South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds (R) spoke out this week to say that President Donald Trump may be criminally prosecuted for inciting the riots at the U.S. Capitol building last week. However, he stopped short of saying that he would support Trump’s impeachment.
“In my opinion, what we had was an insurrection,” he told the Forum News Service. “We had violence. We had people killed. We had a mob that ignored direct commands. They attacked law enforcement officers. They damaged federal property. They clearly intended to stop us from performing our duties in the recognition of the electoral vote count.
“If there are (impeachment) proceedings brought against him (Trump),” he continued, “and even if the article of impeachment is not followed through in the Senate, if the article of impeachment to incitement of a riot or incitement of an insurrection are followed through in a criminal proceeding, that by itself would … stop him (Trump) for running for election to a public office again.”
Related: Top GOP Senator Says Trump May Be Criminally Prosecuted Over Capitol Riots
Rounds went on to say that many of Trump’s supporters were misled by him when it came to his claims of voter fraud in the election.
“When the story of this last 90 days is told, they will clearly lay out that the president of the United States misled very, very good, honest, patriotic Americans by telling them time and again that the election was stolen,” Rounds said. “I believe that history will hold him accountable.”
After the House voted to impeach Trump for a second time on Wednesday, Rounds added that the timing of impeachment for the purpose of removing Trump from office seems “moot.”
“The timing right now with the removal of office being the primary purpose would seem to me to be moot,” Rounds said, adding that he does not think Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will bring the Senate back into session before Trump leaves office next week. This means that an impeachment trial wouldn’t begin until he is out of the White House.
Read Next: AOC Claims She ‘Thought She Was Going To Die’ During ‘Close Encounter’ In Capitol Riot
This piece was written by James Samson on January 14, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
Read more at LifeZette:
Trump Takes Blame For Assault On The Capitol
Man Arrested After He Allegedly Discussed ‘Putting A Bullet’ In Pelosi Via Text
Top GOP Senator Claims Trump Impeachment ‘Clearly Is Not Going To Happen’
The post Top GOP Senator Says Trump May Be Criminally Prosecuted Over Capitol Riots appeared first on The Political Insider.
Two-time popular vote loser Donald Trump has also now achieved the distinction of being the only two-time impeached occupant of the Oval Office, earning half of the four presidential impeachments in U.S. history. He's unlikely to make history by being the only one to be removed from office by Senate conviction, however. That's unless he does something extreme in the next six days, which he is more than capable of, but might be a stretch—even for him
That's in large part because current Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has refused soon-to-be Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer’s request to expedite the hearing. The two could have agreed to use emergency authority to bring the Senate back as soon as Thursday or Friday to start hearings and potentially have it done before Inauguration Day next Wednesday. But that would have required McConnell giving a damn about the republic. Instead, he said Wednesday that the trial will begin at the Senate's "first regular meeting following receipt of the article from the House." The first regular meeting of the Senate is Jan. 19. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not said yet when she'll send the charge to the Senate.
Campaign ActionThe problem is, of course, acting upon and prioritizing President-elect Joe Biden's 100-day agenda, which includes some pretty essential stuff. Biden has suggested that the Senate bifurcate its time, divided between confirming his Cabinet members and working on COVID-19 relief on the one hand, and impeachment on the other. Presumably, Pelosi, Schumer, and Biden are discussing this now, trying to determine the best course of action, now that McConnell has screwed them all by refusing to take responsibility for Trump. As usual.
Conviction will require two-thirds of the Senate, meaning 17 Republicans will have to join with Democrats to convict. The problem McConnell and those Republicans face is that every day that passes reveals more horrific details of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, and more implications that there was a level of Republican institutional support for it, from members of Congress who might have been complicit to the Republican Attorneys General Association. There's a whole lot of smoke right now obscuring just how deep the plotting for the insurrection went, and when it's cleared it could be exceedingly bad news for Republicans. That's where the delay—allowing for a lot more discovery—could help seal Trump's fate with Republicans.
McConnell is making a bet, apparently, that it won't work that way, that the delay will distract the nation from the horror that has been replayed over and over again of their house, the Capitol, being besieged and vandalized by a mob screaming for blood. The good news is that Republicans' initial efforts of pretending at "unity" didn't win over a single Democrat, and in fact 10 Republicans voted to impeach. Biden is not saying anything about "looking forward, not back" and is not trying to sweep any of this under the rug of history. Corporate America is further distancing itself from Republicans by the minute. This is not going to go away with Trump—and the Republican Party can't afford for it to. The reckoning will come, and Republicans are going to again feel the pressure of choosing to stand with Trump or with the country.
As Democrat lawmakers celebrate their vote to impeach President Trump a second time, several of those lawmakers are attempting to take things one step further.
Representatives Linda Sanchez (D-CA) and Joaquin Castro (D-TX) are working on a bill that would prevent the naming of anything – including schools, highways, or federal buildings – after the 45th President.
Sanchez claimed that her presence in the House Chambers last Wednesday as violent protests broke out in the Capitol building is the catalyst for drafting the legislation.
RELATED: Dem Rep. Swalwell Compares President Trump To Osama bin Laden
“I am working on a bill that would mean that nothing-not even a bench, no airport, no highway, no school-nothing-ever bear the name of this traitor.”
Rep. Linda Sánchez Doesn't Want Anything — 'Not Even a Bench' — Named After Trump After Riot https://t.co/ng0jYfWp2k
— People (@people) January 11, 2021
In a statement, Congressman Castro said that, “President Trump incited and insurrection that damaged some of our nation’s most significant and sacred federal property. Donald Trump should never become a future generation’s confederate symbol.”
In addition to supporting the impeachment and removal of Donald Trump, I am also preparing legislation that would prohibit any federal building or property from being named after President Donald J. Trump.
1/2
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) January 8, 2021
Sanchez claims that, the night before the protests, she called her husband to tell him where her will was. The security alerts came around 1:15 pm on Wednesday afternoon.
In an interview with “People” Magazine, Sanchez says that, “Something told me, ‘You better leave.'”
Both Sanchez and Castro voted for the second impeachment of the president.
RELATED: CNN’s Jake Tapper: GOP Needs ‘Political Exorcist,’ Republicans ‘Clearly Have Lost Their Minds’
In addition to calling Trump a “traitor,” Sanchez went on to say, “I don’t think he deserves any of the benefits that are conferred on prior presidents. I don’t believe that a seditious occupant of the White House should ever have anything named after him.”
Sanchez is also among a number of Congressmen and women who would like Trump removed via the 25th Amendment, which would strip the president of his powers.
However, she says she is not optimistic of that prospect. “Given that those around Trump have never stood up to him, I have a hard time believing that they will meet this moment with the, with the appropriate response. So we have also signed onto articles of impeachment to try to remove him.”
Julian Castro, Brother of Joaquin and former presidential candidate, is in total agreement with his twin. he tweeted out, “I gave him that idea.”
I gave him that idea. https://t.co/BAroYHCrM1
— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) January 8, 2021
Both Castro brothers, natives of Texas, have also called for Texas Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) to resign due to his and other Republican legislators objections to last week’s electoral college certification.
“He has conducted himself shamelessly, and I think he has done this because he believes it’s the only way, the only chance, the only chance he has to win the Republican nomination for president.”
The post Democrats Drafting Bill To Prevent Anything Being Named After President Trump appeared first on The Political Insider.
The House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump for a historic second time on Jan. 13, and in the process confirmed that even after he incited a white supremacist insurrection at the Capitol building, an overwhelming majority of Republicans see still no problem with Trump’s conduct. While it is technically correct that the 10 Republican votes in favor of impeachment made it “the most bipartisan one in history,” as described by the The Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN, and others, that’s an extremely low bar to clear. In fact, the vote numbers don’t suggest bipartisanship in any meaningful sense, but rather paint a stark portrait of a political party that has almost unanimously aligned itself with white supremacy and the white backlash to BIPOC political ascendancy. As if to drive home the point, GOP representatives even booed Rep. Cori Bush for denouncing white supremacy during the hearings. Rather than rushing to lionize the handful of Republicans who momentarily broke with the party—and did so only after their own sense of safety was threatened—news coverage needs to reflect these realities.
There are 211 Republicans in the House of Representatives, only 10 of them voted in favor of impeachment. That means over 95% watched as insurrectionists broke into the Capitol with Confederate battle flags held high and white supremacist symbols adorning their bodies as they apparently searched the building for government officials to execute, and decided, “This is fine.” Of course, the overwhelmingly white Republican caucus may have correctly surmised that they weren’t the ones in mortal danger on Jan. 6. Rather, Democratic members of Congress—especially women and Black and brown members—represented the primary targets of the mob’s ire, as newly emerging details have revealed.
The same day the impeachment vote was taken, the Boston Globe reported that as Rep. Ayanna Pressley and her staff barricaded themselves in her office to keep safe from the intruders, they discovered all of the panic buttons in the office had been torn out. On Instagram Live the evening before the vote, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that during the attack she “had a very close encounter where I thought I was going to die.” Both Pressley and Ocasio-Cortez are part of The Squad, an outspoken group of progressive Black and Latina Democratic representatives elected to the House of Representatives in 2018 and 2020, which also includes Bush and Reps. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Jamaal Bowman. As highly visible avatars of women and BIPOC’s growing political and demographic power, members of The Squad have long been on the receiving end of racist rhetoric and right-wing death threats. The events of Jan. 6 suggest at least some people had designs on carrying those threats out, possibly even with help from members of Congress who graciously offered “reconnaissance tours” to the insurrectionists.
The attempted coup also posed a significant risk to a great many Black and brown people who aren’t lawmakers. The residents of Washington, D.C. itself—a largely Black city—along with Congressional support staff and Capitol building custodians had to contend with the trauma of being descended upon by a white supremacist mob, and afterward, were left to clean up the mess that same mob left behind. Overly credulous news coverage praising “principled” Republicans not only threatens to miss the racial realities of where most of the party stands, but also the narrowly circumscribed and race-specific extent of its support for the working class.
With the looming threat of more insurrectionist violence in the coming days, it is of the highest moral and political significance that so many House Republicans condoned and aided the racist incitement that put the republic, fellow Americans, and the lives of their own Congressional colleagues in serious peril. And because the animating impulses behind the Capitol insurrection won’t wane with the dawn of the post-Trump political era, it’s imperative that we in the media don’t close our eyes to what the impeachment vote actually has to tell us about race, politics, and power in the United States.
Ashton Lattimore is the editor-in-chief of Prism. Follow her on Twitter @ashtonlattimore.
Prism is a BIPOC-led nonprofit news outlet that centers the people, places and issues currently underreported by our national media. Through our original reporting, analysis, and commentary, we challenge dominant, toxic narratives perpetuated by the mainstream press and work to build a full and accurate record of what’s happening in our democracy. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Newly elected Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is vowing to introduce articles of impeachment against Joe Biden the day after his inauguration.
Greene (R-GA) announced her intentions during an interview with Newsmax on Wednesday, the day House Democrats and ten Republicans spent all of eight hours impeaching President Trump for a second time.
She cites Biden’s alleged links to his son’s business dealings with China as motivation.
“We cannot have a president of the United States [Biden] that is willing to abuse the power of the office of the presidency and be easily bought off by foreign governments, foreign Chinese energy companies, Ukrainian energy companies,” Greene insisted.
“So on January 21, I will be filing articles of impeachment on Joe Biden.”
On January 21st, I’m filing Articles of Impeachment on President-elect @JoeBiden.
75 million Americans are fed up with inaction.
It’s time to take a stand.
I’m proud to be the voice of Republican voters who have been ignored. #ImpeachBiden#QuidProJoe #BidenCrimeFamily pic.twitter.com/E83s1iOoVF
— Marjorie Taylor Greene
(@mtgreenee) January 14, 2021
RELATED: Poll: Republican Voters Are Siding With Trump Over Mitch McConnell
Greene will no doubt be dismissed due to her past associations with Qanon and 9/11 truthers but look at her argument on its face.
75 million Americans are fed up with inaction – whether it involves election integrity concerns or actions by Democrats who consistently escape scrutiny for stepping over legal bounds (Hillary’s emails, Barack’s actions in trying to take down a political opponent).
And it is time to take a stand.
Democrats have wielded impeachment like some sort of political toy over the last couple of years. President Trump hasn’t become the only president to be impeached twice because of his actions, but because of the unhinged actions of his adversaries.
Impeached over a mundane phone call to the Ukraine president. Impeached over a speech in which he repeatedly urged protesters to make their voices heard “peacefully.”
There is far more evidence of Biden being bought off by foreign governments than there is of Trump’s wrongdoing. And that, using Nancy Pelosi’s own words, makes him an “imminent threat” to “our democracy.”
There are clear grounds for this.@mtgreenee is correct.@JoeBiden was give %10 (more in actuality) of Hunter’s ill gotten gain from Ukraine.
Plus Beijing Joe was involved in the transfer and laundering of Chinese funds…this MUST be addressed… https://t.co/3xFNWqS20d
— Tony Shaffer (@T_S_P_O_O_K_Y) January 14, 2021
RELATED: Biden Tells Reporter He Still Believes Hunter Scandal is ‘Russian Misinformation’
Hunter Biden announced after the election that an investigation into his “tax affairs” had been opened in 2018. There were Senate committees and subsequent reports that indicated inquiries into Biden’s son.
A documentary out prior to the election claimed Hunter’s numerous business deals in China “served” the communist country and their military.
Tony Bobulinski, a former business associate of Hunter’s turned whistleblower, claimed president-elect Biden discussed business dealings with his son, and suggested the Democrat is also compromised by the Chinese Communist Party.
An email obtained by Fox News at the time appeared to outline a payout for Biden in a joint venture with a Chinese energy firm.
It included a proposed equity split of “20” for “H” and “10 held by H for the big guy?”
Bobulinski, in an interview with Tucker Carlson, insisted the ‘big guy’ is a reference to Joe Biden.
Hunter Biden’s former business partner Tony Bobulinski: “I 1000% sit here and know that ‘the big guy’ is referencing Joe Biden”https://t.co/CDtS3zSI7P pic.twitter.com/HlttD5WOPw
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 28, 2020
A supplemental report produced by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI) claims documents contain new evidence “that confirm the connections between the Biden family and the communist Chinese government.”
Senators release new evidence tying Hunter Biden business to communist China, Russian energy https://t.co/5de8JNbTeg
— Jack Posobiec
Greene was part of a group of House Republicans who met with President Trump in late December to discuss challenging the election results in Congress.
She noted other lawmakers were jumping “on board immediately to #StopTheSteal on Jan 6th” and that they “have more coming!”
Greene and other Republicans who contested the election have been cited by Democrats as the cause for the Capitol riots on that same date.
Greene’s counter-effort to impeach Biden is purely for show, with Democrats controlling the House and none of them likely to vote in favor. But it’s a game the left started.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) suggested he had designs on impeaching President Trump … before he even took office.
“I just know that if I’m going to vote to impeach the man at some point, I would like to be able to look him in the eye on Inauguration Day,” Raskin said in discussing whether or not he would attend Trump’s swearing-in.
Raskin now serves as one of Pelosi’s impeachment managers, tasked with arguing that the President started an uprising by contesting election results, something he himself did back in 2017.
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s impeachment effort against Biden may not be a serious one, but it’s equally as serious as any putrid effort put forth by the Democrats so far.
The post Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene – I Will File Articles Of Impeachment Against Biden The Day After His Inauguration appeared first on The Political Insider.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has not given any definite indication on when the article of impeachment against President Trump, passed by the House on Wednesday, might make its way to the Senate for any possible trial.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) is urging that the latest round of impeachment articles, accusing President Trump of “inciting and insurrection,” be sent to the upper chamber “as soon as possible.”
Steny Hoyer says no decision has been made yet on when to send the article of impeachment to the Senate: “The Speaker’s talking to Mr. Schumer and will determine that, but I’m personally urging them to send it over as soon as possible.”
— Jason Donner (@jason_donner) January 13, 2021
RELATED: If Republicans Put America First, They’ll Remove Liz Cheney, Not Donald Trump
There is confusion in the Senate as well. Currently, the body is scheduled to reconvene on Jan. 19, the day before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
There is only one day, a pro forma session, scheduled before the official reconvening on Jan. 19.
The Senate is not allowed to do any business on that day without unanimous consent.
A 2004 resolution gives Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer the power to reconvene the Senate without unanimous consent which would create an emergency session.
McConnell has said that he would not invoke this resolution, but Schumer may put the pressure on to do it.
My full statement on the next seven days and the Senate schedule: pic.twitter.com/Nh5z3f79yq
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) January 13, 2021
As it stands now, unless McConnell calls a special session, the Senate would not receive any articles of impeachment before Jan. 19, and a trial would not begin before 1pm on either Jan. 20 or 21, making Donald Trump at that time the ex-president.
However, Chuck Schumer has stated, “But make no mistake, there will be an impeachment trial in the United States Senate.”
RELATED: House Democrats Wonder If Capitol Attack Was An ‘Inside Job’
This would put the United States Senate in a precarious situation. Should the trial move forward, the Senate at that point is committed to completing the process.
This puts other priorities, such as Biden administration nominees and COVID relief, on hold.
Biden has urged the Senate to do their “Constitutional responsibilities” while also attending to “other urgent business.”
Today, in a bipartisan vote, the House voted to impeach and hold President Trump accountable. Now, the process continues to the Senate—and I hope they’ll deal with their Constitutional responsibilities on impeachment while also working on the other urgent business of this nation.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 14, 2021
There is also some question as to whether or not an ex-president can be impeached once he is a private citizen.
The United States Constitution provides for the process of impeachment, but says nothing about the timing of when the trial can take place.
On Wednesday, Pelosi called the president, “a clear and present danger” as she urged members of the House to support impeachment.
But there seems to be some confusion there as well.
House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) said on Sunday that it may not be until after Biden’s first 100 days in office before the House would send the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
But the urgency may be about more than a trial and conviction rather than how fast the articles of impeachment would reach the Senate.
According to reports from Vox, there is talk among Republicans that this second impeachment, and any subsequent trial and conviction, could bar Trump from ever running for office again.
From colleague John Roberts: A well-placed source tells me there is talk swirling among Republicans in Congress of a possible 2nd impeachment proceeding – and conviction against Trump – to insure he can’t run for re-election.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 7, 2021
The post Democrats Split On When To Send Impeachment To The Senate For Trial appeared first on The Political Insider.