Live Updates: Pelosi: House 'Will Proceed' To Impeachment Of Trump

Impeachment Looming, Democrats Urge Pence To Help Oust Trump

Impeachment pressure mounting, the House is working swiftly to try to oust President Donald Trump from office.

Democrats are pushing the vice president and Cabinet to invoke constitutional authority to remove Trump from office.

A resolution calling on Pence to do so was blocked Monday by Republicans. But more votes are expected Tuesday, with an impeachment vote Wednesday. Trump faces a single charge — “incitement of insurrection” — over the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol.

That's according to a draft of the articles obtained by The Associated Press. Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will proceed with legislation to impeach Trump if Pence doesn't help. Trump is set to leave Jan. 20 when Democrat Joe Biden is inaugurated. — Associated Press

– 4:07 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday the House will proceed with legislation to impeach President Donald Trump, calling him a threat to democracy after the deadly assault on the Capitol.

Pelosi made the announcement in a letter to colleagues. She said the House will act with solemnity but also urgency with just days remaining before Trump is to leave office on Jan. 20.

“In protecting our Constitution and our Democracy, we will act with urgency, because this President represents an imminent threat to both,” she said.

“The horror of the ongoing assault on our democracy perpetrated by this President is intensified and so is the immediate need for action.”

With impeachment planning intensifying, two Republican senators want Trump to resign immediately as efforts mount to prevent Trump from ever again holding elective office in the wake of deadly riots at the Capitol.

House Democrats are expected to introduce articles of impeachment on Monday and vote as soon as Tuesday. The strategy would be to condemn the president's actions swiftly but delay an impeachment trial in the Senate for 100 days. That would allow President-elect Joe Biden to focus on other priorities as soon as he is inaugurated Jan. 20.

Rep. Jim Clyburn, the third-ranking House Democrat and a top Biden ally, laid out the ideas Sunday as the country came to grips with the siege at the Capitol by Trump loyalists trying to overturn the election results.

“Let’s give President-elect Biden the 100 days he needs to get his agenda off and running,” Clyburn said.

Pressure was mounting for Trump to leave office even before his term ended amid alarming concerns of more unrest ahead of the inauguration. The president whipped up the mob that stormed the Capitol, sent lawmakers into hiding and left five dead.

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania on Sunday joined Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska in calling for Trump to “resign and go away as soon as possible."

“I think the president has disqualified himself from ever, certainly, serving in office again,” Toomey said. “I don’t think he is electable in any way.”

Murkowski, who has long voiced her exasperation with Trump’s conduct in office, told the Anchorage Daily News on Friday that Trump simply “needs to get out.” A third Republican, Sen. Roy Blunt, of Missouri, did not go that far, but on Sunday he warned Trump to be “very careful” in his final days in office.

Corporate America began to tie its reaction to the Capitol riots by tying them to campaign contributions.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association's CEO and President Kim Keck said it will not contribute to those lawmakers — all Republicans — who supported challenges to Biden's Electoral College win. The group “will suspend contributions to those lawmakers who voted to undermine our democracy," Kim said.

Citigroup did not single out lawmakers aligned with Trump's effort to overturn the election, but said it would be pausing all federal political donations for the first three months of the year. Citi’s head of global government affairs, Candi Wolff, said in a Friday memo to employees, “We want you to be assured that we will not support candidates who do not respect the rule of law.”

House leaders, furious after the insurrection, appear determined to act against Trump despite the short timeline.

Late Saturday, Pelosi, D-Calif., convened a conference call with her leadership team and sent a letter to her colleagues reiterating that Trump must be held accountable. She told her caucus, now scattered across the country on a two-week recess, to “be prepared to return to Washington this week” but did not say outright that there would be a vote on impeachment.

“It is absolutely essential that those who perpetrated the assault on our democracy be held accountable,” Pelosi wrote. “There must be a recognition that this desecration was instigated by the President.”

Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said an impeachment trial could not begin under the current calendar before Inauguration Day, Jan. 20.

Clyburn said that Pelosi "will make the determination as when is the best time” to send articles of impeachment to the Senate if and when they are passed by the House.

Another idea being considered was to have a separate vote that would prevent Trump from ever holding office again. That could potentially only need a simple majority vote of 51 senators, unlike impeachment, in which two-thirds of the 100-member Senate must support a conviction.

The Senate was set to be split evenly at 50-50, but under Democratic control once Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and the two Democrats who won Georgia's Senate runoff elections last week are sworn in. Harris would be the Senate's tie-breaking vote.

House Democrats were considering two possible packages of votes: one on setting up a commission to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office and one on the impeachment charge of abuse of power.

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., who was part of the weekend leadership call, said he expected a “week of action” in the House.

While many have criticized Trump, Republicans have said that impeachment would be divisive in a time of unity.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said that instead of coming together, Democrats want to “talk about ridiculous things like ‘Let’s impeach a president’" with just days left in office.

Still, some Republicans might be supportive.

Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse said he would take a look at any articles that the House sent over. Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a frequent Trump critic, said he would “vote the right way” if the matter were put in front of him.

The Democratic effort to stamp Trump's presidential record — for the second time — with the indelible mark of impeachment had advanced rapidly since the riot.

Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I, a leader of the House effort to draft impeachment articles accusing Trump of inciting insurrection, said Sunday that his group had 200-plus co-sponsors.

The articles, if passed by the House, could then be transmitted to the Senate for a trial, with senators acting as jurors to acquit or convict Trump. If convicted, Trump would be removed from office and succeeded by the vice president. It would be the first time a U.S. president had been impeached twice.

Potentially complicating Pelosi's decision about impeachment was what it meant for Biden and the beginning of his presidency. While reiterating that he had long viewed Trump as unfit for office, Biden on Friday sidestepped a question about impeachment, saying what Congress did “is for them to decide.”

A violent and largely white mob of Trump supporters overpowered police, broke through security lines and windows and rampaged through the Capitol on Wednesday, forcing lawmakers to scatter as they were finalizing Biden’s victory over Trump in the Electoral College.

Toomey appeared on CNN's “State of the Union” and NBC's “Meet the Press.” Clyburn was on “Fox News Sunday” and CNN. Kinzinger was on ABC's “This Week,” Blunt was on CBS' “Face the Nation” and Rubio was on Fox News Channel's “Sunday Morning Futures.” — Associated Press

Arnold Schwarzenegger Compares US Capitol Mob To Nazis

– 3:09 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger compared the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol to the Nazis and called President Donald Trump a failed leader who “will go down in history as the worst president ever.”

The Republican said in a video he released on social media on Sunday that “Wednesday was the Night of Broken Glass right here in the United States." In 1938, Nazis in Germany and Austria vandalized Jewish homes, schools and businesses during an attack that became known as Kristallnacht or “the Night of Broken Glass."

“The broken glass was in the windows of the United States Capitol. But the mob did not just shatter the windows of the Capitol, they shattered the ideas we took for granted," he said. "They trampled the very principles on which our country was founded.”

Schwarzenegger, who was born in Austria, compared the Proud Boys — a far-right American extremist group — to the Nazis. Some Proud Boys leaders were arrested in the nation’s capital, before and after Wednesday’s riots.

In his video, Schwarzenegger called Trump a failed leader and said he took solace that Trump’s presidency was coming to an end and “would soon be as irrelevant as an old tweet.”

He called for national unity and vowed his support for President-elect Joe Biden after mobs loyal to Trump broke into the U.S. Capitol, causing a temporary suspension of the electoral count. Members of Congress later returned and certified the results. — Associated Press

Five people died, including a Capitol police officer. Scores of rioters have been arrested and many more are being sought after the brazen attack.

“And to those who think they can overturn the United States Constitution, know this: You will never win,” Schwarzenegger said.

During the video, which runs for more than seven and a half minutes, Schwarzenegger likened American democracy to the sword he brandished in his early role as “Conan the Barbarian,” which he said only grows stronger when it is tempered.

Schwarzenegger, best known for his movie role as the Terminator, was elected as California's governor in 2003 during a special recall election. He was later elected to a full term.

“I believe, as shaken as we are about the events of recent days, we will come out stronger because we now understand what can be lost,” he said, adding that those behind Wednesday's riots — and those that fomented them — will be held accountable. — Associated Press

Capitol Police Were Overrun, 'Left Naked' Against Rioters

– 2:33 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021

Despite ample warnings about pro-Trump demonstrations in Washington, U.S. Capitol Police did not bolster staffing on Wednesday and made no preparations for the possibility that the planned protests could escalate into massive violent riots, according to several people briefed on law enforcement's response.

The revelations shed new light on why Capitol police were so quickly overrun by rioters. The department had the same number of officers in place as on a routine day. While some of those officers were outfitted with equipment for a protest, they were not staffed or equipped for a riot.

Once the mob began to move on the Capitol, a police lieutenant issued an order not to use deadly force, which explains why officers outside the building did not draw their weapons as the crowd closed in. Officers are sometimes ordered against escalating a situation by drawing their weapons if superiors believe doing so could lead to a stampede or a shootout.

In this instance, it also left officers will little ability to resist the mob. In one video from the scene, an officer puts up his firsts to try to push back a crowd pinning he and his colleagues against a door. The crowd jeers “You are not American!” and one man tries to prod him with the tip of an American flag.

“They were left naked,” Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Ca. said of the police in an interview with AP. She had raised security concerns in a Dec. 28 meeting of House Democrats and grilled Steven Sund, the Capitol Police chief, during an hourlong private call on New Year’s Eve. “It turns out it was the worst kind of non-security anybody could ever imagine.”

Capitol police leaders, however, had prepared for a free speech demonstration. No fencing was erected outside the Capitol and no contingency plans were prepared for if the situation escalated, according to people briefed.

Waters grilled Sund on exactly these kinds of questions -- about the Proud Boys and other groups coming, about keeping them off the Capitol plaza. The police chief insisted they knew what they were doing.

“He kept assuring me he had it under control they knew what they were doing,” she said. “Either he’s incompetent, or he was lying or he was complicit.”

Those decisions left the officers policing the Capitol like sitting ducks, the officials said, with little guidance and no cohesive plan on how to deal with the flood of rioters streaming into the building. — Associated Press

Schwarzenegger Calls President Trump ‘Worst President Ever’

– 12:25 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is calling President Donald Trump a failed leader who “will go down in history as the worst president ever.”

In a video posted on social media on Sunday, the Republican took solace that Trump’s presidency was coming to an end and “would soon be as irrelevant as an old tweet.”

He called for national unity and vowed his support for President-elect Joe Biden.

Schwarzenegger, best known for his movie roles as “Conan the Barbarian,” was elected governor in 2003 of the country’s largest state. During the video, Schwarzenegger likened American democracy to the sword he brandished in his movies. — Associated Press

– 11:45 a.m., Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021

The U.S. flag at the White House is now flying at half-staff after calls for the flag there and at other federal locations be lowered to honor U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had already ordered flags at the Capitol lowered to half-staff in Sicknick’s honor and calls were growing for President Donald Trump to do the same at the White House.

Sicknick joined the U.S. Capitol Police in 2008, serving until his death Thursday after being attacked as rioters seething over Trump’s election loss stormed the U.S. Capitol, believing the president’s false claims of a rigged election. — Associated Press

– 11:30 a.m., Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021

The trade group representing one of the nation’s best known health insurance brands says it’s suspending political contributions to lawmakers who voted last week to reject the Electoral College results that cemented Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump in the November election.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association represents 36 regional and local insurers who use the brand, together covering about 1 in 3 Americans.

In a statement, Kim Keck, the group’s CEO and president, says it will continue to support lawmakers and candidates in both political parties who “will work with us to build a stronger, healthier nation.” — Associated Press

Possible Virus Exposure For Lawmakers Sheltering During Riot

– 11:22 a.m., Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021

House lawmakers may have been exposed to someone testing positive for COVID-19 while they sheltered at an undisclosed location during the Capitol siege by a violent mob loyal to President Donald Trump.

The Capitol's attending physician notified all lawmakers Sunday of the virus exposure and urged them to be tested. The infected individual was not named.

Dr. Brian Moynihan wrote that “many members of the House community were in protective isolation in the large room — some for several hours” on Wednesday. He said “individuals may have been exposed to another occupant with coronavirus infection.”

Dozens of lawmakers were whisked to the secure location after pro-Trump insurrectionists stormed the Capitol that day, breaking through barricades to roam the halls and offices and ransacking the building.

Some members of Congress huddled for hours in the large room, while others were there for a shorter period.

No further details were provided on which person has tested positive for the virus.

Some lawmakers and staff were furious after video surfaced of Republican lawmakers not wearing their masks in the room during lockdown.

Newly elected Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a presidential ally aligned with a pro-Trump conspiracy group, was among those Republicans not wearing masks.

Trump is now facing impeachment after having incited supporters who were rallying near the White House before they marched to the Capitol. The House could vote on impeachment in a matter of days, less than two weeks before Democratic President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

A Capitol Police officer died after he was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher as rioters descended on the building and many other officers were injured. A woman from California was shot to death by Capitol Police and three other people died after medical emergencies during the chaos.

Authorities on Sunday announced the death of a 51-year-old Capitol Police officer. Two people familiar with the matter said the officer’s death was an apparent suicide. Officer Howard Liebengood had been assigned to the Senate Division and was with the department since 2005. He is the son of a former Senate sergeant-at-arms.

It was not clear whether his death was connected to Wednesday's events.

The officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. — Associated Press

2 Men In High-Profile Photos Among Latest Charged In DC Riot

– 5:16 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021

Two men accused of joining a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters that stormed the nation’s Capitol — one wearing a horned, fur hat and the other carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern — were charged Saturday, the latest arrests in Wednesday’s mayhem that left five people dead.

The arrests come as more images emerge showing just how violent the riots were: a bloodied officer crushed in a doorway screaming; another tumbling over a railing into the crowd below after being body-slammed from behind; members of the media being cursed, shoved and punched.

Jacob Anthony Chansley, an Arizona man seen in photos and video of the mob with a painted face and wearing a costume that included the horned hat, was taken into custody Saturday and charged with counts that include violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Chansley, more commonly known as Jake Angeli, will remain in custody in Arizona pending a detention hearing that will be scheduled during an initial court appearance early in the coming week, Assistant U.S. Attorney Esther Winne told The Associated Press by email.

A Florida man accused of making off with Pelosi’s lectern during the chaos was arrested Friday night on a federal warrant and was being held Saturday without bail in Pinellas County, Florida. Jail records do not show if Adam Johnson, 36, of Parrish, Florida, has an attorney.

Johnson was charged Saturday with theft, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

The married father of five was quickly identified on social media by local residents as the man in a photo smiling as he walked through the Capitol rotunda carrying Pelosi’s lectern, The Bradenton Herald reported.

Johnson posted on social media that he was in Washington, D.C., during Wednesday’s riots and included disparaging comments about the Black Lives Matter movement, according to The Bradenton Herald. Those posts were later deleted or taken down.

By Saturday, prosecutors had filed 17 cases in federal district court and 40 others in the District of Columbia Superior Court for a variety of offenses ranging from assaulting police officers to entering restricted areas of the U.S. Capitol, stealing federal property and threatening lawmakers. — Associated Press

Squelched By Twitter, Trump Seeks New Online Megaphone

– 4:44 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021

One Twitter wag joked about lights flickering on and off at the White House being Donald Trump signaling to his followers in Morse code after Twitter and Facebook squelched the president for inciting rebellion.

Though deprived of his big online megaphones, Trump does have alternative options of much smaller reach, led by the far right-friendly Parler — even if Google removed it from its app store Friday and Apple follow suit Saturday evening.

Trump may launch his own platform. But that won't happen overnight, and free speech experts anticipate growing pressure on all social media platforms to curb incendiary speech as Americans take stock of Wednesday’s violent takeover of the U.S. Capitol by a Trump-incited mob.

Twitter ended Trump’s nearly 12-year run on Friday. In shuttering his account it cited a tweet to his 89 million followers that he planned to skip President-elect Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration that it said gave rioters license to converge on Washington once again.

Facebook and Instagram have suspended Trump at least until Inauguration Day. Twitch and Snapchat also have disabled Trump’s accounts, while Shopify took down online stores affiliated with the president and Reddit removed a Trump subgroup. Twitter also banned Trump loyalists including former national security advisor Michael Flynn in a sweeping purge of accounts promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory and the Capitol insurrection. Some had hundreds of thousands of followers.

In a statement Friday, Trump said: "We have been negotiating with various other sites, and will have a big announcement soon, while we also look at the possibilities of building out our own platform in the near future.” — Associated Press

State Lawmaker Charged After Entering Capitol With Rioters

– 4:23 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021

A Republican West Virginia state lawmaker has been federally charged for entering a restricted area of the U.S. Capitol after he livestreamed himself rushing into the building with a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters.

Ken Kohl, a top deputy federal prosecutor in Washington, announced the case against state Del. Derrick Evans on a call in which he presented dozens of new charges against members of the crowd that violently stormed the Capitol on Wednesday.

Evans, 35, appeared before a federal judge in Huntington, West Virginia, on Friday afternoon after being arrested. If convicted, he faces up to a year and a half in federal prison for two misdemeanors: entering a restricted area and disorderly conduct.

Federal Magistrate Judge Cheryl Eifert released him on his own recognizance. Wearing a hoodie and a face mask to protect against the coronavirus, Evans did not answer reporters’ questions as he left the courthouse and quickly got into a vehicle. — Associated Press

Oakland Vows To 'Root Out' Cops Who Endorse Capitol Takeover

– 12:29 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021

The Oakland Police Department has opened an investigation into allegations that its officers endorsed or participated on social media accounts that contain objectionable content about the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

“Whether on or off duty, employees of OPD are prohibited from affiliating with subversive groups, and they are prohibited from doing anything that brings disrepute to the Department and erodes the public’s trust,” the department said in a statement Friday.

Jurell Snyder, who was an Oakland officer from 2006 to 2015, repeated false claims about election fraud and told the station that Democrats should be criminally charged for treason. The online news site Oaklandside said former and current Oakland police officers “liked” Snyder's Facebook posts about the storming of the Capitol.

The department condemned Snyder's remarks and warned that any current employee making such statements would face a disciplinary investigation that could lead to termination.

“OPD will not allow any members to engage in or support this type of content and will root out this conduct,” the statement said. “Hate speech and offensive conduct will not be tolerated; there are clear policies and guidelines that govern this behavior.” — Associated Press

2 Seattle Police Officers Apparently At Capitol Rally

– 9:25 p.m., Friday, Jan. 9, 2021

Seattle’s police chief says two city officers were apparently in Washington, D.C., Wednesday when a violent mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the nation’s Capitol and that an investigation will be launched to find out whether they committed criminal acts.

The officers, who were not identified, have been placed on administrative leave.

In a statement late Friday, Adrian Diaz, the city’s interim chief, said the department supports constitutionally protected free speech, “but the violent mob and events that unfolded at the U.S. Capitol were unlawful and resulted in the death of another police officer.”

Diaz said the matter has been forwarded to the Office of Police Accountability, the city’s independent police watchdog, to see if department policies were violated or if illegal activity involving Seattle officers needs to be investigated.

“If any SPD officers were directly involved in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, I will immediately terminate them,” Diaz said. — Associated Press

San Diego Congressman Darrell Issa Defends Objection Vote

– 4:12 p.m., Friday, Jan. 8, 2021

Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, D-50, was the sole San Diego-area congressman to vote to overturn election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania Wednesday night. On Friday, he defended that vote in a Facebook post, saying the U.S. Constitution was violated when courts in those two states “changed election procedure without legislative approval.”

“In Pennsylvania, the State Supreme Court extended the ballot deadline in violation of state statute. In Arizona, the Federal District Court changed election registration deadlines in violation of the state statute, which allowed tens of thousands of voters to inappropriately cast votes,” Issa wrote. “I recognize the COVID pandemic necessitated some election changes. These election laws, however, should have been changed by state legislatures, consistent with the Constitution… My colleagues and I spoke out in support of ballot integrity and the sacred right to vote.”

The objections failed in both the House and Senate, which certified the election of Joe Biden as president late Wednesday. — KPBS Staff

Democrats Plan Lightning Trump Impeachment, Want Him Out Now

– 3:48 p.m., Friday Jan. 8, 2021

Warnings flashing, Democrats in Congress laid plans Friday for lightning-fast impeachment of President Donald Trump, demanding strong, immediate action to ensure an “unhinged” commander in chief can't add to the deep damage they say he's inflicted or even ignite nuclear war in his final days in office.

As the country comes to terms with the violent siege of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters, the crisis that appears to be last of his presidency is deepening like few other periods in the nation’s history. With less than two weeks until he's gone anyway, Democrats want him gone — now — and he has few congressional defenders speaking up for him in his own Republican party.

On Friday, five people, including one intruder and a Capitol police officer, were dead from Wednesday's mayhem that stunned the world and threatened the traditional peaceful transfer of power.

“We must take action,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared on a private conference call with Democrats.

And one prominent Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, told the Anchorage Daily News that Trump simply “needs to get out.”

The final days of Trump’s presidency are spinning toward a chaotic end as he holes up at the White House, abandoned by many aides, top Republicans and Cabinet members. After fighting to overturn Biden's victory ever since November, he has now promised a smooth transfer of power when Democratic President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20. But even so, he says he will not attend the inauguration — the first such presidential snub since the Civil War. — Associated Press

Twitter Bans Trump, Citing Risk Of Incitement

– 3:02 p.m., Friday Jan. 8, 2021

Twitter says it is banning President Donald Trump from its platform, citing “risk of further incitement of violence.”

The social media giant said Friday: “After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”

Trump was locked out of his account on his preferred social medial platform for 12 hours earlier this week after a violent mob loyal to him stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to stop Congress from affirming President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

Trump posted a video on Twitter calling them “very special” people and saying he loved them. Five people died, including a Capitol Police officer. — Associated Press

Twitter Bans Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell

– 3:02 p.m., Friday Jan. 8, 2021

Twitter has banned President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn and pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell as part of a purge of QAnon accounts following the storming of the U.S. Capitol by a mob of violent Trump supporters.

Social media companies have been under intensified pressure to crack down on hate speech after Wednesday's attack on the Capitol. Dozens of QAnon social media accounts were hyping up Jan. 6 in the days leading up to a Washington, D.C., rally for Trump, expressing hope that President-elect Joe Biden's victory would be overturned.

Twitter said in an email statement Friday: “Given the renewed potential for violence surrounding this type of behavior in the coming days, we will permanently suspend accounts that are solely dedicated to sharing QAnon content.”

The company says that when it determines a group or campaign is engaged in “coordinated harmful activity,” it may suspend accounts that it finds primarily encourages that behavior.

QAnon is a baseless belief, born on the internet, that Trump has been secretly fighting deep state enemies and a cabal of Satan-worshipping cannibals operating a child sex-trafficking ring. — Associated Press

– 3:01 p.m., Friday Jan. 8, 2021

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has become the first Republican member of the Senate to call for President Donald Trump’s resignation.

The Alaska Republican tells the Anchorage Daily News that she wants Trump to resign after a violent mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol, forcing a lockdown. Five people died, including a Capitol Police officer.

Murkowski said in a telephone interview Friday: “I want him out. He has caused enough damage.” She also questioned whether she wanted to remain a Republican.

She says many people felt she became an independent when she lost her Republican primary in 2010 but won the general election by write-in. She has been in the Senate since 2002, replacing her father, Frank Murkowski, who took office in 1981.

“If the Republican Party has become nothing more than the party of Trump, I sincerely question whether this is the party for me,” she said.

She adds, “He needs to get out. He needs to do the good thing, but I don’t think he’s capable of doing a good thing.” — Associated Press

Biden Calls Trump 'Unfit' But Doesn't Endorse Impeachment

– 1:42 p.m., Friday Jan. 8, 2021

President-elect Joe Biden said Friday that President Donald Trump isn't “fit for the job,” but he repeatedly refused to endorse growing Democratic calls to impeach him a second time.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to members of her chamber that lawmakers could move as early as next week to impeach Trump for inciting a violent mob that overran the U.S. Capitol if the president didn't “immediately" resign. Pelosi and Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer also have called on Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to force Trump from office — a process for stripping the president of his post and installing the vice president to take over.

Addressing reporters in his home state of Delaware, Biden noted that a key reason he ran for president was because he'd “thought for a long, long time that President Trump wasn’t fit for the job."

“I’ve been saying for now, well, over a year, he’s not fit to serve,” Biden said. “He’s one of the most incompetent presidents in the history of the United States of America.”

But he refused to back efforts to remove Trump from the White House and insisted that impeachment was up to Congress. Instead, Biden said he was focused on the start of his own administration on Jan. 20, and he said his top three priorities are beating back the coronavirus, distributing vaccines fairly and equitably and reviving the struggling economy.

His comments laid bare the political balance Biden has worked to strike in the months since winning the presidential election. He has continued to sharply criticize Trump and nearly every facet of his administration but also worked to keep the public's attention focused on what the new administration will do rather than indulging recriminations against the last one.

Biden nonetheless conceded that Trump “exceeded my worst notions about him. He’s been an embarrassment” and likened the "damage done to our reputation around the world" to “tin horn dictatorships.” The president-elect also suggested that a key hurdle to removing Trump was that he has less than two weeks remaining in his term.

“If we were six months out, we should be doing everything to get him out of office. Impeaching him again, trying to evoke the 25th Amendment, whatever it took,” Biden said. “But I am focused now on us taking control as president and vice president on the 20th and to get our agenda moving as quickly as we can.”

Trump would be the only president to be impeached twice. The House impeached him in late 2019, but the Republican-led Senate acquitted him. Removal from office could also prevent Trump from running for president in 2024, or ever holding the presidency again. — Associated Press

Pelosi, Democrats Lay Plans For Swift Trump Impeachment

– 1:32 p.m., Friday Jan. 8, 2021

Democrats laid plans Friday for impeaching President Donald Trump, even as he's headed out of the White House, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she had spoken to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff about preventing an “unhinged” Trump from ordering a nuclear strike in his final days.

Pelosi and the Democrats are considering swift impeachment — beginning Monday — after the deadly siege of the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob that shocked the nation and the world.

“We must take action," Pelosi declared on a private conference call with Democrats.

She said she had also spoken with Gen. Mark Milley “to discuss available precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes" for nuclear war. She said Milley assured her longstanding safeguards are in place.

The president has sole authority to order the launch of a nuclear weapon, but a military commander could refuse the order if it were determined to be illegal. Trump has not publicly made such threats, but some lawmakers are sounding alarms that he could do great damage on military or other issues on his way out.

The attack on the Capitol left five dead, including a protester and a police officer. Trump is to leave office Jan. 20 when Democrat Joe Biden is sworn in, and he has said he will not attend the inauguration.

“This unhinged president could not be more dangerous," Pelosi said of the current situation.

If Trump were to be impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate, he might also be prevented from running again for the presidency in 2024 or ever holding public office again. He would be only the president twice impeached. A person granted anonymity to discuss the private call said Pelosi also discussed other ways Trump might be forced to resign.

Biden, meanwhile, said he is focused on his job as he prepares to take office. Asked about impeachment, he said, “That’s a decision for the Congress to make."

Conviction in the Republican Senate at this late date would seem unlikely, though in a sign of Trump's shattering of the party many Republicans were silent on the issue. — Associated Press

Pelosi Seeks To Curb Trump's Nuclear Power, Plans To Impeach

– 11:33 a.m., Friday Jan. 8, 2021

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she has spoken to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff about preventing President Donald Trump from ordering a nuclear strike in his final days in office.

She said she spoke to the top general Mark Milley about "precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike.”

Pelosi said he assured her longstanding safeguards are in place. Democrats are discussing whether to act quickly to impeach Trump as soon as next week. This comes after Trump encouraged loyalists who ransacked the Capitol in a siege that has left five people dead.

One Republican, Kevin McCarthy the minority leader, said impeachment would be divisive. — Associated Press

President Trump Won't Attend Joe Biden's Inauguration

– 8:14 a.m., Friday Jan. 8, 2021

President Donald Trump says he won’t attend President-elect Joe Biden’s Inauguration on Jan. 20.

He will be the first incumbent president since Andrew Johnson to skip his successors inauguration.

In a Friday tweet Trump said, “To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.” Trump offered no clues for how he would spent his final hours in office. Biden will become president at noon regardless of Trump’s plans.

Vice President Mike Pence is still expected to attend the inauguration. — Associated Press

Education Head DeVos Wuits, Cites Trump Rhetoric

– 6:14 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has become the second Cabinet secretary to resign a day after a pro-Trump insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

In a resignation letter Thursday, DeVos blamed President Donald Trump for inflaming tensions in the violent assault on the seat of the nation’s democracy. She says, “There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me.”

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao tendered her resignation earlier Thursday. News of DeVos' resignation was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

In a farewell letter to Congress earlier this week, DeVos urged lawmakers to reject policies supported by President-elect Joe Biden, and to protect Trump administration policies that Biden has promised to eliminate. — Associated Press

Senate Sergeant-At-Arms Quits After Capitol Riot

– 5:21 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he has accepted the resignation of Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger a day after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol.

The Kentucky Republican said Thursday in a statement that he had earlier requested the resignation and later received it. He says Stenger's resignation is effective immediately.

McConnell says Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms Jennifer Hemingway will now be acting sergeant-at-arms.

He says, "I thank Jennifer in advance for her service as we begin to examine the serious failures that transpired yesterday and continue and strengthen our preparations for a safe and successful inauguration on January 20th.”

Democrat Chuck Schumer had earlier vowed to fire Stenger when Schumer becomes Senate majority leader later this month if Stenger was still in the position. — Associated Press

Trump Condemns Capitol Riot, Concedes To Biden

– 4:36 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

President Donald Trump is conceding to President-elect Joe Biden and condemning the violent supporters who stormed the nation’s Capitol Wednesday.

In a new video message, Trump says that now that Congress has certified the results, the “new administration will be inaugurated on January 20” and his “focus now turns to ensuring a smooth orderly and seamless transition of power.”

He is also speaking out against the violence, calling it a “heinous attack” that left him “outraged by the violence lawlessness and mayhem.”

Trump did not address his role in inciting the violence. But he is telling his supporters that, while he knows they are “disappointed,” he wants them to know “our incredible journey is only just beginning.” — Associated Press

Former Ambassador Huntsman Criticizes Trump For Putting Self-Interest Over Nation

– 3:45 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

Former U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman Jr. is criticizing President Donald Trump for prioritizing his own interests over the nation’s following the deadly siege of the Capitol by the president’s supporters.

In a statement Thursday, the Trump-era ambassador called on Americans to join together and push through this “anguishing period of history.” His comments come a day after violent protesters broke into the U.S. Capitol, forcing Congress members to halt the ongoing vote to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s election and then flee from the House and Senate chambers.

Huntsman says, “Our light has been dimmed by repeated reckless behavior encouraged by our President, who has shown time and again he cares more about his own ego and interests than in building trust in our ever-fragile institutions of democracy.”

Huntsman resigned from his role as ambassador to Russia in 2019 after two years. He joined other former Trump officials in condemning Wednesday’s attack, including former Attorney General William Barr and former White House chief of staff John Kelly. — Associated Press

Capitol Police Chief Resigning After Mob Attack

– 3:21 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

The head of the U.S. Capitol Police will resign effective Jan. 16 following the breach of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.

Chief Steven Sund said Thursday that police had planned for a free speech demonstration and did not expect the violent attack. He said it was unlike anything he’d experienced in his 30 years in law enforcement.

He resigned Thursday after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on him to step down. His resignation was confirmed to The Associated Press by a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly.

The breach halted the effort by Congress to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. Protesters stormed the building and occupied for hours. The lawmakers eventually returned and finished their work. — Michael Balsamo, Associated Press

Democratic House Chairs Want FBI Riot Briefing

– 3:17 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

Democratic leaders of five House committees are seeking an immediate briefing from the FBI on its investigation of Wednesday’s violent breach of the Capitol, which left four people dead and disrupted a congressional proceeding to confirm the results of the presidential election.

In a letter Thursday to FBI Director Christopher Wray, the lawmakers called the riot “a deadly terrorist attack” incited by President Donald Trump and his supporters.

The lawmakers wrote, “Given the incendiary environment caused and exacerbated by President Trump’s rhetoric, along with the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, it is imperative that the FBI leverage all available assets and resources to ensure that the perpetrators of this domestic terrorist attack and those who incited and conspired with them are brought to justice, and that this domestic terrorist group is disrupted from further actions against our government.”

The letter was signed by Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney, Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler, Homeland Security Chair Bennie Thompson, Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff and Armed Services Chair Adam Smith. — Associate Press

McEnany Says Trump's Administration Found Capitol Siege 'Appalling'

– 3:15 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany says President Donald Trump’s administration found the siege of the U.S. Capitol to be “appalling, reprehensible and antithetical to the American way.”

But while McEnany’s statement to the press Thursday broke the White House’s silence a day after the violence, Trump himself remained quiet.

McEnany, for the first time, said that the White House was committed to the “orderly transition of power” to President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming administration. She also took pains to try to draw a distinction between the “violent rioters” and other Trump supporters who attended the president’s rally in Washington just before the siege of the Capitol.

But McEnany took no questions. And the impact of the statement would likely be muted, as Trump has long said that only he speaks for his White House.

The president has yet to condemn the violence that was meant to stop the congressional certification of Biden’s victory. — Associate Press

State Lawmakers, Police Taken Extra Precautions At State Capitol Building

– 3:10 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

State lawmakers and police are taking extra precautions at state capitol buildings as legislatures in most states return to session.

Pro-Donald Trump demonstrators have rallied outside numerous capitols since the Nov. 3 election, and some groups have said they want a large presence when lawmakers return. Trump has falsely claimed that widespread voter fraud cost him the election and has convinced many of his supporters that President-elect Joe Biden will be illegitimate.

Wednesday’s storming of the U.S. Capitol has heightened concerns.

In Washington state, a pro-Trump group has said it will try to get inside the capitol building in Olympia when lawmakers return to work on Monday.

In Oregon, the state police said it is aware of rumors that armed groups are considering taking over the capitol and warned that anyone attempting that would be arrested.

In Michigan, where several men were charged last fall in separate plots to kidnap the governor and storm the statehouse in hopes of inciting a civil war, police briefly closed the capitol on Thursday after a man called to make a bomb threat. — Associated Press

Head Of Capitol Police Union Calls For Chief Resignation

– 3:05 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2020

The head of the union representing U.S. Capitol Police is calling on the department’s chief to resign, saying the Capitol riot “should never have happened.”

Gus Papathanasiou said in a statement Thursday that a lack of planning led to officers exposed to violent protesters storming the Capitol. He says officers lacked the backup and equipment needed to control rioters and argues that Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund must be replaced to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Police have been criticized for not immediately arresting many people who stormed the Capitol. Papathanasiou said, “Once the breach of the Capitol building was inevitable, we prioritized lives over property, leading people to safety.”

Papathanasiou is chair of the U.S. Capitol Police Labor Committee. — Associated Press

Sen. John Danforth Says He Was "Bamboozled" By Sen. Josh Hawley

– 3 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2020

A longtime U.S. senator who has been a staunch supporter of Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri says he was “bamboozled” and no longer backs him.

Three-term Republican Sen. John Danforth of St. Louis told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday that he first met Hawley when Hawley was a third-year student at Yale Law School and was immediately impressed by his intelligence. Now, he calls his support of Hawley “the worst decision I’ve ever made in my life.”

Danforth cited Hawley’s decision to challenge the legitimacy of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory in November. Danforth says telling people the election was fraudulent “is very, very destructive to the country,” and the attack at the Capitol building on Wednesday “was the culmination of that whole approach to politics.”

Danforth says he would no longer support Hawley’s political future, whether it be for a reelection bid or a run for president in 2024.

Asked if he believes Hawley bears some responsibility for the attack on the Capitol, Danforth says simply, “Yes, I do.” — Associated Press

Biden Says Use Of 25th Amendment Not Up To Him

– 2:20 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

President-elect Joe Biden is leaving it up to the current Cabinet to decide whether to remove President Donald Trump from office using the 25th Amendment.

Transition aide Andrew Bates says in a statement Thursday that Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are “focused on their duty” - the transition work in preparation for their inauguration on January 20 - “and will leave it to Vice President Pence, the Cabinet and the Congress to act as they see fit.”

The 25th Amendment allows for a majority of the Cabinet to vote to transfer the powers of the presidency to the vice president in cases where the president is unable to perform his duty. Trump officials are facing growing calls to consider the move after pro-Trump protesters, egged on by the president himself, broke into the Capitol on Wednesday in a violent melee that forced lawmakers to evacuate.

Biden avoided weighing in on whether Trump should be impeached again, a move already gaining traction among House Democrats in an attempt to remove the president from power before he leaves office later this month. — Associated Press

Founder Of Social Media Site Trumparoo Among Dead At Capitol

– 2 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

One of the people who died of a medical emergency during the storming of the Capitol was the founder of a pro-Trump social media site called Trumparoo and had coordinated transportation for several dozen people from Pennsylvania to Washington.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that 50-year-old Benjamin Philips drove there in a van along with Trump-related memorabilia he had produced. The Inquirer and the Bloomsburg Press Enterprise both spoke with Phillips before the rally.

He was a web developer and founder of Trumparoo, a social media site for supporters of President Donald Trump. His profile on the site said he was organizing a bus from the Bloomsburg area to go to the rally and expressed anger at Democratic officials and moderate Republicans.

The Inquirer reports that members of his group say they last saw Phillips around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, and that he did not show up to meet them for a 6 p.m. departure. They learned from police that he had died and had a somber ride back to Pennsylvania.

Phillips told the Bloomsburg Press Enterprise on Tuesday that people from other states were staying at his home. He said, “My ‘hostel’ is already full." — Associated Press

This item has been corrected to show the victim's last name is spelled Philips, not Phillips, as police had initially said.

Prosecutor: Sedition Charges Possible For Mob

– 1:23 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

The top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia says “all options are on the table” for charges against the violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol, including sedition.

Michael Sherwin, acting U.S. attorney for D.C., says prosecutors plan to file 15 federal cases on Thursday for crimes including unauthorized access and theft of property, and investigators are combing through scores of evidence to bring additional charges.

He says 40 other cases had already been charged in a District of Columbia superior court.

The announcement comes a day after angry and armed protesters broke into the U.S. Capitol, forcing Congress members to halt the ongoing vote to certify Joe Biden’s election and then flee from the House and Senate chambers.

Police say more than 90 people were arrested on Wednesday and Thursday morning. — Associated Press

Mike Pence Set To Attend Inauguration

– 1:04 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

Vice President Mike Pence is expected to attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.

That’s according to two people — one close to Pence and one familiar with the inauguration planning. The people spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday because the plans had yet to be finalized.

The news comes a day after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol to stop the congressional confirmation of Biden's victory, with some angrily shouting that they were looking for Pence.

Trump had told his supporters that Pence had the power to reject electoral votes and make him the president instead of Biden, even though he didn’t have that authority. The pressure campaign created a rare public rift between the men after years of Pence’s uncheckered loyalty.

Pence’s press secretary Devin O’Malley tweeted Thursday: “You can’t attend something you haven’t received an invitation to....”

But it is customary for an outgoing vice president to attend the inauguration. Outgoing President Donald Trump has not said whether he plans to attend.

Biden will be inaugurated in Washington on Jan 20. — Jill Colvin and Zeke Miller, Associated Press

Sen. Lindsey Graham Says Trump's 'Actions Were The Problem'

– 12 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of President Donald Trump’s top congressional allies, says the president must accept his own role in the violence that occurred at the U.S. Capitol.

The South Carolina senator said Thursday that Trump “needs to understand that his actions were the problem, not the solution.”

Graham was a foe of Trump's during the 2016 campaign and questioned his mental fitness for office. Once Trump was in office, however, Graham became one of his closest confidants and often played golf with him.

Graham added that he had no regrets of his support of Trump but that “it breaks my heart that my friend, a president of consequence, would allow yesterday to happen.”

Graham complimented Vice President Mike Pence’s decorum during the Electoral College vote certification process, saying that any expectation that Pence could have overturned the results was “over the top, unconstitutional, illegal and would have been wrong for the country.” — Associated Press

DC Police Identify 3 Who Died During Capitol Breach

– 11:58 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

District of Columbia police have identified the three people who had medical emergencies and died during the storming of the Capitol.

They are 55-year-old Kevin Greeson, of Athens, Alabama; 34-year-old Rosanne Boyland, of Kennesaw, Georgia; and 50-year-old Benjamin Phillips, of Ringtown, Pennsylvania.

Police Chief Robert Contee would not go into detail about the exact causes of their deaths and would not say if any of the three was actively involved in breaching the Capitol building on Wednesday.

Contee would only say that all three “were on the grounds of the Capitol when they experienced their medical emergencies.”

Greeson’s family says he had a heart attack. They described him as a supporter of President Donald Trump's but denied that he condoned violence.

The Capitol Police say a fourth person, identified as Ashli Babbitt, was shot by an employee of Capitol Police while the rioters were moving toward the House chamber. She died at a hospital.

The siege at the Capitol by Trump loyalists came as Congress was certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.— Associated Press

Pelosi Wants Capitol Police Chief To Resign

— 11:47 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she’s seeking the resignation of Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund a day after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol.

The California Democrat also said Thursday that House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving, another key security official, had already submitted his resignation. He reports directly to Pelosi, while Sund answers to both House and Senate.

Incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he’ll fire the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger.

Lawmakers have mixed praise for the Capitol Police with harsh criticism for the outfit, which was overwhelmed by Wednesday’s mob and unprepared for it. — Associated Press

Pelosi Calls For Using 25th Amendment On Trump

— 11:26 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says President Donald Trump should immediately be removed from office or Congress may proceed to impeach him.

Pelosi on Thursday joined those calling on the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to force Trump from office. It came a day after a violent mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, forcing the building into lockdown. Trump called them “very special” people and said he loved them.

She said at the Capitol: “The president of the United States incited an armed insurrection against America.”

Pelosi says he could do further harm to the country: “Any day can be a horror show for America."

Democrats and some Republicans want Trump removed before his term ends on Jan. 20 with Democrat Joe Biden’s inauguration.

The 25th Amendment allows for the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare the president unfit for office. The vice president then becomes acting president. — Associated Press

Biden Places Blame For Capitol Violence On Trump

– 11 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

President-elect Joe Biden is calling the violent group that descended on the U.S. Capitol “domestic terrorists” and laying the blame for the violence squarely at President Donald Trump’s feet.

During remarks in Wilmington, Delaware, on Thursday, Biden says people should not call the hundreds of Trump supporters who broke into the Capitol protesters. Rather, he says, they are “a riotous mob — insurrectionists, domestic terrorists.” Biden said Trump is guilty of “trying to use a mob to silence the voices of nearly 160 million Americans” who voted in November.

Biden says the president has “made his contempt for our democracy, our Constitution, the rule of claw clear in everything he has done” and unleashed an “all-out attack” on the country’s democratic institutions that ultimately led to the violence Wednesday. — Associated Press

Transportation Secretary Chao Resigns After Riot

– 10:45 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is resigning effective Monday, becoming the highest-ranking member of President Donald Trump’s administration to resign in protest after the pro-Trump insurrection at Capitol.

In a statement Thursday, Chao, who is married to Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, said the violent attack on the Capitol “has deeply troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside.”

She said her department will continue to cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden’s designated nominee to head the department, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. — Associated Press

Schumer Calls On Cabinet To Invoke 25th Amendment

– 9:33 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is calling on President Donald Trump’s Cabinet to remove him from office following Wednesday’s violent assault on the Capitol by the president’s supporters.

In a statement Thursday, Schumer said the attack on the Capitol “was an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president.” He added, “This president should not hold office one day longer.”

Schumer said Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet should invoke the 25th Amendment and immediately remove Trump from office. He added, “If the vice president and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president.” — Associated Press

Authorities Identify Woman Killed By Police During US Capitol Rioting

– 9:09 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

The United States Capitol Police has identified the woman who was shot and killed by one of its officers during the pro-Trump rioting on Wednesday as Ashli E. Babbitt of San Diego, Calif.

Babbitt, 35, was one of four people who died during Wednesday’s chaotic events, says Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). MPD Police Chief Robert Contee said the three others who died experienced unspecified “medical emergencies.”

Babbitt’s social media profiles indicate that she had most recently worked at a pool service company in Southern California. The military confirmed to NPR that she was also a veteran of the United States Air Force, where she most recently achieved the rank of Senior Airman. Babbitt entered active duty with the military in 2004, serving until 2008. After that, she served with the Air Force reserve from 2008 to 2010, and the Air National Guard from 2010 to 2016.

“She saw first hand through her multiple deployments overseas how others were treated and was grateful to have the freedoms we have in America,” her ex-husband, Timothy McEntee, told NPR by email.

Babbitt was a Libertarian and supporter of President Trump, according to social media posts, as well as far-right conspiracy sites. She was among those who stormed the Capitol building Wednesday. Capitol police say an officer fired as protesters forced the