Republicans

The New York Daily News reports: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi raised the possibility Friday of criminal prosecutions of Republican lawmakers if they are found to have provided Capitol tours to people who took part in the Capitol riots. Speaking to reporters a week after a MAGA mob ransacked the Capitol and days after the House voted to impeach President Trump, …

Tulsa World reports: U.S. Sen. James Lankford apologized to Black Tulsans on Thursday for not recognizing that his involvement in questioning presidential election results would offend them. In a letter addressed to “My friends in North Tulsa,” Lankford acknowledges that his actions “caused a firestorm of suspicion among many of my friends, particularly in Black communities around the state. I …

The Washington Post reports: Democrats this week demanded a full investigation into whether Republican House members assisted rioters in the attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, fueled in part by claims that at least one GOP lawmaker gave “reconnaissance” tours to groups the day before the attack. On Thursday, one Republican lawmaker came out swinging to deny any involvement in …

The Daily Beast reports: Freshman Rep. Peter Meijer (R-MI), who was one of 10 House Republicans to vote in favor of impeaching President Trump, said he and his colleagues are buying body armor and getting armed security. “I have colleagues who are now traveling with armed escorts… many of us are altering our routines, working to get body armor,” he …

From an interview with Smokey Mountain News: We were starting to be evacuated and the evacuation route is down stairs. Working with Capitol police, we figured out a way how we could make that more inclusive of the members who have disability problems. I’ve got to hand it to fellow North Carolina congressmen Ted Budd and Richard Hudson. They really …

USA Today reports: Julia Letlow, the widow of U.S. Rep.-elect Luke Letlow, will run for the 5th Congressional District seat her husband was unable to fill because of his COVID-19 death Dec. 29. “Everything in my life and in my marriage has prepared me for this moment,” she said in a statement. “My motivation is the passion Luke and I …

From House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: Speaker Nancy Pelosi today announced that, when returning to session on January 21, the House will vote on a rule change mandating fines for Members who refuse to follow new screening protocols for House Chamber: “On behalf of the House, I express my deepest gratitude to the U.S. Capitol Police for the valor that they …

Politico reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham is leading the charge against President Donald Trump’s impeachment and removal in the Senate, even as the White House remains largely uninvolved. Graham, who just last week said he had had “enough” of Trump’s bid to overturn the election results after he incited a deadly riot at the Capitol, has been calling around to Republican …

Dallas’s CBS News affiliate reports: A letter signed by 50 attorneys general condemning the Jan. 6 violence at the U.S. Capitol was released on Wednesday, but Texas’ Ken Paxton was absent from that letter. In the letter, the attorneys general told the Department of Justice they are “appalled” at the rioters who “invaded the U.S. Capitol, defaced the building and …

The Associated Press reports: If the House impeaches President Donald Trump, a Senate trial on whether to convict him of inciting insurrection seems all but certain to have to wait until President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated. That’s the word from a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The spokesman says aides to the Kentucky Republican have told Senate Minority …

And not one of us is surprised: A Republican source said they expect about 10-20 House Republicans to vote for impeachment. The source went on to say that the White House is putting huge pressure on members, and that members are saying “they want to vote to impeach but they legitimately fear for their lives and their families’ lives.” This …

CNN reports: Rep. Jim Jordan, a staunch Trump ally on Capitol Hill, told reporters he thinks Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney should be ousted from her leadership position after she said she’d support impeaching the President. “I think she’s totally wrong,” he said. “I think there should be a conference and have a second vote on that,” he added. Some …

NBC News reports: Several Republican members of Congress on Tuesday complained about — or outright bypassed — the metal detectors to enter the House floor, which were ordered put in place by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., after last week’s deadly riot at the Capitol. Ahead of a House vote Tuesday evening calling for Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the …

The New York Times reports: Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, has told associates that he believes President Trump committed impeachable offenses and that he is pleased that Democrats are moving to impeach him, believing that it will make it easier to purge him from the party, according to people familiar with his thinking. The House is voting …

The Associated Press reports: Republican Rep. Liz Cheney says she will vote to impeach President Donald Trump. The Wyoming congresswoman, the No. 3 Republican in the House, said in a statement late Tuesday that Trump “summoned” the mob that attacked the Capitol last week, “assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack.” She says, “Everything that followed was …

Mediaite reports: In a fiery exchange during a meeting of the House Rules Committee Tuesday morning, committee chair Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) grilled Jordan — in an effort to get the Ohio congressman to state that Biden won a fair contest. “Will you admit that Joe Biden won fair and square?” McGovern asked Jordan. “And the election was not rigged …

Via press release from Democratic Rep. Brad Schneider: Last Wednesday, after narrowly escaping a violent mob incited by the President of the United States to attack the Capitol and its occupants, I was forced to spend several hours in a secure but confined location with dozens of other Members of Congress. Several Republican lawmakers in the room adamantly refused to …

The New York Times reports: For weeks before the rally, mimicking Mr. Trump’s tone, Republican operatives and lawmakers had used inflammatory language to describe the president’s effort to overturn Mr. Biden’s victory. At a Turning Point USA event in December, Representative Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina encouraged attendees to “call your congressman and feel free — you can lightly threaten …

Sen. Susan Collins writes for the Bangor Daily News: The proceedings began calmly enough. Around 1 p.m., we senators proceeded to the House for a joint session. Soon there was an objection, baseless in my view, to accepting the electoral count from Arizona. We returned to the Senate to begin our two-hour debate with senators, beginning a series of 5-minute …

The Hill reports: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told members of his GOP conference on a call Monday that the riot at the Capitol was not caused by antifa, urging lawmakers not to further spread misinformation about the pro-Trump mob that stormed the House and Senate last week. “McCarthy told all members on the call that he has been …