HOUSE CHARGES DONALD TRUMP WITH IMPEACHMENT FOR 'INCITING AN INSURRECTION'

 Newsweek 11 January 2021 - by Jenni Fink

© Tasos Katopodis/Getty On Monday, Democrats filed an article of impeachment against President Donal Trump. Trump talks to members of the media outside of the White House on October 27 in Washington, D.C.

The House of Representatives is moving forward with plans to impeach President Donald Trump a second time, charging him with inciting violence against the United States government by challenging the election results.

In a Congressional document, Democrats in the House of Representatives accused Trump of engaging in high crimes and misdemeanors when he encouraged "lawless action" at the Capitol on Wednesday. To actually remove the president though, Democrats still need to get enough members of their own party, as well as two-thirds of the Senate on board, which is a tall order.

Unlike in 2019 when Trump was first impeached, this time legislators are working against a ticking clock. They only have nine days to complete the process before President-elect Joe Biden takes office and a number of legislators have pushed back against impeaching Trump, even if they disagreed with how he handled the rally and the subsequent violence at the Capitol.

Along with his speech on Wednesday, Democrats criticized Trump for a phone call he had with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger the weekend prior. During the call, which was leaked to the media, Trump urged him to "find" enough votes to overturn the election and said there was nothing wrong with the secretary of state saying they "recalculated" votes.

"In all of this, President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government," the impeachment article states. "He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coordinate branch of government. He thereby betrayed his trust as president, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States."

Democrats will introduce the article of impeachment in the House at 11 a.m. and the resolution has more than 200 co-sponsors, according to Representative David Cicilline. They're also pursuing a push to get Vice President Mike Pence to mobilize the cabinet to activate the 25th Amendment. Under the 25th Amendment, the vice president and the cabinet have the ability to remove a president from office, thereby allowing the vice president to step into the top role.

If Pence doesn't respond to the 25th Amendment resolution within 24 hours, Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democrats they will proceed with bringing impeachment legislation to the House floor. While Pelosi supported removing Trump from office by way of the 25th Amendment, she told CBS' 60 Minutes that removing Trump from office by way of impeachment may be preferential because it would prevent him from holding office again.

"There's strong support in the Congress for impeaching the President a second time," Pelosi said.