Donald Trump ‘must Be Removed From Office’ Says Scaramucci
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
Donald Trump is facing backlash after a mob of supporters stormed the US Capitol building on Wednesday. Lawmakers had been inside the Congress seeking to certify Joe Bidens 2020 election victory. Express.co.uk speaks to political analysts about why Mr Trump may be impeached, even after January 20 when he is no longer president.
If The Senate Holds A Trial When Will It Be And What Would It Look Like
This impeachment is coming at a time of transition for both the presidency and the Senate. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff won last weeks Georgia special elections, but since the results havent been certified yet, they have not yet been sworn in, and Mitch McConnell is still the chambers majority leader.
The deadline for Georgia to certify its results is on January 22, though Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger has said he hopes to get it done a bit before that. But if Warnock and Ossoff are sworn in while Trump is still president, the Senate would be split 50-50 and Vice President Pence would still be around to break ties in Republicans favor. So only after Harris is sworn in as vice president and Warnock and Ossoff are sworn in as senators will control of the chamber flip to Democrats.
The upshot is that, at least until January 20 and potentially for a few days after that, McConnell and Republicans still call the shots in the Senate. And while Republicans are in control, they get to decide whether to start the trial.
But on Wednesday, McConnell announced that he would not agree to reconvene the Senate early. He said in a statement that there was no way a trial could wrap up before Biden is sworn in, and that he thought national leaders should focus on ensuring a safe inauguration over the next week, rather than on an impeachment trial.
When Was Donald Trump’s First Impeachment Trial
Donald Trump could be facing a second impeachment, which would be the first time in history a US president has faced impeachment twice.
Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives on December 18, 2019.
Trump was the third US president to have been impeached by Congress – joining Andrew Jackson and Bill Clinton in the list – however no president has ever been removed from office through impeachment.
The House intends to consider the article of impeachment when it reconvenes on January 13, 2021 at 9am.
The news comes after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revealed she wanted to press on with the unprecedented move unless Mike Pence used the 25th Amendment to force him from office.
However, a House resolution for Pence to give Trump the boot was blocked on Monday, January 11, by Republicans.
Read Also: P0tustrump
How Donald J Trump Still Looms
- Selling Trump: Mr. Trump has continued to trade on his political fame in pursuit of profit, while entrepreneurial conservatives are cashing in on MAGA merchandise.
- Just the Beginning: For many Trump supporters who marched on Jan. 6, the day was not a disgraced insurrection but the start of a movement.
Im not worried, Mr. Trump said. You dont do anything wrong and you get impeached. That may be a record that will last forever.
But you know what they have done? he said of Democrats. They have cheapened the impeachment process.
Senators, he added, are going to do the right thing.
‘the Footage Is Horrific’: Senators React To Gripping New Video Of Capitol Riot
The video demonstrated how close rioters came to then-Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress. And the impeachment managers argued that the video showed clearly that the mob of pro-Trump supporters was there for the president, and many believed they were there at the president’s behest.
The impeachment managers, however, made a broader case than Trump’s comments on Jan. 6. They argued that Trump laid the groundwork for false grievance on the part of his supporters with two months of baseless claims of widespread election fraud that cost him the electionand years, in fact, of tolerating, condoning and encouraging violence.
Don’t Miss: What Kind Of Jobs Has Trump Created
Trump Violated National Security By Giving His Son
Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, lied on his application for security clearance by not disclosing dozens of contacts hed had with foreign governments, including Russia. This type of omission is a felony and usually more than enough to get someones security clearance denied. However, President Trump ordered National Security Agency officials to give Kushner the clearance anyway, which is an extraordinary violation of national security.
Trump violated national security standards by ordering the NSA to give his son-in-law clearance.
Millions Of Dollars That Were Raised For Trump’s Inauguration Are Still Unaccounted For
Trumps campaign is still under investigation for fraud, money laundering and conspiracy against the United States because of the millions of dollars donated for his inauguration that just disappeared.
$106 million was raised for Trump’s inauguration, and the inaugural committee still has not accounted for how the money was spent.
Recommended Reading: How Many Times Does Trump Lie
Watch Live: Senate To Consider Witnesses In Trump Impeachment Trial
As recently as Jan. 13, when the House impeached Trump, McConnell told his GOP colleagues he “had not made a final decision” about how he would vote in the Senate trial.
The Kentucky Republican harshly criticized Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 riot, noting: “The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people.”
Still, he voted twice to say the Senate did not have the authority to try a former president.
Bruce Castor, a lawyer for former President Donald Trump, is pictured on a break in the third day of the Trump’s impeachment trial at the Capitol.hide caption
toggle caption
Bruce Castor, a lawyer for former President Donald Trump, is pictured on a break in the third day of the Trump’s impeachment trial at the Capitol.
Special coverage of the trial has ended.
The Senate acquitted former President Donald Trump of the charge of inciting an insurrection on Saturday.
The Senate voted to allow witnesses earlier Saturday, only to reverse course just a few hours later, avoiding what could have turned into days or even weeks of further proceedings.
What Is Impeachment Anyway
To impeach, in this context, means to bring charges in Congress that will form the basis for a trial.
The US constitution states a president “shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanours”.
It’s important to note this is a political process, rather than a criminal one.
Don’t Miss: Number Of Trump Lies To Date
Graham Wants The Senate Trial To Be ‘as Short As Possible’
Hearings before the House Intelligence Committee featured testimony from current and former administration officials who said that the president had been turned against Ukraine by his “hand grenade” of a lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and that they were never given a reason to freeze the aid to Ukraine. The money was released on Sept. 11 amid bipartisan pushback from Congress.
The president maintained that a summary of his July 25 phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy showed that their talk was “perfect.” Democrats said the summary showed him pressuring the head of a country reliant on U.S. aid to help him politically.
Trump is the third president to be impeached in the nation’s 243-year history.
The two previous impeachments were also led by House Republicans. Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 in part for replacing a Cabinet member without the advice and consent of the Senate. Bill Clinton was impeached in 1998 for perjury and obstruction of justice for lying under oath about an extramarital affair.
Clinton apologized for his conduct before he was impeached, something that Trump, who was then in private business, said was a mistake. Trump told Chris Matthews in 1998 that Clinton should not have cooperated with the investigation and should never have said he was sorry.
Johnson and Clinton were acquitted in the Senate, where a two-thirds vote is required for conviction and removal from office.
Trump Makes History Once Again
Donald Trump has made history once again, this time as the first president to be impeached twice.
A year ago, the move was opposed in lockstep by the Republican Party. This time, a handful of conservatives backed the move. It is a reflection not only of the gravity of the moment, but also the president’s declining influence in the final days of his administration.
Impeachment sets up a Senate trial for Mr Trump that now appears destined to stretch into the early days of Joe Biden’s presidency, creating yet another challenge for the incoming president. It also will stoke an ongoing debate among Republicans over the direction their party takes in the days ahead.
The party is on a path that splits in two very different directions. On one side is continued allegiance to the president’s brand of politics – one that created a new coalition of voters that delivered the White House and Congress in 2016, but lost both in 2020.
On the other is an uncertain future – but one free from the president’s unique style of heat and rhetoric – unfiltered invective that even many Republicans now believe contributed to last week’s Capitol riot
Don’t Miss: Did Trump Donate His Salary To Rebuilding Military Cemeteries
Biden Calls For Accountability
In a statement Wednesday evening, Biden called the riot at the Capitol an armed insurrection against the United States of America.
And those responsible must be held accountable, he said.
The president-elect said those who voted to impeach trump followed the Constitution and their conscience.
Biden said the country remains in the grip of a deadly virus and a reeling economy.
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.
How Will The Trial Be Structured
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced Monday afternoon that he and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., along with Trump’s lawyers and the impeachment managers, had come to an agreement on how the trial will proceed.
“This impeachment trial in the United States Senate will allow for truth and accountability, which are essential to ensuring desperately-needed unity and healing in our country following the despicable attack on our democracy,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
Here’s how their plan will work, according to Schumer’s office:
Don’t Miss: Trump Lies Fact Check
He Publicly Lied About His Business Dealings With Russia
While running for president in 2016, Trump repeatedly claimed to have no involvement with Russia, but he was, in fact, negotiating with the Russian government and Russian business interests about developing a Trump Tower in Moscow at that very time.
Lying to the voters is not strictly an impeachable offense, but Trump blatantly lied about his business ties to Russia because he knew it was an incredible conflict of interest for a potential US president to have major business dealings with a frequent competitor and potential adversary of the United States.
Robert Mueller’s report cites many examples of Trump obstructing justice.
Legal Professionals And Academics
Academics
Some historians and diplomats have called the severity of the allegations “unprecedented” in American history. Elaine Kamarck of the Progressive Policy Institute has described how this inquiry is different from Nixon’s Watergate: “the president himself is directly involved in all four of the likely articles of impeachment”: obstruction of justice, violation of federal election law , obstruction of Congress, and violation of the emoluments clause.
Some academics responded to tweets by Trump in which he quoted Robert Jeffress, a prominent Southern Baptist pastor who warned of a “Civil War-like fracture” if Democrats continued the inquiry. On Twitter, Harvard Law School professor John Coates cautioned that the tweet was an independent basis for impeachment as the sitting president was threatening civil war if Congress exercised its constitutionally authorized power. A fellow faculty member of Harvard Law, Laurence Tribe, agreed but cautioned that, due to the typical tone of Trump’s tweets, the statement could be interpreted as “typical Trumpianbloviating” that would not be taken seriously or literally.
Legal professionals
Don’t Miss: Is Donald Trump Wearing A Toupee
Resolution To Begin Public Hearings
On October 29, 2019, Representative Jim McGovern introduced a resolution , referred to House Rules Committee, which set forth the “format of open hearings in the House Intelligence Committee, including staff-led questioning of witnesses, and the public release of deposition transcripts”. It also proposed the procedures for the transfer of evidence to House Judiciary Committee as it considers articles of impeachment. The resolution was debated in Rules Committee the next day and brought to a floor vote on October 31. It was adopted with a vote of 232 to 196, with two Democrats and all Republicans voting against the measure.
Article Of Impeachment Introduced
| Wikisource has original text related to this article:Article of Impeachment against Donald J. Trump |
On January 11, 2021, U.S. Representatives David Cicilline, along with Jamie Raskin and Ted Lieu, introduced an article of impeachment against Trump, charging Trump with “incitement of insurrection” in urging his supporters to march on the Capitol building. The article contended that Trump made several statements that “encouragedand foreseeably resulted inlawless action” that interfered with Congress’ constitutional duty to certify the election. It argued that by his actions, Trump “threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government”, doing so in a way that rendered him “a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution” if he were allowed to complete his term. By the time it was introduced, 218 of the 222 House Democrats had signed on as cosponsors, assuring its passage. Trump was impeached in a vote on January 13, 2021 ten Republicans, including House Republican Conference chairwoman Liz Cheney, joined all of the Democrats in supporting the article.
Recommended Reading: How Much Does It Cost To Stay In Trump Hotel
Renewed Sexual Assault Allegations
It has somehow, horrifyingly, been buried amidst all the recent chaos, but it must not be forgotten that there have been a substantial number of women whove come forward to accuse Trump of sexual assault. The allegations are as numerous as the accusers and cover varying degrees of unwanted sexual contact, all of which are illegal. And no one can forget his that surfaced in October.
Trump, at one point, threatened to sue all of these women, but as of now he seems to have forgotten all about that. But should the women reassert themselves? Trump will have much to answer for first to Congress, then maybe even a judge.
