Nancy Pelosi says she will not seek re-election as Democratic leader in House – live | US midterm elections 2022

Martin Pengelly

Interesting news emerging on the January 6 front via Annie Grayer of CNN, who reports that the House select committee “is interviewing Secret Service agent Robert Engel, the lead agent in former president Donald Trump’s motorcade on the day of the US Capitol attack, two sources [say]”.

Grayer adds that “Engel was the agent Cassidy Hutchinson testified she was told Trump lunged at” when he was told he could not follow his supporters to the Capitol after his speech near the White House.

Trump denies lunging at agents on his protective detail. Here’s video of Hutchinson’s testimony, in which she said: “The president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. Mr Engel grabbed his arm, said, ‘Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel. We’re going back to the West Wing. We’re not going to the Capitol.’ Mr Trump then used his free hand to lunge towards Bobby Engel.”

In other January 6 news, there follows a write-up of Mike Pence’s statement to CBS in an interview that he will not testify because he thinks the committee is partisan and also doesn’t think he, as an ex-vice-president, should have to testify “about deliberations that took place at the White House”.

Pence’s detailed descriptions of detailed deliberations that took place at the White House are currently available from all good booksellers – and no doubt quite a few bad ones too.

Of course, accounts of detailed deliberations that took place at the White House as contained in memoirs aimed at the 2024 Republican primary are not given under oath. But testimony to congressional committees is, as the January 6 chair and vice-chair, Bennie Thompson and Liz Cheney, made clear in their response to Pence.

In short, testimony such as Hutchinson’s about Trump lunging at agents is “subject to criminal penalties for lying to Congress”. So news that Engel is interviewing with the committee is interesting to say the least.

Further reading:

Martin Pengelly

Dave Wasserman, US House editor at the nonpartisan Cook Report political analysis website, says the Democrat Mary Peltola has won in Alaska, beating two Republicans, Nick Begich and the former governor and John McCain vice-presidential nominee, Sarah Palin.

Though Republicans have won the House back from Democrats this still qualifies for a “huge if true” – the Guardian follows the Associated Press, which has not called the Alaska race yet – and not only because Palin seems to have lost again in her attempt to return to meaningful political office.

When she won a special election for the seat earlier this year, Peltola became the first Alaska Native elected to Congress.

“I want to work with everyone and anyone who is a reasonable person to find solutions to Alaska’s challenges,” she told the Guardian then:

Martin Pengelly

More on Kari Lake and her refusal to concede defeat in the governor’s race in Arizona, where the Trump-endorsed Republican lost to her Democratic opponent, Katie Hobbs.

Lake posted a two-minute statement to Twitter earlier. She began: “Hi, Arizona … I wanted to reach out to you to let you know that I am still in this fight with you. For two years I’ve been sounding the alarm about our broken election system here in Arizona. And this past week has confirmed everything we’ve been saying.”

Lake proceeded to recount a list of evidence-free claims against Hobbs, the secretary of state who oversaw the election, and about supposed suspicious outcomes at the polls last week.

Reporting Lake’s statement for the Guardian, Sam Levine writes:

There were equipment malfunctions at about a third of polling locations on election day in Maricopa county, but voters were still able to cast their ballots. Officials had figured out a solution by the afternoon. A county judge also rejected a lawsuit filed by Republicans to extend voting hours, saying there was no evidence voters had been disenfranchised.”

Lake said she was “busy here collecting evidence and data” and had “assembled the best and brightest legal team and we are exploring every avenue to correct the many wrongs that have been done this past week”.

“I’m doing everything in my power to right these wrongs,” she said. “My resolve to fight for you is higher than ever.”

She also referred to being part of a “movement [that] started in Arizona and it quickly expanded to all 50 states … a movement of mama bears and papa bears and students and Arizonans who love this country”.

Lake concluded by promising “one thing. This fight to save our republic has just begun”.

Sam has more:

Nancy Pelosi will not run again for a position in House Democratic leadership, ending her nearly two decades as one of the most powerful figures in the party and the first woman to serve as speaker of Congress’s lower chamber. In a speech on the floor, she talked about her decades representing San Francisco in Congress, and found time to throw shade on Donald Trump.

Here’s what else has happened today so far:

Nancy Pelosi has announced she will step down as House Democratic leader after nearly two decades, but remain as a lawmaker in the chamber.

“There is no greater official honor for me than to stand on this floor and to speak for the people of San Francisco. This I will continue to do as a member of the House – speaking for the people of San Francisco, serving the great state of California and defending our constitution,” Pelosi said.

“And with great confidence in our caucus, I will not seek re-election to Democratic leadership in the next Congress.”

Nancy Pelosi received applause from lawmakers as she arrived in the House and gaveled it into session:

She’s expected to speak imminently about her future plans. This blog will cover the announcement as it happens, or you can follow along at the live feed embedded at the top of the page. Watch live here: