Transition
Biden plans ‘America United’ inauguration theme
Adam Edelman, NBC News
President-elect Joe Biden’s inaugural theme will be “America United” and he will partake in several activities alongside former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton to underscore that message of unity, his inaugural committee said Monday. “At a time of unprecedented crisis and deep divisions, America United reflects the beginning of a new national journey that restores the soul of America, brings the country together, and creates a path to a brighter future,” Biden’s inaugural committee said in a statement.
Biden team launching push to confirm national security nominees ASAP
Natasha Korecki, Politico
President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team is expected to make a major push on Tuesday that calls on Republicans to swiftly confirm the president-elect’s national security picks so they’re in place when the Democrat takes office next week. Amid fallout from the deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol, Biden officials and congressional allies will begin making the case Tuesday that there is a unique urgency in getting the positions filled as soon as possible so there is no gap in national security during a presidential transfer of power, a person familiar with the strategy told POLITICO.
Israel Wants to Derail Biden’s Plan to Rejoin Iran Nuclear Deal
David Wainer and Ivan Levingston, Bloomberg
Israel is already plotting how to derail one of Joe Biden’s signature foreign-policy promises. The high-profile campaign that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waged against the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran failed to block the 2015 agreement.
Biden to unveil vaccination plan this week
Adam Cancryn and Tyler Pager, Politico
President-elect Joe Biden is set to unveil a sweeping coronavirus vaccination plan on Thursday, calling the nationwide distribution effort his “number one priority.” The plan, which Biden teased on Monday, will serve as the incoming administration’s roadmap to quickly vaccinating millions of Americans amid frustration over the slow rollout of the initial doses.
The Last Handoff
Mattathias Schwartz, The New York Times
On Jan. 5, the night before Congress met to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election, Michael Flynn — the retired three-star general, ousted national security adviser and pardoned felon — gave an interview to the prominent conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in which he assured the viewers of Infowars.com that Donald Trump would serve as president for another four years. It was a certainty, Flynn said.
White House & Administration
Six hours of paralysis: Inside Trump’s failure to act after a mob stormed the Capitol
Ashley Parker et al., The Washington Post
Hiding from the rioters in a secret location away from the Capitol, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) appealed to Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) phoned Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter.
Inside the remarkable rift between Donald Trump and Mike Pence
Josh Dawsey and Ashley Parker, The Washington Post
Vice President Pence was in hiding from a violent mob of Trump supporters in the Capitol last Wednesday when the presidential tweet attacking him posted. “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!” President Trump wrote at 2:24 p.m.
White House counsel and Barr warned Trump not to self-pardon
Pamela Brown and Jamie Gangel, CNN
White House counsel Pat Cipollone and former Attorney General Bill Barr have warned President Donald Trump that they do not believe he should pardon himself, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. Barr conveyed this position to Trump before resigning last month, sources say.
Trump warned about potential civil liability, as some aides clear out desks
Jonathan Karl et al., ABC News
In the wake of Wednesday’s assault on the nation’s Capitol, President Donald Trump has been advised he potentially could face civil liability connected to his role in encouraging supporters who went on to storm Congress, sources familiar with the conversations told ABC News. “Think O.J.,” an adviser explained it to Trump, according to one source.
The Trump administration’s plan to speed up vaccinations
Sam Baker, Axios
The Trump administration is set to deliver new guidelines today that will get coronavirus vaccinations moving much faster. New federal guidelines will recommend opening up the process to everyone older than 65, and will also aim to move doses out the door rather than holding some back.
Bill Belichick Says He Won’t Accept Medal of Freedom From Trump After Capitol Riot
Andrew Beaton and Louise Radnofsky, The Wall Street Journal
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick said he will not receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Trump in the wake of the riots last week at the U.S. Capitol. Belichick, who has previously spoken publicly about his friendship with the president, was set to receive the nation’s highest civilian honor after Trump offered it over a week ago.
On its way out the door, Trump administration names Cuba a state sponsor of terrorism
John Hudson et al., The Washington Post
The Trump administration added Cuba to a list of state sponsors of terrorism Monday, reversing a signature policy move of the Obama administration and potentially hampering President-elect Joe Biden’s ability to quickly broker a rapprochement with Havana. “With this action, we will once again hold Cuba’s government accountable and send a clear message: the Castro regime must end its support for international terrorism and subversion of U.S. justice,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
Pompeo, in Tuesday speech, to accuse Iran of al Qaeda links
Humeyra Pamuk and Matt Spetalnick, Reuters
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to use newly declassified U.S. intelligence on Tuesday to publicly accuse Iran of ties to al Qaeda, two people familiar with the matter said, as part of his last-minute offensive against Tehran before handing over to the incoming Biden administration.
Treasury Department announces sanctions tied to Giuliani’s Biden attacks
Quint Forgey, Politico
The Treasury Department announced a new spate of sanctions on Monday targeting the “inner circle” of Andrii Derkach, the pro-Russian Ukrainian lawmaker who aided Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to probe unsubstantiated allegations of wrongdoing by President-elect Joe Biden and his family. The department had previously designated Derkach himself for sanctions related to foreign interference in the 2020 election in September. But on Monday, the department “took additional action against seven individuals and four entities” that it alleged were “part of a Russia-linked foreign influence network” associated with him.
An Urgent Reckoning for the Trump Brand
Eric Lipton et al., The New York Times
In the span of four days, President Trump’s family business has lost its online store, the buzz from Mr. Trump’s promotional tweets about its luxury resorts and bragging rights as host to one of the world’s most prestigious golf tournaments. The mob attack on Congress last week by Mr. Trump’s supporters has spurred a reckoning for the Trump Organization by businesses and institutions, at a scale far greater than his previous polarizing actions.
Deutsche Bank to Pull Back From Business With Trump and His Company
Sophie Alexander et al., Bloomberg
Deutsche Bank AG and Signature Bank, two of Donald Trump’s favored lenders, are pulling away from the billionaire president in the wake of last week’s deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. The German lender has decided not to conduct any further business with Trump and his company, said two people with knowledge of the matter, asking not to be identified because the deliberations were confidential. Trump owes the Frankfurt-based lender more than $300 million.
New York City to consider ending contracts with Trump that bring his company $17 million a year
David A. Fahrenthold and Jonathan O’Connell, The Washington Post
The city of New York said Monday that it was “reviewing whether legal grounds exist” to terminate its business relationships with President Trump, whose company has contracts to run a carousel, two ice rinks and a golf course in city parks. In a statement, a spokeswoman for Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said that review was spurred by Trump’s actions on Wednesday — when, after encouragement from the president, a pro-Trump mob stormed and ransacked the U.S. Capitol.
Congress
Two Members Of Congress Tested Positive For COVID-19 After Their Republican Colleagues Refused To Wear Masks During The Capitol Attack
Salvador Hernandez, BuzzFeed News
Democratic Reps Bonnie Watson Coleman and Pramila Jayapal on Monday announced they tested positive for COVID-19, adding they believed they were exposed to the virus while in protective isolation during the attack on the Capitol, where several of their colleagues refused to wear face masks.
House Democrats Briefed On 3 Terrifying Plots To Overthrow Government
Matt Fuller, HuffPost
Capitol Police briefed Democrats on Monday night about three more potentially gruesome demonstrations planned in the coming days, with one plot to encircle the U.S. Capitol and assassinate Democrats and some Republicans. On a private call Monday night, new leaders of the Capitol Police told House Democrats they were closely monitoring three separate plans that could pose serious threats to members of Congress as Washington prepares for Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration on Jan. 20.
Congress Left Waiting for Domestic Terror Report Before Attack
Roxana Tiron, Bloomberg Government
Days before a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, Congress scrapped a requirement in the annual defense policy bill for a domestic terrorist threat assessment that could have helped shed light on the deadly incident. Lawmakers with oversight of national security agreed that a new report on domestic terrorism wasn’t necessary because the previous annual defense law already required such an assessment.
McCarthy: “Undisputedly” no evidence Antifa participated in deadly Capitol siege
Alayna Treene, Axios
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said on a conference call with members Monday that there is “undisputedly” no evidence that people linked to Antifa participated in last week’s deadly siege on the Capitol, per sources on the call, and told members he had urged President Trump to call President-elect Biden after Trump promised a transfer of power. Earlier Monday, McCarthy sent a letter to rank and file House Republicans, saying he remains opposed to impeaching Trump over his actions around last week’s deadly Capitol siege, and laid out other responses lawmakers could make, including censure.
Ossoff, Warnock set to take Senate seats with little drama after tumultuous week
Stephanie Akin, Roll Call
The turmoil in the nation’s capital has erased concerns of an unruly transition to majority control in the Senate, with Georgia Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff set to be sworn in as early as next week after their Republican opponents, Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, conceded. Georgia election officials told CQ Roll Call Monday that the ballot counting is going smoothly and the state is on track to certify the Democrats’ wins as early as Jan. 20, two days before the official deadline and a day after the Senate returns from recess.
General
Facebook Says It Is Removing All Content Mentioning ‘Stop the Steal’
Sarah E. Needleman, The Wall Street Journal
Facebook Inc. said it is removing all content mentioning “stop the steal,” a phrase popular among supporters of President Trump’s unproven claims of election fraud, as part of a raft of measures to stem misinformation and incitements to violence on its platform ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. The social-media giant said Monday that it would uphold its decision last week to suspend Mr. Trump from posting for at least two weeks, with Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg saying at the time that the risks of the president using Facebook during this period were too great.
Twitter purged more than 70,000 accounts affiliated with QAnon following Capitol riot
Tony Romm and Elizabeth Dwoskin, The Washington Post
Twitter said late Monday it purged more than 70,000 accounts affiliated with conspiracy theory QAnon following the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol last week. Twitter said in a blog post that it removed the accounts “to protect the conversation on our service from attempts to incite violence, organize attacks, and share deliberately misleading information about the election outcome.”
Parler Accuses Amazon of Breaking Antitrust Law in Suspending Hosting Services
Karen Weise and Nicole Perlroth, The New York Times
Hours after it went offline on Monday, the social media start-up Parler filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing Amazon of violating antitrust law and asking for a temporary restraining order to prevent the tech giant from blocking access to cloud computing services. Amazon told Parler over the weekend that it would shut off service because “a steady increase in violent content” on the site showed that the company did not have a reliable process to prevent it from violating Amazon’s terms of service.
Salesforce ‘Takes Action’ to Prevent RNC Emails From Inciting Violence
Jason Koebler and Joseph Cox, Vice News
“We have the TRUTH,” the Donald Trump campaign emailed its tens of millions of subscribers at 1:24 PM on January 6. “Every single Patriot from across the Country must step up RIGHT NOW if we’re going to successfully DEFEND the integrity of this Election. President Trump is calling on YOU to bolster our Official Defend America Fund.”
States
Top official at Republican AGs group resigns amid Capitol robocall controversy
Laura Strickler, NBC News
The executive director of the Republican Attorneys General Association has resigned amid backlash over a decision to send out robocalls urging people to march to the U.S. Capitol. Adam Piper stepped down from his post after spending four years with the organization, a national group that represents the top law enforcement officials in their states.
Governors’ red tape blamed as vaccine doses pile up
Susannah Luthi et al., Politico
Governors face a growing outcry over inflexible vaccine policies that are now being blamed for leaving millions of doses to pile up in freezers — and some to land in the trash. Pharmacists and hospital leaders, scrambling to get the scarce Covid-19 vaccine doses into the arms of the willing, are begging state leaders not to tie their hands.
Advocacy
More Blue-Chip Companies Halt Political Donations After Capitol Riot by Trump Supporters
Brody Mullins and Drew FitzGerald, The Wall Street Journal
A growing wave of big businesses are deciding to suspend or review their campaign donations in the wake of last week’s riot at the Capitol, with many saying they would stop donating to Republicans who objected to the election’s certification. AT&T Inc., ConocoPhillips, Dow Inc., Facebook Inc. and United Parcel Service Inc. were among companies announcing Monday that they are halting or reviewing campaign donations from their political-action committees to lawmakers and political candidates.
Leaving on a high note: Outgoing NRCC head looks to build on 2020
Alex Gangitano, The Hill
Parker Poling, who served as executive director of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) during the House GOP’s better-than-expected 2020 elections, is leaving her post to become a lobbyist and partner at Harbinger Strategies, the firm is announcing Tuesday. House Republicans picked up 15 new seats this cycle, trimming the Democratic majority to just 12 members, and are hoping to build on that momentum and flip the House in the 2022 midterms.
A Message from The Better World Campaign
In recent years, we have seen a sharp decline in U.S. leadership and a growing debt of over $1 billion to the UN, leaving a void that countries like China have shown they are more than willing and able to fill. In the first 100 days of the Biden-Harris Administration and the 117th Congress, lawmakers have an opportunity to get America off the sidelines and get us back on the global stage.
Getusback.org
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
Susan Collins recounts the moment rioters stormed the Capitol
Susan Collins, Bangor Daily News
Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, was destined to be a significant day. The Senate and the House would decide whether to certify the electoral votes in the presidential election, and I knew that there would be challenges against at least three states.
What happened at the Capitol ‘is not the America that I know’
Joni Ernst, Des Moines Register
Wednesday was a tragic day in our nation’s history. The very institution that millions of people from across the world revere, visit, and look to for democratic decision-making was pillaged by an angry mob incited by false hope.
Only Democracy Reform Can Stop Trumpism
Waleed Shahid and Nelini Stamp, Crooked
If Democrats don’t enact significant democratic reforms, multiracial democracy in America will remain under existential threat. Republicans must carry the stain of the Trump era and the insurrection they incited for as long as their party continues to exist.
Research Reports and Polling
74% Of Voters Say Democracy In The U.S. Is Under Threat, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; 52% Say President Trump Should Be Removed From Office
Quinnipiac University
Following last week’s mob attack on the U.S. Capitol during a joint session of Congress to formally certify Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election, nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of voters say democracy in the United States is under threat, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll of registered voters released today. Just 21 percent of voters say that democracy in the United States is alive and well. “When it comes to whether American democracy is under threat, both Republicans and Democrats see a raging five-alarm fire, but clearly disagree on who started it,” said Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy.
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