Adam Schiff says Trump ‘danger to the Republic’
Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff says President Donald Trump is a "danger to the Republic" and should be removed from office immediately by impeachment, resignation or invoking the 25th Amendment.
Category: Impeachment
Nancy Pelosi: After ‘Armed Insurrection’ House Could Impeach Trump Again
During a press conference on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that if Vice President Mike Pence does not pursue removing the President from the White House, then the House could move forward with impeaching Donald Trump.
Pelosi was referring to Vice President Pence using the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from power.
Pelosi said, “If the vice president and the cabinet do not act, the congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment.”
JUST IN: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls for invoking the 25th Amendment against Pres. Trump following siege on U.S. Capitol: "If the vice president and the cabinet do not act, the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment." https://t.co/VrFIF9OGHX pic.twitter.com/8LJB0GGoXO
— ABC News (@ABC) January 7, 2021
RELATED: Meghan McCain Breaks Down As She Begs Republicans To Remove Trump From Office Using 25th Amendment
Pelosi: ‘This Is Urgent; This Is An Emergency Of The Highest Magnitude’
Speaking of her belief that President Trump encouraged the Capitol protests that resulted in the breaching of the Capitol building, Pelosi said, “Yesterday, the president of the United States incited an armed insurrection against America.”
“This is urgent; this is an emergency of the highest magnitude,” Pelosi said.
The Democrat leader called Trump “a very dangerous person who should not continue in office.”
“We are in a very difficult place in our country as long as Donald Trump sits in the White House,” she added.
“While there are only 13 days left, any day can be a horror show for America,” Pelosi went on.
This morning, @SenSchumer and I placed a call to Vice President Pence to urge him to invoke the 25th Amendment which would allow the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet to remove the President. We have not yet heard back from the Vice President.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 8, 2021
Pelosi: Invoking 25th Amendment ‘Best Route’ But House Will Step Up If Needed
Pelosi said Pence to moving forward with using the 25th Amendment would be the “best route” but also that Congress could establish a commission to pursue that effort.
Pelosi’s statement on Thursday comes in the wake of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calling for Pence to remove Trump from office.
Read our full statement here: https://t.co/DNe7ZE3Gww
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 8, 2021
Schumer Calls On Pence To Remove President Trump
Schumer said, “What happened at the U.S. Capitol was an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president. This president should not hold office one day longer.”
“The quickest and most effective way – it can be today – to remove this president from office would be for the Vice President to immediately invoke the 25th Amendment,” Schumer added.
“If the Vice President and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president,” Schumer insisted.
The post Nancy Pelosi: After ‘Armed Insurrection’ House Could Impeach Trump Again appeared first on The Political Insider.
House Democrats discussing swift action to impeach Trump
Democrats are discussing Friday whether to move forward with the quick impeachment of President Donald Trump if his Cabinet doesn't try to remove him first, moving swiftly two days after the Capitol was ransacked by a pro-Trump mob.
Sasse Will ‘Definitely Consider’ Articles of Impeachment if Approved by House
House Democrats will likely move forward with impeachment proceedings as soon as possible.
Calling for Trump’s removal, Schumer signals more aggressive posture for Democrats moving forward
It shouldn't be a surprise that the incoming majority leader of the soon-to-be Democratic-led Senate has come out in favor of removing a U.S. president who incited an armed insurrection at the nation’s Capitol, but frankly it is. And it's a welcome development from Sen. Chuck Schumer that just might signal a more aggressive posture for the soon-to-be Democratic-led Congress during the first couple years of the Biden administration.
Democratic voters and liberals have spent four years lamenting the light touch of our elected leaders in the face of a president who was ripping our country to shreds in real time. Eventually, House Democrats did the right thing by impeaching Trump, but only after a transgression so glaring and obvious and publicly accessible, they really had no choice but to take action lest they violate their sacred oath to the Constitution.
Following a weak performance by down-ballot Democrats in November, many progressives have been bracing themselves for more of that light Democratic touch—a complete reversion to the centrism mindset that dominated the '90s and early aughts. And to be sure, congressional Democrats now face real challenges in both chambers, with a one-vote edge in the Senate (where Democrats still need 10 more votes to reach the 60 needed to beat a filibuster) and just 222 Democrats in the lower chamber (where 218 votes are needed to pass legislation). But you don't get what you don't try for, and for far too long congressional Democrats have been their own worst enemy in terms of negotiating themselves down before they even get to the bargaining table.
That's why Schumer caught my eye prior to the election last year when he sent several signals that Democrats needed to act more aggressively than they had during the first two years of Barack Obama's presidency when they had commanding majorities in both chambers. In the months leading up to the election, Schumer rejected his longtime centrist persona, pondered an FDR-style response to the problems facing the nation if Democrats controlled the levers of government, and warned Republicans that "nothing is off the table for next year" if they proceeded to ram through a replacement for recently passed Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
So Schumer announcing his strong support for removing Trump by any legal means possible in the wake of his betrayal of the country suggests Schumer meant what he said last fall, which would in turn incentivize House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to push her caucus as far as it can go in passing progressive legislation as quickly as possible in the early stage of Biden's presidency.
Leadership matters. Since Schumer issued his strong call for Trump's removal Thursday morning, momentum has already grown exponentially. Speaker Pelosi has joined the effort. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota has finished drafting Articles of Impeachment and Democratic support for either impeaching Trump or invoking the 25th Amendment keeps rolling in. These are the signs we want to see in the days immediately following Democrats' historic victories in two Georgia Senate runoffs. Keep it coming, Democrats. Time to save the American enterprise—this isn’t a dress rehearsal.
Pelosi: Trump must be removed, either by Pence and the cabinet or impeachment
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Thursday: "If the vice president and the cabinet do not act, the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment. That is the overwhelming sentiment of my caucus and the American people."
“I join the Senate Democratic leader in calling on the vice president to remove this president by immediately invoking the 25th amendment. If the vice president and cabinet do not act the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment," she reiterated. "He must be removed from office," she said. "While it is only 13 days left, any day can be a horror show for America." She acknowledged the growing calls among her own membership as well as her constituents for impeachment, but is intent right now on pressuring Vice President Pence and the cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove him.
Schumer says Trump must be removed, either by 25th Amendment or impeachment
Incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has issued a strong statement calling for the immediate removal of Donald Trump. “What happened at the U.S. Capitol yesterday was an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president. This president should not hold office one day longer," he said.
"The quickest and most effective way—it can be done today—to remove this president from office would be for the Vice President to immediately invoke the 25th amendment. If the Vice President and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president." Yes. Absolutely yes. In addition, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is holding a 1 PM ET press conference.
With Schumer set to be majority leader in a few weeks, the threat of an impeachment has real teeth now that he's in a position to make it happen. Because Trump can still be impeached and convicted after he's left office on Jan. 20. Not only can he be impeached, he should be. He wants to run again in 2024, he wants to continue to lead an insurrectionist mob into a second civil war. He must be barred by conviction from having any future in public life.
The door has to be slammed on Trump’s future. He must be impeached and convicted
Insurrectionist loser Donald Trump finally was forced by someone to issue a statement of concession Thursday morning. That statement, as much as anything that has transpired over the past four awful years and horrifying 24 hours, demonstrates why Trump must be impeached and convicted in the next 13 days.
"Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th," the statement reads. Still with the baseless claims of fraud. But this is where the danger lies: "I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it's only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again!" That's Trump promising that he will not go away, that he is going to continue to foment civil war, that he's going to hang on to his army of violent extremists and continue this fight. Preventing him from doing that has to be the first priority for the next two weeks in Congress.
Thursday, Jan 7, 2021 · 4:56:38 PM +00:00
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Joan McCarter
Campaign Action
This is very good. Thank you, Sen. Merkley.
Trump has forfeited any future in American public life and the Congress must ensure that. The door for Trump to participate in any kind of public life ever again has to be slammed shut. That’s why he must be impeached. Any avenue for him back to power has to be completely blocked. More than that, the Republicans that have enabled him for the past four years have to be held to account—and that's also why he must be impeached and convicted.
Senate Democrats are already making excuses. They are already giving their Republican colleagues an out. Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley says: "To take these critical few weeks and spend them on a President who is going to be removed on January 20th would be a disservice to our nation." Called on that by David Nir, he lamely lets Republicans off the hook. "If we can do it by Jan 20, I am all for it. But unfortunately, Mitch McConnell still runs the Senate until Trump's term is up." That's pathetic excuse-making from Merkley. He's not the only one. Sen. Dick Durbin, a member of Senate leadership, told reporters: "He certainly deserves it […] after what happened yesterday he should be removed from office but I don’t believe there's stomach for it on the Republican side and there's very little time left."
Trump has to be stopped and the Republicans who enabled him have to be stopped. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley have to be stopped. They each think they can capitalize on their role in this insurrection to the White House and with what we've experienced since 2016, they might not be wrong. They have to be shut down. Forcing them—forcing McConnell—to face what they have created and force them to either stand behind it or renounce it is vitally important. What happened on Jan. 6 could very well happen again, at Trump's instigation and with Republican complicity. That can't be allowed. Impeachment is one critical way to stop it.
Ilhan Omar, Squad Members Call For Trump’s Impeachment, Expulsion Of Republican Lawmakers
Rep. Ilhan Omar said she is drafting articles of impeachment against President Trump and Rep. Cori Bush drafted a resolution calling on the expulsion of Republican lawmakers after the protests at the Capitol Wednesday.
Washington D.C. police report that four people are dead – including Ashli Babbit, an unarmed 14-year Air Force veteran who was shot by Capitol Police – and 52 arrested following demonstrations that eventually breached the Capitol building.
Omar, who called for President Trump’s impeachment earlier in the week over a phone call he had with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, is renewing that call following the protests.
“I am drawing up Articles of Impeachment,” Omar (D-MN) tweeted. “Donald J. Trump should be impeached by the House of Representatives [and] removed from office by the United States Senate.”
She added, “We can’t allow him to remain in office, it’s a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfill our oath.”
I am drawing up Articles of Impeachment.
Donald J. Trump should be impeached by the House of Representatives & removed from office by the United States Senate.
We can’t allow him to remain in office, it’s a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfill our oath.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 6, 2021
RELATED: Woman Shot, Protesters Storm U.S. Capitol After Trump MAGA Rally
Calls For Trump’s Impeachment, Expulsion Of Republican Lawmakers
Meanwhile, one of the newer members of the Squad, Cori Bush (D-MO) sought to hold Republican lawmakers responsible for the violence at the Capitol for the crime of challenging the Electoral College results.
“I believe the Republican members of Congress who have incited this domestic terror attack through their attempts to overturn the election must face consequences,” Bush tweeted.
“They have broken their sacred Oath of Office. I will be introducing a resolution calling for their expulsion.”
First of all, challenging the integrity of the election isn’t inciting violence.
Second, if ‘inciting violence’ were grounds for removing lawmakers from office Bush would be the first to go, having led protests in Ferguson, Missouri over the justified shooting of Michael Brown.
Bush’s actions exemplify the perils of casting one’s vote for a completely unprepared, completely unknowledgeable person to a crucial office in Congress.
The one-page resolution is no more impressive an attempt than one might expect from a juvenile and has little chance of moving anywhere.
Interestingly, it appears Bush’s resolution was drafted on January 5, the day before the protests.
I believe the Republican members of Congress who have incited this domestic terror attack through their attempts to overturn the election must face consequences. They have broken their sacred Oath of Office.
I will be introducing a resolution calling for their expulsion. pic.twitter.com/JMTlQ4IfnR
— Congresswoman Cori Bush (@RepCori) January 6, 2021
President Trump’s impeachment, on the other hand, could very well move through the new Democratic Congress despite the short time he has remaining in office.
RELATED: Trump Tells His Supporters To Go Home In Peace After They Storm The Capitol
Motivated By Emotions, Not Reason
The violence that took place at the Capitol on Wednesday was distressing for people on both sides of the political aisle.
Assigning blame to President Trump and pursuing impeachment, or blaming Republicans contesting the election and threatening with expulsion is the work of people motivated by emotion, not reason.
During Trump’s speech at the rally, the President encouraged his supporters to march to the Capitol and protest, but simultaneously posted multiple messages against violence.
“Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement,” he tweeted. “They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!”
In a follow-up message, Trump wrote, “No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law [and] Order – respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue.”
I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order – respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2021
The post Ilhan Omar, Squad Members Call For Trump’s Impeachment, Expulsion Of Republican Lawmakers appeared first on The Political Insider.
Impeach Trump IMMEDIATELY. He is a direct threat to U.S. national security and the republic itself
Nearly 30 Democratic members of the House have expressed a desire to impeach Donald Trump a second time following his incitement Wednesday of an armed insurrection at the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers attempted to certify the results of the November presidential election.
They are absolutely right. Trump is a direct threat to the sovereign. For more than two months, Trump has spewed a constant stream of disinformation about the election being stolen from him and his supporters being disenfranchised. On Wednesday morning, Trump spent some two hours urging his followers to storm the U.S. Capitol at a “Save America” rally. “We will never give up. We will never concede,” Trump told several thousand of his cultists who had gathered on the Ellipse to see him speak.
His supporters, hopped up on conspiracy and grievance, then marched over to the Capitol and staged a violent insurrection—pushing back Capitol police, shooting mace at them, threatening lawmakers and journalists, breaking windows, destroying property, and ultimately overtaking the building along with several others on the Capitol complex.
Several hours after images of the violent takeover had flooded new outlets and social media streams, Trump finally posted a video urging his cultists to go home peacefully. But even that video was riddled with more conspiracy and grievance-stoking by Trump.
“I know your pain. I know your hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it, especially the other side,” Trump falsely stated before telling his followers to go home. He then went straight back at it, lamenting, “There's never been a time where such a thing happened, where they could take it away from all of us—from me, from you, from our country.” And finally, “So go home. We love you. You're very special,” Trump concluded, offering a warm embrace to the terrorists who had stormed the Capitol to stage a coup attempt.
The unfathomable breakdown of law enforcement during this entire episode will be investigated and parsed for years to come. But what we do know is that it took hours for the D.C. National Guard to be called up to provide reinforcements, partly because it is not controlled by the D.C. mayor but rather the president. After D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi both sent a formal request to the Department of Defense to deploy the National Guard, Vice President Mike Pence finally approved the deployment, not Trump. Trump, still the commander in chief, apparently couldn’t be bothered to send in reinforcements to protect U.S. lawmakers, the Capitol complex, and all its denizens.
To recap, Trump spent months pumping his low-information voters full of crap; he then personally directed them to storm the Capitol on the day of congressional certification; when his supporters did storm the Capitol, he posted a video justifying their ire and lavishing praise on them while also declining to deploy troops in order to protect U.S. lawmakers and federal property. Many of those protesters—who were inexplicably allowed to exit the building on Wednesday evening without suffering any consequences—told journalists and others they planned to return at a later date with their guns.
And finally, once the worst of the occupation appeared to be over, Trump celebrated the seditious actions of his cultists. “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long,” Trump tweeted Wednesday evening. Twitter finally locked Trump’s account by day’s end, but lasting damage to the heart of our democracy had already been done.
What unfolds over the next 14 days between now and the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden remains entirely unclear. What is clear is that Trump’s cultists aren’t done yet, and Trump himself is perfectly happy to stoke their worst impulses while leaving the nation’s Capitol, along with our duly elected U.S. lawmakers, unprotected. Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to American democracy, our systems of government, and the republic itself. He must be impeached immediately after Congress finishes the business of certifying the Electoral College votes. As Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona told MSNBC Wednesday evening, “Democracy's not safe right now. … I don't trust this president.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota announced Wednesday afternoon that she was drafting articles of impeachment. Omar was among the first of several lawmakers to express support for impeaching Trump following his direct involvement in one of the most shameful episodes in our nation’s history. The effort has quickly attracted the backing of a diverse group of Democratic lawmakers, from progressive representatives like Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Pramila Jayapal of Washington to more moderate members like Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Jim Cooper of Tennessee.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi must take up the matter immediately following congressional certification. Few if any instances in American history have ever posed such an obvious and urgent existential threat to the United States of America.