House assured to impeach Donald Trump for 2nd time after deadly Capitol riot

The U.S. House is poised to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time on Wednesday for “incitement of insurrection,” exactly one week after a violent siege on the U.S. Capitol left five people dead. It would make him the only American president ever to be impeached twice.

The unprecedented effort gained momentum overnight as senior Republican leaders in the House joined Democrats in calling for his removal from office for his role in inflaming a horde of loyalists who led the deadly assault on the US Capitol while members of Congress in both the House and Senate were in session to certify Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in November’s presidential election.

The House began considering the article of impeachment on Wednesday morning, with debate and a final vote set for later in the day, one week before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.

Democrat Rep. Jim McGovern, the chairman of the House Rules Committee, setting up a preliminary vote on the terms of the debate, called the Capitol a “crime scene” and the rioters “traitors” in an assault instigated by Trump.

Republican Rep. Tom Cole, called Jan. 6 the “darkest day” of his long career in Washington but said Democrats, instead of promoting unity, are looking to “divide us further” by pursuing Trump’s impeachment.

In a turn of events, at least five House Republicans have announced they too will vote to impeach Trump, even though no Republicans supported the effort during Trump’s first impeachment proceedings related to the Ukraine matter in 2019.

On Tuesday, Mike Pence formally rejected calls to strip Trump of power in an unprecedented invoking of the 25th amendment to the US constitution that allows for the removal of a sitting president if deemed unfit to perform his job.

Pence’s signal came just hours before the House passed a resolution calling on him to do so.

In lengthy documents outlining the case for impeachment, House Democrats argued that Trump’s lack of remorse was further proof that he remained a threat while in office.

“The president’s remaining term is limited – but a president capable of fomenting a violent insurrection in the Capitol is capable of greater dangers still,” they wrote. “He must be removed from office as swiftly as the constitution allows.”

Trump on Tuesday lashed out at the impeachment effort by House Democrats, claiming “it’s causing tremendous anger” and “danger to our country.”

Trump called his inflammatory language at a rally immediately prior to the mob marching on the US Congress and breaking in last week “totally appropriate”.

He said impeachment was nothing more than a “continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics”.