The American flag flies at half-staff on the west front of the U.S. Capitol after the Jan. 6 insurrection. Al Drago/Getty Images hide caption
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The American flag flies at half-staff on the west front of the U.S. Capitol after the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Al Drago/Getty Images
Updated Feb. 9 at 12:30 p.m. ET
The Senate begins its impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump Tuesday.
Last month, the House approved a single article of impeachment, charging him with "incitement of insurrection" over the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
"Donald John Trump engaged in high Crimes and Misdemeanors by inciting violence against the Government of the United States," the article argues, citing his false claims of election fraud in the months leading up to the riot — which he repeated on Jan. 6 — and a phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump urged him to "find" votes to overturn the results there.
The impeachment article says that during an address to supporters on the day of the violence, Trump "willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — lawless action at the Capitol, such as: 'if you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a county anymore.' "
The House approved the article 232-197, with 10 Republicans joining all Democrats in favor of the resolution. The Jan. 13 vote made Trump the first U.S. president to be impeached twice. It will require two-thirds of senators, 67 votes, to convict Trump, a prospect considered unlikely.
Read the full article below (see it in its original form here) and watch the House clerk read the text during last month's debate.
Resolution impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.
Resolved, the Donald John Trump, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors and that the following article of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:
Article of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, against Donald John Trump, President of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors.
ARTICLE 1: INCITEMENT OF INSURRECTION
The Constitution provides that the House of Representatives "shall have the sole Power of Impeachment" and that the President "shall be removed from Office on Impeachment, for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." Further, section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution prohibits any person who has "engaged in insurrection or rebellion against" the United States from "hold[ing] and office . under the United States.' In his conduct while President of the United States — and in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, provide, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed — Donald John Trump engaged in high Crimes and Misdemeanors by inciting violence against the Government of the United States, in that:
On January 6, 2021, pursuant to the 12th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, the House of Representatives, and the Senate met at the United States Capitol for a Joint Session of Congress to count the votes of the Electoral College. In the months preceding the Joint Session, President Trump repeatedly issued false statements asserting that the Presidential election results were the product of widespread fraud and should not be accepted by the American people or certified by State or Federal officials. Shortly before the Joint Session commenced, President Trump, addressed a crowd at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. There, he reiterated false claims that "we won this election, and we won it by a landslide." He also willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — lawless action at the Capitol, such as: "if you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a country anymore." Thus incited by President Trump, members of the crowd he had addressed, in an attempt to, among other objectives, interfere with the Joint Session's solemn constitutional duty to certify the results of the 2020 Presidential election, unlawfully breached and vandalized the Capitol, injured and killed law enforcement personnel, menaced Members of Congress, the Vice President, and Congressional personnel, and engaged in other violent, deadly, destructive and seditious acts.
President Trump's conduct on January 6, 2021, followed his prior efforts to subvert and obstruct the certification of the results of the 2020 Presidential election. Those prior efforts included a phone call on January 2, 2021, during which President Trump urged the secretary of state of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, to "find" enough votes to overturn the Georgia Presidential election results and threatened Secretary Raffensperger if he failed to do so.
In all this, President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government. He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.
Wherefore, Donald John Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law. Donald John Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.
This post was originally published on Jan. 11, ahead of the House impeachment.
January 13 
Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming is one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump. Samuel Corum/Getty Images hide caption
toggle caption Samuel Corum/Getty Images 
Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming is one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
President Trump has become the only president in U.S. history to be impeached twice.
The Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives delivered the historic rebuke to Trump on Wednesday afternoon — exactly one week after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building in a rampage that led to five deaths, including that of a Capitol Police officer.
The article of impeachment charges Trump with "incitement of insurrection."
Some 13 months ago, all House Republicans voted against the president's first impeachment. On Wednesday, 10 GOP members joined with all Democrats to impeach Trump.
"My vote to impeach our sitting president is not a fear-based decision. I am not choosing a side; I am choosing truth," one of those Republicans, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington, said on the House floor before Wednesday's vote.
January 13 
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., seen here during a reconvening of a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, has penned an op-ed defending his decision to object to the certification of electoral votes. Win McNamee/Getty Images hide caption
toggle caption Win McNamee/Getty Images 
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., seen here during a reconvening of a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, has penned an op-ed defending his decision to object to the certification of electoral votes.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is defending his decision to object to the Electoral College results of two states during Congress' tallying of the votes last week, offering the opinions of his constituents as the cornerstone of his explanation.
"Many, many citizens in Missouri have deep concerns about election integrity," he wrote in an op-ed in the Southeast Missourian. "For months, I heard from these Missourians — writing, calling my office, stopping me to talk. They want Congress to take action to see that our elections at every level are free, fair, and secure. They have a right to be heard in Congress."
The op-ed follows a period of harsh pushback against the senator after his objection following the deadly riot at the Capitol by protesters loyal to President Trump. Some of his fellow Senate Republicans have criticized him, and his political mentor and a major financial backer have also spoken out against Hawley.
The senator, however, defended his action, writing: "As their representative, it is my duty to speak on their behalf. That is just what I did last week."
Public opinion doesn't dictate whether there should be additional investigations into election fraud, an allegation made — without basis — by Hawley, along with Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and others. It is an allegation that state election officials and Trump's Justice Department have forcefully refuted.
Hawley pointed to past objections lodged by Democrats during the Electoral College tallying process in Congress. In 2005, Democratic Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones and Sen. Barbara Boxer objected to Ohio's electors, believing there were irregularities in the state's election. In that case, the House and Senate each swiftly rejected the objections.
"They were within their rights to do so," Hawley wrote. "The Joint Session is the forum where concerns about an election can be raised, debated, and ultimately resolved with a vote."
The purpose of convening Congress on Jan. 6 was to formally tally the votes of the Electoral College, not relitigate election matters. Various concerns over state elections had already been raised — and rejected — in courts.
Hawley also wrote he condemns the violence perpetrated last week at the Capitol, saying it "undermines the democratic process by which we settle our disputes and threatens our democratic life."
Hawley has been rebuked, along with Cruz, by Democrats and Republicans alike for what they see as fanning the flames that led to the mob violence. He was photographed early on the afternoon of Jan. 6 raising his fist in seeming solidarity with the crowd that would go on to breach the Capitol.
"They were complicit in the big lie, this lie that Donald Trump won the election in a landslide, and it was all stolen," Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday. "They compounded that with this notion that somehow this could all be reversed in the final moments of the congressional proceedings."
At least five senators have called on Hawley and Cruz to resign.
Criticism from his colleagues isn't the only blowback Hawley has received in recent days.
Simon & Schuster announced it would not publish his forthcoming book, citing his role in provoking the "disturbing [and] deadly insurrection" at the Capitol.
Hawley reacted by calling the decision an "assault on the First Amendment."
Additionally, former Republican Sen. John Danforth of Missouri has expressed regret at his recruitment of Hawley to run for the Senate in 2018, calling it the "biggest mistake I've ever made in my life."
January 13 
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said that impeaching President Trump is "a constitutional remedy that will ensure that the republic will be safe from this man." She's seen here walking to the House floor Wednesday ahead of the vote. Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images hide caption
toggle caption Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images 
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said that impeaching President Trump is "a constitutional remedy that will ensure that the republic will be safe from this man." She's seen here walking to the House floor Wednesday ahead of the vote.
Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images
Updated at 7:13 p.m. ET
The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to impeach President Trump for "high crimes and misdemeanors" — specifically, for inciting an insurrection against the federal government at the U.S. Capitol.
Just one week before he will leave office, Trump has now become the first U.S. president to be impeached twice.
Wednesday's vote came a week after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in a chaotic scene that left five people dead.
Ten Republicans broke party ranks to vote in favor of impeachment, including Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who chairs the House Republican Conference.
"None of this would have happened without the President," Cheney said in a statement Tuesday explaining her vote. "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."
The House voted 232-197 to impeach Trump, with four GOP abstentions, after a few hours of debate evenly divided between the parties. Because of the tight schedule, many lawmakers were only allotted a minute, or less, in which to state their positions.
The Democratic-led House approved the new rebuke in the same chamber where one week ago members of Congress fled rioters who had been stoked by the president and his false claims a bogus election process caused his defeat by President-elect Joe Biden.
Calling Jan. 6 "a day of fire that we all experienced," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said it followed Trump's sustained attempts to spread untruths about the 2020 vote and to influence state election officials to overturn results.
Impeachment, Pelosi said, is "a constitutional remedy that will ensure that the republic will be safe from this man, who is so resolutely determined to tear down the things that we hold dear, and that hold us together."
In signing the article of impeachment on Wednesday evening, Pelosi called Trump "a clear and present danger to our country" and described her heart as "broken" over signing the second presidential impeachment in just over a year's time.
"Today in a bipartisan way, the House demonstrated that no one is above the law, not even the president of the United States," she said.
Many Republicans who voted against the measure criticized the impeachment process as rushed and counterproductive. But impeachment supporters said Trump's attempt to derail Congress from certifying the election results spurred an act of domestic terrorism, making the president unfit for office.
In his remarks, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., sought to strike a balance — between blaming Trump for his role in fanning the protest's devolution into a riot, and speaking out against impeachment.
"The president bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob rioters," McCarthy said. "He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding."
But McCarthy, who himself objected to certifying the Electoral College results, said that instead of impeaching Trump, Congress should form a fact-finding commission and consider a formal censure of the president.
As lawmakers debated impeachment, the White House issued a statement in which Trump called for calm. He did not refer to the House proceeding, but to new pro-Trump demonstrations that are planned to take place in the coming week.
In a video later posted to the White House's official Twitter account, Trump described the Capitol insurrection as "mob violence" and said it "goes against everything I believe in and everything our movement stands for."
"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. No true supporter of mine could ever threaten or harass their fellow Americans."
Trump, even before agitating last week's violent mob, has repeatedly endorsed violence — tacitly and explicitly — against those he views as opponents, including Black Lives Matter protesters and onetime political rival Hillary Clinton.
"If you do any of these things, you are not supporting our movement, you are attacking it, and you are attacking our country," he said in the video.
The Democratic-led House impeached Trump the first time in December 2019 for his role in the Ukraine affair. On Tuesday, the president called the move to impeach him again "ridiculous."
If the Senate votes to convict Trump — an outcome that is far from certain — he likely would be barred from holding any federal office again. An impeachment trial will not begin before Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office said Wednesday that the chamber, which Republicans currently hold, will not convene again until the transfer of power is complete.
The article of impeachment, set forth in House Resolution 24, states:
NPR's Alana Wise contributed to this report.
January 13 
President Trump, seen here during a trip Tuesday to the U.S.-Mexico border, released a statement during Wednesday's House impeachment debate calling on Americans to "ease tensions." Go Nakamura/Getty Images hide caption
toggle caption Go Nakamura/Getty Images 
President Trump, seen here during a trip Tuesday to the U.S.-Mexico border, released a statement during Wednesday's House impeachment debate calling on Americans to "ease tensions."
Go Nakamura/Getty Images
As a sixth Republican came forward on the House floor to announce support for impeaching President Trump, the president issued a statement calling for calm amid FBI warnings of demonstrations leading up to Inauguration Day.
"I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind," Trump said in the statement issued by the White House press office.
"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."
A strong and clear condemnation of violence is something that Republican lawmakers have been urging the president to deliver since a mob of extremists stormed the U.S. Capitol last week as lawmakers worked to certify the Nov. 3 election results. Five people died as a result of the riot.
Trump has been criticized for encouraging his supporters to head to the Capitol, failing to take quick action to stop the riot and soft-pedaling his response to the Jan. 6 insurrection. He initially downplayed the events of the day, repeated his baseless claims that the election was stolen, and after the riot, said to supporters: "We love you. You're very special." He amended his response a day later, describing the breach as "a heinous attack."
Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, a close ally of Trump's, read the president's statement during the impeachment debate.
White House officials declined to comment on whether Trump was watching the impeachment proceedings, and how or whether he is preparing for his defense. On Tuesday, Trump expressed no regret for his comments ahead of the riot and lashed out again at impeachment, calling it "divisive" and saying "it causes a lot of problems and a lot of danger."
Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel also released a statement related to the FBI warning about protests, saying, "Anyone who has malicious intent is not welcome in Washington, D.C., or in any other state capitol."
January 13 
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks in the House Chamber. Amanda Voisard/AP hide caption
toggle caption Amanda Voisard/AP 
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks in the House Chamber.
Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy added his name to a shortlist of Republicans in Congress who unequivocally blamed President Trump for the insurrection at the Capitol last week.
But with seven days to go in the Trump presidency, he said he will not be voting for impeachment and said he might instead be in favor of a fact-finding commission and possibly censure, items with even less teeth than impeaching but not removing a president.
"The president bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob rioters," said McCarthy, who, during the riot, publicly and privately urged Trump to call for calm.
While McCarthy criticized Trump's role in inflaming last week's violence, he joined the majority of his caucus and objected to the certification of the Electoral College results that Trump had called for and were the focal point of the rioters' anger.
McCarthy, who was once thought to be a potential Trump chief of staff, also swatted down false conspiracy theories that antifa and left-wing groups were actually responsible for the violence.
"Some say the riots were caused by antifa," McCarthy said. There's absolutely no evidence of that and conservatives should be the first to say so."
And yet it's something that has become pervasive on the not-so-far-right-wing and in parts of conservative media — despite the nation watching on television the thousands marching from a Trump rally outside the White House to the Capitol, flying Trump flags and inspired by Trump's loss and lie that the election was stolen from him.
That's also despite evidence showing some pro-Trump supporters plotted and planned the insurrection ahead of time online.
Here are McCarthy's comments in fuller context:
"Most Americans want neither inaction nor retribution," McCarthy said, despite surveys showing a majority of the country in favor of impeaching and removing Trump from office. Most Republicans do not, however.
"They want durable, bipartisan justice. That path is still available, but is not the path we are on today. That doesn't mean the president is free from fault. The president bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob rioters. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding.
"These facts require immediate action from President Trump — accept his share of responsibility, quell the brewing unrest and ensure that President-Elect Biden is able to successfully begin his term. And the president's immediate action also deserves congressional action, which is why I think a fact-finding commission and a censure resolution would be prudent. Unfortunately, that is not where we are today."
January 13 
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi wears a protective mask while walking to her office from the House Floor on Wednesday. Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images hide caption
toggle caption Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images 
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi wears a protective mask while walking to her office from the House Floor on Wednesday.
Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images
For the second time in his presidency, the House is moving to impeach Donald Trump, who will become the first president in history to undergo such a rebuke.
Throughout Wednesday's debate, Democrats portrayed Trump as an ongoing threat to the country and democracy, while Republicans largely either defended the president or argued that the impeachment process would only cause further division.
Pelosi's opening remarks
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opened the debate for Democrats, quoting Abraham Lincoln: "Fellow citizens, he said, we cannot escape history. We will be remembered in spite of ourselves."
Pelosi referred to last week's storming of the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters that prompted Democrats to begin efforts to remove him from office, one week before President-elect Joe Biden's swearing-in.
"We know that the president of the United States incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion against our common country. He must go," Pelosi said, calling Trump "a clear and present danger to the nation we all love."
Pelosi said Trump "must be impeached, and 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, who is so resolutely determined to tear down the things that we hold dear, and that hold us together."
Jordan's opening remarks
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, one of Trump's staunchest backers, and whom Trump awarded the Medal of Freedom earlier this week, spoke first for Republicans. "We should be focused on bringing the nation together," Jordan said. "Instead, Democrats are going to impeach the president for a second time, one week — one week — before he leaves office."
Jordan said, "They want to cancel the president."
Apparently referring to Twitter and Facebook's decision not to allow Trump to post on their platforms for fear he will encourage further violence, Jordan asked, "Do you have a First Amendment when the cancel culture only allows one side to talk? When you can't even have a debate in this country, this great country, the greatest country ever?"
Jordan warned, "It needs to stop, because if it continues, it won't just be Republicans who get canceled, it won't just be the president of the United States — the cancel culture will come for us all."
January 13 
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., passes some of the security forces who have been called up to protect the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday as the House impeachment proceedings begin. Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images hide caption
toggle caption Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images 
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., passes some of the security forces who have been called up to protect the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday as the House impeachment proceedings begin.
Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images
Update at 5 p.m. ET: Special coverage of this event has ended. Follow more updates on NPR.org.
The House of Representatives passed an article of impeachment against President Trump on Wednesday, making him the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice.
The resolution lists "incitement of insurrection," charging that Trump's comments to supporters on Jan. 6 led to a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that temporarily forced lawmakers into hiding and left at least five people dead.
The impeachment resolution reads: "President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government. He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States."
Unlike Trump's first impeachment, Democrats now have support from some Republican members as well, including the No. 3 House Republican, Liz Cheney of Wyoming.
"There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution," Cheney said in a statement released Tuesday evening. In total, 10 Republicans voted for impeachment.
January 13 
"We are coming off a horrific event that resulted in six deaths," Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said in his opening statement as House lawmakers began to debate a resolution to impeach President Trump. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images hide caption
toggle caption Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty ImagesThe violent attack on the U.S. Capitol is "the darkest day" of his career in Congress, Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said in his opening statement Wednesday as the House prepared to take up a resolution to impeach President Trump.
But pursuing impeachment, Cole said, would only further divide the country. And he noted that the effort comes one week before Trump is set to leave office.
"I can think of no action the House can take that is more likely to further divide the American people than the action we are contemplating today," Cole said.
He spoke of the need to heal the country — an idea other Republicans also discussed in their short snippets of allotted time during the two-hour debate. And like others, Cole said the impeachment process is being rushed.
Cole, the ranking member on the House Rules Committee, spoke just after Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., who chairs the committee. Both lawmakers gave their accounts of what happened during the insurrection on Jan. 6, along with the president's role in it — and what should happen next.
"We are coming off a horrific event that resulted in six deaths," Cole said.
Warning that the process could overshadow the incoming administration, he added, "We have an opportunity to move forward, but we cannot if the majority insists on bringing the country through the trauma of another impeachment."
Urging his colleagues to vote against impeaching Trump for the second time in 13 months, Cole said there are other remedies to last week's attack on the U.S. Capitol.
"The president is expected to face litigation over his role in last Wednesday's events," Cole said. "There will be criminal proceedings against the perpetrators, and I hope all those who stormed the Capitol will be brought to justice. And some members have proposed an alternative procedure, censuring the president, which could garner significant bipartisan support in the House."
Here's how Cole described the events of last week, as Congress worked to certify the victory of President-elect Joe Biden. The following is an excerpt from his speech:
"What started out as peaceful protests turned into a riot, as an untold number of individuals stormed the Capitol building. Six people died as a result of this mob, and it is only by the grace of God and the brave acts of the U.S. Capitol Police, the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police, the FBI, the ATF and other responding agencies that there was not more bloodshed. Violent acts such as these have no place in our republic.
"These shocking and sobering events rest high on our minds today, as well they should. Certainly, Jan. 6, 2021, will live in my memory as the darkest day during my time of service as a member of this House.
"After these grave events, we – as a nation, and as an institution – have an opportunity to come together. President Trump has conceded the 2020 election. Congress has certified the results of the election. And next Wednesday, President-elect Biden will be sworn in as the president of the United States. Congress and the nation can move forward, knowing that the political process was completed as designed and that the constitutional framework that has governed our republic since 1789 held firm.
"But instead of moving forward as a unifying force, the majority in the House is choosing to divide us further. With only a week to go in his term, the majority is asking us to consider a resolution impeaching President Trump. And they do so knowing full well that, even if the House passes this resolution, the Senate will not be able to begin considering these charges until after President Trump's term ends.
"Mr. Speaker, I can think of no action the House can take that is more likely to further divide the American people than the action we are contemplating today. Emotions are clearly running high, and political divisions have never been more apparent in my lifetime. We desperately need to seek a path toward healing for the American people.
"So it is unfortunate that a path to support healing is not the path the majority has chosen today. Instead, the House is moving forward erratically, with a truncated process that does not comport with modern practice and that will give members no time to contemplate this serious course of action.
"In every modern impeachment inquiry, an investigation and committee action has preceded bringing an impeachment resolution to the floor. In part, this is to ensure that members have full facts, the opportunity to engage expert witness and have the chance to be heard. It also provides due process to the president of the United States, and again, in every modern impeachment inquiry the president has been given an opportunity to be heard in some form or another. This is necessary in order to ensure that the American people have confidence in the procedures the House is following. And it is also necessary not because the president's inappropriate and reckless words are deserving of a defense, but because the presidency itself demands due process in impeachment proceedings.
"Unfortunately, the majority has chosen to race to the floor with a new article of impeachment, forgoing any investigation, any committee process or any chance for members to fully contemplate this course of action before proceeding. [George Washington University law] professor Jonathan Turley is correct when he called this a 'dangerous snap impeachment – an impeachment that effectively would go to a vote without the deliberation or inquiries of a traditional hearing.'
"Professor Turley also noted that 'the damage caused by the rioters this week was enormous, however it will pale in comparison to the damage from a new precedent of a snap impeachment. ' If the majority is seeking consensus, this is hardly the way to create it. The majority is failing to provide the House with an opportunity to review all of the facts – which are still coming to light – to discuss all of the evidence, to listen to scholars, to examine the witnesses and to consider precedents. This is not the type of robust process we have followed for every modern impeachment, and the failure to do so does a great disservice to this institution and to this country.
"Mr. Speaker, I can think of nothing that will cause further division more than the path the majority is now taking. Rather than looking ahead to a new administration, the majority is again seeking to settle scores against the old one. Rather than seeking to heal America, they are seeking to divide us more deeply."
