Trump's various attempts to challenge election results

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President Trump is turning up the heat on Vice President Mike Pence on the eve of a joint session of Congress that is all but certain to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory over Trump.

But Trump, in what may be his final attempt to try and reverse his presidential election defeat, is insisting that Pence has the power to overturn the election results.

"The Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors," the president tweeted on Tuesday morning.

Hours earlier, at an election eve rally in Georgia for the two GOP senators running in the state’s twin Senate runoff contests, Trump told the large crowd of supporters, "I hope Mike Pence comes through for us, I have to tell you."

I hope that our great vice president – our great vice president, comes through for us. He's a great guy. Of course, if he doesn't come through, I won't like him as much," Trump emphasized.

But regardless of how much the president turns up the volume on his vice president, White House officials tell Fox News that Pence will "follow the law" on Wednesday.

White House officials on Tuesday afternoon told Fox News chief White House correspondent John Roberts that the vice president "is taking a very diligent and studious approach to his job tomorrow. He has consulted at length with staff. He has gone through the Electoral Count Act several times. He has read legal opinions, met with the Senate parliamentarian and consulted with outside experts on the subject matter."

But those officials add that "the vice president will follow the law. He will act tomorrow with fidelity to the law and the Constitution."

Attorney Cleta Mitchell has resigned from the Foley & Lardner law firm just days after it was revealed that she participated in President Donald Trump's bombshell phone call with Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump asked Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State to "find" the "11,780 votes" needed to flip the election result in the Peach State.

"Cleta Mitchell has informed firm management of her decision to resign from Foley & Lardner effective immediately," the firm said in a statement.  "Ms. Mitchell concluded that her departure was in firm’s best interests, as well as in her own personal best interests.  We thank her for her contributions to the firm and wish her well."

On Monday, the law firm released a statement saying that it "is not representing any parties seeking to contest the results of the presidential election" as a matter of firm policy.  The firm said it was "concerned" about Mitchell’s role in the Trump call and was investigating.

"In November, the firm made a policy decision not to take on any representation of any party in connection with matters related to the presidential election results.  Our policy did allow our attorneys to participate in observing election recounts and similar actions on a voluntary basis in their individual capacity as private citizens so long as they did not act as legal advisers.  We are aware of, and are concerned by, Ms. Mitchell's participation in the January 2 conference call and are working to understand her involvement more thoroughly."

Mitchell was a partner and political law attorney at the Washington, D.C. firm.  Her bio has been removed from Foley & Lardner’s website.

After months of tense anticipation, Nov. 3 came and went in the United States without major incident of violence or intimidation—much to the relief of voters, voting rights groups and law enforcement. But as President Donald Trump’s numerous lawsuits to overturn the election results failed, a new inflection point in his frenzied campaign emerged: Jan. 6, the day Congress is set to certify his loss to Joe Biden.

To Trump’s most fervent supporters, from button-down Republican lawmakers and conservative personalities to rifle-wielding militias and far-right extremists, Wednesday is seen as the day to mount a “final stand” to keep the President in power, despite his clear electoral defeat

Even in Washington, a city well-accustomed to a wide variety of protests, the mix of participants expected on Wednesday is at once surreal and worrisome, say law enforcement officials and extremism analysts. Republican officials and MAGA celebrities will join far-right groups, conspiracy theorists and self-styled militias – all of which have different ideas about what, exactly, constitutes this “final stand.” While members of Congress are tweeting about “defending democracy,” some online forums and messaging app participants are discussing “armed Americans” seizing the capital, hanging politicians, how to evade D.C. gun laws, and urging protestors to bring “as much ammo as you can carry.”

Some extremism researchers say this week’s rallies could attract larger numbers of more extremist participants than recent demonstrations, due in part to the apocalyptic importance these groups have given to Wednesday’s certification

“Proud Boys have been showing up to events for years, the only difference now is that Trump name-checked them during a debate so now people know who they are and the media is covering it more widely,” Meghan Squire, a computer science professor at Elon University who tracks online extremism, tells TIME. “The media coverage and Trump’s attention are both emboldening these groups.”

The Oath Keepers, a self-styled anti-government militia, has also said they have teams “rolling into DC from all over the nation” and would be “boots on the ground” to protect protestors.

Over the weekend, the ten living former American secretaries of defense collectively signed an unprecedented letter, stating in blunt terms that the 2020 presidential election is over, the time for protests is past, and that the continued pursuit over claims of election fraud is perilous. “Efforts to involve the U.S. armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory,” they wrote. “Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic.”

Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the right-wing group the Proud Boys, has been ordered to stay away from Washington, D.C., after he was arrested on vandalism and weapons charges. The ruling comes one day before pro-Trump demonstrations are planned in Washington as Congress convenes to count the Electoral College votes ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20.

Tarrio was released from custody on Tuesday, but Judge Renee Raymond ordered him to stay away from Washington. Raymond said the government's request for Tarrio to stay away was reasonable given his prior statements about burning anything associated with Black Lives Matter, Raymond also ordered that Tarrio not possess a firearm or ammunition while in Washington.

Tarrio was arrested Monday after he arrived in Washington on a charge stemming from the destruction of a Black Lives Matter banner at a historically Black church.

These people are nuts. Someone’s gonna get hurt.. or worse. And then trump should die in jail for inciting treasonous political violence. Something like that, whatever the legalese terminology for it is.

Trump is certainly going off the deep end.....

Maybe they should skip the second impeachment and go straight to the 25th amendment before he tell these whackjobs to do crazy s**t?

The U.S. Capitol Police said they were evacuating areas near the Capitol as pro-Trump protesters attempted to storm barricades set up outside the perimeter of the complex and law enforcement were seen trying to push them back.

Protesters have breached the barricades and are hundreds of protesters are on the capital steps right up to the front door.

Protesters are in the capital building

Both Houses of Congress on lockdown