US Senate hears testimony on Capitol riot: 'These criminals came prepared for war' – live

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2021/feb/23/joe-biden-donald-trump-capitol-riot-senate-hearing-covid-coronavirus-live-updates

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Senate hears witness testimony from law enforcement officers in what’s likely to be a contentious hearing

Deb Haaland, seeking to make history as the first Native American to hold a cabinet secretary position in the US, weathered a torrent of hostile questioning from Republicans during her confirmation hearing as secretary of the interior.

In a striking opening statement, Haaland, a member of Congress for New Mexico, said “the historic nature of my confirmation is not lost on me, but I will say that it is not about me”, adding that she hoped her elevation would “be an inspiration for Americans, moving forward together as one nation and creating opportunities for all of us”.

Haaland is considered a progressive on the climate crisis and has previously spoken out on the impact of fossil fuel development upon the environment and Native American tribes, positions that Senate Republicans were keen to attack during a sometimes contentious confirmation hearing.

John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, criticized Haaland for a tweet from October 2020 in which she stated that “Republicans don’t believe in science”. Barrasso, who has previously incorrectly said the role of human activity in climate change is “not known” and that ambitious climate action in the form of the Green New Deal would mean “cheeseburgers and milkshake would become a thing of the past”, said the tweet was “concerning to those of us who have gone through training, believe in science, and yet with a broad brush, we’re all disbelievers”.

Haaland responded to Barrasso, a surgeon, saying that “if you’re a doctor, I would assume that you believe in science”. Scientists have repeatedly said that the US, and the rest of the world, needs to rapidly reduce planet-heating emissions from fossil fuels in order to prevent disastrous heatwaves, flooding and societal unrest associated with runaway climate change.

The early exchange set the tone for more than two hours of questioning where Republicans repeatedly assailed Joe Biden’s decision to pause oil and gas drilling on federal lands as calamitous for jobs. As interior secretary, Haaland would oversee the management of lands that make up nearly a third of America’s landmass, including tribal lands.

At the roundtable with Black essential workers, Joe Biden was asked about Neera Tanden’s nomination to lead the office of management and budget.

Tanden’s path to confirmation is unclear, now that Democratic Senator Joe Manchin has said he will not support her nomination over some of her past tweets.

But the president said he still believed there was a chance that Tanden could be confirmed as OMB director.

“We’re going to push,” Biden said. “We still think there’s a shot, a good shot.”

Joe Biden held a roundtable with African American essential workers this afternoon and discussed the need to pass his coronavirus relief package.

The president told the frontline workers, “You’re basically holding the country together. I’m not being facetious, I’m being earnest.”

Domestic policy adviser Susan Rice, who moderated the roundtable, similarly applauded the essential workers, calling them “heroes”.

Biden promised the workers that the federal government would deliver aid to them, in the form of his coronavirus relief package, which is expected to pass the House later this week.

“We’re going to make sure you get that extra $1,400 check during the pandemic,” Biden told the workers. “Even the past president said he strongly supported it. We just got to get it done now.”

Biden also explicitly mocked Donald Trump’s infamous claim that Americans could protect themselves from coronavirus by ingesting disinfectants.

“I think there’s a growing awareness that injecting bleach into your system doesn’t do it for you,” the president said.

A man who surrendered to the FBI in New York yesterday in connection with the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol and attacking Capitol Police with a piece of pipe is reportedly a retired New York Police Department officer.

NBC reported that the man, Thomas Webster, has previously been assigned to security teams guarding New York’s council headquarters at City Hall, downtown, and the city mayor’s official resident, uptown, Gracie Mansion, law enforcement officials with direct knowledge of the investigation told News 4 today.

The FBI had issued a public notice after the January 6 mass attack.

NBC further reports that Webster is expected to appear in federal court in White Plains today, is accused of using a pipe to attack Capitol Police that day, the officials said. Webster’s attorney, James Monroe, declined to comment.

The federal authorities are still full steam ahead on a huge, nationwide investigation to apprehend those taking part in the Capitol breach.

Read more from our Ed Pilkington, here.

South Dakota’s Republican and staunchly pro-Trump governor, Kristi Noem, has today called on the state’s attorney general to resign as he faces misdemeanor charges for striking and killing a man with his car last year.

The Associated Press further reports:

Here’s where the day stands so far:

Two Senate committees are holding a joint hearing on the security failures that occurred during the Capitol insurrection. Several law enforcement officials, including the former chief of the US Capitol Police and the acting chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, are testifying before the Senate homeland security committee and the Senate rules committee. Former USCP chief Steven Sund said of the insurrectionists, “These criminals came prepared for war.”

A Capitol Police captain recounted the horror of January 6 and described the injuries she sustained. Captain Carneysha Mendoza said Capitol Police officers were outnumbered by the insurrectionists, who deployed dangerous weapons against the officers. “I received chemical burns to my face that still have not healed to this day,” Mendoza said.

Joe and Jill Biden will travel to Texas on Friday, as the state grapples with the fallout from last week’s winter storm that left dozens dead. Millions of Texans still do not have access to clean water.

The Senate confirmed Linda Thomas-Greenfield as the next US ambassador to the United Nations. The Senate voted 78-20 to approve the nomination of Thomas-Greenfield, a longtime diplomat who served in the Obama administration.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican who led Senate efforts to object to the certification of Joe Biden’s victory on January 6, is now asking questions at the hearing on the Capitol insurrection.

Hawley began his remarks by thanking US Capitol Police captain Carneysha Mendoza, who testified this morning, for her service to her country. Hawley noted that Mendoza is a native of his home state of Missouri.

Hawley has been widely criticized for echoing Donald Trump’s baseless claims of widespread fraud in the presidential election, and some senators have called on him to resign for encouraging the Trump supporters who later stormed the Capitol.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki received a question about today’s Senate hearing on the security failures that led to the Capitol insurrection.

PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor recounted how US Capitol Police captain Carneysha Mendoza testified that she received chemical burns during the insurrection, and those wounds have still not healed.

Asked what the White House is doing to help USCP officers who continue to suffer effects from the insurrection, Psaki said Joe Biden was ready and willing to work with Congress to provide aid to those law enforcement officers who responded to the Capitol attack.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her briefing that Joe Biden did not plan to provide Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with a timeline for US facilities providing Canada with coronavirus vaccines.

The two leaders also do not plan to hold a virtual press conference after their virtual meeting today. They will instead release statements about the meeting.

At her daily briefing, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked what the Biden administration thinks of Donald Trump’s planned appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference later this week.

“We’re not going to spend too much time here focused on or talking about former President Trump,” Psaki replied.

A reporter followed up to ask whether the Biden White House intended to simply ignore Trump and whether that was possible, given that it seems quite likely the former president will level attacks against his successor.

“I’ll guess we’ll have to watch and see,” Psaki said, adding that she wanted to keep the focus on “the American people”.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended the Biden administration’s decision to open a temporary emergency facility for migrant children in Texas.

Psaki said the administration’s policy was not to expel unaccompanied children who arrive at the border, and additional facilities were needed to comply with public health guidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The press secretary sharply rejected any comparison between Joe Biden’s immigration agenda and that of Donald Trump, whose administration infamously separated migrant children from their parents as part of its “zero tolerance” policy on illegal immigration.

“This is not kids being kept in cages,” Psaki said.

The Senate has confirmed Linda Thomas-Greenfield as the next US ambassador to the United Nations.

The chamber voted 78-20 to approve Thomas-Greenfield’s nomination.

Thomas-Greenfield was widely expected to be confirmed, given her extensive background in diplomacy.

The Guardian’s Julian Borger detailed the longtime diplomat’s qualifications when Joe Biden announced her nomination in November: