Author: J.P. Knowles

President Trump will be holding a farewell ceremony around the same time as President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday morning at Joint Base Andrews but one important face will not be there.

A source familiar with Vice President Mike Pence’s schedule says he and outgoing second lady Karen Pence will be attending Biden’s inauguration taking place around noon at the west front of the United States Capitol.

Pence aides tell Fox News that it would be logistically challenging for the vice president to show up at both the presidential inauguration as well as the Trump farewell ceremony, which is being held four hours earlier.

Taking to Twitter on Tuesday afternoon – on the eve of his final hours as vice president – Pence wrote “Thank you for the privilege of serving as your Vice President these past four years, it has been the greatest honor of my life. On behalf of our Wonderful Second Lady, Karen Pence, and our entire Family, Thank You and God Bless America.”

Thank you for the privilege of serving as your Vice President these past four years, it has been the greatest honor of my life. On behalf of our Wonderful Second Lady, Karen Pence, and our entire Family, Thank You and God Bless America. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/chbcBfvmB9

— Vice President Mike Pence Archived (@VP45) January 19, 2021

Trump will depart Joint Base Andrews at around 8am ET Wednesday for his home in Florida. He will become the first president in more than a century and a half to not attend his successor’s inauguration.

Besides Pence, the top two Republicans in Congress will also not be attending the president’s send-off. Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell and House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy are not expected to attend, as they’ve been invited to join Biden for a pre-inauguration church service in the nation’s capital.

The president’s family, close aides, and some supporters are expected to attend Trump’s military send-off event.

In an extremely watered-down version of an Inaugural event, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn into office.

Many changes have been made this time around due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and intensified security concerns.

The inaugural committee is “strongly encouraging” people not to attend the event in person – and to instead tune in to the virtual livestream.

Viewing stands will not be made available, while dinners and balls have also been canceled.

Official tickets to inauguration events are typically distributed by congressional offices, free of charge.

During a typical year, members usually receive about 200,000 to give out to constituents, as reported by USA Today. The publication said this year members are limited to tickets for themselves and one guest, which means no tickets will be available for constituencies.

Overall, The Washington Post estimated that around 2,000 people will attend the event, including 200 “VIPs” – or families of the president-elect and vice president-elect, congressional leadership and several diplomats.

While President Trump will not be among the attendees, many other high-profile leaders will be there, including former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, in addition to their wives – and former First Ladies – Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton.

Meanwhile, about 25,000 members of the National Guard are streaming into Washington from across the country — at least two and a half times the number for previous inaugurals.

The 25,000 National Guard troops coming into Washington are undergoing an FBI vetting process as officials worry about a potential inside attack on the Inauguration following the siege on Capitol Hill earlier this month.

The Secret Service is in charge of event security, but there is a wide variety of military and law enforcement personnel involved, ranging from the National Guard and the FBI to Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department, U.S. Capitol Police and U.S. Park Police.

Several celebrities are expected to perform including musical artists Jennifer Lopez and Lady Gaga.

Authorities are on the hunt for a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, woman suspected of taking a laptop from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the riot that occurred earlier this month. The FBI believes the woman intends to sell the device to Russian intelligence forces.

Officials have linked Riley June Williams to the events that shook Capitol Hill on January 6. According to an arrest warrant, a tipster called into the FBI’s hotline and told authorities they recognized Williams in several videos from the siege.

The tipster claims to have seen a video of Williams “taking a laptop computer or hard drive from Speaker Pelosi’s office.”

The warrant says that the unidentified tipster “stated that WILLIAMS intended to send the computer device to a friend in Russia, who then planned to sell the device to SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service. According to [the tipster], the transfer of the computer device to Russia fell through for unknown reasons and WILLIAMS still has the computer device or destroyed it.”

There is still an ongoing investigation into the stolen device.

Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, confirmed that the laptop had been stolen via Twitter.

A laptop from a conference room was stolen. It was a laptop that was only used for presentations. https://t.co/S7YGPnLaWy

— Drew Hammill (@Drew_Hammill) January 8, 2021

In one of the ITV News clips mentioned in the warrant, a woman who looks like Williams can be heard “repeatedly yelling, ‘Upstairs, upstairs, upstairs,’ and can be seen physically directing other intruders to proceed up a staircase.” Investigators say the staircase leads to the House Speaker’s office.

In another ITV News clip, William’s mother told reporters she “recognized her daughter inside the U.S. Capitol Building and that her daughter had taken a sudden interest in President Trump’s politics and ‘far-right message boards.”

The mother said her daughter “took off,” and she was unaware of her whereabouts. Williams also changed her phone number and may have deleted several of her social media accounts.

Williams is wanted on charges of knowingly entering a restricted building, violent entry, and disorderly conduct.

The nurse from Massachusetts who went viral after her teenage daughter publicly shamed her when she was spotted in a video getting punched in the face at a violent pro-Trump rally has now lost her job of 15 years and she fears she will never be able to get another job again.

According to Therese Duke, she was just “looking for a place to eat” in Washington, DC, with other “like-minded” Trump supporters when they were attacked by counter-protesters near the White House.

The incident, which took place the night before the rioters stormed the Capitol, was caught on a video showing Duke getting punched in the face and her sister getting arrested for retaliating against the attacker.

Duke pleaded her case to the Herald saying, “I did nothing wrong. I was the one who was assaulted.”

But it wasn’t until the woman’s 18-year-old daughter, Helena, called her mother out on Twitter for being the woman getting punched in a video that has been seen over 12 million times.

hi mom remember the time you told me I shouldn’t go to BLM protests bc they could get violent…this you? https://t.co/9ZkbAq0ehO

— 🙂 (@duke_helena) January 7, 2021

Duke says she has been receiving threats and her previous employer UMass Memorial Health Care confirmed that she is “no longer a part of our organization.”

The nurse said she felt “forced” to quit her job of 15 years, but a source said she admitted in an online fundraiser that she had actually been “relieved from my employment pending an investigation.”

Duke is now worried that her notoriety will destroy any chances she has of finding new work.

“Anybody can Google me. Nobody will hire me,” she told the Herald.

Duke claims she traveled to DC to “support Donald Trump and prevent communism and socialism” as a “last-ditch effort to show support because we know the vote was stolen.”

pic.twitter.com/ebeqyqVLo4

— UMass Memorial Health (@umassmemorial) January 8, 2021

She said no one in her group “wanted violence” or had any involvement in the next day’s riots or storming of the Capitol.

Her daughter admits to feeling “some guilt” after what happened to her mother when she exposed her but also believes that she “should be held accountable for her actions.”

Representative Steve Cohen is worried that Donald Trump supporters within the National Guard who have been assigned to protect President-elect Joe Biden “might want to do something” violent.

To prepare for the upcoming inauguration this week a security force of 25,000 National Guard troops have been deployed to Washington, D.C., to protect Biden and the incoming administration. The city is still on edge after a mob of pro-Trump supporters attacked the Capitol earlier this month during the certification of Biden’s Electoral College victory.

Cohen pointed out how former India Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own bodyguards and accused any Trump supporters within the National Guard of being suspicious.

.@RepCohen on his concerns w/ the National Guard securing the Inauguration: “The [National] Guard is 90 some-odd percent male; and only about 20 percent of white males voted for Biden … there are probably not more than 25% of the people there protecting us that voted for Biden” pic.twitter.com/ofQfLuCw8I

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 18, 2021

“The [National] Guard is 90 some-odd percent male, and only about 20 percent of white males voted for Biden,” said Cohen. “You’ve got to figure that in the Guard, which is predominantly more conservative … they’re probably not more than 25 percent of the people there protecting us that voted for Biden. The other 75 percent are in the large class of folks that might want to do something.”

CNN’s Jim Sciutto disagreed with Cohen saying being a Trump supporter was “far different from being a threat of violence.” The Tennessee Rep. was asked to elaborate on his claims of danger surrounding the Biden inauguration to which Cohen replied he had none but said “you draw a circle first” around Trump supporters in the Guard who should be “suspect of.”

Glenn Kessler, fact-checker for the Washington Post, criticized Cohen for categorizing any Trump supporter as a possible “seditionist.”

Hmmm, does a Democratic congressman really want to suggest that if you voted for Trump you might be a seditionist? What happened to the idea that military people are professionals and do their jobs regardless of political preferences? https://t.co/EGTfALYBYV

— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) January 18, 2021

Cohen also overestimated the amount of white male support for President Trump. According to one exit poll, Biden got about 38% of white male voters in November’s election. Meanwhile, Trump’s support from white voters decreased from his 2016 win over Hillary Clinton and helped secure the victory for Biden.

There were several moving trucks spotted in Palm Beach, Florida, at Mar-a-Lago resort where President Trump is expected to move before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration this week.

Witnesses say two trucks were parked outside the resort and workers could be seen carrying boxes inside. There was also a heavy security presence nearby that included helicopters and patrol boats.

According to a report, local authorities announced road closure and local residents were told the closures were necessary for “safety and security reasons.”

Trump is expected to move out of the White House on the morning of the inauguration and will live mainly at Mar-a-Lago after leaving office.

Trump’s plan is to make an early departure and be in Palm Beach before Biden is inaugurated so he can take one final flight on Air Force One. If the flight were to land after Biden is inaugurated, the plane’s designation would then become “Special Air Mission 29000.”

A farewell event will be held at Joint Base Andrews before the inauguration where the president will deliver a speech to service members and base staffers before taking his flight to Florida.

Several of the president’s White House aides will continue to work for him at the Florida resort.

Trump has already said he will not be attending Biden’s inauguration, breaking a long-standing tradition in which presidents are present for the transfer of power to their successor. Vice President Mike Pence will be attending the event.

Trump’s presidency will come to an end in an uncertain time after House lawmakers impeached him for his role in the Capitol riots earlier this month. This makes Trump the only president in history to be impeached twice.

The Senate will not convene an impeachment trial before Biden’s inauguration.

Senator Lindsey Graham appeared to blame House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her failure to act during the Capitol riot earlier this month.

“Where was Nancy Pelosi? It’s her job to provide Capitol security,” Graham said during an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”

Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill was outraged by the statement and fired back at the Senator in the form of a tweet.

“This disgraceful attempt to shift blame for the mob attack on the Capitol is absurd & pathetic. He need only look in the mirror if he wants to start pointing a finger,” Hammill wrote.

This disgraceful attempt to shift blame for the mob attack on the Capitol is absurd & pathetic. He need only look in the mirror if he wants to start pointing a finger. He has repeatedly cast doubts on results of a fair election & dangerously fanned flames of rightwing quackery. https://t.co/jsKfj0H61K

— Drew Hammill (@Drew_Hammill) January 17, 2021

Hammill accused Graham of disputing the results of the presidential election, just as Trump did when he called on his supporters to protest outside the Capitol as the electoral votes were counted and debated over by lawmakers inside.

“He has repeatedly cast doubts on results of a fair election & dangerously fanned flames of rightwing quackery,” Hammill claimed.

The electoral vote-counting process was interrupted by a mob of protesters storming the Capitol but was later concluded. When it was safe for the Senate to resume its duty, Graham vigorously rejected the objections to votes that were raised by Republican colleagues Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Josh Hawley.

“Count me out, enough is enough,” Graham declared.

As for how the protesters were able to get past Capitol Police and storm the Capitol building, Committee on House Administration chair Representative Zoe Lofgren said she intends to have it investigated.

She said in a statement after the riot, “The breach today at the U.S. Capitol raises grave security concerns. I intend to have the Committee on House Administration work with the bipartisan House and Senate leadership to address these concerns and review the response in coming days.”

President-elect Joe Biden made several “commitments” to immigrants wanting to make their way into the United States and now a caravan of migrants are moving to the U.S. border calling on the incoming administration to honor those promises causing fears of a surge at the border.

Over 1,000 Honduran migrants, which is just a portion of the larger group that left a Honduran city earlier the same day, traveled to Guatemala on Friday without registering.

According to the Associated Press, the group hopes to receive a warm welcome at the border when they arrive. A migrant rights group. Pueblo Sin Fronteras, expects the Biden administration to take action.

A statement from the group on behalf of the caravan said, “We recognize the importance of the incoming Government of the United States have shown a strong commitment to migrants and asylum seekers, which presents an opportunity for the governments of Mexico and Central America to develop policies and migration management that respects and promote the human rights of the population. We will advocate that the Biden government honors its commitments.”

Biden made many promises of changing Trump’s policies on border security and immigration. He said he would end the Migration Protection Protocols, which keeps migrants in Mexico while they wait for their hearings. President Trump said the program put a stop to pull factors that bring migrants to the states. Critics disagree saying the policy is cruel and puts migrants at risk.

Biden also said he would provide citizenship for those who were already in the country illegally and a moratorium on deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The migrants’ group also brought up promises to put an end to asylum cooperative agreements the Trump administration made with Northern Triangle countries.

“A new United States Government is an opportunity to work with the Mexican Government to develop a cooperation plan with Central America to address the causes of migration, together with civil society organizations, as well as an opportunity to increase regional cooperation regarding the persons in need of protection, and to dismantle illegal and inhuman programs such as Remain in Mexico, the United States’ Asylum Cooperation Agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, as well as the Title 42 expulsions by the United States authorities,” said the group in reference to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) order which allows the United States to remove migrants on public health grounds.

However, Biden officials have been quick to let migrants know that this does not mean borders will open overnight.

Susan Rice, the incoming Biden domestic policy adviser, told Spanish wire service EFE, “Processing capacity at the border is not like a light that you can just switch on and off. Migrants and asylum seeders absolutely should not believe those in the region peddling the idea that the border will suddenly be fully open to process everyone on Day 1.”

“It will not,” she added.

“Our priority is to reopen asylum processing at the border consistent with the capacity to do so safely and to protect public health, especially in the context of COVID-19,” said Rice. “This effort will begin immediately but it will take months to develop the capacity that we will need to reopen fully.”

Officials are not sure how far the migrants will get, and reports from Guatemalan and Mexican governments say they intend on turning the group away.

The new coronavirus relief package proposed by President-elect Joe Biden comes with a high price tag for taxpayers at a total of $1.9 trillion, and his economic advisor, Brian Deese, fought to include several Democratic agenda items.

Deese said during an interview with “Fox News Sunday” that $1,400 stimulus payments to all Americans, $20 billion for public transit, $9 billion toward cybersecurity, and raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour were all necessary to help Americans suffering during the pandemic.

“Let’s look at each of those. The cybersecurity resources there are in the wake of the SolarWinds hack. We have seen, and now understand significant vulnerabilities that are exacerbated by COVID, and the fact so much federal operations are happening online,” said Deese. “We need those resources to secure our systems now.”

Deese did not say how transit funding was connected to the COVID-19 relief, just a short explanation saying, “…our transit systems across the country are facing acute crisis…” and improving them while people are still working remotely will prevent difficulties when people eventually begin commuting again.

As for raising the minimum wage, he said it “is a concrete and direct way to help support those workers who are out there on the front lines right now, providing services to all of us, and give them direct support and a direct boost right now.”

Republicans were unwilling to spend more than $1 trillion in the last package and that was with a Republican president. Now with Biden saying “there’s not time to waste” and “we have to act now,” host of “Fox News Sunday” Chris Wallace asked if the President-elect would support ending the filibuster if the GOP rejected his plan that nearly doubles their spending limit. Deese would not give a straight answer but pointed to Biden’s previous calls for unity.

“Well look, we think we need to move quickly here, but I would also say there’s a lot of skepticism that the president-elect’s call for unity and working together was going to resonate and he won the election resoundingly. There’s a lot of skepticism that Congress would come together in a bipartisan way and deliver a down payment on this relief, and that happened. So let’s see where we can get here,” said Deese. “There is a lot of, again, a lot of elements of this plan that have support across the board, both in Washington and in state capitals and around the country.”

“But we need to act,” he added. “We need to act quickly. That’s what the economy is telling us, that’s what the experts are telling us and so that’s our priority.”

Growing concerns of Chinese infiltration in the United States have raised new questions about Representative Eric Swalwell and his relationship with a suspected Chinese spy.

A new special, “The China Showdown,” on Fox Nation rehashes scrutiny on the California Reps. connection to the Chinese Communist Party with the main focus being on unanswered questions as the House Intelligence Committee member is still allowed access to the country’s most sensitive secrets.

China analyst Gordon Chang said Swalwell’s failure to address his relationship with a woman named Fang Fang, aka Christine Fang, indicates that “China may still have leverage” over the Democratic lawmaker.

“We need to know more, we need to hear him give a public accounting,” Chang told host Bill Hemmer. 

Former CIA station chief Dan Hoffman explained that Fang specifically targeted Swalwell and other up-and-coming politicians with a goal of infiltrating the highest levels of power in the U.S. 

“Christine came to the United States in 2011, established what we call ‘cover’ by enrolling in California State University with an eye towards making contact with young but promising politicians, and she did that,” Hoffman told Fox Nation. 

“She found that if she could be the person who could provide fundraising assistance, that she would be someone who is considered to be part of the inner circle, and of value, and trusted.”

Chang concurred, warning that Fang “tried to infiltrate his campaign, influence him, [and] God knows, maybe she even corrupted him.”

Swalwell to date has not commented publicly about the extent of his relationship with Fang, who also reportedly had sexual interactions with at least two Midwestern mayors. The congressman’s record on China has come under scrutiny in the days since, revealing a legislative history that does little to address the growing threat of the Communist regime.

Peter Schweizer claimed that “refusing to come clean about exactly what his relationship was, [Swalwell] has made the situation worse.”

He says any information they may have on Swalwell in Beijing “is basically a ticking time bomb that they can use to deploy at any time to extract information or to gain information from him.”