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Pelosi says Trump ‘must go, he is a clear and present danger’
The motion is set to go through with the votes of all Democrats and between 10 to 20 Republicans, making Trump the only American president to be impeached twice, and within 19 months.
The Democratic-led House of Representatives is set to impeach President Donald Trump for a historic second time in a vote later Wednesday, charging him with inciting an insurrection in which his supporters stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to overturn his election defeat to President-elect Joe Biden.
Some Republicans have announced they will vote to impeach Trump, and others, including the top Republican in the Senate Mitch McConnell, signalled their support for the move.
Impeachment proceedings started on Wednesday after Vice-President Mike Pence rejected a call from the House to invoke the 25th Amendment of constitution to remove Trump.
The House is expected to vote on the impeachment motion at around 3 pm US Eastern Standard Time (2 am Thursday in India). The motion is set to go through with the votes of all Democrats and between 10 to 20 Republicans, making Trump the only American president to be impeached twice, and within 19 months. His first impeachment was in December 2019.
Democrats have brought just one article of impeachment against the president: “incitement of insurrection”, for the attack by his supporters on the US Capitol on January 6.
“We know that we faced enemies to the Constitution, we know we experienced the insurrection that violated the sanctity of the people’s capital and attempted to overturn the duly recorded will of the American people, and we know that the President of the United States incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion against our common country,” said Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker starting the debate to be followed by the vote.
She added: “He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.”
The House judiciary committee had laid the impeachment case in a report on Tuesday. “President Trump committed a high crime and misdemeanor against the nation by inciting an insurrection at the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential Election,” it had said, adding, “The facts establish that he is unfit to remain in office a single day longer and warrant the immediate impeachment of President Trump.”
Pence announced his decision on the 25th Amendment of the American constitution — which allows the vice-president and a majority of the cabinet to sideline the president finding him unable to govern — in a letter to Pelosi as the House was just about to take a vote on a resolution calling for him to do just that.
“I do not believe that such a course of action is in the best interest of our nation or consistent with our constitution,” Pence wrote. “Under our constitution, the 25th Amendment is not a means of punishment or usurpation. Invoking the 25th Amendment in such a manner would set a terrible precedence.” House Democrats went ahead with the vote anyway, and won by 223-205.
Democrats have enough votes to pass the impeachment resolution on their own. But they will be joined by an increasing number of Republicans, outraged by President Trump’s actions before and during the riots; that he incited them to attack the Capitol and refused to call them off for hours.
Liz Cheney, who is third in seniority in the House Republican caucus, John Katko, senior-most Republican in House committee on homeland security; Adam Kinzinger, Fred Upton and Jaimie Herrera Beutler have all said they will vote to impeach the president. Between 10 and 20 Republicans are expected to vote in support of impeachment.
But the most devastating blow for Trump was losing the support of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate. He had been one of Trump’s closest allies. He is said to be “pleased” now with the impeachment, seeing an opportunity there to purge him from the party, the New York Times reported. Trump could be convicted by the Senate without McConnell’s support.
Trump struck defiant note in a series of remarks on Tuesday. He defended his January 6 speech, which triggered the supporters, as “totally appropriate” and sought to characterise the impeachment as a continuation of the “witch hunt” that led to his first impeachment, in December 2019. In Texas, he said he will survive the 25th Amendment, but warned “will come back to haunt Joe Biden and the Biden administration”.
Investigations into the Capitol attack, in the meantime, are growing “unprecedented” in scope. The FBI and the justice department said more than 160 cases are being investigated with more to follow. Charges being considered range from forcible entry to assaulting officials to sedition and conspiracy.
And US military’s joints chiefs of staff issued a statement condemning the January 6 attack. “We witnessed actions inside the Capitol building that were inconsistent with the rule of law. The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition and insurrection,” it said.
The military leaders also signalled support and acknowledgment of the incoming administration. “On January 20, 2021, in accordance with the Constitution, confirmed by the states and the courts, and certified by Congress, President-elect Biden will be inaugurated and will become our 46th Commander in Chief,” the statement said.
