Post Reports

Today, we reconstruct the riot inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 — hearing from the lawmakers, journalists and law enforcement officials who were there, and answering lingering questions about how things went so wrong. Read more:The four-hour insurrection: How a mob of Trump supporters tried to disrupt American democracy. Reporters Rebecca Tan, Marissa J. Lang, Rhonda Colvin, and photojournalist Bill O’Leary were all witnesses to the violence on Jan. 6. They share their harrowing accounts of what it was like, inside and outside of the Capitol.Reporter Peter Hermann explains how battered D.C. police made a stand against the Capitol mob. And reporter Carol D. Leonnig chronicles the experience of outgoing Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, who told her that House and Senate security officials hamstrung his efforts to call in the National Guard.Subscribe to The Washington Post: https://postreports.com/offer

Tear gas is a chemical weapon banned in war. So why do police departments still use it on civilians in the United States? Producer Linah Mohammad and reporter Devlin Barrett examine the history of tear gas and the ethical questions about its use.Read more:Over the summer, tear gas was deployed to disperse peaceful protesters outside of St. John’s Church near the White House before President Trump posed with a Bible in front of the church, raising questions about the use of the chemical agent by law enforcement. Listen to the audio documentary KUOW at 65: The Battle in Seattle here.Subscribe to The Washington Post: https://postreports.com/offer

President Trump is impeached by the House — again. And, inside a California hospital overwhelmed by the pandemic.  Read more:On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump for the second time, on the charge of incitement of insurrection. This time, some Republicans supported the move, like Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.). Reporter Mike DeBonis reports on what it was like to be there today.And while we’ve all been transfixed by the attack on the Capitol and its fallout – there's still a pandemic happening. On Tuesday, more than 4,200 Americans died of covid-19. Jon Gerberg is a video journalist for The Post. He got rare access to a hospital in California where a covid-19 surge has completely overwhelmed the health-care system. He talked about it with producer Linah Mohammad. Subscribe to The Washington Post: postreports.com/offer

A widening rift in the Republican Party. What FBI officials knew about the siege of the Capitol, and when they knew it. And, why the February Vogue cover of Kamala Harris is causing a stir.Read more:Political reporter Michael Scherer explains how the Capitol riot is escalating a fight for the soul of the Republican Party, with pro-Trump conspiracy theorists on one side and the party establishment on the other. The Washington Post has learned that a day before rioters stormed Congress, an FBI report warned of “war” at the Capitol. That information contradicts a senior official’s declaration that the bureau had no intelligence indicating anyone at last week’s rally planned to do harm. National security reporter Matt Zapotosky lays out what we know about why law enforcement didn’t do more with the information. The nation’s first female vice president-elect has been photographed for the cover of February’s Vogue magazine, and a vocal chorus on social media is displeased with the images. The Post’s senior critic-at-large, Robin Givhan, explains why. Subscribe to The Washington Post: postreports.com/offer

How tech companies are responding to the far-right extremism on their platforms. Why we should have seen the siege on the Capitol coming. And, a brief history of presidential pettiness.Read more:The planning for last week’s assault on the U.S. Capitol happened largely in plain view, with chatters in far-right forums explicitly discussing how to storm the building, handcuff lawmakers with zip ties, and disrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s election. Those planners, however, are starting to lose their platforms, says reporter Drew Harwell. The scale of the siege was foreshadowed heavily on far-right social media websites, says researcher RazzanNakhlawi. And the groups who organized it – they’ve been around for years, and they’re not going anywhere. President Trump says he will not attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. Writer Ronald G. Shafer explains that while this is uncommon in recent history, he’s not the first president to do so.Subscribe to The Washington Post: https://postreports.com/offer

Trump’s promise for a smooth transition of power might be too late, amid growing calls to remove him from office. After the attack on the Capitol, lawmakers seemed to come together — but will that last with a 50-50 Senate? And an update from Georgia.Read more:White House bureau chief Phil Rucker brings us behind the scenes of a week when President Trump incited a mob of his supporters to attack the Capitol, and then, grudgingly, admitted his loss. With Democratic victories in Georgia’s runoff elections, the Senate will be equally split, with Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris serving as a tie-breaking vote. David Fahrenthold breaks down what that could look like. Last month, our host Martine Powers and producer Ted Muldoon reported from Georgia on the runoff elections, and all the people on the ground who were working to deliver a victory to the Democrats — and the first Black senator from the state. One of those people was Bob Melvin, who we learned after the canvassing trip had contracted the coronavirus. We checked in with him this week after the Democrats’ victory.Correction: A previous version of this episode mistakenly said that Trump would be the second president to skip his successor’s Inauguration. In fact, there have been at least three others — John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Johnson.Subscribe to The Washington Post: https://postreports.com/offer

The public fracturing of the Republican Party. Security failures at the Capitol. And, questions about why predominantly White rioters got kid-glove treatment from police.Read more:Lawmakers, rattled and angry, reconvened to certify election results after an angry pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol. Seung Min Kim reports on the very public schism laid bare in the Republican Party. National security reporter Shane Harris on the massive failure of law enforcement to protect the building. Michael Brice-Saddler on the stark contrast between policing of predominantly White rioters at the Capitol and the Black Lives Matter protesters demonstrating last year. The comparison reveals a case of privilege, Brice-Saddler says. Subscribe to The Washington Post: https://postreports.com/offer

The U.S. Capitol has been breached by a pro-Trump mob during the process of confirming Joe Biden’s vistory in the presidential election. Meanwhile, another election in Georgia is wrapping up — with control of the Senate hanging in the balance. Read more:A violent mob has breached the U.S. Capitol, halting a congressional count of electoral votes. Follow live updates here. Results from the Senate runoffs in Georgia signal a Democratic flip in the state, and in the Senate. National reporter Cleve Wootson reports from Atlanta. Eugene Scott, a reporter for The Fix, breaks down what we know about who voted in the Georgia runoffs, and how. Subscribe to The Washington Post: https://postreports.com/offer

Why the vaccine rollout has been slower than expected in the United States. And, the political theater of counting electoral college votes. Read more:Reporters Isaac Stanley-Becker and Brittany Shammas explain why state and local health systems are struggling to roll out coronavirus vaccines, and what that means for people hoping to sign up.On Wednesday, Joe Biden will be one step closer to the presidency. Rosalind S. Helderman reports on what to expect during the congressional counting of electoral votes, and the futility of Republican lawmakers' objections. Subscribe to The Washington Post: https://postreports.com/offer

What President Trump’s pressure campaign to overturn his election defeat sounds like. And, a nursing home’s creative solution to physical isolation.Read more:Amy Gardner explains why Trump’s latest phone call to Georgia officials has legal scholars crying foul.And as the nation keeps a close eye on Georgia’s two U.S. Senate runoff elections, it’s a good time to revisit Post Reports’ deep dive into the real — and perceived — voter suppression in the state. And, after months of isolation, a “hug room” in Italy lets nursing home residents touch their families for the first time, reports Chico Harlan.Subscribe to The Washington Post: https://postreports.com/offer