Donald Trump Impeached for "Incitement" of the US Capitol Riots, Becoming the First American President to Be Impeached Twice

Donald Trump became the first American president to be impeached twice. According to ABC, on Wednesday, The House of Representatives voted 232-197 to impeach the current President for the role he's believed to have played on January 6, 2021, in the riots and siege at the U.S Capitol.

The decision came after the House filed a single article of impeachment on January 11 against the president for "incitement of insurrection" at the Capitol building riots that left five people dead.

According to BBC, the impeachment article stated that Trump "repeatedly issued false statements asserting that the presidential election results were fraudulent and should not be accepted." It further stated that he "wilfully made statements to the crowd that encouraged and foreseeably resulted in lawless action at the Capitol," which lead to violence and loss of life.

"President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government, threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of government."

Unlike his first impeachment, 10 House Republicans including ranking member Liz Cheney, Representative-Wyoming, voted for the impeachment of the president and denounced his actions. The Senate trial is expected to be scheduled after he leaves the office officially.

As per WIONews, the president was impeached in 2019 for abuse of power. The U.S. House of Representatives would be submitting the article of impeachment to the U.S. Senate. Mitch McConnell, the Senate's Republican majority leader, rejected the call for a quick impeachment and said that he cannot come to a conclusion until Trump leaves the office.

He said, "Given the rules, procedures, and Senate precedents that govern presidential impeachment trials, there is simply no chance that a fair or serious trial could conclude before President-elect Biden is sworn in next week." If the president is found guilty by the Senate after the trial, he may have to leave the office immediately, reported BBC. However, even after he leaves the office and the Senate convicts Trump, it could lead to a vote banning him from running for the office ever again.

Trump shared a video statement right after the vote where he neither mentioned anything about the impeachment vote nor took the responsibility for his remarks to his supporters on January 6. However, he did condemn the violence and said, "Mob violence goes against everything I believe in and everything our movement stands for. No true supporter of mine could ever endorse political violence. No true supporter of mine could ever disrespect law and order."

Amidst all this, president-elect Joe Biden is aware that his first few days in the office might be shadowed by the impeachment drama. As per CNN, he has urged the Senate to work on the impeachment process keeping other critical issues in mind.

In a statement on Wednesday, January 13, he said that the House's vote "to impeach and hold the president accountable" was "a bipartisan vote cast by members who followed the Constitution and their conscience." Biden wants to concentrate on the economic and public health issues after he takes the office next week.

He expects the Senate to take Trump's impeachment trial seriously while working on his agenda as well. "This nation also remains in the grip of a deadly virus and a reeling economy. I hope that the Senate leadership will find a way to deal with their Constitutional responsibilities on impeachment while also working on the other urgent business of this nation."

References:

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/impeachment-process-works/story?id=51202880

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55656385

https://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-impeached-again-becomes-first-us-president-to-suffer-impeachment-twice-356536

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/13/politics/biden-senate-impeachment/index.html