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.
Top headlines:
Biden to introduce picks for White House science team
Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will introduce key picks for their science team in Wilmington, Delaware, Saturday afternoon.
The picks are:
-Eric Lander: Nominee for director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and presidential science advisor-designate.
-Alondra Nelson: OSTP deputy director for science and society
-Frances H. Arnold: Co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)
-Maria Zuber: Co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)
In a press release, the Biden transition team said the picks will help the Biden-Harris administration "confront some of the biggest crises and challenges of our time, from climate change and the impact of technology on society to pandemics, racial inequity, and the current historic economic downturn."
Biden announces 5 key nominations at State Department
Biden has announced a new slate of nominations and staff at the Department of State. Many of the picks have ties to both Biden and former President Barack Obama.
The picks are:
-Wendy R. Sherman: Deputy secretary of state
-Brian P. McKeon: Deputy secretary for management and resources
-Bonnie Jenkins: Under secretary for arms control and international security affairs
-Victoria Nuland: Under secretary for political affairs
-Uzra Zeya: Under secretary for civilian security, democracy, and human rights
In a statement, the Biden transition team said these key nominations will help "build back better at the State Department, renew and reimagine American leadership to keep us safe at home and abroad, and address the defining challenges of our time — from infectious disease, to terrorism, China, nuclear proliferation, cyber threats, and climate change. They will put into practice the President-elect and Secretary-designate’s vision of a foreign policy that promotes America’s security, prosperity, and values, and delivers for the middle class."
-ABC News' Beatrice Peterson
Alex Azar refutes resignation, but criticizes Trump rhetoric
Late Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar refuted several media reports that he was resigning early, but did share his resignation letter -- effective Jan. 20 at noon -- on Twitter.
While Azar wrote on Twitter that it was his "duty to help ensure a smooth transition to President-elect Biden’s team during the pandemic" through Inauguration Day, he did criticize President Donald Trump and called on him to more strongly condemn the violence at the Capitol last week.
"Unfortunately, the actions and rhetoric following the election, especially during this past week, threaten to tarnish these and other historic legacies of this Administration," Azar wrote in the resignation letter. "The attacks on the Capitol were an assault on our democracy and on the tradition of peaceful transitions of power that the United States of America first brought to the world. I implore you to continue to condemn unequivocally any form of violence, to demand that no one attempt to disrupt the inaugural activities in Washington or elsewhere, and to continue to support unreservedly the peaceful and orderly transition of power on January 20, 2021."
Azar clarified he handed in the letter, dated Jan. 12, last week "along with every other political appointee."
The two-page letter, in which he calls serving as HHS secretary "the greatest professional privilege and honor of my life," details the administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic. Azar paints an entirely rosy picture, referring to it as a "remarkable response," despite skyrocketing deaths and case rates across most of the nation.
"While we mourn every lost life, our early, aggressive, and comprehensive efforts saved hundreds of thousands or even millions of American lives," he wrote, echoing a refrain from the president. There have been over 391,000 deaths in the U.S., nearly twice the number of the second-highest country (208,000 in Brazil).
He also highlighted the agency's efforts to combat the opioid crisis, electronic cigarettes and the HIV epidemic, and made special mention of "protect[ing] the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death."
Azar has served as HHS secretary since January 2018. President-elect Joe Biden has nominated Xavier Becerra, California's attorney general, to serve as his HHS chief.
ABC News' Ben Siu contributed to this report.
Barry Berke, veteran of Trump's 1st impeachment, to be House Dems' top lawyer for 2nd trial
Barry Berke, the veteran New York defense lawyer who helped House Democrats argue President Donald Trump's first impeachment last year, will rejoin the House Judiciary Committee as the panel's lead impeachment lawyer for Trump's second trial, the panel announced Friday.
Berke will serve as chief impeachment counsel, supported by a team of attorneys from the House Judiciary and Oversight committees who helped Democrats make their case to the Senate last year that Trump abused his office by trying to pressure Ukraine's president to dig up dirt on then-candidate Joe Biden.
While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., unveiled a team of nine new impeachment managers to make the case that Trump should be convicted of inciting the Capitol Hill riot that left five people dead, the presence of Berke and the rest of the legal team underscores the unique position House Democrats are in: For the first time in American history, they will have a team of lawyers behind them with experience arguing in a Senate impeachment trial.
Democrats could transmit the impeachment article to the Senate as early as next week, which could trigger the start of proceedings following Biden's inauguration on Wednesday.
There has been no official announcement on who will represent Trump in the trial, but personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Alan Dershowitz, who took part in the last trial, may be on the team, sources told ABC News. Trump favorite John Eastman, who led a failed election challenge to the Supreme Court, could also join the team.
-ABC News' Katherine Faulders and Benjamin Siegel
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