HOUSE IMPEACHES TRUMP FOR HISTORIC SECOND TIME
Charge against president: ‘Incitement of insurrection’ 10 Republicans support unprecedented indictment Senate trial not likely before Jan. 20 inauguration Vote in response to siege on Capitol
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday to impeach President Donald Trump for the second time in 13 months, an unprecedented rebuke against the outgoing president one week after a violent mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in the first invasion of the country’s most hallowed legislative chambers since the War of 1812.
House lawmakers approved the four-page impeachment article of inciting insurrection by a vote of 232-197, with 10 Republicans joining all Democrats in the chamber to vote in favor. Mr. Trump is the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice.
The impeachment capped an angry, nerve-wracking week on Capitol Hill as lawmakers grappled with how to respond to the Jan. 6 attack that interrupted a joint session of Congress and sent lawmakers fleeing to safety.
Lawmakers were counting the Electoral College votes — a noncontroversial formality in most election cycles — when Mr. Trump’s supporters overwhelmed police and broke into the building. The riot resulted in the deaths of five people and injuries to more than 50 police officers.
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. — the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney and the third-ranking House Republican leader — voted to impeach Mr. Trump, arguing in a statement that there had “never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States.”
“The president of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack,” Ms. Cheney said in a statement Tuesday, a day before the vote. “Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the president.”
The House-passed article of impeachment now goes to the U.S. Senate for trial, which is unlikely to begin until after President-elect Joe Biden takes office Jan. 20 and the Senate convenes under new Democratic leadership.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Wednesday rejected calls to convene the Senate for a speedy trial, effectively allowing Mr. Trump to serve out his final week in office.
Mr. Trump, in a video message Wednesday after the impeachment vote, called for peace and condemned the Capitol violence.
“No true supporters of mine could ever endorse political violence,” Mr. Trump said, without mentioning the impeachment. “Mob violence goes against everything I believe in and everything our movement stands for.”
In February, Mr. Trump was acquitted by the Senate on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Just one Republican senator, Mitt Romney of Utah, voted to remove the president from office.
That impeachment trial, following a monthslong impeachment inquiry led by the House Intelligence Committee and House Judiciary Committee, was centered on Mr. Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to dig up dirt on Mr. Biden. The former vice president was, at that time, a top contender for the Democratic nomination ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
The House voted in December 2019 to impeach Mr. Trump, with Democrats arguing Mr. Trump was attempting to interfere in the presidential elections.
Wednesday’s impeachment vote came amid new circumstances.
Mr. Biden won the November presidential election by more than 7 million votes. All 50 states certified the results, and the Electoral College met on Dec. 14 to cast their votes with the will of the people.
Yet Mr. Trump has refused to concede. Instead, the president has spread unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voter fraud on social media on a daily basis, claiming the election was “stolen” from him and urging his supporters to “stop the steal.” He has called Georgia officials to pressure them to “find” enough votes for him to win the state.
On Jan. 6, Mr. Trump spoke to the large group of supporters in Washington shortly before they marched to the Capitol. He repeated his unsubstantiated claims that he won several battleground states, including Pennsylvania, and urged his supporters to “fight like hell” on his behalf.
For several hours Wednesday, lawmakers debated whether Mr. Trump’s rhetoric constituted the incitement of an insurrection.
Democrats described Mr. Trump’s behavior as a “clear and present danger” to the country. Social media companies have agreed, they pointed out, with Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other platforms restricting the president’s accounts.
“These votes will be inscribed on the roll of history, a record of courage and of our commitment to country and Constitution,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said in closing remarks on the House floor. “It is about the necessity to demonstrate to this generation and future generations the duty we share to protect our democracy every single day.”
He urged Republicans to “reject deceit, reject fearmongering, reject sedition, tyranny and insurrection” and “reject the fealty to one man over fidelity to one’s country.”
Republicans had warned the move to impeach would inflame tensions further.
“Impeachment at this time would have the opposite effect of bringing our country together when we need to get America back on a path towards unity and civility,” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, RCalif.
Mr. McCarthy floated the possibility of a resolution to censure Mr. Trump, a symbolic measure that would not reprimand the president for his actions, and to form bipartisan commission, modeled on the 9/11
Commission, to investigate causes of the attack and make recommendations.
During the session, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, revived Mr. Trump’s claims about the election results. The statement drew sharp criticism from Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., and others that “big lies” were fueling the nation’s divide.
Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Peters, who joined the House Rules Committee, criticized the impeachment process as even more rushed and potentially harmful to the country than the 2019 impeachment inquiry. “At the very least, that had expert input, depositions, hearings and deliberation,” he said.
“This latest attempt at impeachment ignores all precedent, ignores all due process,” Mr. Reschenthaler said.
Citing his experience as a prosecutor in the U.S. Navy and a civilian judge, he argued Mr. Trump’s words would not meet the definition of “incitement” under criminal statutes.
“The measure before us today sets a dangerous precedent whereby political parties can justify impeachment simply because they do not agree with the president,” Mr. Reschenthaler said. “Take a step back, let cooler heads prevail, and consider how the actions we’re taking here today will alter the course of history and lower an already-low bar for impeachment.”
After Mr. Reschenthaler sat down, Mr. McGovern, chair of the Rules Committee, responded that Mr. Trump’s words “launched a violent attack against this
Capitol where five people lost their lives.”
“So, give me a break,” Mr. McGovern said.
Locals divided
The Pittsburgh region’s lawmakers were divided by party, as they were during the last impeachment vote.
Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, and Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon, voted to pass the impeachment article.
Mr. Lamb framed the vote as a matter of public safety.
“There are heavily armed groups all over the country who look to Trump for direction and carry his flag, and they continue to plot because he continues to lie about the election,” Mr. Lamb stated. “We all saw how quickly he can incite them to commit serious violence, even against a hard target like the Capitol. That could happen again at any second over the next week.”
The region’s four Republicans — Mr. Reschenthaler, Rep. Mike Kelly of Butler, Rep. John Joyce of Blair, and Rep. Glenn Thompson of Centre — voted against impeachment.
“I don’t believe President Trump committed an impeachable offense when he told those at the rally to protest peacefully and make their voices heard,” Mr. Kelly said in a statement. “He did not tell them to commit violence, and he and all of Congress have rightfully condemned the rioters who breached the U.S. Capitol. If America is to come together, political games have to stop.”
Mr. Joyce, in a statement, called the impeachment a
“disservice to the U.S. Constitution and to our democracy.”
“As we move forward,” he wrote, “this is the moment to build national unity and focus on the peaceful transition of power ahead.”
“Emotions are running high, and this has led to an impromptu article of impeachment,” Mr. Thompson stated, expressing concern that impeachment “will only further sow seeds of division across the political landscape.”
Mr. Reschenthaler, Mr. Joyce and Mr. Thompson have all declined interview requests since Jan. 6 on what should be done in the wake of the violence.
Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said Wednesday it was “debatable” whether the Senate has the constitutional authority to hold an impeachment trial for a former president. But he promised to “fulfill my responsibility to consider arguments” from both sides during the trial.
A small group of Republicans spoke up to support impeachment — an extraordinary moment of lawmakers bucking their own party.
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, a Republican from Washington state, said she would vote for impeachment because Mr. Trump incited the riot and then “hours went by before the president did anything meaningful to stop the attack.”
“I’m not choosing a side,” Ms. Beutler said on the floor, “I’m choosing truth. It’s the only way to defeat fear.”