LIVE: Biden says fastest way to remove Trump is to inaugurate him

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2:52 AM

Pompeo meets with Biden's nominee for secretary of state

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for US top diplomat, Antony Blinken, on Friday to facilitate an orderly transition, meeting just days after US President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the US Capitol in a bid to overturn his election defeat.
 

The meeting, described by a senior State Department official as "very productive," comes just over a week before Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20. The official said Pompeo met with Blinken to "facilitate an orderly transition, and to ensure American interests are protected abroad." "Secretary Pompeo and Secretary-nominee Blinken, as well as their teams, will continue to work together on behalf of America throughout the transition," the official said in a statement.
 

2:01 AM

Biden says fastest way to remove Trump is to inaugurate him

President-elect Joe Biden said the fastest way to remove President Donald Trump from office was to move forward with the president-elect’s inauguration but said it was a “good thing” Trump didn’t plan to attend. Biden said that even though Trump exceeded his worst expectations, he is now focusing on “getting into office,” not on impeaching Trump.

1:58 AM

Biden dodges question about removing Trump from Office

President-elect Joe Biden dodged questions Friday about whether Congress should impeach President Donald Trump with only two weeks left in office, saying he was focused on controlling the pandemic and reviving the US economy.

“What the Congress decides to do is for them to decide,” he told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware. “We’re going to do our job and Congress can decide how to proceed with theirs.”

Biden said he would speak later Friday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic congressional leadership about his agenda, which includes speeding vaccine distribution and economic growth.

1:49 AM

Joe Biden says Donald Trump's impeachment is for Congress to decide

Wilmington: US President-elect Joe Biden said he had believed for a long time that President Donald Trump was not fit for office, but it was up to Congress to decide on a second impeachment of the Republican president after Wednesday's storming of the Capitol.
 

Biden told reporters that he was focused on containing the Covid-19 pandemic, ensuring rapid vaccination and bolstering the economy.
 

"What the Congress decides to do is for them to decide, but... we're going to have to be ready to hit the ground running," he said, when asked about legislation being readied by House Democrats to impeach Trump for his role in fomenting the violence.

1:11 AM

A Trump self-pardon could invite the criminal charges he fears

Any move by President Donald Trump to pardon himself in his final days in office could backfire, legal experts say, inviting the incoming administration to challenge the unprecedented action by filing criminal charges against him.
 

Trump has raised the possibility of a self-pardon in recent days as calls grow for him to face prosecution for inciting the US Capitol siege that resulted in five deaths and sent members of Congress scrambling for safety. But though the president has vast authority to grant clemency to others, a self-pardon would be a novel assertion of executive power that both Democrats and Republicans might want the Supreme Court to strike down.
 

“It would almost set himself up as a sitting duck to be prosecuted,” said Nick Akerman, a former Watergate prosecutor. “It takes the edge off the idea that you’re going after somebody just because they were a political opponent in the prior administration.”
 

Trump faced legal threats even before Wednesday’s riot. The administration of President-elect Joe Biden could decide to revive Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into obstruction of justice by Trump or launch a new probe into his taxes. But such prosecutions were likely to face stiff Republican opposition, and Biden has signaled he might prefer to move on.
 

1:08 AM

Pelosi speaks to chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff about preventing Trump from accessing nuke codes

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday spoke to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff about preventing "unhinged" President Donald Trump from initiating military actions or a nuclear strike.
 

Pelosi in a letter to Democratic members of the House of Representatives said that she spoke with Gen Mark Milley "to discuss available precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike." Reiterating her demand to remove President Trump from office, she said, “The situation of this unhinged president could not be more dangerous, and we must do everything that we can to protect the American people from his unbalanced assault on our country and our democracy." "Nearly fifty years ago, after years of enabling their rogue President, Republicans in Congress finally told President Nixon that it was time to go," she wrote.
 

“Today, following the President's dangerous and seditious acts, Republicans in Congress need to follow that example and call on Trump to depart his office – immediately. If the President does not leave office imminently and willingly, the Congress will proceed with our action,” Pelosi said.
 

1:08 AM

US House Democrats to introduce impeachment charges against Trump on Monday

Democrats in the US House of Representatives plan to introduce new articles of impeachment against Republican President Donald Trump on Monday, calling for his removal from office, two people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
 

The sources said the articles, which are formal charges of misconduct, were crafted by Democratic Representatives David Cicilline, Ted Lieu and Jamie Raskin following this week's assault on the US Capitol by Trump supporters.
 

12:51 AM

Ronna McDaniel, facing no opponent, re-elected RNC Chairwoman

Loyalists to President Donald Trump were re-elected Friday to lead the Republican party for the next two years, ensuring the outgoing president’s grip on the GOP even as his presidency comes to a chaotic end.
 

Ronna McDaniel will remain as chairwoman of the Republican National Committee with Tommy Hicks as vice chairman. While McDaniel was unopposed, Hicks easily fought off challenges from three other candidates in what was widely viewed as a proxy fight over Trump’s role in the party.
 

The RNC elections in Fernandina Beach, Florida came two days after a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to prevent Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election. Trump said Friday he would not attend Biden’s inauguration and instead mulled the possibility of running again in 2024, suggesting that the movement he built will last beyond the Biden presidency.
 

12:51 AM

Indian-American Sabrina Singh named Deputy Press Secretary in White House

Indian-American Sabrina Singh would serve as Deputy Press Secretary to the Vice President in the White House, according to an announcement made by the Biden-Harris Transition.
 

Singh was Press Secretary to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on the Biden-Harris campaign. Prior to her role on the campaign, Singh served as senior spokesperson for Mike Bloomberg's presidential campaign and National Press Secretary for Cory Booker's presidential campaign.
 

She previously served as deputy communications director for the Democratic National Committee, spokesperson for American Bridge's Trump War Room and Regional Communications Director on Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.
 

She has also worked at SKDKnickerbocker, served as Communications Director for Rep. Jan Schakowsky and worked at various Democratic committees, said the Biden-Harris Transition as it announced additional members of the Vice President's Office at the White House.
 

11:18 PM

House Speaker Pelosi says she spoke to top US general about restraining Trump

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke to the top US military commander on Friday about taking precautions to ensure that Republican President Donald Trump cannot initiate hostilities or order a nuclear strike in his remaining 12 days in office.
 

Pelosi said in a letter to Democratic lawmakers that she spoke to Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about what measures are available to rein in the president. Trump, angry about his election loss, incited supporters in the days before an invasion of the US Capitol on Wednesday.
 

"The situation of this unhinged president could not be more dangerous, and we must do everything that we can to protect the American people from his unbalanced assault on our country and our democracy," Pelosi said in a letter to colleagues.
 

The Joint Staff did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
 

Democratic President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20. Trump said earlier on Friday he would not attend the inauguration, breaking with long-standing tradition in American presidential transitions.

 

Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, also said she had not heard back from Vice President Mike Pence about whether he would agree to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office "for his incitement of insurrection and the danger he still poses."