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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Army says there will be 25,000 National Guardsman in DC for inauguration

A spokesperson for the U.S. Army confirmed that there will be 25,000 National Guardsmen in the nation’s capital to aid with security for Biden’s inauguration.

“The Defense Department has agreed to provide up to 25,000 service members to support the Presidential Inauguration National Special Security Event federal law enforcement mission and security preparations, as led by the U.S. Secret Service,” the spokesperson said. “The Department of the Army and the National Guard Bureau are working on a sourcing solution now to support this request.”

-ABC News’ Luis Martinez


Officials issue wide-ranging ‘threat assessment’ ahead of Biden’s inauguration 

The FBI, DHS, Secret Service and U.S. Capitol Police, along with several local law enforcement agencies, have issued an extensive "threat assessment" surrounding Wednesday's inauguration.

It covers a range of threats surrounding the inauguration, including not only physical threats from domestic terrorists but also influence campaigns from Russia, China and Iran stemming from the Capitol siege. It even covers physical threats from drones.

The memo says domestic extremists is the “most likely” threat to the inauguration, citing recent incidents of ideologically motivated violence, including the deadly mob at the U.S. Capitol building.

Regarding foreign concerns, the assessment said that since the incident at the Capitol, “Russian, Iranian, and Chinese influence actors have seized the opportunity to amplify narratives in furtherance of their policy interest amid the presidential transition.”

“We have not identified any specific, credible information indicating that these actors intend to explicitly commit violence,” it added. “Furthermore, we have not identified any specific, credible cyber threat to critical infrastructure supporting the upcoming Presidential Inauguration nor a specific credible cyber threat to military or law enforcement personnel supporting the event."

The memo did say, however, that Russian state media has “amplified themes related to the violent and chaotic nature of the Capitol Hill incident, impeachment of President Trump, and social media censorship.”

Iranian state media has “continued to stoke claims that President Trump encouraged and incited the violence, as well as calls to invoke the 25th amendment,” the memo added. It has also “amplified perceived concerns related to President Trump’s mental health and the prospect of other risky actions he could take before leaving office.”

Finally, it noted that Chinese media has “seized the story to denigrate US democratic governance -- casting the United States as broadly in decline -- and to justify China’s crackdown on protestors in Hong Kong."

Lastly, the memo warned that drones could disrupt law enforcement operations at the inauguration, though it added that it does not have “specific, credible information” indicating malicious actors have plans to use unmanned aircraft systems to target the event.

-ABC News’ Mike Levine


Vice President Pence spoke with Vice President-elect Harris 

Vice President Mike Pence spoke with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on a call Thursday, sources familiar with the call told ABC News.

The news was first reported by the New York Times.

-ABC News’ Molly Nagle, Justin Gomez and Katherine Faulders


How Trump plans to leave the White House 

Sources told ABC News that Trump has requested a large sendoff hours before President-elect Biden takes the oath of office Wednesday.

Sources say Trump plans to depart the White House next Wednesday morning, choppering via Marine One to Joint Base Andrews where he is expected to give remarks to supporters and departing members of his administration.

Sources add that Trump has requested the event to have a "military-like feel" though details are still not finalized. The president will then fly down to his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida onboard Air Force One with a small number of staffers who will be part of his post-presidency operation, according to the sources.

-ABC News’ John Santucci and Katherine Faulders


Jill Biden re-launching 'Joining Forces' initiative to support military families

Incoming first lady Jill Biden on Thursday announced the re-launch of "Joining Forces," which originated in 2011 during the Obama administration and was a "a nationwide initiative calling all Americans to rally around service members, veterans, and their families and support them through wellness, education, and employment opportunities," that also had the involvement of then-first lady Michelle Obama.

"We'll continue to listen and work with you, making sure that your experiences and expertise are the north star of this effort. And that starts today. That's the promise that I made to you on the campaign trail. That we would relaunch Joining Forces and get to work on day one," Biden said during a virtual event announcing the initiative's relaunch.

The announcement comes after Biden pledged several times on the campaign trail that she would focus her work as first lady on the priorities that defined her work when her husband was vice president for eight years, including her advocacy for military families.

During Biden's remarks she talked about her excitement to work again on Joining Forces while noting her ties to the military through the deployment of her son Beau and her father who was in the Navy during World War II.

"I'm grateful and excited, and most of all, ready to get to work with all of you. And as many of you may know, or maybe you don't, but my father was a Navy signalman in World War II," Biden said. "And my son Beau served for a year in Iraq as a member of the Delaware National Guard. Now, toward the end of the campaign, I had the chance to go back to Hammonton, New Jersey, where I was born, to see the memorial that bears my father's name in our hometown Park."

The future first lady noted that Rory Brosius, a close adviser to the Biden's and is a military spouse, will be joining the White House as a special assistant to the president and executive director of Joining Forces, adding, "No one is more passionate about this work than Rory."

-ABC News' Beatrice Peterson and John Verhovek