Statement from the president
Donald Trump has put out a statement from the White House.
The statement includes: “In light of reports of more demonstrations, I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO violence of any kind. He calls for folks to calm down.
Sixth House Republican says he will support the impeachment of Trump
Washington state Republican Dan Newhouse just rose on the floor of the House and said he would support the historic impeachment today of Donald Trump.
In a strongly worded statement last night, Liz Cheney, a representative from Wyoming, the No. 3 Republican in the House, and the daughter of the former vice-president Dick Cheney, said that Trump had “summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack” during the Capitol riot on January 6.
“Everything that followed was his doing,” she said. “None of this would have happened without the president. I will vote to impeach the president.”
After setting the ball rolling by House GOP members, Cheney was joined last night by the Washington representative Jaime Herrera Beutler, the New York representative John Katko, the Illinois representative Adam Kinzinger, and representative Fred Upton, of Michigan, the Republicans who all said they would vote for impeachment.
Newhouse said there was “no excuse” for the president’s actions, when he encouraged hyper-loyal supporters to march on the US Capitol a week ago, egged on to attempt to overturn the results of the election by force.
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at 2.03pm EST
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy is decrying the events of January 6 as “the worst day I’ve ever seen in Congress”.
McCarthy said:“The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding.”
But the California Republican is not in favor of impeaching Donald Trump. He’s arguing for a creating a fact-finding commission and an official censure of the president to suffice.
He repeated something that he reportedly told Trump directly – that, unlike what he points out “some say”, the violent mob that invaded the US Capitol last week was not driven by far left anti-fascist activists collectively known as “antifa”.
“There is no evidence of that,” McCarthy said.
He talked of pledging a smooth transition to the presidency of Joe Biden a week from today. Smattering of applause for McCarthy.
At least 20,000 National Guard troops may be deployed to help safeguard the nation’s capital ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration next week.
“I think you can expect to see somewhere upwards beyond 20,000 members of the National Guard that will be here in the footprint of the District of Columbia,” acting DC police chief Robert Contee said at a news conference on Wednesday.
The announcement comes one week after a mob of Trump loyalists breached and vandalized the US capitol, where Biden will be inaugurated next Wednesday.
Despite threats of potential violence on Inauguration Day, Biden has said he is “not afraid” to take the oath of office outside on the Capitol steps.
No Senate impeachment trial before 19 January, McConnell’s office says
Updated
at 1.16pm EST
Pelosi: Trump ‘is a clear and present danger to the nation we all love’
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at 12.49pm EST