memeorandum: Our Constitution passed a difficult stress test (Alan Dershowitz/The Hill)

9:02 AM ET, January 8, 2021

Top Items:

Capitol Attack Leads Democrats to Demand That Trump Leave Office — The White House was propelled deeper into crisis as officials resigned in protest and prominent Republicans broke with the president after he incited a mob that assaulted Congress. — WASHINGTON — President Trump's …

Wall Street Journal:

Donald Trump's Final Days — The best outcome would be for him to resign to spare the U.S. another impeachment fight. — By The Editorial Board — The lodestar of these columns is the U.S. Constitution. The document is the durable foundation protecting liberty, and this week it showed its virtue again.

New York Times:

The Capitol Hill Building Rioters Included White Supremacists and Conspiracy Theorists — The mob that rampaged the halls of Congress included infamous white supremacists and conspiracy theorists. — WASHINGTON — There were infamous white nationalists and noted conspiracy theorists …

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, Fox News, The Hill and Associated Press

CNN:

US Capitol Police officer has died following pro-Trump riot — (CNN)A US Capitol Police officer has died from events stemming from Wednesday's riot at the Capitol, three sources confirm to CNN, in which a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the building to stop the counting …

Discussion: United States Capitol Police, WBEZ Chicago, The Sun, The Texas Tribune, The Wrap, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, DNyuz, The Copper Courier, KDFX-TV, Raw Story, Washington Times, Snopes.com, KVIA-TV, HotAir and Vox

Washington Post:

After inciting mob attack, Trump retreats in rage. Then, grudgingly, he admits his loss. — President Trump spent more than 24 hours after he instigated a mob to violently storm the Capitol trying to escape reality. — Cloistered in the White House, Trump raged uncontrollably about perceived acts of betrayal.

Discussion: Politico, Fox News, DNyuz, Raw Story, UPI, Slate, NPR, New York Times, Deadline, CNBC, HuffPost, Snopes.com, Conservative News Today, Associated Press and Los Angeles Times, more at Techmeme »

Tom LoBianco / Business Insider:

SCOOP: Pence opposes 25th Amendment efforts to remove Trump following Capitol riot, VP advisors tell Insider … - Vice President Mike Pence is not supporting calls to remove President Trump from office via the 25th Amendment, two Pence advisors told Insider. — “Not happening” said one of the Republicans close to Pence.

Kayla Tausche / CNBC:

Pompeo, Mnuchin among Cabinet secretaries who discussed 25th Amendment with staff, sources say — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were among the Cabinet secretaries who discussed the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump, three sources told CNBC.

Discussion: TheGrio, The Cut, Washington Examiner, Sputnik News, National Geographic, Breitbart, Raw Story and DNyuz

Jonah Goldberg / The Dispatch:

What Trump Meant By ‘Make Your Voices Heard’ — Convincing people they need to prevent a coup when no such coup exists is a recipe for violence. — 1 hr ago — The president of the United States incited a mob. It was a disgraceful, inexcusable, impeachable act.

Discussion: KDFX-TV

Gustaf Kilander / The Independent:
Six Republican lawmakers among rioters as police release photos of wanted

Discussion: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, VICE, WHTM-TV and The Guardian

Natasha Bertrand / Politico:
Justice Department warns of national security fallout from Capitol Hill insurrection

Discussion: Washington Post, Conservative News Today, Washington Free Beacon, Yahoo, Business Insider, Sputnik News, Washington Examiner, DNyuz, KTLA, TechCrunch and The National Interest, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:
‘Senate Being Locked Down’: Inside a Harrowing Day at the Capitol

Discussion: Business Insider, DNyuz, The Bulwark, The Guardian, The Daily Beast and CNN, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:
House Democrats eye quick impeachment vote if Pence rebuffs attempt to remove Trump from office

Discussion: Military.com, DNyuz, Bloomberg, Fox News, Breitbart, Washington Examiner, The Rush Limbaugh Show, PT News Network, FiveThirtyEight, BuzzFeed News, Nevada Current, HotAir, KSNG-TV, Raw Story and Fortune

New York Times:
A Capitol Police officer who was seriously injured Wednesday remains on life support.

Discussion: Townhall, CBS Baltimore and The Hill

USA Today:
Invoke the 25th Amendment: Donald Trump forfeited his moral authority to stay in office

Discussion: HuffPost, New Yorker, BBC, Chicago Tribune, Axios, The Week and Tennessee Lookout

New York Times:
A Capitol Police officer who was seriously injured Wednesday has died, two law enforcement officials said.

Discussion: Mediaite

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Pence is said to oppose invoking 25th Amendment to strip Trump of his duties.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Washington Post, CBS Pittsburgh, The Bulwark, New York Magazine, Reason, Wall Street Journal, Raw Story, Associated Press, The Hill, NBC News, WHTM-TV and Daily Montanan

Rudi Keller / Missouri Independent:

Major Josh Hawley donor calls for him to be censured by the U.S. Senate — David Humphreys called Hawley an ‘an anti-democracy populist’ who provoked the D.C. riots — A Joplin businessman who helped bankroll Sen. Josh Hawley's first campaign denounced him on Thursday as a “political opportunist” …

Discussion: Washington Post, HotAir, NPR, Conservative News Today, The Hill, DNyuz, Mediaite, Techdirt, Politico, Snopes.com, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story and The Week

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Hawley should resign. Silent enablers must now publicly condemn Trumpism. — Reassuring as condemnations might be from the likes of Gov. Mike Parson, Sen. Roy Blunt and Rep. Ann Wagner, they are much too little and come way too late. These Republican leaders, all having shared a spot …

Discussion: Vanity Fair

Marianne LeVine / Politico:
Coons calls on Cruz and Hawley to resign

Discussion: Crooked Timber and Business Insider

New York Times:
Simon & Schuster Cancels Plans for Senator Hawley's Book

Tony Messenger / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Danforth calls his support of Hawley the ‘worst mistake’ of his life

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Sputnik News, DNyuz, TheBlaze, Daily Kos, The Week, The Intellectualist, The Hill and Missouri Independent

Associated Press:
‘Great damage’: Republicans recoil from Missouri Sen. Hawley

Discussion: Axios

Tom Abrahams / ABC13:
Sen. Ted Cruz tells why he still opposed Biden's electoral win in ABC13 exclusive

Discussion: NBC News

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

Trump staffers are worrying about their next job — As the U.S. Capitol was ransacked Wednesday, Trump administration officials watched in horror, fearful not only of the rioting their boss had inspired but of the residual damage that would fall on their careers.

Discussion: NewsNation Now, Raw Story and Axios

Lara Seligman / Politico:

Tarnished by Trump: National security officials struggle to find new jobs — They have been snubbed by potential employers, told they would be a “liability” and in one instance were even compared to the “Hitler Youth.” — This is the job market many experienced national security officials …

Discussion: Raw Story

Wall Street Journal:
Under Pressure, Trump Condemns Violence at Capitol and Acknowledges Election Loss

Discussion: Raw Story, Business Insider, POLITICUSUSA and New York Post

Jeff Mason / Reuters:
Trump's political future in peril after Capitol attack, advisers say

Discussion: Raw Story, Foreign Policy and Associated Press

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Top Trump advisers discuss need to resist dangerous, unlawful orders

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Post, The Last Refuge, Sara A. Carter, Crooked Media, DNyuz, Fox News and Disrn

Washington Post:

Pentagon put significant restrictions on D.C. Guard ahead of pro-Trump protests — The Pentagon placed significant restrictions on the D.C. Guard ahead of pro-Trump protests this week, putting the District's military force in a back-seat role ahead of events that resulted in an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Business Insider, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, CBS News, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE and Bloomberg

David Ignatius / Washington Post:
What went wrong with the protection of the U.S. Capitol

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, CNN, Los Angeles Times, Off the Kuff, Metro.co.uk, DNyuz, KVIA-TV and KDFX-TV

Randall Eliason / Washington Post:
Trump should be criminally investigated

Discussion: Al Jazeera, Wired, Slate, MyStateline.com and NBC New York

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Haley criticizes Trump over Capitol riot, election claims in RNC speech — Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley sharply criticized President Donald Trump over the Capitol riot and his behavior since the election, telling Republican National Committee members in a closed-door speech Thursday evening …

Discussion: HuffPost, DNyuz, Political Wire and Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Washington Post:
Trump's failures this week open rifts in a Republican Party he has controlled

Discussion: Carnegie Endowment …, New York Magazine, Mercury News and The Hill, more at Mediagazer »

Benjy Sarlin / NBC News:
Republicans warned this day would come. Then they forgot

Discussion: Dallas Morning News, CNN, Mic and HuffPost

Janny Scott / New York Times:

Now It Can Be Told: How Neil Sheehan Got the Pentagon Papers — It was a story he had chosen not to tell — until 2015, when he sat for a four-hour interview, promised that this account would not be published while he was alive. — There was one story Neil Sheehan chose not to tell.

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, UPI, Deadline, The Wrap, Washington Post and Political Wire, more at Mediagazer »

Dennis Romboy / Deseret News:

How President Trump misdialed Utah Sen. Mike Lee while the Capitol was under siege — Utah congressmen recount the chaos in the Capitol — With a mob of election protesters laying siege to the U.S. Capitol, Sen. Mike Lee had just ended a prayer with some of his colleagues in the Senate chamber when his cellphone rang.

Discussion: emptywheel and Business Insider

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Republican senators now regret not doing more to contain Trump — Republican senators say they feel a sense of growing regret over not standing up to President Trump sooner — a day after a violent mob ransacked the Capitol building in one of the darkest and most humiliating days in U.S. history.

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Examiner, New York Times, Reuters, CBS News, CNN, ABC News, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Salon, Sputnik News, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Florida Politics, The National Interest, Political Wire, @politifact and National Review

Charlie De Mar / CBS Chicago:

Brad Rukstales Of Inverness, Arrested At U.S. Capitol Riot, Apologizes And Expresses Embarrassment — INVERNESS, Ill. (CBS) — Bradley Rukstales was deep in protest at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday afternoon - and then riots broke out, and he ended up getting arrested.

Discussion: CBS News

Katelyn Fossett / Politico:

‘I Stepped Down Because I Saw Where This Was Heading’ — Alyssa Farah resigned in early December as White House communications director, a position she landed after a series of roles working under some of the most conservative figures in national politics: Vice President Mike Pence …

Discussion: Raw Story

Bloomberg:

Trump Prepares Pardon List for Aides and Family, and Maybe Himself — White House staff, family members may get preemptive pardons — Legal power to pardon self isn't clear in Constitution — President Donald Trump has prepared a sweeping list of individuals he's hoping to pardon …

Discussion: Common Dreams, The Sun, TheGrio, Vanity Fair, Variety, Mediaite, Raw Story, Political Wire, KRON4 and New York Times

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:

Trump's remarks before Capitol riot may be investigated, acting D.C. U.S. attorney says — The top federal prosecutor in Washington D.C. said Thursday that President Trump was not off limits in his investigation of the events surrounding Wednesday's riot at the U.S. Capitol, saying “all actors” …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Forbes, RedState, BuzzFeed News, Law & Crime, Business Insider, DNyuz, Bloomberg, Talking Points Memo, Political Wire and Reason

Katie Benner / New York Times:
Justice Dept. Open to Pursuing Charges Against Trump in Inciting Riot

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Associated Press

Alan Dershowitz / The Hill:

Our Constitution passed a difficult stress test — On Wednesday our Constitution was tested. For the first time in modern history, violent protesters breached the Capitol building and entered the chambers and the offices of members of Congress, endangering lives and destroying property.