Live impeachment updates: Donald Trump impeached for ‘incitement’ of mob attack on US Capitol
The House impeached President Donald Trump for inciting an “insurrection” in last week’s attack on the Capitol, a stinging rebuke of the nation’s 45th president as he prepares to depart the White House after four tumultuous years.
Ten Republicans broke from their party – and their president – to join Democrats in approving the single article of impeachment. Trump will leave power as the first president in the nation’s 245-year history to be impeached twice.
The vote to impeach Trump was 232 to 197.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will decide when to transmit the article to the Senate, which must either dismiss the charge or hold a trial. At least 67 of the 100 senators are needed for conviction which would require Trump’s removal from office.
"Today, in a bipartisan way, the House demonstrated that no one is above the law, not even the president of the United States, that Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to our country and that once again we honored our oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help us God," Pelosi said before signing the petition during a brief engrossment ceremony Wednesday evening. She declined to answer reporters questions about when she would send them to the Senate.
A Senate trial is unlikely to shorten Trump's term, which is less than a week away from ending. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Wednesday the chamber would take up the issue at its "first regular meeting following receipt of the article from the House." The Senate is scheduled to return Tuesday, the day before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration.
"Even if the Senate process were to begin this week and move promptly, no final verdict would be reached until after President Trump had left office," he said.
Senate trial: Senate impeachment trial likely won’t begin until after Biden sworn in; McConnell undecided on vote
Trump impeachment: 5 takeaways as the House impeaches Trump for second time
The House first impeached Trump in December 2019 for his efforts to pressure the president of Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden but the Senate declined to convict him.
This time could be different following an unprecedented and violent assault on Congress’ home that left five people dead – including a U.S. Capitol police officer – and a nation shaken by an attack that struck at what Biden, a former senator, calls the “citadel “of democracy.
The impeachment of a president, usually a drawn-out process involving weeks of hearings and witnesses, took only a matter of days. But Democrats said steps had be taken to punish the president that would also prevent him from holding federal office again.
Senate trial: Trump impeachment sets up politically perilous Senate trial, possibly threatening Joe Biden's agenda
“America was attacked, and we must respond even when the cause of this violence resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said on the House floor before voting for impeachment. “Every moment that Donald Trump is in the White House, our nation, our freedom, is in danger.”
Though a few Republicans – including GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney of Wyoming – voted for impeachment, most Republicans opposed the move. They said it denied the president due process by fast-tracking the process and would only further divide a nation torn apart by political acrimony.
GOP Rep. Tom Cole called it an attempt by Democrats to “settle old scores.”
– Ledyard King
Trump releases video after impeachment vote: Urges calm ahead of inauguration, does not address impeachment
After becoming the first U.S. president to be impeached for a second time, President Donald Trump did not comment on Wednesday's House vote, but instead condemned the attack on the U.S. Capitol that left five people dead and inspired the charges against him and urged calm ahead of Joe Biden's inauguration.
"Mob violence goes against everything I believe in, and everything, our movement stands for," Trump said in a video released by the White House Wednesday, and "no true supporter of mine could ever endorse political violence."
Earlier this week, Trump said his words to protesters right before the attack on the Capitol were "totally appropriate." Before the mob stormed the Capitol, Trump spoke to them at a rally in Washington during which he repeated baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.
"If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore," he said.
In the video Wednesday, Trump also told supporters not to act violently during next week's inauguration, echoing a written statement made earlier in the day.
"We cannot tolerate it." Trump said, adding that "there is never a justification for violence."
Trump taped the 5-minute video after the House voted to impeach him for inciting an insurrection at the Capitol a week ago. He did not make a single reference to the impeachment, however, focusing instead on decrying the violence carried out in his name.
The video reaction marked a contrast to the first Trump impeachment in December of 2019.
That time, Trump was speaking at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, while the House was voting on impeachment related to his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate Biden.
Denouncing that party-line vote as pure politics, Trump said that "it doesn’t feel like we’re getting impeached."
The president will likely face an impeachment trial in the Senate after he leaves office on Jan. 20.
Trump also has not been able to respond on Twitter this time around, having been suspended from the social media site for inflammatory comments.
Joe Lockhart, a former spokesman for President Bill Clinton, tweeted: "The biggest difference between the first and second impeachment? Trump not joining the debate during the speeches via twitter. Refreshing."
Just before the House impeachment vote, Trump held a ceremony to award the National Medal of Arts to singers Toby Keith and Ricky Skaggs.
– David Jackson and Courtney Subramanian
10 House Republicans vote to impeach
Ten House Republicans joined Democrats in the historic vote Wednesday to impeach President Donald Trump for the second time, charging him with inciting insurrection in the Capitol riot.
The Republican support was unprecedented for lawmakers voting to impeach a president of the same party, doubling the five Democratic votes against President Bill Clinton in 1998.
The Republican votes marked a contrast to Trump’s first impeachment in December 2019, when Republicans remained united in opposition. But Republican leaders didn’t lobby members on how to vote this time.
The Republicans included the third-ranking party leader, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, and nine others:
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington
Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio
Rep. John Katko of New York
Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois
Rep. Peter Meijer of Michigan
Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington
Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina
Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan
Rep. David Valadao of California
Cheney said in a statement Tuesday that the insurrection caused injury, death and destruction.
“The president of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of the attack,” Cheney said. “There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”
10 Republicans: The 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump: 'There has never been a greater betrayal by a president'
Only two Republicans supporting spoke on the floor during the two-hour debate.
Newhouse said Trump had no excuse for inciting the mob.
“Last week there was a domestic threat at the door of the Capitol and he did nothing to stop it,” Newhouse said. “That is why with a heavy heart and clear resolve, I will vote yes on these articles of impeachment,” he said to applause from the Democratic side of the House.
Beutler issued a statement saying Trump incited the riot and then spent hours without taking meaningful action to halt it. She said on the floor that she wasn’t afraid of losing her job, but she was afraid that her country will fail.
“My vote to impeach our sitting president is not a fear-based decision,” she said. “I am not choosing a side. I’m choosing truth. It’s the only way to defeat fear.”
Katko, Kinzinger and Upton each issued statements on Tuesday. Meijer issued a statement Wednesday saying he voted yes with a heavy heart.
“President Trump betrayed his oath of office by seeking to undermine our constitutional process, and he bears responsibility for inciting the insurrection we suffered last week,” Meijer said.
– Bart Jansen, Christal Hayes and Nicholas Wu
4 lawmakers skip impeachment vote
Four members of the House, all Republicans, decided to skip Wednesday's impeachment vote:
Rep. Kay Granger of Texas
Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland
Rep. Greg Murphy of North Carolina
Rep. Daniel Webster of Florida
Harris, an anesthesiologist, said in a statement he decided to take care of patients Wednesday rather than vote. Murphy skipped the vote to take care of his wife, who just went through back surgery. Webster said there were "family medical obligations." A Granger spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
No Democrats missed Wednesday's vote.
– Nicholas Wu
Trump impeachment imminent as debate ends in the House
Voting has begun on the second impeachment of President Donald Trump on a charge he incited the mob last week that attacked the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers were formally acknowledging President-elect Joe Biden’s Nov. 3 victory.
The vote to impeach Trump a second time within the past 13 months is expected to pass on a largely party-line vote by Wednesday evening, though at least several Republicans say they'll vote to impeach. Voting has started now that two hours of often tense debate has ended.
In the same building where a pro-Trump mob staged a deadly riot a week earlier, congressional Democrats said it’s necessary to punish Trump for the assault while Republicans said such a move on a departing president would only divide the nation further.
“Our nation still mourns the unacceptable violence and anarchy that took place in this Capitol last week. As we speak, arrests are still being made and the anarchists that stormed our Capitol are being brought to justice as should be the case,” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., said. “Emotions are still high. But, in this moment, we need to be focused on toning down the rhetoric and helping heal this nation as we move towards a peaceful transition of power to President-elect Joe Biden next week.”
But Democrats said what happened last week could not be ignored without an adequate response.
“Will we not stand up and say this is not acceptable?” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said in closing the debate. “We all stood, and we abhorred the violence that occurred and the threat to the very democracy that we hold so dear and swore an oath to protect and uphold. Reject deceit. Reject fear mongering. Reject sedition, tyranny and insurrection. Reject fealty to one man over fidelity to one’s country.”
After it passes, the article will be sent to the Senate where conviction requires at least two thirds of the chamber to approve.
– Ledyard King, Bart Jansen and Sarah Elbeshbishi
McConnell says he hasn’t ‘made a final decision’ on whether he will back Trump’s impeachment
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he is still weighing the impeachment charge lodged against President Donald Trump and has “not made a final decision” on whether he would vote to convict the president during a trial.
The Kentucky Republican made the remarks in a letter to fellow Senate Republicans on Wednesday just before the House was set to impeach Trump on an article of "incitement of insurrection" for the Capitol riot on Jan. 6. If approved, the article would then go to the Senate, where conviction requires at least two-thirds of the chamber to be approved.
“While the press has been full of speculation, I have not made a final decision on how I will vote and I intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate,” McConnell said, according to an excerpt of the letter to fellow Republicans.
McConnell has been virtually silent on the calls to hold Trump accountable over last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol. But multiple news outlets, including The New York Times and CNN, reported he was pleased with the House moving forward on impeachment and believes it will help the Republican party move forward in a post-Trump world.
– Christal Hayes
Capitol Police watchdog opens investigation into Jan. 6 Capitol riot
The United States Capitol Police's watchdog opened an investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, according to a source familiar with the matter not authorized to speak on the record.
The investigation, first reported by Capitol Hill publication Roll Call, might not ever enter the public record. The Capitol Police are not subject to the same public records laws as other federal agencies and are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.
Some lawmakers have faulted the Capitol Police for a series of security lapses and intelligence failures leading up to the storming of the Capitol by the pro-Trump mob. At least five people have died in the aftermath of the riot.
– Nicholas Wu
Trump asks backers to remain peaceful when Joe Biden is sworn in
As the House debated whether to impeach him a second time, President Donald Trump called on his supporters to remain peaceful when Joe Biden is sworn in as president next week – just one week after a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, an attack designed to intimidate lawmakers into reversing his election loss.
"In light of reports of more demonstrations, I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind," Trump said in a statement. "That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for. I call on ALL Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers. Thank You."
Trump issued the statement just a few hours before House members, including some Republicans, are expected to vote to impeach him for inciting an insurrection.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, read Trump's statement during the floor debate, but it did not to appear to change any minds.
It's the kind of statement Trump would normally tweet out. But Twitter banned him last week.
– David Jackson
GOP Rep. Newhouse supports impeachment, saying ‘no excuse’ for Trump’s actions
Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington became the first Republican to announce on the House floor that he would support impeaching President Donald Trump.
“Last week there was a domestic threat at the door of the Capitol and he did nothing to stop it,” Newhouse said. “That is why with a heavy heart and clear resolve, I will vote yes on these articles of impeachment,” he said to applause from the Democratic side of the House.
Newhouse said responsibility for mob violence is broad. He said others like himself were responsible for not speaking out against violence sooner, before Trump “misinformed and inflamed a violent mob that tore down the American flag and brutally beat Capitol police officers.”
While the article of impeachment is flawed, Newhouse said he would support it.
“There’s no excuse for President Trump’s actions,” Newhouse said.
Five other Republican House members have said they too will vote to impeach Trump.
– Bart Jansen
GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz blames left for political violence
House Rep. Matt Gaetz, who has falsely suggested antifa – and not Trump supporters – are to blame for last week’s riots, said the left has incited far more political violence than the right.
He said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., incited anger, resentment and division when she tore up President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address last year.
In remarks that were met with boos and shouts of objections by Democrats and applause from Republicans, the Florida Republican called impeachment “an itch that doesn’t go away with just one scratch.”
Gaetz said Trump correctly pointed out irregularities in the Nov. 3 election. The results, however, were certified by states and unsuccessfully contested in court by the Trump campaign.
Gaetz said Trump has faced unprecedented hatred and resistance from big media, big tech, and big egos from congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle. The attacks are also on Trump’s supporters, he said.
“They’re kicking all of us,” Gaetz said.
– Maureen Groppe
Rep. Liz Cheney says she won’t step down from GOP leadership after impeachment vote announcement
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the third-ranking House Republican, told reporters Wednesday she would not give up her position in party leadership despite calls from some House Republicans to step down after she said she would vote to impeach President Donald Trump.
Cheney said she was “not going anywhere.”
“This is a vote of conscience. It's one where there are different views in our conference. But our nation is facing an unprecedented, since the Civil War, constitutional crisis. That's what we need to be focused on. That's where our efforts and attention need to be,” she said.
In a blistering statement released Tuesday, Cheney laid blame for the riot at the Capitol Jan. 6 at Trump’s feet, saying there had “never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”
Since then, some Republicans including Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, have called on her to step down from her position.
– Nicholas Wu
McCarthy: Trump ‘bears responsibility’ for riot, but impeachment a ‘mistake’
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy called the Capitol riot “undemocratic, un-American and criminal,” but impeaching President Donald Trump would be a mistake, he said.
“I believe impeaching the president in such a short timeframe would be a mistake,” said McCarthy of California. “A vote to impeach will further divide the nation. A vote to impeach will further fan the flames of partisan division.”
McCarthy said Trump bears responsibility for the attack on the Capitol and should have immediately denounced the mob. A censure resolution would be prudent, he said. McCarthy said the president should work to quell brewing unrest and ensure a peaceful transition to President-elect Joe Biden.
“Violence is never a legitimate form of protest,” McCarthy said. “The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters.”
But he called for national unity. Amid lingering shock and while still repairing broken windows, lawmakers returned to debate the Electoral College count. Disputes should be resolved at the ballot box and congressional debate, he said.
“The eyes of the nation and the world are upon us,” McCarthy said. “We must seize this opportunity to heal and grow stronger.”
– Bart Jansen
Senate trial likely won’t begin until after Biden sworn in
While the House is set to impeach President Donald Trump today, the Senate trial likely won’t start until after he leaves office.
The Senate is currently on a recess break and is set to reconvene Tuesday – one day before Joe Biden’s inauguration. Democrats have been hopeful in immediately moving forward on a trial to argue the president is guilty of inciting an insurrection. But the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office and indicated a trial would not occur until the Senate is back in session, according to Doug Andres, a spokesman for McConnell.
The timeline means Trump’s impeachment trial will coincide with Biden’s first days in office.
While McConnell, R-Ky., controls the Senate floor and its schedule, Schumer, D-N.Y., has been floating the possibly invoking a rarely-used emergency provision that would force the Senate back in session if both leaders consented. McConnell’s office told Schumer’s staff he would not consent, Andres added, thus leaving the Senate on a break until Jan. 19 and unable to receive the House’s article of impeachment until then.
“There was legislation passed in 2004 that allows the Senate minority leader and majority leader to jointly reconvene the Senate in times of emergency. This is a time of emergency,” Schumer said at a news conference in New York on Tuesday.
“I’ve asked him to call the Senate back,” Schumer said of McConnell. “We can come back ASAP and vote to convict Donald Trump and get him out of office now before any further damage is done.”
If the Senate receives the article of impeachment on Tuesday, Senate rules dictate that the chamber would begin proceedings the following day at 1 p.m., meaning the process would begin on Jan. 20 around the same time Biden is inaugurated. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has not said when the chamber will transmit its article of impeachment to the Senate, leaving it unclear when a trial might begin. On Wednesday, Pelosi told reporters, “I will not be making that announcement right now.”
– Christal Hayes
Lawmaker who switched parties after last impeachment opposes this one too
New Jersey Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who left the Democratic party after the 2019 impeachment against President Donald Trump, said the nation shouldn’t endure another one.
“We’ve been here before. We’ve done this before. This has failed before. We’ve fractured our nation using the same process before,” he said. “Congress must be the glue that starts unifying everyone. If we want unity, this is not the way.”
Van Drew, who pledged his loyalty to Trump after switching parties roughly a year ago, said impeaching the president would amplify the political divisions in the country.
“Nearly half the country supports our current president. This takes their voice away,” he said. “We must be bigger and better than the most base of instincts that have been driving our political discourse. It is destroying us. Let’s link arms with one another and begin to heal. Let’s stop this impeachment.”
– Ledyard King
Rep. David Cicilline, impeachment article author: 'Do you stand for the republic or for this president?'
Rep. David Cicilline, a lead author of the impeachment article the House is considering, told his GOP colleagues they should think about what they will tell their children and grandchildren about this moment.
“Do you stand for the republic or for this president?” Cicilline asked.
The Rhode Island Democrat said rioters had stormed the Capitol with the intent to hang the vice president, kill the House speaker and topple the government.
“They took down the American flag and replaced it with a Trump flag,” he said. “I ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who are not planning to vote for this article, 'Is this the kind of country, you want to live in?’”
– Maureen Groppe
Rep. Cedric Richmond: ‘We told you so’
Rep. Cedric Richmond, who is leaving Congress to become a top White House adviser to President-elect Joe Biden, wielded his final floor speech to accuse President Donald Trump of summoning domestic terrorists to Washington, D.C., directing them to march on the Capitol and then watching the insurrection.
Richmond, D-La., dismissed calls by Republican colleagues who argued that Trump shouldn’t be punished in an effort to unify the country.
“That is the climax of foolishness,” Richmond said. “Stand up. Man up. Woman up. And defend this Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic, including Donald J. Trump.”
Richmond recalled Republicans argued against the first impeachment of Trump by saying he had learned his lesson. The Senate acquitted Trump. But Richmond said Democrats warned that if Trump wasn’t removed, he would misbehave again.
“Simply put: We told you so,” Richmond said. “Richmond out.”
--Bart Jansen
McClintock: Don’t blame Trump for ‘lunatic fringe’
Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., said President Donald Trump gave a fiery speech Jan. 6 outside the White House before the crowded riot in the Capitol, but that he shouldn’t be blamed for the “lunatic fringe” of his political movement.
McClintock said he didn’t like Trump’s speech and that the president was wrong to assert that the vice president and Congress could choose which Electoral College votes to count. But McClintock said Trump’s exact words were for the crowd to “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
“That’s impeachable?” McClintock asked. “That’s called freedom of speech.”
He characterized the speech as standard political talk.
“If we impeached every politician who gave a fiery speech to a crowd of partisans, this Capitol would be deserted,” McClintock said. “Every movement has a lunatic fringe.”
He said suppressing free speech isn’t the answer.
“Holding rioters accountable for their actions is the answer,” McClintock said.
– Bart Jansen
Nadler chides Senate for not convicting Trump the first time
Rep. Jerry Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee who helped lead the last impeachment against President Donald Trump, essentially said “We told you so” when arguing Wednesday why Trump should again be impeached.
"As we warned the Senate when we tried him for his first impeachment, President Trump has made clear in word and deed that he will persist in such conduct if he is not removed from power,” the New York Democrat said as the House began debate on the new impeachment article.
Although Trump has only days left in his presidency, Nadler said Trump poses a continuing threat to the nation, to the integrity of elections and to democratic order.
“He must not remain in power one moment longer,” Nadler said.
After the House impeached Trump on two articles of impeachment in December, 2019, a majority of the Senate voted Feb. 5, 2020, to acquit Trump – far shy of the two-thirds majority needed for conviction. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah was the only Republican to join Democrats in voting to convict on one article.
– Maureen Groppe
Rep. Jim Jordan: Democrats ‘want to cancel the president’
Republican Rep. Jim Jordan slammed Democratic efforts to impeach President Donald Trump for inciting unrest that led to last week’s rampage on the U.S. Capitol, calling it an effort by the “cancel culture” to erase the president.
“They want to cancel the president,” the Ohio lawmaker and fierce Trump ally said as a two-hour debate began on the House floor.
He ticked off a list of accomplishments by Trump he said Democrats refuse to acknowledge: “The president who cut taxes, the president who reduced regulations, the president who cut taxes, the president who prior to COVID had the greatest economy and lowest unemployment in 50 years.”
Instead, he said, the opposition simply wants to impeach as a vendetta against Trump for his four years in office.
“It’s always been about getting the president, no matter what,” he said.
– Ledyard King
Pelosi says Trump 'must go'
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said lawmakers know President Donald Trump incited the violent mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 while votes were being counted in the election that he lost – and that he must go.
“We know that we experienced the insurrection that violated the sanctity of the people’s Capitol and attempted to overturn the duly recorded will of the American people. And we know the president of the United States incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion against our common country,” Pelosi said in opening the debate on an article of impeachment. “He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.”
She quoted former President Abraham Lincoln, Saint Paul from the Bible and the late President John F. Kennedy in arguing that lawmakers bear a responsibility to remove Trump’s threat to the country. "He must go," she said. "He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love."
Pelosi said Trump lied repeatedly about the outcome of the election and sought to influence state officials “to repeal reality.”
“Then came that day of fire we all experienced,” Pelosi said.
– Bart Jansen
House kicks off 2 hours of impeachment debate
The House is beginning two hours of debate on whether to impeach President Donald Trump for inciting a mob assault last week on the U.S. Capitol that left five dead and lawmakers huddling in seclusion for their safety.
The House approved a rule setting up the contours of the impeachment debate. The vote in the Democratic-led chamber was 221-203 on a strict party-line vote.
Most Republicans objected to bringing up the impeachment article for debate. They argued it would be better to establish a commission to study why rioters were able to take over the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers met to accept the state-certified election results Jan. 6. They also wanted to include language creating a commission to investigate the 2020 election.
The article charges Trump with inciting the riot that left five dead and the building in shambles after he spoke to many of them at a rally near the White House that morning, repeating his baseless claims of widespread voter fraud and encouraging them to head to the Capitol.
A vote on impeachment could begin as early as 3 p.m. EST. If it passes as expected, the article would then head to the Senate for a trial or dismissal.
– Maureen Groppe and Ledyard King
Hoyer: 'Never too late to do the right thing'
At the end of an impassioned speech for impeaching President Donald Trump, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., addressed the issue of why Democrats are moving to do so with only days left in his presidency.
“Is there little time left? Yes,” Hoyer said. “But it is never too late to do the right thing.”
Shortly after Hoyer spoke, Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., repeated Republicans’ argument that the move will only further divide the nation.
“President Trump will be leaving in seven days,” Smith said. “Let’s try to heal this nation.”
– Maureen Groppe
Republicans defend their objections to election results
As the House prepared to impeach President Donald Trump, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, defended his and other Republicans’ objections to the acceptance of the state-certified election results last week by arguing that some Democrats had made a similar objection after the 2016 election.
“They can object to Alabama in 2017,” Jordan said, “but tell us we can’t object to Pennsylvania in 2021.”
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., rejected what he called Republicans’ “false equivalency.”
McGovern said he and some other Democrats objected four years ago “as a protest vote” because of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. But, he continued, Democrats did not push conspiracy theories and did recognize Trump as the incoming president.
“Give me a break,” McGovern said.
– Maureen Groppe
Democrats invoke Liz Cheney’s words against Trump to make impeachment case
The star witness for the House Democrats pushing the impeachment of President Donald Trump is turning out to be a top Republican: Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.
Cheney, the third most powerful GOP member of the House, announced Tuesday she would be voting to impeach the president, saying the unprecedented attack on the Capitol Jan. 6 was a direct result of Trump’s actions.
“The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack,” she said in a stark, three-paragraph statement. “Everything that followed was his doing. “
As debate began Wednesday on impeachment, leading Democrats such as Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., invoked her words to persuade GOP lawmakers to join them in impeaching the president for “incitement of insurrection.”
“This is not some irresponsible new member of the Congress of the United States. This is the daughter of the former Republican Whip and a former vice president of the United States of America,” Hoyer said of his Republican colleague from Wyoming whose father is former Vice President Dick Cheney. “She knows of what she speaks.”
– Ledyard King
One week after attack, heightened security at Capitol, including National Guard
The grounds of the U.S. Capitol, normally open to the public and a running and biking route for many Washington, D.C., natives, was surrounded by a tall metal fence Wednesday, with dozens of National Guardsmen standing at the perimeter cradling their rifles at the ready.
Police officers and large dump trucks blocked intersections for blocks surrounding the building, a stark contrast to security in the area last week when a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol.
The heightened security in Washington comes as the House prepares to impeach Trump a second time Wednesday for his role in the riot that left five people dead.
Inside, the parts of the Capitol open to tourists instead were home to sleeping National Guardsmen – some of whom used camouflage blankets to block the sun coming in through the window. Lawmakers, staff and members of the press tip-toed past the snoozing guardsmen, including some who were snoring. Groups of troops made a home in the massive rotunda and near two entrances of the building, including an entrance typically used by the president-elect on inauguration day but was targeted by rioters last week.
At an entrance of the Capitol where House Speaker Nancy Pelosi normally enters, Guardsmen lay asleep beneath a bust of President Abraham Lincoln catching a bit of rest. A plaque above them commemorated soldiers who had been quartered at the Capitol at the beginning of the Civil War
Groups of soldiers walked around the grounds, and others unloaded riot gear, pistols, and rifles in the Capitol plaza.
Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., led Guardsmen around the building on a tour about the building’s history. Mast, an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, lost both legs during the conflict.
The remnants of last week’s attack could be felt throughout the building. Plywood covers several windows on the first floor of the building where pro-Trump protesters broke in. In the basement, a large memorial was erected to thank Capitol Police for their service. Flowers, along with large and colorful posters from lawmakers, staff and children line the walls of an underground tunnel connecting the U.S. Capitol to House office buildings.
“Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid,” reads one poster from 8-year-old Syd in Virginia.
“We are forever indebted to our Capitol Police officers for making the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf. Thank you for keeping us safe,” reads another message from Rep. Nancy Mace’s office.
– Christal Hayes and Nicholas Wu
Republicans push commission instead of impeachment
House Republicans argued Wednesday that instead of impeaching President Donald Trump, Congress should create a commission to study what happened last week.
Modeled after the bipartisan commission that analyzed the 9/11 terrorism attacks, the body would recommend how to prevent attacks on the Capitol in the future.
“I can think of no more appropriate path for Congress to follow,” said Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole, the top Republican on the House Rules Committee.
Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis, the top Republican on the House Administration Committee, said the attacks “scared all of us who were here” and showed adversaries how they could take out a branch of government.
Democrats have said they will fully investigate the attacks, but Trump also needs to be impeached.
“We have no idea what he is capable of doing,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.
– Maureen Groppe
Top Rules Committee Republican: impeachment would further divide nation
The top Republican on the House Rules Committee urged lawmakers not to move forward with a snap impeachment, saying Wednesday it would deny President Donald Trump due process and further divide a torn nation.
“Rather than seeking to heal America, they’re trying to divide up more deeply," said Oklahoma Republican Tom Cole as the House began debate on the rules setting up debate on the impeachment resolution.
While Cole denounced the violence at the Capitol last week and described the president’s words as “reckless,” he said Congress should prepare for a new administration rather than rush to punish the departing one.
“Congress and the nation can move forward knowing the political process was completed as designed,” Cole said, referring to the recognition of Biden’s win last week when lawmakers approved the tabulation of the electoral vote in Biden’s favor. “But instead of moving forward as a unifying force, the majority in the House is choosing to divide us further.”
Cole said there are better ways to rebuke Trump, notably a resolution to censure the president that some Republican lawmakers have been circulating.
– Ledyard King
Rep. McGovern: House begins impeachment debate 'at an actual crime scene'
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., opened the House debate on whether to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time by referencing his surroundings, which had been overrun by rioters last week.
“We are debating this historic measure at an actual crime scene,” McGovern said. “And we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the president of the United States.”
McGovern said Trump and his allies stoked the anger of a violent mob in an attempt to overturn the presidential election results.
A majority of House Republicans voted last week not to accept the state-certified results. While some Republicans will vote for the impeachment article, many others have called it a political move that will further divide the nation.
Addressing his GOP colleagues, McGovern said he is “not about to be lectured by people who just voted to overturn the results of a free and fair election.”
“America was attacked and we must respond, even when the cause of this violence resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” he said. “Every moment Trump is in the White House, our nation, our freedom, is in danger.”
– Maureen Groppe
House reconvenes to debate Trump impeachment
Hours after passing a nonbinding resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to take power away from President Donald Trump, the House reconvened Wednesday to debate whether to impeach Trump for the second time.
The impeachment article, which is expected to be backed by all Democrats and some Republicans, could be approved by late afternoon.
The House is moving with remarkable swiftness to hold Trump accountable for his part in the takeover of the Capitol last week by rioters trying to stop Congress from counting the presidential election results.
House members have one hour to debate the rules for considering the impeachment article. They’re expected to vote on the parliamentary procedures around 10: a.m. EST
If those are approved, there will be two hours of debate on the article of impeachment, which charges Trump with inciting the riot Jan. 6 at the Capitol. The vote on the article itself could come about 3 p.m. EST, according to House leaders.
If Trump is impeached, the House will send the article to the Senate for trial. But the timing of a trial isn’t certain because Democrats are wary of the trial distracting attention from confirming President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees and legislative priorities when his term starts Jan. 20.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told MSNBC Wednesday that the article will be transmitted as soon as possible.
"We think there's an urgency here,” Hoyer said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
House Democrats previously impeached Trump in December 2019 for charges that he abused the power of his office and obstructed Congress in his dealings with Ukraine. The Republican-led Senate acquitted him in February 2020.
Pence has said he will not invoke the 25th Amendment, as Democrats want, to become acting president in the final days of the Trump administration.
– Bart Jansen, Maureen Groppe and Ledyard King
Rep. Liz Cheney: Trump 'lit the flame' of Capitol riot
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the third-ranking House Republican, is joining Democrats in backing impeachment of President Donald Trump as the House prepares for a vote on the issue in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot.
If approved, Trump would become the first president in history to be impeached twice. House Democrats impeached Trump in December 2019 charging abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in his dealings with Ukraine.
An open question this time is how many Republicans will join Democrats in voting to impeach the president. Republicans remained united in opposing the first impeachment, but at least five GOP lawmakers may vote with Democrats to impeach Trump, with more possibly joining them.
The article of impeachment charges the president with "incitement of insurrection" for "spreading false statements" about the election and challenging the Electoral College results, which Congress was counting on Jan. 6 when the mob broke into the Capitol.
The resolution quotes Trump's speech to the crowd prior to the riot, "If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore." The rampage that interrupted the count left one police officer dead, a female rioter fatally shot and three others dead from medical emergencies.
Cheney said Trump played a pivotal role in instigating the Capitol Hill riot.
"The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack," she said in a statement. "Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President."
Republican Reps. John Katko of New York and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois also said they'll l vote to impeach.
"To allow the President of the United States to incite this attack without consequence is a direct threat to the future of our democracy," Katko said in a statement. "For that reason, I cannot sit by without taking action. I will vote to impeach this President."
Kinzinger, a former Air Force veteran who served multiple tours overseas and in the Middle East, said there was "no doubt in my mind that the President of the United States broke his oath of office and incited this insurrection."
Trump on Tuesday said the impeachment effort is stoking anger across the country. He also said his speech near the White House on Jan. 6, before rioters walked down Pennsylvania Avenue to storm the Capitol, was "totally appropriate."
Most House Republicans have argued that impeachment with only a week left in Trump's administration, which ends Jan. 20, will further divide the country.
But some Republicans have said Trump's efforts to question the election results and then stoke a violent mob require a response.
Democrats said impeachment could also be a way to prevent Trump from serving in federal office again. A two-thirds vote in the Senate is required for conviction, but then senators could vote to bar him from office.
If the House approves the article, the timing of the Senate trial is unclear. Democrats are reluctant to begin a trial just as President-elect Joe Biden's term begins. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has said she's reviewing the timing, but hasn't announced a decision.
Contributing: Christal Hayes
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump impeached second time by House for ‘incitement’ of Capitol riot
