O VOO DO CORVO

 

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/06/us/electoral-vote

Washington braces for a volatile day as a spurned Trump seeks to disrupt a moment of Democratic triumph.

 

Washington girded for the volatile final act of the Trump presidency on Wednesday, as President Trump — unwilling to cede the limelight or his fantasy of victory — threatened to transform a moment of Democratic triumph into a day of defiance by summoning supporters to his backyard for an airing of grievances.

 

Mr. Trump watched from the White House residence, according to aides, as the Rev. Raphael Warnock claimed victory and Jon Ossoff led in the Georgia runoff elections on Tuesday night, smarting over a report that Vice President Mike Pence had rebuffed his attempts to block the certification in Congress of President-elect Joseph R. Biden’s election on Wednesday.

 

“States want to correct their votes, which they now know were based on irregularities and fraud, plus corrupt process never received legislative approval,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter early Wednesday. “All Mike Pence has to do is send them back to the States, AND WE WIN. Do it Mike, this is a time for extreme courage!”

 

The Georgia results, if their trajectory holds, would deliver to Mr. Biden control of both chambers of Congress, a staggering loss many Republicans blame on the president’s tardy and tepid efforts on behalf of the incumbents in the runoff election.

 

Unable to win his race — and unwilling to set aside his personal grudges for his party’s greater good — Mr. Trump has chosen, as he often has when cornered, to distract, disrupt and upstage his opponents.

 

The president will make the short trip to the Ellipse behind the White House late Wednesday morning to deliver remarks to his die-hard supporters, who began streaming into Washington late Tuesday, with some engaging in an ugly confrontation a few blocks from where he watched the results.

 

His rally may overlap with a gathering of greater importance at the eastern end of the National Mall. The House and Senate will convene Wednesday afternoon for a remarkable joint session to formalize Mr. Biden’s Electoral College victory, as Trump allies plot to hijack what is typically a mundane, ceremonial exercise into a last stand — a move opposed by a growing number of their fellow Republicans and doomed to failure.

 

Bipartisan majorities in both chambers are prepared to meet late into the night to beat back the challenges and confirm Mr. Biden as the winner. But by using the proceeding as a forum for trying to subvert a democratic election, Mr. Trump and his allies are going where no party has since the Reconstruction era of the 19th century, when Congress bargained over the presidency.

 

Its implications, for future elections and the Republican Party, could be significant.

 

At least four Republican senators — Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Kelly Loeffler of Georgia and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama — have agreed to join House members to challenge the results of three battleground states that Mr. Biden won: Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Senators were still weighing whether to join House members to similarly challenge the outcome in Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin.

 

In each case, their objections will force the House and Senate to debate Mr. Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud for up to two hours and then vote whether to accept or reject the results certified by the state. A process that typically consists of less than an hour of glorified paperwork could take anywhere from nine to 24 hours, starting at 1 p.m. Eastern.

 

— Glenn Thrush and Nicholas Fandos

 

Trump supporters gather in Washington to protest against the certification of Biden’s victory.

Under a dreary winter sky, defiant but downbeat Trump supporters began gathering in downtown Washington on Wednesday morning to celebrate a defeated Republican president who suffered a final humiliation in the Georgia Senate runoffs with one declared Democratic victory and the second race with the Democratic candidate maintaining his lead.

 

Crowds of supporters holding Trump flags marched down the streets of Washington to the elliptical park just behind the White House, where President Trump was set to speak in the late morning from a large grandstand that had been erected. As Congress prepared to conduct the final count of Electoral College votes, the scene outside the walls of Capitol Hill this week reflected the desperation within a White House resisting the transition of power.

 

“Some of the people here, maybe they’re willing to say Trump lost if things don’t go the way we want them to today,” said Kevin Malone, 43, who drove from Rome, Ga., through the night with two friends, arriving in D.C. looking like they had not slept. “That’s not us. We can’t lose this country. If the Democrats win, there’s not going to be another fair, legal election in this country. We won’t have a democracy.”

 

He said he and his friends from Northwest Georgia, now represented by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a QAnon-supporter, were on the fence about coming but decided to leave shortly before 11 p.m. Tuesday when it “started looking like the Democrats were going to steal another election.”

 

Some of the more than 300 National Guard troops called up for the week stood in camouflage by white vans on Wednesday morning. Rows of local police were stationed on Black Lives Matter Plaza, in front of Lafayette Square after scuffles broke out Tuesday night between pro-Trump demonstrators and local police who deployed pepper spray to quell the unrest.

 

Tensions briefly rose at the plaza Wednesday around 10:45 a.m. Eastern as a counter-protester standing near police barricades waved for Trump supporters to move along while shouting, “Goodbye, thanks for visiting!” One man in a group of about a half dozen Trump supporters shouted back “Oh, don’t worry. We’ll be back.”

 

By Tuesday night, the Metropolitan Police Department recorded arrests of five people on charges of assault and weapons possession, including one person who was charged with assaulting a police officer.

 

Mr. Trump’s false claims of election fraud and promotion of the rallies on Wednesday have encouraged some of his more staunch allies and supporters to travel the country for Wednesday’s rally. The White House had hoped for 30,000 people but aides feared the turnout may be far smaller.

 

The Trump faithful tried to stay upbeat.

 

“We are considering this a day that will change history,” said Kevin Haag, 67, who drove about nine hours from his home in Lake Santeetlah, N.C. on Tuesday to participate in the rally. “We are excited.”

 

He said the road from North Carolina to Washington was dotted with cars and trucks flying Trump flags and American flags, a sign, he said, that the rally would be well-attended. The lobby of his hotel was filled with rally goers, including Proud Boys, with “their Kevlar and boots have a whole belt full of tasers and you name it,” he said.

 

But he was not necessarily optimistic that Mr. Trump or his Republican allies would prevail in their efforts to overturn the election. Instead, Mr. Haag said he was hopeful that he and his friends would get some kind of closure on Wednesday. He had planned to come with a number of people, but some had to work, and others said they were worried about what might happen in Washington. His wife stayed home with a migraine. In the end there were only three of them that made the trip.

 

“I think the truth will be made known,” he said. “Even if the truth is, the election went the other way,” he said, meaning if Mr. Trump had lost, “we have to hear that. If it’s over, it’s over.”

 

— Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Sabrina Tavernise and Matthew Rosenberg