Extract from ABC News
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says President Donald Trump has committed "an unspeakable assault on our nation and our people" and must be removed from office.
She has called on Vice-President Mike Pence to immediately invoke the 25th Amendment and warned if he does not act, the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment.
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By Peter Marsh
Graham takes a swipe at the media
Graham was asked by journalist why it took him a month and a half after the election was called to recognise that Joe Biden had won.
He made the argument that the media's anti-Trump bias has contributed to the anger we saw on display at the Capitol yesterday.
"You wanted me to name Biden as the winner before Trump exercised his legal right to contest the results in court," Graham said, comparing this election to the 2000 presidential election that was decided in the Supreme Court.
Graham said he hopes the President will stop attacking the legitimacy of the election and focus on key policy matters before he leaves office.
"The people around him have the right attitude and are giving him good advice," he said.
By Peter Marsh
By Peter Marsh
Graham heaps praise on the actions of Vice-President Mike Pence
Graham singled out Vice-President Mike Pence, and lavished praise on him for doing his duty and presiding over the electoral college vote in Congress.
He then goes big picture, and speaks to Republicans and conservatives in general.
"I just want every Republican to know that in my view, limited government applies when you don't like the outcome then when you do like the outcome. The constitution needs to be followed as written," Graham said.
"For those of you who were pushing the idea that Pence should unilaterally overturn the results of the election, you cheapened the principle of constitutional conservatism."
The Senator said that he doesn't regret that he supported the President for so long.
"I have absolutely no regrets for helping this President make us more safe and prosperous."
By Peter Marsh
Graham condemned Donald Trump for not stopping the violence
He says he does not believe the 25th Amendment needs to be invoked, and that a peaceful transition of power is possible and necessary, adding that he spoke to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and lead White House Counsel about the transition.
The Senator is running through a line-by-line debunking of election conspiracy theories floated by the President, his legal term and his supporters.
"Why do I say that Joe Biden is the legitimate President of the United States? Because he got the most votes," Graham said.
"To my colleagues who objected yesterday, you didn't do anything illegal... I respect what you were trying to do, but I disagree with you." "To the people of this country, I say there has not been a blind eye turned to the problems with elections in this country.
"The result of the election was disappointing, but it was done in accordance to the law."
Graham re-iterated that not one judge nor one legislative body agreed that the electoral results should be recertified.
By Peter Marsh
Graham likens yesterday's events to protests in Portland
Senator Graham said yesterday's events showed it would be "easy" for a terrorist organisation to "infiltrate this Capitol", but chided Democrats for what he believed was a failure to condemn violence earlier in the year.
"You need to speak up when this happens elsewhere," Graham said,
"The mistake we made was when people tried to destroy the court house in Portland, they were not prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
"It's good to hear everyone calling for prosecution but some of you are late to the dance."
By Peter Marsh
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham is delivering a press conference
"Rather than doing a bunch of interviews, I figured I'd give everyone an update here," he said.
"The first thing that sticks out to me is how embarrassed and disgusted I am that the US Capitol would be taken over while we were trying to participate in a peaceful transition of power."
Senator Graham called the rioters "terrorists not patriots" and echoed Pelosi's call for resignations from those responsible for keeping members of Congress safe.
By Peter Marsh
Pelosi said a 'threshold' was crossed yesterday
The House Speaker says that Donald Trump should not be allowed to make any more decisions as President.
"Perhaps someone thought, for a moment, that the President would be patriotic upon leaving office," Pelosi said.
"A threshold was crossed of such magnitude, that the President should not be allowed to make any decision, to rouse any more of his troops, his Trumpites. What could happen next?"
She mentioned unfounded claims made by Republican Matt Gaetz on the House floor yesterday that it was not Trump's supporters but antifa responsible for the capitol breach.
"We have a problem with enabling by the Republicans here in the congress," she said, adding that they should be held responsible.
By Peter Marsh
Pelosi says Trump incited 'sedition' against the United States
"By inciting sedition as he did yesterday, he [Trump] must be removed from office," Pelosi said
"While it's only 13 days left, any day can be a horror show for America."
Pelosi says her phone was "exploding with members saying 'impeach impeach impeach'".
She was asked by reporters how long she'll give Vice-President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment before beginning the process of impeachment.
"I don't think it'll take long for the Vice-President to give an answer," she said, adding hopefully they'll hear from Pence today.
"They have to answer for the behaviour of Donald Trump".
By Peter Marsh
Nancy Pelosi has called for the 25th Amendment to be invoked, will consider impeachment if it isn't
Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi held a press conference to condemn the rioters, criticise the President and Republicans who objected to the electoral college votes and advocate for the invoking the 25th amendment to remove Trump from office.
"In calling for this seditious act, the President has committed an unspeakable assault on our nation and our people. I join the Senate Demcoratic leader in calling on the Vice-President to remove this President by immediately invoking the 25th amendment. If the Vice-President and the cabinet do not act, the congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment. That is the overwhelming sentiment of my caucus", Pelosi said.
"You have failed. You did not divert congress from our solemn constitutional purpose." "Despite the desecration of our capitol, we have upheld our bedrock principle that the people have the power.
"My friends were are in a very difficult place in our country as long as Donald Trump sits in the White House."
By Peter Marsh
Joe Biden officially nominates Merrick Garland for Attorney General
This was reported out a few days ago, but got lost in all the Georgia/electoral college vote counting tsunami of news, but the president elect just made it official.
For those who don't remember, Garland was the judge Barack Obama nominated to sit on the Supreme Court when Justice Antonin Scalia died. But Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to hold a vote on the nomination for almost a year, leaving the position open for President Donald Trump to fill when he began office.
Biden is also running through a bunch of other nominees for the Justice Department.
By Peter Marsh
Joe Biden lays the blame for yesterday's events with Donald Trump
"Trying to use a mob to silence the voices of nearly 160 million Americans who summoned the courage in the face of a pandemic...to cast that sacred ballot."
"What we saw yesterday was a fundamental violation of the core tenet of our nation."
Biden called out was he has called the "unequal" execution of justice yesterday, and recalled a text he received from his granddaughter.
"No one can tell me that if there were a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday they would have been treated very, very differently to the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol,"
"It is unacceptable," Biden said.
By Peter Marsh
Joe Biden is speaking in Delaware now
Joe Biden is here to talk about some of his Cabinet appointments, but he's started by laying into Donald Trump in a way I haven't seen since the debates. The president-elect is fired up.
"They weren't protesters. Don't call them protesters. They were a violent mob, insurrectionists, domestic terrorists," Biden said of the violence yesterday.
"He [Trump] unleashed an all out assault on our democracy from the outset, and yesterday was a culmination of that."
By Peter Marsh
Top Democrat Chuck Schumer has called for Trump to be removed from office
For those who aren't familiar with him, senator Chuck Schumer is one of the most senior people in the Democratic party. In terms of power and influence, he's only behind president-elect Joe Biden, vice-president-elect Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Until now, he's been the Democratic Senate Minority Leader, basically the boss of the Democrats in the Senate. But with the two Georgia wins this week he'll soon be the Senate Majority Leader, a position with a lot more power.
I set the stage there because what Schumer did today was important because of that power and influence — he called on Donald Trump's cabinet and vice-president Mike Pence to remove Donald Trump from office via the 25th Amendment. His is a significant voice that lends a lot of credibility to the push to remove the President from office.
One of the things we'll be watching today is how many more significant voices join in.
By Peter Marsh
Good morning everyone
Well.
Well.
That was a lot wasn't it?
Hey there everyone. Peter Marsh here. The fallout from an unprecedented day in US politics yesterday is continuing, and I'm here to help guide you through and hopefully make some sense of it all. And in even better news, I'll be joined by our eyes and ears on the ground in Washington DC Emily Olson as well.
Let's get into it.
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