House Democrats prepare for second impeachment of President Trump

The 'Special Report' All-Star panel discuss the final days of the 45th president's administration

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  • Sarah Sanders: Former Trump spokesperson gets lectured on First Amendment by her old high school teacher

    'You didn't take the advanced class. If you had, maybe you would better understand the First Amendment’

  • Biden reportedly 'frustrated' with his coronavirus team as advisers worry 100 million vaccinations goal won't be met

    President-elect Joe Biden has said he'll get "at least 100 million COVID vaccine shots into the arms of the American people" during his first 100 days. But before his term begins, some advisers are reportedly worried this promise will ultimately be broken.Biden has "grown frustrated with the team in charge of plotting his coronavirus response" as there is increasing concern among some of his advisers that the 100 million vaccinations in 100 days goal won't be met, Politico reported on Monday."While some Biden advisers insist it's possible to make good on the 100-million vow, others are privately worried that the federal response is already so chaotic that it will take a herculean effort to pull it off," according to the report.Biden reportedly confronted COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients and his deputy to tell them "their team was underperforming," Politico says. Transition officials blame a "lack of long-term planning" by the Trump administration, which didn't come close to meeting its goal of vaccinating 20 million Americans by the end of 2020, as the vaccine rollout got off to a far slower-than-expected start in the United States."They're inheriting a mess," former Obama administration acting Medicare and Medicaid chief Andy Slavitt told Politico. "I think they're uncovering how bad it is."Biden, Politico notes, has suggested that whether the 100 million vaccinations goal is reached will be dependent on further COVID-19 relief legislation, previously saying "if Congress provides" additional funding for state and local governments, "we'd be able to meet this incredible goal." But Politico writes that some in the transition are "questioning whether Biden's first big pandemic pledge placed too much confidence" in the Trump administration, and allies are warning transition officials about "the overriding political consequences of breaking one of Biden's first major promises." Read more at Politico.More stories from theweek.com Trump reportedly blamed 'antifa people' for Capitol siege, was told by GOP House leader no, 'it's MAGA' Trump is reportedly so angry aides are warning him against a self-pardon, he's put all pardons 'on hold' Trump is reportedly 'gutted' about losing PGA Championship

  • Florida man spotted with Pelosi lectern gets $25K bail

    A Florida man spotted carrying a lectern belonging to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office in a widely circulated photo during the Capitol assault was released Monday on $25,000 bail. A federal magistrate judge in Tampa agreed to the release Monday at a brief hearing for Adam Johnson, 36, from the nearby community of Parrish. “This is a serious case,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Scruggs said at the hearing, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “Everyone involved in the storming of the Capitol last week needs to be held accountable for their actions, including Mr. Johnson.”

  • Fired for storming the Capitol? Why most workers aren’t protected for what they do on their own time

    Can you be fired for joining a violent mob that storms the Capitol?Of course you can. Among the jarring images of white insurrectionists who broke into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was a man marching through the building holding a Trump flag with his work ID badge still draped around his neck.It didn’t take long for internet sleuths to zoom in on the badge and alert his employer, Navistar Direct Marketing, a Maryland direct mail printing company. The company promptly fired the man and contacted the FBI, issuing a statement that “any employee demonstrating dangerous conduct that endangers the health and safety of others will no longer have an employment opportunity.” Even though the Capitol Police let all but 14 of the rioters walk away, the FBI and District of Columbia police have begun tracking them down. Other companies have also taken action against employees identified in the many photos from inside the Capitol. Even the CEO of a data analytics firm found himself without a job following his arrest.Based on my experience as a law professor and lawyer specializing in employment law, I doubt that Navistar management is losing sleep over whether its decision was legally justified. It’s not even a close case. Non-unionized workers in the United States – about 90% of all workers – are employed at-will. That means you can be terminated at any time, without notice, for any reason. It doesn’t even have to be a good reason. Unless the company has guaranteed your job in writing, or there is a specific law that protects your conduct – such as laws protecting union organizing or whistleblowing – your fate is up to them.The law is more protective when it comes to unionized workers and government employees. These workers may have the right to be terminated only for cause, and they might get a hearing process prior to being disciplined. Government workers are also protected by the First Amendment, particularly when it comes to free speech in their capacity as citizens rather than speech related to the workplace. That’s why the teachers and off-duty police officers spotted at the Capitol have only been suspended pending investigations, rather than fired outright. For these workers, their fate may depend on whether they were peacefully participating in the day’s earlier rally – an activity that would be considered protected speech – as opposed to engaging in violence or joining the capitol invasion, which would be unprotected illegal conduct. Things get murky if these government workers were displaying white supremacist symbols, like a confederate flag, at the rally. Courts have recognized limits on the public speech of police officers to uphold public confidence, community relations and department morale. But as the Brennan Center, a liberal-leaning law and public policy institute, observed in an August 2020 report, “few law enforcement agencies have policies that specifically prohibit affiliating with white supremacist groups.” The absence of such policies could make it harder for departments to later discipline off-duty police officers for their role.[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.]State lawmakers who participated are a different matter. Because they were elected by the people, they can’t be removed like ordinary employees. That might require a recall election or a state impeachment process.But for most of the folks who snapped selfies in the Capitol – or ended up in someone else’s – if they don’t get a knock on the door from the FBI, they may soon be getting one from HR.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Elizabeth C. Tippett, University of Oregon.Read more: * A scholar of American anti-Semitism explains the hate symbols present during the US Capitol riot * Federal leaders have two options if they want to rein in TrumpElizabeth C. Tippett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

  • Trump admits he's partly to blame for violence at U.S. Capitol

    McCarthy spoke with the president on Monday and later conveyed Mr. Trump's feelings to fellow House Republicans.

  • In 1st sermon since Senate win, Warnock says U.S. can't change until it faces the 'sickness of our situation'

    In his first sermon since winning his Senate race on Tuesday, Rev. Raphael Warnock told worshipers at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta that he wanted to talk to them about "God's victory over violence."On Wednesday, one day after Warnock was elected Georgia's first Black senator and fellow Democrat Jon Ossoff was elected the state's first Jewish senator, a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol. "Just as we were trying to put on our celebration shoes, the ugly side of our story — our great and grand American story — began to emerge as we saw the crude and the angry and the disrespectful and the violent break their way into the people's house, some carrying Confederate flags, signs and symbols of an Old World Order passing away," said Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church."They were not protesters, they were rioters, tearing up the people's house, and they were handled with the kind of kid gloves with humanity," Warnock continued. "One could not help but juxtapose that to the response to those who were responding this summer to the deaths of George Floyd and the death of Breonna Taylor, those who rose up in peaceful, nonviolent struggle, and were met with brute force."The U.S. must face what happened on Wednesday, he said, acknowledging that "we cannot and we will not change until we confront or are confronted by the sickness of our situation. That applies to individuals, that applies to institutions, that applies to nations. You can never get better until you have an actual diagnosis."More stories from theweek.com Trump reportedly blamed 'antifa people' for Capitol siege, was told by GOP House leader no, 'it's MAGA' Trump is reportedly so angry aides are warning him against a self-pardon, he's put all pardons 'on hold' Trump is reportedly 'gutted' about losing PGA Championship

  • Guard withdraws from Wisconsin city after charging decision

    The Wisconsin National Guard has pulled troops out of a southeastern Wisconsin city after protests over a decision not to charge a white police officer with shooting a Black man in the back didn't materialize. Guard spokesman Joe Trovato said Monday that about 500 troops have withdrawn from Kenosha after spending a week there in anticipation of demonstrations. Officer Rusten Sheskey's decision to shoot Jacob Blake in the back during a domestic dispute in August sparked chaotic protests in Kenosha that went on for several nights.

  • NYT Reporter Warns Conservative Writer Andy Ngo is a ‘Real Threat’, Should Be Censored on Twitter

    Sarah Jeong, the New York Times reporter who made headlines in 2018 for antagonizing white people, has branded conservative journalist Andy Ngo "dangerous" and called for his censorship on Twitter. In a tweet posted on Jan. 9, Jeong cited a thread from Donovan Farley, another journalist who claimed that Ngo repeatedly "willfully deceives his followers into a frenzy that results in death and rape threats" for journalists and "anyone else" supposedly targeted by his "scorn."

  • 7 Homes Designed by Major Architects Just Hit the Market

    Incredible properties by I.M. Pei, David Adjaye, and other legendary architects are for saleOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • New York City mayor hopeful Andrew Yang fled 'too small' apartment during pandemic

    New York City mayor hopeful Andrew Yang’s campaign, expected to be formally announced this week, has hit a speedbump after he said he found his Manhattan home too small to work from during the pandemic. Mr Yang, a former Democratic presidential candidate, has come under fire after admitting that he and his family relocated from the city during the spring to have more space. “We live in a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan. And so, like, can you imagine trying to have two kids on virtual school in a two-bedroom apartment, and then trying to do work yourself?” Mr Yang said in an interview with the New York Times. The 45-year-old entrepreneur has a two-bedroom flat in Hell’s Kitchen and a larger residence in the small town of New Paltz in upstate New York’s Hudson Valley, according to reports. Asked by the NYT to respond to voters who expect their future mayor to have stayed in the city in its darkest moments, Mr. Yang suggested that his location was not relevant to his work at the time, and that New Yorkers would prioritize plans to move the city forward.

  • Thousands of Yale and Harvard law school alumni and students petition for Cruz and Hawley to be disbarred

    Petition says senators ‘fundamentally unfit for membership of legal profession’

  • Trump is reportedly 'gutted' about losing PGA Championship

    Following the deadly Capitol riot last week, President Trump has faced defiance from his own vice president and Republican lawmakers, a slew of resignations within his administration, getting booted from his favorite method of mass communication, and a looming congressional impeachment. But it appears the PGA's decision to move the 2022 PGA Championship from Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, may have upset the president as much as anything else, The New York Times' Maggie Haberman reported Monday.A source close to the White House told Haberman that Trump is "gutted" by the move, and while he's angry about the House moving forward with impeachment (for an unprecedented second time), his reaction to losing the tournament was a "different order of magnitude."> He's angry about impeachment, people who have spoken to him say. But the reaction to the PGA decision was different order of magnitude.> > -- Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 11, 2021On paper, impeachment certainly seems like a bigger deal, but Trump's affinity for golf is no secret, and his apparent emotional prioritization wasn't shocking to everyone. > In the last 72 hours, Trump has been cut off from Twitter and big-time golf. Compared to these blows, impeachment is no big woop. https://t.co/TBsZv651ap> > -- Jeff Greenfield (@greenfield64) January 11, 2021More stories from theweek.com Trump reportedly blamed 'antifa people' for Capitol siege, was told by GOP House leader no, 'it's MAGA' Trump is reportedly so angry aides are warning him against a self-pardon, he's put all pardons 'on hold' Rep. Pramila Jayapal tests positive for COVID-19, slams 'selfish' GOP lawmakers who refuse to wear masks

  • Woman set to die for killing woman, cutting baby from womb

    “It’s like she exploded or something,” Harper told the dispatcher on Dec. 16, 2004, during the desperate yet futile attempt to get help for her daughter, Bobbie Jo Stinnett, who had been eight months pregnant. Lisa Montgomery, who strangled Stinnett with a rope before performing a crude cesarean and fleeing with the baby, awaits execution Tuesday, just eight days before the presidential inauguration of death penalty opponent Joe Biden. If the lethal injection is carried out as scheduled at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, Montgomery would be the first woman executed by the federal government in more than 67 years.

  • State Department Designates Cuba a State Sponsor of Terrorism

    Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Monday that the U.S. is re-designating Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, citing its harboring of terrorists."The Trump Administration has been focused from the start on denying the Castro regime the resources it uses to oppress its people at home, and countering its malign interference in Venezuela and the rest of the Western Hemisphere," Pompeo said in a statement."With this action, we will once again hold Cuba’s government accountable and send a clear message: the Castro regime must end its support for international terrorism and subversion of U.S," the nation's top diplomat continued.Former President Obama removed Cuba from the list in May of 2015.Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez immediately condemned the U.S. move, calling it a "hypocritical and cynical designation.""The political opportunism of this action is recognized by anyone with an honest regard for the scourge of terrorism and its victims," Rodríguez wrote in a tweet.Democrats also panned the decision, Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy saying it would make relations with Cuba more difficult for the incoming Biden administration."This blatantly politicized designation makes a mockery of what had been a credible, objective measure of a foreign government's active support for terrorism," Leahy said.

  • Black GOP Congressmen who joined the Trump coup must resign

    Two newly-elected Black Republican congressmen signed up in support of the attempted Trump coup and overturn the 2020 presidential election — now it is time for them to resign. The two House members are Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT), the former NFL player with ties to the QAnon pro-Trump conspiracy cult, and Byron Donalds (R-FL), a Black conservative and former Tea Party activist.

  • Former North Miami Beach cop went live on Facebook from inside the Capitol during riot

    A former North Miami Beach police officer was among those who breached the United States Capitol building during the Jan. 6 riot seeking to prevent Congress from certifying the presidential election results, according to a video posted on the former officer’s Facebook account.

  • Turkish 'sex cult' leader sentenced to 1,000 years in prison

    A Turkish court has sentenced the leader of an evangelical sex cult to one thousand years in prison for a litany of sexual offences and fraud. Adnan Oktar, who promoted creationism on his conservative Islamic TV channel, was known for surrounding himself with scantily dressed women whom he called his “kittens” before his arrest in 2018. He was detained with around 200 other suspects by Istanbul police and on Monday was jailed for 1,075 years for crimes including sexual assault, sexual abuse of children, fraud and attempted political and military espionage. The 64-year-old was also found guilty of backing a group led by the US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey says was behind an attempted military coup in 2016. The court sentenced two executives in Oktar's organisation, Tarkan Yavas and Oktar Babuna, to 211 and 186 years, respectively. During the trial, which heard harrowing testimonies from victims of sexual abuse, Oktar denied being associated with Mr Gulen and also insisted he was not the head of a "sex cult". At a hearing in September, Mr Oktar told a judge he had around 1,000 “girlfriends” which he attributed to his “overflowing of love in my heart for women.” He also claimed on a separate occasion to be “extraordinarily potent.” One victim who gave evidence at the trial, and was identified only as CC for legal reasons, said Oktar repeatedly sexually abused her and other women. The woman, who joined the cult aged 17, said some of the women raped by Oktar had been forced to take contraceptives afterwards.

  • Bar association seeks Rudy Giuliani ban over 'combat' remarks

    Rudy Giuliani is facing possible expulsion from the New York State Bar Association over incendiary remarks he made to President Trump’s supporters last week before some of them violently stormed the U.S. Capitol.

  • Moderna says COVID-19 vaccine immunity to stay at least a year

    The drugmaker said it was confident that the messenger RNA (mRNA) technology it used was well suited to deploy a vaccine based on the new variant of the coronavirus which has emerged in a handful of countries. The company's vaccine, mRNA-1273, uses synthetic mRNA to mimic the surface of the coronavirus and teach the immune system to recognize and neutralize it. Moderna said in December it would run tests to confirm the vaccine's activity against any strain.

  • North Carolina Democrats look to oust Madison Cawthorn

    Several Democratic leaders in North Carolina are calling for an investigation into U.S. Congressman Madison Cawthorn claiming that he had a hand in inciting the violence that occurred during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. A letter sent on Saturday, Jan. 9, to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, signed by N.C. District 11 leaders of the Democratic Party, lists examples they say are grounds for Rep. Cawthorn’s expulsion from Congress. In the letter, Cawthorn’s strong language in his Twitter posts on the days leading up to Wednesday’s riots was cited as an example of his support and encouragement of the violence that ensued.