More than 150 House Democrats signed on to a resolution to impeach President Trump for “willfully inciting violence” in a way that resulted in a mob of his supporters breaching the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday and to prevent him from holding future federal office.
California Rep. Ted Lieu shared the articles in a tweet, saying that the impeachment resolution was drafted with Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin and Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline and that at least 150 House Democrats have signed on to it. Lieu and Cicilline are both members of the House Judiciary Committee.
The resolution includes just one article of impeachment: “incitement of insurrection.”
“Donald John Trump engaged in high Crimes and Misdemeanors by willfully inciting violence against the Government of the United States,” it says.
It continues: “He also willfully made statements that encouraged – and foreseeably resulted in — imminent lawless action at the Capitol. Incited by President Trump, a mob unlawfully breached the Capitol, injured law enforcement personnel, menaced Members of Congress and the Vice President, interfered with the Joint Session’s solemn constitutional duty to certify the election results, and engaged in violent, deadly, destructive, and seditious acts.”
The resolution also mentions Trump’s leaked Sunday phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump urged Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes” in order to make him the winner of the state and its 16 Electoral College votes rather than President-elect Joe Biden.
The call, the impeachment resolution said, was a prior effort “to subvert and obstruct the certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election.”
“In all of this, President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government,” the resolution says. “He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coordinate branch of government.”
In a key line, it would disqualify Trump from holding office again, in a move seeking to prevent a potential Trump 2024 bid: “President Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold any and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told House Democrats in a caucus call on Friday that she would discuss a possible impeachment effort with Biden later in the day.
Biden later declined to endorse the impeachment push fully.
“What the Congress decides to do is for them to decide,” Biden said in a press conference on Friday. “I think it’s important we get on with the business of getting him out of office. The quickest way that will happen is us being sworn in on the 20th.”
Donald Trump willfully incited his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol and disrupt the peaceful transition of power. He must be impeached and removed. The Articles of Impeachment we drafted with @RepCicilline and @RepRaskin now has over 150 cosponsors. pic.twitter.com/zjk6i0Wcf4
— Rep. Ted Lieu (@RepTedLieu) January 8, 2021
