US House initiates impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump

Three Democratic lawmakers on Monday introduced an article of impeachment against outgoing US President Donald Trump, charging him with inciting his supporters to carry out a violent attack on the Capitol Hill last week. 

Co-authored by Congressman Jamie Raskin, David Cicilline and Ted Lieu, the article of impeachment is co-sponsored by 211 members of the US House of Representatives. 

The article of impeachment charges the outgoing President with a count of “Incitement of Insurrection” for his actions on January 6, when he delivered a speech inciting his supporters to lay siege to the United States Capitol, an action that temporarily halted the counting of Electoral College votes and resulted in the deaths of five individuals, including an officer of the United States Capitol Police, a media release said. 

“Last Wednesday marked one of the darkest days in the history of our country. After months of agitation and propaganda against the results of the 2020 election, the United States Capitol – the citadel of our democracy – was attacked as President Trump’s supporters attempted to stage a coup and overturn the results of our free and fair presidential election,” said the co-authors of the articles of impeachment, who serve together on the House Judiciary Committee. 

“We cannot allow this unprecedented provocation to go unanswered. Everyone involved in this assault must be held accountable, beginning with the man most responsible for it – President Donald Trump. We cannot begin to heal the soul of this country without first delivering swift justice to all its enemies – foreign and domestic,” they said. 

Earlier, the Republicans blocked a Democratic request for Unanimous Consent to take up legislation by Congressman Jamie Raskin calling on the Vice President to mobilise the Cabinet to activate the 25th Amendment to remove the President. 

House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer introduced a unanimous consent request to take up legislation by Congressman Raskin, calling on the Vice President to mobilise the Cabinet to activate the 25th Amendment to remove Trump. 

“The House Republicans rejected this legislation to protect America, enabling the President’s unhinged, unstable and deranged acts of sedition to continue. Their complicity endangers America, erodes our Democracy, and it must end,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. 

“The House will next take up the Raskin legislation in regular order to call upon the Vice President to activate the 25th Amendment to remove the President. We are further calling on the Vice President to respond within 24 hours after passage,” she said. 

“As our next step, we will move forward with bringing impeachment legislation to the Floor. The President’s threat to America is urgent, and so too will be our action,” she alleged. 

Pelosi said that on Wednesday, Trump incited a deadly insurrection against America that targeted the very heart of US Democracy. 

“The President represents an imminent threat to our Constitution, our Country and the American people, and he must be removed from office immediately,” she said.