Trump Impeached for Provoking Mob Violence and Incitement of Insurrection
Although Trump has been impeached, it is still expected that he will provoke his supporters to commit more violence before, during, and after Biden’s inauguration ceremony.
By Rakesh Raman
Charged with incitement of insurrection, President Donald Trump has been impeached by the U.S. House for a second time. Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body such as Congress formally levels charges against a government official, including the President.
The House voted 232-197 on Wednesday (January 13) to impeach Trump. The impeachment proceedings came just one week after violent pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, instigated by Trump who asked them to “fight like hell” against the November election results.
Democrats were supported by ten Republicans who said Trump must be held accountable and warned of a clear danger if Congress left him unchecked before Democrat Joe Biden’s inauguration as the 46th U.S. president on January 20.
President Trump has proven he is a clear and present danger to our American democracy. He must be impeached and removed from office. pic.twitter.com/5WvQIDG4eK
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 13, 2021
“President Trump has proven he is a clear and present danger to our American democracy. He must be impeached and removed from office,” tweeted U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi along with a speech of Trump that led to violence.
At least five people died in the riot which is being construed as an attempted coup by the insurgents incited by Trump with the aim to dethrone Biden who has won the presidential election.
After the November 3 election that Joe Biden has won, Trump and his violent supporters have been making false claims of election rigging. Provoked by Trump, the mob engaged with riot police on January 6 when Congress was holding a joint session to count the 2020 Electoral College votes to formally declare Biden’s victory.
Although Trump has been impeached, it is still expected that he will provoke his supporters to commit more violence before, during, and after the inauguration ceremony.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell may start an impeachment trial on Tuesday (January 19), the day before Trump is set to leave the White House. There is also a possibility that the trial would begin after Trump’s term in the office. The legislation will also prevent Trump from ever running again.
The impeachment bill includes Trump’s false statements about his election defeat to Biden while the judiciary repeatedly dismissed cases challenging the election results. Now democrats need two-thirds vote in the Senate to convict and remove Trump from office.
The decision to impeach Trump was taken because Vice President Mike Pence refused to accept a formal demand of Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer who had urged Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.
Trump is the only U.S. president who has been impeached twice. He was first impeached by the House in 2019 for his attempt to take Ukraine’s help to win 2020 election, but the Senate voted in 2020 acquit him.
Democrats had alleged that Trump abused his power to take Ukraine’s help to get his Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden investigated in a closed corruption case.
While Trump faces a number of other charges, it is expected that his prosecution may lead to his imprisonment. His identity appears in criminal investigation documents as “Individual 1” or the unindicted co-conspirator in cases of crime and corruption.
In his friend-cum-lawyer Michael Cohen’s case, Trump is called “Individual 1” in the charges filed by special counsel Robert Mueller who was leading a judicial team to know the extent of Trump-Russia ties that allegedly helped Trump win the 2016 presidential race.
It appeared during Trump’s rule of four years that everybody around him in the Trump Administration was a crook like Trump. But the weak American justice system could not remove Trump from office with the argument that a President can’t be indicted. But now after losing the presidency, Trump can be indicted and imprisoned.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.
