Nancy Pelosi says she is "ready" to start a new impeachment trial against Donald Trump
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that Democratic lawmakers are ready to proceed with legislation to bring outgoing President Donald Trump to a second impeachment trial. Before that, Vice President Mike Pence will have 24 hours to invoke Amendment 25 to the Constitution to remove the president from office. Pelosi called Trump a threat to democracy and the Constitution, after the assault on the Capitol. More and more Republicans are calling for the president's resignation.
The House of Representatives is making progress in its attempts to remove Donald Trump from office by January 20. The president could face the second 'impeachment' from him.
On Sunday, the Speaker of the Lower House, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, issued a letter in which she said she will push forward efforts to remove the outgoing Republican president before the final days of her administration conclude.
"In protecting our Constitution and our Democracy, we will act with urgency, because this President represents an imminent threat to both of us. As the days pass, the horror of the continuing assault on our democracy perpetrated by this President intensifies and also the immediate need to act, "reads Pelosi's letter.
For this, Pelosi said that on Monday there will be a resolution in which the Democratic legislators will ask the vice president, Mike Pence, to invoke the 25th amendment of the United States Constitution, for not being Donald Trump suitable for the position. Pence will have 24 hours to answer and, if he does not do so, the Democrats -majority in the House of Representatives- will agree to the activation of a new political trial against the Republican leader.
"If we do not receive Unanimous Consent, it is expected that this legislation will be presented in plenary the next day. We ask the vice president to respond within 24 hours. We will then proceed to bring the impeachment legislation to the Chamber", wrote the Democrat.
There are already two Republican senators in favor of the impeachment of Donald Trump
Meanwhile, calls are mounting for US President Donald Trump to step down. Renowned Republican senator Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania, who until recently supported the president, said that the head of state had committed "indictable crimes" for his behavior during the assault on the Capitol, on January 6.
"I think the best thing for our country is for the president to resign and leave as soon as possible," he said in an interview with US television.
However, Toomey, considered a high-ranking Republican, said he doesn't think there will be time for impeachment, a demand that is growing among the Democratic caucus when Trump has only a few days left in office. On January 20, Democrat Joe Biden will take office as the new president.
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey on Saturday said President Donald Trump has “committed impeachable offenses” https://t.co/V6VhL6uxkt
— POLITICO (@politico) January 10, 2021
"I don't know what they are going to send (to the House) and one of the things that worries me, frankly, is whether the House (of Representatives) will completely politicize it," Toomey said, referring to the Democratic call for a new trial. politician against Trump. "I think the president committed crimes that can be challenged, but I don't know what will happen in the Senate, in any case," added the conservative legislator.
For an impeachment trial against a US president to succeed, not only his approval in the House is necessary, but also that two-thirds of the Senate vote to remove the president, something difficult to achieve, even after the November elections gave a low majority to Democrats in the Upper House.
'Trump has ignored his oath'
Toomey is the most recent of the Republicans who have expressed their rejection of the president's conduct for his role in the assault on the Legislative headquarters, in which the president inflamed his supporters on several occasions, something for which they ask him to resign .
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who has long expressed exasperation at Trump's conduct in office, told local press on Friday that the president simply "needs to get out."
Also Conservative Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska said he will "definitely consider" any article the House of Representatives sends because he believes Trump "has disregarded his oath" to preserve, protect and defend the country's Constitution.
Democrats will present an impeachment proposal on Monday
Faced with Trump's refusal to resign after constant Democratic calls, this party is leading a new effort to seal the Trump presidency with a new brand: a second impeachment against him, something that no American president has faced.
In this way, the Democrats will present before the House on Monday, January 11, a new protest of impeachment against the president. During the day, the legislators will have to write the articles for the charges that are presented to Trump and for which he would be tried.
Democrats will have to decide on Monday whether to go ahead with this process, and if so, the vote on the articles in this House could take place on Wednesday.
If the articles are approved by the House, they could then go to the Senate for a trial, and the senators would act as juries who would ultimately vote on Trump's acquittal or conviction. If he is found guilty, Trump would be removed from office and replaced by Vice President Mike Pence until the start of the new administration.
The progressive of the Lower House, David Cicilline, and leader of the work to draft the aforementioned articles of impeachment against Trump, assured that his team has grown and that he already has at least 185 supporters in Congress.
But with the Republican's few days left in the Oval Office, the race for an eventual impeachment is unlikely. Everything would have to be done before noon on January 20, when the inauguration ceremony of the new president is scheduled.
House Democrats plan to introduce new articles of impeachment against President Trump on Monday, a source tells @Reuters pic.twitter.com/YLyVDLcaYd
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 8, 2021
Trump already faced an impeachment process between December 2019 and February 2020, but was not finally brought to impeachment in the face of strong opposition in the Senate, by then a Republican majority. He was accused of pressuring the Government of Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, who was already emerging as his possible rival in the presidential elections, a situation for which the Lower House, with a Democratic majority, charged him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress .
In recent days, after more than about two months refusing to admit defeat in the Nov. 3 election and after the Capitol riots that led to strong rejection, Donald Trump promised to oversee a peaceful transfer of power. He called for reconciliation, although he later announced that he will not attend Biden's inauguration, the first presidential snub of its kind since the Civil War (1961-1965). The new president responded that he completely agrees with his absence.
The irruption in Congress leaves at least 25 cases of domestic terrorism
In addition to the political debate to remove Trump, US congressmen also have information about what is happening judicially with the investigation of what happened. Specifically, Democratic Rep. Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger and member of the House Armed Services Committee, said that he spoke with the Secretary of the Army of the United States, Ryan McCarthy.
Crow assures that McCarthy confirmed to him that the authorities have opened at least 25 cases of domestic terrorism for the assault on the Capitol. In addition, the Secretary of the Army also reportedly added that the Pentagon was aware of "more possible threats posed by possible terrorists" in the days prior to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on January 20.
Five people were killed in the attack, including a police officer. In addition, a second uniformed man who responded to the attack later died while off duty, but the cause of death is not yet formally known.
