Fallout intensifies over Trump’s response to Capitol riot

Two Rocky Mount, Virginia, police officers are on administrative leave after attending an event in Washington, DC, last Wednesday, according to the Rocky Mount Police Department.

The two off-duty officers were present at an event in DC on Wednesday, a statement the department released on Sunday said.

Rocky Mount is located about 25 miles south of Roanoke, Virginia.

On Friday night, the Seattle Police Department had placed at least two officers on administrative leave while officials investigate whether they took part in Wednesday’s deadly riot at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, the department’s chief, Adrian Diaz, said in a statement.

The Parler website is seen on a phone on Friday, December 18, 2020.

Apple gave Parler a 24-hour grace period to remove hateful and violent content from its platform before the iPhone-maker ultimately dropped the alternative social network from its app store on Saturday, according to a communication obtained by CNN.

Citing several examples on Parler of what it called “content that encourages illegal activity,” Apple told Parler in a warning on Friday that the company would need to remove the objectionable content and resubmit its app with additional technical safeguards before Parler could be distributed on iOS. 

“Our investigation has found that Parler is not effectively moderating and removing content that encourages illegal activity and poses a serious risk to the health and safety of users in direct violation of your own terms of service,” Apple wrote. 

The following day, Apple removed Parler from the iOS App Store, saying it had not complied with the warning. 

As House Democrats grapple with their next steps regarding President Trump in the aftermath of insurrection on Capitol Hill, the House Democratic caucus will hold a 2 p.m. caucus call Monday afternoon, according to a source.

President-elect Joe Biden speaks in Wilmington, Delaware, on January 8.

President-elect Joe Biden has repeatedly said it’s up to the Congress to decide how to sanction President Trump for his role in instigating the violent attack on the Capitol, but CNN has learned that his advisers are working intently behind the scenes with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats in hopes of finding a middle ground that can keep his new administration from becoming bogged down in impeachment proceedings.

While Biden has made clear that he will not stand in the way of the House moving forward with article of impeachment, officials told CNN that his advisers are recommending other solutions to punish Trump without hijacking the first 100 days of Biden’s presidency.

One of the ideas being discussed was floated Sunday by Rep. James Clyburn, who said Pelosi could wait to send the article of impeachment to the Senate until the economic relief package is passed and Biden’s top nominees are confirmed.

Advisers to Biden said other ideas are also under discussion this weekend, including censuring Trump in a move that may be able to draw more bipartisan support than impeachment could. One thing not being discussed is to do nothing at all and allow the final days of the Trump presidency to expire without punishment from Congress.

Conversations between Biden and Pelosi and many of their respective advisers have taken place throughout the weekend. Biden is poised to roll out more specifics of his economic relief package this week in Wilmington, where aides say he will implore Congress to act swiftly to pass the bill as one of the first acts of his presidency.

“That bill cannot and should not be delayed because of a Senate impeachment trial,” an official close to Biden said. 

Sen. Joe Manchin, Democrat from West Virginia, on January 10.

Sen. Joe Manchin, Democrat from West Virginia, told CNN “there’s no doubt” President Trump should be impeached, but that he finds a Senate trial to convict the President to be unrealistic.

Manchin pointed to poor timing as a reason to not have a Senate trial, because it would potentially spill into President-elect Joe Biden’s administration.

Without a Senate trial, Manchin saw a judicial path in the courts as the option “that gives us the best results,” saying, “People have to understand, your words have consequences and we’ve seen it at the most dangerous level.”

When asked about Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley’s parts in spreading lies about election fraud, Manchin said, “I don’t know how they can live with themselves knowing that people have died because of their words and actions.”

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on January 10.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said within “minutes” of Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol, the Maryland National Guard was called in but authorization was delayed for 90-minutes, the governor told CNN today.

Since Washington, DC, does not have a governor, permission to activate the National Guard in DC must come from the office of the Secretary of Defense. 

When asked why it took so long, Hogan replied, “We were trying to get answers, but we couldn’t get answers.”

At a news conference earlier this week in Maryland, the governor further explained the exchange.

National Guard soldiers stand behind a security fence near the Capitol on January 9.

House Democrats are discussing impeaching Trump this week and waiting until later to send the article of impeachment over to the Senate to delay the trial until after the early days of the Biden presidency, according to Democrats in the party’s leadership.

It was one of the options discussed last night on a conference call to allow the Senate to instead focus on filling Biden’s Cabinet and dealing with a Covid-19 relief package.

Sen. James Clyburn, majority whip, confirmed the discussion on CNN this morning.

“Yes I do have concerns - so does Nancy Pelosi,” Clyburn said of a trial impacting the early days of Biden’s term. He said Speaker Pelosi will make that call.

Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican from Pennsylvania, on January 10.

Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican from Pennsylvania, said he thinks President Trump should resign following the insurrection on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

Toomey is the second Republican senator to call for the President’s resignation, joining Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski. 

Noting he was not a prosecutor, Toomey said he thought it was possible that President Trump could face “criminal liability” for his incitement of a violent riot. He called the President’s behavior “outrageous.” 

As for other consequences the President could face, Toomey said he thinks Trump has “disqualified himself from ever certainly serving in office again,” adding “I don’t think he is electability in any way. And I don’t think he’s going to be exercising anything like the kind of influence that he has had over the Republican party going forward.”

Asked if he would vote to remove the President from office in a Senate impeachment trial, the Pennsylvania Republican repeated that he thinks Trump committed “impeachable offenses” and said he does not know if it is practical or “viable” to carry out the impeachment process in Trump’s final days in office.

He said his Republican colleagues who objected to the Electoral College votes on Wednesday are going to “pay a big price” for their actions and that ultimately their constituents will be the ones to “adjudicate this.”

House Majority Whip James Clyburn on January 10.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn says the House could vote on the article of impeachment against President Trump Tuesday or Wednesday of this week, but may delay delivering the article of impeachment to the Senate until after President-elect Joe Biden has had time to work on his agenda. 

When asked by CNN about concerns that a Senate impeachment trial might impact the beginning of the Biden administration, Clyburn suggested delaying the Senate trial until after the first 100 days of the Biden presidency.

He noted that it is up to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to decide on the timing of the trial; “Pelosi will determine when is best time to get the vote and get the managers.” 

“I would say in this instance it’s up to the Speaker to do whatever she thinks is the best thing to do, but all I’m saying is you can manage this in such a way that you make it an effective presentation to the senate,” Clyburn added. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holds a press conference at the Capitol on January 7.

House Democratic leaders have not finalized plans for the coming week, after spending several hours on a call Saturday night working through the possible outcomes tied to impeachment, according to a source with direct knowledge of the call.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi held the call with her leadership team as the Democratic caucus has moved into an almost completely unified position in support of impeaching President Trump for incitement of the insurrection that overran the US Capitol on Jan. 6.

But the timeline – Trump has only 10 days in office – and the repercussions of a Senate trial on the opening days and weeks of President-elect Joe Biden’s term have started to weigh heavily on conversations.

Pelosi, in a letter to colleagues sent Saturday night, made clear action would be taken.

Pelosi also made clear members should be prepared to return to Washington this coming week to take action on something.

What that is, however, remains an open question. House Democrats plan to introduce an impeachment resolution on Jan. 11 drafted by Reps. David Cicilline, Jamie Raskin and Ted Lieu. It already has nearly 190 co-sponsors.

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made clear in a memo circulated last week that even if the House moved in the coming days to impeach Trump, the Senate would not return to session before Jan. 19. That would place the start of the trial on Jan. 20 – the date of Biden’s inauguration.

From there on out, the Senate is rendered mostly incapable of any action besides the trial until its completion, as was apparent during the first Trump impeachment trial.

House Democratic leaders have begun to factor in what that could mean for Biden’s opening days as president – from the confirmation of his cabinet nominees to the aggressive stimulus proposal he plans to push from his first moments in office. Democrats on the leadership call Saturday night brought this issue up specifically, as they attempted to navigate the complicated dynamics.

POLITICO first reported the details of the House Democratic leadership call.

Pelosi, in her letter to colleagues, made clear the path forward is still very much a work in progress.

“We will be proceeding with meetings with Members and Constitutional experts and others,” Pelosi wrote. “I continue to welcome your comments.”