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The next 48 hours could be the most tumultuous of the never-ending 2020 election

05 January 2021
 Dan Ackermann

The next two days look to be the most tumultuous, telling of the wild, never-ending 2020 election.

Driving the news: Twin runoffsin Georgia today determine control of the U.S. Senate. And perhaps half or moreof the Republicans in Congress will cast an unprecedented number of votes to invalidate President-elect Biden’s clear win, as the House and Senate meet to certify the Electoral College votes.

Why it matters: It's insane and revealing that those joining the protest — more than 100 House members (and perhaps 140+), plus 13 senators — could amount to more than half of Capitol Hill's Republicans.

  • This shows the political strength could maintain in exile, tormenting Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and other establishment Republicans.

Reality check: The Republican lawmakers won't change the outcome, but they'll drag out what's usually a low-drama process.

  • As Speaker Pelosi put it Sunday in a memo to House Democrats: "At the end of the day, which could be the middle of the night, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be officially declared the next President and Vice President of the United States."
A business near the White House yesterday. Photo: Joshua Roberts/Reuters

The 2020 election's final fight could be in the streets: A law enforcement source tells me tens of thousands of people — mostly pro-Trump, but perhaps some from the left — are expected to converge on Washington tomorrow as Congress meets.

  • Trump has tweeted repeated promotions for the "Stop the Steal" protests.
  • D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser asked residents to stay away from downtown — and said the District has mobilized the National Guard, and will have every city police officer on duty to handle protests, the WashPost reports.

At a rally in Georgia last night for the GOP Senate candidates, Trump continued his baseless claim that he won the state: "Big difference between losing and winning and having it stolen ... We win every state, and they're gonna have this guy be president?"

  • Trump tried to publicly pressure Vice President Pence, who'll preside over tomorrow's proceedings: "I hope Mike Pence comes through for us ... He's a great guy. 'Course, if he doesn't come through, I won't like him quite as much."
  • He also denounced "y0ur incompetent governor" and "your crazy secretary of state" — both Republicans — as he plugged Georgia Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.