Georgia Democrat introduces bill to bar Trump from Capitol after term ends.

Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.) has introduced a bill to bar President Trump from entering the Capitol after his term in the White House is over.

Williams introduced the measure on Jan. 13, the same day the House voted to impeach Trump on a charge of inciting an insurrection one week after a mob of Trump supporters overtook the Capitol in an effort to stop Congress from officially counting the Electoral College votes certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

“The Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives, the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the Senate, and the United States Capitol Police shall take such actions as may be necessary to prohibit President Donald John Trump from entering the United States Capitol at any time after the expiration of his term as President,” the bill states. 

Trump’s term ends Wednesday once Biden is inaugurated around noon. Trump said he will not attend Biden’s inauguration, in a significant break from the traditional transfer of power.
“President Trump has shown time and time again that he is a danger to our democracy and a threat to the country,” Williams said, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “His actions on January 6 caused a deadly attack on the Capitol and for that reason he should not be allowed into the Capitol.”

Williams sits in the seat held by the late Rep. John Lewis, a renowned civil rights activist who died last year, representing Georgia’s 5th Congressional District. 

Following the Capitol riot, a host of corporations and political donors said they would pause giving GOP lawmakers money after some Republicans continued to object to the counting of some Electoral College votes hours after the violent takeover of the legislative branch that left five people dead and sent members of Congress scrambling for safety.

Feds walk back claim that Capitol rioters sought ‘to capture and assassinate’ officials.

Federal officials on Friday sought to walk back claims that some of the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday intended to “capture and assassinate elected officials.”

The detail was included in a court filing Thursday, in which federal prosecutors in Arizona pushed to keep Jacob Anthony Chansley, known as “QAnon Shaman,” in detention, arguing he was a flight risk.

Prosecutors wrote in the filing that “strong evidence, including Chansley’s own words and actions at the Capitol, supports that the intent of the Capitol rioters was to capture and assassinate elected officials in the United States Government.”

The detail was reported by multiple outlets, including The Hill, and followed concerns raised by lawmakers and others over footage of the Capitol breach that showed rioters chanting “Hang Mike Pence.” 

However, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Arizona told The Hill later Friday that the line about rioters wanting to capture and harm elected officials was struck from the memorandum at the request of the government during a court hearing. 

Acting U.S. Attorney for D.C. Michael Sherwin, the top prosecutor in Washington, D.C., said there was no “direct evidence” to back the claims, according to multiple reports. 

“Right now, we don’t have any direct evidence of kill/capture teams,” Sherwin said, according to Politico.

Sherwin added that there may have been a “disconnect” on evidence obtained in the cases as prosecutors across the country coordinate, according to the news outlet. 

“There were other prosecutors,” Sherwin said. “That may be a disconnect that may be adding information that’s not directly related to what we have.”

The Hill has reached out to Sherwin’s office for comment. 

The amended filing comes as authorities build cases against scores of individuals from across the country who stormed the Capitol building. 

FBI Director Christopher Wray said Thursday that more than 100 people have been arrested so far in connection to the riot and dozens more have been identified as potential suspects. The Washington Post reported last week that the FBI was investigating whether some rioters sought to harm lawmakers or staff.

Sherwin said Friday that his office has brought more than 98 criminal prosecutions, according to Reuters, and has opened investigations into over 275 people in connection with the riot. 

Chansley – who was seen wearing fur and horns in the Capitol- was charged last week with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

The Thursday memo alleged that Chansley left a note for Vice President Pence at the Senate chamber dais that read “it’s only a matter of time, justice is coming.”

When asked what the note meant, authorities say Chansley went on a “lengthy diatribe” describing Pence and other U.S. leaders “as infiltrators involved in various types of wrongdoing.”

Prosecutors also stated that Chansley has said he wants to return to D.C. for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, and has the ability to do so. They said he could quickly raise money for travel “as one of the leaders and mascots of QAnon.”

Trump defends remarks before Capitol riots, calling them ‘totally appropriate’.

President Trump on Tuesday said his remarks to supporters just before they stormed the U.S. Capitol last week were “totally appropriate,” even as they have become the basis for an article of impeachment against him.

“They’ve analyzed my speech and my words and my final paragraph, my final sentence, and everybody, to the T, thought it was totally appropriate,” Trump told reporters as he departed Joint Base Andrews to visit the border with Mexico.

He also sought to redirect focus from the deadly rioting to comments from other politicians made last summer during protests against racial injustice, saying they were “a real problem,” though he did not elaborate.


The president has yet to acknowledge his own role in the violence last Wednesday at the Capitol, where pro-Trump rioters clashed with law enforcement and broke into the building. The ensuing mayhem led to multiple deaths, including that of a Capitol Police officer.

Thousands of the president’s supporters descended on Washington, D.C., to protest the certification of the electoral results affirming Joe Biden as the next president after Trump spent weeks refusing to concede and insisting the election had been “stolen.”

Trump held a rally at the Ellipse just outside the White House, where he whipped up supporters with unproven claims and urged them to march on the Capitol.

“We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them,” Trump told the crowd.

“Because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong. We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated.” he continued. “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”

A short time later, rioters overwhelmed law enforcement and breached the Capitol complex. The vice president, lawmakers, staff and journalists were evacuated or ordered to shelter in place.

Video and firsthand accounts have since emerged of the mob assaulting police, breaking down doors and shattering windows and carrying zip ties. Dozens have been arrested in connection with the chaos, including one man who entered Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) office.

Democrats and Republicans have widely condemned Trump’s role in the riots. Two Republican senators have called for Trump to resign before his term ends on Jan. 20, and House Democrats are scheduled to vote Wednesday on impeaching him for a second time.

The article of impeachment, co-authored by Democratic Reps. David Cicilline (R.I.), Ted Lieu (Calif.) and Jamie Raskin (Md.), states that Trump engaged in high crimes and misdemeanors by “willfully inciting violence against the Government of the United States.”

4 dead, 52 arrested after chaos on Capitol Hill.

Four people died on Wednesday, including one woman who was shot by a police officer, amid protests and rioting on Capitol Hill that resulted in dozens of demonstrators being arrested, police announced.

Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee called the rioting by pro-Trump demonstrators “shameful” during a news conference alongside Mayor Muriel Bowser (D).

Demonstrators stormed the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon, forcing both chambers to evacuate as they prepared to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win.

The situation escalated quickly, with officers scrambling to prevent swarms of people from entering the Capitol building before eventually being overrun by scores of people entering the complex.

One woman was shot and killed by Capitol Police during the rioting. Police said three other people – a woman and two men – died after apparently suffering “separate medical emergencies” near the Capitol grounds.

Authorities have not released additional information on the woman who was shot by the Capitol Police officer. The woman was transported to an area hospital where she was pronounced dead, Contee said.

Contee said at least 14 officers sustained injuries during the rioting, with one officer “pulled into the crowd and assaulted,” resulting in “serious injuries” that required hospitalization. Another officer was also hospitalized.

Police also recovered two pipe bombs near the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee.

Officers from D.C. police and Capitol Police successfully cleared the Capitol grounds so Congress could resume its count of the electoral results, which resumed around 8 p.m.

Members of the D.C. National Guard had been called in earlier Wednesday as authorities attempted to gain control of the situation and secure the Capitol building.

In response to the civil unrest on Capitol Hill, Bowser issued a curfew for the District beginning at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. She also extended an emergency declaration in the city until Jan. 21, allowing the city to access additional resources to quell any further civil disturbances.

Police began “securing the perimeter around the Capitol Building” around 7:15 p.m., Conte said, issuing verbal warnings to many of the hundreds that remained in the area after the curfew had gone into effect. 

As of 9:30 p.m., police had made 52 arrests, including four for carrying pistols without a license and one for possession of a prohibited weapon. Twenty six of the 52 arrests were made on Capitol grounds, Conte said.

Conte reminded the public, “if you are not engaged in essential activities, please stay off the streets.” 

Uncertainty over Trump’s presidential power mounts after VP gave order instead of him.

Reports emerging from major news outlets in United States have confirmed that President Donald Trump didn’t give the order for the deployment of National Guard to assist local law enforcement in enforcing law and order following invasion of Capitol Hill by pro-Trump protesters.

Large crowd of Trump supporters had earlier stormed US Congress and White house in a latest bid to protest against the election that saw Biden certified as winner, gaining access and occupying the building.

President Trump by virtue of his office is the Commander of the US Armed Forces and the power to order for deployment of troops rest solely on him.

In a report made available by New York Media, defense and administration officials had confirmed it was Vice President Mike Pence who gave the order to deploy the D.C. National Guard.

The development has raised a lot of questions as to why Donald Trump who is till the commander in chief, did not approve the order for the deployment of the troops.

There are insinuations that Trump was not involved in the discussion to deploy the troops, leading to speculations that he may have been stepped aside as reports said he was unwilling to give the order to restore law and order.