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      No time for platitudes as Biden gives sharpest denunciation of Trump yet

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      No time for platitudes as Biden gives sharpest denunciation of Trump yetAnalysis: This was the moment the president realized the clear and present danger posed to US democracy by an ex-leader gone rogue Here, at last, was the Joe Biden that anyone on vigil for America’s teetering democracy had been waiting for.In historic National Statuary Hall at the US Capitol, a year to the day after it was overrun by an authoritarian mob, the US president gave his clearest dissection of “the big lie” and his clearest denunciation of his predecessor, Donald Trump.Biden condemns Trump’s ‘web of lies’ a year on from deadly Capitol assaultRead moreIt cannot have been easy for a man who spent 36 years in the Senate, sometimes reaching across the aisle to unsavoury characters, who speaks of bipartisanship with cloying nostalgia and who ran for the White House as an apostle of national unity.Biden could have used Thursday’s anniversary to offer olive branches, finding comfort in the traditional role as head of state as an excuse to rise above political battles of the day. His instinct may have been to be as apolitical and anodyne as a monarch.But this was the moment that the commander-in-chief realised the clear and present danger posed to American democracy by one of its major parties and former leader gone rogue. The alarmed voices of fellow Democrats, activists, journalists and historians about the state of emergency finally seemed to have got through to him.He understood that platitudes and prayers for a miraculous Kumbaya moment will no longer do. You cannot reason with extremists whose premise about a stolen election and the insurrection being the will of the people – wrapped up in the cult of Trump – is fundamentally irrational.You cannot debate Fox News or fascism-curious Facebook users. Instead, the threat must be looked squarely in the eye.“We must be absolutely clear about what is true and what is a lie,” Biden said, his voice at times trembling with anger.“Here’s the truth: a former president of the United States of America has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election. He’s done so because he values power over principle.”He never mentioned the name “Trump” but he did refer to the “former president” often. In a remark that would have stung at Mar-a-Lago, Biden said: “He’s not just a former president; he’s a defeated former president.” He also noted: “You can’t love your country only when you win.”01:43In a 25-minute speech that sounded like campaign-trail Biden, he recalled how the Confederate flag, symbol of the pro-slavery south in the civil war, had been brandished in the halls of the Capitol for the first time a year ago.“We are in a battle for the soul of America,” he acknowledged. “I did not seek this fight, brought to this Capitol … But I will not shrink from it either. I will stand in this breach, I will defend this nation. I will allow no one to place a dagger at the throat of this democracy.”It was a bracing call to action from a president accused of spending too much of his first year in office cutting deals with Republicans, for example on new roads and bridges, rather than throwing himself into the arena in a bare-knuckle fight over voting rights.It was also clear evidence that Barack Obama’s celebrated 2004 convention speech – “There is not a liberal America and a conservative America – there is the United States of America” – no longer meets the moment. It would be as naive as claiming that America no longer sees race.But will it make a difference? Most Republicans, including leaders Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, are not even in town. Rightwing media dismissed the speech as divisive. Trump was quick to issue a statement that said Biden “used my name today to try to further divide America. This political theater is all just a distraction from the fact Biden has completely and totally failed.”With divisions having only calcified since 6 January, that is likely to be the Republican message going forward. But now, at least, they know they have a fight on their hands. Biden is no longer standing by amid the slow-motion coup and white nationalist backlash now taking place.“The way you have to heal, you have to recognise the extent of the wound,” he told reporters at the Capitol just after his speech. “This is serious stuff … You’ve gotta face it. That’s what great nations do, they face the truth, deal with it, and move on.”TopicsJoe BidenDonald TrumpUS Capitol attackUS politicsanalysisReuse this content More

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      Joe Biden blames Donald Trump’s ‘web of lies’ for US Capitol attack – video

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      The US president spoke directly against Trump, saying the former president had created and spread a ‘web of lie’s that resulted in the deadly insurrection.
      On the one-year anniversary of the 6 January Capitol attack, the US president said his predecessor had refused to accept the result of an election, like no former president had ever done

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      How the Capitol attack still divides the United States

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      A year ago today, rioters stormed the Capitol building in Washington DC after Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to march on Congress to protest against the election result

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      A year ago today, Donald Trump made a speech to his supporters contesting the election result and encouraging them to march on Congress. The riot that ensued was unlike anything seen before in American politics. Many hoped a line would subsequently be drawn in the sand and that politicians would come together in solidarity to ensure that nothing of the sort could happen again. But as the Guardian’s Washington DC bureau chief, David Smith, tells Nosheen Iqbal, that is not what has happened in the weeks and month since the attack. Instead, two distinct narratives have evolved: on the one hand, those who are being led by the mountains of documentary evidence and on the other, those sympathetic to the former president downplaying the events of 6 January and falsely blaming leftwing agitators. The reporter Nick Robins-Early describes the huge investigation being carried out by the FBI to bring charges against hundreds of people. He says that one of the big unanswered questions at the heart of that investigation is how much planning and coordination went into the insurrection. More

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      in Elections

      Capitol attack: Biden to stress Trump’s ‘singular responsibility’ on anniversary

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      Capitol attack: Biden to stress Trump’s ‘singular responsibility’ on anniversaryPresident will lead sombre commemorations in Washington of deadly assault on US democracy It was a day that shook America. Joe Biden will lead sombre commemorations on Thursday to mark one year since the US Capitol insurrection that left five people dead and the nation’s democracy wounded, and is expected to lay out the “singular responsibility” that Donald Trump has for the “chaos and carnage” of that day.In a speech, Biden will directly address the former president’s role in the attack and his attempts since to distract from or downplay events, the White House said.Biden has been “clear-eyed” about the “threat the former president represents to our democracy”, the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said in a briefing on Wednesday. Biden has repeatedly stated that Trump “abused his office, undermined the constitution and ignored his oath to the American people in an effort to amass more power for himself and his allies”, Psaki said.“President Biden will lay out the significance of what happened at the Capitol and the singular responsibility President Trump has for the chaos and the carnage that we saw,” she added. “He will forcibly push back on the lies spread by the former president in an attempt to mislead the American people and his own supporters, as well as distract from his role in what happened.”The president is also set to praise the bravery of outnumbered police officers on the scene and outline the unfinished work that America needs to do to heal, the White House said.More than 1,000 US public figures aided Trump’s effort to overturn electionRead moreDefeated in the 2020 presidential election, Trump incited his supporters to storm the Capitol and interrupt certification of Biden’s victory. Scores of police were beaten and bloodied and congressional offices were ransacked in the worst ever domestic attack on the seat of US government.Trump this week cancelled his own anniversary event – a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida that had been scheduled for the evening of 6 January – reportedly at the urging of advisers.A year on from the attack, polls show Americans are still divided in their perceptions of what unfolded and why. The anniversary offers Biden, who promised to bring the nation together, an opportunity to reassert a fact-based account. He and and Vice-President Kamala Harris will speak on Thursday morning at the US Capitol.“The president is going to speak to the truth of what happened, not the lies that some have spread since, and the peril it has posed to the rule of law and our system of democratic governance,” Psaki told reporters on Tuesday.Biden will put an extra spotlight on the role of Capitol police and others on the scene, Psaki said. “Because of their efforts, our democracy withstood an attack from a mob, and the will of more than 150 million people who voted in the presidential election was ultimately registered by Congress.”Psaki was asked at the press briefing what the president’s message will be to the many Republicans who believe Biden stole the election from Trump, despite overwhelming contrary evidence.“What he’s going to continue to do is speak to everyone in the country. Those who didn’t vote for him, those who may not believe he is the legitimate president, about what he wants to do to make their lives better,” the spokesperson replied.Other events at the Capitol on Thursday will include a moment of reflection with staff on the House of Representatives floor, a moment of silence on the House floor, a conversation with the presidential historians Doris Kearns Goodwin and Jon Meacham, testimonials from members of Congress and a prayer vigil.Four people died on the day of the riot and one Capitol police officer died the day after. Four officers have since taken their own lives. The crowd called for the then vice-president, Mike Pence, presiding over the electoral college vote count, to be hanged.But Trump, fellow Republicans and rightwing media personalities have pushed false and misleading accounts to downplay the attack, calling it a non-violent protest or blaming leftwing activists. Even Pence has dismissed it as “just one day in January”.Congressional Republicans are expected to keep a low profile or stay away from Thursday’s events. Trump had been expected to create a split-screen moment by pushing his counter-narrative at a televised press conference, but he abruptly scrapped the plan on Tuesday.In a statement, the former president criticised a House select committee investigating the 6 January insurrection, which continues its work and on Tuesday issued a letter seeking the cooperation of the Fox New host Sean Hannity, who exchanged messages with Trump and his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, in the days leading up to the attack.Trump said that he was cancelling his conference “in light of the total bias and dishonesty of the January 6th Unselect Committee of Democrats, two failed Republicans, and the Fake News Media”, and would address the issue instead at a rally in Arizona on 15 January.The ex-president was reportedly talked out of holding a press conference by allies. Senator Lindsey Graham told the Axios website that he discussed the subject with Trump over a weekend golf match in West Palm Beach, Florida, arguing that “there could be peril in doing a news conference … Best to focus on election reform instead.”Separate from the House investigation, the justice department is leading the prosecution of rioters who invaded the Capitol. More than 700 people have been charged so far in one of the biggest criminal investigations in American history. More than 30 have received jail sentences.Trump was kicked off Twitter after the Capitol attack for statements encouraging violence. He was impeached by the House but acquitted by the Senate, leaving the way open for him to seek the White House again in 2024.A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll found that 72% of Republicans say Trump does not really bear responsibility for what happened, 58% of Republicans believe Biden’s election was not legitimate and 40% of Republicans and independents say violence against the government is sometimes justified.TopicsUS Capitol attackUS politicsJoe BidenDonald TrumpWashington DCnewsReuse this content More

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      Merrick Garland vows to pursue all those responsible for 6 January attack

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      Merrick Garland vows to pursue all those responsible for 6 January attackAttorney general says justice department has ‘no higher priority’ and promises further actions over ‘assault on our democracy’ The US attorney general, Merrick Garland, on Wednesday vowed that the justice department would hold accountable all those responsible for the deadly 6 January attack, whether they were physically present at the Capitol or not.Garland’s remarks come as he faces growing calls from lawmakers, legal experts and former elected officials to intensify the department’s investigation into the events of Capitol assault, and in particular to prosecute those who helped orchestrate the failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election results, including Donald Trump and his associates.More than 1,000 US public figures aided Trump’s effort to overturn electionRead moreIn a solemn speech on the eve of the first anniversary of the assault on the seat of government, Garland said it did not matter whether the perpetrators had been present at the Capitol riot or committed other crimes that wrought chaos on that day.“The justice department remains committed to holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law – whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy,” Garland said in his address, delivered from the justice department’s Great Hall in Washington. “We will follow the facts wherever they lead.”Garland recounted in detail the brutality of the day, contesting a rightwing revisionist narrative that the attack was not violent. Officers had been assaulted with pipes and poles, beaten and shocked with stun guns, he said. One officer had been dragged down the stairs by rioters, while lawmakers and the vice-president fled for their lives.“As a consequence, proceedings in both chambers were disrupted for hours – interfering with a fundamental element of American democracy: the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next,” he said. “Those involved must be held accountable, and there is no higher priority for us at the Department of Justice.”Garland did not mention Trump by name, and in keeping with the justice department’s longstanding rule not to comment on ongoing investigations, he did not detail any possible leads the department was pursuing related to the former US president, his family or his allies.But the carefully crafted speech seemed designed to address concerns about the focus of the investigation. Garland said he understood the intense public interest in the case and promised that the actions taken by the department so far “will not be our last”.The department’s work so far, he explained, was laying the foundation for more serious and complicated cases. “In complex cases, initial charges are often less severe than later charged offenses,” he said. “This is purposeful as investigators methodically collect and sift through more evidence.“There cannot be different rules for the powerful and the powerless,” he added.The investigation into the events of 6 January was one of the “largest, most complex and most resource-intensive investigations” in the nation’s history, Garland said.To date, he said, investigators had issued 5,000 subpoenas and search warrants, seized 2,000 devices, viewed 20,000 hours of video footage, searched 15 terabytes of data and received 300,000 tips from the public. More than 700 people in nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia have been charged for their roles in the insurrection, which left 140 law enforcement officers injured. Five officers who defended the Capitol that day have since died.Reading their names aloud, Garland asked for a moment of silence to remember the fallen officers.On Thursday, Democratic leaders in Congress will host a day of remembrance events, beginning with speeches from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris at the US Capitol.Previewing his speech, the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said Biden would acknowledge “the singular responsibility President Trump has for the chaos and carnage” of 6 January.“The president is going to speak to the truth of what happened, not the lies that some have spread since, and the peril it posed to the rule of law and our system of democratic governance,” Psaki said, adding that Biden was “clear-eyed about the threat the former president represents to our democracy and how the former president constantly works to undermine basic American values and rule of law”.Garland’s remarks extended beyond the events of 6 January. He lamented a rise in violence that has touched nearly every aspect of American life. He pointed to attacks on elections officials, airline crews, teachers, journalists, police officers, judges and members of Congress.“These acts and threats of violence are not associated with any one set of partisan or ideological views,” he warned. “But they are permeating so many parts of our national life that they risk becoming normalized and routine if we do not stop them.”The justice department, he promised, would work within the bounds of the first amendment to prosecute all those who made unlawful threats. He also committed the department to using “the enforcement powers we have” to protect voting rights, warning of efforts in some states to audit election results, drive out election officials or allow state lawmakers to overturn the will of voters.“As with violence and threats of violence, the justice department – even the Congress – cannot alone defend the right to vote,” he said. “The responsibility to preserve democracy – and to maintain faith in the legitimacy of its essential processes – lies with every elected official and every American.”TopicsMerrick GarlandUS Capitol attackUS politicsBiden administrationJoe BidennewsReuse this content More

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      The Guardian view on Trump’s mob, a year on: threats to democracy grow

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      The Guardian view on Trump’s mob, a year on: threats to democracy growEditorialOn the anniversary of the US Capitol riot, the danger is not over. Republicans are stepping up their assault upon voters’ rights and essential institutions The threat to American democracy may be greater today than when the insurrectionist mob swept into the US Capitol one year ago, attempting to prevent the peaceful transfer of power following a free and fair election. Joe Biden is ensconced in the White House and with the passage of time, the shock of their lethal assault has faded. But if the danger appears less immediate, addressing it is no less urgent.We know more than we did a year ago about the full violence and menace of the riot, and about what preceded it – including the PowerPoint presentation turned over by Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, detailing ways to stage a coup. Rioters have been jailed, but so far no case has been brought against those who encouraged and incited them. Mr Trump himself has resurged, with a cult-like grip upon his party. He and his allies have longer to plan for this year’s midterms and 2024. State legislatures are constructing an election-stealing machine. In short: 6 January was not an end, but a beginning.Listen to the warnings from America’s political scientists. One says that the US is “closer to civil war than any of us would like to believe”. Another warns that the insurrectionists of 6 January are not part of a fringe: he sees a new mass political movement with violence at its core. Others foresee a slide to Hungarian-style competitive authoritarianism in which the trappings of elections remain, but so rigged that Democrats cannot win.Faced with an electorate that has rejected them, the Republicans have already entrenched their advantage in the electoral college, Senate and supreme court. Yet it is Republicans who claim that the system is cheating them. A vast swathe of the population is now detached from both political reality and political ideals – believing the 2020 election stolen, and believing that force is an acceptable response. “Alternative facts” have become mainstream belief: according to a recent poll, 68% of Americans think there is no evidence of widespread electoral fraud in 2020 – but 62% of Republicans disagree. While 60% of Americans think Mr Trump bears either a “great deal” or a “good amount” of responsibility for the storming of the Capitol, 72% of Republicans say he bears “just some” or “none at all”. Another survey found that 9% of Americans believed that “use of force is justified to restore Donald J Trump to the presidency”.It is hard to know where one might begin to tackle the sprawling rightwing disinformation ecosystem. The aspiration to a policy response to the political chasm – the Build Back Better Act – has been killed by Republican opposition, with the aid of conservative Democrat Joe Manchin. He and fellow Democratic senator Kyrsten Sinema will also tank the fresh push on voting rights if they remain opposed to amending the filibuster.Meanwhile, Republicans who attempted to rein Mr Trump in on 6 January, or publicly criticised him afterwards, have long since fallen back into line. In 12 short months they have rewritten history. Their hostility to the select committee investigation, rushing to report before November’s midterms lest it be closed down afterwards, is another attempt to silence the truth. Last year’s tidal wave of voting restrictions at state level continues, and election sabotage is gaining ground, with Republicans giving legislatures control over vote counts and replacing nonpartisan officials with Trumpists. Against these are ranged the steady, committed efforts of activists, politicians and ordinary voters to defend their rights and protect their democratic institutions.More political violence is likely in future, not least because the GOP elite have helped to legitimise it. Senior Republicans have not merely made their peace with Mr Trump and his tactics, but embraced them. Next time, such efforts might gain support from within the services. Yet the deeper threat may be that force will not be required. The dismantling of American democracy could be bloodless: quieter, more sophisticated, more cynical – and nonetheless devastating for it.TopicsUS politicsOpinionDonald TrumpJoe BidenRepublicansDemocratseditorialsReuse this content More

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      More than 40% in US do not believe Biden legitimately won election – poll

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      More than 40% in US do not believe Biden legitimately won election – pollAxios-Momentive poll also finds majority of Americans fear repeat of Capitol attack in next few years More than 40% of Americans still do not believe that Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 presidential election despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud, according to a new Axios-Momentive poll.Trump cancels news conference for Capitol attack anniversary – US politics liveRead moreThe poll, released on the eve of the first anniversary of the attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, found that 55% of those surveyed believe Biden won the election. That figure has barely changed since Axios’s poll from 2020, published shortly before the insurrection. That poll, published in 2020, found 58% said that they accepted Biden as the legitimate winner of the presidential election.Despite Biden’s inauguration, the attack on the Capitol and the multiple investigations that have debunked the lies pushed by the former president that the election was stolen, the poll suggests that the same level of doubt persists.“It’s dispiriting to see that this shocking thing we all witnessed last year hasn’t changed people’s perceptions,” Laura Wronski, senior manager for research science at Momentive, told Axios.A majority of Americans also said they are expecting a repeat of the deadly 6 January attack in the next few years.The polls, conducted from 1 to 5 January of this year, surveyed nearly 2,700 adults, and found nearly 57% – about half of Republicans and seven in 10 Democrats – believe that events similar to the attack are likely to occur again.In addition, nearly two-thirds or 63% said that the 6 January attack has at least temporarily changed the way they think about their democratic government. A third said that those changes are temporary. Nearly as many, 31%, said that those changes are permanent.About 37% of those surveyed said they had lost faith in American democracy, while 10% said they had never had faith in the system. Another 49% said they do have faith. Among those surveyed who said they have lost faith, 47% said they were Republicans while 28% were Democrats.Fifty-eight per cent of Americans said they supported the investigative work of the House select committee investigating the riot. Among those, 88% are Democrats, 58% are independents and 32% are Republicans.Just slightly more than half of American adults, 51%, said individuals associated with the insurrection should face criminal penalties if they refuse to comply with subpoenas.Republicans have also been revealed to be three or four more times as likely as Democrats to say voter fraud is a problem in their state, despite such claims being thoroughly debunked.Wronski said she believes the results of the poll shows either “Biden hasn’t done enough” to push back against disinformation, or “it shows that he never had a chance”.She added: “The partisan division is still the story.”TopicsUS Capitol attackUS politicsJoe BidenDonald TrumpnewsReuse this content More