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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6th House Republican backs impeachment

GOP Rep. Dan Newhouse, Wash., issued a statement saying he would vote yes on the article of impeachment shortly before speaking on the House floor.

"These articles of impeachment are flawed, but I will not use process as an excuse. There's no excuse for President Trump's actions," Newhouse said.

"Last week there was a domestic threat at the door of the Capitol, and he did nothing to stop it. That is why with a heavy heart and clear resolve I will vote yes on these articles of impeachment."

Roughly two dozen Democrats on the House floor applauded Newhouse when he announced his plans to vote to impeach Trump.

Shortly after, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., said she will also vote to impeach Trump in her floor marks. She had previously announced her intentions to break from the president, and said on the floor it's not a "fear-based decision."

No House Republicans voted to impeach Trump in 2019.

-ABC News' Katherine Faulders and Benjamin Siegel


Trump issues statement calling for ‘NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism’

As the House debates impeaching him a second time, President Donald Trump issued a statement Wednesday urging for “‘NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism.’

“In light of reports of more demonstrations, I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind,” Trump said in the statement.

“That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for,” he added. “I call on ALL Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers. Thank You.”

-ABC News' Elizabeth Thomas


Liz Cheney to GOP: 'I'm not going anywhere'

After several conservative House Republicans aligned with Trump criticized Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney -- the No. 3 in GOP leadership -- after she announced she would support impeachment Tuesday evening, Cheney fired back to their calls to step down through reporters on Capitol Hill.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said Wednesday afternoon. "This is a vote of conscience. It's one where there are different views in our conference. But our nation is facing an unprecedented, since the Civil War, constitutional crisis. That's what we need to be focused on. That's where our efforts and attention need to be."

-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel and Mariam Khan


GOP leader says fact-finding mission and censure resolution 'would be prudent,' opposing impeachment

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy delivered a speech on the House floor against impeaching Trump, arguing that a vote to impeach would "fan the flames of partisan division" and that instead the president could bear responsibility through a censure resolution.

McCarthy began by condemning last week's attack on the Capitol as "undemocratic, un-American and criminal," and although there to defend him, quickly broke from the president in making the distinction that antifa was not to blame for the violence, as Trump has privately suggested.

"Some say the riots were caused by antifa. There is absolutely no evidence of that. And conservatives should be the first to say so," McCarthy said, calling on his colleagues.

"I believe impeaching the president in such a short timeframe would be a mistake," McCarthy said, notably not directly defending his actions as unimpeachable but taking issue with the timing.

"A vote to impeach will further divide the nation. A vote to impeach will further fan the flames of partisan division," he said. "That doesn't mean the president is free from fault."

McCarthy suggested that "a fact-finding commission and a censure resolution would be prudent" but "unfortunately, that is not where we are today." He stressed it's a time "to unite once again as Americans."


Va. governor ready for potential threat at state capital

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said he sent 2,000 National Guardsmen and hundreds of state police to help stop the president’s supporters from rioting at the U.S. Capitol during a joint session of Congress last week.

Now, with Biden’s inauguration just days away, he said his state is prepared to ensure a peaceful transition of power in Washington, D.C., and ready to face any other threats that might emerge after multiple recent reports of threats at capital buildings throughout the country.

“Unfortunately, we have experience here in Virginia,” Northam told ABC News’ Linsey Davis. “We had the riots in Charlottesville back in August 2017, and then we had a lot of armed protesters in January (2020), and so, we have some experience.”

With fences posted around the state’s capital building and windows boarded up, Northam said it’s “an unfortunate situation, but we’ve made it known to these individuals that if they come here looking for trouble, that we’re ready and the outcome is not going to be good for them.”

Northam said that the riot at the Capitol has also impacted his state’s ability to vaccinate people for the coronavirus.

“It’s unfortunate that we’re having to use the resources that we are (using),” he said. “We’re in the middle of a pandemic. … The Guardsmen, they’ve been very involved with our testing and now our vaccination program. We’d like to have them doing that, but instead, we have a president that has incited violence and we need to protect the country.”

-ABC News' Anthony Rivas