Donald Trump impeached for second time

By MiNDFOOD, Reuters

A member of the National Guard is given a weapon before Democrats begin debating one article of impeachment against U.S. President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, U.S., January 13, 2021. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
A member of the National Guard is given a weapon before Democrats begin debating one article of impeachment against U.S. President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, U.S., January 13, 2021. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

The US House of Representatives has voted to impeach Donald Trump for the second time.

Trump is the first US president to be impeached twice.

This time around, the article of impeachment received some Republican support, with 10 Republicans voting in favour. The final tally was 232-197.

The House voted on whether to impeach Trump for inciting insurrection, a week after a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol in a deadly assault on American democracy.

It appears unlikely that the extraordinarily swift impeachment will lead to Trump’s ouster before the Republican president’s four-year term ends and Democratic President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. The Senate’s Republican majority leader, Mitch McConnell, rejected Democratic calls to convene the Senate in emergency session to begin an immediate impeachment trial, according to a spokesman.

The House voted on a single article of impeachment – a formal charge – accusing Trump of “incitement of insurrection”, focused upon an incendiary speech he delivered to thousands of supporters shortly before the pro-Trump mob rampaged through the Capitol. The mob disrupted the formal certification of Biden’s victory over Trump in the Nov. 3 election, sent lawmakers into hiding and left five people dead, including a police officer.

During his speech, Trump repeated false claims that the election was fraudulent and exhorted supporters to march on the Capitol.

With a large presence of rifle-carrying National Guard troops inside and outside the Capitol, an emotional debate unfolded in the same House chamber where lawmakers crouched under chairs and donned gas masks on Jan. 6 as rioters clashed with police officers outside the doors.

A member of the National Guard is given a weapon before Democrats begin debating one article of impeachment against U.S. President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, U.S., January 13, 2021. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

“The president of the United States incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion against our common country,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said on the House floor. “He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.”

Democratic congressman Julian Castro, a former presidential candidate, called Trump “the most dangerous man to ever occupy the Oval Office”. Congresswoman Maxine Waters accused Trump of wanting civil war and fellow Democrat Jim McGovern said the president “instigated an attempted coup”.

No U.S. president ever has been removed from office through impeachment. Three – Trump in 2019, Bill Clinton in 1998 and Andrew Johnson in 1868 – were impeached by the House but acquitted by the Senate.

Some Republicans argued that the impeachment drive was a rush to judgement that bypassed the customary deliberative process such as hearings and called on Democrats to abandon the effort for the sake of national unity and healing.

“Impeaching the president in such a short time frame would be a mistake,” said Kevin McCarthy, the House’s top Republican. “That doesn’t mean the president is free from fault. The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters.”

Trump’s closest allies, such as Ohio Republican Jim Jordan, went further, accusing Democrats of recklessly acting out of pure political interest.

“This is about getting the president of the United States,” said Jordan, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump in a private White House ceremony this week. “It’s always been about getting the president, no matter what. It’s an obsession.”

National Guard members assemble in the Capitol Visitor’s Center on Capitol Hill before Democrats begin debating one article of impeachment against U.S. President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, U.S., January 13, 2021. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

‘I’M CHOOSING TRUTH’

A handful of Republicans backed impeachment, including Liz Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican.

“I am not choosing a side, I’m choosing truth,” Republican Jamie Herrera Beutler said in announcing her support for impeachment, drawing applause from Democrats. “It’s the only way to defeat fear.”

In a break from standard procedure, Republican House leaders refrained from urging their members to vote against impeachment, calling the vote a matter of individual conscience.

Under the US Constitution, impeachment in the House triggers a trial in the Senate. A two-thirds majority would be needed to convict and remove Trump, meaning at least 17 Republicans in the 100-member chamber would have to join the Democrats.

McConnell has said no trial could begin until the Senate was scheduled to be back in regular session on Jan. 19, one day before Biden’s inauguration. The trial would proceed in the Senate even after Trump leaves office. A source said earlier on Wednesday that the Republican Senate leadership had discussed whether to initiate a trial as early as Friday.

McConnell said in a memo to his fellow Republicans he has not made a final decision on how he will vote on impeachment in the Senate.

No Republican senators have said they would vote to convict. Two have called on Trump to resign.

The FBI has warned of armed protests planned for Washington and all 50 U.S. state capitals ahead of Biden’s inauguration. Trump on Wednesday urged his followers to remain peaceful, saying in a statement, “I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind. That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for.”

‘HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS’

Impeachment is a remedy devised by America’s 18th century founders to enable Congress to remove a president who has, according to the Constitution, committed “treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors”.

The House previously voted to impeach Trump in December 2019 on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress stemming from his request that Ukraine investigate Biden and his son Hunter ahead of the election, as Democrats accused him of soliciting foreign interference to smear a domestic political rival. The Senate in February 2020 voted to keep Trump in office.

Wednesday’s article of impeachment accused Trump of “incitement of insurrection”, saying he provoked violence against the US government in his speech to supporters. The article also cited Trump’s Jan. 2 phone call asking a Georgia official to “find” votes to overturn Biden’s victory in the state.

During his Jan. 6 speech, Trump falsely claimed he had defeated Biden, repeated unfounded allegations of widespread fraud and irregularities in a “rigged” election, told his supporters to “stop the steal”, “show strength”, “fight much harder” and use “very different rules” and promised to go with them to the Capitol, though he did not.

“If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” Trump told his supporters.

Democrats could also use an impeachment trial to push through a vote blocking Trump from running for office again. A simple Senate majority would be needed to disqualify Trump from future office. Legal experts disagree as to whether an impeachment conviction would be required first.

Lawmakers delivered speech after speech, wearing masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is a moment of truth, my friends,” Democratic congressman Gerry Connolly told his colleagues ahead of the vote. “Are you on the side of chaos and the mob or are on the side of constitutional democracy and our freedom?”

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