Donald Trump pleas for calm after becoming first US president to be impeached twice
US President Donald Trump has condemned ‘political violence’ as he faces a historic second impeachment trial.
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Donald Trump will become the first ever president to face two impeachment trials after a vote passed in the House with support from 10 Republicans.
The vote passed 232 for the article of impeachment to 197 against. Mr Trump will now face a Senate trial after the swearing-in of his successor, President-elect Joe Biden, next week.
Introducing the article of impeachment, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi described last week’s siege of the Capitol as a “day of fire”.
“We know that the president of the United States incited this insurrection, armed rebellion, against our common country,” she said.
“It breaks my heart. It should break your heart. It should break all of our hearts.”
Democrats were unable to speed up the trial after Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected calls for an emergency session of Congress ahead of the January 20 inauguration.
This could mean the trial takes place in the initial days of Mr Biden’s presidency.
Ms Pelosi told the chamber that Trump “must go”. “He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love,” she said.
Ms Pelosi said she was signing the article of impeachment “sadly and with a heart broken over what this means to our country, of a president who would incite an insurrection”.
“No-one is above the law, not even the president of the United States,” she said.
“Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to our country.”
‘WE CANNOT TOLERATE VIOLENCE’: TRUMP
Trump released a lengthy video calling on his supporters to stand down, saying he was “shocked” by last week’s Capitol incursion.
The video was released after Mr Trump was impeached but he didn’t refer to the prosecution, instead focusing on a plea for “calm” to his followers.
“I want to be very clear: I unequivocally condemn the violence that we saw last week,” he said in the video.
“Like all of you I was shocked and deeply saddened by the calamity that unfolded at the Capitol.
“No true supporter of mine could ever endorse political violence.
“We cannot tolerate it.”
He also repeated warnings about the huge security force in place ahead of next week’s inauguration of Joe Biden.
“Whether you are on the right or on the left, a Democrat or a Republican, there is never a justification for violence,” he said.
“Everybody must follow our laws and obey the instructions of law enforcement.”
He also slammed the social media companies who have silenced him, saying: “What is needed now is to listen to one another, not to silence one another”.
Trump earlier asked his supporters to stop protesting his election loss, as the House debated his impeachment.
“In light of reports of more demonstrations, I urge that there must be NO violence, NO law-breaking and NO vandalism of any kind,” Trump said in a statement.
“That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for. I call on ALL Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers. Thank You.”
Congress was holding the vote amid unprecedented security with members of an estimated 20,000-strong National Guard presence photographed sleeping on the floor of the US Capitol.
Leading Republican Senator Lindsay Graham called on the incoming administration to avoid a “post presidential impeachment”, saying it would further divide the country.
“President Trump’s statement tonight hit the mark,” Mr Graham said on Twitter.
“He rejected violence, unequivocally condemned those who defiled our Capitol, called for full accountability, and emphasised (that) those who engage in violence tarnish the movement.
“His speech helps move the country move (sic) forward.
“It’s now time for President-elect Biden to reject post presidential impeachment because of the destructive force it would have on the presidency and nation.
“Impeachment is political and will further divide the nation.”
But Mr Biden indicated in a statement that he would leave the process to the Senate.
“This criminal attack was planned and co-ordinated. It was carried out by political extremists and domestic terrorists, who were incited to this violence by President Trump,” he said.
“It was an armed insurrection against the United States of America. And those responsible must be held accountable.
“Today, the members of the House of Representatives exercised the power granted to them under our Constitution and voted to impeach and hold the president accountable. It was a bipartisan vote cast by members who followed the Constitution and their conscience. The process continues to the Senate.”
‘MORE THAN 50-50’
Ahead of the vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had indicated he would support the impeachment and was reported to be leaning “more than 50-50” towards a guilty verdict by Axios.
The New York Times reported Mr McConnell wanted to “purge” Mr Trump from the Republican Party and was furious with his stoking of last week’s violence and refusal to accept any responsibility for the riots.
But Sen McConnell also dashed Democrat hopes the Senate would hold a likely impeachment trial before Mr Trump leaves office next week.
A spokesman for McConnell confirmed the trial would not begin until Mr Trump had left office and Joe Biden had entered the White House.
The Senate is not due to reconvene until January 19 — the day before Biden’s inauguration.
The development came a day after Utah Senator Mitt Romney signalled that a second trial would potentially have more success than the first attempt.
If 17 Republican senators were to cross the floor, Mr Trump would make history again – as the only president to ever be successfully impeached.
“When the president incites an attack against Congress, there must be a meaningful consequence,” Mr Romney said.
“We will be considering those options and the best course for our nation in the days ahead.”
After the House votes on the single article of impeachment charging Mr Trump with “incitement of insurrection” – a vote which is almost certain to pass – a two-thirds verdict would be needed to find him guilty in a Senate trial.
Ahead of the vote, an unprecedented security force assembled in DC.
Yesterday Congresswoman Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney and third ranking Republican in the House, said she would vote to impeach.
She labelled last week’s breach of the Capitol by pro-Trump rioters as an “insurrection that caused injury, death and destruction in the most sacred space in our Republic”.
“Much more will become clear in coming days and weeks, but what we know now is enough. The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack,” she said.
“Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”
Illinois congressman Adam Kinzinger, a frequent Trump critic, and John Katko of New York rounded out the Republicans who have publicly said they would support the Democrat-led impeachment, while others have called on Mr Trump to resign.
Mr Trump slammed the impeachment, a year after he was acquitted by the Senate after his first trial, as a “continuation of the greatest and most vicious witch hunt in the history of our country”.
“It is causing tremendous anger and division and pain – far greater than most people will ever understand, which is very dangerous for the USA, especially at this very tender time,” Mr Trump said yesterday at an appearance at the Texas border wall with Mexico.
He also defended his comments last week at a “Stop the Steal” rally ahead of the Capitol siege that caused at least five deaths, including that of a police officer beaten to death with a fire extinguisher.
“They’ve analysed my speech and my words and my final paragraph, my final sentence. And everybody to the tee thought it was totally appropriate,” Mr Trump said.
TRUMP’S HOMETOWN BLUES, DUMPED BY YOUTUBE
Donald Trump’s hometown New York City has ended all business links with the president over last week’s Capitol riots.
Nearly 40 years after the construction of Manhattan’s iconic Trump Tower became a symbol of the city’s 80s financial boom, mayor Bill de Blasio revealed New York was severing all existing contracts with the president.
The lucrative contracts are for ice skating rinks, the Central Park Carousel and the Trump Golf Links in the Bronx, De Blasio confirmed, claiming Trump has engaged in “criminal activity” by “inciting an insurrection”.
The Big Apple slapdown followed news that Google-owned YouTube has temporarily suspended US President Donald Trump’s channel and removed a video for violating its policy against inciting violence.
“In light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, we removed new content uploaded to Donald J. Trump’s channel for violating our policies,” YouTube said in a statement.
The channel is now “temporarily prevented from uploading new content for a ‘minimum’ of 7 days,” the statement read.
Facebook last week suspended Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts following the violent invasion of the US Capitol by a mob of his supporters, which temporarily disrupted the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory.
Twitter went a step further by deleting Trump’s account, depriving him of his favourite platform.
Trump also was hit with suspensions by services like Snapchat and Twitch.
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