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
Romney puts out lengthy statement on divided nation
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, came out with a lengthy statement Thursday morning analyzing the various divisions in the country and urging a unified path forward.
Romney writes that factors including leadership, the media, social media, the downfall of communities and others "have combined to threaten" the success of the founders' vision for the country.
"Most disappointing of all, too many political figures have stoked these divisions. Demagogues on the left scapegoat the rich; demagogues on the right scapegoat the immigrant. They each scapegoat the other," he writes.
Romney said when selecting elected officials it is important to consider their character. He's looking for someone who "calls upon our better angels"
"Today when I vote, I pay as much attention to the character of the candidate as I do to their policies. If we choose leaders who inflame resentment and division, our nation will be angry and divided. We have a choice to make: Would we rather have our “side” win to punish the “other side” or would we rather have our nation united?"
-ABC News' Allison Pecorin
Federal charges against some rioters expected Thursday
Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen has issued an updated statement in response to Wednesday's [storming of the U.S. Capitol](], saying federal prosecutors have been working overnight to identify perpetrators to draw up charges when warranted, including on some who he says will be charged Thursday.
“Yesterday, our Nation watched in disbelief as a mob breached the Capitol Building and required federal and local law enforcement to help restore order. The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that those responsible for this attack on our Government and the rule of law face the full consequences of their actions under the law," Rosen said in a statement, noting law enforcement officials are working with the public to gather evidence.
"Some participants in yesterday’s violence will be charged today, and we will continue to methodically assess evidence, charge crimes and make arrests in the coming days and weeks to ensure that those responsible are held accountable under the law," he added.
A law enforcement official confirms to ABC News that thus far at least a dozen individuals involved in Wednesday's violence are already expected to face charges and that list will grow significantly as more are identified.
-ABC News' Alexander Mallin
Schumer calls for immediate removal of Trump from office
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has called for the immediate removal of President Trump from office.
He said in a statement Thursday morning the "quickest and most effective" way to do this would be through use of the 25th Amendment but that if Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet don't act, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president.
“What happened at the U.S. Capitol yesterday was an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president. This president should not hold office one day longer," Schumer said in the statement.
“The quickest and most effective way - it can be done today - to remove this president from office would be for the Vice President to immediately invoke the 25th amendment. If the Vice President and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president," he said.
There have been discussions among some members of Trump's Cabinet and his allies over invoking the 25th Amendment, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the discussions told ABC News.
-ABC News' Allison Pecorin
Facebook 'indefinitely' blocks Trump's account
Facebook has taken the unprecedented step of indefinitely blocking Trump's account after removing a video and temporarily suspending his account amid eruptions of violence at the Capitol on Wednesday.
"We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post. "Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete."
As the world watched a pro-Trump mob storm the Capitol Wednesday, Trump shared a video on his social media accounts telling the group "we love you" and "you’re very special" while he told them to go home. The video was soon removed by Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and as pressure mounted, Facebook and Twitter temporarily suspended Trump's accounts.
-ABC News' Catherine Thorebecke
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.