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TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Donald Trump yesterday became the first United States president to be impeached twice. Congratulations, sir!

Meanwhile, new details continue to surface about cooperation between last week’s Capitol mob and elected Republican officials. Not to mention the corporate money that backs them.

And lastly, the United States government has announced a trade ban on certain products from China made with forced labor. A fifth of the global cotton supply is at stake, and major clothing brands are implicated.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

It’s done. History has been made. Again. And hopefully not for a third time, because one insurrection was exciting enough. The House voted yesterday to impeach Donald Trump on a charge of inciting violence against the US government. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell left open the possibility of voting to convict at a trial, which would occur after Trump leaves office next week, the Washington Post reports. The Senate could vote on barring Trump from future elective office if he is convicted.

The final vote in the House yesterday was two hundred and thirty-two to one hundred and ninety-seven, with ten Republicans voting with Democrats for impeachment. It was reportedly the most bipartisan impeachment ever.

During debate on the House floor, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Trump bears responsibility for last week’s violent takeover of the Capitol but proposed he be censured rather than impeached. Holding Trump accountable, McCarthy said, would only fan the flames of partisan division. Congressman Jaime Raskin of Maryland, the lead impeachment manager, had a concise response to that argument. He said QUOTE It’s a bit much to be hearing that these people would not be trying to destroy our government and kill us if we just weren’t so mean to them ENDQUOTE. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump must go, calling him a clear and present danger. Representative Hakeem Jeffires of New York went farther, calling Trump QUOTE a living, breathing impeachable offense ENDQUOTE.

Trump released a video statement disavowing political violence. He reportedly spent the day furious, watching television.

Republicans Ignore Capitol Security

The number of National Guard troops deployed to Washington, DC ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration has reportedly swelled to twenty thousand, double what was initially pledged. News photos showed service members resting on the floors of the Capitol. Not everyone is happy about the increased security. A dozen or more Republicans in the House, including gun-toting Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert, have refused to comply with newly installed metal detectors outside the chamber. Some are concerned that these Republicans may be showing future armed insurrectionists how to circumvent security.

And there is new information about how GOP elected officials may have coordinated with the mob that took the Capitol last week. The Washington Post reports that weeks before the siege, right-wing activist Ali Alexander told his followers he was planning something big for January 6th. Alexander, who organized the Stop the Steal movement, said he hatched the plan alongside three GOP lawmakers: Representatives Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar of Arizona, and Mo Brooks of Alabama. All are hard-line Trump supporters. And Politico reports that Democratic Representative Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey witnessed colleagues escorting people through the Capitol on January 5th for what she described as reconnaissance ahead of the next day’s violent insurrection. Sherrill did not identify the lawmakers, but has referred her information to authorities. Democrats are also investigating. Finally, two Capitol Police officers told BuzzFeed News they wouldn’t be surprised if lawmakers helped plan the attack.

Beyond Washington, Politico reports that the Capitol riot was fueled by a deep network of GOP statehouse support. Lawmakers from more than a dozen states attended the January 6th rally, while scores more cheered on the mob from afar. Meanwhile, corporations and industry groups have donated at least $170 million in recent years to Congressional Republicans who rejected Joe Biden’s victory over Trump, according to Public Citizen, an advocacy group. So the insurrectionists have money, they have numbers, and they have outrage. But pretty soon, at least, they won’t have Congress – or the White House.

US Bans Chinese Cotton

This news of global trade and diplomacy comes via the Associated Press. The US government announced yesterday that it will halt imports of cotton and tomatoes from the Uighur region of China. The AP is calling it the most sweeping action yet to pressure the Communist Party over its campaign against ethnic minorities. Officials said Customs and Border Protection will use its authority to block products suspected of being produced with forced labor to keep out cotton, tomatoes and related products from the Xinjiang region of northwest China. The region is a major global supplier of cotton, so the order could have significant effects on international commerce.

According to the AP, the order will put economic pressure not just on China but major global retailers who import goods produced by people under conditions that are akin to modern-day slavery. Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium, said QUOTE Any global apparel brand that is not either out of Xinjiang already, or plotting a very swift exit, is courting legal and reputational disaster. The days when any major apparel brand can safely profit from Xinjiang cotton are over ENDQUOTE. The consortium estimates the US ban affects about twenty percent of the global cotton supply.

China has imprisoned more than one million people, including Uighurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups, in a vast network of concentration camps, the AP reports. People have been subjected to torture, sterilization and political indoctrination in addition to forced labor as part of an assimilation campaign. China denies allegations of rights abuses and forced labor, saying it aims only to promote economic and social development in the region and stamp out radicalism. It also rejects criticism of what it considers its internal affairs. Well, we’ll stop criticizing when they stop abusing people.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

The US recorded an all-time, one-day high of four thousand, three hundred and twenty-seven Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. The nation’s overall death toll from the pandemic has topped three hundred and eighty thousand, closing in fast on the number of Americans killed in World War II. I think we’ve set enough records here, please, that’s enough.

Wildfire smoke now accounts for up to half of all fine-particle pollution in the Western US, according to the Los Angeles Times. A new study by researchers at Stanford University and UC San Diego blames climate change for worsening air quality and health risks in both urban and rural communities in recent years. Excuse me, I’m choking up a bit at this news.

Italy opened a huge trial yesterday of three hundred and twenty-five defendants linked to a powerful mafia syndicate in the southern region of Calabria. According to the New York Times, the charges include murder, extortion, usury, money laundering, drug trafficking, corruption, and more. Prosecutors hope to prove collusion among mobsters and public officials, politicians, businessmen and members of secret lodges, and we can’t wait for the movie.

Joe Biden yesterday named Samantha Power, the former US Ambassador to the United Nations, as his choice to lead the US Agency for International Development. It’s another Biden appointment that will thrill the center and annoy the left, as he is wont to do.

JAN 14, 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn