U.S. diplomats draft cables condemning Trump

In a highly WASHINGTON— unusual move, American diplomats have drafted two cablescondemningPresident Donald Trump’s incitement of the deadly assault on the Capitolandcallingforadministration offifficials to possibly support invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from offiffice.

Usingwhat isknownas the State Department’s “dissent channel,” career foreign and civil serviceoffifficers saidthey fear last Wednesday’s siege may badly undermine U.S. credibility to promote and defend democratic values abroad.

“Failingtopubliclyholdthe president to account would further damage our democracy and our ability to effffffffffffectively accomplish our foreign policy goals abroad,” according to the second of the two cables.

The cable called on

Pompeo to support any lawful effffffffffffort by Vice President Mike Pence and other Cabinet members to protect the country including through “the possible implementation of the procedures provided for in Article 4 of the 25thAmendment, ifappropriate.” The amendment allows for the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare a president unfifit for office, and the vice president then becomes acting president.

Thecableswereanextraordinary protest against a sittingU.S. president byAmericandiplomats, whohavelong complained that the Trump administration has ignored and diminished their role and expertise. The dissent channel is normally used to oppose specifific foreign policy decisions. The twomost recent cables appear to be unprecedentedintheir scope and characterization of the president as a danger to the country.