House to restart the impeachment process
WASHINGTON – House Democrats plan to introduce an article of impeachment as early as Monday alleging the president should be removed from office days after a violent proTrump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol in a deadly riot.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave the green light to beginning the impeachment process following an “hourslong conversation ... unlike any other” with her caucus.
“It is the hope of Members that the President will immediately resign. But if he does not, I have instructed the Rules Committee to be prepared to move forward with ... a motion for impeachment,” she said in a statement issued by her office Friday evening.
House leaders are still discussing how best to proceed against Trump, who would be the first president to be impeached twice. In December 2019, the House approved an action based on his efforts to pressure Ukraine to help him win re-election against thencandidate Joe Biden.
Democrats could introduce their impeachment article as soon as Monday, according to a person familiar with the effort.
The likeliest vehicle appears to be four-page article alleging “incitement of insurrection” circulated Friday by lawmakers including Rep. David Cicilline, D-Rhode Island, and Rep. Ted Lieu, DCalifornia, which labels Trump “a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution.”
The article accuses Trump of engaging in “High Crimes and Misdemeanors by willfully inciting violence against the Government of the United States.” It alleges he egged on thousands of supporters during a rally near the White House on Wednesday to march to the Capitol in support of lawmakers trying to stop the count of Electoral College votes recognizing Biden as the winner of the Nov. 3 election.
“We’re going to walk down, and I’ll be there with you . ... We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them,” he told them. “Because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”
Shortly after, throngs of protesters forcibly entered the Capitol building, ransacking offices, vandalizing rooms and forcing lawmakers to scurry for safety. Five people died as a result, including a rioter who was shot and a Capitol Police officer who died from injuries inflicted by the mob.