Deutsche Welle (English edition)
US Senate's Mitch McConnell believes Donald Trump committed impeachable offenses — report
Mitch McConnell is reportedly pleased by the Democratic effort to impeach Trump. It comes as Republicans say they would vote in favor of impeachment.
US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is pleased about the Democratic effort to impeach outgoing President Donald Trump, believing it will make it easier to purge him from the party, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.
McConnell told associates that he believes Trump committed impeachable offenses, sources close to him told the US newspaper.
Trump faces a second impeachment in the US House of Representatives over his alleged role in inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol building last week in a mob attack to overturn the results of the presidential election.
The violence by pro-Trump groups on January 6 left five
people dead and sent lawmakers gathered to certify the election results into hiding.
Trump has refused to take responsibility for encouraging his supporters and said his remarks at a rally preceding the storming of the building were "totally appropriate."
House Republicans divided
US Representative John Katko on Tuesday became the first Republican House member to join Democrats in their bid to impeach the president.
"It cannot be ignored that President Trump encouraged this insurrection — both on social media ahead of January 6th and in his speech that day," Katko said in a statement on Twitter.
"To allow the President of the United States to incite this attack without consequences is a direct threat to the future of our democracy," he said. "I will vote to impeach this president."
Wyoming's Representative Liz Cheney, House Republican Conference chair, also issued a statement on Tuesday saying she will vote in favor of the impeachment.
"There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the constitution," said the number three Republican in the House.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has reportedly asked other Republicans whether he should call on Trump to resign over the Capitol violence.
Neither McCarthy nor McConnell have publicly called on Trump to resign or said he should be impeached.
Top House Republicans are telling lawmakers that they won't be pressured into voting a particular way when the chamber considers impeaching Trump.
While most Republicans still oppose the impeachment bid, several are expected to approve the move in what may be a career-defining vote.
Trump has had a stronghold over the Republican party since he won the White House in 2016. The party managed to thwart previous efforts by Democrats to remove him from office after the first impeachment in 2019.
But as violent images from last week's mayhem emerged, more Republicans blamed the president for his role in the violence.