US Chaos: Trump in Self-Pity Mode, FBI Concerned about Potential Violence

By Staff, Agencies

US President Donald Trump has reportedly reverted to “self-pity mode” following the House voting to impeach him for a second time, and this has included turning on some of his closest allies.

"Everybody’s angry at everyone” inside the White House over the insurrection events that took place at the US Capitol last week, an adviser told CNN. But Trump has turned that anger on others, including his longtime personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

Trump reportedly told aides to not pay Giuliani because he blamed his lawyer for the predicament he finds himself in with an upcoming Senate trial. Other fractures have reportedly formed between the president and close allies.

This comes as Trump told MAGA followers that if they truly support him, they will not engage in “mob violence”. In a video posted to the White House Twitter account after he was impeached for the second time, the president appeared chastened but was unrepentant about his role in last week’s Capitol riot.

However, the FBI announced that it is tracking an “extensive amount of concerning online chatter,” including calls for armed protests leading up to next week's presidential inauguration, Director Chris Wray said Thursday.

Wray, in his first public appearance since the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol, said in a security briefing for Vice President Mike Pence that the FBI remains concerned about the potential for violence at protests and rallies in Washington and in state capitols around the country.

Those events could bring armed individuals near government buildings and elected officials, Wray warned, while also noting, “One of the real challenges in this space is trying to distinguish what’s aspirational versus what’s intentional."

Wray said the FBI was receiving a “significant” amount of information that it was pushing out to other law enforcement agencies ahead of the inauguration. Information-sharing is critical before any significant public event like the inauguration, but the issue is receiving particular scrutiny because of signs law enforcement was unprepared for the violent, deadly surge at the Capitol by loyalists of Trump.