Newly impeached Donald Trump finally ‘unequivocally’ condemns violence and claims he was ‘shocked’

President Donald Trump delivered another taped video address to the nation Wednesday following his impeachment in the House over ‘incitement of insurrection’ – where he repeatedly denounced violence following the MAGA riot in the Capitol.

His pre-taped comment came after Democrats repeatedly accused him of causing the riot that left six dead and the Capitol vandalized but did not mention that he had been impeached again, an unprecedented rebuke of a presiddent. 

Ten House Republicans joined Democrats in voting 232-197 for a House impeachment article – setting up a Senate trial even after Trump leaves office – something he only belatedly acknowledged he would do.

Trump spoke straight to the camera, as he did in a previous video where he acknowledged last week for the first time that there would be a transition in power the day after his supporters invaded the Capitol and clashed with Capitol Police, leaving one officer dead. Another took his own life after the riots.

This time, Trump didn’t tweet out the statement, because Twitter has blocked his account after the Capitol riot that killed five. Instead it came from the official White House account, which Twitter told NBC News was permitted.

The president said the riot ‘angered and appalled millions of Americans across the political spectrum.’

‘I want to be very clear. I unequivocally condemn the violence that we saw last week,’ Trump said, clearly reading from a prompter.

‘Violence and vandalism have absolutely no place in our country – and no place in our movement.’

His appeal came amid warnings from law enforcement of further violence during the handover on January 20 – and grave threats to his own political future through impeachment. The Senate is not only moving ahead with a trial, but will hold a vote to bar Trump from holding future office if he is convicted.

His statements were unequivocal – but followed a series of public comments where he made statements that could be seen to justify violence with a wink, including telling his supporters at the speech in The Ellipse before they marched on the Capitol: ‘We’re going to have to fight much harder.’

‘We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them, because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong,’ he said then – a stark contrast to his address from the Oval Office.

 Trump on Wednesday defended his movement, after rioters decked out in Trump gear were seen fighting with police, and even beating officers with American flags.

‘Making America Great Again has always been about defending the rule of law, supporting the men and women of law enforcement and upholding our nation’s most sacred traditions and values,’ said Trump, who made ‘law and order’ and overriding theme of his campaign,’ he said.

‘Mob violence goes against everything I believe in and everything our movement stands for,’ said Trump. 

Lawmakers have combed over his January 6 speech, where he urged supporters to march on the Capitol to protest an election result he called ‘rigged’ while Congress was meeting to count the electoral votes.

‘No true supporter of mine could ever endorse political violence, no true supporter of mine could ever disrespect law enforcement or our great American flag,’ said Trump. 

‘No true supporter of mine could ever threaten or harass their fellow Americans. If you do any of these things you are not supporting our movement, you are attacking it, and you are attacking our country,’ he added.

‘We cannot tolerate it. We have seen political violence spiral out of control.’

Trump also tried to connect the violence committed by his supporters to violence and vandalism at protests this summer – a tactic his supporters also used on the floor in his defense.

‘We have seen too many riots, too many mobs, too many acts of intimidation and destruction. Whether you are on the right or the left, a Democrat or a Republican, there is never a justification for violence. No excuses, no exceptions. America is a nation of laws,’ Trump said.

‘Those who engaged in the attacks last week will be brought to justice,’ he said – with hundreds of law enforcement officers opening hundreds of cases to try to bring perpetrators to justice.

In the wake of the riots, an estimated 20,000 National Guard are being deployed in the Capitol, the Capitol is surrounded by a tall fence, and officials are warning of the potential for further violence.    

The video came hours after a statement sent from the White House as the impeachment debate was taking place. 

‘In light of reports of more demonstrations, I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind. That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for. I call on ALL Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers. Thank You,’ the statement read. 

The White House blasted the statement out to its press list after Twitter, Facebook and Instagram froze Trump’s social media accounts for inciting violence. Spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany also tweeted it from her official press secretary account and the Trump campaign texted it to followers.

The statement contained several words in ALL CAPS – which was a regular feature of Trump’s tweets.

Trump on had Tuesday denied all responsibility for last week’s riot, saying his fiery speech to his supporters before they marched on the Capitol was ‘totally appropriate.’ 

In his first public remarks since Wednesday’s MAGA storming of the Capitol, the president slammed Democrats, accusing them of creating ‘tremendous danger’ with their attempt to remove him from office but said repeatedly he wanted ‘no violence.’

The president defended his speech at a rally on ellipse, where he encouraged his thousands of supporters to ‘march’ on the Capitol. 

They did so, leaving five dead and a path of destruction in their wake in the form of busted windows, broken furniture and destroyed office space. Dozens have now been rounded up by police and FBI.

‘If you read my speech – and many people have done it and I’ve seen it both in the papers and in the media, on television, it is been analyzed – and people thought that what I said was totally appropriate,’ he said as he boarded Air Force One to head for Alamo, Texas, on the Mexican border, to inspect his wall.

‘They’ve analyzed my speech and my words and my final paragraph, my final sentence and everybody to a tee thought it was totally appropriate,’ he continued. He offered no indication of who ‘they’ are.

Trump also denounced the Democrats’ efforts to remove him from office, which has been joined by some Republicans, to remove him from office – and called it a ‘danger,’ not his supporters’ actions.

But, he said he wanted no violence from his supporters. Trump reportedly had initially enjoyed the sight of his supporters on Capitol Hill last week, fighting for him to illegally take a second term in the White House. He changed his tune and called on them to stand down when he warned he could be held legally responsible for their actions.

‘We want no violence, never violence. We want absolutely no violence,’ he said repeatedly Tuesday before he left for Texas to tout the completion of a section of his border wall.

‘And on the impeachment, it’s really a continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics. It’s ridiculous. It’s absolutely ridiculous. This impeachment is causing tremendous anger,’ he said.

He denounced Democratic leaders but made no mention of the Republicans who have called on him to leave office.

‘It’s really a terrible thing that they’re doing for Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to continue on this path. I think it’s causing tremendous danger to our country, and it’s causing tremendous anger, I want no violence,’ he said.

That calculus appeared however to have changed with the new video, issued after the House voted 232-197 to impeach him for a second time for ‘incitement of insurrection,’ exactly a week after the MAGA mob stormed Capitol Hill.

The Democratic majority was joined by 10 Republicans, making the House’s move bipartisan – unlike Trump’s first impeachment less than 13 months ago.  

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that he would not bring the Senate back before January 19, the day before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. It means that Trump cannot be removed from office before he leaves anyway. 

McConnell’s move was revealed as the House debated the impeachment article. Then he added to the drama with a statement suggesting he could convict, saying: ‘While the press has been full of speculation, I have not made a final decision on how I will vote and I intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate.’ 

Just before he entered history as the first president to be impeached twice, the White House put out a statement from Trump, which called for peace but did not address his impeachment.

‘In light of reports of more demonstrations, I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind. That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for. I call on ALL Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers. Thank You,’ the president’s statement said. 

Later, after the impeachment vote, Trump put out a video message.  

The call for calm did nothing to quell a Republican rebellion against him, led by the House number three Liz Cheney, which ended with a total of 10 GOP members voting to impeach Trump.

Halfway through the debate another defiant Republican, Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington, said: ‘Turning a blind eye to this brutal assault on our Republic is not an option.

‘A vote against impeachment is a vote to validate this unacceptable violence we witnessed in our nation’s capital. It is also a vote to condone President Trump’s inaction. He did not strongly condemn the attack nor did he call in reinforcements when our officers were overwhelmed.’ 

‘Our country needed a leader and President Trump failed to fulfill his oath of office,’ Newhouse added. His floor speech got Democratic applause.

The 10 votes make the impeachment the most bipartisan ever, another historical marker which also creates a deep split in the Republican party which is unlikely to end with Trump’s departure. 

The vote ended with Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, in the chair, declaring the count of 232 to 197 – but with silence from the Democrats and handful of Republicans still present. Pelosi had warned her members not to celebrate the outcome.

 ‘We’re heartbroken over what this means to our country,’ Pelosi said at the engrossment ceremony for the article of impeachment that took place Wednesday evening. ‘To have a president who incites insurrection.’ 

She said she ‘sadly’ signed the documents.  

It concluded a day of debate in which Pelosi had called Trump a ‘clear and present danger,’ as Democrats said they were standing in a ‘crime scene’ and demanded that Trump pay a price for a campaign of ‘lies and conspiracy theories’ which had fomented violence.  

Trump’s Republican allies did not defend Trump’s behavior, but instead pitched censuring the president or launching a 9/11-style commission, more fitting punishments they argued for someone who was already leaving office. 

Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican, went as far to say Trump’s conduct was impeachable, but wouldn’t vote for the article, calling it ‘flawed.’  

The Republican revolt was led by Cheney, the number three in the caucus and party royalty as the daughter of the former vice president Dick Cheney.

She had issued a fiery denunciation of Trump when she announced her vote 24 hours earlier, saying he ‘lit the flame on insurrection’ but did not speak on the floor.

In the Senate, which will have to hold a trial of Trump in the wake of the vote as soon as it receives the article, McConnell’s announcement that he is willing to convict raises new questions about how Republicans will vote when the trial happens.

So far only Sen. Mitt Romney appears certain to back conviction, while on Wednesday Sen. Lindsey Graham accused McConnell of risking more violence by backing impeachment. No other Republican senator has made their position public. 

Impeachment is by a two-thirds majority of the Senate, which in principle means the 50 Democrats have to be joined by 17 Republicans, but in fact it is only a majority of those present, meaning some GOP members could stay away to let a vote go through without actively taking part.  

In a statement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer continued to push McConnell to reconvene the Senate sooner – but said there would be a trial no matter what.

‘A Senate trial can begin immediately, with agreement from the current Senate Majority Leader to reconvene the Senate for an emergency session, or it will begin after January 19th,’ Schumer said. 

‘But make no mistake, there will be an impeachment trial in the United States Senate; there will be a vote on convicting the president for high crimes and misdemeanors; and if the president is convicted, there will be a vote on barring him from running again.’ 

Rep. Tom Cole, the first GOP lawmaker to speak, argued against a hasty impeachment vote ‘not because of the president’s inappropriate and reckless words are deserving of defense but because the presidency itself demands due process.’ Cole had himself voted to overturn the election results.

Republicans also warned impeaching Trump for a second time would only make partisan hostilities worse.  

‘This is a reckless impeachment,’ complained Republican Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri. ‘This will only bring up the hate and fire more than ever before.’ 

Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona charged Democrats with wanting ‘complete destruction of your nemesis.’

‘Instead of stopping the Trump train, his movement will go stronger, for you would have made him a martyr,’ Biggs warned. 

Democrats described the terror of last week’s attack. 

‘We are debating this resolution at an actual crime scene and we wouldn’t be here if not for the president of the United States,’ said Rep. Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat.

‘People were sending text messages to their loved ones, telling them they loved them. They thought they were saying goodbye,’ he added.  

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, the House’s lead impeachment manager, referred to the rioters as a ‘bloodthirsty mob.’   

‘They wounded dozens of people, hospitalizing dozens of people,’ he said. ‘They may have been hunting for Pence and Pelosi to stage their coup, but every one of us in this room right now, could have died.’

Rep. Joaquin Castro echoed Raskin’s description. 

‘Let me ask you a question? What do you think they would have done if they had gotten in? What do you think they would have done to you? And who do you think sent them here?’ he asked his fellow members. ‘The most dangerous man to ever occupy the Oval Office.’ 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, speaking to an InstagramLive audience Tuesday night since she was proxy voting, said, ‘I can tell you that I had a very close encounter where I thought I was going to die.’ 

‘I did not know if I was going to make it to the end of that day alive,’ the high-profile progressive lawmaker said.  

On the floor Wednesday, the Democrats pointed to the Republicans’ high-profile defection: the No. 3 House Republican, Cheney. 

Cheney, the Republican Conference Chair, laced into Trump in her statement, saying he ‘lit the flame’ of insurrection – and Democrats repeated her words back to the Republicans. 

‘There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution,’ she said.

The decision to back impeachment by Cheney, a member of Republican royalty as the daughter of Dick Cheney, and seen as a future contender for the party’s House leadership and the Speaker’s chair, means that impeachment would be bipartisan.  

On the floor Wednesday, Democrats pointed to Cheney’s statement as evidence they were in the right. 

The Democrats’ No. 2, Rep. Steny Hoyer, recited Cheney’s words during his turn to speak. 

‘That is not some irresponsible new member of Congress of the United States,’ Hoyer said. ‘This is the daughter of the former Republican whip and former vice president of the United States of America.’ 

‘She knows of which she speaks,’ Hoyer argued. 

Cheney never gave her own floor speech.  

Reps. Jim Jordan and Paul Gosar, two of Trump’s top GOP House allies, were pushing to have Cheney removed from her leadership position. 

JIM JORDAN SAYS DEMOCRATS WANT TO ‘CANCEL’ THE PRESIDENT 

Jordan gave two fiery floor speeches Wednesday.   

He yelled ’19 minutes!’ into the microphone Wednesday afternoon, charging Democrats with waiting just 19 minutes into the Trump administration to start their impeachment hunt.   

He said Democrats were pursuing removal again because of ‘politics and the fact that they want to, they want to cancel the president.’ 

‘This is about getting the president of the United States,’ Jordan said. 

‘They spied on his campaign before he was elected, 19 minutes into his presidency they started the impeachment push, three year Mueller investigation, 19 lawyers, 40 agents, 500 witnesses, 2,500 subpoenas, $40 million to find nothing,’ Jordan went on. 

The Ohio Republican said impeachment ’round one’ was based on information from a ‘biased’ whistleblower. 

‘Now it’s impeachment round two,’ he said. ‘It’s always been about getting the president, no matter what. It’s an obsession, an obsession that’s now broadened. It’s not just about impeachment anymore it’s about canceling … canceling the president,’ Jordan argued. 

‘IT BREAKS MY HEART’ SAYS HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI 

Pelosi, who opened the formal impeachment articles debate, said she wasn’t pursuing the measure with glee. 

‘It gives me no pleasure to say this, it breaks my heart. It should break your heart. It should break all of our hearts,’ the top Democrat said. 

Pelosi encouraged the Senate to act, calling the president a ‘clear and present danger.’ 

‘I believe the president must be convicted by the Senate, a constitutional  remedy that will ensure that the republic will be safe from this man, that was so resolutely determined to tear down the things that we hold dear, and hold us together,’ she said.  

She also slammed those who engaged in the riot. 

‘Those insurrectionists were not patriots. They were not part of a political base to be catered to and managed. They were domestic terrorists and justice must prevail,’ the House speaker said. 

TOP HOUSE REPUBLICAN SAYS ANTIFA NOT RESPONSIBLE 

Pelosi’s Republican counterpart, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, let other, more pro-Trump members speak before he took a turn on the floor, where he cleared up some right-wing misinformation. 

‘Some say the riots were caused by Antifa,’ McCarthy said. ‘There is absolutely no evidence of that. And conservatives should be the first to say so,’ he advised. 

McCarthy said he planned to vote no on impeachment because it was too hasty. 

‘I believe impeaching the president in such a short timeframe would be a mistake,’ McCarthy argued. ‘No investigations have been completed. No hearings have been held.’  

‘What’s more, the Senate has confirmed that no trial will begin until after President-Elect Biden is sworn in,’ McCarthy added, a nod to the breaking McConnell news. 

TRUMP’S TOP ALLIES POINT FINGERS BACK AT DEMOCRATS 

Most of the Republicans lining up to speak were Trump hard-liners – and pointed to what they considered to be Democratic hypocrisy. 

‘The left in America has incited far more political violence than the right for months. Our cities burned police stations burned or businesses were shattered. And they said nothing,’ Rep. Matt Gaetz yelled. 

‘Well they lit actual flames. Actual fires,’ Gaetz exclaimed. 

That comment cued boos from the Democratic side.  

Rep. Ken Buck compared the capitol assault to Trump administration officials being harassed at restaurants. 

‘The press secretary Sarah Sanders was kicked out of a restaurant for being a Trump employee, the DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen harassed at her home,’ Buck said on the floor. 

Nielsen was confronted by a crowd at a D.C. restaurant over the Trump administration’s child separation policy.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, who has openly supported the QAnon conspiracy theory, called for ‘accountability on the left.’

‘After encouraging and normalizing violence,’ she said. 

‘I call bull crap when I hear the Democrats demanding unity. Sadly they are only unified in hate,’ she blasted.   

the other ‘QAnon congresswoman,’ Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green gave her floor remarks wearing a ‘CENSORED’ mask.

Rep. Brian Mast, a Florida Republican, used a dramatic pause to make his point. 

‘Has any one of those individuals who brought violence on this capitol been brought here to answer whether they did that because of our president?’ Mast asked. 

He stood unanswered for 30 seconds until his time elapsed. ‘It appears I will receive no answer,’ he said.

(SOME) REPUBLICANS REVOLT 

Joining Cheney in voting for the Democratic-prepared article of impeachment was Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, John Katko of New York,  Fred Upton of Michigan,  Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington, Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington,  Peter Meijer of Michigan, Tom Rice of South Carolina and Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio.  

‘My vote to impeach our sitting president is not a fear-based decision,’ Herrera Beutler said during her floor speech. ‘I am not choosing a side I am choosing, it’s the only way to defeat fear.’   

Newhouse announced Wednesday mid-debate that he would vote yes on impeachment. 

‘Turning a blind eye to this brutal assault on our Republic is not an option,’ Newhouse said.

‘A vote against impeachment is a vote to validate this unacceptable violence we witnessed in our nation’s capital,’ Newhouse said in a statement. ‘It is also a vote to condone President Trump’s inaction. He did not strongly condemn the attack nor did he call in reinforcements when our officers were overwhelmed.’ 

‘Our country needed a leader and President Trump failed to fulfill his oath of office,’ Newhouse added. 

His remarks were applauded on the House floor.

Cheney’s decision came minutes after McConnell was revealed to believe that Trump had committed impeachable offenses.

The New York Times’ bombshell was still echoing in Washington D.C. when the House started its 25th Amendment debate – and as it dragged to a close Tuesday night, Axios reported that McConnell was leaning towards a vote to convict the president and was ‘more than 50/50’ on it.  

Cheney was seen speaking to Raskin on Tuesday night as he led the Democrats arguing for a resolution urging Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment removing Trump from power.

The House passed it late Tuesday despite Pence sending a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying he’ll refuse. 

In a vote that wrapped up around 11.30pm Tuesday, the House voted 223-205 to approve the resolution, which can’t actually force the vice president’s hand.   

‘I do not believe that such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with the Constitution,’ Pence said in his letter to Pelosi, refusing to pull the trigger on the 25th. 

‘Last week, I did not yield to pressure to exert beyond my constitutional authority to determine the outcome of the election, and I will not now yield to efforts in the House of Representatives to play political games at a time so serious in the life of our Nation,’ Pence added. 

Pence’s letter came as the House was holding procedural votes on the resolution.   

No Republicans joined on until the final vote – with Rep. Adam Kinzinger joining Democrats in the push to have Pence to use the 25th.  

That set the scene for an impeachment debate and vote Wednesday entirely different from the first impeachment vote on October 31, 2019.

Then the only non-Democratic vote was from Justin Amash, who was essentially forced out of the Republican party before he even cast it.

But after a day in which they feared for their lives, the mood in Congress had changed rapidly.

 

 

 

In the hours after the riot, Pence did his Constitutional duty and certified President-elect Joe Biden, something he had been pressured by Trump not to do. 

‘You can either go down in history as a patriot,’ Trump had told Pence by phone before he headed to the Capitol Wednesday, according to The New York Times. ‘Or you can go down in history as a p****.’   

Pence was inside when the violent mobbed attacked, with some Trump supporters calling out, ‘Hang Mike Pence.’  

The Times reported that Trump had invited Pence to the Oval Office Monday night to try to smooth things over in the run-up to the House’s 25th Amendment vote. 

The official description of the meeting was ‘good,’ according to the newspaper. 

Unofficially sources called it ‘nonsubstantive’ and ‘stilted.’  

Tuesday night’s vote on the 25th Amendment is considered the appetizer for Wednesday’s main course: the House pursuing impeachment again. 

Nowhere in his letter did Pence say he objected to that move.   

Shortly after Pence sent out his letter, Pelosi sent out the names of impeachment managers. 

She picked Raskin, who introduced the 25th Amendment resolution, as the head manager. 

‘I think every member of this body should be able to agree that this president is not meeting the most minimal duties of office,’ Raskin argued Tuesday night. 

Raskin also warned his fellow lawmakers that Trump could pardon the Capitol Hill attackers during his waning days. 

Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, recently lost his son. 

Additionally, Democratic Reps. Diana DeGette, David Cicilline, Joaquin Castro, Eric Swalwell, Ted Lieu, Stacey Plaskett, Joe Neguse and Madeleine Dean were also chosen.  

Earlier Tuesday, McConnell signaled his support for the impeachment effort that includes an article charging the president with ‘incitement of insurrection.’

The view of the GOP powerbroker emerged shortly before Rep. Liz Cheney, a member of the House GOP leadership, announced that she would vote for impeaching President Trump.  

‘On January 6, 2021 a violent mob attacked the United States Capitol to obstruct the process of our democracy and stop the counting of presidential electoral votes. This insurrection caused injury, death and destruction in the most sacred space in our Republic,’ wrote Cheney, the daughter of the former vice president.

‘Much more will become clear in coming days and weeks, but what we know now is enough. The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution,’ she continued.

‘I will vote to impeach the President,’ Cheney concluded.   

Neither Cheney nor McConnell backed Democrats impeachment effort a year ago.  

McConnell worked successfully to scuttle the impeachment effort during a trial last year on different charges. 

His current view follows reports that McConnell never wants to speak to Trump again after the Capitol riots that had Trump supporters invading the Capitol, trashing leadership offices, and endangering the lives of lawmakers.

McConnell backs the effort because it will make it easier to purge Trump from the party, the New York Times reports.

One feature of impeachment – which can grind the Senate to a halt and lead to furious partisan arguments – is that it allows lawmakers to vote to prohibit the person being impeached from ever holding public office with the U.S. government.

Trump may run for president in 2024, and many of his potential rivals happen to hold Senate seats.  

McConnell has made clear in private discussions that ‘now is the moment to move on the weakened lame duck, whom he blames for Republicans losing the Senate,’ according to the report.

Trump ignored McConnell’s advice and launched his election challenge despite two run-off elections in Georgia which the GOP lost – stripping the party of its majority. 

A source told CNN McConnell ‘hates’ Trump and is ‘furious’ with him after the Capitol riots. 

The siege left five people dead, including a U.S. Capitol Police officer who was based on the Senate side.  

McConnell’s wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, quit the Trump cabinet after the riots, which included an angry mob getting blocked steps from the door to the Senate chamber that McConnell uses when he normally strolls from his leadership office.  

McConnell’s view emerged as Trump, rather than express contrition, called impeachment a ‘hoax’ and a ‘witch hunt,’ and defended his pre-riot comments that Democrats have already said was incitement. Trump called his speech minutes before the siege ‘totally appropriate.’         

Cheney’s statement denouncing the president comes after Trump told supporters they need to ‘get rid’ of people like her. 

‘We got to get rid of the weak Congresspeople, the ones that aren’t any good, the Liz Cheneys of the world. We got to get rid of them,’ Trump said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi praised her, amid speculation numerous House Republicans might follow her lead. 

‘Good for her for honoring her oath of us. Would that more Republicans would honor their oaths of office,’ Pelosi said. 

GOP Rep. John Katko also announced he would back impeachment Tuesday night. 

‘To allow the president of the United States to incite this attack without consequence is a direct threat to the future of our democracy,’ Katko said in a statement, Syracuse.com reported. ‘For that reason, I cannot sit by without taking action. I will vote to impeach this president,’ he said. 

During floor debate, Katko said he wasn’t supporting the 25th Amendment resolution because it was ‘non-binding,’ calling it ‘merely a symbolic gesture.’  

Katko confirmed his plans to vote for impeachment. 

Michigan Republican Rep. Fred Upton also told Forbes he would vote to impeach. 

As midnight approached, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler also said she was a yes.   

Convicting Trump on an impeachment article requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate, where Republicans hold 50 votes – a high bar to meet.  

Assuming passage in the House, it has not been determined when Democratic leaders will transmit the impeachment article, or when the Senate might take it up. 

A McConnell memo that emerged over the weekend cited scheduling challenges for impeachment – a trial might not even begin until after Jan. 19th, since the Senate is not in session. 

President-elect Joe Biden said Monday there was the possibility of dual-tracking an impeachment and Senate session that would be needed to get his cabinet confirmed.

Biden phoned McConnell on Monday, according to the Times on the subject of a trial, and McConnell said he would consult the Senate parliamentarian and get back. 

There are Senate rules and precedents governing impeachment, but leaders also might be able to negotiate a way to handle it, with the possibility of a special impeachment committee taking up some of the burden. 

Trump has continued his usual pattern of lashing out at political adversaries when under attack. 

‘Free speech is under assault like never before. The 25th Amendment is of zero risk to me, but will come back to haunt Joe Biden and the Biden Administration. As the expression goes, be careful what you wish for,’ Trump said Tuesday, before lawmakers cast their votes Tuesday night.  

Post-riot accounts from last Wednesday reveal that not only did President Trump egg on supporters who wreaked havoc in the Capitol – but he was glued to the television as the events unfolded, incapable of responding to desperate pleas to use influence to stop it and enjoying seeing it unfold. 

There were two major areas where the president fell dramatically short of what was being asked of him: using his personal popularity with his followers to urge them to vacate the Capitol immediately; and using the vast powers of his office to try to speed a federal response. 

But when key current and former aides and family members tried to reach him, he was ‘busy enjoying the spectacle,’ according to a Washington Post account.

As the historic mob invasion of the U.S. seat of legislative government unfolded, a variety of people with influence over Trump sought to get to him to urge action.

The routes they took were typical of the loosely organized web of influence within the Trump White House. 

Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham – who only after the riot firmly declared Joe Biden the winner of the election – reached out to the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump. 

‘It took him a while to appreciate the gravity of the situation,’ Graham told the Post. ‘The president saw these people as his allies in his journey and sympathetic to the idea that the election was stolen,’ Graham said of the rioters who took the Capitol. 

House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who Trump believes is so much under his wing that he has publicly called him ‘My Kevin,’ was pleading for action. 

McCarthy phoned Trump directly to try to plead for assistance – but also called the president’s son in law, Jared Kushner, who was returning form a trip to the Middle East.

Former counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, who doesn’t even work for Trump anymore, tried to get through to him to urge action. 

She phoned an aide she knew was in close proximity to Trump. 

The office of the Mayor of Washington, desperate to get more National Guard forces amid logistical and jurisdictional hurdles, also reached out to Conway.

Chief of staff Mark Meadows urged Trump to speak out after an aide told him: ‘They are going to kill people,’ in reference to the rioters. 

A primary area of the pleas related to something Trump was capable of doing on his own without engaging with the bureaucracy: issuing simple Twitter or video pleas for protesters to get out of the Capitol.

The appeals he finally made either lacked a direct call to fall back, or sprinkled in approving language even as the riot that would become deadly unfolded.

At 2:30 pm, about half an hour after the Capitol breach, Trump told his supporters to ‘Please support our Capitol Police’ and to ‘Stay peaceful!’ 

His next message was more explicit, writing ‘No violence!’ – but claimed ‘WE are the Party of Law & Order.’

After he finally put out a video at about 4 pm, Trump finally told his backers to ‘go home.’ But he also called them ‘very special,’ called the election ‘fraudulent,’ and said: ‘You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel. But go home, and go home in peace.’

Trump himself had egged on his supporters with demands that they ‘fight,’ calling the election fraudulent, and putting pressure on Vice President Mike Pence, whose only role was ceremonial and involved opening and reading from envelopes containing electoral votes.

Trump was glued to the television as the storming of the Capitol was broadcast. 

Prior reporting has revealed that the Washington D.C. government had requested a National Guard presence, but Guard were assigned to traffic and other assistance and weren’t issued ammo or riot gear. 

The now resigned chief of Capitol Police says he wanted more Guard support in advance of Wednesday but had been told by superiors to ask for it informally. The governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan, says there were delays getting approval to send Guard forces from the Pentagon.

But it wasn’t mere distraction that kept Trump from springing into action. It’s not atht he was too busy because he was so consumed, which he was,’ the New York Times reported.

‘He was pleased because it was people fighting on his behalf. He was pleased because he liked the scene. And he was pleased because it was delaying the certification of the Electoral College vote,’ the New York Times reported. ‘He knew what was happening… He just didn’t want to do anything.’

Although McCarthy told colleagues on a call Monday Trump had accepted ‘some responsibility’ for the riot, on Tuesday the president was back to his defiant posture familiar from impeachment and the Russia probe. 

Trump said a second impeachment Democrats are lining up is a ‘continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics.’

House Democrat accuses Republican lawmakers of leading MAGA rioters on Capitol ‘reconnaissance’ before riot as Stop the Steal organizer revealed to have boasted of help from three GOP congressmen

A Democratic representative revealed Tuesday she witnessed members of Congress leading ‘reconnaissance’ tours through the Capitol the day before the mob stormed the building – as more details emerged over the attack indicating three Republican lawmakers may have helped protesters get inside.

Mikie Sherrill, who represents New Jersey‘s 11th district, said during a Facebook Live video Tuesday night that she wants members of Congress who ‘abetted’ President Donald Trump and the violent crowd who descended on the Capitol to be held accountable and prevented from running for office in the future.

‘We can’t have a democracy if members of Congress are actively helping the president overturn the elections results,’ Sherrill said of her colleagues she claims assisted Trump in inciting a crowd to storm the Capitol last Wednesday, January 6.

‘Not only do I intend to see that the president is removed and never runs for office again and doesn’t have access to classified material,’ she continued in her straight-to-camera remarks. 

‘I also intend to see that those members of Congress who abetted him; those members of Congress who had groups coming through the Capitol that I saw on Jan. 5 – a reconnaissance for the next day; those members of Congress that incited this violent crowd; those members of Congress that attempted to help our president undermine our democracy – I’m going to see they are held accountable, and if necessary, ensure that they don’t serve in Congress.’

At the same time, new revelations are surfacing that a pro-Trump activist, Ali Alexander, claimed he was assisted by three GOP representatives to help organize the January 6 assault on the Capitol to disrupt the election certification.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in an Instagram Live video Tuesday night that she feared for her life during the riots, specifically expressing her concerns that some GOP lawmakers would give away her location to the mob.

‘I did not know if I was going to make it to the end of that day alive, and not just in a general sense but also in a very, very specific sense,’ the progressive lawmaker said during the hour-long live stream.

She called the close encounter ‘traumatizing’ and claimed her ‘near assassination’ is ‘not an exaggeration’.

‘There were QAnon and white supremacist sympathizers, and frankly white supremacist members of Congress, in that extraction point who I have felt would disclose my location and would create opportunities to allow me to be hurt, kidnapped, etc.,’ Ocasio-Cortez said.

She did not name any of the lawmakers she felt could have jeopardized her situation.

It is now known that Alexander told his followers on Periscope late last month that Republican Representatives Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs of Arizona and Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama were planning something big.

Alexander helped organize one of the demonstrations that converged on the Capitol lawn Wednesday – since then, his Facebook and Twitter accounts have been locked and he is banned from the social media platforms.

He said in a since-deleted video: ‘I want to let you guys know how we’re responding because I was the person who came up with the January 6 idea with Congressman Gosar, Congressman Mo Brooks and then Congressman Andy Biggs.’

All three lawmakers are hard-line Trump supporters.

‘We four schemed up of putting maximum pressure on Congress while they were voting so that who we couldn’t lobby, we could change the hearts and the minds of Republicans who were in that body hearing our loud roar from outside,’ Alexander detailed.

In the video to Periscope, he said the purpose of the rally was ‘to build momentum and pressure’ on the day Congress moved to certify the election for Joe Biden. He also vowed that his group ‘Stop the Steal’ would find rooms in the nation’s capital if hotels shut down in the midst of the unrest.

Alexander did not specifically call for violence and instead claimed the left is ‘trying to push us to war.’

Biggs’ office sent out a statement claiming the congressman has not met or spoken with Alexander.

Biggs’ office responded to CNN, claiming he has not met or spoken with Alexander.

‘Congressman Biggs is not aware of hearing of or meeting Mr. Alexander at any point — let alone working with him to organize some part of a planned protest,’ the representative’s spokesperson said.

‘He did not have any contact with protestors or rioters, nor did he ever encourage or foster the rally or protests,’ they continued. ‘He was focused on his research and arguments to work within the confines of the law and established precedent to restore integrity to our elections, and to ensure that all Americans — regardless of party affiliation — can again have complete trust in our elections systems.’

Biggs, Gosar and Brooks all came under fire after going forward with objecting to the election results even after the violent Capitol riot forced them to evacuate the chamber and delayed proceedings for hours.

Sherrill, in her thirteen-and-a-half minute video posted to Facebook Tuesday, did not reveal which lawmakers she saw showing constituents around the Capitol last week – but she did make the shocking claim that the January 5 tours were part of some effort to get protesters familiar with the building before storming it the next day.

While some GOP lawmakers have come under fire for inciting the riots – whether directly or indirectly – or standing idly by as they unfolded, this is the most serious charge yet against sitting members of Congress regarding the unprecedented attack last week.

The six-hour riot resulted in hundreds of injuries and five deaths, including one Capitol Police officer and a female Trump supporter.

The House voted Tuesday evening on a non-binding resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to get Trump out of office now. The vote passed 223-205, with Sherrill voting in favor of it, even though Pence notified House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier Tuesday that he would not comply with the measure.

With the 25th Amendment off the table, and no hope of Trump resigning before his last seven days are up, House Democrats are likely to move forward Wednesday on impeaching the president for the second time.

Sherrill said in her video that she intends to support the effort.

She also voiced the sharp divide, which is widening in Congress, claiming those who do not agree with Democratic ideals of democracy are ‘now on different sides of this line.’

Source: Daily Mail US