WaPo's PHILIP RUCKER/JOSH DAWSEY/SHANE HARRIS/ASHLEY PARKER: "President Trump was ensconced in the White House residence Wednesday night, raging about perceived betrayals, as an array of top aides weighed resigning and some senior administration officials began conversations about invoking the 25th Amendment — an extraordinary measure that would remove the president before Trump’s term expires on Jan. 20.
A deep, simmering unease coursed through the administration over the president’s refusal to accept his election loss and his role in inciting a mob to storm the Capitol, disrupting the peaceful transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden. One administration official described Trump’s behavior Wednesday as that of “a total monster,” while another said the situation was “insane” and “beyond the pale.”
Fearful that Trump could take actions resulting in further violence and death if he remains in office even for a few days, senior administration officials were discussing Wednesday night whether the Cabinet might invoke the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to force him out, said a person involved in the conversations."
READ MORE related to 25A: Doris Matsui joins growing group of Dems seeking Trump's immediate removal -- Sac Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN
Trump says his term is ending, transition will be orderly
AP, via LA Times: "President Trump for the first time acknowledged his defeat in the Nov. 3 election and announced there would be an “orderly transition on January 20th” after Congress concluded the electoral vote count early Thursday certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
Trump’s acknowledgment came after a day of chaos and destruction on Capitol Hill as a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol building and unleashed unprecedented scenes of mayhem as it tried to halt the peaceful transition of power. Members of Congress were forced into hiding, offices were ransacked, and the formal congressional tally halted for more than six hours.
“Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th,” Trump said in a statement posted to Twitter by his social media director. His own account had been locked by the company for posting messages that appeared to justify the assault on the seat of the nation’s democracy."
California lawmakers describe harrowing day inside U.S. Capitol
FAITH E. PINHO, LA Times: "California’s congressional leaders widely condemned the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, even as some continued to shelter inside the building, waiting for law enforcement to control violent demonstrators.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) reaffirmed her commitment to continue the electoral college count that would certify Joe Biden as president-elect, despite an hours-long delay as parts of the Capitol were evacuated when supporters of President Trump mobbed the building.
In a letter to colleagues Wednesday afternoon, Pelosi condemned the day’s events, saying “a shameful assault was made on our democracy.”
Lawmakers flee, hunker down as chaos overtakes Capitol
The Chronicle's TAL KOPAN: "As rioters seeking to install President Trump in a second term contrary to November’s election results breached the Capitol building, California’s lawmakers were spread throughout the complex.
They were told to draw the curtains and stay away from the windows. They were urged to remove the lapel pins that identify them as members of Congress. They could hear unidentified explosions and the din of a mob outside.
“I’m sickened. This is not our country,” said Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, who was in his office, frantically trying to find out what was going on as “constant sirens” blared outside."
Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "California Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove touted a conspiracy theory on Twitter claiming that the mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters who overtook the U.S. Capitol for several hours on Wednesday were actually members of the disorganized left-wing movement called antifa.
“Patriots don’t act like this!!! This was Antifa,” Grove wrote in a since-deleted Tweet. Grove was quoting pro-Trump attorney L. Lin Wood’s claim that rioters at the Capitol were “peaceful” and that antifa was to blame for the “violence in our cities over the past several months.”
The mob initially infiltrated the Capitol as Congress was met to certify the results of the Nov. 3 election won by President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris."
READ MORE on Grove: State Senate GOP Leader boosts Antifa conspiracy theory -- Capitol Weekly Staff; California GOP legislative leader tweets, then deletes, false claim of antifa leading U.S. Capitol mob -- JOHN MYERS, LA Times
Newsom wants to send $600 to millions of Californians, extend renter protections
Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "Gov. Gavin Newsom is asking state lawmakers to approve an additional $600 in cash for low-income families and an extension of California’s eviction moratorium to help people through the coronavirus pandemic, Newsom announced Wednesday morning.
The proposal, which he’s calling the “Golden State Stimulus” would provide help on top of the national stimulus package passed by federal lawmakers late last year. The federal stimulus package provides $600 to people making less than $75,000.
Newsom’s proposal would give money to people who receive the California Earned Income Tax Credit, a credit for families earning less than $30,000 that includes some undocumented and mixed-status families. About 3.9 million households applied for the tax credit last year, according to Newsom’s office."
Without urgent changes in behavior, L.A. County will lose its coronavirus battle, officials say
RONG-GONG LIN II and LUKE MONEY, LA Times: "Worried Los Angeles County health leaders said Wednesday that the region was rapidly losing its battle against COVID-19 as the virus spread unchecked, adding that only immediate and decisive changes in behavior can prevent a steep rise in deaths as a post-holiday surge hits and hospitals can’t treat all who are sick.
“Today, I’m more troubled than ever before,” said Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.
“This is a health crisis of epic proportions and we need everyone — I mean everyone — to use the tools right in front of them to help us drive down transmission of this deadly virus.”
AP's STEVE PEOPLES/BILL BARROW/RUSS BYNUM: "Democrats won both Georgia Senate seats — and with them, the U.S. Senate majority — as final votes were counted Wednesday, serving President Donald Trump a stunning defeat in his turbulent final days in office while dramatically improving the fate of President-elect Joe Biden’s progressive agenda.
Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, Democratic challengers who represented the diversity of their party’s evolving coalition, defeated Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler two months after Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state since 1992.
Warnock, who served as pastor for the same Atlanta church where civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached, becomes the first African American from Georgia elected to the Senate. And Ossoff becomes the state’s first Jewish senator and, at 33 years old, the Senate’s youngest member."
Hundreds more National Guard troops sent to DC in response to pro-Trump violence
Sac Bee's TARA COPP: "Hundreds of additional National Guard members were being sent into Washington, D.C., Wednesday evening in anticipation of a night of violence following the riots at the U.S. Capitol.
The service members would be tasked with protecting property around the nation’s capital to free up the city’s police force to conduct arrests.
Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said the entire 1,100 member D.C. National Guard was being activated, an escalation from the 340 it had earlier provided D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to have a presence on the street and assist with traffic control, but not directly engage with protesters."
Racial justice advocates denounce police reaction to pro-Trump mob
The Chronicle's TATIANA SANCHEZ: "The violent pro-Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday sent shock waves across the nation and enraged Bay Area supporters and organizers of racial justice protests, who said police appeared to show much more restraint — and use significantly less force — in responding to the largely white crowd.
“It is America’s double standard on full display,” said Zahra Billoo, a civil rights lawyer and executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in the Bay Area. “It is not surprising, but it is nonetheless disappointing to see how this violent mob of people attempting to disrupt law and order are treated so differently than civil rights advocates, like myself, and other Muslims and minorities who have been advocating for change through law and order for decades.”
During a tumultuous year that was defined, in part, by a national reckoning on race that spurred hundreds of Black Lives Matter protests across America, which sometimes gave way to looting and property damage, police responded in full force, often heavily armed, in riot gear and with the National Guard on standby. They arrested hundreds and quickly dispersed crowds, threatening to go after looters and civic disruptors."