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
Fulton County district attorney suggests Trump may face investigation over election call
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in a statement Monday does not rule out the possibility of filing state charges against President Trump or his aides involved in the Saturday phone call where Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" votes to help him overturn the state's election.
Willis said in the statement that it is her understanding Raffensperger's Elections Division has been requested to investigate the call and that upon the conclusion of their investigation the matter can be referred to both her office and the state's Attorney General Chris Carr for potential charges.
"Like many Americans, I have found the news reports about the President’s telephone call with the Georgia Secretary of State disturbing. It is my understanding from news reports that a member of the State Election Board has requested that the Secretary’s Elections Division investigate the call, after which the Board can refer the case to my office and the state Attorney General," she said in the statement.
"As I promised Fulton County voters last year, as District Attorney, I will enforce the law without fear or favor. Anyone who commits a felony violation of Georgia law in my jurisdiction will be held accountable. Once the investigation is complete, this matter, like all matters, will be handled by our office based on the facts and the law," she continued.
Willis' statement follows Raffensperger's telling ABC's "Good Morning America" Monday morning that he believed the Fulton County district attorney's office could be the most appropriate venue to investigate whether Trump and others on the call may have broken the law given potential conflict of interest concerns within his own office.
-ABC News' Alexander Mallin
340 DC National Guardsmen to help DC police around Electoral College demonstrations
At District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser's request, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy has activated about 340 unarmed D.C. National Guardsmen to assist local law enforcement with the demonstrations taking place on Wednesday pegged to the Electoral College certification.
"We think it's helpful to have our D.C. Guardsmen, who are our Guard, that I have requested from the Secretary of the Army to assist MPD [Metropolitan Police Department] with traffic management," Bowser said Monday. "It absolutely frees up more officers."
The D.C. Guard is unique in that any call-ups have to be made by the Army secretary and not the jurisdiction’s top elected official -- as is the case with state governors. Additionally, more focus has been given to the call-ups since the controversial presence of D.C. Guardsmen and the use of D.C. Guard helicopters during the Black Lives Matter demonstrations last summer.
"They will be deployed to assist us with crowd management, as well as traffic control in our nation's capital that will allow for the police officers to focus on anyone who's intent on instigating agitating or participating in violence in our city," said D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee. He also labeled any possibility of violence surrounding the protests as "unacceptable" and repeated that carrying firearms is not allowed under D.C. law.
A senior defense official said Bowser put in the request for Guardsmen on Dec. 31 and that it was approved Monday morning. Beginning Tuesday through Thursday, the 340 personnel will help man 30 traffic control checkpoints around the northern side of the downtown area close to the National Mall.
"No one's going to be armed or body armor or anything like that," said the official. "What they need is traffic control."
-ABC News' Luis Martinez and Quinn Owen
Perdue, still quarantining, says he hopes to participate in Trump rally virtually
In an interview on Fox News Monday morning, Republican senatorial candidate David Perdue said that while he and his wife have "repeatedly" tested negative for coronavirus, he is still quarantining after coming into "close contact" last week with a campaign staffer who tested positive and hopes to participate in
"I’m going to participate hopefully tonight by virtually in this rally, but I’m so excited that President Trump is coming again," Perdue said, going on to paint the dire picture of the country if Democrats win.
Asked what he wants to hear the president say Monday, Perdue said: "First of all this is the last opportunity we will have to protect everything that we’ve accomplished in the last four years. The second thing is the last line of defense to stop the Democrats from perpetrating this radical socialist agenda. It’s as simple as that."
As he did Sunday, Perdue blasted disclosure of the call between Trump and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and defended the president.
"To have a state-wide elected official, regardless of party, tape unknowing -- to tape without disclosing a conversation -- private conversation of the president of the United States and then leaking it to the press is disgusting," Perdue said.
When asked if he was concerned that GOP voters may be discouraged from participating in the aftermath of a general election Republicans continue to contest, Perdue said, "Well that’s what the Democrats want." Trump himself acknowledged post-election chaos may hinder turnout in the runoffs during his call with Raffensperger Saturday -- and blamed the secretary for it.
-ABC News’ Quinn Scanlan
Cheney argues an Electoral college challenge sets an 'exceptionally dangerous' precedent
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., a member of House GOP leadership and one of the first prominent Republicans to acknowledge Biden's victory, sent a 21-page memo to her conference making the case against a challenge to the Electoral College certification process on Wednesday, arguing that it would improperly overrule states' authority over elections, and set a "dangerous precedent" down the line for future elections and sessions of Congress.
"By objecting to electoral slates, members are unavoidably asserting that Congress has the authority to overturn elections and overrule state and federal courts. Such objections set an exceptionally dangerous precedent, threatening to steal states’ explicit constitutional responsibility for choosing the President and bestowing it instead on Congress," Cheney wrote.
"This is directly at odds with the Constitution’s clear text and our core beliefs as Republicans. Democrats have long attempted, unconstitutionally, to federalize every element of our nation—including elections. Republicans should not embrace Democrats’ unconstitutional position on these issues," she added.
Cheney raises questions about the proposal from some Republicans to set up a commission to investigate concerns about the election, calling it a "problematic" set up that would take much longer than ten days to wrap up, and potentially delay the inauguration. The memo also exhaustively summarizes the court rulings against the president's legal efforts in the six states Republicans plan to target on Wednesday: Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania.
-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel
Trump quiet after Twitter permanently suspends his account
Trump has been quiet Saturday after Twitter announced Friday evening that it had permanently suspended the president's account.
"After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them -- specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter -- we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence," Twitter wrote in a statement.
Trump's final tweet said he would not be attending Biden's inauguration.
After Twitter's announcement, Politico reported that the president went "ballistic" and “[scrambled] to figure out what his options [were].”
Hours after his suspension, Trump released a statement criticizing the ban and teasing a possible new platform.
"I predicted this would happen," he wrote in part. "We have been negotiating with various other sites, and will have a big announcement soon, while we also look at the possibilities of building out our own platform in the near future. We will not be SILENCED!"
"Twitter is not about FREE SPEECH. They are all about promoting a Radical Left platform where some of the most vicious people in the world are allowed to speak freely," he added.
Trump had attempted to post the same statement on Twitter using the official @POTUS account, but the platform deleted the thread, saying users who are banned cannot post from other accounts.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blasted Twitter Saturday, comparing the ban of the president to something that would happen in China.
"Silencing speech is dangerous. It’s un-American. Sadly, this isn’t a new tactic of the Left. They’ve worked to silence opposing voices for years. We cannot let them silence 75M Americans. This isn’t the [Chinese Communist Party,]" he wrote on Twitter.
Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley also took to the platform to draw a comparison to China writing, "Silencing people, not to mention the President of the US, is what happens in China not our country. #Unbelievable"
The White House announced Thursday that the president planned to spend the weekend at Camp David before notifying reporters that the trip was canceled. The president has nothing on his schedule Saturday.
-ABC News' Mark Osborne and Conor Finnegan