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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House Rules Committee debates resolution demanding Trump's removal
The House Rules Committee began meeting at 11 a.m. Tuesday to take up the rules governing floor debate for a resolution pressing Vice President Mike Pence to use the 25th Amendment and force Trump out of office.
"It is absolutely critical for us to make clear that this was a dereliction of presidential duties," said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., one of the resolution's co-sponsors. "The president is not even minimally discharging the basic duties of his office."
A vote on the resolution is expected around 7:30 p.m., according to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s office.
Democrats will give Pence "24 hours after passage" to respond and mobilize the Cabinet to remove Trump, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a statement Monday, otherwise the House will move forward with an impeachment vote as early as Wednesday, setting up Trump to be the first president in U.S. history impeached twice.
The House Rules Committee is expected to take up rules governing floor debate for the impeachment resolution -- which charges Trump with inciting an insurrection -- later in the day.
Trump departs White House in first public appearance since Capitol riot
The president appeared before the press for the first time since last Wednesday -- the day his supporters stormed the Capitol following his remarks at a rally calling on them to march to the building -- when he departed the White House for Alamo, Texas, on Tuesday morning. He took the opportunity to criticize efforts to remove him from office.
"As far as this is concerned, we want no violence -- never violence," Trump said outside the White House. "On the impeachment, it's really a continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics. It's ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous. This impeachment is causing tremendous anger, and you're doing it, and it's really a terrible thing that they're doing."
"For Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to continue on this path, I think it's causing tremendous danger to our country, and it's causing tremendous anger," Trump added. "I want no violence."
Trump is expected to hold an event related to the souther border later this afternoon. Before addressing impeachment, he said the wall has made a "tremendous difference" in stopping illegal immigration.
-ABC News' Ben Gittleson
Overview: Trump to speak in Texas, Biden team to push national security confirmations
When he leaves for Alamo, Texas, Tuesday morning, it will be President Trump's first time in public since last Wednesday -- the day his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol after he encouraged a crowd of thousands, at a rally beforehand, to put pressure on lawmakers affirming Biden's victory in Congress.
Apart from posting video on Twitter last Thursday, before the platform permanently suspended his account, the president has remained behind closed doors at the White House -- spending his final days in office out of the public eye -- but is expected to break his silence with afternoon remarks.
"President Trump is expected to travel to Alamo, Texas, on Tuesday to mark the completion of more than 400 miles of border wall -- a promise made, promise kept -- and his administration's efforts to reform our broken immigration system," White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere told reporters ahead of the visit.
The president is facing renewed calls from congressional Democrats to be removed from office in the wake of last week's riot, with the House poised to pass an impeachment resolution as early as Wednesday charging the president with incitement of insurrection -- and setting Trump up to be the first president in history to be impeached twice.
Trump, for the first time since the assault, spoke with Vice President Mike Pence at the urging of his advisers and allies in an Oval Office meeting Monday that lasted 90 minutes and was friendly in nature, according to White House officials briefed on the meeting. Pence is not expected to invoke the 25th Amendment as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called on him to do.
Biden, on Tuesday, will receive the President’s Daily Brief and meet with advisers, while his transition team and allies in Congress begin a push to confirm his national security nominees so they're in place next week, with priority on the confirmation of Department of Homeland Security Secretary-designate Alejandro Mayorkas.
Defense Secretary-designate Gen. Lloyd Austin, nominee for Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Secretary of State-designate Tony Blinken will also be part of the push ahead of their hearings on Capitol Hill.
Biden’s nominees may also need now to contend with an impeachment trial in the Senate. Biden suggested in remarks Monday the Senate look into splitting the its time in order to confirm his nominees, pass COVID-19 relief and deal with a presidential impeachment.
-ABC News' John Parkinson, Ben Gittleson and Molly Nagle
Several Capitol Police officers suspended pending outcome of investigations
Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, a House Appropriations subcommittee chairman who presides over Capitol Police funding, told reporters Monday afternoon that two Capitol Police officers have been suspended after the storming of the Capitol last week.
"One was the selfie officer, and another was an officer who had put on a MAGA hat and started directing some people around," he said.
Ryan said he was informed of both by the interim Capitol Police chief.
The congressman also said he has heard of 10 to 15 ongoing investigations of officers' actions and that the interim chief is taking "aggressive action" in the department to determine "if there was any facilitation or help" from inside the department.
Late Monday, the acting Capitol police chief released a statement that said the department has been actively reviewing video and other open source materials looking for officers and officials who appear to be in violation of department regulations and policies.
"Our Office of Professional Responsibility will investigate these behaviors for disciplinary action, up to, and including, termination. Several USCP officers have already been suspended pending the outcome of their investigations," the statement said.
Acting Chief Yoganada Pittman also said that law enforcement agencies throughout the capital region have comprehensive, coordinated plans in place to ensure the safety and security of the congressional community and for the upcoming presidential inauguration. There will be no public access to the Capitol grounds during the inauguration and but the event will go on as scheduled.
-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel and Jack Date
Debate on the 'rule' kicks off ahead of article debate
Democrats and Republicans are expected to debate for one hour -- equally divided between Democrats and Republicans -- before a procedural vote ahead of the chamber beginning debate on the impeachment article itself.
Democrat Rep. Jim McGovern, the chairman of the House Rules Committee, setting up that preliminary vote on the terms of the debate, called the Capitol a "crime scene" and the rioters "traitors" and "domestic terrorists" in an assault instigated by Trump, emphasizing, "We wouldn't be here if it weren't for the president of the United States."
McGovern described the day as "a ceremonial role for the Congress -- one that sends a message to the world that democracy persists -- but at a rally a mile and-a-half down Pennsylvania Avenue, Donald Trump was stoking the anger of a violent mob," he began. "He said Vice President Pence has to come through and told the mob to walk down to the Capitol."
"The signal was unmistakable. These thugs should stage a coup so Donald Trump can hang on to power, the people's will be damned. This beacon of democracy became the site of a vicious attack. Rioters chanted, 'Hang Mike Pence,' as a noose and gallows were built. Capitol Police officers were beaten and sprayed with pepper spray. Attackers hunted down lawmakers to hold them hostage or worse," McGovern continued.
"I saw evil, Mr. Speaker. Our country came under attack, not from a foreign nation but from within," he added. He also slammed Republicans for preaching unity from members who voted to overturn a free and fair election.
Republican Rep. Tom Cole -- one of the lawmakers who object to Electoral College results after the violent seige -- called Jan. 6 the "darkest day" of his long career in Washington, but said Democrats, instead of promoting unity, are looking to "divide us further" by pursuing Trump's impeachment.
Cole did not directly defend Trump's actions or rhetoric but argued in Congress, one week before Biden's inauguration, sets up a "flawed process."