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| HAPPENING ON CAPITOL HILL | |
Spotted: Mike Pence sporting a fake mustache, trench coat, sunglasses and empty suitcase at the train platform
Howdy, rock! Top of the morning to you, hard place!: |
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© Getty Images Today is the day that Congress will formalize President-elect Joe Biden’s win over President Trump as Trump supporters make a last-ditch attempt to overturn the election results. Livestream of the joint session in Congress: https://bit.ly/2JPTmNV |
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| DETAILS: |
| What time does it start?: 1 p.m. EST. What time will it end?: Depending on how many challenges are made, it could extend into Thursday. What to know about timing and logistics for today: Via NBC’s Dareh Gregorian: https://nbcnews.to/3pNPR9U |
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| GETTING TRACTION — PENCE REPORTEDLY TOLD TRUMP HE DOES NOT HAVE THE POWER TO BLOCK BIDEN’S WIN: |
| Via The New York Times’s Maggie Haberman and Annie Karni, Vice President Pence told President Trump yesterday that he doesn’t believe he has the power to overturn President-elect Biden’s electoral win. https://nyti.ms/2KXPhI7 The White House disputed this report in a statement last night: Here’s the full statement: https://bit.ly/3hUMY4r By the way, that is absolutely correct: “Mr. Pence does not have the unilateral power to alter the results sent by the states to Congress.” https://nyti.ms/2KXPhI7 |
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| HOW THE TRUMP ERA COMES TO A SCORCHING END: |
| Via The Hill’s Mike Lillis and Scott Wong: https://bit.ly/35fPoWe |
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| It’s a chaotic Wednesday in the nation’s capital. I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send comments, story ideas and events for our radar to cmartel@thehill.com — and follow along on Twitter @CateMartel and Facebook. Did someone forward this to you? Want your own copy? Sign up here to receive The Hill's 12:30 Report in your inbox daily: http://bit.ly/2kjMNnn |
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President-elect Biden taps Merrick Garland for attorney general: |
| Via Politico’s Tyler Pager, Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney, “Joe Biden has selected Judge Merrick Garland to serve as his attorney general, according to two people with knowledge of the decision.” https://politi.co/2LaDk1J For context: “Biden selected Garland over former Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) and former deputy attorney general Sally Yates, choosing to elevate the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals in D.C. to run the Justice Department.” How you know Merrick Garland: “In 2016, President Barack Obama nominated Garland to serve on the Supreme Court, but his nomination languished in the GOP-controlled Senate at the end of the former president’s term.” Everything we know about the nomination: https://politi.co/2LaDk1J |
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| WHAT TRUMP IS UP TO TODAY | |
We've all seen fiery Trump before. This is on a different level: |
| President Trump just addressed supporters outside the White House in charged, angry remarks, falsely alleging that the presidential election was stolen from him. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3ofgqEF |
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| HIGHLIGHTS FROM TRUMP’S RALLY: |
| The $$ line — Well, that answers that: "We will never give up,” Trump told the crowd. “We will never concede." Trump swore on live television: During Trump's remarks, he mentioned "explosion of b***s***." Fox News broadcasted it. Trump on the election results — well, this one is true: "This was not a close election." https://bit.ly/3hMf3L8 Trump on the congressional certification, starting soon: “I hope Mike is going to do the right thing. I hope so. I hope so. Because if Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election.” Trump also alleged: " ‘one of the top constitutional lawyers in our country’ told him Pence has ‘the absolute right to’ throw out the election results.” https://bit.ly/38jWMlx ^ Trump continued: “None of this is true other than that someone told him this. ‘All that Vice President Pence has to do is send it back to the states to recertify, and we become president, and you are the happiest people.’ He said he just spoke to Pence.” (Quote from The New York Times’s Maggie Haberman) https://bit.ly/2LvAvZ2 Photos of Trump walking on stage: https://bit.ly/3hLvVSq It took a minute for Trump’s mic to start working: https://bit.ly/2Xd7Vhs Spotted at the rally: “the naked cowboy from Times Square.” Via The New York Times’s Zolan Kanno-Youngs. https://bit.ly/3okXaWv |
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| WHAT THE PRESIDENT HAS BEEN TWEETING TODAY: |
| * At 8:17 a.m. EST: “States want to correct their votes, which they now know were based on irregularities and fraud, plus corrupt process never received legislative approval. All Mike Pence has to do is send them back to the States, AND WE WIN. Do it Mike, this is a time for extreme courage!” https://bit.ly/2XfMdtg ^ CNN’s Kaitlan Collins added some context — and mentioned it did not come from a Pence aide: “Yesterday a senior White House official (who is very Trump-y) said what he’s doing to Pence, who has remained loyal to him through Access Hollywood and all, is ‘shameful.’” https://bit.ly/3olq0pE At 8:22 a.m. EST: “THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, OUR COUNTRY, NEEDS THE PRESIDENCY MORE THAN EVER BEFORE - THE POWER OF THE VETO. STAY STRONG!” https://bit.ly/3njRnyU * At 9 a.m. EST: “They just happened to find 50,000 ballots late last night. The USA is embarrassed by fools. Our Election Process is worse than that of third world countries!” https://bit.ly/3pVQZIQ * At 9:15 a.m. EST: “The States want to redo their votes. They found out they voted on a FRAUD. Legislatures never approved. Let them do it. BE STRONG!” https://bit.ly/3oxPVut At 9:16 a.m. EST: “Even Mexico uses Voter I.D.” https://bit.ly/2JONZym * At 10:44 a.m. EST: “These scoundrels are only toying with the @sendavidperdue (a great guy) vote. Just didn’t want to announce quite yet. They’ve got as many ballots as are necessary. Rigged Election!” https://bit.ly/3brogYr * means Twitter has flagged this tweet with a warning, “this claim about election fraud is disputed.” See for yourself: http://bit.ly/2kTEoGF |
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It is quite the scene downtown: |
| Livestream of the Trump supporters’ rally in front of the White House.: https://bit.ly/3ofgqEF Livestream of the protests: https://bit.ly/35hKlod |
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| SIGHTS AND SOUNDS: |
| Ugh, this is how these situations escalate: Warning, there is a lot of profanity in this video of a protester arguing with a counterprotester. Watch — it is very tense to say the least: http://bit.ly/2N2rFAd It was pretty quiet outside the Capitol this morning: https://bit.ly/2MEPOPz Check out this outfit at the protest: https://bit.ly/2XcYCOJ It was pretty chaotic outside the White House last night: 
© Twitter Watch: https://bit.ly/38kT374 What an outfit!: One Trump supporter dressed up as an American flag-themed bald eagle. Photo: https://bit.ly/3ndPFza Interesting music choice: Politico’s Kyle Cheney tweeted, “Not a joke: The loudspeakers at the ‘Overturn the Election’ rally are playing the Titanic theme song.” He then added: “OK, it's moved onto ‘I Want it That Way’ by the Backstreet Boys, so things are back to normal.” Cheney posted a video to prove it: https://bit.ly/3og61Zk What White House officials could actually hear from the West Wing: https://bit.ly/3okPxzc 
© Twitter Alternate programming: “a group of interfaith religious leaders hosting a service of sorts outside a Lutheran church in downtown DC, near a Black Lives Matter sign that replaced one that was stolen and destroyed by Proud Boys last month.” Photo from Religion News Service’s Jack Jenkins: https://bit.ly/2Xfyhzp The Daily Beast’s Will Sommer is a good reporter to follow today. He is covering the protests: 
© Twitter This float must have taken a long time to make: https://bit.ly/3okQhnY |
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| ‘AUTHORITIES ARE ON HIGH ALERT AS PRO-TRUMP SUPPORTERS FLOOD DC TO PROTEST ELECTION’: |
| Via CNN’s Peter Nickeas: https://cnn.it/3hMh9dW |
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*whispers creepily* It’s getting bluer: |
| Democrats are within reach of controlling the Senate after news outlets projected Raphael Warnock as the winner in the Georgia Senate runoff race against incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) https://bit.ly/2XfQOvw Meaning: With Raphael Warnock’s win, Democrats now have 49 Senate seats and Republicans have 50. If Jon Ossoff wins his race, Democrats will have 50 seats. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will break the tie, meaning Democrats will control the upper chamber. |
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| TIDBIT: |
| “[House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.)] plays ‘Georgia on my mind’ to Democratic caucus during call this am, per sources” (Via CNN’s Manu Raju) https://bit.ly/3s2JJfR |
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What about the Ossoff-Perdue race?: |
| Democrat Jon Ossoff declared victory this morning, even as the race has not yet been called for him. https://bit.ly/2XihsDT Where the results stand: Ossoff is leading by a little more than 16,000 votes. In a video message from Ossoff this morning: "Georgia, thank you so much for the confidence that you have placed in me. I am honored, honored by your support, by your confidence, by your trust, and I will look forward to serving in the United States Senate with integrity, with humility, with honor, and getting things done for the people of Georgia.” Watch Ossoff’s full remarks: https://bit.ly/2XiGXoC |
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| WILL THERE BE RECOUNTS? — PROBABLY IN ONE OF THE RACES: |
| Via Vox’s Li Zhou, “According to Georgia law, if two candidates are within a 0.5 percentage point margin or less, either one is able to request a recount. Election officials are also able to ask for a recount if they suspect a potential error or discrepancy in the results, and candidates can petition the secretary of state if they are concerned about a similar issue.” https://bit.ly/2XjfPFW For context: Warnock is leading by more than 1 percentage point, but Ossoff is leading by just a 0.4 percentage point. Full explanation on recount rules in Georgia: https://bit.ly/2XjfPFW |
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| YES, THIS.: |
| The Washington Post’s Philip Rucker tweeted, “Watching returns from Georgia, it’s hard not to think about the hundreds of election workers who again tonight are carefully doing democracy’s business under unprecedented scrutiny, amid a raging pandemic, and with a president relentlessly and baselessly calling them thieves.” https://bit.ly/3ojdCGw |
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| LATEST WITH THE CORONAVIRUS | |
| Coronavirus cases in the U.S.: 21,069,442 U.S. death toll: 357,620 Breakdown of the numbers: https://cnn.it/2UAgW3y |
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Mitt Romney was accosted by a Trump supporter at the airport: |
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© Twitter Watch: https://bit.ly/3nkWvD4 ^ It didn’t end there: Once Romney boarded the plane — more Trump supporters heckled him. Watch — this must have been a ‘fun’ flight for everyone: https://bit.ly/38jH1uN Reaction from former White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah, who left her post last month: “Don’t know who needs to hear this but harassing @MittRomney & calling him a traitor is beneath us as a country. Disagree fervently - do it respectfully. Btw - his wife has MS, put on your damn mask.” https://bit.ly/2XcILzw |
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| The House and Senate are in. President Trump and Vice President Pence are in Washington, D.C. President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris are in Wilmington, Del. Today: President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris will receive the President’s Daily Brief. They will also receive a briefing from their economics team. Today, per the White House schedule sent to reporters: “President Trump will work from early in the morning until late in the evening. He will make many calls and have many meetings.” |
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| 1 p.m. ESTB: Joint session of Congress to formalize the presidential election results. Livestream: https://bit.ly/2JPTmNV Today: President-elect Biden will deliver remarks from Wilmington, Del. |
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| NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF...: | |
| Today is National Shortbread Day. |
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Why people are standing in long lines at grocery stores hoping to get a vaccine: |
| A law student grocery shopping on Friday night was asked by a pharmacist, who had extra doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, if he wanted them. Well, via WJLA-TV, “The no-waste vaccine secret is spreading fast. There was a long standby line around 3 p.m. at the Safeway, near the Waterfront Metro station in Southwest.” https://bit.ly/2XcNIIK |
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| And to give you a brief distraction from all the chaos today, here’s a dog dancing to Evanescence’s “Wake Me Up Inside”: https://bit.ly/393TcLr 
© Twitter |
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