Condemned, impeached!

Agencies | Washington

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The US House of Representatives early this morning impeached President Donald Trump for “incitement of insurrection” at last week’s Capitol riot.

The resolution passed 232 to 197. Ten Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues in voting in favour of the impeachment resolution.

Trump is the first president in US history to be twice impeached – to be charged with crimes by Congress. Trump, a Republican, will now face a trial in the Senate, where if convicted he could face being barred from ever holding office again.

The impeachment measure passed largely along party lines. Trump is due to leave office on 20 January, following his election defeat last November to Democrat Joe Biden. After several hours of impassioned debate yesterday, the Democratic-controlled House voted.

Six Republicans said beforehand they would side with Democrats to impeach the president.

But the majority of conservatives remained loyal to Trump.

But it is unlikely Trump will have to leave the White House before his term in office ends in one week as the Senate was not expected to convene in time.

Last week, 139 Republicans voted against accepting the result of the 2020 election and Trump’s defeat.

Impeachment charges are political, not criminal.

The president was accused by Congress of inciting the storming of the Capitol with his 6 January speech to a rally outside the White House.

Following Trump’s remarks, his supporters broke into the Capitol, forcing lawmakers to suspend certification of election results and take shelter.

The building was placed on lockdown and five people died. The article of impeachment stated that Trump “repeatedly issued false statements asserting that the presidential election results were fraudulent and should not be accepted”.

It says he then repeated these claims and “wilfully made statements to the crowd that encouraged and foreseeably resulted in lawless action at the Capitol”, leading to the 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 imperilled a coequal branch of government.”