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Rep. Karen Bass is outraged and saddened about the ordeal she and all of Congress endured -- and can't help thinking the Capitol attack would've been thwarted if rioters weren't Trump supporters.

The Congresswoman from California's 37th district joined "TMZ Live" Thursday to recount the terror of the moment lawmakers had to be evacuated ... a shocking event she calls ironic ... in a couple of ways.

First of all, Bass says she anticipated things getting dicey on the streets of D.C. ... but she told her family she'd be safe and sound inside the typically heavily guarded Capitol.

Secondly, she believes the protesters-turned-rioters were almost enabled by the authorities to do what they did. Rep. KB says it stands in stark contrast to what happened during last summer's Black Lives Matter demonstrations.

Her implication is pretty clear, and it all comes back to President Trump ... who still has 13 days left in office. If you think Bass isn't concerned about that even though the riots are over ... think again.

As she points out ... it's not just his actions yesterday that are troubling, but his behavior on social media over the course of his presidency and his plethora of recent lamed duck hirings and firings

April Ryan says members of Congress want President Trump gone before Inauguration Day ... and, as of now, their best path to getting it done looks like the 25th Amendment.

The veteran White House Correspondent for TheGrio joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live" and told us what she's hearing from folks on both sides of the aisle -- the attempted coup was the last straw, and the only issue now is how they'll oust Trump.

April says the 25th Amendment is very much in play ... which is pretty eye-opening considering invoking it is a tough sell. Remember, Mike Pence and either a majority of Trump's Cabinet OR two-thirds of both the Senate and the House have to be on board.

April ran down the list of lawmakers coming out against the President ... and really painted a picture of how the dynamics in D.C. are drastically changing.

April also told us what Congressional leaders were thinking and feeling as they were being whisked off to an undisclosed location Wednesday with the Capitol under siege ... and she tells us why some of the most powerful people in the country were very much afraid.

Britney Spears' ex-husband -- the one who isn't Kevin Federline -- had a front-row view to the attempted coup at the Capitol ... because he was part of the pro-Trump protest.

Jason Allen Alexander -- whom you might remember for being married to Britney for 55 hours after their wild, 2004 Sin City wedding -- trekked to D.C. for Wednesday's show of support for President Trump, which turned into an attempted coup.

Jason looked proud to be there ... snapping selfies in his Trump 45 beanie.

What's unclear ... if Jason actually was part of the riotous mob that breached the Capitol. If he was, it's likely the feds are going after him.

Seems Jason's big on attending demonstrations ... when we last saw him back in August, he had joined the #FreeBritney movement ... hanging out in the crowd gathered outside the L.A. courthouse where a hearing was taking place on her conservatorship.

Mark Zuckerberg is keeping President Trump in social media timeout indefinitely ... and Trump is being muzzled at least until President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration.

Zuck announced Thursday he's extending Trump's Facebook and Instagram ban at least two more weeks until the inauguration on Jan. 20 ... saying it's too risky to let the President post whatever crops up in his dome.

Zuckerberg says FB and IG didn't have a problem with Trump posting whatever he wanted over the last 4 years, other than occasionally removing content or slapping warning labels on Trump posts, but the attempted coup changed the game forever.

Zuck's change of heart goes like this ... he says, "the shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden."

Remember ... Trump's also suspended from Twitter after his tweet storm during Wednesday's chaos at the Capitol.

So, now Trump needs a plan B to get his message out.  He hates TV and online news, he can't go on social media ... so the walls are closing in on him.

The storming of the U.S. Capitol is especially infuriating to some local Washington D.C. residents -- 2 of whom gave the pro-Trump rioters a major piece of their minds.

A man standing out by his front door Wednesday in a neighborhood near the action shouted ... "Get the f*** outta town! F***ing treasonous pieces of s***!"

At some point during his rant, another local pulled up in her car, and joined in with full-throated support ... saying the rioters were destroying their city.

Their lively back-and-forth also got into what a lot of people believe -- if the rioters were part of the Black Lives Matter movement, President Trump would have sent tanks to stop them. Watch the video, because his language gets really colorful ... and she actually gets teary-eyed.

As we reported ... the FBI is on the hunt for the hundreds -- if not thousands -- of insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol and incited violence Wednesday after President Trump addressed them and vowed to never concede the election.

Donald Trump FINALLY acknowledged Joe Biden will become President in 13 days, but not without grumbling.

Trump issued a statement -- because he's been kicked off Twitter -- saying, "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 20th."

That would have been a nice place to end it, but Trump didn't. He went on ... "I have always said we would continue our 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!"

Fact is ... it's possible Trump won't make it to January 20, because some members of Congress want to trigger the 25th Amendment, which allows for removal if he's unable to carry out his duties. There are now lots of folks in Congress and reportedly even in the President's own cabinet, who believe he's shown he's unfit for office, and, they believe, being unfit makes him unable to carry out his duties.

Trump's concession comes hours after Congress put a bow on the Presidential election and ratified the vote of the electoral college, which will make Biden the 46th President.

As you know, earlier in the day Trump encouraged the protesters to march to the Capitol and stay strong. Not only did he incite them ... once they raided the Capitol he didn't condemn it. In fact, in the end, he told the insurrectionists he loved them.

Donald Trump may actually have less than 2 weeks left in office, at least if some members of Congress have their way, because they're apparently in a secret meeting right now to discuss how to remove him STAT.

There's a meeting going on right now at an undisclosed location in D.C. where a group of senators and members of Congress are talking about how to invoke the 25th Amendment to yank Trump from the White House ... this according to TheGrio's White House Correspondent and legend April Ryan.

In case you're unfamiliar ... the 25th Amendment -- a President can be removed if he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. It's a tough sell, because the Vice President and either a majority of the President's Cabinet or a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress have to be on board.

As you know ... Trump egged on the violent protesters by essentially telling them not to go quietly. They clearly got his message.

Twitter has had enough of President Trump's tweets following the storming of The Capitol by his supporters, suspending his account, for violations of the platform's Civic Integrity policy.

Trump fired off a series of tweets and posted a video of himself Wednesday, one tweet read, "These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!"

Twitter deleted the tweet along with several others shortly after Trump's message. The social media giant then announced Trump's account was suspended for at least 12 hours for repeated and severe violations of the company's Civic Integrity policy.

Twitter says Trump must permanently remove the deleted tweets -- and he will then start a 12-hour suspension -- if he does not remove them, his account will remain locked.

Then there's this ... Twitter says if Trump violates the rules again, it will lead to a permanent suspension of his account.

NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe says the violent scene at the nation's capital reminds him of a 3rd world country, not America ... and believes today's events could have a permanent effect on the nation.

"Where are the police?" Sharpe said on Twitter, Wednesday.

"Do we think an all black protest group could’ve stormed the Capitol and not 1 shot fired, no tear gas. Peaceful protestors got pepper sprayed so Trump could hold a Bible upside for a photo in front of church. Yet, I’m told everyone is treated equally in Flag of United States"

Of course, a large group of pro-Trump supporters flooded the U.S. Capitol building -- breaking down multiple barriers and fences -- and making their way to the Congressional Chamber.

Sharpe -- who has been very outspoken about the president in the past -- accused Donald Trump of trying to illegally seize power using violence.

"Pres Trump and his minions are trying a coup attempt. This is sedition. President Trump and a certain numbers of Republican Senators, Representatives have been heading dwn this path for 4 yrs and here we are. I need Black Lives Matter energy from law enforcement"

Sharpe believes there is hypocrisy in the handling of the protests ... claiming if the group was Black, law enforcement would be using stronger tactics.

"Where are the police? Do we think an all black protest group could’ve stormed the Capitol and not 1 shot fired, no tear gas. Peaceful protestors got pepper sprayed so Trump could hold a Bible upside for a photo in front of church. Yet, I’m told everyone is treated equally in Flag of United States"

Shannon isn't the only superstar athlete speaking out ... NBA legends Dwyane Wade and Reggie Miller have also commented on the chaos.

NFL star Dez Bryant also shared a message about the incident.

"I'm just wondering where the tasers and tear gas like they do black people when they are peacefully protesting? Just a thought not that I promote violence and chaos but black people could never come out of that alive"

"I'm hoping real changes can happen for the future of this country 'cause it's an ugly mess right now."

As for Trump, he just released a video asking his supporters to act peacefully, and to leave the Capitol.

Story developing ...

What many suspected as to why a throng of Trumpers infiltrated the U.S. Capitol Wednesday seems to finally be confirmed straight from one of the "revolutionaries" ... who had a hippy-dippy explanation while rubbing pepper spray outta her eyes.

A woman -- Elizabeth from Knoxville, TN -- did a quick on-camera interview Wednesday amid all the chaos in D.C. ... where lawmakers were thwarted by an invasion as they tried to certify Joe Biden's victory.

She explains she made it about a foot or so inside the building before being pushed out ... and then getting a heavy dose of mace to the dome, which forced her to retreat.

When asked why she was trying to get in -- Liz here tearfully gives it to the cameraman straight with a no-duh response ... "We're storming the Capitol, it's a revolution!" Her guy friend carries her off afterward.

It might seem like an obvious answer, but honestly ... hearing it just confirms how insane this whole thing is, and what sort of state of mind some of these folks are in.

Of course, the Capitol was put on a full lockdown and members of Congress were evacuated as protesters breached the doors and had their run of the place for a while ... including in different chambers of Congress as well as in offices of politicians, like Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Kellyanne Conway should accept some responsibility for the violence in the Capitol ... at least according to her daughter, who's trolling her over the attempted coup and the Senate runoff in Georgia.

16-year-old Claudia Conway went to her favorite platform -- TikTok -- to air some family grievances Wednesday ... but really, it was about spiking the football on her mom and the Republican Party.

Claudia asked her mom how she feels about President Trump's "army" resorting to rioting. Claudia compares the coup to last summer's protests, which she says her mom didn't want her to join.

She also took a swipe at Kellyanne for campaigning in Georgia for Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who ended up losing. Claudia's far from the high road here, as she hit her mom with a Mitch McConnell joke. Too soon???

The Conway household is a pretty interesting dynamic ... Claudia says she can't find her mom in the house, so she's using TikTok as a conversation starter.

As you know, Claudia's beefed with her mom on social media before ... including this infamous exchange about COVID.

The violence in D.C. has spread across the country to Los Angeles, and it's feeling like the beginnings of a civil war.

Trump protesters violently clashed with members of Black Lives Matter in downtown L.A. Wednesday. A number of people were arrested. A number were also injured, although the scene is so chaotic now it's hard to know how many.

The L.A. violence went down at the same time Trump supporters in D.C. were inside the Capitol staging an attempted coup.

A woman was shot in the melee and was in critical condition.

The Capitol is currently overrun by Trump demonstrators. They are everywhere. In the House and Senate chambers, Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office ... everywhere.

Trump has finally asked them to stop the violence. But, earlier in the day, when Trump addressed his supporters, he said, "After this, we're going to walk down there ... you'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong."

Trump had dog-whistled over the Xmas holidays something big was going to happen on January 6th. He tweeted, "Big protest in DC January 6th. Be there, will be wild!"

Mitt Romney endured a mighty long 4-hour plane ride to our nation's capital, because he was basically flying Air Trump -- a loud group of Trump supporters calling him a "traitor" to his face.

The Utah's GOP Senator got on a flight Tuesday headed for D.C., where he was confronted by backers of the Prez who asked him if he planned to stand against certifying the 2020 Election results ... something a handful of other Republicans vowed to do Wednesday.

Mitt stands firm ... telling them no, flat-out -- and explaining he's going to follow the process laid out by the Constitution. They basically threatened to vote him out in a future primary, but ya gotta see how the Senator handled it. Pretty cool customer.

However, the real chaos started inside the cabin of the aircraft -- it appears there were at least 2 different times while Mitt was in his seat that several other passengers literally jeered at him, chanting "TRAITOR!" over and over and over again.

Of course, it's no surprise Senator Romney's taking heat -- but it's different seeing it play out in public like this, especially from his own constituents. He's long spoken out against Trump, especially lately as it pertains to trying to contest the election without rock-solid evidence.

At least we know the guy's consistent 🤷🏽‍♂️

Joe Exotic's father has died ... and Joe's loss is now dovetailing with a trip to D.C. for a pardon that would allow Joe to attend his dad's funeral.

We've learned Joe's father, Francis Schreibvogel, recently died following complications from COVID ... The funeral is set for Saturday in Oklahoma, and Joe desperately wants to go.

TMZ broke the story ... Joe's legal team will be flying to Washington D.C. today pushing for that pardon, but now there's an added urgency since the clock is ticking for the funeral.

As we reported, Joe's legal team, headed up by Eric Love, hopped on a friend's jet with a Joe/'Tiger King' wrap that they're flying to D.C. ... making it a show. Love has told TMZ he has a big meeting with someone White House/pardon-related, but he's not saying who.

If Trump doesn't grant the pardon, they have a plan B ... going to a judge and asking for a day pass -- essentially a temporary release -- so Joe can attend his dad's funeral.

When soon-to-be First Lady Jill Biden takes over the East Wing of The White House, she and her team will be treated to upgraded facilities ... but there's absolutely no proof it's because the current administration clogged the toilet.

According to federal procurement docs obtained by TMZ ... The White House is dropping a little more than $1.2 MILLION on restroom renovations at the 2-story structure where the current First Lady's offices are located.

It's not totally clear what the job will entail -- it's simply listed as "EW restroom refresh" -- but the company that scored the gig is the local, minority-owned Holmes Mechanical Contractors ... which specializes in all sorts of big-building bathroom stuff.

The project is slated to be completed by mid-May -- according to the financial docs -- so Jill and her staff will get to reap the restroom rewards for almost the entirety of President Biden's term.

When it comes to politics, Hollywood is predictable, and it's paying off in a big way for 2 Georgia Senate hopefuls.

The cash has been pouring in for Democrats Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock, who are locked in what looks like a tight race with the 2 incumbent Republican Senators.

With the help of Federal Election Commission filings, we found the obvious ... lots of stars digging deep for the Democrats, and Republicans ... well, hardly a drop.

For Ossoff:
- Kate Capshaw-Spielberg ($5,600)
- Jack Black ($4,070.50)
- Danny DeVito ($2,800)
- Rita Wilson ($1,250)
- Sally Field ($1,220)
- Susan Sarandon ($750)
- Christine Brinkley ($800)
- Rosario Dawson ($673.34)
- Billy Eichner ($651.25)
- Kumail Nanjiani ($554.95)
- John Goodman ($500)
- Alyssa Milano ($250)

For Warnock:
Mark Ruffalo ($4,244)
Jane Fonda ($2,666.67)
Josh Brolin ($2,500)
Holly Peete ($1,300)
Rita Wilson ($1,250)
Kathy Bates ($1,000)
Susan Sarandon ($1,000)
Busy Philipps ($1,000)
Tracee Ellis Ross ($666.67)
Laura Linney ($600)
Andrew Daly ($500)
Taran Killam ($333.33)
Lesley Brandt ($317.86)
John Michael Higgins ($262.51)
Mandy Moore ($216.66)

Wilson and Sarandon double-dipped apparently ... dishing out contributions to both Ossoff and Warnock. Busy Philipps and Mandy Moore were also among the celebs who hopped on the Warnock train.

Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue didn't fare well with celebrity contributions. Loeffler got $250 from Jaclyn Smith, and that's it. According to the records, Perdue didn't get a dime.

There's lots of money outside Hollywood, and money has poured in for Republicans as well.