In Extraordinary Rebuke, US Diplomats Blast Trump for Capitol Riot

In a highly unusual move, American diplomats have drafted two cables condemning President Donald Trump’s incitement of the deadly assault on the Capitol and calling for administration officials to support invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.  Using what is known as the State Department’s “dissent channel,” the career foreign service officers said they fear last Wednesday’s siege may badly undermine U.S. credibility to promote and defend democratic values abroad.  “Failing to publicly hold the president to account would further damage our democracy and our ability to effectively accomplish our foreign policy goals abroad,” according to the secondmore

Leave a comment

Arnold Schwarzenegger Invokes Post-Nazi Europe in Video Condemning Capitol Violence

In an emotional video message with intimate references to his childhood in post-Nazi Austria, former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger condemned the recent violence on Capitol Hill, and what he called President Donald’s Trump’s lies which incited the revolt.   “President Trump sought to overturn the results of an election, and of a fair election. He sought a coup by misleading people with lies,” Schwarzenegger, the 73-year-old former actor who most notably played the role of the Terminator during his Hollywood career, said in a seven-minute video posted on social media Sunday.   “My father and our neighbors were misled alsomore

Leave a comment

US Lawmakers Likely Exposed to Coronavirus During Riot Lockdown, Official Warns

U.S. lawmakers who were in lockdown when a violent mob breached security at the Capitol last week likely have been exposed to the coronavirus, Congress’ attending physician warned Sunday.   “On Wednesday January 6, many members of the House community were in protective isolation in a room located in a large committee hearing space,” Dr. Brian Monahan wrote in an email to lawmakers.   “The time in this room was several hours for some and briefer for others. During this time, individuals may have been exposed to another occupant with coronavirus infection.”Here’s the letter from Dr. Brian Monahan to allmore

Leave a comment

White House Pushed Top Federal Prosecutor in Atlanta to Resign, Paper Says

The White House pushed the top federal prosecutor in Atlanta to resign before Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoff because President Donald Trump was unhappy that he wasn’t doing enough to investigate Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.The Justice Department on Tuesday tapped a new federal prosecutor to lead the Atlanta office, a day after the Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, Byung J. “BJay” Pak, abruptly resigned.Pak’s resignation drew attention because Trump appeared to refer to him in a recent phone call with Georgia’s secretary of state in which the outgoing Republicanmore

Leave a comment

House Likely to Offer Articles of Impeachment Against Trump on Monday

Efforts to hold President Donald Trump accountable for his role in inciting the mob that overran the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday gained momentum Saturday, with Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives announcing they will offer articles of impeachment as early as Monday.Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from the state of California, who helped draft the charges against Trump, tweeted Saturday afternoon that the articles had 180 co-sponsors, although no Republicans were among them.UPDATE to the update: We’ve just hit 180 cosponsors of the Article of Impeachment drafted by Rep District of Columbia National Guardsmen stand outside the Capitolmore

Leave a comment

Pro-Trump State Lawmaker Resigns After Riot; More Arrests Announced

A pro-Trump state lawmaker who filmed himself storming the U.S. Capitol has resigned and more arrests were announced Saturday as part of an investigation into Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol.Derrick Evans, a Republican member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, announced his resignation Saturday in a one-sentence letter to West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice.Evans was charged with entering a restricted area on the Capitol grounds and disorderly conduct. If convicted, he faces a year and a half in federal prison. Evans broadcast a Facebook Live video of himself breaking into the building with a crowd of rioters, at onemore

Leave a comment