Impeachment article has 200 cosponsors: US rep.
The draft, citing "incitement of insurrection," could be introduced Monday.
President Donald Trump is slated to hand over control of the White House to President-elect Joe Biden in 11 days.
Top headlines:
- Rep. Cicilline: 'Just passed 200 cosponsors' on article of impeachment
- GOP Rep. Kinzinger: Best thing for the country is Trump to resign
- Pence to attend Biden's inauguration: Source
- Senate Democrat says Cruz, Hawley should resign or 'the Senate must expel them'
- Trump asked Georgia election investigator to 'find the fraud': Source
At least 10 Trump staffers, including 5 White House officials, have resigned
In the wake of Wednesday’s U.S. Capitol siege, at least 10 Trump administration officials have resigned.
Among them are five White House officials. These are Matthew Pottinger (deputy national security adviser), Tyler Goodspeed (acting chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers), Stephanie Grisham (Melania Trump’s chief of staff and spokeswoman), Rickie Niceta (White House social secretary) and Sarah Matthews (White House deputy press secretary).
Other officials who have resigned following Donald Trump's encouragement of Capitol protests, include Elaine Chao (secretary of transportation), John Costello, (deputy assistant secretary of commerce for intelligence and security) and Mick Mulvaney (U.S. special envoy to Northern Ireland and former White House chief of staff).
Ryan Tully, the senior director for Europe and Russian affairs on the White House National Security Council has also willingly left his post, as has Betsy Devos, the secretary of education.
ABC News' Elizabeth Thomas.
Betsy DeVos resigns in wake of Capitol attack
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has resigned, according to a letter obtained by ABC News Thursday night.
She is the second Trump Cabinet member to step down in the wake of Wednesday's storming of the Capitol, following Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao's resignation earlier Thursday.
In her resignation letter, addressed to Trump, DeVos cited the president's role in Wednesday's "unconscionable" attack on the Capitol.
"We should be highlighting and celebrating your Administration's many accomplishments on behalf of the American people," she wrote. "Instead, we are left to clean up the mess caused by violent protesters overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to undermine the people's business."
"There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me," she added.
The resignation is effective Friday, according to the letter.
She joins a growing list of other Trump officials to resign following the Capitol breach.
-ABC News' Sophie Tatum contributed to this report
McConnell receives resignation of Senate sergeant-at-arms
Following the resignation of the House sergeant-at-arms and the Capitol police chief, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Thursday night that he’s received the resignation of the Senate sergeant-at-arms.
This comes following Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s statement earlier Thursday that he would fire the Senate sergeant-at-arms when Democrats claim the majority in the chamber if he did not resign.
“Today I requested and received the resignation of Michael Stenger, the Senate Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper, effective immediately," McConnell said in a statement Thursday.
“Deputy Sergeant at Arms Jennifer Hemingway will now serve the Senate as Acting Sergeant at Arms, pursuant to statute," McConnell continued. "I thank Jennifer in advance for her service as we begin to examine the serious failures that transpired yesterday and continue and strengthen our preparations for a safe and successful inauguration on January 20th.”
-ABC News' Allison Pecorin
Trump effectively concedes, says focus on ensuring smooth transition of power
For the first time since losing the election to President-elect Joe Biden, President Donald Trump acknowledged he lost.
A new administration will be inaugurated on Jan. 20, he said.
“My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power,” Trump said in a video Thursday night.
Trump also spoke directly to his supporters, saying serving as president has been the honor of his lifetime.
“To all of my wonderful supporters, I know you’re disappointed, but I also want you to know that our incredible journey has only just begun.”
The president did not congratulate Biden or recognize him as the president-elect in the video.
His speech comes a day after a pro-Trump mob breached the Capitol, in an incident that left at least four people dead and forced Congress to evacuate and seek shelter in the middle of certifying the electoral votes.
Thursday night, the president spoke of the need for peace and calm, a day after speaking to those same pro-Trump protesters, saying he would never concede.
“This moment calls for healing and reconciliation,” Trump said Thursday night.
Georgia election official debunks fraud theories Trump raised on call with Raffensperger
Georgia election official Gabriel Sterling, a Republican, at a press conference on what he called "anti-disinformation Monday," ran through major voter conspiracies pushed by Trump, his allies and far-right media outlets and debunked them one-by-one in an effort to restore faith in Georgia's election system.
"The reason I'm having to stand here today is because there are people in positions of authority and respect who have said their vote didn't count and it's not true," Sterling said, stressing to Georgians that their votes count ahead of critical runoffs in the state which will determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate.
"It's Whac-A-Mole again. It is Groundhog Day again. I'm going to talk about the things I've talked about repeatedly for two months, but I'm going to do it for one last time," Sterling said, adding he "screamed" at the radio upon hearing audio of the phone call between Trump and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger because theories Trump questioned have already been "thoroughly debunked."
For example, Sterling, responding to those who claim there were roughly 2,500 people who voted without being registered, said, "Let's just be clear about this: you can't do it!" He said, "So that number is zero," going on to debunk other theories.
Asked if he believes, as some have said, that Trump's phone call was an attack on democracy, Sterling said he'd leave others to make that decision before adding he felt it was "out of place."
"I found it to be something that was not normal -- out of place -- and nobody I know who would be president would do something like that to a secretary of state," Sterling said.
Asked about Raffenperger's desire to have the phone call recorded and whether he was concerned about anything improper being said or needing to release it later, Sterling said it was recorded "out of an abundance of caution"
"I think given the environment we're in right now, the political situation that we're in, the history of the president, knowing that he sometimes doesn't necessarily characterize things as they might have actually occurred, it was out of abundance of caution," Sterling said.
"I'm sure the president's side may have recorded it, too. They may have been the ones who leaked part of that, too," he added.