Donald Trump impeachment looms amid riot fears

Donald Trump could be impeached as early as Thursday (AEDT) after House Democrats charged the president with an ‘incitement of insurrection’.

Donald Trump in Cleveland in September last year. Picture: AFP

Donald Trump could be impeached as early as Thursday (AEDT) after House Democrats introduced an article of impeachment charging the president with an “incitement of insurrection”.

The move in the House of Representatives came as the FBI, in a leaked memo, warned of armed protests at all 50 state capitols ahead of Inauguration Day next week as authorities prepare to send up to 15,000 National Guard troops to protect Washington.

Democrats are moving quickly to try to impeach the President this week, with plans to vote on Wednesday (AEDT) on a resolution to use the 25th Amendment to remove a president who is unfit for office.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would then give Vice- President Mike Pence 24 hours to remove Mr Trump under the 25th and, if he does not she said Democrats would impeach the President. Mr Pence is not likely to use the 25th to remove Mr Trump.

“We will move forward with bringing impeachment legislation to the floor,” Ms Pelosi said.

“The President’s threat to America is urgent, and so too will be our action.”

The article of impeachment now has at least 218 co-sponsors, giving Democrats the numbers to pass an impeachment vote.

The article accuses Mr Trump of being “engaged in high crimes and misdemeanours by inciting ­violence against the government of the United States”.

It says that in his speech to supporters in Washington last week he “reiterated false claims that ‘we won this election, and we won it by a landslide’, and “wilfully made statements that, in context, encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — lawless action at the Capitol”.

“In all this, President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government,” the article states. “He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, ­interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperilled a coequal branch of government.”

Five people died, including a Capitol Police officer, when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building last week, sparking fury towards the President on both sides of politics.

Law enforcement agencies and the secret service are increasingly worried about the potential for further protests by pro-Trump supporters in Washington and elsewhere in the days leading up to the January 20 inauguration of president-elect Joe Biden.

An FBI memo warned that violence was being planned by pro-Trump groups to protest the end of Mr Trump’s presidency. “The FBI received information about an identified armed group intending to travel to Washington DC on 16 January,” the memo states.

“They have warned that if ­Congress attempts to remove POTUS via the 25th Amendment, a huge uprising will occur.

“Armed protests are being planned at all 50 state capitols from 16 January through at least 20 January, and at the US Capitol from 17 January through 20 January.”

If House Democrats impeach Mr Trump this week they plan to immediately send the article of impeachment to the Senate for a trial which they hope can start the day before the President leaves office. Although three Republican senators and up to 10 House Republicans are likely to join Democrats in voting to impeach the President, it is unlikely that Democrats will have the numbers to convict him in a trial in the senate.

Two Republican Senators, Pat Toomey and Lisa Murkowski have called on Mr Trump to resign while another, Ben Sasse, has said he would consider articles of ­impeachment.

Mr Biden has said that impeachment is a matter for Congress, but the president-elect hoped the Senate could split its time between impeachment and his cabinet nominations and the COVID relief package. He said the Senate could perhaps “go a half day on dealing with impeachment, a half day on getting my people nominated and confirmed in the Senate, as well as moving on the (COVID-19) package.”

Mr Biden was given his second dose of the coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday.

The 25th Amendment resolution that will be debated on ­Wednesday (AEDT) calls on Mr Pence and the cabinet to, within 24 hours, “declare what is obvious to a horrified nation: that the President is unable to successfully discharge the duties and powers of his office”.

Mr Trump, who has been banned from social media, did not make any public comments on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Acting Director of Homeland Security Chad Wolf was the latest senior administration official to resign following the Capitol siege.