Potential TikTok ban bill passes House vote, could speed through Senate

Table Of Content

• Bipartisan senators reach a general agreement on updating Electoral Count Act
• House Jan. 6 committee opens public hearing with never-before-seen video and officer testimony: "It was a war scene"
• Columbia President Shafik condemns professor who praised October 7 attack
• The Supreme Court immunity hearing boosted Trump's legal strategy

He said he is frustrated that there are still not a lot of answers about what happened that day, saying it is because Republicans have "treated this as just another partisan fight." The high-profile committee's first hearing was filled with emotional moments and first-hand accounts of the violence on the Capitol that day. Lawmakers heard accounts from four officers that defended the building on Jan. 6 — DC Metropolitan Police Officers Daniel Hodges and Michael Fanone and Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn and Sgt. Aquilino Gonell. The House select subcommittee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection has scheduled its first hearing on what it has learned so far for prime time — for a reason.

Bipartisan senators reach a general agreement on updating Electoral Count Act

To review, a national commission empowered to investigate the very questions House Republicans now regard as "crucial" was killed by Senate Republicans — without a whimper from House Republicans. The Republicans who now complain these hearings are occurring in an election year have chosen to forget the national commission originally proposed would have long since been done by now — if not for Senate Republicans killing it. Capitol police officer Caroline Edwards, who will testify Thursday night, has arrived at the hearing.

House Jan. 6 committee opens public hearing with never-before-seen video and officer testimony: "It was a war scene"

Meanwhile, thousands of Donald Trump supporters gathered near the White House to hear him speak at noon. It's one of the signs that the committee is hoping to draw and captivate as large an audience as possible. Plus, as Axios first reported, it even enlisted the help of former ABC News President James Goldston to produce the hearing "as if it were a blockbuster investigative special."

Columbia President Shafik condemns professor who praised October 7 attack

WATCH: Republicans push ahead with Hunter Biden contempt charge after his surprise visit to Capitol Hill - PBS NewsHour

WATCH: Republicans push ahead with Hunter Biden contempt charge after his surprise visit to Capitol Hill.

Posted: Wed, 10 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia called him a coward as he left during her remarks. Democratic lawmakers argued that Biden, who has refused to testify to the panel behind closed doors, should be allowed to speak publicly. WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans on Wednesday took the first step toward holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for defying a congressional subpoena. They advanced the charge to a full House vote just hours after the president’s son sparked a momentary political frenzy by appearing in the front row for part of the debate.

GOP Rep. Liz Cheney said that the committee will be focused on "getting to the truth" of what happened on Jan. 6 in a nonpolitical, nonpartisan way, while speaking to reporters after the first hearing. "As you know several committees [have] had opportunities to talk to leadership in the Capitol police, and the Metropolitan police, but this was an opportunity we felt necessary in order to find out what those individuals who had to fight the rioters on Jan. 6 had to endure," he continued. Chair Bennie Thompson told CNN that the select committee will “soon” issue subpoenas, but he declined to say who would be targeted.

The Supreme Court immunity hearing boosted Trump's legal strategy

The closely watched hearing included several tense exchanges between members of Congress and Columbia representatives. All four Columbia officials testifying before Congress unequivocally stated that calls for the genocide of Jews violate the university’s code of conduct. David Greenwald, the co-chair of the board of trustees at Columbia, told Stefanik Massad's comments were "abhorrent" and he should be removed from the position.

Rep. Liz Cheney — one of two Republicans on the select committee, and a member of House GOP leadership before she was stripped of her role — had explicit words for members of her party during her opening remarks. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Tuesday that California Highway Patrol officers had arrested a gang member in San Onofre who shot a deputy in the back as he sat on his department motorcycle at a West Covina stoplight. Ahead of Wednesday's hearing, several Jewish faculty members at Columbia and its sister school, Barnard College, warned against the "weaponization" of antisemitism on college campuses. "And we advocate for a campus where all students, Jewish, Palestinian, and all others, can learn and thrive in a climate of open, honest inquiry and rigorous debate." "I thought the witnesses approached this hearing today in a very candid and sincere way. It was clear they recognize this is a very real challenge on campus and it's something colleges across the country are wrestling with." "It's impossible to win a hearing, but it's easy to lose a hearing and end up on TV," said Christopher Armstrong, a lawyer at Holland & Knight who advises clients on how to respond to congressional investigations.

As the House select committee on Jan. 6 holds its first hearing, we revisit the events of that day — who said what, and what happened when. People across the country are gathering at watch parties and warming up their TVs ahead of tonight's Jan. 6 committee hearing, the first of several scheduled for this month and — as far as we know — the only one taking place during prime time. The committee will hold six hearings, where it intends to detail a conspiracy by Donald Trump to overturn the election that ultimately led to a violent insurrection meant to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 election results.

“January 6th and the lies that led to insurrection have put two and a half centuries of constitutional democracy at risk. He kept the authoritarian leaders of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela off the invite list — a move that resulted in other leaders deciding not to come, in protest. Jan. 6 was a "sprawling multistep conspiracy aimed at overturning the election, aimed at overturning the votes of millions of Americans," Thompson said. As officers and protesters grappled over the bike racks, she remembers feeling one come on top of her head and pushing her backwards. Her foot caught on one of the concrete stairs behind her and her chin hit the handrail, at which point she lost consciousness and her head hit the stairs.

Last week, Weiss used that new authority to indict Hunter Biden on federal firearms charges, putting the case on track toward a possible trial as the 2024 election looms. Democrats labored to undermine what they see as Republican misinformation in their ongoing defense of Trump, who is now the Republican front-runner to challenge Biden in next year’s election. They say Republicans are trying to detract attention from the indicted former president’s legal challenges and turn a negative spotlight on Biden. Weiss, since 2018, has overseen the day-to-day running of the probe and another special counsel, Jack Smith, is in charge of the Trump investigation, though Garland retains final say on both as attorney general. Asked by Republican Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina whether he had tried to figure out if Weiss was facing any hurdles in bringing charges against the president’s son, Garland said he had purposely kept his distance to keep a promise not to interfere. She said the group has already drafted language that would make clear that the vice president's role is ministerial in the process of counting Electoral College votes.

Finally, US Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell asked the members of the committee to give law enforcement the "tools" to prevent future attacks like Jan. 6. US Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn said he echoed the sentiment of the other officers and added that a "hitman" sent the insurrectionists to the Capitol that day. He called for the committee to conduct "an investigation into those actions and activities which may have resulted in the events of Jan. 6," and whether or not there was "a collaboration between those members, their staff, and these terrorists." Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger applauded the officers who testified today and other officers who "fought like hell to preserve our democracy" on Jan. 6. "We represent the good side of America, the people that actually believe in decency, human decency, and we appeal to just the good in people, and that's what we want to see," the officer added.