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TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Donald Trump pledges a peaceful transfer of power when Joe Biden is inaugurated on January 20th. It’s a little late now, doncha think?

Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress call for Trump’s immediate removal from office, through impeachment if necessary. But they’d need to cut short their current vacation.

And lastly, California looks to extend eviction protections for renters – and to send $600 state stimulus checks to many residents. Now there’s an idea worth stealing.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Here’s the state of play following Wednesday’s insurrectionist raid on the Capitol.

After resuming its joint session Wednesday night, Congress voted to certify Joe Biden’s presidential election victory in the wee hours of yesterday morning. When all was said and done, one hundred and forty seven Republican members of Congress – including eight Senators – voted to overrule the Electoral College results. There are now calls that they should face consequences for supporting an anti-democratic putsch, but more on that later. After certifying Biden’s win, the House and Senate adjourned for most of the next two weeks.

In a statements released yesterday, Trump offered the closest thing to a concession we will likely hear from him. In a morning statement, one day after vowing to never concede, he said QUOTE there will be an orderly transition on January 20th ENDQUOTE. In a later video, he called for calm and reconciliation in an apparent effort to appease Democrats calling for his removal. This could be how we hear from Trump going forward, in canned statements and videos from the bunker. Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg yesterday announced that Trump would be suspended from the platform indefinitely, or at least until Biden’s inauguration. There were reports that Trump has made plans to pardon family members as well as himself. No shock there. More surprising: the Trump campaign yesterday dropped all of its election challenges in Georgia.

More details emerged about the mob that took the Capitol. It reportedly included a former officer of the Oakland, California Police Department, and a current sheriff’s lieutenant from Bexar County, Texas, who is now under investigation. According to Politico, more off-duty police officers and members of the military may have also participated in the mob. A West Virginia state delegate joined in and livestreamed himself pushing past police officers. A Pennsylvania Republican state senator, Doug Mastriano, also organized buses for the mob. A man who was photographed inside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, and stealing her mail, was identified as Richard Barnett, an avowed white supremacist. Finally, the woman who was shot and killed by Capitol Police was identified. Her name was Ashli Babbitt and she was an Air Force veteran from California, as well as a Q-Anon believer. Law enforcement sources said a Capitol Police officer was either dead or on life support last night, potentially becoming the fifth fatality related to the mob takeover. A rioter reportedly hit him in the head with a fire extinguisher. It’s all pretty grim, isn’t it?

Democrats Demand Immediate Impeachment

Many news organizations took the day to survey the fallout of Wednesday’s events. Reactions were many and varied.

Speaking by telephone to the winter meeting of the Republican National Committee yesterday morning, Donald Trump was greeted with cheers. According to the Washington Post, some shouted we love you when Trump was put on speakerphone.

Democrats were in no such lovey-dovey mood. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump should be immediately removed from office by way of the 25th Amendment, which is a long shot because it would require action by members of Trump’s own cabinet as well as his Vice President, Mike Pence. (Pence advisers told Business Insider he won’t support such plans.) Failing the 25th Amendment remedy, Schumer said, Trump should be impeached for his role in instigating the assault on Congress. The call for removal was taken up by a wide range of Democrats including Nancy Pelosi and Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who stressed the need to move quickly. According to the Daily Beast, members of the House Judiciary Committee began drawing up articles of impeachment Wednesday evening. Omar sponsored them yesterday. House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler said he supported the articles being brought directly to the House floor. Separately, Missouri Congresswoman Cori

Bush circulated a petition calling for the expulsion of those Republican members who QUOTE incited the attempted coup and white supremacist attack ENDQUOTE.

Some Republicans did pipe up, for what it’s worth. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf released a statement imploring Trump to condemn the mob violence. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, announced her resignation. Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said the Justice Department is committed to ensuring that those responsible for the attack face the full legal consequences. Former AG Bill Barr clearly blamed Trump for the violence, saying QUOTE orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable ENDQUOTE.

The top federal prosecutor in Washington DC, Michael Sherwin, said Trump was not off limits in his investigation. The conduct of the police was heavily scrutinized. The chief of the Capitol Police resigned, and Schumer said he plans to fire the Senate sergeant-at-arms when he takes over as Majority Leader. The Wall Street Journal reported that managers of a DHS unit called Intelligence and Analysis knew of the looming mob but didn’t view it as posing a significant threat. Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser called for an investigation, noting federal cops came down harder on peaceful civil rights protesters over the summer than on violent insurrectionists this week. I wonder why.

California Plans Stimulus Checks

A state law protecting California tenants from pandemic-related evictions expires at the end of this month. So it’s good news, as the Los Angeles Times reports, that Governor Gavin Newsom is proposing to extend protections for renters and expedite distribution of $2.6 billion in federal rental assistance. Newsom said the budget he will release today would include the rental assistance money and a $600 state stimulus check to low-income residents. Under the proposals, Newsom said that Californians who have been impacted by this pandemic will get help to provide for their families and keep a roof over their heads.

Millions of Californians lost income when the COVID-19 pandemic began in March, per the Times. Last summer, Newsom and the Legislature approved a bill that protected many tenants from evictions through January 31. Speaking Wednesday, Newsom did not say how long an extension he would support. A representative said that the plan is subject to negotiations with legislators.

The governor also proposed to provide a Golden State Stimulus that would refund $600 to taxpayers who received a California earned income tax credit, the Times reports. Residents may be eligible for the tax credit if they have annual incomes of $30,000 or less. Last year, nearly four million eligible tax returns were filed. The stimulus payments would be sent out in February and March. Why don’t more states do this?

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

NBC News reports that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is no longer the richest man in the world, after Tesla CEO Elon Musk's fortune rose to $188.5 billion. That’s $1.5 billion more than Bezos. Congratulations to the insufferable plutocrat.

Joe Biden has picked Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, a former union leader, to serve as his Labor secretary, according to Politico. It’s a blow to Asian American activists who’d lobbied for California Labor Secretary Julie Su to take that position. But Walsh apparently had the support of both the American Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees – or at least their leadership.

People with no symptoms transmit more than half of all cases of the novel coronavirus, the Washington Post reports. The new statistic comes from a model developed by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I’ll say it again: stay home or stay distant, wear a mask, and wash your hands.

The Guardian reports that an Iraqi court has issued a warrant for the arrest of Donald Trump. The warrant is part of the court’s investigation into the killing of a paramilitary commander who died in the same US drone strike that killed Iranian general Qassem Suleimani at Baghdad Airport last year. I know where Trump might be – is there a tip line?

That’s all for the AM Quickie. Join us this afternoon on the Majority Report.

JAN 8, 2020 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn