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      Three Banner Headlines

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Biden AdministrationliveLatest UpdatesBiden Takes OfficePandemic Response17 Executive Orders SignedAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyTimes InsiderLetters Close Enough to TouchThree historic banner headlines on New York Times front pages contained an unusual typographic feature: a set of joined letters known as a ligature.Jan. 21, 2021Times Insider explains who we are and what we do, and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.I-M-P-E-A-C-H-E-D.The banner headline on the Jan. 14 front page summed up President Donald J. Trump’s second impeachment in just nine letters.Or was it eight?Credit…The New York TimesSome readers may have spied an unusual letterform in the historic headline: an “E” and “A” joined at the baseline and combined into a single character, known as a ligature.Ligatures are used to improve the appearance and letterspacing of characters that would otherwise awkwardly pair. But the advantages of joined letters are not purely cosmetic. More evenly spaced letters can improve the readability of text, especially in a single word printed large.The “EA” ligature dates back to December 2019, when the House was preparing to vote on the first impeachment of Mr. Trump. The Times, too, was drawing up its own coverage, including a big, bold headline for the top of Page One: “TRUMP IMPEACHED.”But there was a modest typographical speed bump. Tom Bodkin, the chief creative officer of The Times, who is responsible for the design of the front page, and Wayne Kamidoi, an art director, were wrestling with an awkward gap in the middle of “IMPEACHED.”“The first three characters and the last three characters set up naturally pretty tightly. The middle three characters, just by the nature of their forms, set up loosely,” Mr. Bodkin said.Credit…The New York TimesEven as the stem of the “A” slopes away from the “E,” the long bar of the “E” prevents the two characters from coming closer. This leaves a noticeable gap between the letters, even as the rest of the word is tightly spaced.“It looks like two words because of the space between the ‘E’ and the ‘A.’ That’s not good for legibility, and it’s not attractive,” Mr. Bodkin said. “We needed to overlap those two characters in some form.”So Mr. Bodkin turned to Jason Fujikuni, an art director on the brand identity team, to draw the new combined character. “I just thought it would live that one day, but it was fun to see it for a couple other big pages,” Mr. Fujikuni said.Indeed, the ligature had a life beyond Mr. Trump’s first impeachment. It appeared in a November banner headline, “BIDEN BEATS TRUMP,” to announce the results of the presidential election. And, of course, it ran once more when Mr. Trump was impeached for the second time.Credit…The New York TimesAndrew Sondern is an art director for print.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Democrats, Assuming Power, Face Recalcitrant Republicans

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyNews AnalysisDemocrats, Assuming Power, Face Recalcitrant RepublicansThe looming impeachment trial of President Trump in the Senate also presents a complication for Democrats hoping for a fast start in the Biden era.Senator Chuck Schumer of New York is set to realize his goal of becoming majority leader Wednesday after the presidential inauguration.Credit…Erin Schaff/The New York TimesJan. 19, 2021, 7:55 p.m. ETWASHINGTON — Democrats will take control of both the White House and Congress on Wednesday for the first time in a decade, but they have already discovered the difficulties of governing with so little room to maneuver around Republicans who appear in no mood to cooperate.Even before President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. was sworn in as the new president, a Republican senator put up a roadblock on Tuesday to one of his cabinet nominees, helping deny Mr. Biden the Day 1 confirmation of national security officials that other incoming presidents have taken for granted for decades. And Senator Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat who is set to become majority leader, found himself in difficult negotiations with Senator Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and incoming minority leader, over plans for running an evenly split Senate.On top of those hardly trifling issues, the looming impeachment trial of President Trump presents an extraordinary complication for a party that would no doubt prefer to focus on a bold Democratic agenda out of the gate. However it is eventually structured, the trial is certain to sap time, energy and momentum from the opening days of the new Democratic era in Washington.“It does put a wrinkle in the road,” conceded Christopher J. Dodd, a former Democratic senator from Connecticut and a close adviser to Mr. Biden. “I know Joe is disappointed that it will take some time. But the fact of the matter is, what occurred that day was of such significance that to ignore it or treat it in a casual way would only be an invitation for it to happen again.”The Republican resistance comes as Mr. Biden has made clear that he wants to work with both parties to achieve his legislative ambitions and still sees an opportunity for bipartisan consensus in a Senate that has become much more polarized since he left in 2009 after 36 years.Mr. Schumer is set to become majority leader by the narrowest possible margin on Wednesday afternoon after the inauguration of Mr. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and the seating of three new Democratic senators, setting the margin at 50 to 50 with Ms. Harris empowered to cast tiebreaking votes.Dismissing concerns about the implications of the Senate trial for the Biden agenda, Mr. Schumer and his colleagues have said they can manage to do two things at once, conducting the proceeding while advancing Mr. Biden’s nominees and his other priorities.But the Senate has struggled in recent years to do even one thing at once, and experience has shown that presidential impeachments consume a lot of oxygen.Still, Democrats say they have no choice and few reservations about plunging ahead with a trial they see as a crucial element of a national reckoning after the violent Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol and attempt to disrupt the counting of the presidential Electoral College ballots.“We have to send a very strong message that it is unacceptable for a president of the United States to incite a violent mob for the purposes of overturning a democratic election,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland. “I think we can make clear that this conduct has to be held accountable while we can work to open a new chapter.”Mr. Schumer, Mr. Van Hollen and other Democrats insist that the trial of Mr. Trump for inciting the attack can be conducted quickly if Republicans cooperate. They were buoyed on Tuesday by a strong statement from Mr. McConnell, who made clear that he held the president responsible for the violence and said Mr. Trump had “provoked” the mob.Senator Josh Hawley, center, said he would block quick confirmation of the homeland security secretary nominee, an early blow to President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s hopes of working with both parties.Credit…Anna Moneymaker for The New York TimesBut even as Mr. McConnell has indicated an openness to allowing the trial to move forward, he was playing hardball in talks with Mr. Schumer on a so-called power sharing arrangement for managing the Senate in the longer term. In a memo to Republican colleagues and in talks with Mr. Schumer, Mr. McConnell said he wanted Democrats to agree not to weaken the filibuster in exchange for his cooperation in cutting a deal that would let Senate committees get down to business.That created a dilemma for Mr. Schumer, who, along with Democratic activists, wants to hold out the idea of eliminating the 60-vote threshold for advancing legislation — which in recent years has allowed the minority party to block most major initiatives — if Republicans uniformly line up against Mr. Biden’s agenda. The Democratic leader’s office urged Mr. McConnell to drop his demand and instead implement a plan developed 20 years ago, when the Senate was evenly divided and the two parties split committees down the middle.“Leader Schumer expressed that the fairest, most reasonable and easiest path forward is to adopt the 2001 bipartisan agreement without extraneous changes from either side,” said Justin Goodman, a spokesman for Mr. Schumer.Regardless of how the negotiations go, Mr. McConnell made it clear Tuesday that Republicans had no intention of clearing the way for Democrats’ most cherished progressive priorities.“Certainly November’s elections did not hand any side a mandate for sweeping ideological change,” he said. “Americans elected a closely divided Senate, a closely divided House and a presidential candidate who said he’d represent everyone.”Mr. Biden’s push to have the Senate confirm some of his key nominees as soon as he took the oath Wednesday encountered an obstacle when Senator Josh Hawley, the Missouri Republican who led the challenge to the Electoral College vote, said he would block quick confirmation of Mr. Biden’s secretary of homeland security nominee, Alejandro N. Mayorkas, over immigration concerns.“Mr. Mayorkas has not adequately explained how he will enforce federal law and secure the southern border given President-elect Biden’s promise to roll back major enforcement and security measures,” Mr. Hawley said.His move infuriated Democrats, many of whom blame Mr. Hawley for the Jan. 6 riot that prompted the heightened security concerns that they say require the position to be filled immediately.“I think it really would be disgraceful, and shameful, but unfortunately, Senator Hawley is marching to his own drummer,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, about the delay.The contours of the impeachment trial remain unclear, and even the start date is unknown since Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not yet presented the Senate with the sole charge. Democrats would like to operate on two tracks and conduct Senate business for part of the day while holding the trial during the remainder — an approach that would require discipline and long hours.But Republicans, some of whom say Democrats have boxed themselves in by insisting on the trial during the crucial opening days of Mr. Biden’s tenure, offered a reminder and a warning Tuesday that impeachment takes center stage in the Senate once a trial begins.“Once she sends the articles of impeachment over, it displaces all other business,” Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, told reporters on Capitol Hill.While the Senate obviously has its hands full and the new era is not off to the smoothest start, Mr. Schumer, rising to a position he has coveted for years, said Democrats had big plans for their majority.“The next several months will be very busy,” he said, “and a very consequential period for the United States Senate.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Kevin McCarthy Finds That Charm Has Its Limits

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Trump ImpeachmentliveLatest UpdatesTrump ImpeachedHow the House VotedRepublican SupportKey QuotesAdvertisementContinue reading the main storyOpinionSupported byContinue reading the main storyKevin McCarthy Finds That Charm Has Its LimitsMany people will not forgive the Republican House leader’s blatant acts to embrace and perpetuate dangerous lies that threatened democracy.Contributing Opinion WriterJan. 17, 2021, 11:00 a.m. ETCredit…Michael A. McCoy for The New York TimesLOS ANGELES — Here is the important thing to understand about Kevin McCarthy: He has risen from college dropout to the highest rungs of political leadership by being the guy everyone liked. You can’t have too many friends, he likes to say. He was the guy with the pool table in the house he shared with legislators in Sacramento; the guy who slept on the sofa in his congressional office, went mountain biking with colleagues in the morning and hosted movie nights with Chick-fil-A; the guy who could deliver votes and raise money. Everyone, it seemed, liked the California Republican whom President Trump called “my Kevin.”Until now. Now he is not just disliked, but reviled. No matter how Mr. McCarthy, the House minority leader, tries to finesse the attacks on the 2020 election and the U.S. Capitol, many people — including former friends — will not forgive his blatant acts to embrace and perpetuate dangerous lies that threatened democracy, and lives.Former U.S. Representative Bill Thomas of California denounced his protégé as a hypocrite. The Sacramento Bee called Mr. McCarthy “a soulless anti-democracy conspirator.” In an emotional video, Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose 2006 election marked the last time a Republican was elected statewide in California, took aim at “spineless” Republican elected officials who acted as enablers for the president’s lies. “They are complicit with those who carried the flag of self-righteous insurrection into the Capitol,” the former governor said. “We need public servants that serve something larger than their own power or their own party.”Hope springs eternal, but no one really expected Mr. McCarthy to rise to the occasion this week; that would have meant breaking with the friends who had gotten him this far. As colleagues faced death threats, Mr. McCarthy could bring himself only to exhort his caucus not to publicly chastise Republicans who supported impeachment because it might endanger their safety. After months of repeating Republican lies that sowed doubt about the legitimacy of the election, Mr. McCarthy acknowledged the obvious — that Mr. Biden had won the fair election — but not before voting against certification of the outcome. And finally, after a week in which many major corporate donors threatened to withhold donations to Republicans who objected to certifying the election results, Mr. McCarthy admitted that the president “bears responsibility” for the attack on the Capitol — and then voted against his impeachment for that egregious act.Mr. McCarthy sees himself as a leader who acts as a thermostat — setting a temperature and then moving his caucus to reach that degree. He has chosen a scalding temperature that requires little adjustment for a majority of his caucus but scorches an overheated country, threatening the institutions of our democracy. Perhaps this weak leadership will someday still serve his ambition to represent the majority in the House as speaker — or perhaps Mr. McCarthy has wound up being liked by people who represent the political past.Mr. McCarthy didn’t set out in his political career as an ideological firebrand — quite the opposite. His political origin story, which he tells often, began when the fourth-generation Bakersfield native won $5,000 in the lottery, dropped out of community college, opened a deli, discovered the frustrations of dealing with government regulation, sold the deli, went back to school and, in 1987, began to work for his local congressman, Mr. Thomas. In fact, the deli was a corner in his aunt and uncle’s frozen yogurt shop, which he neither owned nor sold. Still, he beat 40,000-to-1 odds to win the lottery.The lucky streak continued. In 2003, he became the first freshman assemblyman chosen as minority leader in Sacramento. He took care to call himself the Republican leader, not the minority leader. (He has done the same thing in Washington.) Mr. Thomas said his protégé combined ambition “with an incredible likability. People like to be around Kevin.” When Mr. Thomas retired in 2006, Mr. McCarthy easily won his U.S. House seat.He became known as a skilled political strategist and prolific fund-raiser whose charm earned him friends around the country. After the Freedom Caucus helped thwart his bid for speaker in 2015, he drifted steadily right. In 2016, he became an early supporter of Donald Trump and cultivated his new friend with trademark thoughtfulness. Learning that the president preferred two flavors of Starbursts, Mr. McCarthy had his staff pick out the cherry and strawberry flavors and fill a jar delivered as a gift.For a while after the election, it seemed his geniality might insulate him from some of the venom directed at colleagues in the Senate like Ted Cruz or Josh Hawley — even though he, too, defended Mr. Trump’s brazen efforts to overturn the election.“President Trump won this election, so everyone who’s listening, do not be quiet,” Mr. McCarthy said on Fox News two days after the election. “We cannot allow this to happen before our very eyes.”.css-1xzcza9{list-style-type:disc;padding-inline-start:1em;}.css-c7gg1r{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:0.875rem;line-height:0.875rem;margin-bottom:15px;color:#121212 !important;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-c7gg1r{font-size:0.9375rem;line-height:0.9375rem;}}.css-1sjr751{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}.css-1sjr751 a:hover{border-bottom:1px solid #dcdcdc;}.css-rqynmc{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.9375rem;line-height:1.25rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-rqynmc{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-rqynmc strong{font-weight:600;}.css-rqynmc em{font-style:italic;}.css-yoay6m{margin:0 auto 5px;font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3125rem;color:#121212;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-yoay6m{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-1dg6kl4{margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:15px;}.css-16ed7iq{width:100%;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-box-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;justify-content:center;padding:10px 0;background-color:white;}.css-pmm6ed{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;}.css-pmm6ed > :not(:first-child){margin-left:5px;}.css-5gimkt{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.8125rem;font-weight:700;-webkit-letter-spacing:0.03em;-moz-letter-spacing:0.03em;-ms-letter-spacing:0.03em;letter-spacing:0.03em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#333;}.css-5gimkt:after{content:’Collapse’;}.css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;-webkit-transform:rotate(180deg);-ms-transform:rotate(180deg);transform:rotate(180deg);}.css-eb027h{max-height:5000px;-webkit-transition:max-height 0.5s ease;transition:max-height 0.5s ease;}.css-6mllg9{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;position:relative;opacity:0;}.css-6mllg9:before{content:”;background-image:linear-gradient(180deg,transparent,#ffffff);background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(270deg,rgba(255,255,255,0),#ffffff);height:80px;width:100%;position:absolute;bottom:0px;pointer-events:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}.css-1cs27wo{background-color:white;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;width:calc(100% – 40px);max-width:600px;margin:1.5rem auto 1.9rem;padding:15px;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-1cs27wo{padding:20px;}}.css-1cs27wo:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}.css-1cs27wo[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-1cs27wo[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-1cs27wo[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-1cs27wo[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-k9atqk{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-k9atqk strong{font-weight:700;}.css-k9atqk em{font-style:italic;}.css-k9atqk a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #ccd9e3;}.css-k9atqk a:visited{color:#333;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #ddd;}.css-k9atqk a:hover{border-bottom:none;}The Trump Impeachment ›From Riot to ImpeachmentThe riot inside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, followed a rally at which President Trump made an inflammatory speech to his supporters, questioning the results of the election. Here’s a look at what happened and at the ongoing fallout:As this video shows, poor planning and a restive crowd encouraged by Mr. Trump set the stage for the riot.A two hour period was crucial to turning the rally into the riot.Several Trump administration officials, including cabinet members Betsy DeVos and Elaine Chao, announced that they were stepping down as a result of the riot.Federal prosecutors have charged more than 70 people, including some who appeared in viral photos and videos of the riot. Officials expect to eventually charge hundreds of others.The House voted to impeach the president on charges of “inciting an insurrection” that led to the rampage by his supporters.As the president grew increasingly unhinged, Mr. McCarthy remained faithful. He cynically talked of widespread fraud and signed the amicus brief in a meritless lawsuit that went to the Supreme Court. Even after reportedly pleading with the president to call off the mob that overran the Capitol, Mr. McCarthy voted that night to reject the certification of votes. “It was though they went to an extended lunch and came back and resumed their mission — reinforce, by your votes, the lies of the president,” a visibly irate Mr. Thomas said on TV last week.Such bona fides do not play well in most of California, where Mr. Trump carried only seven of the 53 congressional districts (Mr. McCarthy’s, still solidly Republican, was one of them). In recent years, as the president became increasingly toxic, many left the party. One who stayed was Joe Rodota, a veteran political strategist who had worked as a top adviser to two former governors, Pete Wilson and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Mr. Rodota didn’t want to be driven out by Mr. Trump. But after the attack on the Capitol, he went and changed his registration to independent. It was no longer about Mr. Trump; it was about the Republican Party, led by people like Mr. McCarthy. In purple Orange County, the number of registered Republicans dropped by around 3,000 in the 10 days after the attack.In Bakersfield, it is easy to find the legacy of Bill Thomas, called one of the smartest and meanest congressmen of his day: the bust at the entrance to the William M. Thomas Terminal at the Bakersfield airport, the William M. Thomas Planetarium, the Thomas Roads Improvement Program, all named after the man who directed hundreds of millions to local infrastructure.His protégé made up for his own lack of gravitas by winning popularity contests. In the end, that may be Mr. McCarthy’s only legacy. Colored Starbursts get you only so far. Perhaps someday there will be a plaque in front of the restaurant that now serves Rosa’s traditional Peruvian food, to mark the spot where Kevin O’s Deli was once a corner of a yogurt shop and a 1986 reviewer said “the owner is a really friendly guy.”The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Has Trump's Reckoning Come Too Late?

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      Juicio a Donald Trump: un colofón digno de un mandato presidencial

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Trump ImpeachmentliveLatest UpdatesTrump ImpeachedHow the House VotedRepublican SupportKey QuotesAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyAnálisis de noticiasLa conclusión predestinada de una presidenciaEl segundo proceso de destitución al presidente Trump —en un Capitolio rodeado de tropas— parecía la culminación inevitable de cuatro años que dejan a una nación fracturada, molesta y sin sentido claro de identidad.Integrantes de la Guardia Nacional durante un descanso en el Capitolio cuando resguardaban por turnos la Cámara de Representantes, que se preparaba para votar una moción para someter al presidente Trump a un proceso de destitución.Credit…Erin Schaff/The New York Times15 de enero de 2021 a las 05:00 ETRead in EnglishWASHINGTON — Desde los lóbregos días de la Guerra de Secesión y sus repercusiones no se había visto en Estados Unidos un día como el del miércoles.En un Capitolio lleno de soldados fuertemente armados y de detectores de metal recién instalados, tras haber despejado el desastre físico del ataque de la semana pasada, pero con el desastre político y emocional aún a la vista, el presidente de Estados Unidos fue sometido a un proceso de destitución por intentar destruir la democracia estadounidense.De algún modo, parecía el colofón predestinado de una presidencia que en repetidas ocasiones rebasó todos los límites y tensó las relaciones de la clase política. A menos de una semana de que finalice, el periodo del presidente Donald Trump está llegando a su fin con una sacudida de violencia y recriminaciones en un momento en que el país se ha fracturado de manera profunda y ha perdido el sentido de identidad. Los conceptos de verdad y realidad se han pulverizado. La confianza en el sistema se ha erosionado. La ira es el común denominador.Como si no fuera suficiente que Trump es ahora el único presidente que ha sido sometido en dos ocasiones a un proceso de destitución o que los legisladores intentaran retirarlo del cargo a solo una semana del fin de su mandato, Washington se transformó en una miasma de suspicacia y conflicto. Un congresista demócrata acusó a sus colegas republicanos de ayudar a que integrantes de la turba la semana pasada exploraran de antemano el edificio. Algunos congresistas republicanos evadieron los magnetómetros de seguridad utilizados para vigilar que no entren armas al recinto o siguieron avanzando incluso después de activarlos.Todo esto estaba ocurriendo en el contexto de una pandemia que, aunque concita menos atención, ha aumentado de una manera catastrófica en las últimas semanas de la presidencia de Trump.Más de 4400 personas en Estados Unidos fallecieron por el coronavirus el día anterior a las votaciones de la Cámara de Representantes, más personas murieron en un solo día que todas las que fallecierno en Pearl Harbor, el 11 de septiembre de 2001 o durante la batalla de Antietam. Solo después de que varios congresistas se contagiaron durante el ataque al Capitolio y se implementaron nuevas reglas, finalmente usaron cubrebocas de manera constante durante el debate del miércoles.Los historiadores no han podido definir este momento. Lo comparan con otros periodos de enormes desafíos como la Gran Depresión, la Segunda Guerra Mundial, la Guerra de Secesión, la era de McCarthy y Watergate. Rememoran la paliza a Charles Sumner en el pleno del Senado y la maniobra para, por temor a un ataque, introducir furtivamente a Abraham Lincoln a Washington para su toma de posesión.Hacen referencia al espantoso año de 1968 en que el pastor Martin Luther King Jr. y Robert F. Kennedy fueron asesinados mientras que había alborotos en los recintos de las universidades y los centros de las ciudades por la guerra de Vietnam y los derechos civiles. Y piensan en las secuelas de los ataques del 11-S, cuando parecían inevitables más muertes violentas a gran escala. Sin embargo, nada es como estos acontecimientos.“Quisiera poder brindarles una analogía inteligente, pero sinceramente no creo que nada como esto haya sucedido antes”, dijo Geoffrey C. Ward, uno de los historiadores más respetados del país. “Si me hubieran dicho que un presidente de Estados Unidos iba a alentar a una turba delirante a marchar hacia nuestro Capitolio en busca de sangre, yo les habría dicho que estaban equivocados”.De igual manera, Jay Winik, un cronista destacado de la Guerra de Secesión y de otros periodos de conflicto, señaló que no había nada equivalente. “Es un momento insólito, prácticamente sin paralelo en la historia”, comentó. “Es difícil encontrar otro momento en el que la estructura que nos mantiene unidos se viniera abajo de la manera en que lo está haciendo ahora”.Todo esto deja por los suelos la reputación de Estados Unidos dentro de la escena mundial y convierte lo que al presidente Ronald Reagan le gustaba llamar “la ciudad brillante sobre la colina” en un apaleado caso de estudio de los desafíos a los que se puede enfrentar incluso una potencia demócrata madura.“Prácticamente se ha terminado el momento histórico en que éramos un ejemplo”, afirmó Timothy Snyder, historiador especialista en autoritarismo de la Universidad de Yale. “Ahora tenemos que volver a ganarnos nuestra credibilidad, lo cual quizás no sea algo tan malo”.Las escenas del miércoles en el Capitolio nos recordaron a la Zona Verde de Bagdad durante la Guerra de Irak. Por primera vez desde que los confederados amenazaron con cruzar el río Potomac, los soldados tuvieron que acampar por la noche en el Capitolio al aire libre.El debate para decidir el destino de Trump tuvo lugar en la misma sala de la Cámara Baja donde tan solo una semana antes los oficiales de seguridad desenfundaron sus armas y pusieron barricadas en las puertas al tiempo que los legisladores se lanzaban al suelo o escapaban por la puerta trasera para huir de la turba transgresora partidaria de Trump. Todavía flotaba en el aire la indignación por el asalto. También el miedo.No obstante, hasta cierto punto la conmoción ya había pasado y a veces el debate se sentía tan soporífero como de costumbre. La mayoría de los legisladores pronto se retiraron a sus esquinas partidarias.Cuando los demócratas exigieron rendición de cuentas, muchos republicanos se opusieron y los acusaron de precipitarse a una resolución sin audiencias ni pruebas y sin ni siquiera debatir lo suficiente. Los adversarios de Trump hicieron referencia a su discurso provocador durante un mitin justo antes del asalto. Sus defensores citaron las palabras provocadoras de la presidenta de la Cámara Baja, Nancy Pelosi; de la representante Maxine Waters, e incluso de Robert De Niro y de Madonna para argumentar que había un doble rasero.Daba igual que se comparan peras con manzanas. Importaba más la perspectiva. Trump buscó anular una elección democrática que perdió denunciando falsamente un fraude generalizado, presionando a otros republicanos e incluso a su vicepresidente a apoyarlo y envió a una multitud de seguidores revoltosos al Capitolio a “luchar como el demonio”. Sus aliados, no obstante, dijeron que Trump hacía tiempo era blanco de lo que consideraban ataques e investigaciones injustas y partidistas.“Donald Trump es el hombre más peligroso en ocupar el Despacho Oval”, declaró el congresista Joaquin Castro, demócrata por Texas.“La izquierda en Estados Unidos hasta ahora ha incitado más violencia política que la derecha”, declaró Matt Gaetz, congresista republicano por Florida.En la era de Trump, los puntos de vista radicalmente distintos encapsularon a Estados Unidos. En algún momento, el representante por Maryland Steny Hoyer, líder de la mayoría demócrata, se mostró irritado por la descripción de los hechos del partido contrario. “Ustedes no viven en el mismo país que yo”, exclamó. Y, al menos en eso, todos pudieron estar de acuerdo.Después de alentar a una multitud de sus partidarios a marchar hacia el Capitolio la semana pasada, Trump no ha mostrado arrepentimiento por su papel al incitar los disturbios.Credit…Oliver Contreras para The New York TimesTrump no se defendió y optó por dejar de lado los acontecimientos históricos. Después de las votaciones, publicó un mensaje en video de cinco minutos en el que censuró de manera más amplia la violencia de la semana pasada y repudió a quienes la perpetraron. “Cuando hacen algo así, no están apoyando nuestro movimiento, lo están atacando”, afirmó.Sin embargo, no manifestó pesar ni mostró darse cuenta de que hubiera tenido alguna responsabilidad por nada de esto cuando favoreció la política de la división no solo la semana pasada, sino durante cuatro años. Y aunque no mencionó de manera explícita el proceso de destitución, se quejó de “el ataque sin precedentes a la libertad de expresión” al referirse, al parecer, a la suspensión indefinida de su cuenta de Twitter y a las acciones contra sus aliados que trataron de ayudarle a impedir la certificación de los resultados de las elecciones.A diferencia del primer proceso de destitución de Trump, motivado por presionar a Ucrania para que le ayudara a desprestigiar a los demócratas, esta vez lo abandonaron algunas personas de su partido. Al final, diez republicanos de la Cámara de Representantes se unieron a todos los demócratas para aprobar el único artículo de juicio político, liderados por la representante por Wyoming, Liz Cheney, la tercera republicana en jerarquía. El hecho de que la familia Cheney, quienes solían considerarse provocadores ideológicos, aparecieran en este momento como defensores del republicanismo tradicional fue una prueba de cuánto ha cambiado el partido bajo el mandato de Trump..css-1xzcza9{list-style-type:disc;padding-inline-start:1em;}.css-c7gg1r{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:0.875rem;line-height:0.875rem;margin-bottom:15px;color:#121212 !important;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-c7gg1r{font-size:0.9375rem;line-height:0.9375rem;}}.css-1sjr751{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}.css-1sjr751 a:hover{border-bottom:1px solid #dcdcdc;}.css-rqynmc{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.9375rem;line-height:1.25rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-rqynmc{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-rqynmc strong{font-weight:600;}.css-rqynmc em{font-style:italic;}.css-yoay6m{margin:0 auto 5px;font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3125rem;color:#121212;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-yoay6m{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-1dg6kl4{margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:15px;}.css-16ed7iq{width:100%;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-box-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;justify-content:center;padding:10px 0;background-color:white;}.css-pmm6ed{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;}.css-pmm6ed > :not(:first-child){margin-left:5px;}.css-5gimkt{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.8125rem;font-weight:700;-webkit-letter-spacing:0.03em;-moz-letter-spacing:0.03em;-ms-letter-spacing:0.03em;letter-spacing:0.03em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#333;}.css-5gimkt:after{content:’Collapse’;}.css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;-webkit-transform:rotate(180deg);-ms-transform:rotate(180deg);transform:rotate(180deg);}.css-eb027h{max-height:5000px;-webkit-transition:max-height 0.5s ease;transition:max-height 0.5s ease;}.css-6mllg9{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;position:relative;opacity:0;}.css-6mllg9:before{content:”;background-image:linear-gradient(180deg,transparent,#ffffff);background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(270deg,rgba(255,255,255,0),#ffffff);height:80px;width:100%;position:absolute;bottom:0px;pointer-events:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}.css-1cs27wo{background-color:white;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;width:calc(100% – 40px);max-width:600px;margin:1.5rem auto 1.9rem;padding:15px;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-1cs27wo{padding:20px;}}.css-1cs27wo:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}.css-1cs27wo[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-1cs27wo[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-1cs27wo[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-1cs27wo[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-k9atqk{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-k9atqk strong{font-weight:700;}.css-k9atqk em{font-style:italic;}.css-k9atqk a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #ccd9e3;}.css-k9atqk a:visited{color:#333;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #ddd;}.css-k9atqk a:hover{border-bottom:none;}The Trump Impeachment ›From Riot to ImpeachmentThe riot inside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, followed a rally at which President Trump made an inflammatory speech to his supporters, questioning the results of the election. Here’s a look at what happened and at the ongoing fallout:As this video shows, poor planning and a restive crowd encouraged by Mr. Trump set the stage for the riot.A two hour period was crucial to turning the rally into the riot.Several Trump administration officials, including cabinet members Betsy DeVos and Elaine Chao, announced that they were stepping down as a result of the riot.Federal prosecutors have charged more than 70 people, including some who appeared in viral photos and videos of the riot. Officials expect to eventually charge hundreds of others.The House voted to impeach the president on charges of “inciting an insurrection” that led to the rampage by his supporters.Los diez republicanos disidentes no fueron tantos en comparación con los 197 miembros del partido que votaron contra el proceso de destitución. Por otro lado, fueron diez más de los que votaron para destituir a Trump en diciembre de 2019. También fueron el mayor número de miembros del propio partido del presidente en apoyar un proceso de destitución en la historia de Estados Unidos.Otros republicanos intentaron ser más sutiles al aceptar que Trump tenía responsabilidad por haber incitado a la muchedumbre y al mismo tiempo sostuvieron que eso no representaba un delito que amerita iniciar un proceso de destitución, o que resultaba insensato, innecesario y divisorio justo días antes de que Joe Biden, el presidente electo, tomara posesión del cargo.“Eso no significa que el presidente esté libre de culpa”, señaló el representante por California, Kevin McCarthy, líder de la minoría republicana y uno de los aliados más fieles de Trump, cuando se pronunció contra el juicio político. “El presidente tiene responsabilidad por el ataque del miércoles al Congreso por parte de los alborotadores. Debió haber reprendido de inmediato a la turba cuando vio lo que estaba sucediendo”.No obstante, era asombrosa la fidelidad que tantos republicanos de la Cámara Baja mostraron por un presidente que perdió su reelección y que ha hecho tanto daño a su propio partido. “Si la abrumadora mayoría de los representantes electos de uno de los dos partidos estadounidenses no puede rechazar la influencia de un demagogo ni siquiera después de que abiertamente conspiró para anular unas elecciones y al hacerlo amenazara sus vidas mismas, pues entonces tenemos un largo camino por delante”, señaló Frank Bowman, especialista en procesos de destitución de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Misuri.Brenda Wineapple, autora de The Impeachers, un libro sobre el juicio al presidente Andrew Johnson en 1868, dijo que identificó en el debate del miércoles algunos de los argumentos que se hicieron en aquel entonces en contra de la convicción: que sería un mal precedente, que solo dividiría aún más al país.También encontró otro eco, un deseo de superar al polarizante Johnson en favor de su esperado sucesor, Ulysses S. Grant, quien, como Biden, era visto como una figura conciliadora. “Me da esperanza”, dijo. “Debemos tener esperanza”.Pero la extensión de la reconciliación que necesita Estados Unidos es un proyecto que podría resultar abrumador para cualquier presidente sin un consenso bipartidista más amplio. Es posible que a Trump se le someta al proceso de destitución pero casi con certeza terminará la última semana de su mandato y no tiene planes de marcharse discretamente con vergüenza o en la ignominia como otros presidentes que perdieron la reelección han hecho, lo que lo convertiría en una fuerza residual de la vida nacional, incluso desmejorada.Lo que es más, las personas que ven su derrota como un llamado a las armas siguen siendo una fuerza. Los funcionarios de seguridad refuerzan las tropas en Washington para la toma de mando de Biden de la próxima semana, preocupados de que se repita la invasión al Capitolio. Luego de que Trump le dijo falsamente a sus seguidores una y otra vez que la elección había sido robada, las encuestas sugieren que millones de estadounidenses le creen.“La víspera de la elección de 1940, Franklin Delano Roosevelt dijo que la democracia es más que una palabra: ‘Es una cosa viva —una cosa humana—de cerebros y músculos y alma y corazón’”, dijo Susan Dunn, historiadora de Williams College y biógrafa del presidente Franklin D. Roosevelt.Ahora, dijo, tras los eventos de los últimos días y años, “sabemos que las democracias son frágiles y que los cerebros y el alma de nuestra democracia corren un grave riesgo”.Peter Baker es el corresponsal principal de la Casa Blanca y ha cubierto las gestiones de los últimos cuatro presidentes para el Times y The Washington Post. También es autor de seis libros, el más reciente de ellos se titula The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III. @peterbakernyt • FacebookAdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      After Second Impeachment, Giuliani Vows to Support Trump

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Trump ImpeachmentliveLatest UpdatesTrump ImpeachedHow the House VotedRepublican SupportKey QuotesAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyAfter 2 Impeachments, Giuliani Vows to Continue His Fervor for TrumpWhite House officials are universally angry with Rudolph W. Giuliani and blame him for both of President Trump’s impeachments. But he remains one of few people still willing to join Mr. Trump in the foxhole.Rudolph W. Giuliani spoke at the Trump rally on Jan. 6, before a mob stormed the Capitol. Credit…Brendan Smialowski/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesKatie Rogers and Jan. 14, 2021Updated 8:47 p.m. ETWASHINGTON — When Rudolph W. Giuliani was treating his efforts to carry out President Trump’s wishes to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election as a payment opportunity — he proposed a daily retainer of $20,000 for his legal services from the burgeoning Trump campaign legal fund — the president dismissed it and responded by demanding to personally approve each expense.Nine weeks and another impeachment later, Mr. Trump began the day on Thursday by asking aides to erase any sign of a rift. Stripped of his Twitter account, Mr. Trump conveyed his praise through an adviser, Jason Miller, who tweeted: “Just spoke with President Trump, and he told me that @RudyGiuliani is a great guy and a Patriot who devoted his services to the country! We all love America’s Mayor!”White House officials are universally angry with Mr. Giuliani and blame him for both of Mr. Trump’s impeachments. But the president is another story.Even as he complains about Mr. Giuliani’s latest efforts as fruitless, the president remains unusually deferential to him in public and in private. “Don’t underestimate him,” Mr. Trump has told advisers.But only up to a point. While Mr. Trump and his advisers balked at the $20,000 request weeks ago, it is unclear whether the president will sign off on Mr. Giuliani being paid anything other than expenses.The on-again, off-again tensions are a feature of a decades-long, mutually beneficial relationship between the former New York City mayor from Brooklyn and the former real estate developer from Queens. Although the two were never particularly close in New York, Mr. Trump enjoyed having the former mayor as his personal legal pit bull during the special counsel investigation into his campaign’s ties to Russia.In return, Mr. Giuliani, who failed at his own bid for the presidency in 2008, got to hang out with the president in the Oval Office and used his new connections to pursue lucrative contracts.Mr. Trump deployed Mr. Giuliani on politically ruinous missions that led to his impeachment — twice. Now, isolated and stripped of his usual political megaphones, the president faces the devastation of his business and political affairs for his part in encouraging a pro-Trump mob that went on to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6.Mr. Giuliani — who, for his part, encouraged a group of the president’s supporters that day to carry out “trial by combat” — is one of few people still willing and eager to join Mr. Trump in the foxhole. While most lawyers are reluctant to represent the president in a second Senate impeachment trial, Trump advisers said Mr. Giuliani remained the likeliest to be involved. Despite President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s certification as the winner, Mr. Giuliani has continued to push unproven theories about the election results and falsely attributed the violence to anarchists on the left.A podcast hosted by Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s former chief strategist, was taken down on Thursday because of an interview in which Mr. Giuliani repeated false claims about the election. During the interview, Mr. Bannon pleaded with Mr. Giuliani to move on to a new topic.“I don’t mind being shut down for my craziness,” Mr. Bannon told Mr. Giuliani, according to Alexander Panetta, a reporter for CBC News who listened to the podcast before it was removed. “I’m not going to be shut down for yours.”Mr. Trump has always had an abundance of yes men and women around him, but Mr. Giuliani occupies a unique space in his orbit. Few people have had such durability with the president, and few have been so willing to say and do things for him that others will not.“Your typical role as legal counselor is to tell your client the hard truth and walk them away from risk,” Matthew Sanderson, a Republican political lawyer based in Washington, said in an interview. “Rudy instead seems to tell his client exactly what he wants to hear and walk him toward risk like they’re both moths to a flame.”That journey has left him looking worse for wear. Days after the election, Mr. Giuliani hit the road, challenging the results in a much maligned news conference in front of a Pennsylvania landscaping company. In another appearance that month, Mr. Giuliani was on camera with black liquid, apparently hair dye, streaming down his face as he railed against the election outcome.Few have been so willing to defend the president, and, paradoxically, few have been so damaging to his legacy..css-c7gg1r{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:0.875rem;line-height:0.875rem;margin-bottom:15px;color:#121212 !important;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-c7gg1r{font-size:0.9375rem;line-height:0.9375rem;}}.css-1sjr751{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}.css-1sjr751 a:hover{border-bottom:1px solid #dcdcdc;}.css-rqynmc{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.9375rem;line-height:1.25rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-rqynmc{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-rqynmc strong{font-weight:600;}.css-rqynmc em{font-style:italic;}.css-yoay6m{margin:0 auto 5px;font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3125rem;color:#121212;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-yoay6m{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-1dg6kl4{margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:15px;}.css-16ed7iq{width:100%;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-box-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;justify-content:center;padding:10px 0;background-color:white;}.css-pmm6ed{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;}.css-pmm6ed > :not(:first-child){margin-left:5px;}.css-5gimkt{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.8125rem;font-weight:700;-webkit-letter-spacing:0.03em;-moz-letter-spacing:0.03em;-ms-letter-spacing:0.03em;letter-spacing:0.03em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#333;}.css-5gimkt:after{content:’Collapse’;}.css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;-webkit-transform:rotate(180deg);-ms-transform:rotate(180deg);transform:rotate(180deg);}.css-eb027h{max-height:5000px;-webkit-transition:max-height 0.5s ease;transition:max-height 0.5s ease;}.css-6mllg9{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;position:relative;opacity:0;}.css-6mllg9:before{content:”;background-image:linear-gradient(180deg,transparent,#ffffff);background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(270deg,rgba(255,255,255,0),#ffffff);height:80px;width:100%;position:absolute;bottom:0px;pointer-events:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}.css-1cs27wo{background-color:white;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;width:calc(100% – 40px);max-width:600px;margin:1.5rem auto 1.9rem;padding:15px;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-1cs27wo{padding:20px;}}.css-1cs27wo:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}.css-1cs27wo[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-1cs27wo[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-1cs27wo[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-1cs27wo[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-k9atqk{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-k9atqk strong{font-weight:700;}.css-k9atqk em{font-style:italic;}.css-k9atqk a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #ccd9e3;}.css-k9atqk a:visited{color:#333;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #ddd;}.css-k9atqk a:hover{border-bottom:none;}The Trump Impeachment ›Answers to your questions about the impeachment process:The current impeachment proceedings are testing the bounds of the process, raising questions never contemplated before. Here’s what we know.How does the impeachment process work? Members of the House consider whether to impeach the president — the equivalent of an indictment in a criminal case — and members of the Senate consider whether to remove him, holding a trial in which senators act as the jury. The test, as set by the Constitution, is whether the president has committed “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” The House vote required only a simple majority of lawmakers to agree that the president has, in fact, committed high crimes and misdemeanors; the Senate vote requires a two-thirds majority.Does impeaching Trump disqualify him from holding office again? Conviction in an impeachment trial does not automatically disqualify Mr. Trump from future public office. But if the Senate were to convict him, the Constitution allows a subsequent vote to bar an official from holding “any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States.” That vote would require only a simple majority of senators. There is no precedent, however, for disqualifying a president from future office, and the issue could end up before the Supreme Court.Can the Senate hold a trial after Biden becomes president? The Senate could hold a trial for Mr. Trump even after he has left office, though there is no precedent for it. Democrats who control the House can choose when to send their article of impeachment to the Senate, at which point that chamber would have to immediately move to begin the trial. But even if the House immediately transmitted the charge to the other side of the Capitol, an agreement between Republican and Democratic leaders in the Senate would be needed to take it up before Jan. 19, a day before Mr. Biden is inaugurated. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, said on Wednesday that he would not agree to such an agreement. Given that timetable, the trial probably will not start until after Mr. Biden is president.Mr. Giuliani stepped into the president’s legal affairs in April 2018. His eagerness to attack Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, impressed Mr. Trump, who was constantly making changes to his legal team. Most Trump advisers came to see Mr. Giuliani’s efforts with Mr. Mueller as a success.“There was never a moment when Rudy wasn’t willing to go lower, and that’s what Trump requires,” the Trump biographer Michael D’Antonio said. “He proved that actually delivering for Donald was not as important as continuing to try.”In addition to his work with Mr. Trump, Mr. Giuliani pursued side projects with the added cachet of being the president’s personal lawyer. Free of ethics laws that restrict government employees, Mr. Giuliani pursued lucrative deals even in the midst of the special counsel investigation.And then came the impeachments. When the history of the Trump presidency is written, Mr. Giuliani will be a central figure, first by pursuing a pressure campaign against the Ukrainian government to investigate Mr. Biden’s family members, and then by traveling the country in efforts to overturn Mr. Biden’s victory.Mr. Giuliani’s own legal problems have mounted alongside those of the president. As Mr. Giuliani pursued separate business opportunities in Ukraine, intelligence agencies warned that he could have been used by Russian intelligence officers seeking to spread disinformation about the election — reports that Mr. Trump shrugged off. Mr. Giuliani’s work in Ukraine continues to be a matter of interest in a continuing investigation by federal prosecutors in New York. And his remarks to Trump supporters before the Capitol riot are now the subject of an effort by the New York State Bar Association to expel him.Mr. Giuliani appears undeterred.In a 37-minute video published Wednesday evening, Mr. Giuliani tried to rewrite the history of the Capitol riot. Although Mr. Trump incited his supporters to march to the building and “show strength,” Mr. Giuliani suggested in the video that antifa activists had been involved, a repeatedly debunked theory that has proliferated in pro-Trump circles online.“The rally ended up to some extent being used as a fulcrum in order to create something else totally different that the president had nothing to do with,” Mr. Giuliani said.Now his calls to the president are sometimes blocked at the orders of White House officials. Advisers say that Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, holds Mr. Giuliani partly responsible for the mess currently embroiling the White House.But Mr. Giuliani hangs on in the shrinking circle around Mr. Trump.“He’s not alone,” Alan Marcus, a former Trump Organization consultant, said of the president. “He’s abandoned. Rudy’s just the last in a whole group of people.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Trump Impeached for Inciting Insurrection

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Trump ImpeachmentliveLatest UpdatesHow the House VotedWhy Impeach Now?Republican SupportKey QuotesAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyTrump Impeached for Inciting InsurrectionPresident Trump became the first president to be impeached twice, after the House approved a single charge citing his role in whipping up a mob that stormed the Capitol. He faces a Senate trial that could disqualify him from future office.Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California declared the past week one of the darkest chapters in American history.Credit…Erin Schaff/The New York TimesJan. 13, 2021Updated 9:42 p.m. ETWASHINGTON — Donald J. Trump on Wednesday became the first American president to be impeached twice, as 10 members of his party joined with Democrats in the House to charge him with “incitement of insurrection” for his role in egging on a violent mob that stormed the Capitol last week.Reconvening in a building now heavily militarized against threats from pro-Trump activists and adorned with bunting for the inauguration of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., lawmakers voted 232 to 197 to approve a single impeachment article. It accused Mr. Trump of “inciting violence against the government of the United States” in his quest to overturn the election results, and called for him to be removed and disqualified from ever holding public office again.The vote left another indelible stain on Mr. Trump’s presidency just a week before he is slated to leave office and laid bare the cracks running through the Republican Party. More members of his party voted to charge the president than in any other impeachment.Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, declaring the past week one of the darkest chapters in American history, implored colleagues to embrace “a constitutional remedy that will ensure that the republic will be safe from this man who is so resolutely determined to tear down the things that we hold dear and that hold us together.”A little more than a year after she led a painstaking, three-month process to impeach Mr. Trump the first time for a pressure campaign on Ukraine to incriminate Mr. Biden — a case rejected by the president’s unfailingly loyal Republican supporters — Ms. Pelosi had moved this time with little fanfare to do the same job in only seven days.“He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love,” the speaker said, adding later, “It gives me no pleasure to say this — it breaks my heart.”The top House Republican, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, conceded in a pained speech on the floor that Mr. Trump had been to blame for the deadly assault at the Capitol. It had forced the vice president and lawmakers who had gathered there to formalize Mr. Biden’s victory to flee for their lives.“The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters,” said Mr. McCarthy, one of the 138 Republicans who returned to the House floor after the mayhem and voted to reject certified electoral votes for Mr. Biden. “He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding.”Outside the House chamber, a surreal tableau offered reminders of the rampage that gave rise to the impeachment, as thousands of armed members of the National Guard in camouflage fatigues surrounded the complex and snaked through its halls, stacking their helmets, backpacks and weapons wherever they went. Their presence gave the proceedings a wartime feel, and evoked images of the 1860s, when the Union Army had quartered in the building.A week of trauma and deliberation left lawmakers sparring not just over impeachment, but also over facial coverings mandated because of the coronavirus and newly installed metal detectors outside the House chamber meant to stop lawmakers from bringing guns onto the floor. Some Republicans darted past the machines without stopping, setting the alarms wailing. Several Democrats said they had concerns — so far unsubstantiated — that far-right colleagues might have played a role in facilitating the attack, and they requested an investigation.Dozens of others stayed away from the Capitol on the momentous day, fearful of exposing colleagues or themselves to the virus and of lingering security threats, instead casting their votes remotely by proxy.The House’s action set the stage for the second Senate trial of the president in a year. The precise timing of that proceeding remained in doubt, though, as senators appeared unlikely to convene to sit in judgment before Jan. 20, when Mr. Biden will take the oath of office and Mr. Trump will become a former president.The last proceeding was a partisan affair. But this time, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, was said to support the effort as a means of purging his party of Mr. Trump, setting up a political and constitutional showdown that could shape the course of American politics.If a Senate trial resulted in Mr. Trump’s conviction, it held out the prospect, tantalizing for Democrats and many Republicans alike, of barring him from ever holding office again.In a measured statement after the vote, Mr. Biden called for the nation to come together after an “unprecedented assault on our democracy.” He was staring down the likelihood that the trial would complicate his first days in office, and said he hoped Senate leadership would “find a way to deal with their constitutional responsibilities on impeachment while also working on the other urgent business of this nation.” That work included cabinet nominations and confronting the coronavirus crisis.In the House, Democrats and Republicans who supported his ouster made no attempt to hide their fury at Mr. Trump, who was said to have enjoyed watching the attack play out on television as lawmakers pleaded for help. Republicans harangued members of their own party for supporting his mendacious campaign to claim election victory.Returning to the same chamber where many of them donned gas masks and hid under chairs amid gunfire one week ago — as rioters carrying zip ties and chanting “hang Pence” and “where’s Nancy” overtook the police — lawmakers issued stinging indictments of the president and his party.“They may have been hunting for Pence and Pelosi to stage their coup,” said Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the lead impeachment prosecutor, “but every one of us in this room right now could have died.”President Trump encouraged a mob of his supporters to attack the Capitol one week ago.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York TimesAt least five people did die during the attack, including an officer and a member of the mob who was shot just outside the chamber door.Lawmakers said the threat from Mr. Trump had not subsided.“He is capable of starting a civil war,” said Representative Maxine Waters of California, a veteran liberal.The Trump Impeachment More