Giuliani says he won’t be on Trump impeachment defense team

Trump was impeached by the House for a second time last week.

President Donald Trump is slated to hand over control of the White House to President-elect Joe Biden in three days.

The House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump last Wednesday on an article for "incitement of insurrection" for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol -- making him the only president to be impeached twice.


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Republican lawmaker explains why he voted ‘no’ on the article of impeachment

Although South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson said that Trump deserves “more than his fair share of blame” for the U.S. Capitol riot last week, he voted not to impeach the president Wednesday.

Johnson told ABC News that his decision was based on due process of the law.

“I think due process matters,” said Johnson. “I just felt like a snap impeachment was not in the best interest of the country.”

He said Trump could have been held accountable through censure.

“Impeachment for someone who is out of office looks like some sort of formal reprimand. Really, you can’t kick them out when they’re already gone,” said Johnson. “I think (Nancy Pelosi) could have gotten 100 Republican votes for censure.”

Democrats defended the use of impeachment because an impeachment and a conviction vote by two-thirds of the Senate would open Trump up to a congressional ban on running for federal office. Trump has already indicated that he would run for office again in 2024.

Johnson said that he and “dozens” of his Republican colleagues felt frustrated on the House floor Wednesday. He said that his fellow Democrats missed an opportunity to work across the aisle.

“The rhetoric on the House floor today was the most toxic I have seen in my two years. It was the most rancorous,” he said. “And that’s one of the reasons why I was trying to get some of my Democratic colleagues more interested in a bipartisan censure, a more unifying approach than, I think, a largely single-party impeachment process.”

-ABC News Haley Yamada


Acting ICE director steps down

For the third time in less than a year, the acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director has resigned, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Jonathan Fahey only lasted two weeks on the job.

Fahey is the third acting ICE director in less than a year. The previous director, Tony Pham only lasted a couple of months.

-ABC News' Luke Barr


Spanberger on Trump’s impeachment, Capitol riot ‘false equivalencies’ to BLM

Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger called it “a point of sadness” after she joined her fellow Democrats and some Republicans Wednesday to vote to impeach Trump.

“Impeachment is necessary at this point in time because we have to make a clear statement that the incitement of an insurrection by a sitting U.S. president is absolutely unacceptable,” she told ABC's “Nightline.”

She acknowledged how close the president is to the end of his term, but said it’s still necessary to impeach Trump because it’s an “issue of accountability.”

“It’s an issue of law and order. It is an issue of ensuring that every person who holds this office in the future recognizes and knows and understands that in the United States of America, under no circumstances do we accept that the president … would incite a violent mob to insurrection for the purpose of holding onto power. It’s unacceptable, and generations into the future need to know that we believe that to be the case.”


The Democratic congresswoman has served Virginia’s 7th Congressional District since 2019. She said that the riot at the U.S. Capitol building last week during a joint session of Congress was “unimaginable.”

Spanberger also said it’s “ridiculous” to compare the Capitol insurgence to last year’s Black Lives Matter protests like some House Republicans did Wednesday.

“I have categorically denounced violence in all its forms, in any circumstance,” she said. “But this wasn’t violence. This was a domestic terrorist attack perpetrated by insurrectionists who lowered the flag of the United States and raised a flag with one man’s name on it.”

“It couldn’t be more different,” she added, “and false equivalencies are deeply saddening and disheartening, particularly for those of us who have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

-ABC News' Anthony Rivas


Biden calls on Senate to move forward with impeachment, other urgent business

Following the second impeachment of Trump, Biden issued a statement urging the Senate to move forward with impeachment and other urgent business simultaneously.

"Today, the members of the House of Representatives exercised the power granted to them under our Constitution and voted to impeach and hold the president accountable," Biden said in the statement. "It was a bipartisan vote cast by members who followed the Constitution and their conscience."

"The process continues to the Senate," he continued. "This nation also remains in the grip of a deadly virus and a reeling economy. I hope that the Senate leadership will find a way to deal with their Constitutional responsibilities on impeachment while also working on the other urgent business of this nation."

Biden stressed that there is too much "urgent work," from confirming his key cabinet nominees to getting the vaccine program and economy on track to not move forward with it.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle


Biden outlines major points of recovery plan during his address

Biden outlined the major points of his rescue plan: a $1.9 trillion proposal that includes a nationwide vaccination program, $1,400 checks for individuals, an extension and expansion of unemployment benefits and help for struggling communities and businesses.

Biden placed particular emphasis on housing and food insecurity and spoke about expanding SNAP benefits. He said his policy plan would extend the eviction and foreclosure moratorium, potentially previewing an executive action we could see next week. He also asked Congress to appropriate funds for rental assistance.

Biden, who preached bipartisanship while on the trail, said both he and Vice President-elect Harris had spoken with officials, mayors, and governors of both parties on a regular basis to address the problems across the country.

The president-elect also emphasized his plan's focus on helping small businesses and minority-owned businesses in particular, criticizing the Trump administration's initial approach which he said favored the wealthy and well-connected.

"Last week, I laid out how we'll make sure that our emergency small business relief is distributed swiftly and equitably, unlike the first time around. We're going to focus on small businesses, on Main Street. We'll focus on minority-owned small businesses, women-owned small businesses, and finally having equal access to the resources they need to reopen and to rebuild," Biden said.

He also pushed his plan for a mandatory federal minimum wage of $15 an hour.

"People tell me that's going to be hard to pass. Florida just passed it, as divided as that state is, they just passed it. The rest of the country is ready to move as well," he said. "No one working 40 hours a week should live below the poverty line. And that's what it means. If you work for less than $15 an hour and work 40 hours a week, you're living in poverty."

He frankly noted the "bold, practical" policy he was putting forward did not come cheap but argued there was no option to act.

"I know what I just described does not come cheaply. But failure to do so will cost us dearly," he said. "The consensus among leading economists is we simply cannot afford not to do what I'm proposing."

Biden ended his remarks with a call for unity and optimism, referencing his inauguration on Wednesday as a "new chapter for the country."

-ABC News' John Verhovek, Molly Nagle, Averi Harper and Beatrice Peterson