January 14th – Comprehensive report: On the 13th local time, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the impeachment clause against President Trump, accusing him of “sedition”.
On the same day, Trump issued a statement through the White House, calling on “all Americans” to help “ease tensions and calm anger”, saying that he did not support “any form of violence”, but did not mention impeachment topics.
After being impeached, Trump spoke.
He avoided talking about impeachment and condemned violence.
On the 13th local time, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 232 to 197 against the impeachment clause against President Trump, accusing him of “sedition”.
Trump issued a statement through the White House website on the 13th local time.
Shortly after the House of Representatives passed the impeachment clause, the White House social networking website account posted a video of Trump’s speech.
Unexpectedly, Trump did not mention the second impeachment he had just suffered, but called for peace and claimed that the people who attacked the Capitol around him were not his “real” supporters.
Trump reportedly did not say he was responsible for his actions that led to the riots in Congress.
He condemned the attackers who broke through Congress a week ago.
He said: “Violence is never justified. There is no excuse, no exception: the United States is a country ruled by law.” “Those who were involved in last week’s attacks will be brought to justice,” he said.
“In light of reports that more marches are about to begin, I urge that there must be no violence and no form of violation or sabotage in the march,” he said in a statement.
“These are not what I support, nor are those that the United States supports. I appeal to all Americans to reduce tension and keep calm.”
He was impeached for less than 7 days in office.
Trump became the first president to be impeached twice.
On January 6, when Trump supporters broke into the United States Congress, it triggered riots.
House Speaker Pelosi said during a debate in the House of Representatives that Trump had incited the “insurrection” and fought against the country’s “armed rebellion” and he “must step down”.
The picture shows members of the National Guard arriving at the U.S. Capitol on January 12th, local time in Washington, D.C.
In order to remove Trump from power, House Democrats first voted to pass a resolution requiring Vice President Pence to use the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to remove Trump, but Pence refused.
Subsequently, Democrats voted on the impeachment clause of Trump and successfully passed the impeachment bill.
The impeachment resolution on Trump said: “President Trump has seriously endangered the security of the United States and its government agencies. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system and interfered with the peaceful transition of power… He therefore, as president, betrayed people’s trust and caused obvious harm to the American people.”
After Congress was attacked by Trump supporters, many Republican lawmakers also condemned it, and many people defected in the vote on the 13th. Liz Cheney, the third Republican House of Representatives and chairman of the Republican caucus, worried that the United States is facing a constitutional crisis unprecedented since the Civil War.
Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives in December 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of congressional investigation. Although the impeachment bill failed to get two-thirds of the vote in the Senate, Trump has become the third president of the United States to be impeached by Congress after Johnson in 1868 and Clinton in 1998.
The House of Representatives once again passed the impeachment clause, making him the first president in American history to be impeached twice in office.
Leaders of both parties in the U.S. Senate expressed their positions
Can Trump pardon himself?
Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives said they would submit impeachment to the Senate as soon as this week. The Senate is recessing in January and is scheduled to resume on January 19. U.S. President-elect Biden will take office on January 20.
After the impeachment bill passed, Senate Republican Leader McConnell issued a statement saying that the impeachment trial will not be held earlier than January 19.
He said he believes that “the next seven days, the Congress and the executive branch will be fully focused on ensuring the security of the inauguration ceremony and the orderly transition of power to the Biden administration, which is in the best interests of the country.”
Senate Democratic Party leader Schumer said in a statement that the trial will either start immediately or after January 19, but the impeachment trial will definitely be held anyway.
He also stressed that once Trump is convicted, the Senate will continue to vote on whether he will be banned from running for office in the future.
After leaving office, Trump will return to civilian status.
After losing presidential privileges, he may become a defendant in various civil and criminal proceedings.
At present, Trump and related agencies are facing at least six lawsuits, of which one of the most serious criminal investigations against Trump’s companies in New York State.
The media speculated that he would pardon himself before leaving office. Some legal experts said that the president did not pardon his power. They quoted a document issued by the U.S. Department of Justice before the resignation of former U.S. President Nixon in connection with Watergate, which said that “no one can decide a case involving him”.
However, some experts said that the U.S. Constitution did not state that the president did not have the right to self-pardnesty.
