In second impeachment bid, Democrats accuse Trump of inciting insurrection

WASHINGTON – (WARSOOR) – Congressional Democrats began a push on Monday to force U.S. President Donald Trump from office, introducing an article of impeachment that accuses him of inciting insurrection in connection with the violent attack on the Capitol last week.

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives could vote on impeachment as early as Wednesday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters. Passage would make Trump, a Republican, the only U.S. president ever to be impeached twice.

Thousands of Trump supporters stormed the seat of Congress last week, forcing lawmakers who were certifying Democratic President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory into hiding in a harrowing assault on the heart of American democracy that left five dead.

The violence came after Trump urged supporters to march on the Capitol at a rally where he repeated false claims that his resounding defeat in the Nov. 3 election was illegitimate. Many House Democrats and a handful of Republicans say Trump should not be trusted to serve out his term, which ends on Jan. 20.

“We have a president most of us believe participated in encouraging an insurrection and an attack on this building and on democracy and trying to subvert the counting of the presidential ballot,” Hoyer told reporters.

As the House convened on Monday, Republicans blocked an effort to immediately consider a resolution asking Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the U.S. Constitution’s never-used 25th Amendment to remove an unfit president.

“The U.S. House must never adopt a resolution that demands the removal of a duly elected president, without any hearings, debate or recorded votes,” said Republican Representative Alex Mooney, who raised the objection.

The House still could vote as early as Tuesday on the resolution for use of the 25th Amendment, which allows the vice president and the Cabinet to remove a president who is incapable of fulfilling his duties.

Pence and his fellow Republicans have shown little interest in invoking the amendment, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats have tried to ramp up the pressure on them to act against Trump. They called on Pence to respond within 24 hours after passage of the resolution.

“As our next step, we will move forward with bringing impeachment legislation to the floor. The president’s threat to America is urgent, and so too will be our action,” Pelosi said in a statement.

Dozens of people who attacked police officers, stole computers and smashed windows during the rampage at the Capitol have been arrested for their role in the violence, and officials have opened 25 domestic terrorism investigations.

Trump acknowledged a new administration would take office on Jan. 20 in a video statement after the attack but has not appeared in public. Twitter and Facebook have suspended his accounts, citing the risk of him inciting violence.

SOURCE: REUTERS