Inaugural events to kick off amid heightened security

Trump won’t hand Biden the nuclear football. Here’s how the handoff will happen.

When he is sworn in on Wednesday, President-elect Joe Biden will get the nuclear “football” — an oddly shaped 45-pound briefcase that is always at the president’s command and control of the nation’s massive nuclear arsenal.

A military aide carrying the “football” remains physically close to the president, ready to carry out a well-rehearsed choreography of command and control.

Smithsonian Magazine reported that is it officially called the “president’s emergency satchel,” and is built around a “sturdy aluminum frame, encased in black leather.” But, the magazine noted, unlike in the movies, it does not have a big red button for launching a nuclear war.

However, for the first time, the outgoing president, Donald Trump, will not handoff the black leather case to the incoming president. Typically, the handoff of the football from the outgoing president to the newly sworn in president takes place at the inauguration ceremony at the Capitol.

Since Trump is planning to be in Florida when Biden is sworn in, the handoff will happen differently. This is the first time in the nuclear age that a sitting president hasn’t attended his successor’s inauguration.

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DOJ closes early Covid insider trading case of GOP Sen. Richard Burr, lawyer says

The Justice Department closed its insider trading probe into Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., his lawyer said in a statement on Tuesday.

Burr faced calls to resign last year after reports that the powerful Intelligence Committee chairman privately warned well-connected donors of the dire impacts of the coronavirus pandemic while also selling off up to $1.6 million of his own stocks.

“Senator Burr is pleased that the Department of Justice has completed a thorough review of this matter and closed it without further action,” Alice Fisher, Burr’s lawyer, said in a statement. “As the country continues to concentrate efforts on battling the challenges presented by COVID-19, Senator Burr’s focus will remain on the safety and security of North Carolinians and the United States as a whole.“

The DOJ also confirmed the investigation has been closed. 

Washington hotels weigh inauguration profits against safety

It used to be that the inauguration was a cash cow for the Washington hotel industry. But this year, given the recent riot at the U.S. Capitol and the coronavirus pandemic, hotel executives and workers are torn between catching up on lost revenues and staying safe

In the past week, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser all asked visitors not to travel to the nation’s capital for the 59th presidential inauguration. But because hotels have suffered so much from a lack of tourists because of Covid-19, some have tried to…