Trump indicted by House of Representatives for the second time
Donald Trump now has two congressional charges in impeachment proceedings on his presidential record. The US House of Representatives formally accused him on Wednesday of instigating violence on Capitol Hill.
The Democratic majority, supported by 10 Republican representatives, voted 232 to accuse the outgoing president, against 197 Republicans who opposed. Donald Trump is not only the first president to be blamed twice in this way by the House, but also the one to be held by the largest number of elected officials in his own party. The Republicans did not impose the party line on their troops, unlike last year.
Ten elected officials broke ranks, despite the threats that are made against all Republicans who do not defend the president.
This is the case of Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney - Republicans number three in the House - who accused Donald Trump on Tuesday of having "betrayed" his oath to the Constitution. Some of her colleagues immediately demanded that she lose her leadership position.
Dan Newhouse, of Washington state, also criticized the president for “setting the crowd on fire” of Trumpist supporters last week. "He did not strongly condemn the attack or call for reinforcements when the [Capitol] police were overtaken. To oppose the impeachment process is to "condone President Trump's inaction," he criticized his colleagues.
After two hours of debate, the majority of 211 Republican representatives nonetheless rejected the Democratic resolution accusing the outgoing president and aimed at preventing him from running again in a federal election.
Republicans have accused Democrats of having initiated the impeachment process out of pure political ambition and rushing the process without holding hearings or offering the president a right of reply.
They have also mostly defended Donald Trump, denying that he encouraged his supporters to storm the Capitol to prevent elected officials from confirming Joe Biden's victory.
Tom McClintock of California concurred that the president's confrontational tone was inappropriate amidst political tension. "But is it worthy of impeachment? This is called freedom of expression, "he argued. “If we removed all the politicians who give fiery speeches in front of a crowd of supporters, this capital would be deserted. This is what the president did. That's all he did. […] Every movement has a fringe of crazy extremists, ”McClintock said.
Responsible, but not guilty
House leader Kevin McCarthy foreshadowed the outcome of the vote for his party. He came as a surprise by admitting that the president is partly responsible for the attempted insurgency on Capitol Hill. "He should have immediately denounced the horde of rioters when he saw what was going on," he said.
But Mr. McCarthy nonetheless objected to endorsing the impeachment process. Because it "will further divide the country" and "will further fan the flames of partisan divisions", he pleaded. The Republican leader would prefer to impose a motion of censure on Donald Trump, which would reprimand him publicly without threatening him with impeachment or other sanctions.
Democrats and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, however, reiterated that the president cannot stay in office for one more day. “We know that the President of the United States instigated this insurgency, this armed rebellion against our country. He must go. It poses an immediate and manifest danger to the country, ”insisted Nancy Pelosi, opening the debate.
“Today, in a bipartisan fashion, the House has demonstrated that no one is above the law. Not even the President of the United States, ”she applauded following the vote.
The Senate will wait
This lower house verdict officially accuses the president of committing a serious act punishable by impeachment. But it is up to the Senate to hold the trial of Donald Trump. A process that has never yet resulted in the conviction of an American president.
Senators will resume their work next Tuesday, however, and the impeachment process is not scheduled until Wednesday afternoon - when Joe Biden has been sworn in and Donald Trump's term is over.
Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell has confirmed to Democratic counterpart Chuck Schumer that he will not agree to convene the Upper House earlier than expected. "Even if the Senate acted this week and quickly, no final verdict could be delivered before President Trump left office," he insisted, noting that a "serious and fair trial had to be held. And that the previous three lasted 83, 37 and 21 days.
For Donald Trump to be condemned, the Senate would have to vote two-thirds in this direction and that 17 Republicans therefore side with the Democrats. It is not known how many of them could do so. Mitch McConnell told his troops he had "not made a final decision" on his own vote, according to CNN. The leader reportedly told his deputies that he believes the president has indeed committed impeachment-worthy faults and that such a conviction would make it easier to expel him from the party.
Calls for calm
Donald Trump has kept a low profile as the lower house debates the end of his presidency.
Muzzled by Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, he shared a written statement during the day and then a video message in the evening. But they did not once again denounce the impeachment process. Instead, they called for calm, as Washington and the rest of the country brace for more violent protests on the sidelines of Joe Biden's swearing-in.
Donald Trump therefore called on his supporters to "find ways to ease tensions, to calm people down". “None of my supporters would endorse political violence. None of my supporters would disrespect law enforcement or the American flag. None of my supporters would threaten or harass their fellow citizens. If you do these things, you are not supporting our movement, "he ruled, condemning last week's riot on harsher terms than in recent days.
The president had qualified Tuesday the steps of the Democrats in the House of "deception" and of new "witch hunt".
He also criticized social media platforms for "censoring" Americans like him, whose accounts have been suspended. An effort to prevent calls for violence, but which the president called "unfair" and "dangerous".
