The Serious Side - part 8

We had lowest rate in Europe b4 Christmas...  our politicians swaggered on the telly boasting at every opportunity... ignoring our experts advice ...
In 3 short weeks we have become one of the highest rate of infection...


It’s the simplest things that will ... deep breath - be brave - just say it - SAVE HUMANITY ....

This clever fella won’t actually kill us off ... we are home, we’re Abnb to Covid ...
as it continues to mutate... it will also continue to disable US ... turn off the alarm in their homes (us) so to speak...

Just take “the home” off the market ... don’t go out ... camouflage when you have to go out ie wear a mask ... new variant needs ever stronger borders, so if you can top off mask with a visor all the better... 

As I said b4 Covid is making a mockery of us all....

BTW ... I’d be lost without the world of entertainment in my life throughout this ....

I remember my Nana telling me “hard work” kept her sane throughout the war ...
With no work!!! I’m on my knees thanking the big box in the room for continuing life as we knew it and allowing me to join in ....

[size=40]ALL OUT WAR 
[size=40]Rudy Giuliani threatens ‘trial by COMBAT’ in Congress and says Pence can reject Biden win at ‘Stop The Steal’ rally[/size]



[/size]

• Mollie Mansfield
  

• 6 Jan 2021, 15:57
  
• Updated: 6 Jan 2021, 17:08
  

• 
  

RUDY Giuliani told thousands of fired-up Trump supporters he wants a "trial by combat" in Congress and doubled down on calls for Mike Pence to overturn Biden’s win.
Giuliani made the comments during a "Stop The Steal" rally on Wednesday morning, as Americans await the results of the Georgia Senate race.
Read our US Politics live blog for the Georgia runoff results, Electoral College updates, and latest on the 'Stop the Steal' protests


4
Giuliani made the comments on Wednesday morningCredit: Reuters


The attorney insisted that everything is "planned," "appropriate" and "perfectly legal."
He went on to insist that Vice President Mike Pence could reject the states' Electoral College results.
"Let's have trial by combat," he told supporters.
However, according to the 12th amendment of the Constitution, Pence will not be able to overturn the vote.


4
The attorney was speaking at a 'Stop The Steal' rallyCredit: Reuters
The law states that the vice president cannot judge who won a state's electoral votes.
Trump has pressed Republican lawmakers to formally object at a joint session of Congress on Wednesday that is set to confirm Biden's victory in the Electoral College.
The outgoing president's attempts to overturn the election has split the Republican Party, with some backing him and others turning against him.
Pence, who is under pressure to tip the results for Trump, will be closely watched as he presides in a ceremonial role over Wednesday’s joint session.


4
Trump wants Mike Pence to 'come through'Credit: Getty Images - Getty
"I promise you this: On Wednesday, we’ll have our day in Congress," Pence said while himself campaigning in Georgia ahead of Tuesday’s runoff elections that will determine control of the Senate.
Trump brought up Pence's vote during a rally in Dalton, Georgia, on Monday night.
After starting his speech saying the presidential election was "rigged" and "there's no way we lost," he also turned to Pence as being a beacon of hope that would overturn his election loss.


4
Pence is under pressureCredit: Getty Images - Getty
Trump said: “And I hope Mike Pence comes through for us. I have to tell you. I hope that our great vice president comes through for us. He’s a great guy.
"Of course, if he doesn't come through, I won't like him quite as much," he joked.
Trump continued to hammer home his requests for Pence to "come through" on Wednesday morning, asking him to send votes "back to the States," saying "do it Mike, this is a time for extreme courage!"




In the early hours of the morning he insisted: "If Vice President @Mike_Pence comes through for us, we will win the Presidency.
"Many States want to decertify the mistake they made in certifying incorrect & even fraudulent numbers in a process NOT approved by their State Legislatures (which it must be). Mike can send it back!"
However, Pence's role is mostly ceremonial and has no bearing on the actual certification of the election results.

https://people.com/crime/breonna-taylor-2-officers-fired-raid-killed-woman/

[size=48]Louisville Fires 2 Officers Involved in Breonna Taylor Raid, Including Cop Who Fired Fatal Shot
A third detective was fired in June, but none of the officers have been criminally charged in direct connection with Taylor's death
By Chris Harris 
January 06, 2021 12:31 PM[/size]





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Myles Cosgrove and Joshua Jaynes
 
| CREDIT: LOUISVILLE METRO POLICE DEPARTMENT
After not being charged criminally for their roles in the botched police raid that resulted in Breonna Taylor's killing, two Louisville Metro Police Department detectives have been fired.
The news that Myles Cosgrove and Joshua Jaynes lost their jobs comes on the same day the department announced the name of its newest chief — Erika Shields, the former Atlanta police chief who stepped down in June after one of her officers fatally shot a Black man.
The firings were reported on by the Louisville Courier-Journal, WLKY, and WDRB.
PEOPLE was unable to reach Cosgrove and Jaynes for comment.
Jaynes, according to investigators, sought the "no-knock" search warrant served on Taylor's home, while the FBI concluded Cosgrove was the one who fired the shot that killed the aspiring nurse who was working in Kentucky as an emergency room technician.

Taylor, 26, had been working on the frontlines of the coronavirus in the pandemic's early stages.
The young woman was killed shortly after midnight on March 13 by Louisville Metro Police Department officers.
Both Jaynes, who is accused of violating policy for truthfulness and search warrant preparation, and Cosgrove, who allegedly failed to activate his body camera prior to the shooting, were served with pre-termination paperwork last month, according to the Courier-Journal.
RELATED: Breonna Taylor Shooting: 1 of 3 Involved Officers Is Charged -- but Not with Her Death
The shooting led to months of protests and made Taylor a face of the Black Lives Matter movement.
A third detective, Brett Hankison, was fired in June for firing "blindly" into Taylor's apartment.


He has also been indicted by a grand jury on three counts of wanton endangerment for allegedly firing bullets that risked injury to Taylor's neighbors. Hankinson has pleaded not guilty.

According to the Courier-Journal, Cosgrove sent out an email Tuesday to fellow officers, chastising the department's leadership for kowtowing to "political pressures."
In the email, he allegedly warned that city leaders were not "afraid to perform hatchet jobs on you either."
RELATED: Breonna Taylor's Family Reached $12 Million Settlement After Fatal Shooting by Louisville Police
"Think about that next time you put on the uniform and badge," the paper quotes from Cosgrove's email. "For those of you still doing real police work, it's just a matter of time till you (too) will be a sacrificial lamb. I plead with you, do nothing."
Each officer met with the outgoing chief ahead of their dismissals, and provided an opportunity to state their cases.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
Under Kentucky state law and their union contract, Cosgrove and Jaynes can appeal their firings within 10 days to the Police Merit Board. They could also appeal the board's decision, if they uphold the terminations.
Also on Wednesday, Shields was introduced as the department's new head.
She stepped down as Atlanta's police chief June 13, hours after one of her officers shot and killed Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old Black man.
Brooks was killed by former officer Garrett Rolfe following a confrontation in a Wendy's parking lot.
To help combat systemic racism, consider learning from or donating to these organizations:
• Campaign Zero (joincampaignzero.org) which works to end police brutality in America through research-proven strategies.
• ColorofChange.org works to make government more responsive to racial disparities.

I'm just watching CNN - THAT'S NOT TRUE!!!

https://people.com/politics/trump-protesters-storm-capitol-senate-adjourns/

[size=48]Violent Pro-Trump Protestors Storm U.S. Capitol, Forcing Evacuation of Lawmakers in Chaotic Scene
Protesters carrying "Trump 2020" flags could be seen clashing with police, many in full riot gear
By Virginia Chamlee 
January 06, 2021 02:59 PM



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Protesters breaching the U.S. Capitol
 
| CREDIT: WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES)
The United States Capitol is on lockdown as a large group of pro-Trump protestors breached the building and marched inside Statuary Hall. The chaotic and unprecedented situation remains ongoing with details still developing.
The building was breached while as lawmakers were gathered inside the Capitol to count the Electoral College votes certifying President-elect Joe Biden's win.
Thousands of protestors had gathered to show their support for President Donald Trump amid his unfounded claims of election fraud following his November loss to Biden.

The protesters pushed through barriers set up along the perimeter of the Capitol building just after 1 p.m. EST.

Slate reporter Jim Newell captured the moment the group, beating on a set of doors, entered the building.
Video footage taken at the scene shows demonstrators carrying "Trump 2020" and "Don't Tread on Me" flags clashing with police, many in full riot gear, near the Capitol building.
CNN reporters posted inside the House building reported hearing chants of "USA! USA!" as the protestors entered the building.
The House and Senate had recessed and stopped the proceedings of tallying the votes as the situation began to unfold.
Pool reports said that lawmakers were being evacuated, though it was unclear where they being taken.
In a tweet sent out Wednesday afternoon, Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens said she was "sheltering in place" in her office and that the building next door had been evacuated.

"I can't believe I have to write this," Stevens wrote.

CNN reported that Pence had been evacuated from the building, as Huffington Post reporter Matt Fuller tweeted that he could hear gunshots outside the chamber.
C-SPAN showed footage of tear gas being deployed inside the Capitol. Images widely circulated on television showed an armed standoff between a protester and law enforcement.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced she was issuing a 6 p.m. curfew for Washington D.C. as the events began to unfold.

The president addressed the protestors gathered outside earlier in the day saying, "we will never give up, we will never concede."
In a 2:38 p.m. tweet, Trump wrote, "Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!"
Notably, Trump has not instructed protesters to leave the building.
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What a joke! Congress hiding under their desks because the thing drumpf's been calling for for months has finally happened and they just realized he doesn't care if his followers shoot them! What did they think would happen when they helped the lunatic encourage this very thing?

I don't understand why these insurrectionists aren't being treated like the BLM protesters were. Where are the billy clubs and the tear gas? There should be a lot of people going to jail - and drumpf and his spawn should be first!

https://people.com/politics/jon-ossoff-wins-georgia-runoff-democratic-majority-senate/

[size=48]Jon Ossoff Wins Georgia Runoff Over David Perdue to Give Democrats Majority in Senate
Ossoff, 33, will become the youngest member of the now Democratic-led Senate
By Sean Neumann 
January 06, 2021 05:33 PM[/size]



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Senator-elect Jon Ossoff
 
| CREDIT: ERIK S LESSER/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK
As the nation’s attention turned to riots in the U.S. Capitol building Wednesday, the final Senate race in Georgia was called in favor of the Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff.
Senator-elect Ossoff, 33, will become the youngest member of the Senate body.
His victory over incumbent Sen. David Perdue means the Democratic Party will now control the Senate, after Senator-elect Rev. Raphael Warnock’s victory over incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler was called late Tuesday night.
The two runoff elections ended a dramatic 2020 election cycle, which also saw the Democratic Party win the presidency and maintain a slim majority in the House of Representatives.

Ossoff and Warnock’s elections mean the Senate will be split 50-50 along party lines, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaking vote for the Democrats, giving President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming administration a much easier path to passing legislation.
“I want to thank the people of Georgia for participating in this election, everybody who cast your ballot, everybody who put your faith and confidence in our democracy's capacity to deliver the representation that we deserve, whether you were for me, or against me, I'll be for you in the U.S. Senate,” Ossoff said in a video address Wednesday morning, as his lead over Perdue grew. “I will serve all the people of the state.”



The Associated Press called the race Wednesday afternoon, after Ossoff’s lead grew beyond the margin of error — half a percentage point — that would allow for a recount under Georgia state law.

Perdue, 71, and Loeffler, 50, have yet to concede the elections. Representatives for both did not respond to PEOPLE's requests for comment Wednesday.
RELATED: Rev. Raphael Warnock Wins Georgia Senate Runoff
Biden, 78, called both Ossoff and Warnock, 51, to congratulate them on Wednesday.
While Ossoff will become the Senate’s youngest member, he became the first Jewish senator ever elected in Georgia. Warnock became the first Black senator elected in the state.
“Georgia voters delivered a resounding message yesterday: they want action on the crises we face and they want it right now,” Biden tweeted. “Together, we'll get it done.”

Ossoff thanked Biden and said he’s “looking forward to working with you to get financial relief directly to the people, beat COVID-19, and build a healthier, more prosperous, more just America for all.”
The election was called amid chaos in Washington, D.C., where a joint congressional session to ratify Biden’s own election was disrupted by rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol Building.
The unprecedented moment came after President Donald Trump, 74, spoke to a crowd of supporters outside the White House and implored them to march to the Capitol and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said, “Let’s have trial by combat.”
Biden, who will be sworn into office on Jan. 20 as the 46th president, called on Trump to “step up” and tell his supporters to leave the building.
Hours after the Capitol had been breached, Trump delayed telling his supporters to leave the building. More than three hours after the building had been breached, at 4:17 p.m., Trump instructed rioters to leave peacefully, saying, "You have to go home now, we have to have peace."
But he repeated his false claim that the election was "stolen" and said to the rioters, "We love you, you're very special."

https://people.com/politics/trump-cabinet-members-discussing-25th-amendment-reports/

[size=48]Some Trump Cabinet Members Are Considering Invoking the 25th Amendment: Reports
After the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol Wednesday and the president's reaction to the violence, members of his party reportedly want him removed from power
By Ashley Boucher 
January 07, 2021 12:30 AM



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Donald Trump
 
| CREDIT: EVAN VUCCI/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK
Discussions are being had among some of Donald Trump's Cabinet members and top Republicans about the potential of invoking the 25th Amendment to strip the president of his power, according to multiple news reports.
The amendment allows the vice president along with a majority of the Cabinet to have the president's powers temporarily transferred to the vice president unless he contests the issue, at which point Congress would vote on the matter within a set time frame.
Sources have told ABC News, CBS News and CNN that following his response to the violent riot at the Capitol building, during which one woman was fatally shot and three other people died after having medical emergencies, Trump should be removed from power if not removed from office entirely.
The scope and seriousness of these discussions was not immediately clear. CBS reported that any plan about the 25th Amendment hadn't been presented to Mike Pence.

One elected Republican official told CNN, however, that Trump "has to be impeached and removed." A former senior official added to the outlet of Wednesday's chaos, "I think this has been a huge shock to the system. How do you keep him in place for two weeks after this?"
CNN reported that, per one source, "Some Cabinet members are holding preliminary discussions about invoking the 25th Amendment."
According to ABC News, sources had briefed them on conversations about using the amendment to remove Trump's powers for the remaining two weeks of his presidency before Joe Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20.
If invoked, section four of the 25th Amendment of the Constitution can at least temporarily “sideline” the president for days or weeks at a time, Larry Tribe, a constitutional law professor at Harvard Law School, previously explained to PEOPLE.

Under the amendment, the president is not removed from office as he would be under impeachment. But his powers are stripped temporarily — or even permanently, should two-thirds of Congress ultimately side with the vice president and make him acting president.
[/size]

RELATED: Twitter and Instagram Lock Trump's Account as Facebook Blocks Him from Posting for 24 Hours
If the 25th Amendment were indeed invoked, it would be unprecedented: The complicated process has never been done.
The option exists “if the vice president and the majority of the Cabinet members decide that the president [is unfit for] office, that he’s got Alzheimer’s or doesn’t know what he’s doing, doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about," Tribe previously said.
Essentially, members of the president's own party would have to act against him and the voters and outside of Congress.
Wednesday saw unprecedented scenes in Washington, D.C.
As lawmakers in Congress were in the midst of counting Electoral College votes to certify President-elect Biden's win, pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol building, forcing the joint session to be temporarily suspended and sending lawmakers into seclusion.


Trump had previously addressed the crowd near the White House at a rally earlier Wednesday before encouraging them to go to Congress and voice their anger "peacefully and patriotically" — even as he described Democrats as trying to "illegally take over our country" and warned "if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore."
"We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated, lawfully slated. I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building," Trump said then.
"We’re going to the Capitol and we’re going to try and give ... our Republicans, the weak ones, because the strong ones don’t need any of our help, we’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country," Trump said.
Motivated by the president, the rioters stormed the Capitol and were photographed scaling the building's walls, breaking windows, roaming through the building, looting and vandalizing, including in congressional chambers and lawmaker offices. Rioters also ripped an American flag off of a flagpole outside the Capitol building and replaced it with a Trump flag.
RELATED VIDEO: Pro-Trump Rioters Storm U.S. Capitol, Forcing Evacuation of Lawmakers











Share: Pro-Trump Rioters Storm U.S. Capitol, Forcing Evacuation of Lawmakers



The National Guard was called in, and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser issued a curfew beginning at 6 p.m., but it was hours before the building was cleared out and declared secure.
After the insurrectionary mob took over the Capitol, Trump blamed his election loss for the rioting and wrote that "these are the things and events that happen ... Remember this day forever!" (Twitter soon removed the post.)
Amid the chaos, Biden called for an end to the violence and for Trump to call his supporters off.
Trump also tweeted a video about the rioters, saying "we love you, you're very special" and doubling down on the baseless claims that the election was "stolen from us" before adding "we have to have peace, so go home."
(The video has been removed or restricted from social channels including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, due to "risk of violence.")


RELATED: Mike Pence and Mitch McConnell Denounce Violence as Lawmakers Reconvene at the Capitol Building
Vice President Mike Pence broke from Trump on Wednesday when he publicly stated he would not use his power to block Congress' confirmation of Biden as president. In a letter to Congress, Pence wrote that he believes "vesting the Vice President with unilateral authority to decide presidential contests would be entirely antithetical to" American government at its core.
Congress later reconvened to finish the process of counting the Electoral College ballots on Wednesday night.

At the very least!!?

Charges of incitement to violence along with everything else...I could go on and on......


Jon Ossoff is a brilliant young man.....and has figured that repeating everything severa ltimes

works with Fox viewers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1545A2B0JNg

and Stacy Abrams - witty lady!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44xo7KcR5vo

We have the 25th Amendment and Impeachment as two responses to Trump’s criminal act yesterday.  Don’t know if enough Cabinet people or Members of Congress have a shred of courage left in them to do the right thing.  He hasn’t been held to account for so many of his past unlawful acts. If he’s not held to account this time the  U.S. will bear that shame forever.  

The only bright moment yesterday was when Ossoff won the Georgia Senate seat.  A glimmer of hope with Warnock and Ossoff giving Dems a majority in the Senate where we can finally do real work for our country (w/ the help of Kamala of course!).

Yes PAN Stacy is witty and was brilliant in her efforts to galvanize a network in Georgia to get out the vote.  Georgia of all states electing a black man and a Jewish man to the U.S. Senate.  Wow!  Well done.

Donnamarie - It's stunning, isn't it? I hadn't thought of the Georgia election in those terms - just in terms of taking the senate - but the fact that they elected a  black man and a Jewish man?? WOW! is right.

For anyone who doesn't know, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi are considered the "Deep South" where racial prejudice and anti-semitism have been the rule since at least the Civil War. They aren't the only states like that, but they have been the worst. That they elected these two men is amazing.

The House Judiciary Committee has sent a letter to Pence requesting that he invoke the 25th Amendment. Some senators have joined in and there is talk of impeachment. Trump has to be taken out of office before he can do any more damage. I don't know how his "supporters" in Congress didn't see this coming. He's been telling us what he was planning since he lost the election.

Re: Stacey Abrams. She's brilliant. I'd love to see her do something in national government. I'd also like to see Katy Porter move up the power ladder - maybe future Attorney General?

Final comment: Why did peaceful protesters get shoved, clubbed and gassed and this mob of terrorists treated like invited guests?

This mob was armed , the blm group were not so easy to take on . The cops in D.C didn't want to shoot because they knew they could get shot. Simple cowards the whole bunch of them. 
I agree Lizzy they all knew what he was going to do and did nothing. Also, why was the national guard not called out as soon
as the rally was announced.  
Basically , the capital has lousy security if they could just climb the walls and get in that easily.
The FBI are looking for the one's who were photographed and want to arrest them. They can easily find the one who was in Nancy Pelosi's office .
They only arrested 15 people last night.

I understand that the National Guard was asked not to step in by Trump

And that, if I think about it, makes sense - given the totally opposite behaviour for BLM.

And that Pence quietly mentioned to a well-known reporter that Trump is mad. (Surprise, surprise)

Apparently Congress has adjourned so there will be no impeachment.

Facebook have now blocked  Trump completely and let's hope Twitter do the same - it should have

been done long ago.........

Here's George's friend, Jimmy Kimmel from his show last night

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6j1l-MICZk

Thanks, PAN!
I've just watched Jimmy Kimmel's show the last bit ofTrump's inaugration speech combined withe pics and videos of last night's riot was brilliant!
Not that any of those terrorists would watch it, but...

https://news.yahoo.com/pence-not-trump-reportedly-approved-001600058.html\


[size=40]Pence, not Trump, reportedly approved National Guard deployment after Capitol breach[/size]


[url=https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Pence, not Trump, reportedly approved National Guard deployment after Capitol breach&url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.yahoo.com%2Fpence-not-trump-reportedly-approved-001600058.html%3Fsoc_src%3Dsocial-sh%26soc_trk%3Dtw%26tsrc%3Dtwtr&via=YahooNews][/url]
Tim O'Donnell
Wed, January 6, 2021, 7:16 PM EST





White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweeted earlier Wednesday that President Trump had authorized the deployment of the National Guard to Washington, D.C., after his supporters breached the Capitol. There are reports, however, that it was not Trump, but Vice President Mike Pence who approved the move.

Per The New York Times, Pentagon and Trump administration officials said the green light came from the vice president, while Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller said he and Gen. Mark Milley, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke with Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), about what was happening at the Capitol. It does not appear either Miller or Milley spoke with the president.

Pence making the decision certainly seems plausible, considering Trump has reportedly angered his aides with his lax attitude toward his supporters' actions. Read more at The New York Times.

More stories from theweek.com
Trump aides reportedly conclude he is 'mentally unreachable'
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough calls for Trump's arrest over Capitol riots: 'He should be sent to jail today'
Fox and Friends' Ainsley Earhardt hopes Trump can 'forgive' Pence for not overturning election

I saw the Jimmy Kimmel video last night. It would be great if it could get wider play so even drumpf's loyal supporters could see it. Sickeningly there are still many of them, even in media and politics.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9122545/West-Virginia-GOP-state-lawmaker-live-streams-moment-storms-Capitol-building.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ico=taboola_feed&ns_mchannel=rss&ico=taboola_feed

[size=34]'We're in, baby! We did it!' West Virginia GOP state lawmaker, 34, live-streams moment he storms US Capitol building alongside pro-Trump mob - as both Republicans and Dems slam his 'unacceptable behavior'[/size]

• Derrick Evans, 34, was recently elected to West Virginia's House of Delegates  
  
  
• On Wednesday, he was among pro-Trump mob that stormed US Capitol building 
  
  
• Evans posted five-minute clip on Facebook showing group at building entrance 
  
  
• He is heard cheering and chanting as entrance door to the building is opened 
  
  
• Once inside, Evans tells a police officer: 'We respect you. It's nothing personal' 
  
  
• Evans is also heard telling others in the group not to vandalize property inside 
  
  
• Democrats and Republicans in West Virginia condemned Evans over incident
  
  
• Online petition demanding his removal for 'terrorism' garners 21,000 signatures 
  
  

By ARIEL ZILBER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 10:52 EST, 7 January 2021 | UPDATED: 12:11 EST, 7 January 2021

   

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A Republican state lawmaker from West Virginia joined the Trump-supporting crowd that stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday and live-streamed the dramatic moment in which he got past police to enter the front door of the congressional building.
Derrick Evans, 34, who was recently elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates, had attended the ‘stop the steal’ rally in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, where supporters of the president protested the results of the November 3 election.
But as MAGA supporters turned violent and forced their way into the Capitol, the 34-year-old lawmaker followed them as he live-streamed on Facebook while wearing a helmet.
‘We’re in baby! We're in, we’re in, Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!’ an excited Evans is heard saying.
He has now been slammed by both Democrats and Republicans in his home state for his actions, and threatened with censure by the West Virginia House Speaker.
[size=10][size=18]West Virginia state delegate live streams as he storms Congress




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Derrick Evans, 34, a newly elected state lawmaker from West Virginia, live-streamed as he and other die-hard pro-Trump supporters breached the front entrance of the US Capitol building on Wednesday while Congress convened to ratify President-elect Joe Biden's victory


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Evans is seen left on December 14th being sworn into the West Virginia House of Delegates, where he represents the 19th district encompassing Wayne County
After President Trump gave a speech near the White House in which he encouraged his supporters to march toward the US Capitol, Evans joined others and recorded the events on Facebook as they happened.
At the time, Congress had convened in a special joint session to ratify President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the election.
In the moments after Evans and others stormed the barricades surrounding the US Capitol, he and a large group were seen massing near the front entrance.
In the clip, which has since been deleted but can be found circulating online, Evans is heard complaining about being hit with ‘pepper spray in my right eye.’


During the livestream, most of those reacting on Facebook encouraged Evans and the group, many of whom are waving pro-Trump banners and wearing Trump paraphernalia.
‘Stay strong American patriots and most of all stay safe, watch out for the paid fake TrumpDemo supporters!’ one Facebook user posted.
In the moments before the group breached the building, the mob, which includes Evans, could be heard chanting ‘Whose house? Our house!’
Evans is heard egging on the crowd and encouraging the Trump supporters to push forward.


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In a five-minute long clip that he posted to Facebook, Evans stands among other Trump supporters as they breach the front entrance to the US Capitol building


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‘Yes!’ Evans exclaims. ‘We’re going in!’ When it becomes apparent that the group of Trump supporters managed to breach the entrance, Evans says: ‘They’re in, they’re in.’
‘Let them through, let them through,’ he is heard in the clip saying. ‘There we go!’
‘Open the door,’ he says in the video.
Moments later, Evans says: ‘We’re at the door now. There’s cops on the inside stalling us now.’
Evans is heard once again complaining that he ‘can’t see out of my right eye’ due to the pepper spray.
As anticipation builds before they enter the building, Evans is heard saying: ‘Move peacefully!’
Evans is then heard taking part in a chant, repeatedly yelling ‘Trump!’ in response to someone else asking ‘Who’s the president?’
He then turns his cell phone camera and captures an image of himself. Evans is seen wearing what looks like a black motorcycle helmet.
Moments later, the door opens and the mob starts streaming into the building.


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The above images show other Trump supporters just moments after managing to enter the US Capitol building on Wednesday
Evans observers how one of the protesters is holding a police riot shield.
Finally, the group manages to trickle inside the building, pushing forward at a slow pace while many of them record with their cell phones.
‘We’re in, baby,’ Evans is heard saying. 
In a bizarre scene, Evans walks over to one of the police officers near the entrance and gives him a fist bump.
‘God bless you, sir,’ Evans tells him as the others in the group can be heard chanting ‘Treason! Treason!’
He then tells the security guard that ‘we respect you’ and that nobody wanted to see him hurt.
‘We don’t want nobody hurt,’ Evans tells the officer. ‘We still respect you.’
‘It’s nothing personal against you,’ Evans says to the officer.


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Democrats and Republicans in West Virginia condemned Evans for taking part in the incident
He then implores the others not to damage or vandalize property.
‘No vandalizing!’ Evans tells the others. ‘This is artifacts, alright? No vandalizing.’
Evans is then seen walking through a narrow hallway behind several others.
‘I don’t know where we’re going,’ he says. ‘I’m just following the crowd.’
The video ends at that point.
Evans later deleted the video from his social media after he was condemned by both Democrats and Republicans in his home state.
West Virginia House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, a Republican, told West Virginia Metro News: ‘What occurred today is unpatriotic, un-American and I condemn it in the strongest terms possible.’


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Evans, a Republican, is known as a fierce anti-abortion advocate in West Virginia
He added: ‘Like most Americans, I am shocked, saddened, angered and disturbed by the images coming out of our nation’s Capitol today.
‘The peaceful transfer of power is a bedrock principle of our republic, and is what has held the United States up as that shining city on a hill for nearly 250 years.
‘I have not spoken to Delegate Evans about today’s events, I don’t know the specifics of his involvement, I have only seen what has been posted on social media so far, and I’m sure more details may come out soon.
‘He will need to answer to his constituents and colleagues regarding his involvement in what has occurred today.’
Hanshaw hinted that Evans could be subject to criminal prosecution.
‘While free speech and peaceful protests are a core value of American society, storming government buildings and participating in a violent intentional disruption of one of our nation’s most fundamental political institutions is a crime that should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,’ he said.
The House minority leader, Democrat Doug Skaff, praised the statement by Hanshaw and called the storming of the Capitol ‘a violent, intentional disruption of our nation’s government.’
‘This is unacceptable behavior and conduct unbecoming of an elected official,’ Skaff said.
‘I am calling on Speaker Hanshaw to suspend Delegate Derrick Evans’ rights, privileges and access to West Virginia State Capitol Building, immediately and indefinitely, to allow for investigation into this incident.’
An online petition demanding that Evans be removed from the House of Delegates for ‘terrorism’ generated more than 22,800 digital signatures as of Thursday morning.
Evans later posted a statement on social media which read: ‘I want to assure you all that I did not have any negative interactions with law enforcement nor did I participate in any destruction that may have occurred.’
He said he attended the protest and recorded the events as ‘an independent member of the media to film industry.’


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Evans later posted a statement on social media which read: ‘I want to assure you all that I did not have any negative interactions with law enforcement nor did I participate in any destruction that may have occurred’


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An online petition demanding that Evans be removed from the House of Delegates for ‘terrorism’ generated more than 22,800 digital signatures as of Thursday morning


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After security forces cleared the US Capitol, Congress reconvened to confirm President-elect Joe Biden as the presidential election winner early on Thursday morning. Vice President Mike Pence (left) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (right) read the final certification during a joint session of Congress in the early morning hours of Thursday
Evans is a first-term lawmaker who recently was sworn in as the delegate from West Virginia’s 19th district, which encompasses Wayne County, some 70 miles west of Charleston.
After security forces cleared the US Capitol, Congress reconvened to confirm Biden as the presidential election winner early on Thursday morning.
Lawmakers were resolved to complete the Electoral College tally in a display to the country, and the world, of the nation’s enduring commitment to uphold the will of the voters and the peaceful transfer of power.
They pushed through the night with tensions high and the nation’s capital on alert.
Four people died during the overrunning of the Capitol, including one woman who was shot by police while trying to break into the House Chamber. 
Three others died of medical emergencies during the incident.

https://people.com/politics/less-than-two-days-after-deadly-capitol-mob-trump-calls-his-supporters-patriots/
[size=48]Hours After Telling Followers Who Rioted They're Un-American, Trump Calls Supporters 'Patriots'
President Donald Trump also tweeted that he would not be attending Joe Biden's inauguration this month
January 08, 2021 11:35 AM
















Share: President Donald Trump Banned Indefinitely from Facebook and Instagram After Capitol Riots
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Less than 48 hours after a violent mob of the president's supporters breached the U.S. Capitol in an attempted insurrection that led to the death of a police officer, Donald Trump is again calling his followers "patriots."
"The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future," Trump tweeted on Friday morning. "They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!"



Minutes later, the president issued another tweet, writing that he would not be attending the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.


The tweets came hours after Trump released a pre-recorded video decrying the violence in the U.S. Capitol as un-American.
"The demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol have defiled the seat of American democracy," Trump said, reading his speech from a teleprompter. "To those who engaged in the acts of violence and destruction, you do not represent our country. And to those who broke the law, you will pay."
RELATED: Capitol Rioters Could Serve Up to 10 Years in Prison Under an Executive Order from Trump
The attempted coup on Wednesday followed a rally led by Trump and his allies near the White House. (Trump had earlier encouraged his supporters to attend the rally, tweeting that it was going to "be wild.")
After urging his followers to "march" to the Capitol and "be strong," the mob did exactly that, eventually overtaking police officers and forcing their way inside the building, desecrating the halls of Congress, trashing the offices of lawmakers, and upending the electoral ratification process.

The violence also led to the death of some of Trump's own supporters.
As reports began to surface that the Capitol had been breached — and that lawmakers including Vice President Mike Pence were forced to evacuate as a result — Trump released a video addressing the rioters.
Though he called for the mob to disperse, Trump also told those in the Capitol they were "very special," adding: "We love you."
The president then tweeted, asking his followers to "Remember this day forever!"
The video and tweet were quickly removed and restricted on social media due to "risk of violence," and Trump has since been "indefinitely" banned from Instagram and Facebook.
RELATED: What Is the 25th Amendment and How Can It Be Used to Strip President Donald Trump of Power?
Trump has a long history of sympathizing with his supporters even when they turn violent.
The president also has a history of softening his language after being accused of going too far, only to backtrack later and double down on his initial rhetoric.
In August 2017, in the wake of a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville that led to the death of a counter-protestor, Trump condemned the events as "an egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence," though he hedged his criticism by saying the violence came from "many sides." 
Criticism of the "many sides" comment came almost immediately, leading Trump to amend his response with a more formal statement in which he said those who participated in the rally were "repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans."
Just one day later, though, he had changed his tone yet again, telling reporters at a now-infamous press conference there were "very fine people" among the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who participated in the march.

Interesting how it only took them 4 years to decide to act - and some of our elected officials are still making up their minds whether to keep supporting an anarchist, mentally ill president to gain favor with his malignant base. At this point anyone who continues to support drumpf's presidency is as guilty of sedition as he is and should be locked up with him and his out-of-control base.

Yes Lizzy. Anyone in Congress who is not willing to vote for impeachment will be on record supporting sedition.  And that includes Mitt Romney who doesn’t want Trump impeached.  Just wants him to go away.  No.  Trump MUST be held to account.  But let’s face the reality.  Trump will not 
be found guilty.  Hardly any Republican will vote for impeachment.  But it will be on the record and in the history books.

And finally, after four years of this, Facebook and Twitter have decided in their wisdom to ban him.........

https://twitter.com/WilliamTurton/status/1347686398342660102

Donnamarie - I heard that if he's impeached twice he's precluded from ever holding office again. Do you know if he has to be found guilty for this to be true?

Required viewing for all

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhjRXO72v1s&t=3s

I gather that Hawley and Cruz sent out fundraising messages while this was going on........

https://www.vox.com/22220495/impeachment-trump-2024-election-bar-from-office





How Congress can permanently disqualify Trump from office after impeachment
The impeachment process to prevent Trump from running in 2024, explained.
By Ian Millhiser  Jan 8, 2021, 3:20pm EST

[size=31]Share this story[/size]

A Trump supporter wears a gas mask and holds a bust of him after he and hundreds of others stormed the Capitol building. Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images
Well, it’s happening.
Friday morning, Assistant House Speaker Katherine Clark (D-MA) told CNN’s John Berman that the House is moving toward holding an impeachment vote on President Donald Trump by the middle of next week.
Three Democratic representatives, meanwhile, are circulating articles of impeachment focusing on Trump’s incitement of an insurrection that briefly occupied the United States Capitol on Wednesday. The articles also highlight a call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), where Trump urged Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia.
As we learned the last time Trump was impeached, merely impeaching him is not enough to remove him from office. The House can charge Trump with a removable offense by a simple majority vote, but he must be convicted by the Senate by a two-thirds vote. Even if Trump is convicted — an unlikely event given that Republicans have half the Senate’s seats — impeachment could only cut Trump’s time in office short by a few days. Biden will take office at noon on January 20.
So why would lawmakers bother with impeachment? One answer is that removal is not the only sanction available if Trump is convicted: The Constitution also permits the Senate to [url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlei#:~:text=Article I describes the design,the powers that Congress has.][/url]permanently disqualify Trump from holding “any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States.”
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has called for the removal of President Trump from office. Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Impeachment is still very likely to hit a wall in the Senate, but there are vague reports that the Senate’s ability to permanently lock Trump out of power may make impeachment more attractive to congressional Republicans. On Wednesday night, while the memory of being forced out of the Capitol by an angry mob of Trump supporters was still fresh in the minds of lawmakers, Fox News’s John Roberts reported that there was “talk swirling” among Republicans in Congress about using the impeachment process to ensure that Trump cannot run for president again in 2024.
If Trump were to seek the presidency again in four years, he could be the prohibitive favorite in a Republican Party primary. A December Gallup poll shows that Trump has an 87 percent approval rating among Republicans, even though he is quite unpopular with the nation as a whole. Another December poll by Quinnipiac University found that 77 percent of Republicans believe the lie that Trump lost to Biden because of widespread voter fraud — a lie that Trump repeated even as his supporters wreaked havoc in the Capitol on Wednesday.
Disqualifying Trump from holding office, in other words, wouldn’t just eliminate the risk that America’s most prominent adversary of democracy would occupy the White House once again. It would also make way for other ambitious Republicans who hope to become president someday.

How disqualification works

Though Congress has the power to remove public officials via impeachment, this power is rarely used. Including Trump, who was impeached in late 2019 for pressuring Ukraine to intervene in the 2020 election, only 20 officials (and only three presidents) have been impeached by the House in all of American history. And, of these 20 impeached individuals, only 11 were either convicted by the Senate or resigned their office after they were impeached.
The term “impeachment” refers to the House’s decision to charge a public official with “high crimes and misdemeanors,” the phrase the Constitution uses to describe offenses warranting removal of a high official. The House may impeach such an official by a simple majority vote.
After such a vote, the matter moves to the Senate, which will conduct a trial and decide whether to convict the impeached official (if the president is impeached, the Chief Justice of the United States shall preside over this trial). Convicting someone who is impeached [url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlei#:~:text=Article I describes the design,the powers that Congress has.][/url]requires a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate.

RELATED

Democrats are moving toward impeaching President Trump for his post-election conduct

[size=18]If the impeached official is convicted, the Senate then must decide what sanction to impose upon that official. Under the Constitution, “judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States.” So the Senate effectively must decide whether merely removing the official from office is an appropriate sanction, or whether permanent disqualification is warranted.
Although the Congress may only remove and disqualify a public official, federal prosecutors may still bring criminal charges against that official in federal court.
In all of American history, [size=18]only three individuals — former federal judges West Humphreys, Robert Archibald, and Thomas Porteous — have been permanently barred from holding future office.
The Constitution is silent on whether, after an official has already been impeached and removed from office, imposing the additional sanction of disqualification requires a supermajority vote. In the past, however, the Senate determined that a simple majority vote is sufficient for disqualification. Judge Archibald was disqualified by a vote of 39-35 after he was removed from office.
To be clear, such a simple majority vote may only take place after the Senate has already voted to convict an impeached official. Two-thirds of the Senate must first agree to remove someone from office before that official can be disqualified — a simple majority cannot, acting on its own, disqualify an official from holding future office.
Even if Trump is convicted by the Senate — an unlikely event given that the Senate is still controlled by Republicans — impeachment could only cut Trump’s time in office short by a few days. Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
The Supreme Court has not ruled on whether simple majority vote is sufficient to disqualify someone from public office after they’ve already been removed. Humphreys and Porteous were both disqualified in supermajority votes, and Archibald never brought a case before the Court that could have allowed the justices to rule on how many votes are required to disqualify a public official.
Nevertheless, there is a strong constitutional argument that the Senate should be allowed to disqualify an individual by a simple majority vote, after that individual has already been convinced by a two-thirds majority.
In criminal trials, defendants typically enjoy far fewer procedural protections during the sentencing phase of their trial than they do in the phase that determines their guilt or innocence. In trials not involving a possible death sentence, a defendant must be convicted by a jury, but the sentence can be handed down by a single judge.
A similar logic could be applied to impeachment trials. Before a public official is convicted by the Senate, they enjoy heightened procedural protections and must be found guilty by a supermajority vote. After they are convicted, however, they are stripped of those protections and their sentence may be determined by a simple majority of the Senate.
In any event, overcoming the hurdle of convicting Trump will be difficult. For the moment, Republicans still control the Senate — although Senators-elect Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA) will make it a 50-50 Senate evenly between the two parties once they are sworn in, Georgia is not required to certify their electoral victories until January 22. And even if Warnock and Ossoff are able to vote on impeachment, Democrats would still need to convince at least 17 Republicans to convict Trump.
That will be a heavy lift, as Trump remains very popular among rank-and-file Trump voters. The question for Republican senators, however, is whether they want to risk having Trump as their standard bearer in 2024.
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Mike pence is a coward and a fool , if they had gotten to him they would have killed him and many others.

If they do nothing about this we will see this happen again. I would hope America has learned something from

electing Trump. But, sadly Americans have short memories. This will pass and fade and another Trump like character will 

run.

Annemarie - Thanks for posting the article on impeachment. Sadly, it verifies what I was afraid of: that drumpf must be convicted by the Senate before he can suffer any consequences for what he has done. The chances for that are slim, although Mike Pence might be in favor now since drumpf basically put a hit out on him. Maybe he can sway some of the more rational Republicans.

https://people.com/politics/nancy-pelosi-calls-donald-trump-deranged-unhinged/

[size=48]Nancy Pelosi Calls Trump 'Deranged, Unhinged, Dangerous': 'There Should be Prosecution Against Him'
"He has done something so serious that there should be prosecution against him," Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said of President Donald Trump
By Eric Todisco 
January 10, 2021 12:45 PM




Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is calling for President Donald Trump's removal from office after he incited the deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol.
In an interview with Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes, airing on Sunday, the 80-year-old Democratic politician slammed Trump, 74, who faces mounting pressure from politicians on both sides of the aisle to step down.
"Sadly, the person who is running the Executive Branch is a deranged, unhinged, dangerous president of the United States, and only a number of days until we can be protected from him," Pelosi said. "But he has done something so serious that there should be prosecution against him."

When Stahl asked if invoking the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to strip Trump of his power is still a possibility, Pelosi responded: "Nothing is off the table."
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RELATED: Vice President Mike Pence Expected to Attend Joe Biden's Inauguration After Donald Trump Said He Will Not
Pelosi — who has already said that the House will move forward with articles of impeachment if Trump does not "immediately resign" — also discussed the likelihood of Trump pardoning himself in the final days of his presidency.
"He can only pardon himself from federal offenses, he cannot pardon himself form state offenses and that's where he is being investigated, in the state of New York," Pelosi explained to Stahl.

When Stahl pointed out that Trump could simply leave office and then run again for president in 2024, Pelosi said, "That's one of the motivations that people have for advocating for impeachment," adding, "Well I like the 25th Amendment because it gets rid of him, he's out of the office. But there is strong support in the Congress for impeaching the president a second time."

On Friday, Pelosi issued a statement after an hours-long meeting with the House Democratic Caucus and said the House is prepared to work towards impeaching Trump again should he not step down from office.
"Accordingly, the House will preserve every option – including the 25th Amendment, a motion to impeach or a privileged resolution for impeachment," Pelosi's statement said. "With great respect, our deliberations will continue."
Also on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a memo that said the earliest impeachment trial proceedings could begin would be Jan. 19 — just one day before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration — unless all 100 senators agree to act on received articles of impeachment beforehand, the Washington Post reported.
The Senate currently has two pro forma sessions scheduled for Jan. 12 and 15.


RELATED: Inauguration Committee Says U.S. Capitol Riots 'Will Not Stop' Jan. 20 Swearing-In Ceremony
The violence on Jan. 6 led to the deaths of five people, including a Capitol Police officer, who sustained injuries "while physically engaging with protesters" at the riots.
Trump, who failed for hours to condemn the violent mob ransacking the Capitol or to tell them to go home, has remained relatively quiet since the attack, given the permanent suspension of his verified Twitter account.
However, the president did confirm on Friday that he will not be attending Biden's swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 20.

There is evidence out there to suggest that Russian and Ukrainian citizens were also involved in

the Capitol Assault..........

https://people.com/politics/maryland-governor-trump-administration-delayed-national-guard-capitol-riot/

[size=48]Maryland Gov. Decries Delay in Approval of National Guard Authorization amid Capitol Riot
"We couldn't actually cross over the border into D.C. without the OK… We were just waiting for that call," Gov. Larry Hogan said
By Claudia Harmata 
January 10, 2021 03:15 PM[/size]



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CREDIT: MICHAEL ROBINSON CHAVEZ/THE WASHINGTON POST VIA GETTY IMAGES
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is still puzzled about why the authorization of the National Guard was delayed to help protect the U.S. Capitol during last week's deadly riot.
The Republican governor said it took two hours for him to finally receive authorization from a defense official to send help after the D.C. mayor's office and Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer called him for assistance.
"Within minutes of this attack, I called a security team together, called to send in several hundred Maryland, specially trained, Maryland State Police and a rapid response team," Hogan said in an interview on CNN's State of the Union. "And I called up members of the National Guard."
RELATED: Witness to Rioters Jumping Through Capitol Building Window Says 'It Was Like Out of a Zombie Movie'


"I can’t speak as to what was going on on the other end of the line, in the Pentagon or in the White House, all I can tell you is that I was in the middle of a meeting when my chief of staff came in and said the Capitol was under attack," he continued. "We were in contact with the Mayor's office, who requested assistance, we immediately sent police assistance and immediately called up the National Guard."
However, Hogan said they were repeatedly denied permission to cross over the border and aid D.C. officials who were swarmed by the mob of rioters.
"Our Guard mobilized and was ready, but we couldn’t actually cross over the border into D.C. without the OK…  We were just waiting for that call," Hogan shared.
RELATED: Sen. Lisa Murkowski Calls for Trump's Resignation After Capitol Riots, Questions Future as Republican



During a news conference following the attack, the governor said President Donald Trump should resign, according to the Chicago Tribune.
"I think there’s no question that America would be better off if the president would resign or be removed from office and if Mike Pence, the vice president of the United States, would conduct a peaceful transition of power over the next 13 days until President Biden is sworn in," said Hogan said, who will be stationing 500 of his guard members in the city until President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration.
"I just want to assure all Americans that the state of Maryland will do anything and everything we possibly can to continue to secure the core of our nation’s capital and to ensure the peaceful transition of power," Hogan said.
RELATED: Nancy Pelosi Calls Trump 'Deranged, Unhinged, Dangerous': 'There Should be Prosecution Against Him'


Shortly after the attack, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski called for Trump’s resignation following the deadly riots and questioned her own future with the Republican party.
On Sunday, Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania joined her, calling Trump's role in encouraging the riot an "impeachable offense."
"I think at this point with just a few days left it's the best path forward," Toomey said of Trump's resignation on CNN. "The best way to get this person in the rearview mirror for us."
If Trump does not resign, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said the House will move forward with articles of impeachment. On Friday, Pelosi, 80, issued a statement after an hours-long meeting with the House Democratic Caucus that she described as "sad, moving and patriotic."
"It is the hope of Members that the President will immediately resign. But if he does not, I have instructed the Rules Committee to be prepared to move forward with Congressman Jamie Raskin’s 25th Amendment legislation and a motion for impeachment," Pelosi said in her statement.

Trump can be disqualified from ever holding a public office again. Even if the impeachment takes place and senate doesn't agree. When Biden becomes President the house and senate can disqualify him. Which we can hope will happen since democrats have the senate.

[size=48]Colin Powell Says He 'Can No Longer' Call Himself a Republican After Riot Incited by Trump
"Right now I'm just watching my country and not concerned with parties," said the former secretary of state
January 11, 2021 01:32 PM



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CREDIT: DANIEL ZUCHNIK/WIREIMAGE
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a lifelong conservative who served under President George W. Bush, says he can no longer call himself a Republican following last week's deadly siege on the U.S. Capitol incited by President Donald Trump and predicated on false claims about the election parroted by Congressional Republicans.
Saying that this is a moment for "accountability," Powell said President Donald Trump has to be "gone" soon, "the sooner the better."
When asked by CNN's Farred Zakaria whether he would support impeachment, the 83-year-old retired four-star general said "of course," though he added he'd be surprised if the impeachment process was effective in removing Trump from office before the end of his term.

Powell then said that many Republicans have encouraged the president's behavior throughout his term, "and that's why I can no longer call myself a fellow Republican. I'm not a fellow of anything right now."
"I'm just a citizen who has voted Republican, voted Democrat throughout my entire career. And right now I'm just watching my country and not concerned with parties," Powell said.

RELATED: Bush Secretary of State Colin Powell Tells Republicans to 'Get a Grip' on Fear of Standing Up to Trump
Powell has been critical of Trump in the past, announcing in June that he would be voting for Democrat Joe Biden in the election (he told reporters that he voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016).

At the time, the retired general identified himself as a "moderate Republican," but said Trump had not proven himself to be an effective leader, regardless of party.
"What we have to do now is reach out to the whole people, watch these demonstrations, watch these protests, and rather than curse them, embrace them to see what it is we have to do to get out of the situation that we find ourselves in now," Powell said in June on CNN's State of the Union. "We're America, we're Americans, we can do this. We have the ability to do it, and we ought to do it. Make America not just great, but strong and great for all Americans, not just a couple."
RELATED VIDEO: House Formally Introduces Article of Impeachment Against President Trump







Share: House Formally Introduces Article of Impeachment Against President Trump
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During Trump's term in office, Powell has also criticized Republicans that don't stand up to the president when his rhetoric becomes destabilizing.
"They need to get a grip, and when they see things that aren't right they need to say something about it," Powell said in 2019. "Because our foreign policy is a shambles right now, in my humble judgement. And I see things happening that are hard to understand."

[size=48]Black Officers Say They Endured Racial Slurs During Violent Riots at U.S. Capitol
Two Black U.S. Capitol police officers told BuzzFeed they were called racial slurs amid the Jan. 6 pro-Donald Trump riot
By Sean Neumann 
January 11, 2021 12:45 PM[/size]














Share: House Formally Introduces Article of Impeachment Against Trump, Cites 'Incitement of Insurrection'



Two Black U.S. Capitol police officers said they endured racist remarks from pro-Donald Trump supporters during last week's failed insurrection attempt.
Speaking with BuzzFeed, the Capitol police officers asked to remain anonymous for their safety. Five deaths were linked to the riots, including a USCP officer who was reportedly wounded during the violent mob at the Capitol.
The failed insurrection unfolded last Wednesday after Trump, 74, delivered a disgruntled speech over his 2020 election loss and encouraged his supporters to march on the U.S. Capitol building, where lawmakers were ratifying the results.
After hours of fighting off the pro-Trump rioters, the older of the two officers told Buzzfeed that he broke down in tears in the Capitol rotunda. He yelled out, "I got called a n----- 15 times today," and told those around him: "Trump did this and we got all of these f---ing people in our department that voted for him. How the f--- can you support him?"



Some of the most harrowing images of the day included pro-Trump supporters carrying Confederate flags, including one inside the U.S. Capitol building. Other images included a video of a lone Black officer holding off a crowd of mostly white rioters and redirecting them away from the entrance to the Senate floor, where lawmakers were reportedly still inside.



Since Wednesday, congressional lawmakers, former Capitol police officials, and current officers have all criticized the USCP for not properly preparing for potential violence — despite Trump repeatedly encouraging his supporters to gather that day, telling them: "Be there, will be wild!"

RELATED: Capitol Police Chief Resigns amid Heavy Criticism of His Force's Response to D.C. Riots
USCP police chief Steven Sund announced his resignation the next day, as some lawmakers called for widespread investigations into the police's planning and their handling of the mob.
"There was a failure of leadership at the top of the Capitol Police," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters last week.


The Black Lives Matter movement was among those to speak out about the stark differences in how the mostly white pro-Trump rioters were treated by law enforcement compared to the police response to peaceful protests in Washington, D.C., last summer.
"When Black people protest for our lives, we are met by National Guard troops or police equipped with assault rifles, tear gas and battle helmets. When white people attempt a coup, they are met by an underwhelming number of law enforcement personnel who act powerless to intervene," the official Black Lives Matter Twitter account tweeted last week.
RELATED: BLM Activist Says 'It Was Infuriating' to See Nooses and Confederate Flags at Capitol Riots
Tim Hall, a member of the Washington, D.C., Black Lives Matter movement, told PEOPLE last week that the recent police response was drastically different than the response during demonstrations against racial injustice last summer, in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd.
"[Police] were trying to stand their ground, but the amount of effort and pushback that they gave us for protesting for the Black Lives Matter cause, that was not there," Hall said. "They were just treating them like they were kids throwing a tantrum."
One of the officers who spoke with BuzzFeed was also critical of the differences he saw, adding that he felt most hurt over a widely shared video on social media showing a white colleague taking a selfie with the pro-Trump rioters.
"That one hurt me the most because I was on the other side of the Capitol getting my ass kicked," the officer told the outlet, adding, "If you're going to treat a group of demonstrators for Black Lives Matters one way, then you should treat this group the same god---- way."

[size=48]Cori Bush Asks Reps Who Supported Trump's False Election Claims to Be Expelled After Capitol Riot
Republican lawmakers who "incited this violence must be removed from Congress," Bush said on Monday
By Virginia Chamlee 
January 11, 2021 04:18 PM


[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fpolitics%2Fcori-bush-says-reps-supported-false-election-claims-expelled%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20210111%26utm_term%3Dundefined&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimagesvc.meredithcorp.io%2Fv3%2Fmm%2Fimage%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fstatic.onecms.io%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F20%2F2021%2F01%2F11%2Fcori-bush.jpg&description=Cori Bush Asks Reps Who Supported Trump%27s False Election Claims to Be Expelled After Capitol Riot][/url]

CREDIT: TAYLOR JEWELL/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK
In the wake of last Wednesday's deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol perpetrated by those who falsely believed the 2020 president election was "stolen" from President Donald Trump, Missouri Rep. Cori Bush is seeking to hold Republican lawmakers accountable.
On Monday, the Democrat [url=https://bush.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/bush.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/Rep. Bush_Resolution Condemning Republican Efforts to Overturn Election_2.pdf]introduced a resolution[/url] calling for the removal of the Republican representatives who sought to overturn the results of the election, saying their actions had spurred on the mob of Trump supporters who breached the Capitol.
The resolution is co-sponsored by 47 other members of the House of Representatives.
"Today, as my first legislative action, I introduced a resolution calling for the removal of the Members of Congress who have, for months, tried to steal this election and invalidate the votes of millions of people, especially Black, brown, and Indigenous voters," Bush, 44, said in a statement. "The dangerous consequences of their actions led to an attempted white supremacist coup that put thousands of lives in danger and left five people dead." 


Bush won her race for Missouri's 1st congressional district in November, defeating longtime representative William Lacy Clay in a landmark victory that made her the first Black woman to be elected to Congress in the state.
The former nurse and Black Lives Matter activist came to politics after becoming a visible part of the 2014 Ferguson protests, which began after 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot by police while unarmed.
RELATED: Cori Bush to Become Newest Member of 'The Squad' After Winning Historic Mo. Congressional Race
In an op-ed published by the Washington Post on Saturday, Bush contrasted the forceful police presence at those protests to law enforcement's light response to the attempted coup on the United States Capitol.
"Watching on TV, we saw white supremacists stroll past Capitol Police, untouched and unscathed. Just minutes after we had locked our door, the mob entered the House Rotunda," Bush wrote. "The rioters broke windows, sat in the House speaker's office and invaded the Senate floor."

Bush wrote that those who claim the riot was not representative of of America "deny the reality that Republican members of the U.S. House and Senate incited this coup by treasonously working to overturn the results of the presidential election."
"This is America, and it will continue to be America, until white supremacy is dismantled," Bush wrote. "Justice starts at removing each and every representative who incited this insurrection."
RELATED: Simon & Schuster Cancels Sen. Josh Hawley's Book 'After His Role' in Inciting Capitol Riot
Bush's resolution calls for the expulsion of "Republican lawmakers who tried to overturn the valid results of the 2020 elections," citing the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which posits that no individual can serve in the House of Representatives who has engaged in disloyalty or sedition against the United States.
"The actions of the Republican lawmakers who tried to overturn the valid results of the 2020 elections must not only be condemned in the strongest possible terms, but I believe the members who attempted to disenfranchise voters and incited this violence must be removed from Congress," Bush said in her Monday statement.
RELATED VIDEO: House Formally Introduces Article of Impeachment Against Trump, Cites 'Incitement of Insurrection'







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Bush continued: "This is sedition. We must hold these Republicans accountable for their role in this insurrection at our nation's Capitol as part of a racist attempt to overturn the election results. There must be consequences, and I am proud to be leading 47 of my colleagues in introducing this legislation, which would initiate the appropriate investigations for removal."
RELATED: Colin Powell Says He 'Can No Longer' Call Himself a Republican After Riot Incited by Trump
While it's unlikely that there would be enough votes to expel members of Congress from the legislative body, a number of Republican lawmakers in both the House and the Senate have been blamed for stoking the tensions that led to the attempted insurrection (during which at least five people died, including a Capitol Police officer).
Even some family members of elected officials (such as the siblings of Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar) have suggested they be expelled from Congress for their role in inciting the violence.
Republican senators who objected to the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's election victory, citing unfounded claims of voter fraud, include Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz.
Hawley — who was seen with his fist raised in solidarity as he walked by a group of Trump supporters before the riot — has been harshly criticized for his role in the events leading up to the attempted coup.
Just two days after the events, Simon & Schuster announced it had opted against publishing a planned book by Hawley, who is now also under fire by past donors and Republican Party leadership.  
Last week, Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for both Cruz and Haley to resign because of how their "self-serving actions contributed to the deaths" at the Capitol, writing on Twitter that if they do not, "the Senate should move for your expulsion."

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[size=36]POPULAR IN POLITICS[/size]

I'm watching Wolf Blitzer on CNN and just learned that the FBI warns for riots in all 50 state capitals (January 16th to at least 20th) and Washington DC (Jan 17th to at least20th) plus threats against Biden, Harris and Pelosi. 
The next news was that Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf has resigned - just at the perfect moment.

I just hope nothing serious happens...

Carol at this point anything could happen. I’m really concerned about the inauguration.  The security will be super heavy but former Presidents including Biden and Pence will be there.  There are enough crazy and hateful Trump supporters who would be willing to try something to please their ‘leader’.  A Republican Senator actually spoke with someone within the White House who said that Trump was ‘delighted’ by the riot at the Capitol.  One of the few Republicans calling for Trump to be removed from office.  This is all so sick.

Acting Homeland Secretary Wolf is a total coward.   To resign his post during this national crisis at this late date does nothing but cause more chaos and confusionL

LizzyNY wrote:Donnamarie - I heard that if he's impeached twice he's precluded from ever holding office again. Do you know if he has to be found guilty for this to be true?

Lizzy Im pretty sure that he has to be convicted to be banned from running again.  What I read about the count to convict is 67 Senators would have to vote yes ... all the Democrats and 17 Republicans.  I just don’t think there are that many courageous Republicans currently in the Senate to make that happen.

At this point anything is possible. Maybe knowing that they could have been killed Wednesday will make a difference.

I just hope anything else that happens is taken more seriously and most of these "patriots" end up in jail - and not just for stupid misdemeanors. They need to do serious time in prison.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/11/donald-trump-dc-state-of-emergency-inauguration-457890

[size=33]Trump declares state of emergency in D.C. ahead of inauguration

The order, stemming from last week’s deadly riots at the Capitol, allows DHS and FEMA to assist the city in any emergency response.






The U.S. Capitol as seen on Jan. 11. | Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images
By MATTHEW CHOI
01/11/2021 08:39 PM EST

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President Donald Trump on Monday declared a state of emergency in Washington, D.C., citing the “emergency conditions” surrounding President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser had declared a state of emergency in the city on Wednesday in the aftermath of the takeover of the Capitol by rioters incited by Trump. Reports of further planned violent demonstrations have continued to circulate ahead of Inauguration Day, and Trump’s order on Monday allows the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist the city in any emergency response.

Details of the violent Capitol attack have become increasingly clear in the days since a mob broke into the building, and Democrats and Republicans alike expressed concern about a similar security breach on or leading up to Jan. 20. By the weekend after the Capitol Hill attack, five people had died in connection to the riots.
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Bowser had written to acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf on Sunday, urging the administration to recognize a pre-disaster declaration in the city in preparation for Inauguration Day. She had also requested in her letter to extend the U.S. Secret Service’s National Special Security Event for the inauguration from Jan. 11 through Jan. 24 instead of the previously planned Jan. 19-21. DHS announced on Monday that it was expanding the period to begin Jan. 13.
Wolf announced he was stepping down from his position shortly before Trump’s declaration on Monday, citing ongoing problems surrounding his appointment. An administration official told POLITICO that he was also motivated to step down after the Capitol Hill attack. Wolf had issued a statement the day after the attack urging Trump to condemn the violence. “Any appearance of inciting violence by an elected official goes against who we are as Americans,” it read.
Wolf had intended to stay in his position through the end of the administration to ensure a safe transition to Biden’s team, but he wrote on Monday that he felt confident the transfer would go smoothly.
When asked by reporters Monday whether Biden was scared of taking his oath of office outdoors in light of the recent violence, Biden responded, “No, I am not.”

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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-approves-district-columbia-emergency-declaration/

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Today, President Donald J. Trump declared that an emergency exists in the District of Columbia and ordered Federal assistance to supplement the District’s response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from the 59th Presidential Inauguration from January 11 to January 24, 2021.
The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the District of Columbia.
Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures, limited to direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 100 percent Federal funding.
Pete Gaynor, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Thomas J. Fargione as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION MEDIA SHOULD CONTACT THE FEMA NEWS DESK AT (202) 646-3272 OR FEMA-NEWS-DESK@FEMA.DHS.GOV.

Oh what a sight!

I have to say CNN coverage was amazing ... a moment in history. especially for us over here ... when suddenly Donie O’Sullivan!!! A lad from a parish near here became front and centre reporting on CNN...Suddenly my phone was red hot ... no not about they guy climbing through the window ... no, who is Donie O’Sullivan with his mid Atlantic Kerry accent ??? An unexpected Local Hero ...

Colin Powell is interesting... in a good way ...

Trump has to be taken to task ... if only to show the rest of the world that this has no place in USA ... 

Don jr... now there’s one to watch ... one nasty piece of work....

https://people.com/politics/capitol-police-yogananda-pittman-new-acting-chief/
[size=48]U.S. Capitol Police Announces New Acting Chief — and It's a Black Woman for First Time
Yogananda Pittman is the first woman and first Black person to head the department
By Nicholas Rice 
January 12, 2021 09:54 AM



[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fpolitics%2Fcapitol-police-yogananda-pittman-new-acting-chief%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20210112%26utm_term%3Dundefined&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimagesvc.meredithcorp.io%2Fv3%2Fmm%2Fimage%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fstatic.onecms.io%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F20%2F2021%2F01%2F12%2Fyogananda-pittman-2.jpg&description=U.S. Capitol Police Announces New Acting Chief %E2%80%94 and It%27s a Black Woman for First Time][/url]

The U.S. Capitol Police have appointed a Black woman as the department's acting chief following the resignation of the organization's former chief, Steven Sund, who resigned after riots incited by President Donald Trump at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. last week.
Yogananda Pittman, who joined the department in 2001 and previously served as an assistant chief, was named acting chief on Friday, two days after the riots at the Capitol, according to the U. S. Capitol Police (USCP) website. 
Pittman is now the first woman and first Black person to head the organization, USCP confirmed to NPR.
RELATED: Capitol Police Chief Resigns amid Heavy Criticism of His Force's Response to D.C. Riots
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Pittman graduated from Morgan State University in 1999 and joined the USCP in April 2001.

Her first assignment with the USPC was in the Senate Division, where she was assigned to provide "security and protective details for U.S. Senators and visiting dignitaries," per the USCP.
Years later, in 2006, Pittman was promoted to the rank of sergeant and was assigned to the Department's Communications Division before she was later promoted to lieutenant and was assigned to the House Division in 2010.
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Then, in 2012, Pittman achieved the rank of captain and became one of the first Black female supervisors in that role, where she was assigned to the Capitol Division as the executive officer.

In her role, Pittman "supervised more than 400 officers and civilians," according to the USCP, and provided security planning for Barack Obama's second inauguration.
Pittman was promoted to inspector in 2015 and then later promoted to deputy chief in 2018. She is currently the assistant chief of police for protective and intelligence operations.
RELATED VIDEO: Police Officer Dies a Day After Sustaining Injuries During Riots at the Capitol Building











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Last week, Sund submitted his letter of resignation from the U.S. Capitol Police, where he informed the members of the Capitol Police Board that his resignation will go into effect on Jan. 16.
News of Sund's resignation came hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for his firing in the wake of a violent insurrection at the Capitol, during which Trump supporters stormed the building and vandalized offices as lawmakers gathered to certify electoral college votes for President-elect Joe Biden's November election win. The riot forced lawmakers to go into lockdown.
In a press conference on Thursday, Pelosi said that Sund "hasn't even called" since the act of insurrection. "There was a failure of leadership at the top of the Capitol Police," Pelosi said.

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https://news.artnet.com/art-world/kamala-harris-vogue-cover-outrage-1936089

Art World
Here’s Why Twitter Is Outraged Over Kamala Harris’s ‘Vogue’ Cover—and Why Even the Vice President-Elect Was Said to Be ‘Blindsided’
Social media users criticized the casualness of Tyler Mitchell's photograph.
Taylor Dafoe, January 11, 2021
Vogue released its February cover featuring Vice President-elect Kamala Harris yesterday and it’s already generating heated debate.
Photographed by Tyler Mitchell, Harris appears against a draping, pink and green backdrop, donning a Donald Deal jacket and Converse sneakers—an outfit she herself picked for the portrait. The image captures “Vice President-elect Harris’s authentic, approachable nature—which we feel is one of the hallmarks of the Biden/Harris administration,” a spokesperson for the magazine told CNN.  
But that sense of authenticity and approachability proved contentious online.


Social media users were quick to criticize the casualness of the image, including Harris’s everyday outfit, arguing that it wasn’t a worthy treatment of the first female, Black, and South Asian Vice President. When the photo was leaked online before being publicly shared by Vogue, many even speculated it was a fake.
“The cover did not give Kamala D. Harris due respect,” wrote Washington Post senior critic-at-large Robin Givhan. “It was overly familiar. It was a cover image that, in effect, called Harris by her first name without invitation.”


Meanwhile, others accused the magazine of whitewashing Harris. “Kamala Harris is about as light skinned as women of color come and Vogue still [f*****] up her lighting,” said another Twitter user. “WTF is this washed out mess of a cover?”
A representative for the magazine told Artnet News it did not alter Harris’s skin tone for the cover, but declined to comment further.
“What a mess up. Anna Wintour must really not have Black friends and colleagues,” added lawyer and playwright Wajahat Ali.
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Circulated alongside the cover shot was a second, more formal, perhaps more “presidential” photograph of Harris, also by Tyler Mitchell, which will appear inside the magazine. In that image, Harris wears a pale-blue suit and stands, arms folded, against a gold background. 
Adding fuel to the fire was an Associated Press report that Harris was “blindsided” by the cover selection. A member of the Vice President-elect’s team told the AP that Vogue staff, including Anna Wintour, agreed to feature the blue-suited image for the cover.
“In using the more informal image for the print edition of the magazine, Vogue robbed Harris of her roses,” wrote Givhan. “A bit of awe would have served the magazine well in its cover decisions. Nothing about the cover said, ‘Wow.’ And sometimes, that’s all Black women want, an admiring and celebratory ‘wow’ over what they have accomplished.”
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WWHS - I'm glad we're keeping you entertained. Over here we're not finding last Wednesday's events quite so amusing.

Jake Tapper piece - and his journalist skills to get to the facts are pretty amazing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2Eo1iJEJOQ

PAN - Sad, but facts really don't seem to matter. The finger-pointing and name-calling are rampant. About 1/3 of the letters to the editor in today's paper were pro-drumpf and still believe the election was "stolen" from him and blame the riot on the Democrats.

The politicians who think they can get something out of it continue to back drumpf and his base still think, after he violated the Constitution a gazillion times, that the Democrats are just being vindictive in their efforts to remove drumpf before he can do more damage.

https://www.newsweek.com/ex-trump-officials-pledge-50-million-re-elect-gop-lawmakers-who-support-impeachment-1560944


[size=38]Ex-Trump Officials Pledge $50 Million to Re-Elect GOP Lawmakers Who Support Impeachment[/size]

BY NATALIE COLAROSSI ON 1/12/21 AT 2:39 PM EST



What To Know About Trump Impeachment Move As Democrats Push To Oust President
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NEWSDONALD TRUMPIMPEACHMENT2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONTRUMP ADMINISTRATION
Agroup of former Trump administration officials and anti-Trump conservatives have pledged to raise $50 million to support the re-election of GOP lawmakers who vote to impeach the president.
The new group, called the Republican Accountability Project (RAP), is meant to incentivize Republicans in Congress to hold President Donald Trump accountable after a violent mob of his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol last week.
"It will ensure that ample resources are available for those principled Republicans who do the right thing and hold Trump accountable for inciting an attack on the U.S. Capitol to defend against primary challengers," the group said in a statement given to Newsweek.
Bill Kristol, board chair of the group and director of Defending Democracy Together, the project's umbrella organization, added that Republicans who vote to impeach "will not be left alone."
NEWSWEEK SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS >
"We want to say to any Republican who votes to impeach or remove Donald Trump: You will not be left alone. We will help you against primary challenges," Kristol said. "And before the challenges emerge, we will help explain your vote to your constituents. So do the right thing. We will have your back."



The project will also be headed by two former Trump officials: Olivia Troye, a former aide to Vice President Mike Pence, who served on the coronavirus task force, and Elizabeth Neumann, who served as a deputy chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security.
Sarah Longwell, a prominent anti-Trump conservative, will also help with the efforts. On Tuesday, Longwell told The New York Times that "Donald Trump has made it clear he is going to try and politically punish anyone who stands against him."
NEWSWEEK SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS >

"His ability to to do that is diminishing by the minute, but we want to provide a counterweight to say there is real money to back people who do the right thing," she added.
The group's incentive comes at a time when a growing number of Republicans are speaking out against the president during his final days in office.


A group of former Trump administration officials and anti-Trump Republicans said Tuesday they will raise $50 million to support GOP lawmakers who vote to impeach the president. Here, President Donald Trump is seen on January 12 in Washington, D.C., before his departure to Texas.BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/GETTY
In 2019, not a single House Republican supported impeaching Trump, but as many as a dozen are touting the idea now. Among those considering joining Democratic efforts is Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the No. 3 House Republican.
On Monday, House Democrats moved forward with impeachment by charging Trump with inciting violence against the United States government.
Democratic lawmakers have also sought to remove Trump via a resolution that calls upon Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25^th Amendment to immediately expel Trump from office.
Though the efforts are largely expected to fail among a majority of lawmakers, there is no collective effort among House Republicans to object, according to a confirmation given to Newsweek on Tuesday by the office of Minority Whip Steve Scalise.
The House will vote to impeach Trump for a second time on Wednesday. If Democrats succeed, Trump will be the first president to ever be impeached twice.
Newsweek contacted the White House for additional comment but did not hear back in time for publication.

That's an interesting tactic. It just might work with some of the more rational Republicans - but it could cause problems for the Democrats in the next midterms.

https://people.com/politics/pence-says-he-will-not-invoke-the-25th-amendment/

[size=48]House Passes Resolution Calling on Mike Pence to Invoke 25th Amendment — But VP Says He Won't Do It
The vice president said in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that he does not believe "such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our constitution"
By Ashley Boucher 
January 12, 2021 11:24 PM


[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fpolitics%2Fpence-says-he-will-not-invoke-the-25th-amendment%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20210113%26utm_term%3Dundefined&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimagesvc.meredithcorp.io%2Fv3%2Fmm%2Fimage%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fstatic.onecms.io%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F20%2F-0001%2F11%2F30%2Fmike-pence-1-2000.jpg&description=House Passes Resolution Calling on Mike Pence to Invoke 25th Amendment %E2%80%94 But VP Says He Won%27t Do It][/url]

Vice President Mike Pence
 
| CREDIT: STEVE CANNON/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK
The House of Representatives passed a resolution calling on Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment Tuesday evening — but the vice president had already sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying that he will not do so.
The [url=https://www.speaker.gov/sites/speaker.house.gov/files/1.10.21_25thAmendmentResolution[FOR INTRO].pdf]resolution[/url], which was introduced on Sunday, called on Pence "to convene and mobilize the principal officers of the executive departments of the Cabinet to activate section 4 of the 25th Amendment to declare President Donald J. Trump incapable of executing the duties of his office and to immediately exercise powers as acting President."
It says that the "insurrectionary protests" that took place last Wednesday "were widely advertised and broadly encouraged" by Trump. It also calls out Trump's inability to commit to a peaceful transition of power and to accept the 2020 presidential election results.
If invoked, section four of the 25th Amendment can at least temporarily "sideline" the president for days or weeks at a time, Larry Tribe, a constitutional law professor at Harvard Law School, previously explained to PEOPLE.

The House ultimately voted in favor of the resolution Tuesday night largely down party lines with 223 yeas to 205 nays. (Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger was the sole Republican to vote in favor while five other reps did not vote).
The vote ended up being a symbolic one as Pence had already said he would not comply.
For the 25th Amendment to be invoked, the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet, or a Congress-appointed review body, would have to declare in writing that the president is unfit for office.
RELATED: House Formally Introduces Article of Impeachment Against Trump, Cites 'Incitement of Insurrection'
Even if invoked, the 25th Amendment would not remove Trump from office completely, as would happen if he is impeached. Instead, his presidential powers would be temporarily stripped. They could be permanently revoked if two-thirds of Congress sided with the vice president and made him acting president.
Pence said in his letter to Pelosi that he does not believe "such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our constitution."

He also said that the 25th Amendment "was designed to address Presidential incapacity or disability," and said "it is not a means of punishment or usurpation."
RELATED: Top Republican Liz Cheney and Other GOP Reps Say They Will Vote to Impeach Trump
"Invoking the 25th Amendment in such a manner would set a terrible precedent," he said.
Pence went on to say that he is dedicated to a peaceful transition of power to President-elect Joe Biden and that "now is the time to heal."
House Democrats formally introduced one article of impeachment against Trump on Monday, charging him with "incitement of insurrection" after the failed coup attempt last week that left five people dead. Several Republican representatives have said they will vote in favor of impeachment — including Kinzinger — when the House votes on Wednesday.
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If there was ever a time for the invocation of the 25th, this is it. It may be that, with so many cabinet members resigning, Pence doesn't have enough support in the cabinet to invoke and he doesn't want to look weak by trying to invoke and failing. Or maybe he's one of the Republicans who is still afraid of drumpf and his base. Maybe he has reason to be. Who knows?

Just a thought: Are the rioters being charged with federal crimes? If so, drumpf could pardon them before he leaves office! Y'know, just to pour salt on the wound.