National Post (National Edition)
Trump impeached for second time
WASHINGTON • Donald Trump became the first U.S. president to be impeached twice, charged with inciting an insurrection just a week after a violent mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol.
The vote in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives was 232-197 Wednesday, with 10 Republicans joining the Democrats in backing impeachment of the president in his waning days in power.
But it appeared unlikely that the extraordinarily swift impeachment would lead to Trump’s ouster before the Republican president’s term ends and Democratic President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20.
The Senate's Republican majority leader, Mitch McConnell, rejected Democratic calls for an immediate impeachment trial, saying there was no time to conclude a trial before Trump leaves office.
An hour after the vote, Trump released a video recorded in the Oval Office calling for calm and saying he was shocked and saddened by the “calamity at the Capitol.” He made no mention of impeachment.
“I unequivocally condemn the violence that we saw last week. Violence and vandalism have absolutely no place in our country and no place in our movement.”
In what appeared to be a reference to his banishment from social media, he said there has been an unprecedented assault on free speech in recent days and he called it wrong and dangerous.
“We need to listen to one another, not silence one another.”
The House passed a single article of impeachment accusing Trump of “incitement of insurrection,” focused on an incendiary speech he delivered to thousands of supporters shortly before the pro-Trump mob rampaged through the Capitol on Jan. 6. 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 claims that the election was fraudulent and exhorted supporters to march on the Capitol.
With thousands of rifle-carrying National Guard troops inside and outside the Capitol, an emotional debate unfolded in the House chamber where lawmakers had crouched under chairs and donned gas masks a week earlier.
“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 before the vote. “He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.”
No U.S. president has ever been removed from office through impeachment. Three — Trump in 2019, Bill Clinton in 1998 and Andrew Johnson in 1868 — previously were impeached by the House but acquitted by the Senate.
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.”
Some Republicans argued that the impeachment drive was a rush to judgment 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.
Ten Republicans voted to impeach, 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 U.S. 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 returns on Jan. 19, one day before Biden's inauguration. The trial would proceed in the Senate even after Trump leaves office.
“Given the rules, procedures, and Senate precedents that govern presidential impeachment trials, there is simply no chance that a fair or serious trial could conclude before president-elect Biden is sworn in next week,” McConnell said.
McConnell said in a memo to his fellow Republicans that he had not made a final decision on how he will vote on impeachment in the Senate.
Democrats could also use a Senate impeachment trial to try to push through a vote blocking Trump from running for office again.
The House voted to impeach Trump in 2019, but the Senate in February 2020 voted to keep him in office.
HE IS A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER TO THE NATION.