House Dems Introduce Article Of Impeachment Against Trump, Have The Necessary Votes

It appears President Trump is about to be the first to be
impeached for the second time as The Washington Post reports that
House Democrats, which just formally introduced an article of
impeachment against President Trump, have lined up the votes to
impeach him for his role in “inciting an insurrectionist mob” to
storm the Capitol.

“We actually have the votes,” Rep. David
Cicilline, the Rhode Island Democrat who has taken the lead in
rounding up support for a resolution of impeachment,
told The Washington Post.

“There’s no doubt about that.”

The article, co-authored by Reps. David Cicilline
(R-I.), Ted Lieu (Calif.) and Jamie Raskin (Md.), states that Trump
engaged in high crimes and misdemeanors by “willfully inciting
violence against the Government of the United
States.”�The full text of the article is as follows:

FINAL DRAFT of article of
impeachment against President Trump, titled “Incitement of
Insurrection.”

The article is expected to be introduced Monday by Reps. Ciciline,
Lieu, and Raskin, and has more than 200 Democratic co-sponsors.
pic.twitter.com/DAZle1w59g

— NBC News (@NBCNews)
January 11, 2021

With the key section here…

As
Jonathan Turley just warned this impeachment will not
only create precedent for an expedited pathway of “snap
impeachments†but allow future Congresses to impeach presidents
for actions of their supporters.

There was no call for lawless action by
Trump. Instead, there was a call for a protest at the
Capitol. Moreover, violence was not imminent; the vast majority of
the tens of thousands of protesters present were not violent before
the march, and most did not riot inside the Capitol. Like many
violent protests we have witnessed over the last four years,
including Trump’s 2017 inauguration, the criminal conduct was
carried out by a smaller group of instigators. Capitol police knew
of the planned march but declined an offer of National Guard
personnel because they did not view violence as likely.

Thus, Congress is about to seek the impeachment of a
president for a speech that is protected under the First Amendment.
It would create precedent for the impeachment of any president who
can be blamed for the violent acts of others after the use of
reckless or inflammatory language.

It remains unclear how this will unfold. House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi’s latest plan is for the House to vote on a separate
resolution calling on Vice President Pence to initiate a 25th
Amendment process to remove Trump.