Trump impeachment: Debate starts on ‘incitement of insurrection’

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The House of Representatives started debating impeaching President Donald Trump for a second time – which would be a historic first – for inciting an insurrection just one week after the MAGA mob stormed Capitol Hill. 

Trump’s Republican allies did not defend Trump’s behavior, but instead pitched censuring the president or launching a 9/11-style commission, more fitting punishments they argued for someone who was already leaving office. 

In the first procedural vote of the day, Democrats voted en masse 221 to 205 against a Republican effort to install a commission. 

Rep. Tom Cole, the first GOP lawmaker to speak, argued against a hasty impeachment vote ‘not because of the president’s inappropraite and reckless words are deserving of defense but because the presidency itself demands due process.’ 

Republicans also warned impeaching Trump for a second time would only make partisan hostilities worse.  

‘This is a reckless impeachment,’ complained Republican Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri. ‘This will only bring up the hate and fire more than ever before.’ 

Democrats described the terror of last week’s attack. 

‘We are debating this resolution at an actual crime scene and we wouldn’t be here if not for the president of the United States,’ said Rep. Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat. ‘People were sending text messages to their loved ones, telling them they loved them. They thought they were saying goodbye,’ he added. 

The Democrats also pointed to the Republicans’ high-profile defection: the No. 3 House Republican, Rep. Liz Cheney.       

Cheney, the Republican Conference Chair, laced into Trump in an explosive statement saying he ‘lit the flame’ of insurrection, saying: ‘There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.’

The decision to back impeachment by Cheney, a member of Republican royalty as the daughter of Dick Cheney, and seen as a future contender for the party’s House leadership and the Speaker’s chair, means that impeachment on Wednesday will be bipartisan. 

Reps. Jim Jordan and Paul Gosar, two of Trump’s top GOP House allies, were pushing to have Cheney removed from her leadership position.   

Also joining Cheney in voting for the Democratic-prepared article of impeachment will be Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, John Katko of New York,  Fred Upton of Michigan and Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington. 

The White House was bracing for more.

Cheney’s decision came minutes after Mitch McConnell was revealed to believe that Trump had committed impeachable offenses.

Reuters reported mid-day Wednesday that a Senate trial could start as early as Friday, despite the Senate currently being out of session until January 19.  

The New York Times’ bombshell was still echoing in Washington D.C. when the House started its debate – and as it dragged to a close Tuesday night, Axios reported that McConnell was leaning towards a vote to convict the president and was ‘more than 50/50’ on it.  

She was seen speaking to Raskin on Tuesday night as he led the Democrats arguing for a resolution urging Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment removing Trump from power.

The House passed it late Tuesday despite Pence sending a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying he’ll refuse. 

In a vote that wrapped up around 11.30pm Tuesday, the House voted 223-205 to approve the resolution, which can’t actually force the vice president’s hand.   

‘I do not believe that such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with the Constitution,’ Pence said in his letter to Pelosi, refusing to pull the trigger on the 25th. 

‘Last week, I did not yield to pressure to exert beyond my constitutional authority to determine the outcome of the election, and I will not now yield to efforts in the House of Representatives to play political games at a time so serious in the life of our Nation,’ Pence added. 

Pence’s letter came as the House was holding procedural votes on the resolution.   

No Republicans joined on until the final vote – with Rep. Adam Kinzinger joining Democrats in the push to have Pence to use the 25th.  

That set the scene for an impeachment debate and vote Wednesday entirely different from the first impeachment vote on October 31, 2019.

Then the only non-Democratic vote was from Justin Amash, who was essentially forced out of the Republican party before he even cast it.

But after a day in which they feared for their lives, the mood in Congress had changed rapidly.

Tuesday’s debate saw pro-Trump Republicans line up to back him – but party moderates conspicuously silent, and the Minority leader and his deputy Steve Scalise silent.

The resolution blamed Trump for the violent MAGA mob that broke into Capitol Hill Wednesday, laying out how he ‘broadly encouraged’ his supporters to come to Washington on January 6, saying that the day would be ‘wild.’ 

‘Donald Trump has demonstrated repeatedly, continuously, and spectacularly his absolute inability to discharge the most basic and fundamental powers and duties of his office, including most recently the duty to respect the legitimate results of the Presidential election, the duty to respect the peaceful transfer of democratic power under the Constitution, the duty to participate in legally defined transition activities, the duty to protect and uphold the Constitution of the United States, including the counting of Electoral College votes by Congress, the duty to protect the people of the United States and their elected representatives against domestic insurrection, mob rule, and seditious violence, and generally the duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed,’ the resolution says. 

Despite being targets in the violent incident, House Republicans lined up against passing the resolution.  

Rep. Tom Cole, a Republican from Oklahoma, called the resolution ‘an attempt to pressure the vice president into performing a duty he clearly does not believe is necessary at this time.’ 

As exasperated Rep. Pat Fallon, a new GOP lawmaker from Texas, said Trump held a ‘permitted, legal and peaceful rally,’ refusing to blame him for the group of Trump supporters who mobbed the Capitol.   

Jordan, the Ohio Republican who recently was given a Presidential Medal of Freedom by Trump, lambasted the effort – and also the new fines for not wearing masks in the House chamber and the metal detectors that were installed Tuesday outside the doors of the House floor. 

In his letter to Pelosi, Pence argued that the 25th Amendment was supposed to address ‘incapacity or disability.’ 

The vice president pointed to the Democrats own effort to create a 25th Amendment Commission, which said a president’s fitness must be determined by ‘science and facts’ and ‘[v]ery respectful of not making a judgment on the basis of a comment or behavior we don’t like, but based on a medical decision.’   

Pence also pledged that the administration’s energy was dedicated to ‘ensuring an orderly transition.’  

The vice president repeated an argument being pushed by a number of Capitol Hill Republicans – that pursuing removal of Trump would only make things worse.

‘I urge you and every member of Congress to avoid actions that would further divide and inflame the passions of the moment,’ Pence said. ‘Work with us to lower the temperature and unite our country as we prepare to inauguration President-elect Joe Biden as the next president of the United States.’   

In the hours after the riot, Pence did his Constitutional duty and certified President-elect Joe Biden, something he had been pressured by Trump not to do. 

‘You can either go down in history as a patriot,’ Trump had told Pence by phone before he headed to the Capitol Wednesday, according to The New York Times. ‘Or you can go down in history as a p****.’   

Pence was inside when the violent mobbed attacked, with some Trump supporters calling out, ‘Hang Mike Pence.’  

The Times reported that Trump had invited Pence to the Oval Office Monday night to try to smooth things over in the run-up to the House’s 25th Amendment vote. 

The official description of the meeting was ‘good,’ according to the newspaper. 

Unofficially sources called it ‘nonsubstantive’ and ‘stilted.’  

Tuesday night’s vote on the 25th Amendment is considered the appetizer for Wednesday’s main course: the House pursuing impeachment again. 

Nowhere in his letter did Pence say he objected to that move.   

Shortly after Pence sent out his letter, Pelosi sent out the names of impeachment managers. 

She picked Rep. Jamie Raskin, who introduced the 25th Amendment resolution, as the head manager. 

‘I think every member of this body should be able to agree that this president is not meeting the most minimal duties of office,’ Raskin argued Tuesday night. 

Raskin also warned his fellow lawmakers that Trump could pardon the Capitol Hill attackers during his waning days. 

Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, recently lost his son. 

Additionally, Democratic Reps. Diana DeGette, David Cicilline, Joaquin Castro, Eric Swalwell, Ted Lieu, Stacey Plaskett, Joe Neguse and Madeleine Dean were also chosen.  

Earlier Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell signaled his support for the impeachment effort that includes an article charging the president with ‘incitement of insurrection.’

The view of the GOP powerbroker emerged shortly before Rep. Liz Cheney, a member of the House GOP leadership, announced that she would vote for impeaching President Trump.  

‘On January 6, 2021 a violent mob attacked the United States Capitol to obstruct the process of our democracy and stop the counting of presidential electoral votes. This insurrection caused injury, death and destruction in the most sacred space in our Republic,’ wrote Cheney, the daughter of the former vice president.

‘Much more will become clear in coming days and weeks, but what we know now is enough. The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution,’ she continued.

‘I will vote to impeach the President,’ Cheney concluded.   

Neither Cheney nor McConnell backed Democrats impeachment effort a year ago.  

McConnell worked successfully to scuttle the impeachment effort during a trial last year on different charges. 

His current view follows reports that McConnell never wants to speak to Trump again after the Capitol riots that had Trump supporters invading the Capitol, trashing leadership offices, and endangering the lives of lawmakers.

McConnell backs the effort because it will make it easier to purge Trump from the party, the New York Times reports.

One feature of impeachment – which can grind the Senate to a halt and lead to furious partisan arguments – is that it allows lawmakers to vote to prohibit the person being impeached from ever holding public office with the U.S. government.

Trump may run for president in 2024, and many of his potential rivals happen to hold Senate seats.  

McConnell has made clear in private discussions that ‘now is the moment to move on the weakened lame duck, whom he blames for Republicans losing the Senate,’ according to the report.

Trump ignored McConnell’s advice and launched his election challenge despite two run-off elections in Georgia which the GOP lost – stripping the party of its majority. 

A source told CNN McConnell ‘hates’ Trump and is ‘furious’ with him after the Capitol riots. 

The siege left five people dead, including a U.S. Capitol Police officer who was based on the Senate side.  

McConnell’s wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, quit the Trump cabinet after the riots, which included an angry mob getting blocked steps from the door to the Senate chamber that McConnell uses when he normally strolls from his leadership office. 

It was not immediately clear how McConnell might vote on impeachment. 

McConnell’s view emerged as Trump, rather than express contrition, called impeachment a ‘hoax’ and a ‘witch hunt,’ and defended his pre-riot comments that Democrats have already said was incitement. Trump called his speech minutes before the siege ‘totally appropriate.’         

Cheney’s statement denouncing the president comes after Trump told supporters they need to ‘get rid’ of people like her. 

‘We got to get rid of the weak Congresspeople, the ones that aren’t any good, the Liz Cheneys of the world. We got to get rid of them,’ Trump said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi praised her, amid speculation numerous House Republicans might follow her lead. 

‘Good for her for honoring her oath of us. Would that more Republicans would honor their oaths of office,’ Pelosi said. 

GOP Rep. John Katko also announced he would back impeachment Tuesday night. 

‘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, Syracuse.com reported. ‘For that reason, I cannot sit by without taking action. I will vote to impeach this president,’ he said. 

During floor debate, Katko said he wasn’t supporting the 25th Amendment resolution because it was ‘non-binding,’ calling it ‘merely a symbolic gesture.’  

Katko confirmed his plans to vote for impeachment. 

Michigan Republican Rep. Fred Upton also told Forbes he would vote to impeach. 

As midnight approached, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler also said she was a yes.   

Convicting Trump on an impeachment article requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate, where Republicans hold 50 votes – a high bar to meet.  

Assuming passage in the House, it has not been determined when Democratic leaders will transmit the impeachment article, or when the Senate might take it up. 

A McConnell memo that emerged over the weekend cited scheduling challenges for impeachment – a trial might not even begin until after Jan. 19th, since the Senate is not in session. 

President-elect Joe Biden said Monday there was the possibility of dual-tracking an impeachment and Senate session that would be needed to get his cabinet confirmed.

Biden phoned McConnell on Monday, according to the Times on the subject of a trial, and McConnell said he would consult the Senate parliamentarian and get back. 

There are Senate rules and precedents governing impeachment, but leaders also might be able to negotiate a way to handle it, with the possibility of a special impeachment committee taking up some of the burden. 

Trump has continued his usual pattern of lashing out at political adversaries when under attack. 

‘Free speech is under assault like never before. The 25th Amendment is of zero risk to me, but will come back to haunt Joe Biden and the Biden Administration. As the expression goes, be careful what you wish for,’ Trump said Tuesday, before lawmakers cast their votes Tuesday night.  

Post-riot accounts from last Wednesday reveal that not only did President Trump egg on supporters who wreaked havoc in the Capitol – but he was glued to the television as the events unfolded, incapable of responding to desperate pleas to use influence to stop it and enjoying seeing it unfold. 

There were two major areas where the president fell dramatically short of what was being asked of him: using his personal popularity with his followers to urge them to vacate the Capitol immediately; and using the vast powers of his office to try to speed a federal response. 

But when key current and former aides and family members tried to reach him, he was ‘busy enjoying the spectacle,’ according to a Washington Post account.

As the historic mob invasion of the U.S. seat of legislative government unfolded, a variety of people with influence over Trump sought to get to him to urge action.

The routes they took were typical of the loosely organized web of influence within the Trump White House. 

Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham – who only after the riot firmly declared Joe Biden the winner of the election – reached out to the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump. 

‘It took him a while to appreciate the gravity of the situation,’ Graham told the Post. ‘The president saw these people as his allies in his journey and sympathetic to the idea that the election was stolen,’ Graham said of the rioters who took the Capitol. 

House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who Trump believes is so much under his wing that he has publicly called him ‘My Kevin,’ was pleading for action. 

McCarthy phoned Trump directly to try to plead for assistance – but also called the president’s son in law, Jared Kushner, who was returning form a trip to the Middle East.

Former counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, who doesn’t even work for Trump anymore, tried to get through to him to urge action. 

She phoned an aide she knew was in close proximity to Trump. 

The office of the Mayor of Washington, desperate to get more National Guard forces amid logistical and jurisdictional hurdles, also reached out to Conway.

Chief of staff Mark Meadows urged Trump to speak out after an aide told him: ‘They are going to kill people,’ in reference to the rioters. 

A primary area of the pleas related to something Trump was capable of doing on his own without engaging with the bureaucracy: issuing simple Twitter or video pleas for protesters to get out of the Capitol.

The appeals he finally made either lacked a direct call to fall back, or sprinkled in approving language even as the riot that would become deadly unfolded.

At 2:30 pm, about half an hour after the Capitol breach, Trump told his supporters to ‘Please support our Capitol Police’ and to ‘Stay peaceful!’ 

His next message was more explicit, writing ‘No violence!’ – but claimed ‘WE are the Party of Law & Order.’

After he finally put out a video at about 4 pm, Trump finally told his backers to ‘go home.’ But he also called them ‘very special,’ called the election ‘fraudulent,’ and said: ‘You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel. But go home, and go home in peace.’

Trump himself had egged on his supporters with demands that they ‘fight,’ calling the election fraudulent, and putting pressure on Vice President Mike Pence, whose only role was ceremonial and involved opening and reading from envelopes containing electoral votes.

Trump was glued to the television as the storming of the Capitol was broadcast. 

Prior reporting has revealed that the Washington D.C. government had requested a National Guard presence, but Guard were assigned to traffic and other assistance and weren’t issued ammo or riot gear. 

The now resigned chief of Capitol Police says he wanted more Guard support in advance of Wednesday but had been told by superiors to ask for it informally. The governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan, says there were delays getting approval to send Guard forces from the Pentagon.

But it wasn’t mere distraction that kept Trump from springing into action. It’s not atht he was too busy because he was so consumed, which he was,’ the New York Times reported.

‘He was pleased because it was people fighting on his behalf. He was pleased because he liked the scene. And he was pleased because it was delaying the certification of the Electoral College vote,’ the New York Times reported. ‘He knew what was happening… He just didn’t want to do anything.’

Although McCarthy told colleagues on a call Monday Trump had accepted ‘some responsibility’ for the riot, on Tuesday the president was back to his defiant posture familiar from impeachment and the Russia probe. 

Trump said a second impeachment Democrats are lining up is a ‘continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics.’