Congress reporter for @POLITICO. Previously covered the 2016 campaign, national politics and health care. Alum of Boston’s @statehousenews. NY ➡️ BOS ➡️ DC
According to the statement of the facts, EISENHART also had flex cuffs and was part of a mob that chased police officers inside the Capitol.
SIGNIFICANT: Munchel and Eisenhart aren't just being charged for their actions on Jan. 6. They're being charged with *conspiracy* with "persons known and unknown" to authorities >>>
SASSE weighs in on the capture-and-kill intent of some of the insurrectionists ... minutes after prosecutors in DC say they don’t have “direct” evidence of this yet (contradicting an AZ prosecutor who said they did yesterday).
NEW: Federal Prosecutors are walking back a claim that the Capitol insurrectionists had a "capture-and-kill" plan for Pence and lawmakers. There's no "direct evidence," they say, despite a Thursday filing describing "strong" evidence.
@joshgerstein This doesn't preclude new and alarming details from comign out — however the evidence isn't developed to make this assertion. And they've foreshadowed more alarming evidence, including of possible seditious conspiracy, to come. politico.com/news/2021/01/1…
NEW: FBI urges Capitol insurrection suspects to turn themselves in because "every FBI field office in the country" is looking for them, and friends/family are turning people in.
"If this investigation was a football game, we'd still be in the first quarter," says FBI's Steven D'antuono
FBI dodges question on whether allegations about some lawmakers —that they were involved in the insurrection — are being investigated.
PELOSI: "Right now, our [impeachment] managers are solemnly and prayerfully preparing for the trial, which they will take to the Senate."
NEWS: Pelosi says she has "asked Ret. Lt. General Russel Honore to lead an immediate review of security infrastructure" at the Capitol ahead of the inauguration.
PELOSI on rioter wearing a "Camp Auschwitz" shirt:
"To see this punk with that shirt on and his anti-semitism that he has bragged about to be part of a white supremacist raid on this capitol requires us to have an after-action review."
Federal prosecutors, for the first time, described the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol as part of a broad, ongoing “insurrection movement,” powered by Qanon adherents and others who intend to capture and kill lawmakers. politico.com/news/2021/01/1…
The description was lodged in a Thursday filing attempting to deny bail to the so-called “Q Shaman,” Jacob Chansley. My late-night thread on this with more details:
But more importantly, read the filing itself — and juxtapose it with the president’s initial response to the ongoing attack, while insurrectionists were beating police and attempting a government overthrow —“We love you.” courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
NEWS: Prosecutors edged closer to alleging sedition Thursday, warning in a new filing that the Jan. 6 Capitol assault was part of a violent — and ongoing — attempt to overthrow the U.S. government.
@joshgerstein The filing, urging a judge to deny bail to "Q Shaman" Jacob Chansley, say Chansley is "an active participant in—and has made
himself the most prominent symbol of—a violent insurrection."
@joshgerstein Though the filing focuses on Chansley, it also spells out clearly the government’s view of an ongoing “insurrection movement” that is reaching a potential climax as Biden’s inauguration approaches.
DOJ makes clear that if you had a cell phone on inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, you will get caught.
NEW: Police have arrested a suspect from the Jan. 6 Capitol riots who threw an object believed to be a fire extinguisher that hit three officers in the head.
The guy in the red hat with the bloody cheek in the Senate chamber has been arrested. He said the crowd became unruly "once we found out Pence turned on us."
Yesterday, Republicans asked whether any of the rioters had actually said they acted at the behest of President Trump.
This is from the newly unsealed criminal complaint against "Q Shaman," Jacob Angeli >>>
WHAT A SENTENCE: "Your affiant and an FBI agent spoke on the phone with CHANSLEY, who confirmed that he was the male in the face paint and headdress in the Vice President’s chair in the Senate."
NEW: The House will impeach Donald Trump on Wednesday for inciting violent insurrectionists who — just oneweek earlier — stormed the U.S. Capitol, battered police officers and sent lawmakers fleeing for safety.
The charge — willful incitement of insurrection — is the gravest ever lodged against a sitting president.
And it will be bipartisan. At least five Republicans, including Liz CHENEY, have already announced support. More are expected. politico.com/news/2021/01/1…
Trump’s schedule on the day he’ll be impeached again: No public events.
Sherrill made the claim in a Facebook video posted Tuesday evening for constituents. It's a startling allegation that's going to demand additional public details.
RASKIN just yielded Democratic House floor time to Rep. Katko — a Republican — who just came out tonight in favor of impeachment.
"The president's role in this insurrection is undeniable," Katko said
RASKIN now quoting Liz Cheney's statement — accusing Trump of being singularly responsible for the violence at the Capitol — as a rebuttal to Republicans who say it's simply a Democratic talking point.
NEWS: Liz CHENEY will vote to impeach Donald Trump.
Her statement may be even more remarkable than her vote:
“The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President.”
MORE CHENEY: “There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”
The Judiciary Committee will issue a pre-impeachment report today, as it did before the 2019 one, per a committee source. Committee counsels will be drafting since the committee itself hasn’t been constituted.
JUST IN: The Judiciary Committee has released a staff report on impeachment, laying out the factual and constitutional case for charging Trump with "willful incitement of insurrection."
NEW: One lawmaker got a concealed carry permit. Another was accosted twice at the airport. A third had to hide in an airport bathroom. Lawmakers are fearful for their safety after last week’s assault on the Capitol.
One GOP lawmaker went home expecting constituents to express concern for his well-being after the Capitol riots. Instead, he said he and several colleagues heard a consistent and chilling theme:
Rep. Al GREEN, a prominent proponent of impeachment, was on a two-leg flight from DC to Texas after the Jan. 6 riots when Trump supporters spotted him on the flight. He needed police protection in Nashville and Houston to avoid confrontation. politico.com/news/2021/01/1…
NEW: House Democrats are concerned that Capitol rioters — who seemed to navigate the complex with ease — had hidden help. They plan to probe this, among other security concerns.
Democrats have broadly praised the Capitol Police officers who risked their lives to protect members, staff and others. But some are also alarmed by footage showing some officers clearing a path for rioters, and in one case pausing for a photo. politico.com/news/2021/01/0…
Other Democrats are confused about the tolerance the officers showed for rioters in general — even as they breached the speaker’s office and chambers — with members saying black protesters would not have been treated as gently. politico.com/news/2021/01/0…
Rep. LOFGREN, who chairs the House Administration Committee, says the Capitol Police chief incorrectly told her that the National Guard was at the ready ahead of the Jan. 6 session.
"What they told me about the National Guard was just not true."
While she says most Capitol Police acted honorably and risked their lives to protect people, a handful need to be investigated for potentially letting rioters into the Capitol and, in at least one case, taking selfies with them.
LOFGREN explaining her support for a potential second Trump impeachment:
"This is about securing the United States from someone who seems to have lost it. As much as I disagree with Mike Pence, he is living in the real world."
It's 2:55 a.m. and I just figured out how Pence massaged the rules of the Electoral College counting session to avoid introducing the "rival" slates of Trump electors.
These are the instructions VPs have given out at the start in each of the last 5. Note the difference?
TLDR: The law specifies that the VP must introduce all "purported" electoral votes. This year, that might've included the unserious/mock Trump electors.
But Pence worked with the parliamentarian to interpret it so only electors backed by a state "authority" would be introduced.
Note how Pence emphasizes, before introduced each state that not only is the slate of electors "regular" and "authentic," but that the parliamentarian has advised him is the only one backed by a state "authority."
That is not a regular acknowledgment at these sessions.