Fallout continues for Capitol rioters; Feds to investigate deaths

Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, who is not running for reelection in 2022, said on Fox News on Saturday that President Trump committed "impeachable offenses" but he didn't think there was enough time to remove him from office.

"I have to say I do think the president's behavior this week does disqualify him from serving but we've got 10 days, 11 days left," Toomey said. "He's not going to be serving after that time. We'll have a new president. I don't know whether logistically it's even possible or practical and I'm not sure it's desirable to attempt to force him out what, a day or two or three prior to the day on which he will be finished anyway. So I'm not clear that's the best path forward."

Toomey called Wednesday's assault on the U.S. Capitol an "unbelievable day" and said he was preparing to oppose Hawley's objection to the electoral results in Pennyslvania. 

"While I was going through drafts of my remarks in between drafts, I had the president's rally on TV and I was increasingly horrified at the things he was saying but never imagined we'd end up where we were," Toomey said. "And then you know an hour, couple hours later, there we are on the Senate floor and we are processing the objection to the Arizona electors and I gave my talk about why I thought this was a bad idea."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to House Democrats telling them to "be prepared to return to Washington this week."

Since the Capitol Hill riot, Pelosi says she has discussed her colleagues' concerns with "Constitutional lawyers, both inside and outside the Congress, to consider the parliamentary and constitutional options available to us."

"We will be proceeding with meetings with Members and Constitutional experts and others," Pelosi wrote. "I continue to welcome your comments. I urge you to be prepared to return to Washington this week."

Following the the deadly assault on the Capitol from supporters of President Trump, Pelosi and other lawmakers have called for either Mr. Trump to resign or Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th amendment and remove the president from office. Pelosi has stated that if neither happens, she is prepared to seek legislation invoking the 25th amendment and bring about impeachment charges.

Parler, a social media site that prides itself on allowing unrestricted freedom of speech, has been removed from the Apple app store, a spokesperson for Apple confirmed. Parler is popular among Trump supporters, and the news of its suspension comes just 24 hours after Twitter permanently banned President Trump. 

Apple said on Saturday that while it has "always supported diverse points of view" on the app store, "there is no place on our platform for threats of violence and illegal activity."

"Parler has not taken adequate measures to address the proliferation of these threats to people's safety," the company said in a statement. "We have suspended Parler from the App Store until they resolve these issues."

Prior to its removal from the app store, Apple told Parler's developers that their measures for addressing "dangerous and objectionable content" are "inadequate." 

"Parler has not upheld its commitment to moderate and remove harmful or dangerous content encouraging violence and illegal activity," Apple told Parler. "...You referenced that Parler has been taking this content 'very seriously for weeks.' However, the processes Parler has put in place to moderate or prevent the spread of dangerous and illegal content have proved insufficient."

According to Apple, Parler said that it would initiate a moderation plan "for the time being" and that they would create a temporary "task force." 

Parler will not be reinstated in the app store unless Apple receives "an update that is compliant with the App Store Review Guidelines and you have demonstrated your ability to effectively moderate and filter the dangerous and harmful content on your service."

The leader of the Hawaii chapter of the Proud Boys, Nicholas Ochs, was arrested Thursday at the Honolulu airport after returning from the Capitol riots.

Justice Department officials said Friday that Ochs was charged with unlawful entry into the United States Capitol building.

According to the complaint, he told a CNN reporter, "We didn't have to break in, I just walked in and filmed" despite rioters violently pushing through barriers and shoving officers.

Once inside, he told CNN, "There were thousands of people in there. They had no control of the situation. I didn't get stopped or questioned."

Ochs told CNN he was working as a professional journalist. 

Ochs ran for state House of Representatives as a Republican last year, CBS Honolulu affiliate KGMB reports. 

"It does not surprise me. This is a person who has made offensive remarks about the Jewish community, women, the LGBT community, immigrants, Muslims, you name it, he's made fun of it," state Representative Adrian Tam, who represents Waikiki and beat Ochs in the November general election, told KGMB.

Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence will attend President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, a source familiar with their plans confirmed to CBS News.

President Trump said on Friday that he would not be attending Mr. Biden's inauguration, becoming the first president since Andrew Johnson to not attend his successor's inauguration. 

Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, a Democrat, tweeted on Saturday that Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, who led objections into Electoral College results, should be expelled if they don't resign. Brown said they had "betrayed their oath of office.

The Senate was hearing arguments on Cruz's objection to Arizona's electoral results when the Capitol building was stormed by President Trump's supporters, leading Congress to recess for nearly six hours as members fled the chaos. Although at least 11 senators had expressed support for Cruz's bid ahead of the riot, several dropped their support afterward. Hawley brought up his objection to Pennsylvania's results after the riot, but only received support from six other senators, including Cruz.

House Democrats will introduce a privileged resolution to charge Mr. Trump with inciting sedition, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries announced in a press conference on Saturday.

Jeffries said that Mr. Trump should be impeached and removed from office immediately, and "forever banished to the dustbin of history."

"Every second, every minute, every day that Donald Trump remains in office presents a clear and present danger to the health, safety and well-being of the American people and our democracy. That is why the House is pursuing every available means at our disposal to accomplish the objective of holding the President of the United States accountable," Jeffries said.

Jeffries said that introducing a privileged resolution "will allow the House to move expeditiously to consider the article of impeachment on the floor of the House of Representatives to vote it out and send it over to the Senate without having to go through the traditional Judiciary committee markup."

The House is expected to introduce articles of impeachment on Monday.

A West Virginia lawmaker who filmed himself and supporters of President Donald Trump storming into the U.S. Capitol announced Saturday that he is resigning, effectively immediately. State Delegate Derrick Evans' lawyer told CBS affiliate WVNS-TV on Friday that he would not step down and that he "committed no criminal act that day."

Evans reversed course on Saturday, saying in a statement that he now felt it was best to resign his seat in the House "and focus on my personal situation and those I love." He faced bipartisan calls for his resignation as federal prosecutors step up their pursuit of violent perpetrators. 

"I take full responsibility for my actions, and deeply regret any hurt, pain or embarrassment I may have caused my family, friends, constituents and fellow West Virginians," Evans said in a statement. "I hope this action I take today can remove any cloud of distraction from the state Legislature, so my colleagues can get to work in earnest building a brighter future for our state. And more importantly, I hope it helps to begin the healing process, so we can all move forward and come together as 'One Nation, Under God.'"  

Read more here. 

The U.S. attorney's office confirmed to CBS News that has opened a formal, federal excessive force investigation related to the shooting deaths of Ashli Babbitt and Capitol Hill police officer Brian Sicknick at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. 

U.S. attorney Michael Sherwin has assigned his civil rights section to be the lead prosecutors for the investigation into Babbitt's death, which is being investigated by both the FBI and D.C. police department. Babbitt was shot to death by Capitol police during the assault on the building. 

Jake Angeli, who was photographed on Wednesday standing shirtless inside the Senate chamber, wearing a horned hat with a painted face, was taken into custody Saturday, according to the Department of Justice.

"Jacob Anthony Chansley, a.k.a. Jake Angeli, of Arizona, was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds," the Justice Department said in a statement.

"It is alleged that Chansley was identified as the man seen in media coverage who entered the Capitol building dressed in horns, a bearskin headdress, red, white and blue face paint, shirtless, and tan pants," it said. "This individual carried a spear, approximately 6 feet in length, with an American flag tied just below the blade."

Read more here. 

President-elect Joe Biden is pushing forward, full steam ahead, in an effort to fill his Cabinet ahead of Inauguration Day. The incoming president has asked the Senate to quickly approve his nominees so he can hit the ground running. His latest nominations took place just one day after the U.S. Capitol was stormed by pro-Trump rioters. The nominees include Department of Justice veteran Merrick Garland for attorney general. Former U.S. Attorney and host of the "Talking Feds" podcast, Harry Litman, joins CBSN to discuss the pick and what it means for the investigation into the assault on the Capitol building.

CBS News' "60 Minutes" has learned the call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on January 2 was not President Trump's first attempt to influence the state's election outcome. Sources tell "60 Minutes" that last month, the president himself phoned one of the Georgia secretary of state's investigators. A person briefed on the call said Mr. Trump told the investigator they would be a "national hero" if they found evidence of fraud. But no evidence had been found by the investigator, and days later Mr. Trump would be similarly rebuffed by Raffensperger.

The White House did not respond to repeated requests for comment from the CBS White House unit.

"60 Minutes" will air Sunday on CBS. 

New York Magazine national correspondent Gabe Debenedetti joins "CBS This Morning: Saturday" to discuss the fallout from one of the darkest weeks in American history. President Trump is facing a possible second impeachment and calls for resignation with less than two weeks left in his term.

Senator Ted Cruz has questioned why President Trump's account was permanently suspended on Twitter and accused Big Tech of censorship and bias.

"Big Tech's PURGE, censorship & abuse of power is absurd & profoundly dangerous. If you agree w/ Tech's current biases (Iran, good; Trump, bad), ask yourself, what happens when you disagree? Why should a handful of Silicon Valley billionaires have a monopoly on political speech?" Cruz wrote on Twitter.

Several Republicans have raised concerns about Twitter's removal of Mr. Trump from its platform, calling it censorship. As a private company Twitter is able to remove anyone.

Police have arrested Adam Christian Johnson, the Florida man photographed carrying Speaker Nancy Pelosi's lectern during the riot at the Capitol on Wednesday. Johnson, 36, was caught on camera waving and smiling while carrying Pelosi's lectern in a photograph that quickly went viral.

Johnson is being held on a federal warrant and is awaiting trial. 

According to the Miami Herald, Johnson's social media accounts had posts that he was in Washington, D.C., ahead of the riot. He is a stay-at-home father who lives with his wife and five children in Parrish, Florida, according to the publication.

Seattle's police chief says two city officers were apparently in Washington, D.C., Wednesday when a violent mob of President Trump's supporters stormed the nation's Capitol and that an investigation will be launched to find out whether they committed criminal acts.

The officers, who were not identified, have been placed on administrative leave.

In a statement late Friday, Adrian Diaz, the city's interim chief, said the department supports constitutionally protected free speech, "but the violent mob and events that unfolded at the U.S. Capitol were unlawful and resulted in the death of another police officer."

Diaz said the matter has been forwarded to the Office of Police Accountability, the city's independent police watchdog, to see if department policies were violated or if illegal activity involving Seattle officers needs to be investigated.

"If any SPD officers were directly involved in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, I will immediately terminate them," Diaz said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell circulated a memo to senators on Friday evening laying out the potential timeline for an impeachment trial in the Senate. A copy of the memo was obtained by CBS News. 

The memo notes the Senate is only meeting in pro forma sessions over the next week, so unless there is unanimous consent to bring the full body back to Washington, the earliest a trial could begin would be on January 19. President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated on January 20, meaning that an impeachment trial could overshadow his first days in office. 

According to the memo, the House impeachment managers would likely present their articles of impeachment on January 19 or January 20. Senate impeachment rules require the Senate to begin consideration of the articles the day after they are presented by the impeachment managers. 

"The Senate trial would therefore begin after President Trump's term has expired - either one hour after its expiration on January 20, or twenty-five hours after its expiration on January 21," the memo reads. The Senate would then have to continue to be in session every day "until judgment is rendered." 

Although Republicans currently hold the majority in the Senate, that will change as soon as Senators-elect Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia are seated, which will likely occur on January 22. Democrats will then have the narrowest possible majority, 50-50 with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to break any tie. A two-thirds majority of the Senate is required to impeach a president. 

Hours after Twitter permanently suspended Mr. Trump's @realDonaldTrump account, the president appeared to tweet from the official @POTUS account. 

"As I have been saying for a long time, Twitter has gone further and further in banning free speech, and tonight, Twitter employees have coordinated with the Democrats and the Radical Left in removing my account from their platform, to silence me - and YOU, the 75,000,000 great patriots who voted for me," read a post from the account. 

The post said Mr. Trump was negotiating with other sites, and would have "a big announcement soon." The post also said the president is looking at "the possibilities of building out our own platform in the near future." 

Within minutes, the tweets were deleted. 

Twitter told CBS News the @POTUS and @WhiteHouse accounts will not be suspended at this time but their use will be limited.

However, the social media company is not completely ruling out suspending the government accounts and said it would suspend them if it became necessary in an extreme situation to alleviate real world harm.

Twitter said the government accounts will be transferred over to the new administration in due time.

Additionally, Twitter said if it becomes clear that Mr. Trump has created another personal account to evade the ban, that new account will also be subject to suspension.

Twitter did not clarify what action was being taken to limit the use of @POTUS and @WhiteHouse.

 — Victoria Albert and Musadiq Bidar 

Seema Verma, Trump's administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and a close ally of Vice President Mike Pence, is "repulsed" by President Trump's treatment of the vice president, a source told CBS News. 

Verma, who is also on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, held an all staff Zoom call on Friday. She said she is "deeply heartbroken" by Wednesday's assault on the U.S. Capitol, but she will not be stepping down, according to sources on the call. 

"I have no doubt that like me, you were sickened by the despicable acts of violence and vandalism that engulfed our Capitol," Verma said." The forceful occupation of the seat of our democratic republic is a foul and distorted imitation of the sacred constitutional right to peacefully protest."

Verma said on the call that she has "always known" Pence to be a "good man...a man of duty and honor...a man of patriotism and integrity." 

"I am proud to call him a friend and a mentor. Mike Pence took an oath to support and defend the Constitution and so did I. He upheld his oath and so will I," she added.

A West Virginia state lawmaker who filmed himself storming into the Capitol with a mob of Trump supporters is facing federal charges, the U.S. District Attorney's office for the District of Columbia said Friday.

West Virginia State Delegate Derrick Evans is charged with entering a restricted area, Ken Kohl, principal assistant U.S. Attorney for D.C., said on a press call. 

Evans is among 15 people who have been charged at the federal level so far, including an Arkansas man who was photographed with his feet up on a desk in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and another man found with 11 Molotov cocktails along with an assault rifle and two handguns in his Alabama-registered truck. The U.S. Attorney's office has charged 40 others in D.C. Superior Court, officials say.

Evans, a newly elected Republican lawmaker, is facing bipartisan calls for his resignation. But Evans' lawyer told CBS affiliate WVNS-TV that he would not step down and he "committed no criminal act that day."

Read more here.