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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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
DC mayor says National Mall will be temporarily closed for Biden’s inauguration
During a news conference Friday, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the National Mall is temporarily closed to the public through at least Thursday.
Thirteen metro stations inside the security perimeter will also be closed.
Bowser said the National Mall closure came at the request of and in cooperation with the Secret Service and the National Park Service.
The mayor urged Americans to enjoy the inauguration virtually from home this year.
She also discussed the city’s beefed-up security ahead of the inauguration but told D.C. residents she doesn’t expect the security measures currently in place to last too long after Biden takes office.
-ABC News’ Kenneth Moton
Nomination hearing for Avril Haines postponed
The nomination hearing for Biden’s pick for director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, has been postponed. It was originally scheduled for Friday.
A joint statement from Senate Intelligence Committee Acting Chairman Marco Rubio and Vice Chairman Mark Warner on Thursday confirmed the postponement. It did not give specific reasons, but referenced the “unusual circumstances on Capitol Hill.”
Rubio and Warner added that they "look forward to holding a hearing next week" for Haines, but did not list a specific date.
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
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