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U.S.
House
impeaches
Trump
for a
second
time; 10
Republicans
vote yes
David
Morgan,
Richard
Cowan
reauters.com
WASHINGTON
- Donald
Trump on
Wednesday
became
the
first
president
in U.S.
history
to be
impeached
twice,
as 10 of
his
fellow
Republicans
joined
Democrats
in the
House of
Representatives
to
charge
him with
inciting
an
insurrection
in last
week’s
violent
rampage
in the
Capitol.
The
vote in
the
Democratic-controlled
House
was
232-197
following
the
deadly
assault
on
American
democracy,
although
it
appeared
unlikely
the
swift
impeachment
would
lead to
Trump’s
ouster
before
his
four-year
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 a
quick
impeachment
trial,
saying
there
was no
way to
conclude
it
before
Trump
leaves
office.
But even
if he
has left
the
White
House, a
Senate
conviction
of Trump
could
lead to
a vote
on
banning
him from
running
for
office
again.
Biden
said it
was
important
that a
Senate
impeachment
trial in
the
early
days of
his term
not
delay
work on
his
legislative
priorities,
including
Cabinet
confirmations,
and
urged
Senate
leaders
to find
a way to
do both
at the
same
time.
The
House
passed a
single
article
of
impeachment
- a
formal
charge -
accusing
Trump of
“incitement
of
insurrection,”
focused
on an
incendiary
speech
he
delivered
a week
earlier
to
thousands
of
supporters
shortly
before
the
pro-Trump
mob
rampaged
through
the
Capitol.
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
false
claims
that the
election
was
fraudulent
and
exhorted
supporters
to march
on the
Capitol,
telling
them to
“stop
the
steal,”
“show
strength,”
“fight
much
harder”
and use
“very
different
rules.”
In a
video
statement
released
after
the
House’s
action
on
Wednesday,
Trump
did not
mention
the
impeachment
vote and
took no
responsibility
for his
remarks
to
supporters
last
week,
but
condemned
the
violence.
“Mob
violence
goes
against
everything
I
believe
in and
everything
our
movement
stands
for. No
true
supporter
of mine
could
ever
endorse
political
violence.
No true
supporter
of mine
could
ever
disrespect
law and
order,”
Trump
said.
With
thousands
of
rifle-carrying
National
Guard
troops
inside
and
outside
the
Capitol,
an
emotional
debate
unfolded
in the
same
House
chamber
where
lawmakers
had
ducked
under
chairs
and
donned
gas
masks on
Jan. 6
as
rioters
clashed
with
police
officers
outside
the
doors.
“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.”
At a
later
ceremony,
she
signed
the
article
of
impeachment
before
it is
sent to
the
Senate,
saying
she did
it
“sadly,
with a
heart
broken
over
what
this
means to
our
country.”
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
Joaquin
Castro
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.”
‘PRESIDENT
BEARS
RESPONSIBILITY’
Some
Republicans
argued
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.
“This is
about
getting
the
president
of the
United
States,”
said
Jordan,
who
received
the
Presidential
Medal of
Freedom
from
Trump in
a
private
White
House
ceremony
this
week.
“It’s
always
been
about
getting
the
president,
no
matter
what.
It’s an
obsession.”
‘I’M
CHOOSING
TRUTH’
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
was
scheduled
to be
back in
regular
session
next
Tuesday,
one day
before
Biden’s
inauguration.
The
trial
would
proceed
in the
Senate
even
after
Trump
leaves
office.
McConnell,
who is
reported
to be
furious
with
Trump,
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.
Senate
Democratic
leader
Chuck
Schumer,
set to
become
majority
leader
later
this
month,
said in
a
statement
that no
matter
the
timing,
“there
will be
an
impeachment
trial in
the
United
States
Senate;
there
will be
a vote
on
convicting
the
president
for high
crimes
and
misdemeanors;
and if
the
president
is
convicted,
there
will be
a vote
on
barring
him from
running
again.”
Biden
said
work on
the
economy,
getting
the
coronavirus
vaccine
program
on track
and
confirming
crucial
Cabinet
posts
should
not be
delayed
by the
Senate
trial.
“I
hope
that the
Senate
leadership
will
find a
way to
deal
with
their
Constitutional
responsibilities
on
impeachment
while
also
working
on the
other
urgent
business
of this
nation,”
he said
in a
statement.
The
Capitol
siege
raised
concerns
about
political
violence
in the
United
States
once
considered
all but
unthinkable.
The FBI
has
warned
of armed
protests
planned
for
Washington
and all
50 U.S.
state
capitals
ahead of
Biden’s
inauguration.
Impeachment
is a
remedy
devised
by
America’s
18th
century
founders
to
enable
Congress
to
remove a
president
who has,
according
to the
Constitution,
committed
“treason,
bribery
or other
high
crimes
and
misdemeanors.”
If Trump
were
removed
before
Jan. 20,
Vice
President
Mike
Pence
would
become
president
and
serve
out his
term.
The
House
impeached
Trump
after he
ignored
calls
for his
resignation
and
Pence
rebuffed
Democratic
demands
to
invoke a
constitutional
provision
to
remove
the
president.
The
House
previously
voted to
impeach
Trump in
December
2019 on
charges
of abuse
of power
and
obstruction
of
Congress
stemming
from his
request
that
Ukraine
investigate
Biden
and his
son
Hunter
ahead of
the
election,
as
Democrats
accused
him of
soliciting
foreign
interference
to smear
a
domestic
political
rival.
The
Senate
voted in
February
2020 to
keep
Trump in
office.
Reporting
by David
Morgan
and
Richard
Cowan;
Additional
reporting
by Susan
Cornwell,
Doina
Chiacu,
Susan
Heavey
and
James
Oliphant;
Writing
by
Joseph
Ax and
John
Whitesides;
Editing
by Mary
Milliken,
Will
Dunham
and
Peter
Cooney
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