WASHINGTON – Members of the House of Representatives and their staff received a memo from the attending physician on Sunday morning that said “many” of them “may have been exposed” to the coronavirus during the violent riot that occurred on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. The exhibition took place when members of the House and officials were evacuated to safe locations, while supporters of President Trump violated the Capitol and ransacked offices in an effort to prevent certification of Trump’s electoral defeat.
“On Wednesday, January 6, many members of the Casa community were in protective isolation in [a] room located in a large audience space of the committee. The time in this room was several hours for some and shorter for others. During that time, individuals may have been exposed to another occupant with coronavirus infection, ”wrote Dr. Brian Monahan in the memo.
Trump supporters stormed the Capitol immediately after a rally at the National Mall, where the president reiterated his false claim that President-elect Joe Biden did not win last November’s election.
“I know everyone here will soon be marching to the Capitol to make their voices heard in a peaceful and patriotic way,” said Trump.
The Trump rally and the subsequent violation of the Capitol took place when Biden’s victory was being certified by a joint session of Congress. Certification was interrupted for several hours when Congress was blocked and members of the House and Senate were evacuated to safe locations. The deaths of five people are related to the violence, including U.S. Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick, who was reportedly hit by a fire extinguisher, and Ashli Babbitt, a Trump supporter who was shot by police. Biden will take office on January 20.
Trump and his allies have repeatedly rejected the risks of the coronavirus, which killed more than 370,000 Americans, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. Many Republican members of Congress have refrained from wearing masks, which experts recommend to prevent the virus from spreading. A large number of protesters who invaded the Capitol also did not wear masks. Experts have already expressed concerns that the riot could turn out to be a “super-disseminating event”.
After the invasion of the Capitol, Democrats began efforts to accuse Trump of inciting the riot. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Started updating impeachment articles while she was in a safe place during the riots. A source told Yahoo News that Omar plans to formally present his impeachment articles to the House on Monday. Impeachment articles were also written by a trio of Democratic congressmen, David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Ted Lieu of California and Jamie Raskin of Maryland. Another source said Cicilline was planning to formally present these articles on Monday as well.
Deputy Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y., the president of the House Democratic Caucus and a leading figure in the party’s leadership in Congress, appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program on Sunday and declared that the party is “united in demanding and seeking “Trump’s immediate removal. Jeffries said he expected Trump to step down or Vice President Mike Pence and members of the Trump Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from office. The 25th Amendment provides for procedures for replacing the president in the event of death, resignation or incapacitation.
Describing Trump as an “existential threat to our democracy,” Jeffries urged Republican senators to return from their scheduled recess and support his removal if the president is removed by the Democratic majority in the House.
“Every hour that Donald Trump remains in office poses a danger to the American people,” said Jeffries, adding later: “He still has the nuclear codes. This is a scary prospect. “
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