As investigations into the deadly January 6 siege of the Capitol continue, questions about how pro-Trump rioters were able to access specific locations in the building are surfacing. According to Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash. 8th District), it is not out of the realm of possibility that the mob was aided by members of Congress.
"Inciting insurrection is impeachable but it is also illegal. Although I'm not a lawyer, I think that that needs to be pursued. I can tell you that it is already being looked into by the FBI, looking at who inside was helping," she told Cheddar.
While officials have not yet given confirmation, there are reports from members like Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J. 11th District) that some members of Congress toured the Capitol building Tuesday with groups that included individuals accused of attacking it the following day.
"And the fact there were any tours going on in a Capitol during the COVID pandemic when nobody's allowed unless they are personally escorted in by a member of Congress, suggests that if there was insider knowledge, that some of my colleagues may have been co-conspirators," Schrier said.
The Washington representative is calling for those officials to be held accountable if the allegations are true, as well as President Donald Trump and any GOP supporters that may have incited violence.
Though the House impeached Trump for a historic second time on Wednesday, the process will likely linger past Inauguration Day. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he will not call senators back before next week to hold a hearing on the charge of high crimes and misdemeanors. Still, Schrier said the facts of the case are clear-cut and could be handled before Biden is sworn in.
"I think that this should be, could be, a very speedy trial," she said. "I believe that if we can call back 435 members of Congress, we can certainly call back 100 senators to take this up immediately and I think that's what [McConnell] should do."
Democratic Agenda
For Schrier, the sooner the body is able to address the president's role in last week's Capitol siege, the better equipped Congress will be to get to work once President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in. Democrats will soon control all three legislative branches and the Washington congresswoman said the body will be able to work on solutions that have been pushed aside during the Trump presidency.
Among top priorities will be getting more COVID relief to Americans and improving laws guiding elections, according to Schrier, who sits on the Energy and Commerce Committee.
"It is urgent, I believe, that we pass H.R. 1, the big government reform bill that gets corruption out of politics, gets big special interest money out of our politics, makes it easier to vote."
While Democrats will control two branches of the federal government for at least the next two years, Schrier said members from both sides of the aisle will need to repair their working relationships.
"This really needs truth and reconciliation and frankly it will need a lot of Republicans to step up and speak the truth," she said, adding, "Even those who voted against impeachment yesterday, many of them still condemned the president's behavior, and so it will really take some voices of conscience from within to speak to their own part and set this right."
The Cowboy State has become one of the world's top tax havens, according to the Pandora Papers, a trove of more than 11.9 million documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and The Washington Post. The papers reveal, among other things, how ultra-wealthy people from around the world move money into the U.S., invest, and spend it under a shroud of secrecy. Allison Tait, University of Richmond law professor, joined Cheddar to talk about Wyoming's laidback tax laws, their impact on the nation's economy, and provided some details on the financial arrangement known as the "cowboy cocktail."
Carlo and Baker preview President Biden's address to the nation as Omicron becomes the new dominant Covid strain. Plus, Trump gets booed for getting his booster and the White House gets a new puppy.
China and Russia are saying they want to work closer together in different areas after a recent call between Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. What are the implications of a close partnership between Beijing and Moscow? Cheddar News breaks things down with expert Hagar Chemali.
Michele Schneider, Partner and Director of Trading Research & Education for MarketGauge.com, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she says the spread of the Omicron variant and Jerome Powell's comments following the latest Fed decision are spooking investors heading into the weekend.
Carlo and Baker wrap up another week discussing the latest explosion in new Covid cases in the Northeast, President Biden's stalled agenda and more. Plus, Love, Hate, Ate featuring the question: why did movie dialogue get so hard to understand?
Since July 2021, families with children have received monthly payments from the federal government as part of the expanded child tax credit, a policy that may be expiring this month. Megan Curran, policy director at the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University, joined Cheddar News to discuss.
During the pandemic, student loan debt repayment was put on pause amid an unprecedented crisis. However, on February 1, 2022, the schedule is set to resume, and currently it looks as though the Biden administration has no plans to extend it. Cody Hounanian, the executive director of the Student Debt Crisis Center, spoke to Cheddar about why he believes the loan collection pause needs to at least be extended as borrowers are still struggling with the resurgent pandemic and inflation. "There's really no good economic or policy or political reason as far as why they're focused on getting payments started now," Hounanian said. "We surveyed 33,000 people with student loans last month. Nine out of 10 told us that they are not ready to resume payments."
As the 2022 midterm elections fast approach, here are some politicians Americans should be on the lookout for. Democratic Massachusetts state senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, who was the first Latina and Asian American woman to be elected to the state's senate, now has her eye on the governorship with Republican Charlie Baker leaving. New Jersey GOP candidate for Congress, Billy Prempeh also bears watching, and while Boston's newest mayor, Democrat Michelle Wu, was already sworn in last month, all eyes will be on Beantown as the first woman and first person of color to hold the office tries to usher in a new era for the city.
