Americans awoke this morning to the news that President Donald Trump has reportedly promised an “orderly transition” of power following a certification of Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election by Vice President Mike Pence at 3.41am.

BREAKING: Congress formally certifies Joe Biden's Electoral College victory in the 2020 presidential race.pic.twitter.com/Ofb23dwHDN

— Alex Salvi (@alexsalvinews) January 7, 2021

Trump is reported to have said “Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20.”

The statement was released by aides on Twitter, following Trump’s account being suspended, with the tech company claiming the President was inciting violence.

“I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted,” Trump’s reported statement said, adding “While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it’s only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again.”

…fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it’s only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again!”

— Dan Scavino🇺🇸🦅 (@DanScavino) January 7, 2021

The development came after a full day of marches in Washington D.C. that ended in chaos with a bloc of Trump supporters storming the Capitol building.

Senate and House votes on challenges to States’ election results were severely disrupted, with several being abandoned after lawmakers withdrew support.

It has been claimed that it was Pence, not Trump, who ordered the entire National Guard deployed to the Capitol, after police declared a 6pm city-wide curfew.

Pence later spoke, addressing those who stormed the building, saying “To those who wreaked havoc in our capitol today, you did not win. Violence never wins. Freedom wins. And this is still the people’s house”.

And we will always be grateful for the men and women who stayed at their post to defend this historic place. To those who wreaked havoc in our Capitol today, you did not win. Violence never wins. Freedom wins. And this is still the People's House. pic.twitter.com/ytErRKnk4O

— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) January 7, 2021

Trump was suspended on Twitter, having two tweets completely removed, one of which was a video in which he expressed sympathy for supporters, but urged those at the Capitol to go home.

His last visible tweet was a call for peaceful demonstrations:

I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order – respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2021

Senator Rand Paul labelled the chaos that unfolded at the Capitol building Wednesday as “wrong and un-American” and explained he was not siding with other Republicans on opposing the election verdict because he “cannot vote to overturn the verdict of the states”.

“I wrote a speech today. I was planning to say I fear the chaos of establishing a precedent that Congress can overturn elections,” Paul said before the vote.

“Boy, was I right. Chaos. Anarchy. It’s wrong and un-American,” he added, urging that the actions of those who stormed the Capitol has dramatically delegitimised any intelligent debate on election reform.

Violence and mob rule is wrong and un-American, and it will not bring about election reform.

Today’s mayhem sets back any intelligent debate for a generation. Just stop it.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 6, 2021

While Paul has supported President Trump, and noted that he believes the claims of fraud are substantiated, when it came to a vote, Paul said “I cannot vote to overturn” the results of the election.

“This would doom the electoral college forever,” Paul continued, noting “It was never intended by our founders that Congress have the power to overturn state-certified elections.”

“My oath to the Constitution doesn’t allow me to disobey the law. I cannot vote to overturn the verdict of the states,” Paul urged.

“It is one thing to be angry.” Paul continued, adding “It is another to focus one’s anger in a constructive way. That hasn’t happened today, to say the least.”

“We simply cannot destroy the Constitution, our laws, and the electoral college in the process,” Paul said, emphasising “I hope as the nation’s anger cools, we can channel that energy into essential electoral reforms in every state.”

He concluded by noting “America is admired around the world for our free elections. We must, we absolutely must, fix this mess and restore confidence and integrity to our elections.”

The Senator also tweeted out his comments:

This would doom the electoral college forever.

It was never intended by our founders that Congress have the power to overturn state-certified elections.

My oath to the Constitution doesn’t allow me to disobey the law. I cannot vote to overturn the verdict of the states.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 6, 2021

I hope as the nation’s anger cools, we can channel that energy into essential electoral reforms in every state.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 6, 2021

America is admired around the world for our free elections. We must, we absolutely must, fix this mess and restore confidence and integrity to our elections.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 6, 2021

The Senate and the House voted in the majority against the challenges to the election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania.

A majority of Republicans voted in support of President Trump’s claims of voter fraud, yet were outnumbered by Democrats and a smaller bloc of GOP lawmakers.

Other potential challenges to vote counts in Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin failed to get off the ground after lawmakers withdrew their support in the wake of the unrest.

Vice President Mike Pence today certified Joe Biden as the victor of the election, and President Trump promised an “orderly transition” of power.

While details about the storming of the Capitol are scant at the moment, the portion of the march that broke off and stormed the Capitol building appears to have been in part triggered by agent provocateurs:

Alex Jones breaks down the eyewitness account of Antifa provocateurs inciting a violent standoff with Capitol police.

A security director at Dominion Voting Systems, the company charged by many of playing a role in ‘rigging’ the US election via voting machines, is suing the Trump campaign and several conservative news outlets.

Eric Coomer has filed suit, claiming he has received death threats stemming from the accusations that Dominion helped sway the election in Joe Biden’s favour.

The defamation suit identifies the Trump campaign, as well as Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and the conservative news organisations Gateway Pundit, Newsmax, and One America News Network (OANN).

The suit also personally targets conservative talking heads Michelle Malkin and Joseph Oltmann.

Mr Coomer has been identified as the individual referred to by Oltmann as “Eric from Dominion” in statements made to OAN and other conservative outlets regarding alleged bragging to Antifa activists about making sure Trump wasn’t going to get re-elected:

The lawsuit states that Mr Coomer has been made “the face of false claims” in relation to Dominion’s alleged influence over the election.

The suit further states that photos of Coomer, as well as his home address and personal family details have been made public by some pro-Trump websites.

Mr Coomer has stated that “I’ve worked in international elections in all sorts of post-conflict countries where election violence is real and people are getting killed over it. And I feel that we’re on the verge of that.”

In an op-ed posted by the Denver Post, Coomer declared that he has “no connection to the Antifa movement” and “did not ‘rig,’ or influence the election.” 

The lawsuit comes on the heels of a similar threat of legal action by voting machine company Smartmatic, which has issued legal notices to Fox News, OAN and Newsmax, accusing the networks of a “campaign [that] was designed to defame Smartmatic and undermine a legitimately conducted elections.”

The legal notice is also said to have specifically named Fox News hosts Lou Dobbs, Jesse Watters, and Maria Bartiromo, and indicates that Smartmatic could pursue legal action against them personally.

The Smartmatic letter names Fox News hosts Lou Dobbs, Jesse Watters, and Maria Bartiromo as individuals who spread the conspiracy theories. A spokesperson told me that suing them individually is an option on the table. https://t.co/vb2kKDHmXg

— Jacob Shamsian (@JayShams) December 14, 2020

Both Fox News, via Lu Dobbs, and Newsmax have since aired segments that critics say constitute ‘walk backs’ on previous allegations:

This is very bizarre. Lou Dobbs ran a segment tonight basically debunking his own lies about Smartmatic voting machines pic.twitter.com/FDM91SPtT1

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 19, 2020

Newsmax just aired this note to "clarify" its coverage of Smartmatic and Dominion. pic.twitter.com/I5XZ7CQpAk

— John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) December 21, 2020

Dominion itself has not yet issued any legal notices to media outlets. It has, however, sent a letter to Sidney Powell, demanding she retract some “wild and reckless” allegations she has made about them.