Deputy Liz Cheney, the third-ranked House Republican, said Tuesday she will vote to impeach President Donald Trump, as at least three GOP lawmakers will accuse their own party’s president of high crimes and felonies.
She is the top Republican to advocate for the president’s impeachment in the wake of Wednesday’s deadly Capitol Hill riot, which Trump helped instigate with lies and inflammatory rhetoric.
Rep. John Katko, RN.Y., said earlier that he would support impeachment after the president sparked a crowd that attacked the Capitol last week as Congress counted President-elect Joe Biden’s presidential victory. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Later joined Cheney and Katko. The riot killed five people, including a Capitol police officer.
In a statement, Cheney said Trump “convened this crowd, convened the crowd and lit the flame of this attack.”
All that followed was his doing. This wouldn’t have happened without the president, ”said the Republican conference chairman. The president could have acted immediately and forcefully to stop the violence. He didn’t. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and oath to the Constitution. ‘
House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney speaks at a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 8, 2019.
Aaron P. Bernstein | Reuters
The House plans to vote Wednesday on whether or not to impeach Trump for high crimes and felonies. Democrats have said they have enough votes to impeach the president for an unprecedented second time.
Once the House impeaches Trump, the Senate will decide whether to convict him. The chamber may not have time to vote to remove him from office before Biden takes office a week from Wednesday.
Still, a Senate conviction would prevent Trump from running for president again.
The House Republicans revealed their positions when the New York Times reported that Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Told his associates he believes Trump has committed untouchable acts. The paper gave no details whether McConnell would vote to condemn the president if the House sends impeachment articles to the Senate, or whether he would urge Republicans to vote in the same way.
More Republicans could join Cheney, Katko and Kinzinger to support the effort. No House Republicans voted to impeach Trump in 2019 for abuse of power and congressional obstruction.
Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, breaks up with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. The California Republican has opposed Trump’s impeachment. He and Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., Both objected to counting Biden’s certified election victories in Arizona and Pennsylvania after the attack on the Capitol.
Cheney is the daughter of former Vice President and Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney. He joined the nine other living Pentagon heads earlier this month to warn against involving the military in disputes over election results. The Washington Post arrived three days before the attack on the Capitol.
Trump previously said the Democrats’ push to impeach him was dangerous and could lead to more violence. Some of his Republican allies have argued that the effort would hamper efforts to ease tensions in the country.
Allegation supporters have said Congress should not move forward until they hold Trump accountable for his supporters’ attempt to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power.
The impeachment article that Democratic leaders appear to support, entitled “Incitement to Insurrection,” accuses Trump of committing serious crimes and felonies by encouraging an attack on an equal branch of the government. It says that by lying to his supporters about the election results for two months and then encouraging them to fight the outcome shortly before the invasion of the Capitol, the president fueled the uprising.
This story develops. Please check again for updates.
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