Trump news - live: President ‘delighted’ as mob stormed Congress but Biden resists calls for impeachment

Jon Sharman and Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump attempts to evade blame for Capitol riot by denouncing violence by supporters he whipped up hours beforehand (White House)
Donald Trump attempts to evade blame for Capitol riot by denouncing violence by supporters he whipped up hours beforehand (White House)

Donald Trump has made an unapologetic return to Twitter following a ban for inciting supporters to riot at the US Capitol. He used the platform to declare that he would not attend Joe Biden’s inauguration on 20 January.

It came after he released a video attempting to evade blame for Wednesday’s violence. The clip, characteristically, was filled with falsehoods – he did not “immediately” order in the National Guard, and his “only goal” in disputing the election was not to ensure its integrity, as he claimed.

Meanwhile, Democrats have said they may move in the next few days to impeach Mr Trump a second time. They were set to hold a conference call at midday on Friday.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to Democrat House members on the fallout from Wednesday’s insurrection, thanking them for defending democracy; voicing disappointment in the leadership of the Capitol Police; updating on calls for removing Trump from office; and “preventing an unhinged president from using the nuclear codes”.

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  • Trump's tweets in praise of Capitol rioters blocked by Facebook and Twitter

    The president's Twitter account was suspended for 12 hours after he told supporters who stormed the Capitol "We love you. You're very special" while spreading election misinformation.

  • Six Republican lawmakers among rioters as police release photos of wanted

    Suspects include Holocaust deniers, White supremacists, and conspiracy theorists

  • Manchin Says He Will ‘Absolutely Not’ Support $2000 Stimulus Checks

    Senator Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) said Friday he would “absolutely not” support a $2,000 stimulus payment, potentially throwing a wrench in President-elect Joe Biden’s plans for a new coronavirus relief package that would include another round of checks.“Absolutely not. No. Getting people vaccinated, that’s job No. 1,” Manchin told the Washington Post when asked if he would endorse another round of direct payments.“How is the money that we invest now going to help us best to get jobs back and get people employed? And I can’t tell you that sending another check out is gonna do that to a person that’s already got a check,” Manchin said.Biden’s team is working to craft a coronavirus relief package that will include new stimulus checks, extended unemployment benefits and more, according to the Washington Post. The president-elect will also likely push for additional funding for vaccine distribution and funding to help states and cities, the report says.Manchin, a moderate, is expected to hold a crucial vote as Democrats control the Senate in a 50-50 split with Republicans, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaker.Biden wants to pass a new relief package quickly after he takes office on January 20, and earlier this week promised Georgia voters that they can expect to receive a $2,000 stimulus check if both Democratic U.S. Senate candidates won their elections, which they did.“If you send Jon and the reverend to Washington, those $2,000 checks will go out the door restoring hope and decency and honor for so many people who are struggling right now,” Biden said at a rally for the Democrats in Atlanta.After Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock won their races earlier this week, incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) also promised that the $2,000 checks would be a top priority.However, if Biden and Schumer lose even one Democratic vote they may struggle to pass legislation under special Senate rules that allow bills to pass with a simple majority, rather than the 60 vote margin generally needed.While some Republicans have come out in favor of the $2,000 stimulus payments, it is unlikely GOP lawmakers would support other facets of Biden's new plan, including extending unemployment benefits.

  • State media: Iran unveils underground missile base

    Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards unveiled an underground missile base at an undisclosed Gulf location on Friday, Iranian state media reported, at a time of heightened tension between Tehran and the United States.

  • Error puts millions of U.S. stimulus payments in wrong accounts -TurboTax

    Millions of pandemic stimulus payments have been deposited in incorrect customer accounts due to an Internal Revenue Service error, according to Intuit TurboTax, which is helping to distribute the payments. Two banking industry sources confirmed the error, which will delay distribution of the badly needed aid. "For those who don't receive a direct deposit, they should watch their mail for either a paper check or a prepaid debit card," the IRS said in a notice on Thursday.

  • Only 14 suspects were arrested by the Capitol Police, who are now trying to identify other trespassers via 'surveillance footage'

    Hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building on Wednesday, but just 14 suspects were arrested as a result of the mayhem, the United States Capitol Police reported Thursday, adding that over three times as many police officers "sustained injuries," at more than 50."The violent attack on the U.S. Capitol was unlike any I have ever experienced in my 30 years in law enforcement here in Washington, D.C.," the USCP chief of police, Steven A. Sund, wrote in a statement. "Maintaining public safety in an open environment — specifically for First Amendment activities — has long been a challenge. The USCP had a robust plan established to address anticipated First Amendment activities. But make no mistake — these mass riots were not First Amendment activities; they were criminal riotous behavior."Sund added that the USCP is "continuing to review surveillance video and open source material to identify" more people who might be subject to criminal charges. Separately, The Wall Street Journal reports that federal authorities are poised to arrest "more than a dozen members of the pro-Trump mob" who stormed the Capitol, and are continuing to review social media posts and cell phone records to root out who was involved after Capitol Police let many of the rioters leave undisturbed.Washington's Metropolitan Police Department arrested an additional 80 people for violations of curfew and unlawful entry. Read more about the "stunning failure" of the Capitol Police here at The Week.More stories from theweek.com 7 scathing cartoons about Trump's Capitol riot Extremists publicly shared violent plans for 'Operation Occupy the Capitol' weeks ago Republican inaction speaks louder than words

  • US Attorney: FBI agents search lawmakers’ offices and homes

    Federal prosecutors in Tennessee said Friday that FBI agents have searched the homes and offices of several state lawmakers. U.S. Attorney’s Office of Middle Tennessee spokesman David Boling confirmed the searches included the homes of former GOP House Speaker Glen Casada, state Rep. Robin Smith and Casada's former chief of staff, Cade Cothren, Boling confirmed.

  • Rioter photographed hanging on Congress wall claims he was telling others to respect ‘sacred ground’

    Protestor says his companions wanted to ‘trash the place’ but he urged them to respect the ground

  • Inside the Charming Parisian Apartment of French Designer Sarah Poniatowski

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  • Police Officer Killed in US Capitol Siege Was Air National Guard Veteran, Deployed to Iraq

    Brian D. Sicknick enlisted in the New Jersey Air National Guard in 1997 and served for six years.

  • Capitol Police officer dies from injuries in pro-Trump riot

    The 42-year-old officer, identified as Brian D. Sicknick, was injured while "physically engaging with protesters."

  • White man who drove into Iowa protesters avoids prison

    A white man who deliberately sped his car through a crowd of racial injustice protesters in Iowa City, striking several, will avoid prison and have the incident erased from his record if he stays out of trouble for three years. A judge last month granted a deferred judgment for Michael Ray Stepanek, 45, who told police he drove his Toyota Camry through the crowd in August because the protesters needed “an attitude adjustment.” The sentence means a felony charge of willful injury resulting in bodily injury against Stepanek will be dismissed and expunged, as long as he does not commit a crime during a three-year term of probation.

  • End This Republican Nightmare

    I part company with many thinkers I esteem on the right when I say: What happened yesterday does not call for invoking the 25th Amendment. We all know the history of this amendment, we know why it was passed (memories of Woodrow Wilson’s stroke, which left him largely incapacitated and effectively made his wife the unelected president, followed by fears surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy), and if we’re being honest with ourselves, we know that it does not apply to Donald Trump.The attraction of invoking the 25th Amendment is this: It would remove Trump from office immediately before he is able to do any more harm to the republic. After a simple majority of the cabinet, plus Mike Pence, declared Trump unable to serve, the president would respond by denying that he is unable to serve but the other officers would be able to sideline him for 25 days, running out the clock on his presidency.Let’s not do this. The 25th Amendment (Section 4) stipulates that it is applicable only if “the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” But Donald Trump is obviously not “unable,” merely unwilling to discharge his duties. No serious person doubts that Trump is perfectly capable of saying that Joe Biden has been duly elected president and that he is committed to an orderly transfer of power. (Indeed, he affirmed the latter in an early-morning tweet sent out by his aide Dan Scavino). Or Trump could, if he wanted, calm tensions by simply ceasing to claim that the election was stolen. He chooses not to do these things but he is able to do them. The reading of the 25th Amendment being discussed by cabinet officials and pundits yesterday would amount to essentially declaring that the president is unable to discharge his duties because he is insane. This is not a diagnosis that non-medical professionals in the cabinet should be making. Ruling that the president suffers from some debilitating mental disorder or another would, at a minimum, require a rigorous examination by trained professionals, not an off-the-cuff decision by politicians. (Yet even if a slate of psychological experts were to examine the president, they probably wouldn’t agree on what condition to diagnose.)Using the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office is a temptation that must be rejected. It would clearly be a political move meant to extract from public life an unpopular figure. The United States of America cannot go down the road of confusing political unfitness with medical unfitness. The cabinet would simply be using the 25th Amendment as a pretext for taking down a lawfully elected leader they oppose. It would amount to an unconstitutional coup. If the 25th Amendment could be deployed in his case, it could be deployed in many other cases. How many times did their political opponents declare that Nixon or Reagan was “a lunatic” unfit to serve?No, the Constitution is clear about the remedy for a president who has become politically untenable: impeachment and removal. The House of Representatives could easily pass articles of impeachment declaring that the president has violated his oath of office by attempting to subvert the election results and by sedition. Most Republican senators are probably too lacking in courage to consider removal, but only 17 of them need to come on board, assuming all 50 Democrats agree. Many key Republicans, such as Ben Sasse, Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, and Susan Collins, do not face the voters for six years, by which time Trump can be ancient history, if they choose to make him so. A process of impeachment, removal, and disqualification from office would render it impossible for Trump to run for president again. This ought to be an immensely attractive prospect for the Republican Party. If Trump is reduced to being just another cable-TV blowhard hawking vitamin supplements and reverse mortgages, the threat he represents to Republicans will be contained.My guess is that Republican senators who live in cowering fear of a rude tweet are hoping that some exterior force will save them from Trump: Perhaps Cyrus Vance, the Manhattan DA, will put Trump in jail and remove him from the 2024 chessboard. But if these people are truly leaders, they should take action themselves instead of hoping for someone else to do their work for them. The alternative is that each of them will have to continue cowering for the next four years as Trump continues to embarrass himself and the country by barking his conspiracy theories and runs for president again, in which case (against a developing field of 20 or more not-Trumps) he would almost certainly win the nomination again and drag the entire party along for a 2024 drubbing as every Republican elected official was forced to answer for the events of January 6, 2021 -- and much else of Trump’s doing. And after that? Why, he’ll run for president again, and again, and again, for as long as he craves attention, which is to say for the rest of his life. Senators are elected for the longest terms of any officials because they’re supposed to be the ones who have the long-term vision. They should gaze into the distance, see what’s coming, and stop it right now.

  • Chicago police union president: Saying riots are ‘treason’ is ‘beyond ridiculous’

    ‘They get to do what they want,’ John Catanzara said of people whose efforts left a police officer dead. John Catanzara, who was elected last May as the president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, is defending the people who participated in the violent siege of the U.S. Capitol that resulted in the death of a police officer.

  • Mike Pence’s daughter reveals she was caught up in riots and defends ‘hero’ Capitol police

    Charlotte Pence Bond, Mike Pence’s daughter, has defended Capitol Police after pro-Trump rioters were able to overpower law enforcement and breach the US Capitol on Wednesday. Capitol Police have come under scrutiny given how underprepared they appeared to be compared to the number of rioters who descended on the Capitol. Anyone who is blaming the Capitol Hill Police for the domestic terrorism that occurred yesterday should seriously reconsider their position.

  • Woman who wrongly accused Black teen is arrested, apologizes

    A woman who wrongly accused a Black teenager of stealing her phone and tackled him while being filmed at a New York City hotel apologized but defended her actions in a television interview conducted before she was arrested in California. “I consider myself to be super sweet,” Miya Ponsetto, 22, said in a “CBS This Morning" interview that aired Friday. The interview was conducted Thursday afternoon, hours before Ponsetto was jailed in Ventura County.

  • Proud Boys and neo-Nazis: Who are the protesters who stormed the US Capitol?

    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.

  • GOP Sen. Josh Hawley loses book deal, mentor, major donor after Capitol assault, gains 2 scathing editorials

    If Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) thought leading the small band of Republican senators to challenge President-elect Joe Biden's electoral victory on Wednesday would benefit him politically, it appears the opposite happened.On Thursday, political mentor former Sen. John Danforth (R-Mo.) called supporting Hawley's Senate bid "the worst mistake I ever made in my life," a GOP donor who gave millions to his campaigns denounced him as "a political opportunist willing to subvert the Constitution," Simon & Schuster canceled his book deal, and Missouri's two biggest newspapers called on him to resign immediately.> From our Francis Chung, Sen. Josh Hawley greeting protesters in the east side of the Capitol before riots began. pic.twitter.com/I8DjBCDuoP> > — Manuel Quinones (@ManuelQ) January 6, 2021"If Hawley had shown any evidence that there’s a conscience in there somewhere, underneath the ambition and the artifice and the uncommon combo of striving and laziness that he's somehow made work for him," he'd resign, The Kansas City Star said in an editorial. "We can't appeal to a sense of decency that doesn't exist. But we can say that Hawley, who gave a raised fist of encouragement to the likes of that proud lout who put his feet up on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's desk, cannot continue to be our man in Washington, and so will have to be expelled." The Senate, the Star editorialists added, "must do more than censure his treasonous behavior.""Hawley's tardy, cover-his-ass condemnation of the violence ranks at the top of his substantial list of phony, smarmy, and politically expedient declarations," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said in an editorial. "Hawley's presidential aspirations have been flushed down the toilet because of his role in instigating Wednesday's assault on democracy. He should do Missourians and the rest of the country a big favor and resign now."Joplin businessman David Humphreys, who personally and with his family largely bankrolled Hawley's state attorney general and Senate races, told the Missouri Independent on Thursday that Hawley "has shown his true colors as an anti-democracy populist by supporting Trump's false claim of a 'stolen election,'" and urged the Senate to censure him.Simon & Schuster, meanwhile, said it "cannot support Sen. Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat to our democracy and freedom."> pic.twitter.com/NdIkmGbCFI> > — Simon & Schuster (@simonschuster) January 7, 2021Hawley said Simon & Schuster was making a "direct assault on the First Amendment" and threatened to sue for breach of contract.More stories from theweek.com 7 scathing cartoons about Trump's Capitol riot Extremists publicly shared violent plans for 'Operation Occupy the Capitol' weeks ago Republican inaction speaks louder than words

  • Scientists surprised to discover two dwarf giraffes in Namibia, Uganda

    Being tall is the giraffe's competitive advantage, giving it the pick of leaves from the tallest trees, so scientists were stunned to find two giraffe dwarves on different sides of Africa. "It's fascinating what our researchers out in the field found," Julian Fennessy, co-founder of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, told Reuters in a videocall on Friday. Three years earlier, they had also found a 9-foot 3-inch (2.8 metre) giraffe in a Ugandan wildlife park.

  • Joy Reid nails the difference between white and Black people after Capitol riots

    ‘White Americans are never afraid of the cops,’ Reid said, ‘even when they are committing insurrection.’ In a powerful speech on MSNBC during the network’s coverage of Wednesday’s turmoil in Washington D.C., Joy Reid drew a clear comparison between the police response to the insurrection at the national capitol and this summer’s national protests in support of Black lives. The Capitol Building was burned in 1814 during the War of 1812.