House pushes to impeach Trump after deadly Capitol riot

Two Capitol Police officers have been suspended for their alleged roles in the riot on Jan. 6, said Rep. Tim Ryan, who is chair of the House Appropriations subcommittee handling the investigation into the police response to the Capitol attack last week.

“I know that there were two people that were suspended,” Ryan said during a press call. “One was the selfie officer and another was an officer that put a MAGA hat on that started directing some people around,” the lawmaker said.

Ryan confirmed that there are approximately 10 to 15 Capitol Police officers under investigation for their behavior during the riot, but he did not have specific details.

Ryan told reporters that one individual had been arrested, but a spokesperson for the congressman later said he was wrong and no members of law enforcement have been arrested.

The federal investigative interest is a priority and a part of the broader investigation into the mob at the Capitol, sources said. The investigation into insurrectionist ties to law enforcement is a priority because the skills that officers are trained to use during their duties could be useful to an extremist mob, authorities say. This includes clearing rooms, taking custody of people, securing areas and handling firearms.

This story has been updated with additional information on police involvement in last week's riot at the US Capitol.

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Chad Wolf is resigning as the acting secretary of Homeland Security, he announced in a letter to the department Monday obtained by CNN.

Wolf's resignation comes amid heightened security concerns in the wake of the US Capitol attack and just days before the transition in administrations.

Pete Gaynor, the administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will be the acting secretary, Wolf said.

Wolf, who served in the post for 14 months, is the latest Cabinet secretary to resign in recent days, though it's unclear whether it's directly related to last week's riots. Betsy DeVos, who served as education secretary, and Elaine Chao, who served as transportation secretary, have also resigned.

Vice President Mike Pence is hoping to spend his remaining days in office making sure that the world understands the US still has a "fully functioning" government," a source close to the vice president said.

Pence advisers are leery of the vice president invoking the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from office. Such a move "would be a risk," the source continued.

The vice president presided over a meeting of the coronavirus task force today. A source close to the task force said Pence did not bring up the siege at the Capitol during the discussion.

As House Democrats debate when to send the articles of impeachment over to the Capitol, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is exploring whether to use emergency authority to reconvene the Senate and hold the trial before President Trump leaves office, according to a senior Democratic aide.

This would require support from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to carry this out under the authority granted to the leaders in 2004. It would not require the support of all 100 senators.

At the same time, Democrats in the House are debating when to send the articles, with support growing to send them over right away, as House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer indicated today.

House Republican Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, in a letter to GOP colleagues, listed four potential responses to the Jan. 6 attack in advance of a Monday all-GOP conference call as he continued to oppose the impeachment of President Trump.

“Notwithstanding the Speaker’s push towards impeachment, I have heard from members across our conference who have raised at least four potential avenues available to the House to ensure that the events of January 6 are rightfully denounced and prevented from occurring in the future,” McCarthy wrote. 

McCarthy, citing feedback from members, floated the possibility of “a resolution of censure under the rules of the House,” as swell as a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack, according to the letter. He did not specify who would be censured. 

He also lists overhauling the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which guides the electoral certification process, as well as “legislation to promote voter confidence” in future legislation. 

What these latter two issues have to do with the attack, other than the lies that stemmed from GOP lawmakers during the certification process and as it relates to non-existent wide-spread voter fraud, is unclear. 

The GOP call is ongoing.

Facebook will begin removing all content that mentions the phrase "stop the steal," a full 69 days after Election Day. 

The social media giant said in a blog post that it will ramp up enforcement against the phrase because it was used by those who participated in last week's Capitol riots. 

"With continued attempts to organize events against the outcome of the US presidential election that can lead to violence, and use of the term by those involved in Wednesday’s violence in DC, we’re taking this additional step in the lead up to the inauguration," Guy Rosen, Facebook's VP of integrity, wrote in a post about the company's preparation for Inauguration Day. 

On Election Day, the slogan "stop the steal" quickly became a rallying cry among President Trump's supporters, many of whom were egged on by Trump himself and his allies with false claims of election fraud. As a hashtag, its origins date back years, according to Facebook's CrowdTangle analysis tool, but it became wildly popular in recent months as a gathering place for conspiracy theories about the election outcome. 

Meanwhile, Facebook added, it will continue its weeks-long ban on all US political advertising, including by President Trump, whose account Facebook suspended indefinitely on Jan. 7. And Rosen said Facebook rolled out new "emergency measures" last week — for example, Rosen said, group administrators will increasingly be required to review posts before they can be published, and comments that contain hate speech or incitement may be removed from group posts entirely. 

The blog post comes as tech companies confront mounting skepticism about whether they did too little, too late to prevent the violence that swept the Capitol — and that continues to be a risk heading into President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. 

The FBI has received information indicating “armed protests” are being planned at all 50 state capitols and the US Capitol in Washington, DC, in the days leading up to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, according to an internal bulletin obtained by CNN.

"Armed protests are being planned at all 50 state capitols from 16 January through at least 20 January, and at the US Capitol from 17 January through 20 January,” it says.

The bulletin continues:

The bulletin, which emerged after rioters stormed the US Capitol last week, also suggests there are threats of an “uprising” if President Trump is removed via the 25th Amendment before Inauguration Day.

Additionally, the FBI is tracking reports of “various threats to harm President-Elect Biden ahead of the presidential inauguration,” the bulletin states.

“Additional reports indicate threats against VP-Elect Harris and Speaker Pelosi,” it adds.

ABC News was first to report the FBI bulletin.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf on Monday said he has instructed the US Secret Service to begin the National Special Security Event operations for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration effective, Jan. 13 instead of Jan. 19.

Wolf said in a statement that he instructed the measure in "light of events of the past week and the evolving security landscape leading up to the inauguration" and at "the recommendation" of Secret Service Director James Murray.

"Our federal, state, and local partners will continue to coordinate their plans and position resources for this important event," Wolf said in the statement.

Google told CNN it is reassessing its political donations in the aftermath of last week's Capitol riots. 

"We have frozen all NetPAC political contributions while we review and reassess its policies following last week's deeply troubling events," Google spokesperson Julie McAlister said in a statement Monday.

The company joins a growing list of tech companies suspending political donations. Earlier today, AT&T, Microsoft and Facebook announced similar measures.