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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Maanvi Singh (now), Joan E Greve and Martin Belam (earlier)

New footage of Capitol riot shows Eugene Goodman rushing to save Mitt Romney – as it happened

Summary

Here’s a recap of today’s news:

  • Donald Trump’s impeachment trial continued, with House impeachment managers presenting their case for why the former president should be convicted for inciting an insurrection. Democratic impeachment managers showed previously unaired footage from security cameras, which revealed just how close lawmakers and staffers were to the violent mob that attacked the US Capitol.
  • Footage showed lawmakers in several close calls. In one instance, police officer Eugene Goodman directed Republican senator Mitt Romney away from the attackers, potentially saving the lawmaker’s life. In another video, rioters are shown running up and down the hallways of the building looking for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, calling out a mocking voice, “Naaaaancy. Oh, Naaaaancy.”
  • Impeachment managers emphasized Trump’s role and pointed out the number of attackers wearing or carrying Trump flags. “This attack never would have happened but for Donald Trump,” said Madeleine Dean. “And so they came, draped in Trump’s flag, and used our flag, the American flag, to batter and to bludgeon.”
  • The impeachment managers also showed the rioters referencing Trump’s tweet criticizing Mike Pence. “On 6 January Donald Trump did not once condemn this attack. He did not once condemn the attackers. In fact, on 6 January, the only person he condemned was his own vice-president, Mike Pence, who was hiding in this building, with his family, in fear for his life,” said David Cicilline, one of the impeachment managers.
  • Joe Biden, who has steered away from discussing or involving himself in the impeachment trial, was engaged with foreign policy today. He ordered new sanctions against the military regime in Myanmar, which staged a coup this month and ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior politicians. Biden announced an executive order that will block the country’s generals from accessing $1bn in assets in the US.
  • Speaking at the Pentagon, Biden said he would bring a “responsible end to wars that have dragged on for far too long”. “I believe force should be a tool of last resort, not first,” the president said, committing to work with defense secretary Lloyd Austin to review the US’s military entanglements.
  • The administration withdrew support for a challenge to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), telling the US supreme court that the healthcare law should stay.The lawsuit, led by Republican states and supported by the Trump administration, is seeking to strike down the ACA in its entirety.

Updated

Republican senator Chuck Grassley has a concealed iPad in his desk drawer so he can read during the Democrats’ presentations, according to the press pool report.

The senator of Iowa did reportedly look up when a video of rioters chanting “Hang Mike Pence” was playing.

Chances that the explicit video footage of the attacks presented today will change Republicans’ minds about whether to convict Trump seem slim.

“I think you get at best six Republicans, probably five and maybe six,” Republican senator Tim Scott of South Carolina told reporters.

Rick Scott, the Republican senator of Florida, earlier said the trial was a “waste of time”.

Updated

Impeachment trial adjourns for the day

The trial will resume at noon DC time tomorrow.

The concluding argument, from Castro:

An irate senator Mike Lee of Utah asked for comments made about him and Donald Trump’s phone calls to him and Senator Tommy Tuberville during the Capitol attack to be stricken from the record “because they were false”.

Both Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani mistakenly called Lee during the attack on the capitol, trying to reach Tuberville – whom they were reportedly asking to delay the election certification process.

Lee said that he took issue with media reports that when Trump called, and he handed the phone to Tuberville, he heard the former president demanding Tuberville delay the certification.

“This is much ado about nothing because it’s not critical to our case,” lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin said, as the trial adjourned for the day and agreed they could revisit the issue tomorrow if needed.

Updated

Castro asked, rhetorically, that if Trump weren’t responsible for inciting the attack, then why were lawmakers asking him to “call it off”?

He recounted that Trump said “thank you” to his supporters who stormed the Capitol. In a video post, Trump told supporters who attacked the Capitol to go home but added, “We love you. You’re very special.”

“Thank you for what? Thank you for shattering the windows and destroying property? Thank you for injuring more than 140 police officers?” Castro said.

Now, impeachment manager Joaquin Castro is emphasizing that Trump was criticizing his “own vice-president” ahead of the Capitol attack.

Trump called out Mike Pence 11 times in his speech ahead of the attack, Castro said, before presenting split screens of Trump’s tweets accusing Pence of lacking “courage” to challenge the election results and members of the violent mob at the capitol threatening the former vice-president.

Updated

“These attackers stood right where you are,” Cicilline told senators. “They rifled through your desks and they desecrated this place, and literally the president sat delighted, doing nothing to stop it, calling one of you to pressure you to stop the certification.”

Immediately before the Capitol attack, Donald Trump said: “We’re going to the Capitol, we’re going to try and give our Republicans, the weak ones because the strong ones don’t need any of our help, we’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.”

David Cicilline pointed out that four minutes after Trump’s speech ended, explosive devices were found at the Democratic and Republican National Committees.“Within minutes of Donald Trump’s speech ending there were significant reports of escalating violence that began to surface,” Cicilline said.

As the Capitol was breached by the armed mob, Trump made his first call to Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, asking him “to make additional objections to the certification process” of the election results.

“Donald Trump’s objections to the certification are not on trial,” Cicilline said. “What is on trial is while we were under armed attack and being evacuated... our commander-in-chief was calling not to determine how to best secure the building or the people in it, but to continue to pressure senators to stop the certification process.”

Updated

Rick Scott, a Republican senator of Florida, told reporters the impeachment trial was a “complete waste of time”.

After viewing explicit videos of the attack, Scott said: “I’m disgusted that, you know, people think that they can do things like that and get away with it. I hope everybody that came into the Capitol and did the wrong thing gets prosecuted to the full extent of law.”

But, he did not hold Trump culpable. “I wish the president had said something faster when they broke into it, but, you know, I’ve watched what he said. He’s never said when somebody should break in,” Scott said.

The impeachment manager’s presentation now is a rebuttal to comments like the ones Scott made to reporters.

The impeachment trial has resumed.

The House impeachment managers will now review what Donald Trump was doing during the Capitol attack.

“On 6 January Donald Trump did not once condemn this attack. He did not once condemn the attackers. In fact, on 6 January, the only person he condemned was his own vice-president, Mike Pence, who was hiding in this building, with his family, in fear for his life,” said David Cicilline, one of the Democratic impeachment managers.

Updated

Poll: Americans' view of Republican party has fallen in recent weeks

Americans’ view of the Republican party has lowered in the weeks since the 6 January attack on the US Capitol, with 37% holding a positive view of the GOP in a new Gallup poll. By contrast, 48% had a positive view of the Democratic party overall.

The poll, conducted between 21 January and 2 February, included 906 adults from across 50 US states.

Those who identified as members of the Republican party said their view dropped from 90% favorable before the 6 January attack to 78%.

Read the poll results here.

Updated

Biden administration withdraws federal government support for challenging Obamacare

The administration withdrew support for a challenge to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), telling the US supreme court that the healthcare law should stay.

The lawsuit, led by Republican states and supported by the Trump administration, was seeking to strike down the ACA.

“Following the change in administration, the Department of Justice has reconsidered the government’s position in these cases,” the deputy solicitor general, Edwin Kneedler, informed the court on Wednesday.

The convoluted legal challenge being considered by the supreme court is based on an argument that the ACA is no longer constitutional, after the Republican-led Congress in 2017 made a tax penalty for not having health insurance $0. Biden’s administration is now seeking to expand the healthcare law that Trump had made his mission to tear down.

Updated

Mitt Romney, the Republican senator of Utah, said that today was the first time he saw footage of police officer Eugene Goodman potentially saving his life, after warning him to take cover from the approaching mob in just the nick of time.

“I look forward to thanking him,” Romney told reporters.

Romney’s son Matt also tweeted in support of Goodman:

Goodman, who escorted Kamala Harris to her inauguration. has been hailed as a hero for his actions on the day of the insurrection.

Read more about him here:

Updated

Today so far

  • Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is under way, with House impeachment managers presenting their case for why the former president should be convicted for inciting an insurrection. Democratic impeachment managers showed previously unaired footage from security cameras, which revealed just how close lawmakers and staffers were to the violent mob that attacked the US Capitol.
  • Footage showed lawmakers in several close calls. In one instance, police officer Eugene Goodman directed Republican Senator Mitt Romney away from the attackers, potentially saving the lawmaker’s life. In another video, rioters are shown running up and down the hallways of the building looking for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, calling out a mocking voice, “Naaaaancy. Oh, Naaaaancy.”
  • Impeachment managers emphasized Trump’s role and pointed out the number of attackers wearing or carrying Trump flags. “This attack never would have happened but for Donald Trump,” said Madeleine Dean said. “And so they came, draped in Trump’s flag, and used our flag, the American flag, to batter and to bludgeon.”
  • Joe Biden, who has steered away from discussing or involving himself in the impeachment trial, was engaged with foreign policy today. He ordered new sanctions against the military regime in Myanmar, which staged a coup this month and ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior politicians. An executive order will block the country’s generals from accessing $1bn in assets in the US.
  • Speaking at the Pentagon, Biden said he would bring a “responsible end to wars that have dragged on for far too long”. “I believe force should be a tool of last resort, not first,” the president said, committing to work with defense secretary Lloyd Austin to review the US’s military entanglements.

Stay tuned for more impeachment updates, and other politics news.

Updated

In a video interview, an officer who suffered a heart attack after being tased by the attackers said: “It looked like a medieval battle scene. It was one of the most brutal combat I’ve ever seen.”

Swalwell, who emphasized that his father was a cop, showed various instances of violence against law enforcement, including the widely circulated video of an officer nearly being crushed by two doors.

The trial has now paused for a dinner recess.

Updated

Swalwell is emphasizing just how close lawmakers were to the mob. He showed an image of a rioter carrying zip ties.

“If the doors to this chamber had been breached just minutes earlier, just imagine what they could have done with those cuffs,” Swalwell said.

New footage showed Senate leader Chuck Schumer walking up a ramp, and almost immediately turning back after encountering the mob.

Swalwell also showed footage of rioters attacking police, including a new video of them attacking officers with a crutch, a hockey stick, a bull horn, and a Trump flag.

Updated

In making their case, impeachment managers are showing even more unreleased security footage.

Swalwell showed a video of House members being evacuated as the mob filled into the chamber.

“Minutes later, at 2.44pm, Ashli Babbitt attempted to climb through a shattered window to the House lobby,” Swalwell said. “To protect the members in the lobby, an officer discharged his weapon. She was killed.”

“You know how close you came to the mob, some of you I understand could hear them, but most of the public does not understand how close these rioters came to you,” Swalwell said to his fellow lawmakers. “You were just 58 steps away from where the mob was amassing and police rushed to stop them.”

Updated

Impeachment manager Eric Swalwell is laying out a timeline of the capitol insurrection.

This is Maanvi Singh, taking over for Joanie.

Upon hearing a security announcement, telling lawmakers and staffers to get under their desks, and “just be prepared. Stay calm,” Swalwell recounted that the House chaplain walked to the front podium and started to recite a prayer for peace.

“Uncertain what would happen next, I sent a text message to my wife. I love you and the babies, please hug them for me. I imaging many of you sent similar messages,” said Swalwell of California.

Updated

Impeachment manager Eric Swalwell is now presenting more evidence to outline the events of January 6 after insurrectionists breached the Capitol.

The Democratic congressman noted that he sent a message to his wife after the Capitol was breached. “I love you and the babies. Please hug them for me,” Swalwell told his wife.

The congressman added to the senators in the chamber, “I imagine many of you sent a similar message.”

Impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett showed footage of insurrectionists calling out for House speaker Nancy Pelosi after entering the Capitol.

In one clip, an insurrectionist says in a mocking voice, “Naaaaancy. Oh, Naaaaancy.”

Plaskett also played audio of a Pelosi staffer calling for the help of Capitol Police because the rioters were banging on the door of the speaker’s office.

Shortly after the rioters entered the Capitol, Pelosi was evacuated to a secure location.

According to a Wall Street Journal reporter sitting in the Senate chamber, Mitt Romney closely watched the footage showing Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman directing him away from the insurrectionists on January 6.

The previously unseen security footage also showed Vice-President Mike Pence and his family being evacuated out of the Senate chamber.

By the time Pence was evacuated, the insurrectionists were already inside the Capitol.

Other videos from January 6 show insurrectionists chanting, “Hang Mike Pence!” The rioters missed Pence by a matter of minutes.

Updated

Police officer Eugene Goodman shown rushing Romney to safety

The new footage showed Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman directing Senator Mitt Romney away from the violent mob and urging him to take cover, potentially saving the lawmaker’s life.

Goodman has been hailed as a hero for directing the insurrectionists away from the Senate chamber as the riot unfolded.

Updated

Impeachment managers show previously unseen security footage from insurrection

Impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett also played previously unseen security footage from the day of the Capitol insurrection.

Rrioters can be seen breaking windows and streaming into the Capitol after destroying some of the barriers around the building.

One of the first people who entered the Capitol is carrying a Confederate flag.

Impeachment managers play never-before-heard police dispatches from insurrection

Impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett played never-before-heard audio of DC police officers requesting back-up as insurrectionists charged toward the Capitol.

A man can be heard saying in a Metropolitan Police Department dispatch that there are “multiple Capitol injuries” and asking another team to respond to the site.

“They’re throwing metal poles at us!” the officer says at one point. “They’re starting to throw explosives.”

At 13:49, the responding officer declared the violence to be a riot.

Impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett showed footage of insurrectionists clashing with police officers as they stormed barricades around the Capitol.

Plaskett noted that the insurrectionists were storming toward the Capitol as Vice-President Mike Pence began overseeing the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election.

The break in the impeachment trial has now concluded, and the Senate has reconvened to continue with the second day of the trial.

Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin said Eric Swalwell and Stacey Plaskett will now walk senators through the events of January 6.

“I do want to alert everyone that there is some very violent, graphic footage coming,” Raskin said.

The US Capitol Police has released a statement ahead of this week’s no confidence vote in several senior leaders, including acting chief Yogananda Pittman, who took control of the agency following the January 6 insurrection.

“Since the appointment of Acting Chief Pittman two days after the attack, she and her executive team took quick action to improve intelligence and operational communications with all officers,” the statement says.

The former chief of the USCP, Steven Sund, resigned the day after the insurrection amid widespread criticism of how law enforcement leaders prepared for and responded to the violence carried out by a pro-Trump mob.

“The events of January 6 were tragic and heartbreaking. Two of our own died and others were subjected to inexcusable violence during the attack. Since her appointment on January 8, Acting Chief Pittman has met with officers from every division and has grieved with the families and loved ones of our fallen,” the statement says.

“The entire USCP continues to work diligently to see to it that what happened on January 6 will never happen again, and that all officers will have the tools and resources they need, both personally and professionally. Much work remains, but we are moving swiftly to help each other heal and build on our collective successes.”

We have reached another short break in the impeachment trial. The Senate is expected to reconvene in about 15 minutes.

Dean: 'This attack never would have happened but for Donald Trump'

Impeachment manager Madeleine Dean recounted the terrifying moment when insurrectionists started pounding on the doors of the House chamber, and she held Donald Trump directly responsible for the insurrectionists’ actions.

“This attack never would have happened but for Donald Trump,” Dean said. “And so they came, draped in Trump’s flag, and used our flag, the American flag, to batter and to bludgeon.”

Dean added, “And at 2:30, I heard that terrifying banging on House chamber doors. For the first time in more than 200 years, the seat of our government was ransacked on our watch.”

The congresswoman became choked up as she remember the events of January 6.

Updated

Returning to the impeachment trial, manager Madeleine Dean offered an analysis of Donald Trump’s speech to supporters on January 6, shortly before the Capitol was stormed.

Dean noted that Trump made only one reference to remaining peaceful in the speech, while he made 20 references to “fight” or “fighting”.

“In a speech spanning 11,000 words - yes, we did check - that was the one time, the only time President Trump used the word peaceful,” the impeachment manager said.

Dean quoted Trump telling his supporters that they must “fight like hell or you’re not going to have a country anymore”.

“There was only one fight left, and it was a mile up the road,” Dean said.

Joe Biden thanked those is the US military and the defense department’s civil employees for their service to their country. The president promised to never politicize the work of the Pentagon.

“I will never, ever dishonor you. I will never disrespect you. I will never politicize the work you do,” Biden said.

Biden noted February is Black History Month, and he said he and Vice-President Kamala Harris would soon be visiting the hall honoring “the long history of Black Americans fighting for this country”.

Biden acknowledged that the sacrifice of those Black service members often went unrecognized in US history, even as they “helped push the country to greater equality”.

Defense secretary Lloyd Austin is the first African American to lead the defense department.

Updated

Biden promises to bring 'responsible end to wars that have dragged on for far too long'

As the second day of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial continues, Joe Biden is speaking at the Pentagon, marking the president’s first visit there since he was sworn in.

Defense secretary Lloyd Austin introduced Biden and reflected upon the president’s late son, Beau Biden, who was a veteran. Austin applauded the younger Biden’s dedication to his country, which he said lived on in his parents.

The president opened his remarks by celebrating the news that Saudi Arabia has released prominent women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul from prison. Biden also mentioned his earlier announcement that his administration will be issuing sanctions against Myanmar over its recent military coup.

The new commander-in-chief emphasized to Pentagon staffers that he took his responsibility to determine when to send US troops into battle very seriously.

“I believe force should be a tool of last resort, not first,” Biden said, promising to work with Austin to bring a “responsible end to wars that have dragged on for far too long”.

Impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett noted that the January 6 insurrection was preceded by other acts of violence carried out by Donald Trump’s supporters.

Among other examples, Plaskett recalled how a group of Trump supporters tried to drive a bus carrying Joe Biden campaign staffers off the road in Texas days before the presidential election.

“If you look at these events, it’s clear how we get here,” Plaskett said.

It’s worth noting that after the Texas incident happened, some Republicans celebrated the caravan. Senator Marco Rubio said the day after the incident, “We love what they did.”

Impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett, the House delegate who represents the US Virgin Islands, is now speaking for the first time in the trial.

Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin introduced Plaskett by noting he taught her when she was a law student at American University. “She was an A student, and she is an A+ student now,” Raskin said of Plaskett.

Continuing the managers’ argument for Donald Trump’s conviction, Plsakett played a clip of the then-president telling the extremist group Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” during his first debate against Joe Biden.

Plaskett argued Trump had every reason to believe those supporters would turn violent, and thus he cannot claim ignorance regarding the potential consequences of his baseless claims of widespread election fraud.

Congressman Ted Lieu outlined how Donald Trump’s actions became increasingly desperate as his campaign’s legal efforts to overturn the results of the election failed.

The impeachment manager applauded Mike Pence for carrying out his constitutional responsibilities by overseeing the certification of Joe Biden’s victory, even as Trump called on the vice-president to attempt to subvert the will of the American people.

“Finally, in his desperation, he turned on his own vice-president,” Lieu said. “President Donald J Trump ran out of non-violent options to maintain power.”

Updated

Bruce Castor, one of Donald Trump’s lawyers, delivered a rambling open statement yesterday that was widely mocked for failing to address the question of the impeachment trial’s constitutionality.

Multiple reports indicate that the former president was furious with Castor’s performance and was even yelling as he watched the lawyer deliver his opening argument.

According to Reuters, Castor was hoping to use his performance in the impeachment trial to launch a gubernatorial bid in Pennsylvania, with Trump’s backing. But that outcome seems less likely after yesterday.

Impeachment manager Madeleine Dean played audio from Donald Trump’s January 2 call with Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state.

In the call, Trump told the Republican official to “find” enough votes to reverse Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia, which was confirmed by two separate recounts.

The New York Times reported today that Georgia prosecutors are launching a criminal investigation of the phone call.

Impeachment manager Madeleine Dean described Donald Trump’s baseless claims of widespread election fraud as “the actions of a desperate president”.

Dean noted that Trump contacted election officials in multiple battleground states to lobby them to overturn Joe Biden’s victories in those states.

Dean read aloud some of the threats that Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, and his wife received after two recounts confirmed Biden’s win in the state.

Here’s more on the criminal investigation launched into Trump’s election arm-twisting in Georgia, by the new district attorney for Fulton County, Fani Willis, earlier today.

And not forgetting that Georgia is the only state mentioned in the article of impeachment currently being tried against Trump in the Senate.

The article states thus: “President Trump’s conduct on January 6, 2021, [note: the insurrection at the US Capitol] followed his prior efforts to subvert and obstruct the certification of the results of the 2020 Presidential election. Those prior efforts included a phone call on January 2, 2021, during which President Trump urged the secretary of state of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, to “find” enough votes to overturn the Georgia Presidential election results and threatened Secretary Raffensperger if he failed to do so.”

Earlier today, the AP reports:

A Georgia prosecutor said Wednesday that she has opened a criminal investigation into “attempts to influence” last year’s general election, including a call in which President Donald Trump asked a top official to find enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the state.

In a Jan. 2 call to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Trump repeatedly argued that Raffensperger could change the certified results of the presidential election, an assertion the secretary of state firmly rejected.
“All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Trump said. “Because we won the state.”

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis did not specifically mention Trump in the letters. But the former president has been under intense criticism for the call.

Willis spokesman Jeff DiSantis confirmed that the call to Raffensperger was “part of it”.

The letters, sent to Raffensperger, governor Brian Kemp, the lieutenant governor and the attorney general, instruct the four Republican officials to preserve all records related to the election.

Senior Trump adviser Jason Miller decried the district attorney’s announcement, saying “the timing here is not accidental given today’s impeachment trial.”

Noah Bookbinder, the executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said the watchdog group last month sent a criminal complaint to Willis’ office.

“Trump’s conduct violates not only the law, but the foundation on which our democracy is built,” Bookbinder wrote in an emailed statement.

Willis’ letters note the investigation is looking into “potential violations of Georgia law prohibiting the solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to state and local government bodies, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office and any involvement in violence or threats related to the election’s administration.”

Impeachment trial resumes

The second day of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial has now resumed, after a short break.

Impeachment manager Madeleine Dean is speaking for the first time since the trial started, outlining the former president’s efforts to raise baseless concerns of widespread election fraud.

Dean noted that dozens of legal challenges filed by Trump’s reelection campaign were either dropped or dismissed by judges.

Biden announces sanctions on Myanmar military leaders

Joe Biden, the US president, is very deliberately avoiding becoming involved in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.

He’s going about his business dealing with crises on many fronts and has no bones about scheduling events, including public appearances, that clash with the impeachment proceedings in the Senate.

Moments ago, as the House Democratic impeachment managers were on their feet in the Senate excoriating the former president, the current occupant of the White House was announcing sanctions against the military leaders of Myanmar who have snatched power there.

The Associated Press writes:

Joe Biden on Wednesday ordered new sanctions against the military regime in Myanmar, taking action after the military this month staged a coup in the Southeast Asian country and arrested de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior politicians.

Biden said he was issuing an executive order that will prevent Myanmar’s generals from accessing $1 billion in assets in the United States. Biden added that more measures are to come.

“The military must relinquish power it seized and demonstrate respect for the will of the people of Burma,” Biden said.

Before Biden spoke from the White House, large crowds demonstrating against the military takeover again took to the streets in Myanmar, even after security forces ratcheted up the use of force against them and raided the headquarters of Suu Kyi’s political party.

Witnesses estimated that tens of thousands of protesters, if not more, turned out in Yangon and Mandalay, the country’s biggest cities. Rallies also took place in the capital, Naypyitaw, and elsewhere.

The protesters are demanding that power be restored to Suu Kyi’s deposed civilian government. They’re also seeking freedom for her and other governing party members detained by the military after it blocked the new session of Parliament on February 1.

The military cited the government’s failure to act on unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voter fraud as part of the reason for the takeover and declaration of a one-year state of emergency.

The generals maintain the actions are legally justified, and have cited an article in the constitution that allows the military to take over in times of emergency.

Suu Kyi’s party has said it’s effectively a coup. The Biden administration also was quick to officially determine the takeover was a coup, setting the stage for Wednesday’s announcement.

Here’s more from the Guardian in Yangon:

Impeachment manager Eric Swalwell is now detailing the prosecution case that having failed to win the November presidential election or quickly overturn the result with futile court cases, Donald Trump rallied his most fervent supporters around the notion of turning up in Washington on January 6 to “stop the steal”.

Eric Swalwell (red tie) follows fellow impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett across the Capitol after the first day of Donald Trump’s trial.
Eric Swalwell (red tie) follows fellow impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett across the Capitol after the first day of Donald Trump’s trial. Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP

In other words, to find a way to prevent the official certification of Joe Biden’s victory by the US Congress on that day.

Swalwell, a Democratic representative from California who also ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination last year, spoke about how Trump and his team spent $50m on adverts that promoted the idea that the election had been stolen from him.

He said the president exhorted his followers, via the ads, “over and over and over” to show up in the capital on January 6 to take back the election.

“The ads ran up to January 5 and then they stopped,” Swalwell said.

Trump had also said that the idea that the election had been “stolen” from him - when Joe Biden won decisively - should be considered “an act of war” against which his supporters should “fight to the death”, Swalwell argued moments ago in front of the Senate.

The trial has just paused for a 15-minute recess.

Castro: 'This mob was provoked over many months by Trump'

Impeachment manager Joaquin Castro is detailing how Donald Trump spent many months, when he was behind in the polls, stoking the notion that the election was going to be rigged.

“He wanted his supporters to be angry,” he said.

Joaquin Castro presents elements of the impeachment case at the Senate.
Joaquin Castro presents elements of the impeachment case at the Senate. Photograph: Getty Images

“This mob was provoked over many months by Donald J Trump, by his personal conduct, this attack was foreseeable and preventable,” said Castro, the representative for San Antonio, Texas, and the brother of former presidential candidate Julián Castro.

Castro said that at least six months before the November election, Trump began tweeting and saying on television that he wouldn’t agree to a peaceful transfer of power if he was deemed to have lost the election, and that he would only lose if the election was fraudulent.

“He wanted his supporters to believe the election would be stolen from him, from them” if Biden was declared the winner, Castro said.

Trump was behind in the polls but “he truly made his base believe that the only way he could lose was if the election was rigged...it was dangerous for our country...the most combustible thing you can do in a democracy is convince people their voice does not count,” Castro said.

Updated

Today so far

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • The second day of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is underway in the Senate. The House impeachment managers are presenting their arguments for why Trump should be convicted for incitement of insurrection. “The evidence will show you that ex-President Trump was no innocent bystander,” Jamie Raskin said. “It will show that Donald Trump surrendered his role as commander-in-chief and became the inciter-in-chief.”
  • The impeachment managers plan to present new footage from Capitol security cameras as part of their arguments. In his opening comments today, Raskin warned that some of the managers’ evidence would be graphic and possibly unsuitable for children.
  • Georgia prosecutors are opening an investigation of Trump’s call to Brad Raffensperger, according to the New York Times. The then-president was recorded in a January 2 call asking the Republican secretary of state to “find” enough votes to reverse Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

Impeachment manager Joe Neguse said his team’s argument would be broken down into three parts: “the provocation,” “the attack” and “the harm”.

Specifically addressing the provocation piece of the argument, the Democratic congressman divided that section into “The Big Lie: The Election was Stolen,” “Stop the Steal” and “Fight like Hell to Stop the Steal.”

Neguse played clips of insurrectionists chanting “fight for Trump” to show how the rioters believed they were acting in the former president’s interest.

“They were following the president,” Neguse said. “He alone had the power to stop it, and he didn’t.”

Lead impeachment manager asks: 'Is this America?'

Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin closed his opening comments today by commending the bravery of US Capitol Police officers who protected the Capitol on January 6.

Raskin noted that one black officer said he was called the n-word 15 times by the insurrectionists. The officer asked after the attack, “Is this America?”

Raskin said, “Can our country and our democracy ever be the same if we don’t hold accountable the person responsible for inciting the violent attack against our country, our Capitol, our democracy and all of those who serve us so faithfully and honorably. Is this America?”

Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin took direct aim at arguments from Donald Trump’s lawyers that the former president’s baseless claims of widespread election fraud are protected by the First Amendment.

Raskin compared Trump’s actions on January 6 to that of a fire chief who refuses to put out fires and instead cheers as a fire spreads across his town.

“This case is much worse than someone who falsely shouts fire in a crowded theater,” Raskin said. “It’s more like like a case where the town fire chief, who’s paid to put out fires, sends a mob not to yell fire in a crowded theater, but to actually set the theater on fire.”

Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin warned that some of the footage from the insurrection may not be suitable for children to watch.

Raskin said he and the other managers would try to offer warnings before showing graphic content for those watching the impeachment trial with younger viewers.

Raskin began his arguments yesterday by playing a 13-minute video showing the violence and destruction of the January 6 insurrection.

When the video showed one insurrectionist being shot by a police officer, Senator Cory Booker was seen covering his eyes.

Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin noted that Donald Trump repeatedly encouraged his supporters to come to Washington on January 6 for a march that culminated in the insurrection.

Raskin also quoted Trump telling his supporters shortly before the Capitol was stormed that they must “fight like hell or you’re not going to have a country anymore”.

“He told them to fight like hell,” Raskin said. “And they brought us hell on that day.”

The lead impeachment manager emphasized that Trump did not attempt to call off the violence for hours, as lawmakers sheltered in place at the Capitol.

“He watched it on TV like a reality show,” Raskin said. “He reveled in it. He did nothing to help us.”

Raskin condemns Trump as the 'inciter-in-chief'

Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin said his team’s arguments would clearly outline how Donald Trump incited the violent insurrection at the Capitol on January 6.

“The evidence will show you that ex-President Trump was no innocent bystander,” Raskin said. “The evidence will show that he clearly incited the January 6 insurrection. It will show that Donald Trump surrendered his role as commander-in-chief and became the inciter-in-chief.”

The impeachment managers’ opening presentation yesterday, which included graphic footage showing the violence and destruction of the insurrection, was applauded by senators of both parties.

Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin opened his team’s arguments by noting that the Senate voted yesterday to move forward with the impeachment trial.

Donald Trump’s defense team tried to argue yesterday that the Senate did not have jurisdiction to conduct the trial because the former president had already left office.

The Senate rejected that argument by a vote of 56-44, with six Republicans joining all Democrats to support the constitutionality of the trial.

Raskin said the rest of the trial must now focus on whether Trump is guilty of incitement of insurrection in connection to the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

“The jurisdictional Constitution issue is gone,” Raskin said. “We are having a trial on the facts.”

Despite the Senate’s vote yesterday, it seems likely that Trump’s lawyers will continue to hammer the jurisdiction issue when they begin their arguments.

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, who is presiding over the impeachment trial, opened the proceedings by noting that the impeachment managers will have 16 hours to present their arguments.

An aide to the managers’ team said earlier today that the House Democrats do not plan to use the full 16 hours available to them.

Impeachment managers to present arguments on second day of trial

The second day of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is now officially underway in the Senate chamber.

Today, the House impeachment managers will start presenting their arguments for why Trump should be convicted for incitement of insurrection.

The managers played footage showing the violence and destruction of the January 6 insurrection yesterday, and they are expected to do so again today.

Biden expected to announce sanctions against Myanmar over military coup

Joe Biden will speak “on the administration’s response to the coup in Burma” at 1 pm ET today.

The addition to the president’s schedule comes as his administration has weighed the possibility of issuing sanctions against Myanmar over its recent military coup.

Bloomberg News reports:

The Biden administration is prepared to roll out sanctions on current and former military leaders in Myanmar over their involvement in a coup earlier this month, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The sanctions, the first use of the punitive measures since [Biden] took office last month, will also target business entities linked to the officials, according to the person, who asked not to be identified discussing measures that had yet to be announced.

Dr Anthony Fauci said that about 20,000 pregnant women have now received a coronavirus vaccine, and there have been no “red flags” raised so far.

Pregnant women and children were excluded from the trials that the Food and Drug Administration used to determine emergency use authorizations for the vaccines, raising concerns that the groups might be negatively affected by the treatments, but that doesn’t appear to be the case so far.

The White House coronavirus response team’s briefing has now concluded.

Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that between 1% and 4% of coronavirus cases in the US are due to the UK variant.

The percentage varies greatly depending on region, as certain parts of the country have far more cases of the UK variant than others.

Dr Anthony Fauci said that the UK variant could become the dominant coronavirus strain in the US by the end of March, but thankfully, vaccines appear to be quite effective against the UK variant.

Dr Rochelle Walensky emphasized the importance of remaining vigilant about mask-wearing, as coronavirus cases in the US continue to decline.

“Now is not the time to roll back mask requirements,” the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Walensky described the results of a new study, which showed that a well-fitted mask can reduce one’s exposure to potentially infectious aerosols by about 95%.

The CDC director said Americans could create the best mask fit by knotting the ear loops and tucking in the sides of a medical mask or by wearing a cloth mask over a medical mask.

Dr Marcella Nunez-Smith, who leads the White House coronavirus health equity task force, celebrated the announcement that 12 non-federal members will be joining her team.

Nunez-Smith said the selected individuals represented a diverse range of racial and ethnic groups, LGBTQ identities and tribal affiliations.

Here are the 12 new members of the task force, as announced by the White House this morning:

  • Mayra Alvarez of San Diego, California
  • James Hildreth of Nashville, Tennessee
  • Andrew Imparato of Sacramento, California
  • Victor Joseph of Tanana, Arkansas
  • Joneigh Khaldun of Lansing, Michigan
  • Octavio Martinez of New Braunfels, Texas
  • Tim Putnam of Batesville, Indiana
  • Vincent Toranzo of Pembroke Pines, Florida
  • Mary Turner of Plymouth, Minnesota
  • Homer Venters of Port Washington, New York
  • Bobby Watts of Goodlettsville, Tennessee
  • Haeyoung Yoon of New York, New York

Jeff Zients announced the establishment of three new mass coronavirus vaccination sites in Texas.

The White House coronavirus response coordinator said the sites would be set up in Dallas, Arlington and Houston and would distribute tens of thousands of vaccine doses a day.

The news comes after two mass vaccination sites were established in California, with active-duty troops helping to get the sites up and running.

1.5 million vaccine doses being distributed each day, Zients says

The White House coronavirus response team is now holding a briefing to provide an update on vaccine distribution.

Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, acknowledged the pandemic will not end overnight, but he emphasized that the Biden administration is using “every tool at our disposal” to limit the spread of the virus.

Zients noted that there has been a 28% increase in vaccine distribution over the first three weeks of Joe Biden’s presidency. The US is now distributing an average of 1.5 million vaccine doses a day, Zients said.

The federal government is also deploying teams across the country to help get as many shots in arms as possible.

Neera Tanden, Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the office of management and budget, is testifying before the Senate budget committee this morning.

This is the second confirmation hearing for Tanden, who testified before the Senate homeland security and governmental affairs committee yesterday.

Neera Tanden arrives for a Senate budget committee hearing on Capitol Hill.
Neera Tanden arrives for a Senate budget committee hearing on Capitol Hill. Photograph: Reuters

Like yesterday’s hearing, this morning’s questioning has so far focused on Tanden’s tweets while serving as president of the liberal think tank Center for American Progress.

Republicans have argued that Tanden’s tweets, many of which criticize them, could make it difficult for her to mend bridges as the OMB director.

Tanden reiterated her remorse over some of her tweets, saying, “I know there have been some concerns about some of my past language on social media, and I regret that language.”

The budget committee is chaired by Senator Bernie Sanders, and Tanden has also specifically criticized him over social media, particularly during the 2016 Democratic primary.

Sanders asked Tanden about her attacks on him and other progressives, and she told the committee chairman that her approach to social media would be “radically different” as a senior government official.

Reports have already indicated that Sanders intends to support Tanden’s nomination, despite their past differences.

Joe Biden will visit the Pentagon today, marking the president’s first visit there since Lloyd Austin was confirmed as the secretary of defense.

Biden will use his visit to highlight the historic nature of Austin’s tenure, given that the retired Army general is the first African-American to lead the department of defense.

Biden’s trip to the Pentagon comes a week after he delivered a speech at the state department, and the president is expected to visit the National Institutes of Health tomorrow.

Georgia prosecutors open investigation into Trump's call to Raffensperger - report

Prosecutors in Fulton county, Georgia, have reportedly launched a criminal investigation of Donald Trump’s phone call to Brad Raffensperger, the Republican secretary of state, about the presidential election.

The New York Times reports:

On Wednesday, Fani Willis, the recently elected Democratic prosecutor in Fulton County, sent a letter to numerous officials in state government, including Mr. Raffensperger, requesting that they preserve documents related to Mr. Trump’s call, according to a state official with knowledge of the letter. The letter explicitly stated that the request was part of a criminal investigation, said the official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal matters.

The inquiry makes Georgia the second state after New York where Mr. Trump faces a criminal investigation. And it comes in a jurisdiction where potential jurors are unlikely to be hospitable to the former president; Fulton County encompasses most of Atlanta and overwhelmingly supported President Biden in the November election.
The Fulton County investigation comes on the heels of a decision Monday by Mr. Raffensperger’s office to open an administrative inquiry.

In the January 2 phone call, Trump pressed Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn Biden’s victory in Georgia, sparking allegations that the then-president was trying to overturn the will of the American people.

Impeachment managers to introduce new visual evidence today

House impeachment managers are preparing to introduce new visual evidence during their presentation on Wednesday, as the trial begins in earnest following a vote to move forward with the proceedings.

The Democratic managers will lay out their case for why Donald Trump should be impeached, arguing that the former president committed “the most heinous constitutional crime possible” according to a senior aide on the impeachment manager’s team.

“Today the actual trial begins,” the aide said. “We have the goods we will be presenting the goods.”

The prosecution will show footage captured by security cameras on the Capitol complex that has never before been viewed publicly. The team is expected to present for about eight hours on Wednesday and conclude their arguments on Thursday. It is unlikely the managers will use the entire 16 hours allotted to both parties under an agreement reached by the Senate leaders. It remains uncertain whether they will attempt to call witnesses.

Aides pointed to Senator Bill Cassidy’s vote on Tuesday night as evidence that it is possible to still change the minds of some Republicans in the chamber. The Louisiana Republican voted last month to dismiss the trial on constitutional grounds, but after hearing arguments from the managers on Tuesday, joined five other Republican senators and Democrats in agreeing that it was constitutional for the Senate to try an impeached former president.

“The managers are going to go in and they are going to move the hearts, minds, and, I think, the consciences of 100 jurors, none of them have voted yet,” said another senior aide. “And we fully expect to prevail in the end.”

Updated

A new poll reaffirms that an overwhelming majority of Americans support passing another coronavirus relief package, as Democrats seek to advance Joe Biden’s relief bill without Republican support.

According to the new CBS News-YouGov poll, 83% of Americans support Congress passing another relief package, while 17% of Americans oppose the idea.

The survey also found that about 8 in 10 Americans think that Biden’s $1.9 trillion proposal is either the right size or too small to confront the pandemic.

According to the poll, 39% of Americans think Biden’s proposal is about the right size, while 40% say it is not enough. Only 20% of survey respondents thought the proposal was too much.

The results underscore the difficult political position that Republicans are in, as many members of the party warn about the negative impact that the package would have on the federal deficit. Few, if any, Republicans are expected to support the final package.

Donald Trump was not able to immediately weigh in on the first day of the impeachment trial because he lost access to his Twitter account last month.

Speaking to CNBC this morning, the chief financial officer of Twitter said Trump’s account would not be restored in he ran for president again.

“The way our policies work, when you’re removed from the platform, you’re removed from the platform, whether you’re a commentator, you’re a CFO or you are a former or current public official,” Ned Segal said.

“Our policies are designed to make sure that people are not inciting violence, and if anybody does that, we have to remove them from the service, and our policies don’t allow people to come back,” Segal added.

During his presidential campaigns and his single term in the White House, Trump frequently used his Twitter account to shift the news cycle and sometimes even to fire senior administration officials.

Given that Trump has lost access to his favorite social media platform, the public has heard very little from the former president since he left office last month.

This is Joan Greve in Washington, taking over for Martin Belam.

The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump continues today, with House impeachment managers presenting their arguments for why the former president should be convicted of incitement of insurrection.

Senators of both parties applauded yesterday’s performance by the impeachment managers, led by congressman Jamie Raskin, who presented a legal and emotional argument for Trump’s conviction.

Raskin recounted how his daughter and son-in-law were with him at the Capitol on January 6, and they were separated amid the insurrection. When they were reunited, Raskin’s daughter told him, “Dad, I don’t want to come back to the Capitol.” The congressman choked up as he recalled his daughter’s words.

Raskin and his team will start their presentation in about three hours, so stay tuned to the blog for updates and analysis as the second day of the trial gets underway.

One of the stranger aspects of the impeachment trial is the silence from Donald Trump himself. Ashley Parker and Josh Dawsey write for the Washington Post this morning about what is going on in Trump’s world:

In self-imposed exile in South Florida since leaving office, Trump has created a gilded bubble around himself — a protective shield further enforced by the decision of Twitter and other social media companies to ban the former president from their platforms after the Capitol riot.

He is adrift, friends say, with no clear sense of what comes next for the first time in his political life. They add that Trump is calmer than they expected as he faces down another historic indictment in a career littered with them. Four former senior Trump administration officials independently described the former president as “chill” or “chilling.”

Worried about his instinct for self-sabotage, Trump’s lawyers and allies counseled him to largely stay quiet until the Senate trial ends, fearful that anything he might say or do would only serve to strengthen the case against him or make Republicans more reluctant to acquit him. Daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, also urged him not to get in the way of the Senate proceedings, which seemed to be headed toward a positive outcome for him.

But Trump’s seeming quietude, said one confidant who recently spoke with the former president, is less the result of newfound discipline and more a consequence of Twitter’s decision to ban Trump, who no longer has an instant public forum to blast out his latest grievances.

Read more here: Washington Post – In self-imposed exile, Trump watches with unhappiness as second impeachment trial unfolds

Polling people on their willingness to take a vaccine is fraught with difficulty, as people often say one thing about a hypothetical situation, and then do something else. Nevertheless it will be of concern today to the White House Covid response team that a new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll finds that about 1 in 3 Americans say they definitely or probably won’t get the Covid-19 vaccine.

The poll found that while 67% of Americans plan to get vaccinated or have already done so, 15% are certain they won’t and 17% say probably not. Many expressed doubts about the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness.

It suggests that substantial skepticism persists more than a month and a half into a US vaccination drive that has encountered few if any serious side effects. It found that resistance runs higher among younger people, people without college degrees, Black Americans and Republicans.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s leading infectious-disease scientist, has estimated that somewhere between 70% and 85% of the US population needs to get inoculated to halt the pandemic. More recently, he said the spread of more contagious variants of the virus increases the need for more people to get their shots and quickly.

Asked if 67% of Americans is enough, William Hanage, a Harvard University expert on disease dynamics said “No. No, no, no, no. You’re going to need to get quite large proportions of the population vaccinated before you see a real effect.”

Nearly 33 million Americans, or about 10% of the population, have received at least one dose, and 9.8 million have been fully vaccinated, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.

In the poll, taken by 1,055 adults between 28 January and 1 February, Black Americans appeared less likely than white Americans to say they have received the shot or will definitely or probably get vaccinated, 57% versus 68%. Among Hispanic Americans, 65% say they have gotten or plan to get the vaccine.

Politico have a piece this morning looking at who else spoke before former president Donald Trump at the “Stop the steal” rally in Washington DC on 6 January.

Highlights include Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, who was “the only state attorney general not to sign a statement condemning the violence. He denounced the riots separately, but falsely claimed the mob was filled with leftist agitators masquerading as Trump supporters. Democrats in the Texas Legislature called for an investigation into Paxton’s role in the riots.”

The piece reminds us that, just a little before the Capitol was ransacked, Donald Trump Jr said of the crowd that they’d gathered without “ripping down churches” and “looting”, while also telling Republicans in Congress they had a choice between being a hero or a zero. “And the choice is yours but we are all watching,” said Trump Jr.

And it also repeats Rep Mo Brooks words: “Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.” Brooks later complained he was facing Orwellian censorship when fellow members of Congress attempted to censure him for saying “we American patriots are going to come right at them” – the them being his Republican colleagues in the House.

Read more here: Politico – Trump is on trial for inciting an insurrection. What about the 12 people who spoke before him?

Here’s Kate Sullivan at CNN teeing up president Joe Biden’s first visit to the Pentagon today while in office. She writes:

Biden and vice [resident Kamala Harris will meet with defense secretary Lloyd Austin and other senior military and civilian leadership during the visit. The President and vice president will then deliver remarks to Department of Defense personnel and tour the African Americans in Service Corridor, according to the White House.

Austin is the first Black secretary of defense, and Harris is the first Black vice president, as well as the first woman and first South Asian to hold the position. Biden on Wednesday will “pay special tribute to the rich history of Black service members,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, noting that the trip coincides with Black History Month.More than 40% of active-duty forces are men and women of color, Psaki said. She said Biden will also thank service members for their role in protecting the nation. His visit comes as the Pentagon is grappling with racism and extremism in the services, an issue Austin has made a priority.

“As the first president in 40 years with a child who served in the military, he has a personal connection to the important role of the work of the military, the men and women who serve,” Psaki said during a White House briefing on Tuesday.

Read more here: CNN – Biden to visit Pentagon and pay tribute to Black service members

Axios have a piece this morning looking at the future of the Republican party, and Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei suggest that trying to appeal to the working classes rather than big business is going to be a part of it. They write:

This is a substantial shift, born of necessity and the post-Trump reality. It would push Republicans further away from the interests of corporate America and traditional conservative ideas like entitlement reform.

Top Republican officials tell Axios that if the party is going to survive, it needs to copy Donald Trump’s fixation on blue-collar voters in 2016 and working-class and minority voters in 2020 — and ditch, or at least downplay, allegiance to big business.

So instead of Republican leaders talking about reforming Medicare or Social Security, you’ll hear them talking about protecting entitlements. Instead of corporate tax cuts, job “stability” will be a campaign theme for House Republicans as they try to win the majority in next year’s midterms.

Numerous corporations are cutting off money to a big chunk of Republicans who refused to certify the Joe Biden victory. At the same time, Trump showed Republicans how to invigorate not just working-class whites, but also some Hispanic and Black voters, especially men.

The piece suggests that House minority leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Sen Marco Rubio of Florida are two of the leading figures pushing down this path.

Read more here: Axios – GOP eyes working-class future

There’s plenty in the diary today which isn’t the impeachment of former president number forty-five.

President forty-six, Joe Biden, will receive his daily brief at 9.30am EST. He’ll later deliver remarks to Department of Defense personnel at the Pentagon at 2.50pm, and will tour the African Americans in Service corridor at the Pentagon at 3.30pm.

The vice president, Kamala Harris, and Jeff Zients, who is coordinator of the Covid-19 response, will host a listening session with dozens of mayors from the African American Mayors Association to discuss the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan at 5.30pm.

There will be a press briefing by the White House Covid-19 response team and public health officials at 11am. Jen Psaki’s briefing as White House press secretary will be at 12:30pm today.

Neera Tanden, White House budget director nominee, appears before the Senate budget committee for her confirmation hearing at 10am. It’s her second day on parade – yesterday she faced the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

There was some social media criticism of Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell yesterday after the Republican voted that it was unconstitutional to hold an impeachment trial of a former president. Many were not slow to point out that it was McConnell himself who had declined to recall the Senate to consider the impeachment while Trump was in office, when he had ample opportunity to do so.

Jennifer Jacobs writes for Bloomberg this morning that despite that vote yesterday, Trump’s acquittal may not quite be a done deal for the Kentucky senator.

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell is signaling to fellow Republicans that the final vote on Donald Trump’s impeachment is matter of conscience and that senators who disputed the constitutionality of the trial could still vote to convict the former president, according to three people familiar with his thinking.

The Kentucky Republican has also suggested that he hasn’t made up his mind how he’ll vote, two of the people said, even though he voted Tuesday to declare it unconstitutional for the Senate to hear the case against a former president.

That position is starkly different than McConnell’s declaration at the start of Trump’s first impeachment trial last year that he did not consider himself an impartial juror.

Read more here: Bloomberg – McConnell signals to Republican party Trump impeachment is a conscience vote

Today House Democrats prosecuting the case and the former president’s attorneys will lay out their opposing arguments before the senators at Donald Trump’s impeachment trial who are serving as jurors. The defense lost the vote yesterday seeking to halt the trial on constitutional grounds, 56-44, with reports saying it left Trump fuming over his lawyers’ performance and allies questioning the defense strategy. Some called for yet another shakeup to his legal team, report the Associated Press.

The heavy emotional weight of the trial punctuates Trump’s enduring legacy as the first president to face impeachment trial after leaving office and the first to be twice impeached. While many minds are made up, the senators will face their own moment to decide whether to convict or acquit Trump of the sole charge of “incitement of insurrection.”

Lead defense lawyer Bruce Castor said he shifted his planned approach yesterday after hearing the prosecutors’ opening and instead spoke conversationally to the senators, saying Trump’s team would do nothing but denounce the “repugnant” attack and “in the strongest possible way denounce the rioters.” He appealed to the senators as “patriots first,” and encouraged them to be “cool headed” as they assess the arguments.

Trump attorney David Schoen turned the trial toward starkly partisan tones, saying the Democrats were fueled by a “base hatred” of the former president.

The early defense struggles also underscored the uphill battle that Trump’s lawyers face in defending conduct that preceded an insurrection that senators themselves personally experienced. Though they will almost certainly win Trump’s acquittal — by virtue of the composition of the Senate — they nonetheless face a challenge of defanging the emotion from a trial centered on events that remain raw and visceral, even for Republicans.

Zack Harold has been in Charleston for us, reporting on how West Virginia’s decade of bad luck steeled it to fight Covid:

It’s usually bad when West Virginia makes headlines. The state has a long, sad history of severe poverty, bad health outcomes, political corruption and disasters both natural and manmade.

But by mid-January, some very good news started coming from West Virginia: somehow the Mountain state was putting 81% of its available vaccines into the biceps of its citizens while bigger states struggled to distribute even half of their available vaccines.

As national media descended on the state to figure out why, much of the reporting focused on the state’s decision to distribute vaccines through local pharmacies, bucking the federal plan to use the national chains CVS and Walgreens.

That isn’t the whole story of West Virginia’s vaccine triumph, however. The state’s path to success started long before there was a thing called Covid-19, much less a vaccine to fight it, and was grounded in the state’s unique response to a series of tragic disasters. One that may be hard to replicate.

In March 2020, as Covid-19 cases crept higher, West Virginia’s governor, Jim Justice, established a “joint interagency taskforce” to oversee the state’s pandemic response.

It’s a simple idea borrowed from the world of military strategy: bring anyone involved in an operation to the same table, so everyone can share information and coordinate their efforts. This particular taskforce would be made up of federal, state and local government agencies, the West Virginia national guard, and groups representing hospitals, pharmacies and nursing homes.

“We took the construct of what the military does in operations, mission planning, and we applied it with our public health partners. We operationalized a public health emergency,” said Maj Gen James Hoyer, who serves as director of the Covid taskforce.

Read more of Zack Harold’s report here: How West Virginia’s decade of bad luck steeled it to fight Covid

Yesterday the US recorded 95,360 new coronavirus cases, and 3,131 further deaths. The total death toll from the pandemic now stands at 467,858 according to the Johns Hopkins University figures.

The Covid Tracking Project, which will come to an end early next month, states that hospitalizations in the US have fallen below 80,000 for the first time since mid-November.

There is some good news on the vaccination front, as Christina Maxouris reports for CNN:

About one in 10 Americans – nearly 32.9 million people – have so far received at least a first dose of the two-part Covid-19 vaccines, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows, and about 9.8 million people have been fully vaccinated.

It’s not all rosy though.

While US and state leaders are optimistic vaccinations will ramp up further in the coming months, several challenges remain, including supply shortages and equitable access – which come as public health experts say the US is in a race against time as Covid-19 variants keep spreading across the country.

In Delaware, officials announced Tuesday the state was no longer expecting to open another phase of vaccine eligibility on March 1 as was planned due to an “extremely limited supply” of vaccines. In Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear said the state will receive more doses from the federal government and added, “it’s not enough, but it’s great.”

Updated

Robin Givhan, the Washington Post’s critic-at-large, has given her view on yesterday’s proceedings in the capitol:

Lawyers argued the law, which is a good and necessary thing. And even if the former president is acquitted, which will most likely be the case with so many partial senators, the impeachment process will have gone forward. Justice might not be served, but at least justice will still have a place at the table.

The case to the American people watching from home was not so much legal as it was emotional. “I hope this trial reminds Americans how personal democracy is,” said Rep Raskin, the lead impeachment manager.

The breaching of the US Capitol on 6 January still resonates as a dire moment for the country. Democracy was on a precipice and was miraculously pulled back from the edge by heroism, determination and sheer luck. The impeachment managers wanted the American people to sit with that reality for a bit. And so their opening statement was accompanied by a graphic video that showed the manner in which the Capitol riot unfolded. Excerpts from Trump’s speech earlier on that day on the Ellipse, as well as his tweets, served as time stamps and guide posts.

The video was not to remind the senators of what happened, because surely the chaotic and terrifying day is embedded in their memory. It was really aimed at the public. It was meant to tug on every heart string, to elicit every fear, to horrify the public.

Read more here: Washington Post – In an avalanche of words, there’s no sign of regret from Trump

Amanda Holpuch in New York reports for us today on the Biden administration’s early moves over immigration:

Biden has taken a slew of actions to roll back or review Trump’s anti-immigrant policies, but activists say Biden must do more to prove his commitment to meaningful change.

Anxiety is building around certain policies, such as proclamations 10014 and 10052, the ban on immigrant and non-immigrant visa holders which is keeping Kouadio and her family out of the US.

Attorney Jesse Bless, who is involved with litigation against the bans, estimated it would take about 10 minutes for Biden to revoke them. “If President Biden lets these visa bans go until they sunset on March 31, he will have effectively terminated the opportunity for diversity visa holders forever,” Bless said.

“The executive actions signed thus far are just the beginning,” a White House spokesperson said. “President Biden has been very clear about restoring compassion and order to our immigration system, and correcting the divisive, inhumane and immoral policies of the past four years, which is our focus in the coming weeks and months.”

A complication for Biden has been getting the agencies which act on immigration policy, primarily Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), to comply.

A court blocked Biden’s 100-day moratorium on deportations and Ice has attempted to resume deportation flights which defy guidelines introduced by the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Ice also attempted to violate the guidelines by deporting asylum-seeking families being held in Texas, but it was stopped after a coalition of 110 advocacy groups, including Amnesty International USA, stepped in.

Read more of Amanda Holpuch’s report here: Biden takes action on anti-immigrant policies but Trump’s influence hovers

Whether to find Donald Trump guilty or not has a political dimension for Senate Republicans, who can see that there is still a substantial base to their party loyal to the former president – and even state legislators still clinging to the conspiracy theories that have been spread about the Capitol insurrection.

Associated Press report that a Republican legislative leader in Michigan apologized yesterday after falsely claiming supporters of president Donald Trump were not involved in the deadly attack at the US Capitol, having called it a “hoax”, even as the Senate was watching a video of the events as part of Trump’s trial.

State Senate majority leader Mike Shirkey made the comments last Wednesday while meeting with leaders of the Hillsdale County Republican party, according to a video posted on YouTube by a group called Reclaim Our American Republic. The remarks were first reported by the Detroit Metro Times.

“I said some things in a videoed conversation that are not fitting for the role I am privileged to serve,” he said in a statement. “I own that. I have many flaws. Being passionate coupled with an occasional lapse in restraint of tongue are at least two of them. I regret the words I chose, and I apologize for my insensitive comments.”

The statement did not specify the remarks for which he was apologizing.

In the contentious meeting, three Republicans spoke with Shirkey at a restaurant a day before the Hillsdale County Republican Party’s executive board censured him for a number of reasons, including backing a ban on the open carry of guns into the Statehouse and allegedly not doing enough to fight Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Covid-19 restrictions.

Shirkey countered that Republicans had successfully sued the governor and taken other steps such as blocking her nominees. “Spanked her hard on the budget,” he said. “Spanked her hard on appointments. Did everything we could constitutionally do.”

At one point, a participant who said he was at the 6 January protest in Washington DC, asked Shirkey about it. He responded: “That wasn’t Trump people. That’s been a hoax from day one. That was all prearranged.”

Another participant, who also said he had been in DC, suggested that police tear-gassed “their own guards.”

Shirley said: “Why wasn’t there more security there? It was ridiculous. It was all staged,” claiming that then-US Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell “was part of it. ...They wanted to have a mess.”

That mess will carry on being debated in the Senate today, which reconvenes at noon EST, which is 5pm if, like me, you are in London.

In contrast to Donald Trump apparently watching the progress of the impeachment trial on TV from Florida, president Joe Biden has been getting on with his work. Yesterday White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden was president, not a pundit, and so wouldn’t be commenting on the proceedings. Instead, while the drama unfolded in the Senate, Biden was meeting with business leaders to discuss his coronavirus rescue plan.

For the senators riveted to their seats, forced to relive the nightmarish quality of that day, there was something especially spooky about watching the mob rampaging through the very building where they were sitting, smashing windows, crushing police officers in doors, waving far-right regalia and chanting “Fight for Trump!”

For Republicans, it must have been uniquely stomach-churning to see what their champion had unleashed – knowing that most of them will continue to defend them during this trial for fear of angering his “base”. Never can they have been so relieved to have been wearing masks that concealed their expressions from the press gallery.

The video Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin showed ended with a tweet from Trump from that day insisting this is what happens when an election is stolen (it wasn’t stolen). He told his fans: “Go home with love & peace! Remember this day forever!”

The montage was an early indication that, whereas Trump’s first impeachment trial a year ago – which turned on a phone call seeking political favours from Ukraine – was like a white-collar criminal case, this time is more akin to a mob trial with Trump cast as the instigator of violent thugs.

It was a dramatic, roaring start to the trial that promises to plant a giant exclamation mark at the end of the Trump presidency. Raskin and his eight fellow House impeachment managers want to make sure that 6 January will become the operatic climax of America’s four years of living dangerously.

They also want to send a message. They are aware that the world’s faith in America has been badly shaken by the election and presidency of a reality TV star who thrives on petty insults and breaking rules. And they are aware that the 6 January riot may have been breaking point for some.

But Joe Biden likes to say that betting against America is always a bad bet. His election and orderly inauguration last month sent a signal to the world that it should not write off the young republic yet.

Read more of David Smith’s analysis here: Democrats use Trump trial to show sometimes symbolism is the point

The vote to proceed with the trial had shifted slightly in the Senate since the last time they were asked the question on whether the trial would be constitutional. In part, the New York Times suggests, to the performance of Donald Trump’s legal team. They write:

The defense’s case drew perplexed reactions from Republicans, evidently including Mr. Trump, who — barred from Twitter and out of sight in Florida — lacks the public megaphone he frequently used to weigh in on his first trial. The performance prompted at least one Republican, Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, to side with Democrats on the vote to allow the trial to proceed.

“Anyone who listened to President Trump’s legal team saw they were unfocused, they attempted to avoid the issue and they talked about everything but the issue at hand,” said Mr. Cassidy, who had voted last month in favor of a constitutional objection to the trial and was the only Republican to switch his position on the matter on Tuesday. He quickly drew rebukes from the Louisiana Republican Party.

The Times also reminds us that we may not be detained with this trial for that long…

With senators in both parties eager to conclude an undertaking whose outcome was clear, they agreed to rules that would allow for an extraordinarily rapid impeachment trial, with a verdict expected as soon as this weekend. It could conclude in as little as half the time of Mr. Trump’s first trial, when senators acquitted him of charges related to a pressure campaign on Ukraine.

The speed reflected Democrats’ fears that pausing to judge Mr. Trump would spoil the momentum behind President Biden’s agenda. Republicans, too, had good reason to want the trial over with, closing a chapter that has been divisive and damaging to their party.

Read more here: New York Times – Senate agrees trial is constitutional, as Trump consolidates votes for an acquittal

After nearly four hours of debate yesterday, a divided US Senate finally voted 56 to 44 to proceed with the historic second impeachment trial of Donald Trump. House Democrats opened the trial with a chilling and dramatic video of the Capitol siege. The House impeachment managers warned that allowing Trump to escape punishment would establish a ‘January exception’ for presidents to betray their oaths of office. In their rebuttal, Trump’s defence team argued that the trial was not only unconstitutional but would ‘open up new and bigger wounds across the nation’ and was based on the Democrats not wanting ‘to face Donald Trump as a political rival in the future’. Here’s our video wrap of yesterday’s events…

Hello, and welcome to our live coverage of US politics and the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Here’s a catch-up on where we are, and what we can expect today.

  • Yesterday a divided US Senate voted to proceed with the historic trial after an emotional opening day in which the prosecution argued that the former president was singularly responsible for inciting the deadly assault on the US Capitol.
  • Six Republicans broke ranks with their party to vote in favor of the trial – but that number is way short of the 17 required to vote with Democrats to find the former president guilty.
  • The chamber was stunned into silence by a chilling and dramatic opening video montage of the Capitol siege that threatened the lives of the former vice-president, Mike Pence, members of Congress, and everyone working in the building that day.
  • The Senate will reconvene at noon today – that’s 5pm in the UK – and the impeachment managers will begin their sixteen hours of permitted time to lay out their arguments.
  • There were 92,666 new coronavirus cases recorded yesterday, and a further 3,031 deaths. Hospitalizations dipped below 80,000 for the first time since mid-November, and 33.3m people have now received at least one dose of vaccine.
  • A coalition of prominent celebrities, indigenous leaders and environmental groups have written to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris urging them to shut down the Dakota Access pipeline which is operating without a legal permit.
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