WASHINGTON (AP) – The latest news on the impeachment of President Donald Trump and the consequences of the January 6 attack on the Capitol by pro-Trump worshipers (all local times):
1:35 pm
Vice President Mike Pence called Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to offer his congratulations and assistance in the transition to office.
This is according to two people who were not authorized to publicly discuss the private conversation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Pence’s call comes less than a week before President-elect Joe Biden and Harris take office. Induction Day is next Wednesday.
The call is the first contact between the elected officials of the outgoing and incoming administrations. President Donald Trump did not reach out to Biden and repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of Biden’s victory.
Trump will not attend the opening. Pence will be there.
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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT JAN’S IMPEACHMENT AND FALLOUT. 6 RIOTING IN THE CAPITOLA:
President Donald Trump is facing an impeachment trial in the Senate that could begin next Wednesday, the day Democrat Joe Biden is elected the 46th president of the United States. Trump was impeached last Wednesday, a week after encouraging a crowd of legalists to “fight like hell” against election results and Capitol becoming the target of a deadly siege. The FBI is warning that protests by violent Trump supporters are being planned in all 50 state capitals, as well as in Washington.
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Pelosi’s nine impeachment managers I hope to ‘finish the job’
Amid the cacophony since the siege of the Capitol, key officer remains silent
Republican Senators highlighted as the second impeachment trial approaches
Trump impeachment trial to focus on its attacks on the elections
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HERE IS HAPPENING:
12:25 pm
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it may be necessary to prosecute members of Congress if any of them helped pro-Trump protesters in last week’s attack on Capitol Hill.
The California Democrat says the attack highlighted the need for the United States to beware of domestic threats. She says, “We really lost our innocence in that.” Pelosi told reporters that members of Congress need to be able to trust each other.
His words underscore the suggestions of some Democrats that some Republican lawmakers helped fuel President Donald Trump’s supporters’ belief in Trump’s false accusations that his defeat in the presidential election was due to electoral fraud.
They also highlight the extraordinary mistrust and anger that has grown in Congress since the attack, which led to Trump’s impeachment in the House this week.
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12:10 pm
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that retired Lieutenant General Russel Honoré is being called upon to lead a security review of the United States Capitol following last week’s deadly uprising.
Pelosi said at a news conference on Friday that the entire Capitol complex should be subjected to “scrutiny in light of what happened” and the fact that President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration will take place there next week.
Honoré is perhaps best known for overseeing humanitarian relief efforts in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.
Pelosi said Honoré will conduct an immediate review of security and inter-agency interaction and Capitol “command and control”.
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11:55 am
The National Park Service closed Washington’s National Mall to the general public as part of heightened security before Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration.
The closing started on Friday morning. It will remain in effect until at least Thursday, the day after Biden’s inauguration, the National Park Service said in a statement.
The Secret Service called for the closure. Thousands of National Guard soldiers are stationed in the nation’s capital as part of extraordinary security, after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol building on January 6 while lawmakers certified the results of Biden’s electoral victory over Trump.
The park service will still allow for inauguration activities and free speech events allowed on the National Mall, despite the closure, he said.
The park service said it would allow only small demonstrations for licensees and would escort protesters and keep them in designated areas, along with other security measures.
Spokesmen for the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior did not respond immediately when asked whether any protest authorization had been granted or requested.
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10:25 am
Defense Department officials are struggling to call the governors and ask if they have more National Guard troops to send to Washington to help protect the Capitol and the city.
A defense official familiar with the discussions said that police leaders and other officials have already determined that they will need around 25,000 National Guard soldiers. And they say that number can still grow.
As of Friday morning, the authorities had state commitments for about 22,000 members of the Guard. This is what the government official says, who was not authorized to publicly discuss internal deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity.
In recent days, military and defense leaders have said they understand that states are also facing their own impending protests and that governors’ first priority is to protect their own capital.
The number of Guard officers is trying to help protect the District of Columbia in the race for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday has been increasing almost daily.
Defense and law enforcement officials have been revising the numbers as they go through trials and other exercises to determine how many and where they need reinforcements from the Guard to help block Washington.
– Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor
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10 a.m
The Justice Department’s internal surveillance body says it will investigate how the department and its agencies prepared and responded to last week’s riots in the United States Capitol.
The investigation carried out by the inspector general’s office will examine whether the information has been appropriately shared by the Department of Justice to other public security agencies about the potential for violence.
The inspector general said that “it will also assess whether there are any deficiencies in the DOJ protocols, policies or procedures” that made it difficult to prepare and respond to events.
The review is one of several launched by inspectors general, including in the departments of Homeland Security and Defense and in the Department of the Interior, which oversees the Park Police.
The start of the review signals concern among watchdogs that preparations have been lacking and the response to the violation of the Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump.