Biden news - live: GOP senator claims ‘fake’ Trump supporters caused riot as distracted Ted Cruz taps on phone
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Senators questioned current and former security officials about the massive law enforcement failures on January 6, the day a violent mob overpowered police officers and laid siege to the US Capitol building.
Three of the four who testified before Senate committees resigned under intense pressure immediately after the deadly uprising, including the former head of the Capitol Police.
It comes as Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, said it was time for Mr Trump to “take responsibility for his own dirty deeds” after the Supreme Court ruled the ex-president has to hand over his tax returns to prosecutors in New York.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden, held his first meeting with Canadian president Justin Trudeau and announced he will make his first major trip as president to Houston to visit the winter-devastated state of Texas.
As he used this week to observe the 500,000 deaths of Americans from Covid-19, his administration came under fire for re-opening the migrant camps on the US-Mexico border that he previously called “horrific”, and Kamala Harris called “human rights abuses”, when open under the Trump administration.
• Trump made $1.6 billion while president, report says
• Trump Jr criticises ‘people’s republic of New York’
• Eric Trump blames ‘Biden policies’ for Texas freeze
• Biden leads memorial for nation’s Covid-19 victims
Senate witness cant’ give a reason why the National Guard remains in DC
Asked by Senator Rick Scott if any of the witnesses have seen intelligence or threat assessments behind the decision for the National Guard remaining in Washington DC, none of the four witnesses testifying could respond.
For the three of the four that have since resigned since the Capitol riot, that’s not remarkable. Their replacements are now in charge of those decisions.
The one witness still active in the city’s law enforcement, Metropolitan Police Acting Chief Robert Contee, however, also hasn’t seen any intelligence behind the reasoning either.
“I have not personally seen anything that would suggest that,” Contee says. “That has not been shared with me, no,” he added.” I can’t say that I’m really surprised, quite frankly.”
Congressman whose family said he was in ‘devil’s army’ for opposing Trump says it shows divides former president caused
Adam Kinzinger, the Republican congressman whose family said he was supporting the “Devil’s army” for opposing Donald Trump in a letter last month, has said the former president is responsible for causing such division.
"I'm glad the letter came out," Mr Kinzinger told CNN's Cuomo Prime Time on Monday, "because I think that people need to see — if you haven't experienced that division in your family, this is the best example of it”.
Mr Kinzinger was among 11 Republicans who voted to impeach the former president on 13 January for inciting the insurrection on the Capitol on 6 January.
Gino Spocchia reports.

Congressman whose family said he was in ‘devil’s army’ for opposing Trump says it shows divides former president caused
‘Zero respect’: Ted Cruz pictured scrolling through phone during harrowing opening testimony into Capitol riot
Ted Cruz has begun his line of questioning at the Senate hearing on the US Capitol riot.
The Independent’s James Crump has more on the reaction from Cruz looking at his phone during the opening remarks, which social media users were quick to criticise. As @kachelme1 tweeted: “Why does @tedcruz even bother coming to committee?”

Ted Cruz pictured scrolling through phone during harrowing opening testimony into Capitol riot
Joe Biden conducts roundtable with Black Essential Workers, moderated by Susan Rice
The president has begun his round table for Black History Month.
Perdue ditches Senate run after Trump Mar-a-Lago meeting
Former GOP senator David Perdue has decided against running for the Senate in 2022, in an apparent about-face that followed a meeting with former president Donald Trump in recent days.
A source close to Mr Perude denied that the meeting between the pair was related to his decision not to run again, but said the meeting at Mar-a-Lago “did not go well”, according to the New York Times.
Maggie Haberman, Washington correspondent for the New York Times, wrote on Tuesday that “Perdue had dinner with and played a long round of golf with Trump last week. It did not go well.”
“The person close to Perdue says ultimately he and his wife couldn’t get comfortable with another campaign”, she added.
Perdue ditches Senate run after Trump Mar-a-Lago meeting
Iran officially imposes curbs on UN nuclear inspections
Iran officially started restricting international inspections of its nuclear facilities Tuesday, a bid to pressure European countries and President Joe Biden’s administration to lift crippling economic sanctions and restore the 2015 nuclear deal.
World powers slammed the restrictions as a “dangerous” move.
It came as the International Atomic Energy Agency reported in a confidential document distributed to member countries and seen by The Associated Press that Iran had added 17.6 kilograms (38.8 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 20% to its stockpile as of Feb. 16.
It was the first official confirmation of plans Iran announced in January to enrich to the greater purity, which is just a technical step away from weapons-grade levels and far past the 3.67% purity allowed under the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. - AP
Injecting bleach ‘doesn’t do it for you” says Joe Biden in jab at Donald Trump
The president took a swipe at Donald Trump during his round table today, saying claims of injecting bleach to fight Covid-19, attributed Donald Trump, “doesn’t do it for you”.
“I think there’s a growing awareness that, you know, injecting bleach into your system doesn’t do it for you,” Biden said.
“I’m being serious, I mean think about all the ridiculous things, and there is online still there are those who are the vaccine...” Biden said before an extended pause.
Susan Rice chimed in with “deniers” as Biden continued: “Deniers, and telling all these stories about that aren’t true.”
The bleach swipe dates back to the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, in which Trump talked about the potential effects of ultraviolet light and disinfectant on the virus.
Mr Trump said: “And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning, because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it’d be interesting to check that.”
When asked to clarify, he said: “It wouldn’t be through injections, almost a cleaning and sterilization of an area.”
Despite the clarification, Trump’s comments were widely reported as a recommendation of injecting or ingesting bleach that nonpartisan fact-checking organisation, PolitiFact, says is “mostly false”.
PolitiFact concluded that Mr Trump did not specifically recommend ingesting disinfectants, “but he did express interest in exploring whether disinfectants could be applied to the site of a coronavirus infection inside the body, such as the lungs”.
‘Heidi’s pretty p****ed’: Ted Cruz complains about friends who leaked his wife’s Cancun texts
The fallout from the worst-timed vacation of the year continues, and Heidi Cruz, the wife of Senator Ted Cruz, is “pretty p***ed” at whoever leaked her text messages planning their infamous trip to Cancun while millions of Texans suffered without power or water.
In an appearance on conservative podcast Ruthless, the Texas senator was asked if the couple knew the identity of the individual on his wife’s text group who had betrayed them to the media.
“Yeah, I will say Heidi’s pretty pissed about that, she was actually over at a neighbour’s house yesterday, walking it through,” said Mr Cruz.
Oliver O’Connell reports.

Heidi Cruz is ‘p***ed’ about neighbours who leaked her Cancun texts
Texas Attorney General left the state on the same day as Ted Cruz amid historic winter storm
Texas attorney general Ken Paxton left the state while a brutal winter storm caused millions of residents to be without power and clean water, on the same day senator Ted Cruz travelled from the state on a controversial trip to Mexico.
Mr Paxton’s spokesman Ian Prior told the Houston Chronicle on Monday that the attorney general and his wife, Texas state senator Angela Paxton, travelled to Utah last Wednesday.
The spokesperson said that Mr Paxton left Texas to speak with Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, for a “previously planned” meeting to discuss a myriad of topics, including an antitrust lawsuit against Google.
“While there, AG Paxton had a number of meetings with the Utah Attorney General over the course of several days,” Mr Prior told the Chronicle on Monday.
James Crump reports.

Texas Attorney General left the state on the same day as Ted Cruz
Biden to visit Texas as thousands struggle to return to normal in wake of power blackouts
Joe Biden is set to visit Texas, as thousands of people struggle to return to normal in the wake of the winter storm power blackouts.
The president and first lady will fly to Houston on Friday to see the situation on the ground and discuss recovery efforts with state officials, the White House has confirmed.
“On Friday the president and the first lady will travel to Houston,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki at her daily briefing.
“The president will meet with local leaders to discuss the winter storm relief efforts, progress towards recovery and the incredible resilience shown by the people of Houston and Texas.”
It will be Mr Biden’s first trip to Texas as president.
Graeme Massie reports.

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