Axios

Joe Biden is poised to tap Rufus Gifford, a former ambassador to Denmark and LGBTQ advocate, as chief of protocol at the State Department, according to people familiar with the consideration.

Why it matters: In selecting Gifford for the high-profile role, Biden is opting for a diplomat and fundraiser who achieved celebrity status overseas to help repair relationships across the globe by showcasing the best of America at home.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff condemned last week’s deadly siege on the U.S. Capitol in a letter on Tuesday, calling the invasion "a direct assault on the U.S. Congress, the Capitol building, and our Constitutional process."

Why it matters: The JCS, chaired by Gen. Mark Milley, is comprised of the Defense Department's most senior military officers. The condemnation is seen as a meaningful shift, given they typically avoid taking political positions. President Trump has lost a number of allies since the Jan. 6 riot.

Members of the House of Representatives must now pass through metal detectors before entering the chamber, according to a memo from acting House Sergeant at Arms Timothy Blodgett.

Why it matters: Previously, members were able to enter the chamber without any security screening. The unprecedented measures comes less than a week after the violent assault on the Capitol building by a pro-Trump mob and as some GOP House freshmen have inquired about carrying guns into the Capitol.

The FBI has opened files into over 170 people and made charges in over 70 cases as it investigates the fatal siege on the Capitol, acting U.S. attorney Michael Sherwin told reporters on Tuesday.

Why it matters: The myriad of investigations facing the agency include felony cases "tied to sedition and conspiracy," assault on local and federal officers, theft of mail, potential theft of national security information, felony murder, and at least one civil rights excessive force investigation, Sherwin said.

Former Sen. Barbara Boxer tells Axios she will deregister as a foreign agent for Hikvision, a Chinese surveillance firm accused of abetting the country’s mass internment of Uighur Muslims, after President-elect Joe Biden’s inaugural committee said it's refunding a donation from the California Democrat.

Driving the news: "My intent in agreeing to provide strategic advice to the company was based on my desire to help make them better in every way and preserve American jobs," Boxer said in a statement to Axios. "However, due to the intense response to my registration, I have determined that my continued involvement has become a negative distraction for the effort so I will be deregistering."

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Parler, the social media platform for conservatives and far-right extremists, is currently offline after being booted from Amazon's cloud hosting service. The move came just days after Parler was also removed from the Apple and Android app stores, for allegedly violating terms of service related to violent threats its platform.

Axios Re:Cap digs into what happened at Parler, including how most of its public posts and metadata were scraped and archived, with New York Times cybersecurity reporter Nicole Perlroth.

An internal memo by an FBI office in Virginia warned of violence and "war" at the Capitol on Jan. 6, the Washington Post reports, raising further questions about failures to secure the Capitol from pro-Trump rioters.

Why it matters: The report goes against a statement from the head of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, Steven D’Antuono, on Friday claiming there was "no indication" of any planned attacks that day, the Post says.

President-elect Joe Biden’s inaugural committee will refund a donation from former Sen. Barbara Boxer after the California Democrat registered as a foreign agent for a Chinese surveillance firm accused of abetting the country’s mass internment of Uighur Muslims, officials tell Axios.

Why it matters: Boxer’s contribution was just $500, but the Biden team’s decision to return the money shows how the incoming administration will try to balance its sweeping ethics commitments with K Street efforts to enlist high-profile Democrats with an eye toward advancing clients' interests in Biden's Washington.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged the FBI on Tuesday to bar all rioters identified in the pro-Trump mob that breached the Capitol from boarding commercial flights, the AP first reported and the agency confirmed in a statement.

Why it matters: Placing people on the FBI's federal no-fly list means the government believes they pose "a threat of committing terrorism," since the list is a subset of the agency's Terrorist Watchlist created after 9/11.

Billionaire casino owner and Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson died at age 87 on Monday night from complications related to treatment for non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, his company Las Vegas Sands announced Tuesday.

The big picture: Adelson and his wife, Miriam, were President Trump's largest donors. The couple have donated more than $525 million to federal political campaigns and committees since the 2010 cycle, per OpenSecrets.

Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization that covers education at the local level, plans to expand its pop-up newsroom, called Votebeat, to cover voting at the local level through the 2022 midterm elections.

Why it matters: It's Chalkbeat's first real foray into a beat other than education.

A federal judge on Tuesday granted Lisa Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row, a stay of execution just hours before she was scheduled to die by lethal injection at a federal prison complex in Indiana.

The state of play: Judge James Hanlon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana temporarily halted the execution so that a hearing could be held to determine Montgomery's mental competence. A date for the hearing has not yet been set, per CNN.

Tech companies, along with large businesses throughout corporate America, rushed to announce Monday that they were halting political donations in the wake of the attack on the Capitol.

The big picture: Some limited their pullback to officials who refused to accept the results of the presidential election, while others said they were taking a break from making any political contributions.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Tuesday declined to say whether he believes President Trump is still able to discharge the duties of his office, and whether he discussed invoking the 25th Amendment with other administration officials.

What he's saying: Azar told ABC’s “Good Morning America,” that he is "committed to" seeing out his role leading HHS until the end of the president's term to ensure a transition to President-elect Joe Biden's administration, but he twice declined to answer whether he believes Trump is able to continue as president.

Capitol Police briefed House Democrats on Monday about three more potentially violent planned demonstrations in Washington, D.C., with at least one involving a plot to assassinate lawmakers as part of an insurrection, HuffPost first reported and Axios has confirmed.

Why it matters: The warnings underscore the severity of security threats lawmakers face as Washington prepares for the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, coming just days after a pro-Trump mob ransacked the U.S. Capitol.

The Capitol siege last week came as a shock to many Americans who had no idea how intense election denialism, and to an extent white supremacy, has been brewing in American society.

Why it matters: Research shows that this type of mob thinking has become stronger and more frequent as more news and information has moved online. Experts also suggest President Trump played a key role in weaponizing human tendencies to distrust people who look or act different.

America needs law and order — but emphatically not the kind that President Trump has in mind when he uses the phrase. That's the message being sent by a broad coalition of CEOs who are silencing Trump and punishing his acolytes in Congress.

Why it matters: Private-sector CEOs managed to act as a faster and more effective check on the power of the president than Congress could. They have money, they have power, and they have more of the public's trust than politicians do. And they're using all of it in an attempt to preserve America's system of governance.

Following the Capitol siege, the right-wing media landscape is beginning to split between entities that want to double down on pro-Trump rhetoric and those that want to stick with the establishment.

Why it matters: The future of the Republican Party, in part, hangs on whether fringe conservative media or traditional conservative commentary will dominate with audiences.

Three Democratic lawmakers have announced they've tested positive for COVID-19 after sheltering with maskless colleagues during last week's siege at the U.S. Capitol.

Driving the news: Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) said wrote in a statement Tuesday that he has tested positive for the virus after the attack last week, during which he had to shelter in a crowded space with other lawmakers.

President Trump on Monday privately — and falsely — blamed "Antifa people" for storming the Capitol, even though clear video and documentary evidence exists showing the rioters were overwhelmingly Trump supporters.

Why it matters: Despite facing an impeachment vote for an assault he helped incite, the outgoing president is still sticking with his tried-and-true playbook of deflecting and reaching for conspiracies.

Last week's siege is turning the nation's capital into Fortress Washington.

Why it matters: In the aftermath of Capitol assault, security has been heightened throughout D.C., prompting the question: Will the loss of freedoms be temporary or permanent? It's also sparked rage that prior defenses proved so porous.

The expectation House Republicans will reject a plan to use the 25th Amendment to oust President Trump on Tuesday is shuffling Democrats and Republicans on the impeachment vote to follow.

Why it matters: House Democrats are split between those who want to deliver an impeachment resolution immediately and those who want to withhold it to allow other Senate business to proceed. A sizable number of Republicans may also vote to impeach after last week's pro-Trump assault on the Capitol.

The publisher of The Epoch Times, a stridently pro-Trump publication with a flair for conspiracy theories and links to Chinese dissidents, nearly quadrupled its revenue during the first three years of the administration.

Why it matters: The nonprofit Epoch Times Association’s 2019 revenue of $15.5 million, up from $3.9 million in 2016, shows how lucrative news coverage catering to the president's most fervent supporters could be — and will likely remain even after he leaves office.

An information gap following the Capitol assault has fueled fears among members of Congress that it was an inside job involving the Capitol Police.

Why it matters: The mass resignations by the Capitol Police chief and Senate and House sergeant-at-arms, coupled with few briefings by federal officials like the FBI, have left important questions unanswered and a lone Democratic congressman from Ohio trying to fill in the gaps.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is under siege, raising challenges to his best-laid plans for becoming House speaker.

Why it matters: The California Republican had been ready to vault out of the minority at the 2022 midterms. But now he finds his fundraising challenged, his links to President Trump toxic and a tricky impeachment environment to navigate.

Outgoing Capitol Police chief Steven Sund said efforts to deploy the National Guard over last Wednesday's riots were hampered by the Pentagon and House and Senate security officials, according to an interview with the Washington Post published late Sunday.

Why it matters: Sund, who resigned over the violence, told WashPost his requests for Guard help were "rejected or delayed" six times in total — including before the Capitol Hill protest and ensuing violence began.

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said Monday he will not accept the presidential medal of freedom that President Trump was set to award him following last week's Capitol siege.

Driving the news: Belichick said while he was initially flattered to be offered the award, "the tragic events of last week occurred," and he has decided not to move forward.

President Trump on Monday approved an emergency declaration for Washington, D.C., ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inaurgation, effective Monday through Jan. 24.

Driving the news: Outgoing Capitol Police chief Steven Sund and others have warned D.C. could see a repeat of the violence seen at last week's deadly siege at Biden's Jan. 20 inauguration.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said on a conference call with members Monday that there is "undisputedly" no evidence that people linked to Antifa participated in last week's deadly siege on the Capitol, per sources on the call, and told members he had urged President Trump to call President-elect Biden after Trump promised a transfer of power.

Driving the news: Earlier Monday, McCarthy sent a letter to rank and file House Republicans, saying he remains opposed to impeaching Trump over his actions around last week's deadly Capitol siege, and laid out other responses lawmakers could make, including censure.