In the United States, Donald Trump risks a second impeachment procedure
The elected Democrats of the House of Representatives in the United States will file, Monday, a procedure for the impeachment of President Donald Trump, their representative Ted Lieu said on Saturday.
Donald Trump could find himself as of Monday under the blow of a second impeachment procedure, an unprecedented historical development, while he showed, on Saturday January 9, no sign of wanting to resign or to withdraw after the violence of the 6th January at the Capitol.
A text of impeachment, written by elected Democrats in the House of Representatives, accuses the Republican president of having "deliberately made statements" which encouraged the invasion of the Congress building by his supporters.
Gathered by Donald Trump to demonstrate against the certification by Congress of Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election, they then burst during the parliamentary session. Events never seen before in Washington and in which five people died, including a police officer.
Several figures of the assault were arrested by the police and charged on Saturday with illegal trespassing and violent conduct, in particular the conspirator Jake Angeli. The latter, who had captured the attention of photographers with his tattoos and his horned headgear, had brought a spear into the temple of American democracy.
The indictment article, signed by at least 190 parliamentarians according to the elected Democrat Ted Lieu, thus affirms that Donald Trump has "seriously endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government".
The decision to launch this new impeachment procedure will once again lie with the powerful Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. She promised to act if the Republican president does not resign immediately.
"He is crazy, unbalanced and dangerous. He must leave", she hammered, going so far as to speak with the chief of staff of the American army to make sure that Donald Trump cannot not use nuclear codes.
"I want to see him go. He's done enough damage."
Recluse in the White House, Donald Trump would have informed his relatives that he had no intention of resigning, according to the New York Times.
Even in the Republican camp, some elected officials seemed open to the possibility of further impeachment. Senator Ben Sasse has said he will review the charges if the House opens impeachment proceedings.
Without commenting on a potential "impeachment", another elected Republican called for the departure of Donald Trump. "I want him to resign. I want to see him go. He's done enough damage," moderate Senator Lisa Murkowski said.
For his part, Republican Senator Pat Toomey also estimated, on CNN, that Donald Trump should resign.
Since the presidential election of November 3, which he lost, Donald Trump "has sunk into a level of madness and has committed absolutely unthinkable and unforgivable acts", he added.
"The best thing for the unity of the country, it would be that it resigns", added on ABC Adam Kinzinger, an elected member of the House of representatives and first Republican to have called on Thursday to declare the president "unfit" to occupy its functions.
More isolated than ever, when two members of his government resigned, the Republican billionaire was deprived of his favorite communication channel, Twitter, Friday evening, but gave no sign of wanting to be discreet.
"We will not be silenced," he replied after the permanent suspension of his Twitter account via the official POTUS (President of the United States) account, for the attention of the "75 million patriots" who have voted for him.
Donald Trump even spoke of reprisals against the social network which "prohibits freedom of expression" and the possible launch of its own platform in the near future, through a series of messages immediately withdrawn by Twitter.
"Muzzle freedom of expression is dangerous," said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, loyal to Donald Trump on Saturday.
A procedure having no chance of success
In power since 2017, Donald Trump has already been targeted in Congress by an infamous impeachment procedure, opened by Nancy Pelosi at the end of 2019 on the accusation of having asked a foreign country, Ukraine, to investigate his rival Joe Biden. He had been acquitted in the Senate, with a Republican majority, in early 2020.
For the new impeachment process to succeed, the Republican billionaire would have to be found guilty by two-thirds of the Senate, which has no chance of happening before his successor Joe Biden is sworn in on January 20.
The leader of the Republicans in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, has also circulated a memo stating that under current Senate rules, no impeachment trial could take place before the inauguration of the president-elect, unless all of the senators do not authorize such a procedure.
The fact remains that the launch of a second "impeachment" would leave an indelible mark on Donald Trump's record: no American president has suffered this dishonor.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, close to Donald Trump, for his part warned against such a move that would risk "further destroying the country", asking Joe Biden to intervene. "I hope you will use your power to stop this before it's too late," he added, speaking directly to Joe Biden, during an intervention on Fox News.
Posing as the peacemaker of a country shaken by the events of the Capitol, the president-elect was careful not to take a position on this question of impeachment. It's up to Congress to decide, he said.
