McConnell, Pelosi homes vandalized after $2,000 relief fails – POLITICO
McConnell, Pelosi homes vandalized after $2,000 relief fails – POLITICO

KGO-TV reported that graffiti found on the garage door of the Democratic leader’s home included the phrases “$2K,” “Cancel rent!” and “We want everything,” apparently referencing Democratic lawmakers’ failed efforts to increase the coronavirus relief checks from $600 to $2000.

The news station says security cameras surround the three-story brick home in the tony Pacific Heights neighborhood.

McConnell released a statement on Saturday condemning the vandalism at his home in Louisville.

“I’ve spent my career fighting for the First Amendment and defending peaceful protest,” he stated. “I appreciate every Kentuckian who has engaged in the democratic process whether they agree with me or not. This is different. Vandalism and the politics of fear have no place in our society.”

McConnell said he and his wife are not intimidated by the vandalism. “We just hope our neighbors in Louisville aren’t too inconvenienced by this radical tantrum.”

Louisville police are investigating the incident at McConnell’s home, which occurred around 5 a.m. Saturday. There currently are no suspects, police spokesperson Dwight Mitchell said in an email.

On New Year’s Day, Senate Republicans refused to allow debate over a bill to increase the amount of COVID-19 relief. The increase, supported by President Donald Trump, passed the Democratic-led House but was blocked by McConnell.

The government has begun sending out the smaller payments to millions of Americans. The $600 payment is going to individuals with incomes up to $75,000. Congress approved the payment in late December.

Source Article from https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/03/mcconnell-pelosi-homes-vandalized-relief-453691

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For more than a month, US hospitals have had more than 100,000 coronavirus patients every day – CNN
For more than a month, US hospitals have had more than 100,000 coronavirus patients every day – CNN

(CNN)Hospitals around the United States are racing to keep up with surges of Covid-19 patients at numbers they have not seen at any other time in the pandemic.

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    CNN’s Eric Levenson, Chuck Johnston, Virginia Langmaid, Paul Vercammen, Holly Yan and Christina Maxouris contributed to this report.

    Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/03/health/us-coronavirus-sunday/index.html

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    LIVE UPDATES: Biden electoral win facing challenge from Cruz, other GOP senators – Fox News
    LIVE UPDATES: Biden electoral win facing challenge from Cruz, other GOP senators – Fox News
    Video

    Congress to tally Electoral College results Jan. 6

    Rep. Chuck Fleischmann weighs in on GOP senators planning to object to Electoral College certification

    A group of GOP senators led by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, say they’ll object Wednesday to the certification of the presidential election results that favored Democrat Joe Biden over President Trump — unless there is an emergency 10-day audit of the results by an electoral commission.

    Cruz and the other senators claim the Nov. 3 election “featured unprecedented allegations of voter fraud and illegal conduct.”

    Joining Cruz were Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; James Lankford, R-Okla.; Steve Daines, R-Mont.; John Kennedy, R-La.; Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Mike Braun, R-Ind.; as well as Sens.-elect Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo.; Roger Marshall, R-Kansas; Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.

    Their effort is separate from one announced by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who said last week he would object to what he claims was the failure of some states — most notably Pennsylvania — to follow their own election laws.

    Biden’s inauguration is scheduled for Jan. 20. 

    Follow below for updates on the presidential transition. Mobile users click here. 

    Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/politics-live-updates-ted-cruz-gop-senators-object-electoral-college-certification-1-2-2021

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    Appeals court dismisses Gohmert case asking Pence to interfere in Electoral College vote count – CNN
    Appeals court dismisses Gohmert case asking Pence to interfere in Electoral College vote count – CNN

    By Dan Berman, CNN

    Updated 10:21 PM ET, Sat January 2, 2021

    Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/02/politics/gohmert-pence-electoral-college-case-appeal-dismissed/index.html

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    India Approves Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine and 1 Other – The New York Times
    India Approves Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine and 1 Other – The New York Times

    On the Bharat Biotech vaccine, called Covaxin, the group said it was “baffled to understand what scientific logic has motivated the top experts” to authorize a vaccine still in clinical trials.

    Dr. Somani, the regulator, said the vaccine had so far been administered to 22,500 trial participants, and “has been found to be safe.”

    Both the AstraZeneca vaccine and the Bharat Biotech vaccine require two doses, Dr. Somani said. He did not specify whether the participants in Bharat Biotech’s continuing clinical trials had received both doses.

    Already the effort has faced setbacks. The Serum Institute, an Indian drug maker that struck a deal to produce the Oxford vaccine even before its effectiveness had been proven, has managed to make only about one-tenth of the 400 million doses it had committed to manufacturing before the end of the year.

    The government says it is ready. To get the vaccine across a country famous for its size and its sometimes unreliable roads, officials will tap into knowledge from nationwide polio vaccination and newborn immunization campaigns, and the skill and flexibility employed in India’s mammoth general elections, where ballot boxes are delivered to the furthest reaches of the country.

    The Serum Institute says it is on track to increase production of the vaccine, which is known as Covishield in India. With $270 million of its own funds and $300 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Serum plans to ramp up manufacturing capacity to 100 million doses per month by February, said Mayank Sen, a company spokesman.

    Initially, the Serum Institute signed a pact with AstraZeneca to make one billion doses of the vaccine for low-and-middle-income countries. The vaccine holds appeal to developing countries because it is cheaper to make and easier to transport than those that require colder temperatures during storage and transportation.

    Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/03/world/asia/india-covid-19-vaccine.html

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    Nancy Pelosi’s home vandalized with pig’s head, fake blood – FOX 31 Denver
    Nancy Pelosi’s home vandalized with pig’s head, fake blood – FOX 31 Denver

    SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) — Frustration over the lack of financial support spilled out into the streets of San Francisco on Friday.

    Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s house was vandalized with messages saying $2,000 isn’t even enough.

    Vandals wasted no time with the new year as they left Pelosi’s home with fake blood and a pig’s head.

    Some messages were also left for the speaker as it appears the vandals were upset with the failed $2,000 government stimulus checks.

    “Cancel rent!” and “We want everything!” were seen in big black letters on Pelosi’s garage.

    “It’s a fairly cowardly way to go about expressing your opinion,” Audrey Carlson told NewsNation affiliate KRON.

    Audrey Carlson has lived in this neighborhood for almost 40 years.

    She’s seen the Speaker’s house become the site of several recent protests. 

    In September, people expressed outrage over Pelosi going to a San Francisco hair salon that should have been closed under stay at home orders. 

    This latest backlash now covered with black garbage bags appears to be over COVID-19 relief and the government failing to give out $2,000 stimulus checks.

    Neighbors say the vandalism is counter productive.

    “I don’t think that this is a useful way to go about it and it’s a terrible start to this new year when we’re hoping for less anger and hatred than we’ve had to deal with for the last year,” Carlson said.

    The House Speaker’s office has not responded to requests for comment. 

    San Francisco police say they are right now investigating this vandalism. 

    At this time they do not have any suspects. 

    Suggest a Correction

    Source Article from https://kdvr.com/news/nationalworld-news/nancy-pelosis-home-vandalized-with-pigs-head-fake-blood/

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    Voters hold prayer march at Capitol ahead of Tuesday’s runoffs – Atlanta Journal Constitution
    Voters hold prayer march at Capitol ahead of Tuesday’s runoffs – Atlanta Journal Constitution

    “What happens on Tuesday will determine the fate of the republic,” said evangelical pastor Jim Garlow, one of the organizers of Saturday’s event.

    Some in attendance criticized Ossoff and Warnock for their stances on homosexuality and abortion, as well as other fiscal and social issues. Several Republican state lawmakers were among Saturday’s crowd.

    “We want to gather together to pray that Georgia elects and sends leaders with biblical values to the U.S. Senate,” Garlow said ahead of the event. “We do not tell anyone for whom to vote. That is your decision. We are nonpartisan. We do, however, pray for Georgians to vote for candidates with distinctly biblical values.”

    Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

    Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

    The large outdoor prayer rally included a relatively diverse crowd, but few people appeared to be wearing masks amid the ongoing pandemic while marchers stuck close together at times. Hoisting signs that read “God Reign Over Government” and “Prayer Changes Everything,” worshippers sang and marched around the state Capitol seven times, symbolic of the fall of Jericho as told in the Old Testament.

    The event lasted more than three hours and was livestreamed on multiple social media platforms, amassing more than 15,000 views on Facebook alone.

    Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

    Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

    A record 3 million Georgia voters cast ballots in the runoff elections before early voting ended last week, setting up a showdown that will be decided Tuesday.

    State election data analyzed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution indicate more ballots have been cast in areas that tend to favor Democrats, an issue that has GOP leaders worried after President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that the November election was rigged against him.

    Voter turnout lagged in rural, conservative congressional districts through Thursday, especially in northwest Georgia where Trump plans to rally supporters on Monday. But Republicans could make up ground with a strong showing on the day of the runoffs, as in the general election. Trump and Perdue each won about 60% of in-person votes cast on Nov. 3. Loeffler also benefited from Election Day voting in the 20-candidate Senate special election.

    The 3 million early votes cast so far have already shattered the previous record for total turnout in a Georgia runoff set in 2008, when 2.1 million people participated in a U.S. Senate runoff between Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin.

    In other news:

    Credit: WSBTV Videos

    Credit: WSBTV Videos

    Source Article from https://www.ajc.com/politics/election/voters-hold-prayer-march-at-capitol-ahead-of-tuesdays-runoffs/6HLOYIHGYFCABCWGLDNV4NJC6E/

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    ‘This is different’: Sen. Mitch McConnell’s Louisville home vandalized – KTVI Fox 2 St. Louis
    ‘This is different’: Sen. Mitch McConnell’s Louisville home vandalized – KTVI Fox 2 St. Louis

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. (NewsNation Now) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s home has been vandalized. This backlash stems from the senator’s recent block of $2,000 stimulus checks.

    Spray painted messages on his Highlands home read, “were’s my money?” and “Mitch kills poor” among other expletives written across the front door and bricks of the Kentucky residence. 

    “I’ve spent my career fighting for the First Amendment and defending peaceful protest. I appreciate every Kentuckian who has engaged in the democratic process whether they agree with me or not,” told NewsNation in a statement on Saturday.

    This act comes hours after Sen. Nancy Pelosi’s house was vandalized with messages saying “$2k cancel rent.” The vandals also left behind fake blood and a pig’s head.

    “This is different. Vandalism and the politics of fear have no place in our society, McConnell added. “My wife and I have never been intimidated by this toxic playbook. We just hope our neighbors in Louisville aren’t too inconvenienced by this radical tantrum.”

    The Louisville Metro Police Department is investigating. It is not known if the Senator was home during the incident.

    Suggest a Correction

    Source Article from https://fox2now.com/news/national/this-is-different-sen-mitch-mcconnells-louisville-home-vandalized/

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    Kentucky governor calls vandalism to McConnell’s home ‘unacceptable’ | TheHill – The Hill
    Kentucky governor calls vandalism to McConnell’s home ‘unacceptable’ | TheHill – The Hill

    Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) took to Twitter Saturday to condemn the attack on the Louisville home of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

    “The vandalism to @senatemajldr McConnell’s home is unacceptable,” he wrote in a tweet.

    “While the First Amendment protects our freedom of speech, vandalism is reprehensible and never acceptable for any reason,” he added.

    McConnell’s home was vandalized, along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s (D-Calif.), over the New Year’s holiday after a bill to increase coronavirus stimulus checks to $2,000 failed to pass in the Senate several times. 

    A message that read “Where’s my money” was written on McConnell’s home in graffiti.

    Following the incident, McConnell’s office released a statement from the lawmaker that read, “I’ve spent my career fighting for the First Amendment and defending peaceful protest. I appreciate every Kentuckian who has engaged in the democratic process whether they agree with me or not.”

    “This is different. Vandalism and the politics of fear have no place in our society,” the senator added. “My wife and I have never been intimidated by this toxic playbook. We just hope our neighbors in Louisville aren’t too inconvenienced by this radical tantrum.”

    Beshear did not mention the paint on Pelosi’s home in his tweet.

    “Cancel rent!,” “$2K” and “We want everything!” were among the messages spray painted on the lawmaker’s home in San Francisco.

    The House passed a bill late last year that would increase stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000 late last year.

    On Friday, Senate Republicans blocked the bill as well as an attempt by Sen. Bernie SandersBernie Sanders Kentucky governor calls vandalism to McConnell’s home ‘unacceptable’ Senate Democrats rebuke GOP colleagues who say they’ll oppose Electoral College results Frustrations flare as ,000 checks blocked for fourth straight day MORE (I-Vt.) to set up votes on the House bill and a competing proposal from McConnell that would link the money to two other provisions including repealing Section 230 and establishing a new elections commission. 

    The stalemate ensures that Congress will not be able to get a bill on President TrumpDonald TrumpAppeals court dismisses Gohmert’s election suit against Pence Kentucky governor calls vandalism to McConnell’s home ‘unacceptable’ Pence ‘welcomes’ efforts of lawmakers to ‘raise objections’ to Electoral College results MORE‘s desk to sign before the 116th Congress ends on Sunday morning. 

    Source Article from https://thehill.com/homenews/news/532384-kentucky-governor-calls-vandalism-to-mcconnells-home-unacceptable

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    Trump, House Republicans held call to discuss Electoral College rejection: Brooks – Fox News
    Trump, House Republicans held call to discuss Electoral College rejection: Brooks – Fox News
    Video

    Fox News Flash top headlines for Jan. 2

    Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com.

    House Republicans held a rare Saturday night conference call to address their goal of overturning the Electoral College results on Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., told Fox News.

    Brooks said 50 lawmakers, President Trump and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows were on the call.

    He said not all the members of Congress who participated supported challenging the Electoral College results, which favored Democrat Joe Biden. Brooks did not identify the House members who were on the call.

    “The momentum to fight against voter fraud and election theft is rapidly gaining,” Brooks told Fox News. “And as a consequence, the numbers that we had who were supportive yesterday are almost always supplemented by reinforcements today and the next day.”

    “The momentum to fight against voter fraud and election theft is rapidly gaining.”

    — U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala.

    Brooks told Fox News he was “confident there will be many, many more congressman” who will support objecting to certain states’ Electoral College results. 

    Whether the House will reach a simple majority needed to overturn a state’s results remains to be seen, Brooks explained to Fox News.  

    GOP LAWMAKERS REJECT GOP PUSH TO OBJECT TO ELECTORAL COLLEGE RESULTS

    “In my judgment, the primary reason so many congressmen and senators are now coming forward to fight this fight is because so many American citizens have made it known that this fight is critical to America’s future,” Brooks said.

    Trump has applauded Republican lawmakers who have said they will reject the Electoral College votes. He has also expressed frustration with those who have accepted the Biden victory, calling them “weak and tired” in a Tuesday tweet. 

    In order for an objection to be considered, it must be endorsed by at least one senator and one representative, which is looking more likely as a dozen senators came forward Saturday publicly following Sen. Josh Hawley’s announcement that he would object to Pennsylvania’s results. 

    The senators announced Saturday they would object unless an emergency 10-day audit was conducted to review allegeations of voter fraud by an electoral commision.

    Following an endorsed objection, the House and Senate would be required to suspend their joint session and separate to debate objections for two hours.

    Video

    The House and Senate would then need to vote on certifying the results; the objections must maintain a simple majority, otherwise they will be dismissed and the existing results finalized.

    Brooks said he was not convinced the latest push was enough to dive into the “mechanics” of what an investigation would involve, adding that House and Senate leadership should have launched one earlier into “voter fraud and election theft.”

    The movement also has caused a divide within the Republican Party, with several GOP senators condemning the move Saturday.

    Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, has been a critic of the president throughout his tenure and called GOP senators’ plan to reject the Electoral College results an “egregious ploy.”

    “The congressional power to reject electors is reserved for the most extreme and unusual circumstances. These are far from it. More Americans participated in this election than ever before, and they made their choice,” Romney added. 

    Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., also condemned the move by defending the integrity of his state’s voting accountability, saying Trump’s loss was “explained by the decline in suburban support.”

    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell previously urged GOP senators to accept the Biden win, but neither he nor Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., could be reached for comment on the GOP’s latest advances in attempting to overturn the election.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

    Trump repeatedly has claimed the election was fraudulent, despite former Attorney General William Barr announcing that the Department of Justice could find no evidence to support widespread voter fraud.

    The Supreme Court has refused two Trump campaign-led lawsuits, and more than 50 cases have been dismissed from lower courts across the country. 

    But Brooks dismissed this argument saying that lawyers have been unable to conduct proper discovery. “These cases are not being dismissed because of a lack of evidence, they are being aborted before the trial process was even birthed.”

    Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-splits-electoral-college-certification

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    Texas Lawmaker Walks Back Suggestion Rejected Electoral Lawsuit Could Spark Violence – Newsweek
    Texas Lawmaker Walks Back Suggestion Rejected Electoral Lawsuit Could Spark Violence – Newsweek

    After a judge threw out a court case seeking to give Vice President Mike Pence the ability to overturn the election, Texas Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert suggested that the refusal could lead to violence in the streets—a comment he later clarified.

    In an interview with Newsmax, Gohmert described the ruling as an example of when the court system created by the Constitution “goes wrong.”

    “There still has not been one court, state or federal, that has had an evident jury hearing and allowed the evidence of fraud to come in and be introduced. So all this stuff about it being debunked, unsubstantiated, those are absolute lies,” the congressman said.

    When discussing about the court not hearing the case, Gohmert seemed to suggest that violent protests could force courts to hear the cases.

    “But if bottom line is, the court is saying, ‘We’re not going to touch this. You have no remedy.’ Basically, in effect, the ruling would be that you gotta go the streets and be as violent as antifa and BLM,” he said.

    People shared that portion of the interview on Twitter and implied that Gohmert was trying to incite violence. MSNBC legal analyst Joyce Vance called for Republican leaders to speak out against such statements.

    “In case you haven’t seen it already, Louie Gohmert has moved on from being smug & dumb to being a dangerous threat to the republic and to public safety. GOP leaders must speak up for a change,” she said.

    Gohmert also told Newsmax that lawyers for the case were planning to appeal the lawsuit. When asked about certifying election results, the Texas congressman said that he plans to object election results. He feels that after evidence of fraud is presented to Congress, he’s hopeful that both the legislative body and Pence “will do the right thing” when it comes to certifying the election.

    “I believed in using the court system for the same reason that they were created and article three of the Constitution: to resolve disputes. So you don’t have to have riots and violence and what we have seen from the radical Democrats. So I still believe in that system. I still have hope in that system,” he said.

    He added that he would continue to fight while offering a grave warning on what it will mean if people don’t “come to the right conclusion.”

    “We will keep laboring and working and trying to do everything we can to see that people come to the right conclusion, because I’m telling you…if they do not, it will mean the end of our Republic, the end of this little experiment of self-government.”

    A contact for Gohmert directed Newsweek to a tweet on Saturday afternoon, where he disputed claims that he was advocating for violence:

    I have not encouraged and unequivocally do not advocate for violence. I have long advocated for following the teachings and example of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. of peaceful protest. That does not keep me from recognizing what lies ahead when institutions created by a self-governing people to peacefully resolve their disputes hide from their responsibility. Violence is not the answer. The appropriate answer is courts and self-governing bodies resolving disputes as intended.

    Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) talks to the media at a press conference outside the US Capital on December 03, 2020 in Washington, DC.
    Tasos Katopodis/Getty

    Source Article from https://www.newsweek.com/texas-lawmaker-violence-rejected-electoral-college-lawsuit-1558512

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    Federal appeals court rejects election lawsuit against Pence – NBC News
    Federal appeals court rejects election lawsuit against Pence – NBC News
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    Judge dismisses Gohmert’s attempt to force Pence to decide election results – CBS News
    Judge dismisses Gohmert’s attempt to force Pence to decide election results – CBS News

    A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit brought by Congressman Louie Gohmert of Texas that sought to empower Vice President Mike Pence to unilaterally decide the 2020 election results rather than have Congress count the electoral votes on January 6. Pence and the Department of Justice on Thursday had urged the court to reject Gohmert’s lawsuit, saying the power lies with the House and the Senate. 

    U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Kernodle of the Eastern District of Texas said the plaintiffs lack “standing” to sue, since they claim “institutional injury” to the House of Representatives, but “that is insufficient to support standing.”

    The court also said Gohmert “does not identify any injury to himself as an individual, but rather a ‘wholly abstract and widely dispersed’ institutional injury to the House of Representatives.”

    On Saturday, a three-judge panel on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s ruling. In the one-paragraph ruling the judges wrote “We need say no more,” but also noted, “We express no view on the underlying merits.”

    The appeals court ruled so quickly that the plaintiffs’ request for an expedited decision was rendered moot. 

    The House and the Senate are set to count the Electoral College votes on January 6, an event that usually draws little fanfare. But some of President Trump’s supporters are using it as a last-ditch attempt to overturn the election results. 

    Gohmert had claimed in the lawsuit that Pence has the “sole” power to decide the outcome of the election, and Gohmert claimed he had 140 House members willing to object to the election results. 

    “Under the Constitution, he has the authority to conduct that proceeding as he sees fit,” Gohmert wrote in the lawsuit. “He may count elector votes certified by a state’s executive, or he can prefer a competing slate of duly qualified electors. He may ignore all electors from a certain state. That is the power bestowed upon him by the Constitution.”

    The Justice Department said Thursday that Republican lawmakers could not overturn the 130-year-old law that governs how Congress counts electoral votes. Gohmert argued that giving Pence the unilateral power to decide the election results will “help smooth the path toward a reliable and peaceful conclusion to the presidential election process,”

    Deputy assistant attorney general John Coghlan, representing Pence, called the suit a “walking legal contradiction,” because Gohmert was suing the vice president to empower the vice president.

    As presiding officer of the Senate, Pence will preside over the counting of the votes, as President-elect Joe Biden did in 2017 for Mr. Trump’s victory. If Pence refuses to preside over the count, then the president pro tempore of the Senate, Senator Chuck Grassley, will step in. 

    Lawmakers can object to the results and Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri so far is the only senator who has said he will object. CBS News has learned that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell held a conference call on Thursday asking Hawley to lay out his plans, but Hawley was not on it.

    Republican Senator Mitt Romney said on Friday that Hawley’s objection is “dangerous for democracy here and abroad,” as it “continues to spread the false rumor that somehow the election was stolen.”

    GOP Majority Whip John Thune said in December that any objection is likely to “go down like a shot dog.” Mr. Trump on Friday called Thune “Mitch’s boy” and “RINO John Thune” in a tweet. Mr. Trump also tweeted that he would “hope to see” his ally, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, primary Thune in 2022. 

    Thune laughed when he was told about the tweet, and told reporters “well, finally an attack tweet! What took him so long? It’s fine that’s the way he communicates.”  

    Thune said that GOP leadership was allowing the conference to “vote their conscience” on January 6 and described the Electoral College certification as “incredibly consequential, incredibly rare historically and very precedent setting.” 

    Weijia Jiang, Arden Farhi, Jack Turman and Alan He contributed to this report. 

    Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-election-gohmert-lawsuit-dismissed-pence-appeal/

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    Homes of McConnell and Pelosi are vandalized – CNN
    Homes of McConnell and Pelosi are vandalized – CNN

    By Chuck Johnston, Jamie Crawford, Elizabeth Joseph and Cara-Lynn Clarkson, CNN

    Updated 10:10 PM ET, Sat January 2, 2021

    Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/02/politics/mcconnell-pelosi-homes-vandalized/index.html

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    Three dead after small plane crashes into Michigan home | TheHill – The Hill
    Three dead after small plane crashes into Michigan home | TheHill – The Hill

    Three people died Saturday after a small plane crashed into a home in Lyon Township, Mich., authorities report.

    According to a statement issued by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, the three deceased are believed to have been the occupants of the plane — two passengers and a pilot.

    The Lyon Township home became fully engulfed in flames after the crash occurred, however the home’s five residents were safely evacuated. The family cat, however, did not survive the incident, according to CNN affiliate WDIV.  

    “I’ve got two siblings who are under 2 years old, and they were upstairs sleeping; they were taking naps … You worry like could this happen to us, because these plane fly low over here all the time,” said Chase Southwick, according to CNN.

    Updated 10:50 p.m.

    Source Article from https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/532391-small-plane-crashes-into-michigan-home-killing-three

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    Targeted Killings Are Terrorizing Afghans. And No One Is Claiming Them. – The New York Times
    Targeted Killings Are Terrorizing Afghans. And No One Is Claiming Them. – The New York Times

    “When he told me about the threats a month before he got killed, I was worried, but he calmed me, saying, ‘I haven’t hurt anyone, why would anyone hurt me?’ ” said Nargis Noorzai Faizan, the widow of Pamir Faizan, a military prosecutor shot by gunmen in Kabul on Dec. 6. “I was a 4-year-old when my father got killed by mujahedeen insurgents. He was an officer in the army and thought that he didn’t make trouble for anyone, so he won’t be targeted. He was assassinated.”

    “Now I am 30, and I lost my husband to another insurgency,” she added.

    These targeted killings have been primarily carried out in two ways: gunfire and homemade bombs, typically assembled using plastic high explosives and powerful magnets, a government intelligence official recently told The Times, speaking on condition of anonymity. The magnet allows the attacker to easily and quickly attach the bomb to a car.

    Abdul Qayoom, the brother of Dr. Nazifa Ibrahimi, the acting head of the health department of the prisons administration who, with four others, was killed by a bomb targeting their vehicle in Kabul on Dec. 22, had warned his sister just weeks earlier that security in their neighborhood was worsening.

    Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/02/world/asia/afghanistan-targeted-killings.html

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    Trump throws grenades into high-stakes Georgia Senate runoffs in final stretch – NBC News
    Trump throws grenades into high-stakes Georgia Senate runoffs in final stretch – NBC News
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    Pro-Trump Lawyer Lin Wood’s Claims Against Mike Pence Prompt Calls for FBI, Secret Service Scrutiny – Newsweek
    Pro-Trump Lawyer Lin Wood’s Claims Against Mike Pence Prompt Calls for FBI, Secret Service Scrutiny – Newsweek

    Lin Wood, an attorney fighting for President Donald Trump‘s victory in the 2020 election, raised alarms after he called for Vice President Mike Pence to be at the top of the list of arrests for treason.

    Wood, a staunch believer that Trump won the election, has switched his focus from Democrats to Republicans, calling for Pence to resign and face “execution by firing squad” in a tweet Friday. Once arrested, Wood suggested that the vice president would “sing like a bird” and confess to being a “main participant” in the “theft of the election.”

    The controversial Atlanta attorney’s comments sparked people to tag the FBI and Secret Service in responding tweets, saying that Wood’s tweets constituted a threat against the vice president.

    Under Title 18 of the U.S. Code, threatening to kill, kidnap or inflict bodily harm upon the vice president is punishable by a fine, a maximum of five years in prison, or both.

    On Wednesday, Pence is set to preside over the certifying of the results of the Electoral College, as is the role of the vice president. Some supporters of Trump are holding out hope that Pence will refuse to introduce electors for President-elect Joe Biden in key swing states, thereby blocking his ascension to the presidency.

    Texas GOP Congressman Louie Gohmert filed a lawsuit against Pence, alleging that the vice president has sole discretion to determine which electors are counted. On Friday, Judge Jeremy Kernodle threw out the suit, saying the plaintiffs don’t have the grounds to file it.

    People are calling for the FBI or secret service to arrest Lin Wood after he called for Vice President Mike Pence to be arrested for treason over his claim that the vice president stole the election from President Donald Trump. Pence listens during a White House Coronavirus Task Force press briefing in the James S. Brady Briefing Room of the White House on November 19.
    Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty

    Republicans are planning on objecting to the electoral vote count—a move that has little to no chance of succeeding—and Pence faces pressure to refuse to certify the results. If the vice president declines to publicly commit to rejecting electors from “states where fraud occurred,” Wood said he should “resign immediately.”

    “A man of God would never certify a lie,” Wood posted on Twitter Friday. “Every lie will be revealed. Every lie means every lie. Always has. Always will.”

    Wood’s legal battles are independent from the ongoing fight from the president’s own legal team. Jenna Ellis, one of the president’s attorneys, distanced herself from the Atlanta attorney. Ellis posted on Twitter on Friday that she did not support Wood’s statements, but supports the “rule of law and the U.S. Constitution.”

    “For conservatives, the solution is never to ignore the Constitution and rule of law just because the other side is. The solution is to keep fighting to properly enforce it,” she wrote on Twitter the following morning. “The principle of limited government is the heart of liberty.”

    Wood dismissed people who were calling him “insane” and urging officials for his arrest as having an “agenda” and implied that they may have something to hide or want the truth to remain hidden.

    Newsweek reached out to the offices of Wood and Pence for comment.

    Source Article from https://www.newsweek.com/pro-trump-lawyer-lin-woods-claims-against-mike-pence-prompt-calls-fbi-secret-service-scrutiny-1558509

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    Nearly a dozen Republican senators announce plans to vote against counting electoral votes – CNN
    Nearly a dozen Republican senators announce plans to vote against counting electoral votes – CNN

    By Jake Tapper, Lauren Fox and Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN

    Updated 5:35 PM ET, Sat January 2, 2021

    Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/02/politics/senate-republicans-electoral-college/index.html

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    Sen. Mitch McConnell’s Louisville home vandalized | News | wdrb.com – WDRB
    Sen. Mitch McConnell’s Louisville home vandalized | News | wdrb.com – WDRB

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s home in the Highlands area of Louisville was vandalized overnight.

    Messages were written on the front of the home in red and white spray paint. The words “Weres my money” were spray painted on the front door along with other messages along the front porch. That is in reference to the $2,000 stimulus check increase that was blocked by the senator.

    The rest of McConnell’s home appears to be untouched. Police say they do not currently know who is responsible for the damage.

    “I’ve spent my career fighting for the First Amendment and defending peaceful protest. I appreciate every Kentuckian who has engaged in the democratic process whether they agree with me or not,” Senator McConnell said. “This is different. Vandalism and the politics of fear have no place in our society. My wife and I have never been intimidated by this toxic playbook. We just hope our neighbors in Louisville aren’t too inconvenienced by this radical tantrum.”

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s California home was also damaged overnight by paint and a pig’s head was also left at the scene, according to reports. 

    Related Stories: 

    Copyright 2021 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved. 



    Source Article from https://www.wdrb.com/news/sen-mitch-mcconnells-louisville-home-vandalized/article_62eca8c2-4d0b-11eb-9b7d-cf36ca105b39.html

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    Gohmert suggests ‘violence in the streets’ after judge rejects bid to force VP Pence to overturn Biden’s win – The Dallas Morning News
    Gohmert suggests ‘violence in the streets’ after judge rejects bid to force VP Pence to overturn Biden’s win – The Dallas Morning News

    East Texas congressman Louie Gohmert suggested that “violence in the streets” may be the only remaining option to block Joe Biden from becoming president, after a federal judge rejected his lawsuit aiming to force Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election.

    U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle, a Trump appointee from Gohmert’s hometown of Tyler, threw out the lawsuit late Friday, ruling that he and other plaintiffs — including the GOP chairwoman in Arizona and that state’s defeated slate of Republican electors — lack standing.

    Late Friday on Newsmax, Gohmert said he had sought redress in court “so that you didn’t have to have riots and violence in the street.”

    “Bottom line is, the court is saying, ‘We’re not going to touch this, you have no remedy,’” Gohmert said. “Basically, in effect, the ruling would be that you’ve got to go to the streets and be as violent as antifa and BLM.”

    It’s not the first time Gohmert — a former state trial court judge who just won his ninth term in Congress — has expressed admiration for the use of violence to overturn an election.

    At a “Million MAGA March” in November near the White House, he urged Trump supporters to consider “revolution” like the Egyptian uprising seven years ago and the American colonies’ revolt against England.

    “They rose up though all over Egypt, and as a result of the people rising up in the greatest numbers in history, ever anywhere, they turned the country around …. If they can do that there, think of what we can do here,” he told thousands of cheering supporters.

    Congress meets on Wednesday to certify the Electoral College results. Biden defeated President Donald Trump by a decisive 306-232 margin and also topped him by 7 million votes nationwide.

    By law, the vice president presides over that joint meeting but in an entirely ceremonial capacity.

    Gohmert and his fellow plaintiffs wanted the court to let Pence toss out Biden’s victories in a handful of states, nullifying tens of millions of ballots and replacing the will of the electorate with their own desire to give Trump a second term.

    Kernodle ruled that Gohmert’s lawsuit hinged on a series of hypothetical allegations “far too uncertain to support standing.”

    “Plaintiffs presuppose what the Vice President will do on January 6, which electoral votes the Vice President will count or reject from contested states, whether a Representative and a Senator will object under Section 15 of the Electoral Count Act, how each member of the House and Senate will vote on any such objections, and how each state delegation in the House would potentially vote under the 12th Amendment absent a majority electoral vote,” the judge wrote in the 13-page ruling.

    The judge also found that as a lone congressman, Gohmert cannot sue on the basis of alleged harm to the House as a whole, even if he could prove such harm.

    Gohmert vowed to appeal to the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

    The lawsuit challenges the 1887 Electoral Count Act, which sets the vice president’s role in announcing the results as purely ceremonial. Members of the House and Senate can object to the slates of electors from any state, forcing a debate, but the vice president has no say in the matter; he only announces the results.

    Gohmert insisted in court that the law violates the 12th Amendment, which provides for separate Electoral College votes for president and vice president.

    Legal scholars have roundly rejected his argument that vice presidents have actual authority in the process, calling it far-fetched and noting that generations of vice presidents have failed to notice any such sweeping power to choose the commander in chief.

    Pence himself sided against Gohmert in court, asking Kernodle to throw out the lawsuit. A 14-page filing by the Justice Department argued that the lawsuit should be aimed at Congress, not Pence: “It is the role prescribed for the Senate and the House of Representatives in the Electoral Count Act to which plaintiffs object, not any actions that Vice President Pence has taken.”

    Five House members from Texas have committed to objecting to the Electoral College tally on Wednesday, citing unproven claims of fraud: Gohmert and Reps. Brian Babin of Woodville, Lance Gooden of Terrell, Randy Weber of Friendswood, and newly elected Ronny Jackson of Lubbock, who will be sworn in on Sunday.

    GOP House members say that 140 or more of their colleagues will object, though with Democrats firmly in the majority, they have no chance of overturning Trump’s defeat.

    Congress will be required to debate and vote on the results if at least one senator also objects.

    Sen. Ted Cruz and 10 other GOP senators announced Saturday that they will oppose certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory when Congress meets Wednesday to review the Electoral College outcome, demanding a 10-day delay to allow an emergency “audit” of results in battleground states where President Donald Trump disputes the outcome.

    Even in the Senate, such objections are doomed with McConnell and the rest of the GOP leadership staunchly opposed.

    Source Article from https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2021/01/02/gohmert-suggests-violence-in-the-streets-after-judge-rejects-bid-to-force-vp-pence-to-overturn-bidens-win/

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