There are 180 House Democrats who support impeaching President Trump for “willfully inciting violence” in such a fashion that resulted in a swath of his supporters breaching the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
California Rep. Ted Lieu shared the articles in a tweet on Friday, saying that the impeachment resolution was drafted with Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin and Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline. A day later, he announced that 180 House Democrats had signed on to it.
The resolution includes one article of impeachment, “incitement of insurrection,” and it explicitly states that Trump would be disqualified from holding office again: “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.”
A group of Trump supporters who were in town for a Trump rally stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday as a joint session of Congress sought to certify the Electoral College votes in Biden’s favor. The president encouraged his supporters to travel to the Capitol during his rally, and he said that he’d go with them, although he didn’t. The clashes and violence with police led to five deaths, including a law enforcement officer, countless injuries, dozens of arrests, and a lockdown of the Capitol, but Congress certified the Electoral College for Biden hours later.
“He also willfully made statements that encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — imminent lawless action at the Capitol,” the resolution reads. “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 phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which he urged the election official 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 impeachment article will not be taken up in the Senate until after Biden is inaugurated, McConnell has said, which means the top Senate Democrat, Chuck Schumer, will be the Senate majority leader at that time.
