Protesters in support of US President Donald Trump swarmed the Capitol building, forcing officials to order lawmakers to shelter in place and halting debate in both the House and Senate. Congress was meeting to confirm President-elect Joe Biden's electoral college victory.
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Donald Trump’s lawyer tried to block the count of the Electoral College votes as Capitol was still recovering from violence
"Count me out" of the plan to object to the Electoral College certification, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told his colleagues on the Senate floor Wednesday night. Graham was never really on board, but had previously suggested he was at least willing to listen to his fellow Republicans, like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who wanted to challenge President-elect Joe Biden's victory because of unfounded allegations of widespread voter fraud. By the time he spoke, though, Graham had reached the conclusion that "enough is enough."Graham provided the chamber with a brief history lesson, arguing that the objectors were making a mistake by citing the 1876 election between Samuel Tilden and Rutherford B. Hayes as precedent for their actions. That year, there were disputed results in four states -- Oregon, Louisiana, Florida, and Graham's home state of South Carolina. So, a 15-member Electoral Commission, similar to what Cruz and others want to see now, was formed. Hayes, the Republican, eventually received the votes he needed to become president.But, Graham noted, the commission wasn't the real reason the matter was settled. Behind the scenes, Republicans met with Democrats, who agreed not to accept a Hayes victory as long as federal troops were pulled from the South, bringing an end to the Reconstruction era. The deal, which became known as the Compromise of 1877, paved the way for Jim Crow. "If you're looking for historical guidance," Graham said, "this is not the one to pick." > Graham: "It didn't work. Nobody accepted it. The way it ended is when Hayes did a deal with these 3 states- you give me the electors, I'll kick the Union Army out. The rest is history. It led to Jim Crow. If you're looking for historical guidance, this is not the one to pick."> > -- Michael McAuliff (@mmcauliff) January 7, 2021More stories from theweek.com Watch Wednesday's pro-Trump assault on the Capitol unfold in under 5 minutes Trump claims he'll lead march to the Capitol, only to slip back to White House in motorcade 7 scathing cartoons about Trump's Georgia phone call
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Four people died and 52 were arrested, Washington D.C.'s police chief said, after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to stop Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden's election victory. In a late night news conference, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert J. Contee said 47 of the 52 arrests to date were related to violations of Mayor Muriel Bowser's 6 p.m. curfew, with 26 of those involving people arrested on U.S. Capitol grounds. In addition, Contee said, two pipe bombs were recovered from the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national committees, as well as a cooler from a vehicle on U.S. Capitol grounds that contained Molotov cocktails.
The Hudson Yards aerie, which Atwood shares with his physician husband Jake Deutsch, is literally “a glass box in the sky.”Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
International experts from the World Health Organisation trying to investigate the origins of the coronavirus in China, a year after it first emerged in the central city of Wuhan, continue to run into roadblocks. The delay for the WHO mission – already plagued by politics and posturing – adds to persistent worries that China will whitewash and frustrate the investigation. Indeed, a two-person WHO team on a three-week mission last August, aimed at laying out plans for further study, sat through a 14-day quarantine upon arrival and never visited Wuhan. This comes as Beijing engages in a relentless propaganda campaign to distract from its cover-up and rewrite the narrative – all aimed at claiming the coronavirus originated outside China. Officials have seeded a number of conspiracy theories, including blaming the US military for infecting China. The most recent theory flouted is to label imported frozen seafood as the culprit. Foreign minister Wang Yi has gone so far as to claim the virus emerged in many countries, and that China was simply the first to spot it. “We raced to report the epidemic first,” he told state media. Mr Wang’s comments are a far cry from the experiences of doctors, including the late Li Wenliang and Ai Fen, both of whom were reprimanded by Chinese authorities after discovering coronavirus infections in December 2018 and seeking to warn colleagues.
Former mayor and other Trump allies release statements only after violent rioters clash with law enforcement and breach Capitol building
The leader of one of the country's most prominent U.S. attorney's offices said Tuesday he is resigning after almost three years of prosecuting terrorists, spies and political operatives.
In his opposition to the counting of electoral votes for President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) suggested Congress "follow the precedent" of another disputed election.In 1877, just a few years after the end of the Civil War, a disputed election was resolved with a bipartisan electoral commission that put former Republican President Rutherford B. Hayes in the White House, but also ended most of the Reconstruction efforts aimed at enforcing the end of slavery and white supremacy in the South. The 1877 commission allowed Jim Crow laws to take hold in the South and remain for nearly a century later. But without much regard for that racist history, Cruz suggested today's Congress follow 1877's lead.> "I would urge that we follow the precedent of 1877," says Senator Ted Cruz.> > The bipartisan electoral commission that Cruz speaks of was widely regarded as a disaster https://t.co/azXMO0zfYw pic.twitter.com/dLSuPLrvcO> > — Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) January 6, 2021Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) followed with a complete teardown of Cruz's argument, questioning why Cruz wasn't also disputing the elections of dozens of House members elected on the same ballots. And then came Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), a Republican from a swing state Biden won. Despite supporting and campaigning for Trump, Toomey also wasn't siding with the Republican opposition, instead questioning just how much good a "commission" would do for the undisputed count.More stories from theweek.com Watch Wednesday's pro-Trump assault on the Capitol unfold in under 5 minutes Trump claims he'll lead march to the Capitol, only to slip back to White House in motorcade 7 scathing cartoons about Trump's Georgia phone call
Stimulus payments may be delayed for as many as 14 million customers, the IRS and major tax prep software companies warned.
The European Union is in talks with Pfizer and BioNTech over ordering up to 100 million more doses of their COVID-19 vaccine, three sources close to the matter said on Tuesday, as European governments battle to speed up immunisations. The bloc, with a population of 450 million, has already ordered 200 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and has taken up an option to buy another 100 million under a contract signed with the two companies in November. The sources said the EU is seeking to buy 50 or 100 million additional doses from the companies.
US Capitol in lockdown: Follow the latest news The storming of the US Capitol is a jarring but natural product of years of violence and hateful rhetoric stoked by disinformation and conspiracy theories, experts on far-right extremism said as they watched Wednesday’s riot. Members of far-right groups, including the Proud Boys, joined the crowds that formed in Washington to cheer on President Trump as he urged them to protest Congress’s counting of Electoral College votes confirming President-elect Joe Biden’s win. Then they headed to the Capitol. Members of smaller white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups also were spotted in the crowds. Police were photographed stopping a man identified as a leading promoter of the QAnon conspiracy theory from storming the Senate floor. Online forums popular with Trump supporters lit up with gleeful posts about the chaotic scenes broadcast from the Capitol. Thousands of messages on Parler, a right-wing alternative to Twitter, included the hashtag civilwar or other variations of the term.
Tempered flared on the House floor early Thursday during speeches for and against an objection to recognizing President-elect Joe Biden's electoral win in Pennsylvania — the final hurdle in the counting of Electoral College votes, delayed by the occupation of the Capitol on Wednesday by a mob fueled by President Trump. Rep. Conor Lamb, a moderate Democrat form Pennsylvania, lit into his Republican colleagues, telling them that their objections have no merit and "don't deserve an ounce of respect. A woman died out there tonight, and you're making these objections."There was a commotion after Lamb said if the people storming the Congress had not been White, prompting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-N.Y.) to call for order. "Enough has been done today already to try to strip this Congress of its dignity and we don't need to do any more," Lamb said, adding that some of his colleagues had fueled the mob by repeating lies about the election. A few moments later, Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) objected, saying Lamb was calling him a liar. Pelosi shot down the objection, and then things almost came to blows off-camera.> "There will be order in the House."> > Watch tensions rise on House floor during debate on Pennsylvania ElectoralCollege Vote Objection.> > Note: C-SPAN does not control cameras in the House. pic.twitter.com/sQ1vAIxc0t> > — CSPAN (@cspan) January 7, 2021The benches cleared, and the deputy sergeant at arms got involved. PBS's Lisa Desjardins explains what happened off-camera:> 6\. Democrats got on feet, from other side of the chamber many (a dozen?) started moving quickly, almost running thru rows to where Harris was. > 7\. Republicans started doing same. > 8\. A staffer - it may have been the Sgt. at Arms moved even more quickly to separate them.> > 2/> > — Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) January 7, 2021"We want this government to work more than they want it to fail," Lamb said after the fight was defused, then ceded the floor.More stories from theweek.com Watch Wednesday's pro-Trump assault on the Capitol unfold in under 5 minutes Trump claims he'll lead march to the Capitol, only to slip back to White House in motorcade 7 scathing cartoons about Trump's Georgia phone call
“That phone could have been in hand of 90-year-old grandma, an Asian person... someone Black or blue,” said the attorney of 22-year-old Miya Ponsetto.
Stimulus checks started arriving through direct deposit last week, the IRS said.
A Mexican doctor who had a serious allergic reaction after receiving Pfizer Inc and BioNTech's vaccine against COVID-19 remains hospitalized and has not fully recovered muscle strength, health authorities said on Wednesday. The 32-year-old internist, who got the vaccine on Dec. 30, had several seizures in the following days and is being treated in a specialized hospital that is part of Mexico's social security institute IMSS. The health ministry's initial diagnosis after the reaction was encephalomyelitis.
Republican senator says voters were turned away by US president’s baseless election fraud allegations
"This is about the things people do when they think no one is watching them," said the mother of a young Latino police officer who lives in the house.
President Trump cannot fire Vice President Mike Pence. But Pence could play a big part in immediately ending Trump's term.Removing Trump via the 25th Amendment, "a move, long dismissed as a liberal fantasy," is one of a handful of options being considered by shaken Trump allies, Axios said Wednesday night, confirming earlier reports. Republicans are furious with Trump for "fomenting an attack on American democracy" by sending a mob to sack the U.S. Capitol, as well as his his leading role in ending GOP control of the Senate, and "there's concern about whether the country can withstand another two weeks with Trump at the helm."Republicans are also discussing censuring Trump, which would do little, and removing him via impeachment, which probably couldn't happen before he leaves office Jan. 20, Axios says. "The 25th Amendment route would require buy-in from Pence and a majority of Trump's Cabinet. But many of those Cabinet members also have been loyalists to the president and serve in acting capacities, so it's not clear that support or will exists." On the other hand, "Trump has been ranting about Pence" and his ceremonial role in finalizing President-elect Joe Biden's win, sources tell Axios.If removed under the never-used Section 4 of the 25th Amendment, "Trump can't just take his powers back immediately and fire all the Cabinet officers who sought to sideline him," George Conway explained.> ... to sustain the VP's and cabinet's judgment. Congress has 21 days to act. > > Since Trump now has less than 14 days left in his term, Congress can just run out the clock with Pence in place until Biden is sworn in.> > -- George Conway (@gtconway3d) January 7, 2021The idea of removing Trump with 13 days left in his term is not yet being embraced by House or Senate GOP leaders, Axios says,"and it's too soon to know whether those talking about them are just letting off steam after a shock to the democracy, or whether a critical mass exists to proceed." But Pence, one of Trump's most loyal aides, looked pretty irritated and maybe even a little presidential when he reconvened the congressional count of Biden's electoral victory after police removed the pro-Trump mob from the Capitol."I've known Mike Pence forever," Sen James Inhofe (R-Okla.) told the Tulsa World on Tuesday night, after a day of public abuse by Trump. "I've never seen Pence as angry as he was today. I had a long conversation with him," he added. "He said, 'After all the things I've done for (Trump).'"More stories from theweek.com Watch Wednesday's pro-Trump assault on the Capitol unfold in under 5 minutes Trump claims he'll lead march to the Capitol, only to slip back to White House in motorcade 7 scathing cartoons about Trump's Georgia phone call
One woman was fatally shot and three others suffered "medical emergencies," police said.
After supporters of President Trump stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, several White House staffers worried that they were unwitting participants in a coup, Vanity Fair's Gabriel Sherman reports. The mob was incited by Trump, who wants to overturn the results of the presidential election. One staffer told a friend that White House Counsel Pat Cipollone was warning officials to stay away from Trump, so they wouldn't appear to be assisting or enabling his actions, Sherman reports. By steering clear of the president, "they could reduce the chance they could be prosecuted for treason under the Sedition Act," he explained.One Republican close to the White House told Sherman that several business leaders, horrified by what they saw happening at the Capitol, tried to call Trump to ask him to call off the mob, but he refused to take any calls. Some members of the GOP turned to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to see if he would intervene, but he also wasn't returning text messages or phone calls.More stories from theweek.com Watch Wednesday's pro-Trump assault on the Capitol unfold in under 5 minutes Trump claims he'll lead march to the Capitol, only to slip back to White House in motorcade 7 scathing cartoons about Trump's Georgia phone call
