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WASHINGTON – The House is set to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time on Wednesday, making him the first president to face the punishment twice.
House lawmakers are expected to vote on a single impeachment article around 3 p.m. ET, accusing Trump of “inciting insurgency” following a pro-Trump mob that violently stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday latest.
The vote comes exactly one week before inauguration day when Trump steps down and Joe Biden is sworn in as president on the steps of the Capitol.
On Tuesday night, Democrats, joined by a handful of Republicans, passed a resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. But ahead of the vote, Pence made it clear he would not, saying he did not believe “such a course of action is in the best interest of our nation or in accordance with our Constitution.”
Democrats overwhelmingly expressed support for Trump’s impeachment, and on Tuesday night a handful of Republicans said they plan to join their counterparts and impeach him in Wednesday’s vote. They include Republican House Conference Speaker Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Most Prominent, as well as Reps Fred Upton, R-Mich., Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., Adam Kinzinger, R -Ill. and John Katko, RN.Y.
“Incitement to insurrection” indictment article was introduced Monday by Reps Jaime Raskin, D-Md., Ted Lieu, D-Calif., and David Cicilline, DR.I. He says Trump has “demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security, democracy and the Constitution if allowed to remain in power, and has acted in a manner manifestly inconsistent with self-government and rule of law “.
“He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power and endangered an equal branch of government,” said the five-page impeachment article. “He thereby betrayed his confidence as president, to the manifest prejudice of the people of the United States.”
The article also quotes Trump’s January 2 phone call urging Georgian Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn the state’s election results as part of his efforts “to subvert and obstruct the certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election. “
Trump, for his part, has no public events on his schedule on Wednesday and with Twitter banning his account last week, the president will not be able to tweet about the impeachment process like he did when the House did. dismissed in December 2019.
A former White House official told NBC News Trump was partly “provocative … partly brooding,” while another source said the president was toughening up in his challenge. This source said the president’s comments on Tuesday that he had done nothing wrong undermined efforts by his allies to try to dissuade him from doing things that could make it more difficult to limit the number of Republicans who support the dismissal.
“No one told him to say anything,” the source added. “He’s the one who is him.”
Biden, meanwhile, has no public events on his schedule Wednesday. Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris will participate in a virtual financial event for the inauguration committee next week.
Once the House impeaches Trump, the next step is for the Senate to hold a trial to determine whether it should convict him and possibly prevent him from running for office again. While the trial date is not entirely clear yet, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Said earlier this week that he wanted to send the impeachment article to the House. Upper house immediately after its approval.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Named nine Democratic impeachers for trial on Tuesday, with Raskin leading the team that will seek to prosecute Trump.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Said last week that the Senate could accept the articles no earlier than Jan. 19, unless all 100 senators agree to return earlier.
Kristen Welker, Peter Alexander, Carol E. Lee, Monica Alba, Kelly O’Donnell and Hallie Jackson contributed.
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