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Biden: Trump should "obviously" let Mueller interview him

Former Vice President Joe Biden told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell that President Trump should "obviously" allow Special Counsel Robert Mueller to interview him in the ongoing Russia probe:

If the president took the 5th, he is — by definition, in my view — abdicating a responsibility of the presidency of the United States.
— Former Vice President Joe Biden
  • On Trump's attacks against the FBI: "Putin must be sitting behind his desk in the Kremlin going, 'It’s working man.' The rest of the world gets the message that the United States of America’s chief law enforcement agency is not truthful; is not honest; is plotting against him as a deep state — my God."
  • On Trump's military parade: "I think it undercuts everything about our power. We don’t — everybody knows. We don’t have to display — we display our pride. We don’t have to display our power, our physical power, God Almighty. The most powerful nation in the history of the world. I don't know what it is with him."
  • On 2020: "I’m focused on one thing. Electing a Democratic Congress to stop this erosion of our — of the core of who we are. And I’ll look at that a year from now."

Go deeper

Jonathan Swan
44 mins ago - Politics & Policy
Off the Rails

Episode 5: The secret CIA plan

Photo illustration: Aïda Amer, Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Zach Gibson/Getty Images

Beginning on election night 2020 and continuing through his final days in office, Donald Trump unraveled and dragged America with him, to the point that his followers sacked the U.S. Capitol with two weeks left in his term. This Axios series takes you inside the collapse of a president.

Episode 5: Trump vs. Gina — The president becomes increasingly rash and devises a plan to tamper with the nation's intelligence command.

In his final weeks in office, after losing the election to Joe Biden, President Donald Trump embarked on a vengeful exit strategy that included a hasty and ill-thought-out plan to jam up CIA Director Gina Haspel by firing her top deputy and replacing him with a protege of Republican Congressman Devin Nunes.

Go deeper (5 min. read)Arrow
Axios
Updated 2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

  1. Health: CDC director defends agency's response to pandemic — CDC warns highly transmissible coronavirus variant could become dominant in U.S. in March.
  2. Politics: Empire State Building among hundreds to light up in Biden inauguration coronavirus tribute.
  3. Vaccine: Fauci: 100 million doses in 100 days is "absolutely" doable.
  4. Economy: Unemployment filings explode again.
  5. Tech: Kids' screen time sees a big increase.
Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Orion Rummler
4 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Biden Cabinet confirmation schedule: When to watch hearings

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Jan. 16 in Wilmington, Delaware. Photo: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

The first hearings for President-elect Joe Biden's Cabinet nominations begin on Tuesday, with testimony from his picks to lead the departments of State, Homeland and Defense.

Why it matters: It's been a slow start for a process that usually takes place days or weeks earlier for incoming presidents. The first slate of nominees will appear on Tuesday before a Republican-controlled Senate, but that will change once the new Democratic senators-elect from Georgia are sworn in.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow