Donald Trump speaks at a rally to support Republican Senate candidates in Valdosta, Georgia in September last year. Photograph: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images
Joe Biden’s inaugural committee announced the president-elect’s team would participate in the national day of service on Martin Luther King Day as part of the events leading up to his January 20 inauguration.
In a new statement, the inaugural committee said its service events would “focus on COVID-19 relief and address challenges that have been exacerbated by the pandemic, such as poverty, hunger, racial injustice, homelessness, mental health, and educational disparities.”
Tony Allen, the CEO of the committee, added, “When Dr. King accepted the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, he underscored our collective responsibility to strive towards the ‘oughtness’ that confronts us as it does today.
“President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris are empathetic leaders who know the crisis millions of American families are facing. And like Dr. King, they know that we must have a shared commitment — in word and in deed — to bring the nation together in service to others.”
A White House official told the Associated Press that Donald Trump would present the medal to Devin Nunes on Monday.
Nunes was a loyal ally during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and links between Trump and Moscow.
He rejected intelligence community findings, promoted conspiracy theories and, in March 2017, made what his Democratic counterpart Adam Schiff called an “extraordinary and peculiar midnight run” to the White House to view specially provided intelligence material.
The congressman also famously mounted a lawsuit over the activities of Twitter accounts entitled “Devin Nunes’ Mom” and “Devin Nunes’ Cow”.
Jim Jordan, another one of Trump’s closest congressional allies, is expected to be honoured next week.
Two House Democrats call on FBI to investigate Trump phone call
Two Democratic House members, Ted Lieu of California and Kathleen Rice of New York, are calling on the FBI to investigate Donald Trump over his call with the Georgia secretary of state.
Rep. Ted Lieu 😷 (@RepTedLieu)
The President, in a phone call with GA Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, appeared to solicit election fraud by asking him to “find 11,780 votes.” Our letter with @RepKathleenRice making a criminal referral to @FBI Director Wray to open an investigation: pic.twitter.com/9FZeVKN07Y
“The President of the United States, in an approximately one-hour long phone call, threatened and berated Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to ‘find 11,780 votes’ to overturn the President’s defeat in the state,” the Democrats wrote in their letter to the director of the FBI, Christopher Wray.
“The evidence of election fraud by Mr. Trump is now in broad daylight,” Lieu and Rice added. “Given the more than ample factual predicate, we are making a criminal referral to you to open an investigation into Mr. Trump.”
In an interview this morning, Raffensperger said his office would not launch an investigation into the matter, but he acknowledged Trump could face a criminal investigation by the Fulton county district attorney.
The House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, ignored questions from reporters about whether he had concerns regarding Donald Trump’s call with the Georgia secretary of state.
The Republican leader also would not say whether he supported the effort by some of his colleagues to object to the congressional count of electoral votes on Wednesday.
Manu Raju (@mkraju)
Kevin McCarthy walked on and off floor without answering multiple questions about whether he was OK with the Trump phone call to the Georgia Secretary of State. He also would not respond when we asked if he backed the effort by conservatives to overturn the elections on Wednesday
Donald Trump lashed out against Tom Cotton, after the Republican senator said he would not object to counting the electoral votes that will finalize Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential race.
“How can you certify an election when the numbers being certified are verifiably WRONG,” Trump said in a new tweet. “You will see the real numbers tonight during my speech, but especially on JANUARY 6th. @SenTomCotton Republicans have pluses & minuses, but one thing is sure, THEY NEVER FORGET!”
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
How can you certify an election when the numbers being certified are verifiably WRONG. You will see the real numbers tonight during my speech, but especially on JANUARY 6th. @SenTomCotton Republicans have pluses & minuses, but one thing is sure, THEY NEVER FORGET!
Cotton, a Republican of Arkansas, broke with his fellow 2024 presidential hopefuls yesterday, when he announced he would not join them in objecting to Congress’ electoral vote count on Wednesday.
“Under the Constitution and federal law, Congress’s power is limited to counting electoral votes submitted by the state,” Cotton said in a statement. “Thus, I will not oppose the counting of certified electoral votes on January 6.”
Trump and his allies have insisted the count is not valid due to their allegations of widespread fraud in the election, but they have produced no valid evidence to substantiate those claims.
Nancy Pelosi sent a “Dear colleague” letter reminding House members to respect public health guidelines, a day after several Republicans were seen on the floor not wearing masks.
“As we go forward, please note with respect the guidance set forth by the Office of the Attending Physician and the Sergeant at Arms,” the Democratic speaker wrote in the letter.
“When staff urge you to leave the Floor, it is not a suggestion. It is a direction, in the interest of keeping the Congress healthy and intact.
“As Members of Congress, we are considered essential workers. We must take our responsibility seriously to: Wear masks at all times. Respect social distancing. Limit the number of Members on the Floor.”
After several House Republicans, including QAnon supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene, were seen not wearing masks on the floor, a heated debate broke out between Democratic and Republican floor staffers. The attending physician of the Capitol, Dr Brian Monahan, eventually got involved in the discussion.
As a reminder, there is substantial evidence that the wearing of masks helps limit the spread of coronavirus.
Raffensperger acknowledges potential criminal investigation of Trump
Brad Raffensperger acknowledged Donald Trump could face a criminal investigation over his demand that the Georgia secretary of state “find” enough votes to throw the state to him.
Speaking to “Good Morning America” today, Raffensperger said he did not think it would be appropriate for his office to launch an investigation because of a potential conflict of interest.
ABC News (@ABC)
Georgia Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger tells @GStephanopoulos that the data Pres. Trump cited to him throughout an hour-long phone call Saturday to claim there was rampant voter fraud in the state’s presidential election “is just plain wrong.” https://t.co/rCKKVu2l1Npic.twitter.com/elklrk5WET
Raffensperger added, “I understand that the Fulton County district attorney wants to look at it. Maybe that’s the appropriate venue for it to go.”
The Republican official would not comment on the legality of Trump’s demands, but he again defended his office’s handling of the election, pushing back against the president’s baseless allegations of widespread fraud.
“I’m not a lawyer. All I know is that we’re going to follow the law, follow the process,” Raffensperger said. “Truth matters. And we’ve been fighting these rumors for the last two months.”
This is Joan Greve in Washington, taking over for Oliver Holmes.
Here’s what the blog is keeping an eye on today: bothDonald Trumpand Joe Biden will be campaigning in Georgia, the state that is holding two Senate runoff races tomorrow. The results of those elections will determine control of the Senate.
The runoff races come days after the president pressured Georgia’s secretary of state to “find” enough ballots to allow him to win the state, which he lost by nearly 12,000 votes in November.
The blog will have more updates on both of those stories coming up, so stay tuned.
Here is US Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris at a rally on Sunday accusing Trump of a ‘bold abuse of power’ following the president’s call to Georgia’s secretary of state.
Play Video
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Kamala Harris says Trump’s call to Georgia secretary of state is ‘bold abuse of power’ – video
Donald Trump is reportedly set to bestow the presidential medal of freedom, the highest US civilian honour, on Devin Nunes and Jim Jordan, Republican allies in Congress who supported him in the Russia investigation, his impeachment and other Washington controversies.
Citing “someone familiar with the plans”, the Washington Post reported that Trump, who will leave office on 20 January, had settled on giving the medal to Nunes, a former chair of the House intelligence committee. Other outlets confirmed the report.
Nunes was a loyal ally during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and links between Trump and Moscow.
He rejected intelligence community findings, promoted conspiracy theories and, in March 2017, made what his Democratic counterpart Adam Schiff called an “extraordinary and peculiar midnight run” to the White House to view specially provided intelligence material.
The Post said Jordan was also likely to be honoured, although plans were not as advanced as in Nunes’ case. Jordan is a former wrestling coach who has been accused of ignoring sexual abuse of athletes by a team doctor at Ohio State, a charge he denies.
He emerged as a key “attack dog” for Trump, employing what one observer called a “style of brash, offensive conduct” during impeachment proceedings.
In 2016, Brad Raffensperger supported Trump. And in 2018, Trump repaid the favour by endorsing Raffensperger’s run to become the secretary of state for Georgia.
But Trump’s sour loss to Joe Biden broke the relationship, with the US president labelling his party member an “enemy of the people”.
Here is an opinion piece by New York attorney and former Department of Justice official, Lloyd Green, on the Republicans seeking to overturn the election result.
My colleague and live blog pro, Helen Sullivan, has rounded up the six key points from the leaked Trump phone call. If you’re pressed for time or prefer listicles, have a read:
Then there’s the fact that the spiralling death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has passed 350,000 in the US, a figure the president falsely asserts is “far exaggerated”.
Meanwhile, all of the 10 former US defence secretaries who are still living, including two who worked for Donald Trump, have warned the outgoing president may attempt to foment a crisis with the aim of triggering a military intervention in a last-ditch struggle to hold on power.
The sun has not yet risen on the US east coast. It’s going to be a long day.
