’ by violence at Capitol
Former President Jimmy Carter released a statement Wednesday night saying he was “troubled by the violence at the U.S. Capitol today.”
“This is a national tragedy and is not who we are as a nation,” he said. “Having observed elections in troubled democracies worldwide, I know that we the people can unite to walk back from this precipice to peacefully uphold the laws of our nation, and we must.”
“We join our fellow citizens in praying for a peaceful resolution so our nation can heal and complete the transfer of power as we have for more than two centuries,” the statement concludes.
– Savannah Behrmann
Lawmakers seem to abandon objections after riots
After rioters stormed the Capitol Wednesday, Republican senators who had planned to object to the electoral votes in some states seemed to abandon their efforts.
Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., who was likely to object to Georgia’s results, said she had backed off her threat following the afternoon’s violence.
“I cannot now in good conscience object to the certification of these votes,” said Loeffler, who also lost her runoff election Wednesday to Democrat Raphael Warnock.
And Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who had planned to object to Pennsylvania’s electoral votes, said he would speak about what he saw as deficiencies in Pennsylvania’s votes during the debate over Arizona’s session “in lieu of speaking about it later.”
Other lawmakers who had previously signed on to the effort to object said they would vote to count the electoral votes after the day’s events.
“We will not let today’s violence deter Congress from certifying the election. We must restore confidence in our electoral process,” said Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., who’d previously been part of a group of senators opposing the counting of electoral votes.
And Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., told reporters the days events changed the situation “drastically.”
“Whatever point you made before that should suffice. Get this ugly day behind us,” he said.
– Nicholas Wu
Hoyer: ‘Our words and our actions have had consequences’
Democratic Majority House Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., called Wednesday’s violence at the U.S. Capitol a “sad day” and a “wrenching day” in America.
“It is a day in which our words and our actions have had consequences of a very, very negative nature,” he said. “We ought to watch our words and think what it may mean to some.”
He called it “one of the greatest challenges of this democracy in its 244-year history,” adding, “We need to all work together to tame and reduce the anger and, yes, the hate that some stoke.”
Hoyer said he brought with him the remarks he was planning to say before rioters stormed the capitol around 2:15 pm. EST. He said lawmakers who planned to object to electoral votes would not accomplish their goal but simply “further the dangerous divisions.”
“This was written before this capitol was assaulted, before this democracy was put aside by thousands, encouraged by the commander in chief.”
– Joey Garrison
Pelosi: ‘We will not be diverted from our duty’
Hours after rioters stormed the Capitol, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told lawmakers Wednesday night the violence that damaged the ornate building and forced them to seek refuge that their job of counting the Electoral College votes certifying Joe Biden’s win as president would not be deterred.
“We will not be diverted from our duty,” the California Democrat said from the speaker’s dais. “And we will respect our responsibility to the Constitution and to the American people.”
After she spoke, the House resumed debate on the objection brought by several GOP lawmakers who claim Biden should not be awarded Arizona’s electoral votes due to election irregularities. The challenge is not expected to go anywhere amid a largely ceremonial tabulation of electoral votes.
Rioters not only broke doors and shattered glass but also vandalized Pelosi’s own office as they marched on the Capitol at the urging of President Donald Trump to protest the count. But Biden’s victory has already been affirmed by states who certified their results and courts have dismissed Trump’s lawsuits alleging widespread fraud.
“To those who engage in the gleeful desecration of this temple of democracy, justice will be done,” she said.
– Ledyard King
GOP Sen. Roger Marshall objects to Arizona results, without offering evidence
Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican who was sworn in for his first term earlier this week, did not back off his objection to counting Arizona’s votes, although he provided no evidence of fraud and no reason the state’s results should be rejected.
“I rise in hopes of improving the integrity of the ballot,” he said.
He claimed that in several states, the authority of legislatures were “usurped by governors, secretaries of state and activist courts.” He did not mention that the Trump campaign’s numerous lawsuits seeking to challenge the election results were thrown out by judges across the country, including Trump’s own conservative appointees.
Some critics have pointed out that several of the GOP objectors – including Marshall – won victories in the very election they are now claiming was fraudulent.
– Deirdre Shesgreen
Loeffler withdraws objection to Biden victory
Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., said Wednesday she would abandon her objections to the counting of Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden after the rioting at the Capitol.
“I cannot now in good conscience object to the certification of these voters,” said Loeffler, who lost her runoff election Tuesday to the Democrat Raphael Warnock. “The violence, the lawlessness and siege of the halls of Congress are abhorrent and stand as a direct attack on the very institution my objection was intended to protect: the sanctity of the American democratic process.”
She stated there have been last-minute modifications to election guidelines and “serious irregularities.” But she said those were no excuse for the violence of the mob that swarmed and occupied the Capitol.
“There is no excuse for the events that took place in these chambers today,” stated Loeffler, who obtained applause as she completed talking. “I pray that America never suffers such a dark day again.”
– Bart Jansen
Lankford: Biden shall be president
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., whose speech difficult Arizona’s election outcomes was interrupted by rioting on the Capitol, resumed talking by acknowledging President-elect Joe Biden received the White House.
“We are headed tonight toward the certification of Joe Biden to be the president of the United States,” Lankford stated.
He stated Oklahomans need solutions about election safety and better transparency from authorities. But he stated Congress debates even when members significantly disagree with one another, slightly than obtain their targets by violence.
“Why in God’s name would someone think attacking law enforcement and occupying the United States Capitol is the best way to show that you’re right,” Lankford stated. “Rioters and thugs don’t run the Capitol. We’re the United States of America.”
He gestured across the room at folks with whom he usually disagrees.
“We talk it out and we honor each other, even in our disagreements,” Lankford stated. “That person and that person and that person is not my enemy, that is my fellow American.”
– Bart Jansen
Sen. Chuck Schumer: Capitol riots will ‘reside without end in infamy’
Sen. Chuck Schumer, the highest Democrat within the chamber, stated Wednesday’s riots within the U.S. Capitol would “live forever in infamy” together with different watershed occasions in American historical past.
“This will be a stain on our country, not so easily washed away,” Schumer stated. He referred to as the assault on the Capitol “the final terrible, indelible legacy of the 45th president of the United States.”
He stated the riot on the Capitol “did not happen spontaneously” however on the instigation of President Donald Trump.
“This temple to democracy was desecrated, it’s windows smashed, our offices vandalized,” stated Schumer. The violence shall be Trump’s “ever-lasting shame.”
– Deirdre Shesgreen
Pence calls it a ‘darkish day’ in Capitol as rely resumes
Calling it “a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol,” Vice President Mike Pence returned to the Senate chamber following riots that left one useless, and compelled lawmakers to flee for his or her security.
“We condemn the violence that took place here in the strongest possible terms. We grieve the loss of life in these hallowed halls as well as those injured in our Capitol today,” Pence stated.
Pence is presiding over a joint session of Congress to finalize the Electoral College rely affirming Joe Biden’s Nov. 3 win over President Donald Trump.
“As we reconvene in this chamber, the world will again witness the resilience and strength of our democracy,” he stated.
He wrapped up by saying: “Let’s get back to work.”
And the senators within the chamber applauded.
– Ledyard King
McConnell says Congress will rely votes regardless of ‘failed riot’
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed to proceed the counting of electoral votes Wednesday night, hours after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol.
Saying Congress had confronted a “failed insurrection,” McConnell stated “The United States and the United States Congress have faced greater threats than the unhinged crowd we saw today.”
“They tried to obstruct our democracy. They failed,” he stated.
“We will certify the winner of the 2020 presidential election. Criminal behavior will never dominate the United States Congress,” he stated.
-Nicholas Wu
Congress resumes electoral rely following lethal riot
After a tumultuous afternoon of riots and mayhem, a subdued however resolute Congress Wednesday night time resumed its state-by-state rely of the electoral votes that may reaffirm President-elect Joe Biden’s decisive victory Nov. 3 over President Donald Trump.
Lawmakers within the House and the Senate had already begun debating the outcomes of Arizona (which went for Biden) when protesters breached the Capitol Building round 2 p.m., smashing home windows, rifling by desks and vandalizing places of work. One lady died through the melee.
The debate on the voting outcomes – which sparked the violence from pro-Trump supporters – compelled the instant suspension of the rely, a largely ceremonial tabulation Congress conducts each 4 years.
Trump for weeks has baselessly claimed widespread voter fraud within the November election and exhorted his followers at a morning rally close to the White House to march to Capitol Hill to help Republican lawmakers who’re objecting to the election leads to as many as six states, together with Arizona.
Debate resumed round 8 p.m. and congressional leaders say they plan to end their rely over the subsequent a number of hours slightly than recess till Thursday morning.
Trump has no path to overturn the result, a conclusion that even his most loyal allies are beginning to publicly acknowledge.
All 50 states and the District of Columbia have already got licensed the outcomes, giving Biden a 306-232 benefit and management of the White House come Jan. 20. But that hasn’t stopped dozens of GOP lawmakers from saying they might object to Wednesday’s tabulation.
Washington GOP Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, nevertheless, stated she would withdraw her objection after seeing the riots.
“What we now have seen immediately is illegal and unacceptable,” she stated on her Facebook web page. “I have decided I will vote to uphold the Electoral College results and I encourage Donald Trump to condemn and put an end to this madness.”
– Ledyard King
Obama: ‘History will rightly remember today’s violence’
President Barack Obama released a statement following the violence at the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, saying “History will rightly remember today’s violence” that was “incited by a sitting president who has continued to baselessly lie about the outcome of a lawful election, as a moment of a great dishonor and shame for our country.”
He continued that “we would be kidding ourselves” if this got here as a shock because the Republican occasion and its “accompanying ecosystem has too often been unwilling to tell their followers the truth” that Trump misplaced the election.
“Their fantasy narrative has spiraled further and further from reality, and it builds upon years of sown resentments. Now we’re seeing the consequences, whipped up into a violent crescendo.”
He called on GOP leaders to make a clear choice to “choose America” and that he is “heartened to see many members of the President’s party speak up forcefully today.”
“We need more leaders like these – right now and in the days, weeks, and months ahead as President-Elect Biden works to restore a common purpose to our politics,” Obama said.
– Savannah Behrmann
Bush calls riots ‘sickening’
Former President George W. Bush called rioting in the U.S. Capitol “sickening” and said he was “appalled” at the behavior of “some political leaders,” but did not mention anyone by name, including President Donald Trump.
In a Wednesday statement, Bush said he and former first lady Laura Bush are “watching the scenes of mayhem unfolding at the seat of our Nation’s government in disbelief and dismay.”
He called it a “sickening and heartbreaking sight,” and that “This is how election results are disputed in a banana republic – not our democratic republic.”
Without mentioning Trump, whose supporters stormed the Capitol, Bush took on lawmakers, saying he is “appalled by the reckless habits of some political leaders for the reason that election and by the dearth of respect proven immediately for our establishments, our traditions, and our regulation enforcement.”
“The violent assault on the Capitol – and disruption of a Constitutionally-mandated meeting of Congress – was undertaken by people whose passions have been inflamed by falsehoods and false hopes,” the assertion reads, persevering with that “it is the fundamental responsibility of every patriotic citizen to support the rule of law.”
Bush concluded: “To those who are disappointed in the results of the election: Our country is more important than the politics of the moment. Let the officials elected by the people fulfill their duties and represent our voices in peace and safety.”
– Savannah Behrmann
Sen. Rand Paul predicts objections shall be over after Arizona objection is voted down
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who had beforehand stated he wouldn’t oppose the counting of electoral votes, instructed reporters on the Capitol he thought the method could be over after the Arizona objection was voted down tonight.
The remaining objections could be debated throughout the remaining time for the Arizona objections and voted down.
After that, “I don’t think there’s going to be another objection. I think it’s over at that point,” he instructed reporters.
“I’m hoping this isn’t a four hour thing. I think it’s maybe a one hour thing,” he stated.
The different Republican senators who have been possible to make objections on Wednesday, Sens. Kelly Loeffler and Josh Hawley, haven’t commented on their plans.
– Nicholas Wu
Congress to reconvene Wednesday night time to proceed Electoral College rely after riot at Capitol
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated a joint session of Congress will reconvene Wednesday night time to rely the Electoral College votes confirming President-elect Joe Biden’s win after rioters rushed the U.S. Capitol and introduced proceedings to a standstill earlier within the day.
In a letter to House members, Pelosi referred to as the violence from supporters of President Donald Trump on the Capitol “a shameful assault” on American democracy that was “anointed at the highest level of government.”
“It cannot, however, deter us from our responsibility to validate the election of Joe Biden,” she stated, including that she’s consulted with House Democratic leaders, the Justice Department and Vice President Mike Pence. “We have decided we should proceed tonight at the Capitol once it is cleared for use.”
– Joey Garrison and Deirdre Shesgreen
California congresswoman instructed husband the place her will was earlier than Wednesday joint session
Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., throughout a telephone interview on MSNBC from an undisclosed location on Capitol grounds, stated she referred to as her husband Tuesday night time to inform him the place she had her will and testomony in case one thing occurred to her Wednesday when Congress was set to rely electoral votes.
“It’s a sad day in America when you are coming in to do your job and have to think about things like that,” she said.
When asked why she anticipated riots or violence, Sanchez said she had a “premonition.” She added that “there has been enough nasty rhetoric, inflammatory rhetoric,” by President Donald Trump and others to “encourage this mob-like behavior.”
“I just wanted to be prepared. I wanted to have a plan,” she said. “Having to barricade yourself into a room, and put furniture up against the door and grab whatever objects are handy that can be used as a weapon, you know when you are going into work, it’s unfathomable to me that would be something that, again, that would happen on a Wednesday work day.”
– Rebecca Morin
Woman shot inside US Capitol has died
The woman shot inside the U.S. Capitol Wednesday afternoon has died, according to Alaina Gertz, a spokeswoman for the Washington D.C. police department.
Videos of the incident circulating on social media show the woman fall to the ground following a loud bang inside the building. Onlookers screamed for help while she bled on the ground shortly after 3 p.m. EST.
One witness, who identified himself as Thomas from New Jersey, said after storming into the chambers, police yelled for the mob to get back. He said the woman “didn’t heed the call” as they rushed to the chamber windows. “Then they shot her within the neck,” Thomas stated.
Hospitals within the space declined to give particulars about anybody transported to their emergency rooms Wednesday night.
– Brett Murphy
Capitol safe, Sergeant at Arms tells employees, lawmakers
Hours after rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol as electoral votes have been counted, the House Sergeant at Arms instructed employees, lawmakers, and reporters inside a safe location within the Capitol that the constructing was safe. The room broke into applause, in accordance to reporters current.
Washington, D.C.’s curfew is ready to go into impact at 6 p.m. EST, and the National Guard has been deployed.
– Nicholas Wu
Trump urges rioters to ‘go residence’ and repeats false claims of election fraud
Hours after a pro-Trump mob violently stormed the U.S. Capitol, President Donald Trump urged rioters on the Capitol to “go home” however repeated baseless claims of election fraud in a minute-long video posted to Twitter.
“I know your pain, I know your hurt,” Trump stated. “But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order.”
Trump tweeted the message at 4:17 p.m. EST, hours after rioters broke a barrier and entered the Capitol.
In the message, Trump once more falsely claimed the election was “stolen” from him.
Twitter flagged the president’s video, noting the “claim of election fraud is disputed,” which prevents any Twitter customers from replying to or retweeting the message.
His feedback got here after each Democrats and Republicans referred to as on him to intervene within the chaos on the Hill, the place armed protesters stormed each chambers of Congress and one lady was shot.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump inspired supporters at a rally close to the White House to march to Capitol Hill, the place the House and Senate convened in a joint session to rely the electoral votes to formally declare Joe Biden’s victory.
Trump referred to as the rioters “special people,” and that he and his supporters cherished them.
– Courtney Subramanian and David Jackson
Biden calls Capitol riot ‘insurrection,’ urges Trump to ‘end siege’
President-elect Joe Biden referred to as the rioting Wednesday on the U.S. Capitol “insurrection” and “chaos,” and he instructed President Donald Trump to go on nationwide tv to urge his supporters to finish their siege.
“What we’re seeing is a small number of extremists dedicated to lawlessness. This is not dissent, it’s disorder, it’s chaos. It borders on sedition. And it must end, now,” Biden stated from The Queen theater in Wilmington, Delaware. “I call on this mob to pull back now and allow the work of democracy to go forward.”
Biden referred to as on Trump to go on nationwide tv to urge his supporters “to demand an end to this siege.”
“It’s not protest, it’s insurrection,” stated Biden, a former 36-year senator and former vp who presided over the Electoral College rely in 2017 that seated Trump.
He stated the rioting with smashed home windows and rummaging by Senate desks didn’t replicate a real America. Rioters swarmed the Capitol, storming the House and Senate chambers on the second ground of the constructing with shouts and flags. At least one rioter entered the Senate chamber and shouted from the dais: “Trump won the election.”
“At this hour, our democracy is under unprecedented assault, unlike anything we’ve seen in modern times, an assault on the citadel of liberty, the Capitol itself; an assault on the people’s representatives, the Capitol Hill police, sworn to protect them; the public servants who work at the heart of our republic; an assault on the rule of law like few times we’ve ever seen it,” Biden stated.
After Biden left the stage, he returned to voice confidence in his inauguration.
“I am not concerned about my safety, security or the inauguration,” Biden stated. “The American people are going to stand up now. Enough is enough is enough.”
– Bart Jansen
Some House Democrats recommend impeaching Trump once more
After his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, a number of Democratic House members endorsed the thought of once more impeaching President Donald Trump.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., tweeted Wednesday afternoon she is “drawing up Articles of Impeachment.”
She stated Trump “should be impeached by the House of Representatives & removed from office by the United States Senate” and that “We can’t allow him to remain in office, it’s a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfill our oath.”
Freshman Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., additionally referred to as on Trump to be impeached for inciting violence.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., tweeted that Trump “should immediately be impeached by the House of Representatives & removed from office by the United States Senate as soon as Congress reconvenes.”
Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., who’s the assistant House speaker, said Trump “must be removed from office and prevented from further endangering our country and our people”
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., requested about impeachment, stated it was unlikely within the period of time left in Trump’s presidency.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen in a short timeframe, and frankly that does nothing to help the situation,” she stated.
Trump was impeached in late 2019 within the House after Democrats stated he pressured Ukraine to examine his political rival, and then-candidate, Joe Biden. He was later acquitted by the Senate.
– Savannah Behrmann
Senate staffers secured electoral votes as rioters closed in
When lawmakers have been ushered out of the House and Senate chambers on Wednesday, evading a pro-Trump mob that made its approach into the U.S. Capitol, employees members made positive to seize the packing containers holding the Electoral College certificates the lawmakers have been in the midst of counting Wednesday.
Capitol Police walked across the Senate chamber, ordering everybody to stand away from the doorways as rioters entered the Capitol. And then when the decision to evacuate went out, the packing containers of electoral votes have been taken away too.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., later instructed CBSN the ballots have been taken away so certification might proceed in a “secure Capitol location.”
She instructed reporters Wednesday afternoon lawmakers had to return to end their rely.
“Our country is hurting. Our democracy is being tested right now,” she stated, so lawmakers had to formally declare the victor immediately and “move forward.”
– Nicholas Wu
Pence to mob storming Capitol: ‘Immediately depart the constructing’
Vice President Mike Pence urged protesters to depart the Capitol after Trump supporters breached safety perimeters and Pence and lawmakers had to be evacuated from House and Senate chambers.
“The violence and destruction taking place at the US Capitol Must Stop and it Must Stop Now,” Pence tweeted. “Anyone involved must respect Law Enforcement officers and immediately leave the building.”
Pence stated that whereas each American has the suitable to protest peacefully, “this attack on our Capitol will not be tolerated and those involved will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Democrat leaders stated that message wants to be despatched by Pence’s boss.
“We are calling on President Trump to demand that all protestors leave the U.S. Capitol and Capitol Grounds immediately,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., stated in a joint assertion.
Before the protesters entered the Capitol, Trump had referred to as Pence a coward for saying he wouldn’t break the foundations to attempt to block Congress from counting Trump’s loss.
Shortly after tweeting that Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done,” Trump tweeted that everybody ought to “stay peaceful!”
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany stated in a tweet the National Guard is on its approach.
“At President @realDonaldTrump’s direction, the National Guard is on the way along with other federal protective services. We reiterate President Trump’s call against violence and to remain peaceful.”
– Maureen Groppe
Violence uncommon at Capitol, however sometimes lethal
Rioting Wednesday on the Capitol was violent and strange with at the least one protester coming into the Senate chamber, however shootings a long time in the past have resulted in police killed and lawmakers wounded.
Two Capitol cops – Officer Jacob Chestnut and Detective John Gibson – have been killed July 24, 1998, by a gunman who made his approach into the primary ground of the constructing on the House facet between the chamber and the crypt.
Chestnut and Gibson later lay in honor within the Capitol Rotunda and a plaque was installed of their reminiscence.
Five House lawmakers were shot and wounded March 1, 1954, by members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, which argued for the island’s independence.
The 4 nationalists shot indiscriminately from the gallery above the chamber’s ground and unfurled a Puerto Rican flag. All have been apprehended. A bullet gap stays in a desk that’s a part of the House dais, a reminder of the assault.
A former Capitol police officer, William Kaiser, fired two pictures at Sen. John Bricker, R-Ohio, on July 12, 1947 as he entered the subway tunnel linking the Capitol to Senate places of work. But each pictures missed and Bricker jumped aboard an electrical subway automobile to escape.
– Bart Jansen
GOP lawmakers name for Trump to do extra about rioters who stormed Capitol
Several GOP lawmakers have referred to as on the president to do extra as his supporters have breached the Capitol and compelled a lockdown.
Texas Congressman Chip Roy referred to as on Trump to get to “a microphone immediately and establish calm and order. Now. And work with Capitol Police to secure the Capitol.” He emphasised it because the “last thing you’ll do that matters as President.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., referred to as it a “national embarrassment.”
Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, among the many states Trump has contested, referred to as on Trump to finish the riot on the Capitol, saying it’s the one approach it would get resolved.
“The president has to call it off,” Gallagher stated in an interview on MSNBC. “He’s the only one who can. Today is not going to change the outcome of the election. And that was the fundamental lie that the objectors told their supporters from the start
“And they told themselves they could have the debate and not have any cost,” he stated. “This is the cost. This is the cost in real time.”
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., called on Trump to “restore order by sending resources to assist the police and ask those doing this to stand down.”
– Savannah Behrmann
Harris ‘secure’ as US Capitol on lockdown
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is “safe” and in an undisclosed location, an aide stated in an announcement.
Harris was on Capitol Hill for the Electoral College vote rely. The U.S. Capitol went on lockdown after a bunch of protesters breached the constructing. Shortly after the breach, Vice President Mike Pence and different members of Congress have been evacuated.
– Rebecca Morin
Pelosi asks National Guard to clear and safe Capitol
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., requested for the National Guard to clear and safe the Capitol, in accordance to an individual accustomed to the scenario not licensed to communicate on the file.
The resolution to ask for the National Guard to intervene comes as protesters breached the Capitol throughout Wednesday’s counting of electoral votes. Police barricaded the doorways of the House chamber and had their weapons drawn, and there have been experiences of pictures fired contained in the buliding.
“This is a coup attempt,” tweeted Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.
Requests for extra help from the Washington, D.C. National Guard are being thought of, in accordance to a Defense official who was not licensed to communicate publicly. The DC National Guard is beneath management of the Army Secretary. Defense officers are monitoring the safety scenario on the Capitol however don’t anticipate to obtain requests for active-duty troops, the official stated. Police are higher in a position than Guard troopers to take care of the protesters who’ve stormed contained in the Capitol constructing and have gathered on the steps exterior, the official stated.
—Christal Hayes, Nicholas Wu and Tom Vanden Brook
Trump tweets for peace, moments after urging supporters to march on Capitol
As photos of protesters storming the U.S. Capitol flashed on tv screens throughout the nation on Wednesday, President Donald Trump urged supporters to “stay peaceful.”
“Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country,” Trump posted on Twitter. “Stay peaceful!”
Trump’s tweet, nevertheless, got here shortly after he inspired 1000’s supporters to march from the White House to the Capitol. Trump has framed the usually routine technique of counting Electoral College votes as take a look at of loyalty to him and his baseless accusations of voter fraud.
Trump tweeted his name for peace simply minutes after attacking Vice President Mike Pence for not having “the courage to do what should have been done.” But authorized consultants have famous that the method is proscribed to counting the electoral votes licensed by the states.
—John Fritze and David Jackson
1 shot at US Capitol as rioters storm constructing
One individual has been shot on the U.S. Capitol as dozens of supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the constructing and violently clashed with police.
That’s in accordance to an individual accustomed to the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on situation of anonymity amid a chaotic scenario.
The actual circumstances surrounding the capturing have been unclear. The individual stated the sufferer had been taken to a hospital. Their situation was not recognized.
The capturing got here as dozens of Trump supporters breached safety perimeters and entered the U.S. Capitol as Congress was assembly, anticipated to vote and affirm Joe Biden’s presidential win. Trump has riled up his supporters by falsely claiming widespread voter fraud to clarify his loss.
— Michael Balsamo, Associated Press
Pence taken to safe location
The House and Senate recessed from their session to rely state-certified Electoral College votes as protesters breached the Capitol and the constructing locked down. Vice President Mike Pence has been taken to an undisclosed, safe location, in accordance to a supply accustomed to the scenario however not licensed to communicate publicly.
A discover from Capitol Police despatched to all Capitol employees warned them of an “internal security threat” and instructed them to shelter of their places of work and keep away from home windows. Lawmakers posted messages urging protesters to be peaceable, and reporters contained in the Capitol shared movies of protesters wandering the halls of the Capitol on the lookout for lawmakers to confront concerning the electoral votes.
In the House chamber, Capitol Police instructed lawmakers from the podium the chamber was in lockdown as a result of the constructing was breached. Members have been been urged not to depart, and high leaders have been escorted out.
The Senate recessed as Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., was about to communicate on an objection to Arizona’s electoral votes. Before he might start, an aide walked up to the senator and instructed him “protesters are in the building.”
—Nicholas Wu and Kevin Johnson
McConnell blasts electoral vote objections, warns of ‘loss of life spiral’ for democracy
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., delivered a stern warning to his congressional colleagues in opposition to making an attempt to overturn the 2020 election, saying democracy would enter a “death spiral” if Congress have been to reject the counting of electoral votes.
“Nothing before us proves illegality anywhere near the massive scale that would have tipped the entire election,” he said, referring to President Donald Trump’s unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud. McConnell said Trump had spread “sweeping conspiracy theories” about the election.
Referring to some Republicans’ stated support for objections as an act of protest, McConnell said he would not “pretend such a vote will be a harmless protest gesture while relying on others to do the right thing.”
“I will vote to respect the people’s decision and defend our system of government as we know it,” he said.
– Nicholas Wu
Pence defies Trump in declaring he can’t change electoral results
Facing intense pressure from President Donald Trump to try to unilaterally change the Electoral College votes, Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday that only lawmakers can decide whether to accept the state-certified results.
Pence issued the statement shortly before he began presiding over a joint session of Congress in his constitutional role as president of the Senate.
Pence said he concluded, after “a careful study of the Constitution,” that he doesn’t have the sole power to accept or reject electoral votes. Instead, he said, his role is “ministerial.”
“When disputes concerning a presidential election arise, under Federal law, it is the people’s representatives who review the evidence and resolve disputes through a democratic process,” he wrote. “As a student of history who loves the Constitution and reveres its Framers, I do not believe that the Founders of our country intended to invest the Vice President with unilateral authority to decide which electoral votes should be counted during the Joint Session of Congress, and no Vice President in American history has ever asserted such authority.”
Shortly before releasing the statement, Trump continued to exhort Pence to “come through for us” by sending the electoral votes “back to the states.”
Speaking at a rally of supporters, Trump said he had just spoken to Pence and told him “it doesn’t take courage” to object but it would take courage to do nothing.
– Maureen Groppe
Republicans object to accepting Arizona’s electoral votes
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., objected to counting the 11 electoral votes from Arizona won by Joe Biden.
Those results were the first to be challenged as lawmakers proceeded alphabetically through the states to receive each states’ certified results.
The House and Senate must now separately consider the objection with debate limited to a total two hours.
A majority of both chambers must support the objection for Arizona’s votes to be rejected.
– Maureen Groppe
Congress begins special session to count electoral votes
A joint session of Congress has begun the final steps of counting the Electoral College votes that will officially make Joe Biden the next president.
Last month, the Electoral College ratified Biden’s November victory. He got 306 electoral votes to President Donald Trump’s 232, based on results certified by all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The Constitution requires both chambers of Congress to meet before the Jan. 20 inauguration to receive those votes.
While the congressional count is usually a short, ceremonial event, Trump’s refusal to accept the results have prompted some GOP lawmakers to challenge them. Other Republicans have joined Democrats in denouncing the challenges as an unlawful attempt to overturn the will of the voters.
Amidst tightened security as protestors rally outside the Capitol, the votes will be tallied in alphabetical order by state. Arizona’s results are the first expected to draw a complaint.
Depending on the number of objections, that could extend the process into Thursday although the final result will not change. Objections must be backed by a majority of both the Democrat-controlled House and the Republican-controlled Senate.
– Maureen Groppe
Trump again leans on Pence, says he will ‘never concede’
President Donald Trump repeated his litany of false claims about the election ahead of the special joint session of Congress to count Electoral College votes confirming President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
“We won’t ever quit, we are going to by no means concede,” Trump told supporters at a campaign-style protest rally near the White House.
Trump also continued to put pressure on Mike Pence, falsely claiming the vice president can simply reject Biden’s electoral votes. Pence lacks the legal authority for such a step, and has indicated he will not do so.
Pence “will uphold the Constitution and follow the statutory law,” chief of staff Marc Short said in a statement.
In his speech, Trump also blasted “weak Republicans” who have not gone along with his demands to reverse Biden’s victory, singling out Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah.
The president also seemed to acknowledge the defeats of Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in the Georgia Senate run-offs held Tuesday. He said they “never had a chance” because of fixed voter machines, though state GOP officials said the election was fairly held.
Trump spoke during a protest at the Ellipse, a park just a few blocks south of the White House. The event resembled Trump’s campaign rallies, and the president talked about his actions in office while complaining about his election loss.
– David Jackson
Epic loyalty test for Pence
When Vice President Mike Pence climbs the rostrum Wednesday to preside over the counting of Electoral College votes, the former Indiana governor will be forced to stage one of the most awkward political performances in recent memory at a time when fealty to Donald Trump continues to be prized within the GOP.
While the outcome of the joint session of Congress is certain – President-elect Joe Biden’s win has been clear for weeks – how Pence navigates Trump’s demands that he does something to thwart the inevitable could have ramifications for his own future in politics, as well as broader implications for Republicans.
In the past, the routine process of counting states’ electoral votes ended with a vice president announcing a winner and offering congratulations. But in Trump’s Washington, a similar declaration will be viewed as a betrayal by a president who has espoused baseless allegations of election fraud to explain away his defeat.
If Pence raises Trump’s false claims of election irregularities in some way, it will underscore the president’s continued iron grip on the party. If he doesn’t, it could be read as a signal that the GOP – particularly after a rough election night for the party in Georgia on Tuesday – is beginning to inch toward a political world without Trump.
The president has steadily ramped up his pressure on Pence, telling a massive audience gathered outside the White House on Wednesday that he hopes “Mike is going to do the right thing.” Pence has reportedly told Trump he intends to fulfill his constitutional duty and noted — correctly — that he doesn’t have the power to overturn the election results.
For years, the maxim in Washington has been that prominent appearances by GOP officials have been performed for an audience of one: the president. But the Pence show on Capitol Hill will have many eyes, and this time the drama may have more to do with everyone not named Trump.
– John Fritze and Maureen Groppe
Why Loeffler can take part in the electoral count and Perdue can’t
As the dust settles in Georgia’s hotly contested Senate runoff races, Congress is also convening Wednesday for a joint session to count electoral votes and officially declare President-elect Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 election.
The Associated Press projected Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock the winner over incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, but Loeffler is still able to take part in Wednesday’s Electoral College count.
She was appointed at the beginning of 2020 to fill a Senate term running through 2023, so her term will not end until Warnock takes office. The other Republican in the race, David Perdue, is not currently a senator because his term expired last Sunday.
The effort has no chance of thwarting the certification, though that has not stopped at least 140 Republicans in the House of Representatives and almost a GOP dozen senators, including Loeffler, from supporting it.
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is also expected to take part in Wednesday’s proceedings, as her Senate term does not expire until she resigns to officially become vice president.
– Nicholas Wu and Matthew Brown
Congress to convene at 1 p.m. to count votes, affirm Biden’s win
Republicans plan one final stand during Wednesday’s largely ceremonial joint session of Congress to count the presidential electoral votes – the last official step recognizing Biden’s Nov. 3 decisive victory over Trump.
It’s a day that’s expected to be long on drama but ultimately short on substance because there’s no legal or official path for Republicans to overturn an election that’s already been certified.
But bipartisan opponents of the broad effort backed by dozens of GOP lawmakers and cheered on by Trump worry it could set a dangerous precedent for a country that’s been an international model for the peaceful transition of power.
Utah GOP Sen. Mitt Romney, the GOP presidential nominee in 2012, has denounced the “egregious ploy to reject electors,” saying it “may enhance the political ambition of some, but dangerously threatens our Democratic Republic.”
Several GOP lawmakers plan to raise objections to the results of at least three and as many as six states Biden won – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The objections could center on a number of conspiracies that Trump himself has pushed: allegations of widespread voter fraud, late-arriving ballots for Biden, or that governors who expanded mail-in voting during a pandemic unconstitutionally went around their state legislatures to do so.
As GOP lawmakers prepare to spend hours laying out their objections, thousands of Trump allies are expected to gather outside the Capitol Building to voice their support for the largely symbolic move. Trump himself is expected to address his supporters near the White House and the National Guard has been activated to quell potential violence.
It won’t change the results.
All 50 states and the District of Columbia already have certified the results, giving Biden a 306-232 advantage and control of the White House come Jan. 20. Those state-by-state results will be announced as part of a roll call Wednesday in a session that will be presided over by Vice President Mike Pence in his role as president of the Senate.
“Congressmen and Senators have a stark choice,” stated Alabama GOP Rep. Mo Brooks, who plans to object to the leads to all six states. “They can either vote to ratify or vote to reject voter fraud, illegal ballots and election theft. This is not a time to cower in fox holes.”
Republicans also are expected to push for a commission to look at election irregularities (similar to what Democrats called for in the aftermath of the Bush v. Gore election in 2000).
Official objections to each state could lead to as much as two hours of debate although congressional aides say that could drag out to three or four hours apiece due to the time needed to set up the debate in each chamber on each objection.
Typically, past sessions have wrapped up in an afternoon. But Wednesday’s session, which begins at 1 p.m., could drag on well beyond midnight.
Some Trump supporters falsely believe Pence, in his role as president of the Senate, can throw out electoral votes based on the objections of GOP lawmakers. But Pence lacks that legal authority, putting him in the awkward position of having to announce Biden’s electoral victory once the votes are counted.
Even if he could, the objections to consider not counting a particular state’s electoral votes have to be approved by both chambers and the Democratic-run House would never agree. In addition, Congress has never awarded a state’s electoral votes to a candidate whose victory was not certified.
In effect, Congress is expected to agree with the nearly 60 verdicts that state and federal courts have rendered: there was no widespread voter fraud and therefor no reason to keep Joe Biden from becoming the nation’s 46th president.
– Ledyard King
