Biden’s Inauguration Week begins as DC security intensifies

Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy

Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy says the current method of defending the nation’s capital in a crisis is “almost arcane and overly bureaucratic.”

In an interview with CNN he called for overhauling the bureaucracy and for simplifying the process to call in federal authorities such as the National Guard to protect Washington, DC – which has been done twice in seven months.

McCarthy told CNN’s Barbara Starr, “There’s too many people that are involved with the decision, and ultimately no one, one single person responsible.”

“It makes it very difficult and slow in the response,” he added.

McCarthy described a situation of “tremendous confusion” during the Jan. 6th insurrection.

“No one really understood the situation. No specifics or clarity what the size of the crowd, where they were, did they actually breach the building,” McCarthy told CNN in an interview at the Pentagon.

He said he “ran down the hall to get authority to launch” the National Guard even as he “didn’t have great understanding” of what was happening after a phone call with DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and DC Police Chief Robert Contee. 

“A lot of confusion because we weren’t asked for help” in the lead-up to the event, McCarthy said.

Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller said Monday that there is “no intelligence indicating an insider threat,” but National Guard members arriving in Washington for the inauguration are being vetted by law enforcement for the inauguration.

CNN reported last week that the Army was working with the FBI for additional background screenings for guardsmen coming to Washington.

Here’s Miller’s full statement:

Conservative publishing house, Regnery Publishing, announced on Monday that it would publish a planned book by Sen. Josh Hawley after Simon & Schuster canceled it, according to a press release from Regnery.

Simon & Schuster made the decision to cancel the publication of Hawley’s book following the deadly insurrection in Washington, DC.

Hawley’s forthcoming book, titled “The Tyranny of Big Tech,” will publish with Regnery in the spring of 2021, according to a release from Regnery

Hawley, one of the Republican lawmakers who led objections to Congress certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, responded to Simon & Schuster’s decision, calling the move “Orwellian” and a “direct assault on the First Amendment,” according to a statement to CNN 

Regnery’s president and publisher, Thomas Spence, called Simon & Schuster’s decision “discouraging,” saying that “Regnery is proud to stand in the breach” with Hawley, according to the statement. 

CNN’s Oliver Darcy contributed to this post.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom formally submitted the appointment of Alex Padilla to the US Senate today, according to a press release from the governor’s office. 

Padilla formally resigned as Secretary of State this morning and Gov. Newsom also submitted his nomination letter for Assembly member Shirley Weber to replace him. The Deputy Secretary of State, James Schwab, will be the Acting Secretary of State.

“I am humbled and honored by your trust in me to represent California in the United States Senate. I look forward to continuing to serve the great State of California as a United States Senator and to ensuring that the rights and democratic principles we cherish are protected and preserved for all people,” Padilla wrote in a letter to Gov. Newsom.

Some context: Earlier today, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris formally resigned her seat as one of California’s US Senators. She’ll be inaugurated as vice president on Wednesday, Jan. 20. In a farewell addressed posted to Twitter, Harris said, “Of course, I’m not saying goodbye. In many ways, I’m now saying hello as your vice president.”

In an interview with Hillary Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi detailed her experiences during and in the wake of the Capitol Hill riot and expressed her support for 9/11 commission-style investigation into what occurred during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6.

Pelosi said Monday on Clinton’s “You and Me Both” podcast that such a commission has “strong support” in Congress, but this type of investigation cannot be initiated without legislation and the Senate is out until later this week.

The Speaker pointed to the review being led by retired Lt. General Russel Honoré of the “security infrastructure” of Capitol Hill as an example of an ongoing probe.

She also hinted at suspicions raised by other lawmakers that some of their colleagues and members of law enforcement could be either directly or indirectly involved in the insurrection, saying it would be part of a potential commission’s inquiry.

As for President Trump, Clinton quipped that she would love to see her formal political rival’s phone records from Jan. 6 “to see whether he was talking to Putin the day that the insurgents invaded our Capitol,” referencing the Russian President.

Pelosi repeated her line on Trump that “all roads lead to Putin,” saying “I don’t know what Putin has on him politically, financially, or personally, but what happened last week was a gift to Putin” and calling the rioters unwitting “Putin puppets” because “they were doing Putin’s business when they did that at the incitement of an insurrection by the president of the United States.”

Sharing her experiences of being rushed from the House chamber amid the threat, Pelosi emphasized “it wasn’t about me, because I had security; it was about my members,” who she said were “traumatized” by what they had to endure that day.

Pelosi said she has asked all of her members to record in a journal what they saw on Jan. 6, and then to write another entry in a month “because this is a pain that people will carry.” She says she told them that “this is history. Your perspective, your individual perspectives are a very important part of that.”

Clinton noted that she and Pelosi will both attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday, saying, “I know that it’s not going to be like any inauguration we’ve ever attended.”

Pelosi expressed hope that Congress can find common ground in passing Biden’s agenda.

The inaugural committee announced Monday that country singer Garth Brooks has accepted the Biden’s invitation to perform at the inauguration. The committee indicated that Brooks will be part of the swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol. 

“This is not a political statement,” Brooks told reporters on a media call during the announcement. “This is a statement of unity.” 

Jill Biden called Brooks on the phone to invite him to perform. “She’s very warming, very welcoming,” Brooks said of his conversation with Jill. “She’s very easy to talk to, and just said, ‘it’s your decision but we would love to have you here.’” 

Brooks stressed that he looks forward to participating because he strongly believes in the unity theme, particularly at a time when the country is so divided. 

“It’s not Republican or Democrat. It’s a leader for whom I am the civilian of the greatest country on the planet. Our job is to work as hard as we can for all of us to have a better future than we had before,” he said.  

“We can’t start living until we rise above the narrows of our own individualistic concerns,” he added, quoting Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Brooks also performed at President Obama’s inauguration in 2008. He said has performed for every administration in some capacity since President Jimmy Carter, except for President Ronald Reagan. “This is an honor for me to serve,” he stressed. 

He did not indicate which songs he will perform, only saying:

Asked to compare the level of nerves he anticipates to feel during this performance and how it would rank on a list of getting “butterflies,” Brooks said, “It’s gonna rank really high on the butterfly list.” 

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris released a video on Twitter, expressing thanks to the state of California as she resigned from her Senate seat today.

Sitting in front of a framed photo of her and President-elect Joe Biden, Harris repeated many of the same lines she wrote today in her op-ed announcing her resignation.

“It has been such an honor to serve with a team that has worked so tirelessly,” Harris said. She went through a summarization of things achieved in her four years of office both responding to Californians needs directly and bipartisan work aimed at servicing the nation.

“These are some of the things that we have done over the course of my four years and you gave me the honor of being able to serve,” she said.

Watch her message:

Nicolas Moncada, charged in the Eastern District of New York, posted a photo of himself within what appears to be the Capitol building, according to court documents.

Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) agents arrested Nicolas Moncada on Monday morning for his role in the riot and assault of the Capitol building Jan. 6, officials announced.  

The former Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) student was positively identified by former faculty and students via his Instagram and Twitter posts chronicling the Capitol riots from what appears to be inside the building, according to court documents. 

FIT faculty and students reported the information to the school’s Office of Public Safety which reported the social media accounts to federal authorities, the court document says. 

In the comments of one alleged video Moncada wrote he was “storming the Capitol Building.” In another alleged selfie posted during the riots, Moncada claimed to be nearby House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, according to a statement of facts written by an FBI counter-terrorism special agent. 

Moncada will appear virtually in front of a magistrate judge within the Eastern District of New York Tuesday. A time for the hearing has not been set.

Moncada violated laws prohibiting the unlawful entry to the Capitol and violent entry, disorderly conduct and demonstration at the Capitol building, according to the court document.

The entrance to the West Wing is seen with a Marine standing guard, indicating President Trump was in the Oval Office at the White House on Monday, January 18, in Washington, D.C.

President Trump is preparing to issue around 100 pardons and commutations on his final full day in office Tuesday, according to three people familiar with the matter. It will be a major batch of clemency actions that include white collar criminals, high-profile rappers and others but — as of now — is not expected to include Trump himself.

The White House held a meeting on Sunday to finalize the list of pardons, two sources said.

Trump, who had been rolling out pardons and commutations at a steady clip ahead of Christmas, had put a pause on them in the days leading up to and directly after the Jan. 6 riots at the US Capitol, according to officials.

Aides said Trump was singularly focused on the Electoral College count in the days ahead of time, precluding him for making final decisions on pardons. White House officials had expected them to resume after Jan. 6, but Trump retreated after he was blamed for inciting the riots.

Initially, two major batches had been ready to roll out, one at the end of last week and one on Tuesday. Now, officials expect the last batch to be the only one — unless Trump decides at the last minute to grant pardons to controversial allies, members of his family or himself.

The final batch of clemency actions is expected to include a mix of criminal justice reform-minded pardons and more controversial ones secured or doled out to political allies.

Some background: The pardons are one of several items Trump must complete before his presidency ends. White House officials also still have executive orders prepared, and the President is still hopeful to declassify information related to the Russia probe before he leaves office.

But with a waning number of administration officials still in jobs, the likelihood that any of it gets done seemed to be shrinking.

The Jan. 6 riots that led to Trump’s second impeachment have complicated his desire to pardon himself, his kids and personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. At this point, aides do not think he will do so, but caution only Trump knows what he will do with his last bit of presidential power before he is officially out of office at noon on Jan. 20.

In an alert released moments ago the US Capitol Police have instructed the complex to “return to normal operations.”

A small fire at an apparent homeless encampment less than a mile away from the US Capitol Building on Monday prompted the building to enter lockdown, a reflection of the heightened state of alarm at the complex.