Biden inauguration live updates: Inaugural events to kick off amid heightened security
Biden’s nominee for director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, told senators at her confirmation hearing Tuesday that she would provide a public assessment of the QAnon threat.
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., asked Haines if Haines would provide a “public written assessment of the threat QAnon poses to our country.”
“I will,” she said.
Haines said she was aware of a letter Heinrich and others sent to FBI Director Christopher Wray last month asking for such an assessment. She said she would work with the Department of Homeland Security and FBI to “get you an answer to that question,” adding that the assessment would include looking at “particular foreign influence operations and how those are affecting Qanon” and “exacerbating” misinformation.
Two National Guard members removed from Biden inauguration security
Two U.S. Army National Guard members are being removed from the security mission to secure Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration. A U.S. Army official and a senior U.S. intelligence official say the two National Guard members have been found to have ties to fringe right group militias.
No plot against Biden was found.
The Army official and the intelligence official spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity due to Defense Department media regulations. They did not say what fringe group the guard members belonged to or what unit they served in.
Contacted by the AP on Tuesday, the National Guard Bureau referred questions to the U.S. Secret Service and said, “Due to operational security, we do not discuss the process nor the outcome of the vetting process for military members supporting the inauguration.”
The Secret Service told the AP on Monday it would not comment on if any National Guard members had been pulled from securing the inauguration for operational security reasons.
Michigan Gov. Whitmer to attend inauguration
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who was the target last year of a kidnapping plot by members of militia groups scheming to overthrow the government, announced Tuesday that she will attend Biden’s inauguration.
Whitmer, who is a co-chair of Biden’s inaugural committee, said she is “honored” to attend and ready to work with him and Harris “to fight this virus, save lives, and put the country back on track.”
“The country is ready for a leader who listens to medical experts to lead our country’s Covid-19 response and works on behalf of hardworking Americans,” she said in a statement.
Before the plot against the Democratic governor came to light, political tensions in her state had been rising over restrictions she imposed to stem the spread of the coronavirus, resulting in rallies in Lansing in which armed protesters took to the state Capitol.
Whitmer has condemned Trump for refusing to condemn groups like those allegedly involved in the f1oiled scheme, pointing to remarks he made about the “Proud Boys” group during the first presidential debate. The president had also tweeted “LIBERATE MICHIGAN” when the state was under stringent shutdown orders.
Sen. Blunt, who oversees inaugural ceremony: ‘I feel good about where we are on security’
Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., the chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, said Tuesday that he feels “good” about security at the Capitol for the inauguration on Wednesday.
“I feel good about where we are on security,” Blunt told reporters when asked if he has any concerns. “But you know, as I said, four years ago when I chaired this, my — somebody asked me, ‘What was your best moment of the inauguration?’ I said, ‘When everybody got back inside.’”
“I mean, it’s clearly always a moment of where our governments is … at its most vulnerable, but also an important moment where we project our strength as a democracy. So I’m feeling good about it, but I’m staying totally focused on that as much as I can,” he added.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., meanwhile, said on MSNBC that she thinks the heightened security measures will have to stay in place for the time being.
“I hate to say this, and here I’m speaking again in my dual role as a resident and as a member of Congress, I think it has to stay in place. But the longer it stays in place, the worse it is for my neighbors and for the residents of the District of Columbia,” she said Tuesday. “This is the price we pay for being the nation’s capital. We’re willing to pay it.”
What Trump’s doing on his final full day in office
After four turbulent years, Tuesday is President Trump’s final full day in office.
The president has not been seen publicly in a week and he has no public events on his schedule. An administration official confirms to NBC News that Trump recorded a farewell video, but the official provided no details about its contents or when it would be released.
After shattering norms and ignoring traditions since he stepped foot in office, the president has been urged by advisers and allies to at least call President-elect Biden or leave him a note in the Oval Office before he leaves Washington, a person close to the president confirms. But a Trump ally says nothing has been written yet. In either case, it would be a downgrade, after advisers, just last week, suggested Trump host Biden at the White House for a meeting, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.
On Monday afternoon, Trump met in the Oval Office with advisers, including White House counsel Pat Cipollone, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, to discuss the final list of pardons and commutations, a White House official tells NBC News. He’s still expected to release dozens before his terms expires on Wednesday.
Congressional leaders to attend church with Biden tomorrow
The top four congressional leaders, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will be attending church with President-Elect Joe Biden Wednesday morning, the day of his inauguration, according to multiple sources.
This was first reported by Punchbowl News.
FIRST READ: Biden’s first task is his most crucial and obvious: Vaccinate America
Facing a pessimistic public, holding middling poll numbers for an incoming president (higher than Trump’s, lower than Obama’s) and dealing with a predecessor who’s yet to concede the election he lost, Joe Biden isn’t getting much of a honeymoon.
But Biden has this going for him after he takes the oath of office on Wednesday: one clear job — to get vaccines into as many American arms as possible.
Nothing he will say in his inaugural address and no executive order he will issue in his first days will be more important than achieving his goal of injecting 100 million vaccine doses in his first 100 days as president.
If he gets that right, he will oversee a less pessimistic American public; he’ll get a stronger economy; and he’ll do something that his predecessor was unable to execute in his final days.
As Trump’s top diplomat, Pompeo sought to position himself as the president’s successor
In the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency, one top deputy has remained steadfastly loyal, even as others have distanced themselves or resigned in protest.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has doubled down on his defense of Trump, criticizing those who have broken ranks and ingratiating himself with Trump’s followers, who will be vital for his own presidential ambitions.
“I think history will remember us very well,” Pompeo told a group of House Republicans only days after Trump egged on a mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
“While I think we all think the violence that took place in the place where you all work in the Capitol was tragic, I’ve watched people walk away from this president already. And they are not listening to the American people. Not remotely,” Pompeo said.
Pompeo’s close alignment with Trump defined his tenure as America’s top diplomat. Both his supporters and his critics believe Pompeo worked to place himself in the line of political succession, whether Trump remained king or became kingmaker.
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