U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) questions Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin during a hearing on “Examination of Loans to Businesses Critical to Maintaining National Security” before the Congressional Oversight Commission at Dirksen Senate Office Building, in Washington, December 10, 2020.
The coverage in this live blog has ended.
More than 200 lawmakers in the Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives are now calling for President Donald Trump's removal from office in the wake of a mob attack on Congress that left at least 5 people dead including a police officer.
Though calls for Trump's removal are growing, either through impeachment or the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, time is short with less than two weeks to go until President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20.
It's also unclear whether there is enough Republican support to execute such a move. Vice President Mike Pence is said to oppose ousting Trump with the 25th Amendment, a process that would require majority support from the president's Cabinet.
And so far, only a few GOP senators have made public comments that suggest they may support impeachment.
Here's what you need to know:
- Pelosi tells Trump — resign or be impeached again
- McConnell: Senate can't take up impeachment until Jan. 19
- Murkowski first GOP senator to call for Trump to leave
- More arrests : Man carrying Pelosi's lectern and guy wearing horns
- Mnuchin cuts short overseas trip to facilitate Biden transition
- GOP Sen. Toomey says Trump committed impeachable offenses
- Pence to attend Biden inauguration
Pence decides to attend Biden's inauguration
WASHINGTON – Vice President Mike Pence will attend the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, another public break with President Donald Trump since the riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Money Report
On Friday, Trump said he would skip the ceremony on Jan. 20., a decision that Biden described as "one of the few things we have ever agreed on."
Biden, who spoke from Wilmington, Delaware on Friday said he'd be "honored" if Pence accepted his invitation to attend the inauguration.
– Amanda Macias
Capitol Police officer who died after clash at Capitol should receive honors, Slotkin says
Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., requested Saturday that the Department of Defense provide special recognition and honors to Brian Sicknick, the Capitol Police officer who died in Wednesday's violent clash with a pro-Trump mob.
The honors for Sicknick, a veteran of the New Jersey Air National Guard, should include burial at the Arlington National Cemetery, Slotkin said.
"I urge you to take the necessary steps to give Officer Sicknick and his family the honor they deserve," Slotkin wrote in a letter to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, Air Force Chief of Staff C.Q. Brown and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley.
— Emma Newburger
Toomey: Trump committed impeachable offenses
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, in an interview with Fox News Saturday, said President Trump committed impeachable offenses that disqualify him from serving.
"I do think the president committed impeachable offenses but I don't know what's going to land on the Senate floor," Toomey told "The Journal Editorial Report" on Fox News.
Toomey, however, waffled on whether Congress should move forward with impeachment given President-elect Joe Biden will take power on Jan. 20.
"I have to say I do think the president's behavior this week does disqualify him from serving but we've got 10 days," Toomey said.
The Pennsylvania senator said he's unsure whether it's logistically possible, practical or desirable to try to remove Trump with such little time left.
GOP Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska has said he would consider whatever impeachment articles the House submits to the Senate. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, called on Trump to resign Friday.
—Spencer Kimball
Congress members call on New York to investigate and disbar Rudy Giuliani
Reps. Ted Lieu, D-Calif, and Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., in a letter Saturday called on the New York State Bar Association to investigate President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani in order to disbar him.
Their demands stem from Giuliani's involvement in Wednesday's deadly pro-Trump riots on Capitol Hill.
Earlier in the day, before the mob stormed the Capitol, Giuliani had called for "trial by combat" to battle President-elect Joe Biden's victory during a "Save America" rally in front of the White House.
West Virginia state legislator resigns after charged with involvement in Capitol riots
A Republican member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, who was charged in connection with being part of a pro-Trump mob that invaded the Congress earlier this week, has resigned.
"I hereby resign as a member of the House of Delegates, effective immediately," Delegate Derrick Evans, who filmed himself and others going into the Capitol on Wednesday, said Saturday in a one-page letter to West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice.
In another statement released by the state's House, Evans said: "I take full responsibility for my actions, and deeply regret any hurt, pain or embarrassment I may have caused my family, friends, constituents and fellow West Virginians," according to local outlet MetroNews.
"I hope this action I take today can remove any cloud of distraction from the state Legislature, so my colleagues can get to work in earnest building a brighter future for our state," he added, according to the outlet. "And more importantly, I hope it helps to begin the healing process, so we can all move forward and come together as 'One Nation, Under God.'"
—Will Feuer
Mnuchin cuts short overseas trip to facilitate transition of power
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is cutting short his overseas trip in order to facilitate the U.S. transition of power to the incoming Biden administration, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC.
Mnuchin's decision to cut his trip short is not related to the 25th Amendment, according to the source. The Treasury secretary was heading to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia but decided his business there could be done remotely.
Mnuchin also wants to handle issues related the newest round of stimulus and the loan program for small businesses struggling from the Covid pandemic.
Bloomberg first reported the news.
CNBC reported earlier in the week that Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had informal conversations within their agencies about the 25th Amendment in the wake of the pro-Trump mob attack on Congress that left several people dead.
The invocation of the 25th Amendment would begin the process of removing President Trump from office. It requires majority support from the president's Cabinet, and Vice President Mike Pence is reportedly opposed to such a move.
—Spencer Kimball, Steve Kopack
Trump's top arms control expert resigns after Capitol Hill riots: NBC News
The Trump administrations leading arms control expert resigned from the State Department in protest following the riots on Capitol Hill, according to NBC News.
Assistant Secretary Christopher Ford had originally decided he would resign at the end of President Donald Trump's first term. However, after Wednesday's riot, Ford informed Trump that his departure would be immediate.
"I cannot continue to serve in an Administration at a time in which some are willing to condone, or even to incite, violent insurrection against the country I hold dear and whose Constitution I have taken a sacred oath to support and defend," Ford wrote in a recent letter to Trump, NBC News reports.
Ford joins a list of administration officials that are walking away from Trump after the riots.
At least five people died following Wednesday's attack, including a police officer.
— Brian Schwartz
Senator tells social media companies, wireless carriers to preserve evidence
Incoming chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee Sen. Mark Warner instructed wireless carriers and social media companies to preserve evidence related to the riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Warner, D-Va., sent letters Friday to mobile carriers AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon and social media companies Apple, Facebook, Gab, Google, Parler, Signal, Telegram, and Twitter, urging them to preserve content and data related to Wednesday's riots.
"The United States Capitol is now a crime scene," he wrote in the letters. "Messaging data to and from your subscribers that may have participated in, or assisted, those engaged in this insurrection – and associated subscriber information – are critical evidence in helping to bring these rioters to justice."
A spokesman for Facebook did not respond directly to questions about whether Facebook will preserve relevant messages or data, but said: "We are continuing our ongoing, proactive outreach to law enforcement and have worked to quickly provide responses to valid legal requests."
Representatives for Apple, Google, Twitter, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile did not immediately return CNBC's requests for comment.
—Will Feuer
Horned man charged in Capitol Hill riot
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia announced on Saturday that they were charging Jacob Chansley, the man photographed wearing horns to the riots on Capitol Hill this week.
The press release says Chansley, a.k.a. Jake Angeli, an Arizona man, was "charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds."
He was arrested on Saturday.
The release goes on to say that Chanlsey was the "man seen in media coverage who entered the Capitol building dressed in horns, a bearskin headdress, red, white and blue face paint, shirtless, and tan pants." He carried a spear with an American flag just below the blade.
The riot left at least five dead, including a police officer. Angeli was among three men charged on Saturday.
— Brian Schwartz
Pro-Trump dark money groups organized the rally that led to deadly Capitol Hill riot
A slew of pro-Trump dark money organizations organized a rally that led to a deadly riot on Capitol Hill.
The rally, officially known as the "March to Save America," was largely organized by a 501(c)(4) group known as Women for America First. The organization was certified by the Internal Revenue Service as a nonprofit that can engage in limited political activities. These groups are known as dark money organizations as they do not publicly disclose their donors.
However, America First Polices, a pro-Trump policy advocacy dark money group, did disclose in 2019 that they contributed to Women for America First. America First's 990 disclosure form from that year shows they contributed $25,000 to Women for America First.
America First Policies, which is also a 501(c)(4) that does not disclose its donors, is chaired by Linda McMahon, a longtime Trump ally and former head of the Small Business Administration. The 2019 filing shows America First Policies ended up raising over $30 million. They were not involved with the planning of the rally itself.
— Brian Schwartz
Trump supporters heckle Lindsey Graham at airport
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was harassed by a group of Trump supporters in the Reagan National Airport on Friday after he publicly criticized how President Trump handled the U.S. Capitol Hill riots.
Several people yelled at Graham and called him a traitor and liar, a video of the incident shows.
Graham, a strong ally of Trump, has defended the certification of Electoral College votes to confirm President-elect Joe Biden and publicly broke with the president after Wednesday's deadly riots.
"Trump and I have had a hell of a journey, but enough is enough," Graham said on the Senate floor Wednesday night.
But as the president faces a mounting impeachment threat backed by Democrats, Graham argued in a tweet on Friday that impeachment could "further divide the country and erode the institution of the presidency itself."
— Emma Newburger
CDC director warns Capitol riots could be Covid 'surge event'
The riots at the U.S. Capitol earlier this week would could prove to be yet another "surge event" that spreads the coronavirus, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Friday.
Redfield's comments come as the U.S. outbreak grows worse than ever. Over the past week, the U.S. has reported nearly 3,000 daily deaths every day, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
"I do think you have to anticipate that this is another surge event. You had largely unmasked individuals in a non-distanced fashion, who were all through the Capitol," Redfield told the McClatchy news agency in an interview.
"Then these individuals all are going in cars and trains and planes going home all across the country right now. So I do think this is an event that will probably lead to a significant spreading event," he added. "This is an event that is going to have public health consequences."
Redfield said the country is going to continue to see between 2,500 and 5,000 new daily deaths caused by Covid-19, adding that "this is going to continue to get worse through January, and probably parts of February before we really start to turn the corner."
—Will Feuer
Defense Department calls deadly Capitol riots 'first amendment protests' in memo
The U.S. Defense Department called Wednesday's pro-Trump riots "first amendment protests" in an official memorandum outlining the D.C. National Guard's response that day.
The memo was issued by the office of the acting Defense secretary. The president fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper in November and replaced him with Christopher Miller, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
The police response to the mob of armed rioters who stormed the Capitol has been criticized as lenient, especially in comparison to police response to nonviolent 2018 climate change protests at the Capitol, as well as nationwide protests following the killing of George Floyd in May.
Some former U.S. national security officials have also questioned federal law enforcement's lack of preparedness to prevent the Capitol siege.
Five people died in the mob attack on Congress, including a police officer. CNBC has reached out to the Defense Department for comment.
— Emma Newburger
Man pictured carrying Pelosi's lectern at Capitol riots arrested in Florida
The man pictured earlier this week at the riots in the U.S. Capitol leaving the House chambers with Speaker Nancy Pelosi's lectern was arrested Friday in Florida, The Miami Herald reported.
Florida resident Adam Christian Johnson, 36, is being held on a federal warrant, records from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office show. The Herald reported that Johnson was among those sought by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for involvement in the mob violence on Wednesday.
"Just because you've left the D.C. region, you can still expect a knock on the door if we find out that you were part of criminal activity inside the Capitol," Steven D'Antuono, assistant director of the FBI's Washington field office, said Friday on a conference call with reporters. "Bottom line—the FBI is not sparing any resources in this investigation."
—Will Feuer
Michael Cohen says he's cooperating with agencies investigating Trump and his family
President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen said Friday that he's cooperating with government agencies that are investigating the president and his family.
"I have been asked and have agreed to cooperate with multiple government agencies to provide testimony on the wrongdoing by #Trump and the #TrumpFamily," Cohen wrote in a tweet. "I am doing this in large part as #Trump and family have tried, and thankfully failed, to destroy America's democracy."
Cohen, who served Trump for years as a lawyer, is serving the remainder of a three-year criminal sentence under home confinement amid the coronavirus pandemic.
— Emma Newburger
Murkowski first GOP senator to call for Trump to resign — 'I want him out'
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is the first Republican senator to call openly for President Trump's resignation in the wake of the mob attack on the U.S. Congress that left 5 people dead.
"I want him to resign. I want him out. He has caused enough damage," Murkowski, who has often bucked her party, told The Anchorage Daily News.
"I think he should leave. He said he's not going to show up. He's not going to appear at the inauguration. He hasn't been focused on what is going on with Covid," she said. "He's either been golfing or he's been inside the Oval Office fuming and throwing every single person who has been loyal and faithful to him under the bus, starting with the vice president."
"He doesn't want to stay there. He only wants to stay there for the title. He only wants to stay there for his ego. He needs to get out. He needs to do the good thing, but I don't think he's capable of doing a good thing," Murkowski said.
The Alaska Republican did not comment directly on whether she would support impeachment. It's unclear how much support a second impeachment trial would garner in the GOP-controlled Senate. It takes a two-thirds vote in the chamber to convict a president and remove him from office.
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., told CBS Friday that he would "definitely consider whatever articles" the House of Representatives would submit. "As I've told you, I believe the president has disregarded his oath of office ... What he did was wicked," Sasse said.
—Spencer Kimball
McConnell: Senate can't take up impeachment until Jan. 19
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told his caucus in a memo that the chamber cannot take up impeachment until Jan. 19 at the earliest.
That's a day before President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated and Trump leaves office. The Senate is currently in recess and only holding pro forma sessions every three days, with one scheduled for Jan. 12 and another for Jan. 15.
McConnell, R-Ky., said it would take unanimous consent from all 100 senators to conduct any kind of business, including impeachment, during the pro forma sessions. Obtaining unanimous consent is unlikely given Republican control of the Senate.
McConnell's position on Trump's future is unclear. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, McConnell's wife, resigned from Trump's Cabinet over the U.S. Capitol riots.
— Spencer Kimball
Pelosi gives Trump ultimatum: Resign or face impeachment
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is calling for President Donald Trump to resign from office or face an unprecedented second impeachment.
Pelosi told the House of Representatives on Friday to move forward with impeachment next week if Trump does not resign from office for stoking a mob that attacked the U.S. Congress Wednesday, resulting in five deaths.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., David Cicilline, D-R.I., and Ted Lieu, D-Calif., plan to introduce at least one article of impeachment on Monday. A draft article obtained by NBC News charges Trump with "incitement to insurrection."
—Spencer Kimball
