Sen. Graham says the rioters yesterday are "terrorists not patriots."
Says "anyone in charge of defending the Capitol failed in their duties."
"It would have been so easy for a terrorist organization to infiltrate this movement"
Now Graham is blaming lack of prosecution in Portland, Ore., and Seattle for leading to yesterday's Capitol breach.
"It's good to hear everybody wanting prosecutions. Some are late to the dance"
Grahams says a lot of Trump's presidency has been "amazing," naming judges, international affairs, etc. "On and on and on was tarnished yesterday."
Says he doesn't think 25th Amendment is "appropriate."
Wants a "peaceful transfer of power." Says he talked to Meadows.
"The transition is going well"
Now he's praising Cipollone, Mnuchin, Meadows
"To those who believe you should leave your posts now, I urge you not"
Graham does not regret support Trump. "He won my state and became president of the United States. I decided then it's not about me, it's about my job"
"People of South Carolina wanted me to work with this president and I did"
Graham is saying that Trump listened to him more than Obama
But he says it "breaks my heart" at how Trump handled yesterday and will be a major part of his legacy
"I have absolutely no regrets"
Graham says Trump has been "poorly covered" by the media and says it's not helpful to the country. Says media + Dems never accepted his win.
Says he could have done better but says White House reporters could have done better (WH reporters aren't senators)
"I'm hoping he won't" incite more violence, Graham says of Trump.
"Finish out the next 14 days in a way that will allow us to get a good start for Vice President Biden"
"My hope is we can move forward"
Graham is now talking about Hunter Biden. "Y'all have lost, the mainstream media, conservative America"
Graham unloads on Cap Police/SAA
“How could they fail so miserably? We’re 20 years from 9/11. Yesterday they could have blown the building up. They could have killed us all. They could have destroyed the government”
“Warning shots should have been fired. Lethal force"
Graham says Bernie Sanders wanted a more a forceful response
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!!!! Sen. Murray, No. 3 Senate Democrat: "Any Senator who stands up and supports the power of force over the power of democracy has broken their oath of office. Senators Hawley and Cruz should resign.”
from the release: Muray "issued the following statement calling for the resignation of Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), who like the President, incited and supported the violent mob that attacked the Capitol during the certification of the 2020 election."
Cruz spox responds: “Cruz has always condemned political violence of all kinds, unlike Sen. Murray, who this summer defended what she called a ‘vital’ and ‘legitimate’ insurrection in her home state that resulted in four shootings, two deaths, multiple alleged sexual assaults”
When Stacey Abrams turned Schumer down for Senate, she said there was a candidate just as good as her. Little did he, or we, know at the time that Warnock was the one would finally make Schumer majority leader.
"As usual, Stacey was right," Schumer says
Schumer's job will be difficult, getting Bernie/Manchin on the same page. But maybe not as hard as McConnell's
Schatz: Republicans “divided not by ideology but whether or not one is supportive of the premise of democracy itself. And that seems like a tougher caucus to manage.”
The Senate will reconvene at 8 p.m. to continue certification process, per source.
Senate Republicans are hopeful they have convinced senators to remove their objections to allow the debate to be finished quickly on Wednesday night, according to a source familiar with the talks.
Asked what he wants to hear from Trump, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said: “I don’t want to hear anything.”
“It was a tragic day and I think he was part of it,” he said.
McConnell speaking now against Trump's efforts to overturn the election: "I supported the president's right to use the legal system"
"The courts rejected these claims"
"Nothing before us proves illegality anywhere near the massive scale that would have tipped the entire election. Nor can public doubt alone justify a radical break, when the doubt itself was incited without any evidence"
"The voters, the courts and the states have all spoken. They've all spoken. If we overrule them it would damage our republic forever. This election actually wasn't unusually close"