A bulletin, obtained by ABC, apparently confirming that the law enforcement agency has received reports of an armed group planning to travel to DC on January 16. The group has reportedly warned that “if Congress attempts to remove Potus via the 25th Amendment, a huge uprising will occur.” The bulletin also details that armed protests are being planned in all 50 state Capitols, with protests at the US Capitol reportedly planned from January 17 through January 20. The reported first day of travel will take place just four days before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. However, both Democrats and some Republicans calling for Trump to be ousted, the effectiveness of doing so has been doubted because it is unlikely he removed from the White House before January 20. Any impeachment in the House would trigger a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate, which is scheduled to be in recess until January 19 and has already acquitted Trump once before. As a result, Trump could likely not be removed from office until after he was already replaced in the White House by Biden. The removal push has also been slammed by some Congressional colleagues. Republican Rep Ken Buck, along with six other GOP House members, wrote a letter to Biden in hopes he could put a stop to Pelosi’s impeachment efforts. The letter, which Buck shared to Twitter, reads: “A second impeachment, only days before President Trump will leave office, is as unnecessary as it is inflammatory. “This impeachment would undermine our priority of unifying Americans and would be a further distraction to our nation at a time when millions of our fellow citizens are hurting because of the pandemic and economic fallout.” Senator Pat Toomey said he doubted impeachment could be done before Biden is inaugurated, even though lawmakers said that step is necessary to ensure Trump can never hold elected office again. “I think the president has disqualified himself from ever, certainly, serving in office again,” Toomey said. “I don’t think he is electable in any way.” Senator Marco Rubio slammed that instead of coming together, Democrats want to “talk about ridiculous things like ‘Let’s impeach a president’” with just days left in office. Despite the criticisms, the House formally introduced impeachment legislation on Monday and a vote is set to take place mid-week. The Insurrection Act gives the President the power to deploy the military and federal forces across the US. It was originally passed in 1807 by Congress. They created the Act to allow the President to use US armed troops and federalised National Guard troops inside its own borders. However it can only be used to suppress revolutions against the government and prevent civil disorder. It has never been imposed in the United States on a nationwide basis. A House resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke constitutional authority to remove Trump from office was blocked by Republicans. However, the full House is set to hold a roll call vote on that resolution on Tuesday, and it is expected to pass. After that, Pelosi said Pence will have 24 hours to respond. Next, the House would proceed to impeachment. A vote could come Wednesday. During an interview with 60 Minutes’, host Lesley Stahl put it to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that if “there’s no punishment, no consequence, and he could run again for president”. The House Speaker replied “that’s one of the motivations that people have for advocating for impeachment.” The calls to remove Trump from office came just days after hundreds of unruly protesters took charge at the Capitol building. Trump supporters scaled the walls of the Capitol building, breached barricades, and advanced into the halls of the iconic building, smashing windows and brawling with cops. The Capitol, in Washington DC, was placed under lockdown as a result, as rioters entered the second-floor lobby of the building right outside the Senate chamber. With drawn guns and tear gas, police sought to clear the Capitol building of hundreds of protesters who stormed the building and sought to force Congress to undo Trump’s election loss as lawmakers convened to certify Biden’s victory. Security officers in dark suits drew their pistols and trained them on the shouting mob trying to smash their way through the door of the normally sedate House of Representatives chamber. Five people have so far died as a result of the violence, while others remain in critical condition in hospital. Experts have since warned that a small minority of Trump-supporting activists are calling for more demonstrations ahead of Biden’s inauguration. And on Saturday evening, a post was added to Parler, a social media site that has often proved to be a favorite of MAGA supporters. While the majority of Trump supports have condemned last weeks violence in Washington, some extremists are still trying to stir up trouble. The post urged people to attend a proposed march on Capitol Hill and state capitol buildings on January 17. Nick Note: yawN
The world has already applied 25 million doses of vaccines against Covid-19
The biggest vaccination campaign in history has begun. More than 25 million doses in 42 countries have been administered, according to data collected by Bloomberg. Delivering billions more will be one of the greatest logistical challenges ever undertaken. Vaccinations in the U.S. began Dec. 14 with health-care workers, and so far 8.02 million doses have been given, according to a state-by-state tally by Bloomberg and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At least 272,429 people have completed the two-dose vaccination regimen. The U.S. rollout fell short of federal projections as vaccinations proceeded unevenly across the states. The initial round of shots through early January has been doled out primarily through hospitals and other institutional health-care settings. The next phase will draw more on pharmacies and health clinics—places where vaccines are more traditionally administered—and will broaden the pool of people eligible to get the shots. The U.S. is managing state allocations of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine, as well as Moderna’s shot, with the goal of getting 20 million doses distributed by early January. Both vaccines require two doses taken several weeks apart. The second doses are being held in reserve until they’re ready to be administered.
U.S. Vaccine Campaign
| Jurisdiction | Doses distributed | Doses administered | % shots used |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. totals | 22,137,350 | 8,017,552 | 36.2 |
| Texas | 1,833,350 | 752,324 | 41.0 |
| California | 2,315,325 | 734,405 | 31.7 |
| Florida | 1,355,775 | 596,735 | 44.0 |
| New York | 1,208,900 | 554,683 | 45.9 |
| Federal Entities | 1,172,000 | 336,578 | 28.7 |
| Ohio | 646,450 | 297,013 | 45.9 |
| Pennsylvania | 812,550 | 265,191 | 32.6 |
| Illinois | 769,700 | 234,051 | 30.4 |
| Tennessee | 458,100 | 215,427 | 47.0 |
| Colorado | 381,775 | 200,877 | 52.6 |
| New Jersey | 572,250 | 200,204 | 35.0 |
| Michigan | 662,550 | 195,240 | 29.5 |
| North Carolina | 649,150 | 184,982 | 28.5 |
| Virginia | 556,625 | 177,945 | 32.0 |
| Georgia | 687,425 | 167,057 | 24.3 |
| Washington | 518,550 | 151,856 | 29.3 |
| Massachusetts | 449,625 | 151,430 | 33.7 |
| Arizona | 453,875 | 148,292 | 32.7 |
| Maryland | 371,425 | 142,402 | 38.3 |
Note: Data gathered from government websites, official statements and Bloomberg interviews
Global Effort to Stop Covid
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has now been cleared for use across North America, Europe and the Middle East, and vaccination campaigns have begun in at least 42 countries. That shot and the vaccine from Moderna were both found to reduce coronavirus infections by 95% in trials of tens of thousands of volunteers. A vaccine by AstraZeneca Plc and University of Oxford got its first major authorization, by the U.K., on Dec. 30. China has also cleared Sinopharm’s vaccine for general use, with the goal of vaccinating 50 million people there by early February. Other countries got a head start on vaccinations. China and Russia authorized their own shots in July and August, before they’d been fully tested. Since then, the countries have administered millions of doses, though they provide less frequent updates on their progress. With the start of the global vaccination campaign, countries have experienced unequal access to vaccines and varying degrees of efficiency in getting shots into people’s arms. Israel’s rate of innoculations dwarfs the efforts of other nations, with 20.1 doses administered for every 100 people. Most countries haven’t yet given their first shots.
Global Vaccination Campaign
| Country | No. of doses administered | Per 100 people | Last updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global total | 25,839,924 | – | Jan. 10 |
| China | 9,000,000 | 0.64 | Jan. 08 |
| U.S. | 8,017,552 | 2.44 | Jan. 10 |
| U.K. | 2,000,000 | 2.99 | Jan. 10 |
| Israel | 1,817,000 | 20.08 | Jan. 10 |
| U.A.E. | 1,086,568 | 10.11 | Jan. 10 |
| Russia* | 800,000 | 0.55 | Jan. 02 |
| Italy | 627,946 | 1.04 | Jan. 10 |
| Germany | 532,878 | 0.64 | Jan. 09 |
| Canada | 314,492 | 0.84 | Jan. 10 |
| Spain | 277,976 | 0.60 | Jan. 08 |
| Poland | 200,022 | 0.53 | Jan. 10 |
| Saudi Arabia | 130,000 | 0.38 | Jan. 07 |
| Denmark | 114,926 | 1.98 | Jan. 10 |
| Romania | 108,294 | 0.56 | Jan. 10 |
| Argentina | 107,542 | 0.24 | Jan. 08 |
| France | 93,000 | 0.14 | Jan. 09 |
| Bahrain | 89,250 | 6.01 | Jan. 10 |
| Portugal | 70,000 | 0.68 | Jan. 08 |
| Mexico | 67,468 | 0.05 | Jan. 08 |
Nations have poured billions of dollars into developing new vaccine technologies, testing them in thousands of volunteers, scaling up manufacturing, and then bringing them to market in record time. None of these shots, on its own, is enough to inoculate a global population of some 7.8 billion people. But together they represent humanity’s best chance of ending a scourge that has claimed more than 1.9 million lives and triggered global economic calamity. Nick Note: Talk to your health care professional and get the freeging vaccine. We have a safety record of tens of millions of people. Look at your risk to reward and think carefully
Making Building Ventilation Good Enough to Withstand a Pandemic
Here’s what it takes to upgrade HVAC systems — and how to know if particular indoor spaces have done it.
In October, students at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, held an intimate jazz concert at a bar downtown, with an audience of about 20 peers and faculty members — all of whom held digital passes indicating they’d recently tested negative for Covid-19. Two jazz ensembles performed, sometimes with masks and coverings for their instruments, and other times without. Behind the scenes, mechanical engineering professor Ty Newell tinkered with the airflow, turning the exhaust and recirculation fans on and off at different points during the night. His students monitored for changes in the air quality, using a special instrument to measure the concentrations of carbon dioxide and fine particulate matter, both key to determining if a building is well ventilated. The experiment sought to highlight the significance of proper ventilation, something that Newell said hadn’t been paid enough attention, until now. As evidence suggesting Covid-19 can spread through aerosol transmission continues to mount, health experts are focused less on sanitizing surfaces and more on improving indoor air quality. In December, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finally put out its ventilation recommendations to combat Covid-19, based on standards set by ASHRAE, or the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. Experts like Newell say the investment is worth it. It will be the key to a safe and healthy return to offices and schools, even with the rollout of Covid vaccines, he says. New disease outbreaks are expected to crop up in the future, and “apart from the pandemic, having an improved filter also gets other particulates out of the air that impact your health — these very fine particulates that easily go way down into your lung,” he says. “Only good things happen when you bring in more fresh air,” including a potential increase in productivity and academic performance.
Improving ventilation typically involves some combination of letting in more fresh air, upgrading air filtration systems and installing technologies like UV light to kill those pathogens.
The human nose may be able to smell the stagnant air of a very poorly ventilated room, but patrons or employees may not always know if a building is well-ventilated enough to affect tiny particles like the coronavirus. For a typical office building, current ASHRAE standards recommend 20 cubic feet of outdoor air per minute (cfm) per person, and experts like Sasse recommend that a room’s air should be replaced three to five times per hour. But the proper ventilation and air change rates vary depending on building size, occupancy and use.
One of the best ways to know is to measure the concentration of CO2 in each room or part of a building, he says, because it shows the amount of exhaled air that has built up in the room without enough fresh air to flush it out. C02 levels should register no more than 800 parts per million. “If you see [a place with] levels much above 800 ppm, don’t spend much time in there,” Newell advises.
But that measurement requires specific technology. Ideally, Newell would like everyone to carry a CO2 meter in their pockets, but those instruments can cost upwards of $100.
But it’s important to acknowledge that while ventilation helps mitigate your chances of contracting Covid-19, the risk is rarely zero.
For building managers implementing these upgrades, Sasse also advises clients to switch to higher-rated filters. Many HVAC systems in commercial and residential buildings use filters with MERV 8 ratings (for minimum efficiency reporting value), but the CDC recommends using MERV 13 filters, which can remove up to 90% of air particles, or a HEPA filter (for high efficiency particulate air) — what’s typically used by medical facilities. “A true HEPA filter is MERV 16, but not all systems can handle bigger filters because of the pressure they require,” Sasse says. More energy will be needed to heat and cool the additional amount of incoming air and to push existing air through denser filters. In some cases, HVAC systems may be too old to accommodate CDC-recommended changes, which would then require them to be replaced completely. “We’re sacrificing energy efficiency for health,” Sasse says. The payoff would be immediate, he says, pointing to a 2000 study from Harvard University looking at how air quality affected the use of sick leave among more than 3,000 employees across 40 buildings. The researchers found that office workers in moderately ventilated sections were 53% percent more likely than those in highly ventilated areas to take time off due to illness. Preventing those absences could save companies $480 per worker each year, according to the study, and as much as $22.8 billion nationally. Nick Note: this is not hard… We suck in air from the outside. We filter it though a ULPA filter, charcoal filter AND a HEPA filter. then the air flows through a HIGH intensity UV light. we exchange the air constantly and suck it out of the house onto the roof. We monitor Carbon Monoxide, Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen levels. This is cheap and easy to do. And i do not exchange air with people outside my bubble daughters and millennial’s included. We visit through plexiglass. Sound extreme.Not to me. I call extreme gasping for air through a 2 inch plastic tube hooked up to a ventilator. That is if the trainee nurse has figured out how to use it yet. Or falls a sleep from exhausting. The body bags and 40 foot refer containers are filling up for some reason… DAH!
Mutant coronavirus strain is more contagious as it replicates in the throat, say experts
The mutant coronavirus strain ripping through the country is more contagious because it replicates in the throat, scientists have said. The strain, is reportedly 70 per cent more transmissible than the original, and one of the reasons why England was plunged into a third national lockdown. But experts say evidence shows why it is jumping from one person to the next, is down to the throat of an infected person. A Public Health England and Birmingham University study has revealed that around 35 per cent of patients infected by the mutant strain had very high levels of covid in their samples. The swabs are taken from the back of the throat and nose and the authors of the study said high viral loads on these swabs are linked to more severe cases of Covid-19. Michael Kidd study leader, said the evidence could help scientists investigate how the variant makes more copies of itself in each person it infects. B ut the good news is, according to Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, if you’ve already had coronavirus, you are probably immune to the new strain. At a Downing Street press televised press conference earlier this week, he said: “What we know is that the 22 changes in the genetic code made the virus more transmissible. The experts said that it was “hard to determine” exactly why this variant spreads more rapidly. “But as far as we can see it doesn’t make it hidden from the immune system so if you had an infection before, the evidence is that you probably neutralise this virus as well. “The expectation is the same for the vaccine. Nick Note: Every country this mutant strain of the coronations has struck eventually goes into complete lock down. All i can say America batters up.
In California, ICUs and morgues are filling up
Dems to introduce article of impeachment against Trump on Monday
Several Democrats and at least one Republican lawmaker have urged President Donald Trump to resign following the US Capitol violence
California Congressman Ted Lieu said Saturday that he hoped Vice President Mike Pence would invoke the 25th amendment or Democrats would introduce an article of impeachment against US President Donald Trump on Monday. “All of us, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, will prefer that Donald Trump simply do the right thing and resign, or that Vice President Mike Pence actually shows some spine, at least for himself and his own family and invoke the 25th amendment,” the Democrat told CNN. The 25th amendment can be enacted if the US president is unable to execute the duties of his office. “If none of that happens, then on Monday, we will introduce the article of impeachment, which is incitement to insurrection, and we do expect a floor vote this coming week,” Lieu added. Lieu tweeted Saturday that there were 180 co-sponsors of the article of impeachment, although it looked far from
certain whether enough Republicans would back the move with just days left in his term. “There will be Republicans who do vote for it,” he insisted, adding that he is in talks with some Republicans to co-sponsor the resolution. Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey said he believed Trump committed “impeachable offenses.” The high-ranking Republican did not say whether he would vote in favor of impeachment. “I do think the president committed impeachable offenses, but I don’t know what is going to land on the Senate floor, if anything,” Toomey told American broadcaster Fox News on Saturday. Democratic President-elect Joe Biden has not taken a position on Trump’s impeachment, saying he will leave it to
Congress to decide. Trump, who is scheduled to leave office on January 20, has received sharp criticism following the violence in and around the US Capitol building on Wednesday. Trump has been accused of inciting the violence, by addressing a large rally on the National Mall in front of the US Capitol, saying he would join them when they “walk down to the Capitol” earlier that day. Since losing the Nov. 3 election, Trump has falsely claimed he was the victim of widespread fraud. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told American broadcaster CBS in an interview that will air Sunday that “the person that’s running the executive branch is a deranged, unhinged, dangerous president of the United States.” Nick Note: This will get no traction. But they will have fun anyway!
Dow, S&P 500 rebound to all-time highs after Biden demands trillions of dollars in aid
- US stocks closed at record highs on Friday after President-elect Joe Biden demanded trillions of dollars in immediate further fiscal support following the weaker-than-expected jobs report.
- American businesses shed 140,000 nonfarm payrolls last month, missing consensus economist estimates that foresaw 50,000 job additions.
- US stocks closed at record highs on Friday to finish out the first week of trading in 2021. After the market reversed lower mid-day, stocks recovered as President-elect Joe Biden demanded for trillions of dollars in immediate further fiscal support, citing the weaker-than-expected jobs report. The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 closed at record highs. President-elect Biden called for increasing direct payments to individuals after the US saw payrolls drop for the first time since April. American businesses shed 140,000 nonfarm payrolls last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. The reading is weaker than consensus economist estimates that foresaw 50,000 job additions, according to Bloomberg data. Nick Note: as you seeing this market is a bugger. And i do buggers. Hopefully i can continue to “guess” lucky. This rally to new highs was as obvious as the tattoo on Becky’s ass. It was a coup attempt pure and simple. And it failed and in the coming weeks most of the people we know will scratch their ass and figure it out!
Pentagon limited D.C. National Guard before pro-Trump protests
WASHINGTON – The Pentagon limited the District of Columbia National Guard ahead of pro-Trump protests this week, trying to ensure the use of military force remained constrained, as the Guard carried out a narrow, unarmed mission requested by the city’s mayor to help handle traffic before planned protests. In memos issued Monday and Tuesday in response to a request from the D.C. mayor, the Pentagon prohibited the city’s guardsmen from receiving ammunition or riot gear, interacting with protesters unless necessary for self-defense, sharing equipment with local law enforcement, or using Guard surveillance and air assets without the defense secretary’s approval, according to officials familiar with the orders. The limits were established because the Guard had not been asked to assist with crowd or riot control.
The D.C. Guard was also told it would be allowed to deploy a quick reaction force only as a measure of last resort, the officials said.
Then, the mission abruptly changed – and the Pentagon is now facing criticism from governors and local officials for the speed with which it sent National Guard troops to respond, criticism its leaders rebutted Thursday. The Capitol Police, the law enforcement force that reports to Congress and protects the House and Senate, had not requested help from the Guard before Wednesday’s events.
But early Wednesday afternoon, its chief made an urgent plea for backup from 200 troops during a call with top Pentagon and city officials, according to officials familiar with the call.
On the call, Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund was asked whether he wanted help from the National Guard. “There was a pause,” one of the D.C. officials said. And Sund said yes. “Then, there was another pause, and an official from the [office of the] secretary of the Army said that wasn’t going to be possible.” The Army official – who was speaking on behalf of the secretary of the Army, who was de facto commanding the D.C. Guard but was not on the call – said the “optics” of soldiers in the Capitol was not something they wanted, the two city officials said. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, confirmed that account in an interview with The Washington Post, saying Capitol Police “made it perfectly clear that they needed extraordinary help, including the National Guard. There was some concern from the Army of what it would look like to have armed military personnel on the grounds of the Capitol.” One concern was whether the Army had been invited by Congress. A U.S. defense official said the Army general on the call did not formally deny the request but rather reinforced the negative optics of having uniformed personnel in the Capitol, a point on which Bowser had agreed, and later checked with the chain of command. The defense official said Bowser agreed that if further support was necessary, D.C. police would provide it in the Capitol, and that the Guard would backfill D.C. police positions away from the building.The defense official said the military wanted to be the force of last resort, and military officials had urged Bowser to request more support from federal law enforcement, but she did not do so until Wednesday.
Higher-up leaders at the Pentagon then evaluated the request and activated the full D.C. Guard, in addition to later calling the governors of other states to send their Guard forces as reinforcements. The officials also lifted limits on the Guard for the new mission, arming guardsmen with riot gear, but not guns, before they headed to create a perimeter around the Capitol.
In the roughly three hours it took the Pentagon to make the shift from traffic policing to full-fledged riot response, the Capitol Police found themselves overwhelmed and rioters stormed the building, forcing lawmakers to take cover and barricade themselves in their offices.
The Pentagon left it to federal law enforcement to clear the Capitol of the rioters, amid the hesitancy about sending Guard units into the building itself. By the evening, Guard units helped the Capitol Police and federal and city law enforcement reestablish a perimeter around the building.
By Thursday, National Guard forces from across the Mid-Atlantic region were moving into the Washington area.
On Thursday afternoon, 24 hours after the Capitol breach, acting defense secretary Christopher Miller called the violence “reprehensible and contrary to the tenets of the United States Constitution.”
“I, and the people I lead in the Department of Defense, continue to perform our duties in accordance with our oath of office, and will execute the time-honored peaceful transition of power to President-elect Biden on January 20,” he said in a statement.
Images of rioters overpowering a light law enforcement force and smashing their way into the Capitol building prompted immediate questions about how such a dramatic security breakdown could occur, especially given that rioters had openly voiced their intent to use violence on social media.
One contributing factor: As the seriousness of the threat became clear, the jumble of jurisdictions and command structures made it more difficult to respond with speed.
Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, who functions as de facto commander of the D.C. National Guard on behalf of the president, because D.C. is not a state, said 6,200 troops would be positioned in and around the city by the weekend, including Guard forces from Pennsylvania, New York and other nearby states.
The president’s power over the D.C. Guard is delegated to the defense secretary, then the Army secretary, who makes command decisions. It is therefore up to the Pentagon leadership to call state governors if the D.C. Guard needs reinforcement.
McCarthy said officials did not in their “wildest imagination” envision rioters breaching Capitol grounds. City leadership had asked the Guard to carry out only a narrow mission, defense officials noted. Trump egged on supporters in an address outside the White House, falsely insisting that the election was fraudulent and urging the crowd to fight to keep him in office. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, said he received a call from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who said he was in a secure location with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“I was actually on the phone with Leader Hoyer, who was pleading with us to send the guard,” Hogan said. “He was yellling across the room to Schumer and they were back and forth saying we do have the authorization, and I’m saying, ‘I’m telling you we do not have the authorization.’ “
Ninety minutes later, Hogan said, he received a call “out of the blue, not from the secretary of defense, not through what would be normal channels,” but from McCarthy, who asked whether the Maryland guardsmen could “come as soon as possible.”
“It was like, yeah, we’re waiting, we’re ready,” said Hogan, who had already sent 200 State Police troopers at Bowser’s request. Virginia sent in its guardsmen after Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, received a call from Pelosi asking for help.
Clark Mercer, Northam’s chief of staff, said he received a call from his counterpart in Bowser’s office, who suggested that the Defense Department was not moving fast enough and asked for Virginia to send in its Guard.
Northam spokeswoman Alena Yarmosky said the governor called up the Guard immediately after talking with Bowser, knowing it would take some time for guardsmen to prepare. The Northam administration worked with the Defense Department after the fact and reached the necessary agreements before guardsmen crossed state lines, she said. The governor’s office publicly announced that he had called up the Guard at 3:29 p.m. Nick Note: I want to be crystal clear here. President Trump announced a surprise was coming, rallied his supporters to come to Washington the day the combined house and Senate would certify the Election of Dissident Biden. He rallied his supporters and sent the Mob on a mission of insurrection to STOP the democratic process. It is a coup pure and simple. It was the Trump administration and new appointments to the pentagon and department of defense who originally did not respond to reporting a mob of 200,000 nut cases were coming to Washington. And to further the conspiracy did not send troops in to protects the capital or rescue congresswomen and senators who were hiding in safe rooms. The coup attempted failed when other states surrounding DC sent in their national guard eliments. When Trump officials saw the coup failed then and only then did they authorize Federal troops. Trump should be charged with treason.
Official describes the president as a ‘total monster’ who refused to act as Congress was stormed
- As a pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday, President Donald Trump defended the insurrectionists to White House aides, an administration official told The Washington Post.
- The unnamed official quoted Trump as repeatedly saying “my people are peaceful” and “my people aren’t thugs” and added that the president was reluctant to condemn them.
- According to The Post, aides were astonished at Trump’s slow response to the violence, with the official calling the president a “total monster.”
- While aides eventually persuaded Trump to record a video, he apparently went against their wishes and ad-libbed sections of the speech, continuing to push the false claim that he won the 2020 election.
President Donald Trump privately defended his supporters as they stormed the Capitol on Wednesday and contradicted aides by ad-libbing parts of the recorded speech in which he told rioters to go home, The Washington Post reported. As Trump supporters raided the Capitol during a joint session of Congress, the president defended their actions back at the White House, an administration official told The Post. “He kept saying: ‘The vast majority of them are peaceful. What about the riots this summer? What about the other side? No one cared when they were rioting. My people are peaceful. My people aren’t thugs,’ ” the unnamed official said, referring to the unrest last summer tied to the Black Lives Matter movement. “He didn’t want to condemn his people.” “He was a total monster today,” the official added, saying it was a worse day than when Trump defended the people who took part in the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. According to The Post, aides were astonished that Trump was so slow to respond to the violence and so combative toward efforts to get him to address the situation publicly. “He didn’t want to say anything or do anything to rise to the moment,” the official told the newspaper. “He’s so driven by this notion that he’s been treated unfairly that he can’t see the bigger picture.” The Post said Trump refused aides’ requests for him to call in to Fox News. He eventually posted a recorded video on Twitter in which he told protesters to go home. Politico noted that the release of that video came about 2 1/2 hours after rioters first stormed the Capitol. But the president went off-script while delivering remarks for that video, going against aides’ wishes to continue the false claim that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen from him, The Post reported. In the video, Trump told his supporters: “This was a fraudulent election, but we can’t play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home. We love you; you’re very special.” That video helped get him temporarily locked out of Twitter. Twitter said Trump had removed the tweets that led to his suspension from the platform and that the president would get his account back after a 12-hour block. A joint session of Congress confirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory at about 3:30 a.m. ET on Thursday. The session was disrupted by Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol — with lawmakers evacuated and told to wear gas masks — but resumed at about 8 p.m. Wednesday after the Capitol was secured. Nick Note: The capital police had called for Military back up which is often given during demonstrations. But NEW Trump appointees at the Department of Defense refused saying they did not want the American public to see uniformed military on the streets. Military assistance was not granted until the Capital was controlled during the insurrection by Trumps supporters for over 3 hours.
Calls for impeachment, prosecution of president after pro-Trump mob storms Capitol
Politicians and lawyers on Wednesday called for President Donald Trump to be impeached again and charged with crimes, even as law enforcement tried to regain control of the Capitol from hundreds of Trump supporters who invaded and interrupted the counting of electoral votes for president. The day started with Trump, who continues to make false claims that he won the November election, telling a rally of his supporters near the White House, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
Trump for days had talked up the gathering, which also saw his lawyer Rudy Giuliani tell the crowd he was seeking “trial by combat” over the election.
Hours later, a pro-Trump mob forced Congress to lock down and suspend what is a constitutionally prescribed step in the peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next. Some were on the House and Senate floor, while others were at Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk. President-elect Joe Biden said the chaos at the Capitol “is not dissent, it’s disorder. It borders on sedition, and it must end. Now.” Trump released a video statement on Twitter, in which he repeated falsely that the election was “fraudulent” but said people should “go home in peace.” “We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You’re very special,” the president said. California Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu responded by calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, which calls for removing the president if he is incapacitated, tweeting that Trump “is detached from reality.”
Maryland Democratic Rep. Kweisi Mfume tweeted that “what we’re witnessing at the US Capitol is a dangerous coup attempt incited by Trump. This is a physical attack on our democracy & a threat to national security. These anarchists & their leader must be arrested & tried with sedition.”
Even before the Capitol was secured, Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar announced she was drawing up articles of impeachment. “We can’t allow him to remain in office, it’s a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfill our oath,” Omar tweeted. Florida Democratic Rep. Val B. Demings, a former police chief, recalled Trump’s words weeks ago to members of a white nationalist group to “stand back and stand by.”
“We have a criminal president who has incited violence. He wanted this. Our country cannot heal until he and his spineless enablers are held criminally accountable for their actions,” she tweeted. “Justice demands it.”
Legal experts said such charges would be possible, but the likelihood was in question. “Impeachment and criminal prosecution are not mutually exclusive,” former Justice Department watchdog Michael Bromwich tweeted. “More than enough evidence to prosecute Trump for treason, sedition, and incitement.” Rachel Barkow, a law professor at New York University, said Wednesday’s events at the Capitol mean that Trump issuing a self-pardon is now a foregone conclusion and that “probably precludes criminal liability.” “If we want accountability for this, he needs to be impeached and convicted,” Barkow tweeted. Some lawmakers brought up that possibility, even though there are only two weeks left in Trump’s term in the White House. “This is outrageous, and the president caused it. We should impeach and convict him tomorrow,” tweeted Rhode Island Democrat David Cicilline, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, where articles of impeachment would start. Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton said Trump was directly responsible for the violence, adding that Pence and the Cabinet needed to strip his powers under the 25th Amendment. “Or Congress must immediately impeach and remove the President for the safety of our nation,” Moulton tweeted. The House impeached Trump in December 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Senate Republicans voted to acquit him the following February. The National Association of Manufacturers took the highly unusual step of calling on Pence to consider invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. “This is not law and order. This is chaos. It is mob rule. It is dangerous. This is sedition and should be treated as such,” Jay Timmons, the group’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “The outgoing president incited violence in an attempt to retain power, and any elected leader defending him is violating their oath to the Constitution and rejecting democracy in favor of anarchy.”