Jan. 6 panel: More turning up with evidence against Trump
A member of the House Jan. 6 committee says more witnesses are coming forward with new details on the Capitol insurrection following former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s devastating testimony last week against former President Donald Trump.
Jan. 6 committee sets prime-time hearing date for findings
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol will go public with its findings in a prime-time hearing next week, launching into what lawmakers hope will be one the most consequential oversight efforts in American history.
EXPLAINER: How fake electors tried to throw result to Trump
State attorneys general and the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol are digging deeper into the role that fake slates of electors played in the desperate effort by former President Donald Trump to cling to power after his 2020 defeat.
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Capitol police chief defends response to 'criminal' rioters
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., stops to look at damage in the early morning hours of Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021, after protesters stormed the Capitol in Washington, on Wednesday. ”Make no mistake: these mass riots were not First Amendment activities; they were criminal riotous behavior. Both law enforcement and Trump supporters deployed chemical irritants during the hourslong occupation of the complex before it was cleared Wednesday evening. D.C. police said Thursday that 68 people were arrested, while Capitol police said 14 were arrested, most for unlawful entry. Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., a former police chief, said it was “painfully obvious" that Capitol police “were not prepared” for what took place Wednesday.
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Lawmakers vow to investigate police after Capitol breach
(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)WASHINGTON – Lawmakers are vowing an investigation into how law enforcement handled Wednesday’s violent breach at the Capitol, questioning whether a lack of preparedness allowed a mob to occupy and vandalize the building. U.S. Capitol Police, who are charged with protecting Congress, turned to other law enforcement for help with the mob that overwhelmed the complex and sent lawmakers into hiding. Both law enforcement and Trump supporters deployed chemical irritants during the hourslong occupation of the complex before it was cleared Wednesday evening. Three other people died after suffering “medical emergencies” related to the breach, said Robert Contee, chief of the city’s Metropolitan Police Department. Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., a former police chief, said it was “painfully obvious" that Capitol police "were not prepared for today.
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Trump administration turns to immigration as vote nears
And it added to charges from Trump critics that DHS and other agencies have become overtly politicized under this president. “Now, he’s trying to use the department to benefit himself electorally.”Few issues are as important to Trump's political base as immigration. But attention to the issue has ebbed in the 2020 race, as Trump has focused more on unrest in Democratic cities, leftist activists and other matters. Then Wolf followed up with the news conference to announce the enforcement operation — a fairly routine operation that resulted in a fairly low number of arrests. Trump has said Biden wants to abolish ICE and end deportations, but that's not correct.
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Trump plans to slash refugee admissions to US to record low
(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)SAN DIEGO – The Trump administration has proposed further slashing the number of refugees the United States accepts to a new record low in the coming year. It’s a disgrace what they’ve done to your state,” Trump told supporters. Trump froze refugee admissions in March amid the coronavirus pandemic, citing a need to protect American jobs as fallout from the coronavirus crashed the economy. Between 2017 and 2019, his wife, Ruta, was interviewed, vetted and approved to be admitted to the United States as a refugee. He hopes his wife will be among the refugees who make it to the United States in 2021.
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Democrats propose sweeping bill to curb presidential abuses
WASHINGTON – House Democrats on Wednesday proposed a bill to curb presidential abuses, a pitch to voters weeks ahead of Election Day as they try to defeat President Donald Trump, capture the Senate from Republicans and keep their House majority. Each of the bill’s provisions is a response to actions by Trump or his administration that Democrats see as abuses of presidential power. It builds on an elections and ethics reform package the House passed soon after Democrats reclaimed the majority in 2019. Congress has yet to send to the president any legislation to try to curb foreign election interference after Russia meddled on several fronts in the 2016 presidential contest. “The degradation of our democracy over the past 3 1/2 years is not the work of the president alone,'' Schiff said.
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Pelosi calls for removing Confederate statues from Capitol
WASHINGTON House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is demanding that statues of Confederate figures such as Jefferson Davis be removed from the U.S. Capitol. In a letter, Pelosi told a House-Senate committee with jurisdiction over the controversial topic that Confederate statues pay homage to hate, not heritage. Protesters decrying racism have targeted Confederate monuments in multiple cities, and some state officials are considering taking them down. Pelosi lacks the authority to order the removal of the 11 Capitol statues honoring Confederates but is urging the little-noticed Joint Committee on the Library to vote to remove them. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the library panel, called for an immediate vote to remove the statues.

Buckle up: What to watch as impeachment trial takes off
That maroons 100 chatty senators including four Democrats in the heat of a nomination fight for the serious constitutional business of the impeachment trial, for hours at a time. Senate rules say the trial must proceed six days a week all but Sunday until it is resolved. But here again, there's precedent for Trump to consider: Clinton delivered his State of the Union speech in the midst of his Senate trial. ___THE PROSECUTORSThey could be heard practicing speeches in the shuttered Senate chamber late into Monday night. 51: The number of senators who must agree on almost anything to make it happen during an impeachment trial.