Donald Trump cannot remain in office for the next 13 days. Period. He cannot hold the nuclear codes for one more minute, and he cannot be permitted to wreak havoc on this nation like he did yesterday.
Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee Democrats sent a letter to Mike Pence demanding the 25th Amendment be invoked. Now, they are putting the finishing touches on articles of impeachment.
The Washington Post's Greg Sargent has gotten draft copies. He writes:
One draft being circulated, the Democratic aide tells me, says Trump is guilty of willfully inciting violence against the government of the United States. It notes that just before Congress convened to count the electoral votes, Trump reiterated false claims that he won the election and made statements that encouraged and predictably resulted in the lawless violence at the Capitol.
The mob that breached the Capitol, the draft continues, was incited by Trump and injured law enforcement, threatened members of Congress and disrupted their constitutional duty to count the votes.
The draft also cites a broad pattern in which Trump has tried to subvert and obstruct the counting of electoral votes, citing his pressure on the Georgia secretary of state to find votes to overturn the outcome after the voting and the state’s electors had been certified.
There is no question that Donald Trump cannot remain in office. It remains to be seen whether it will be by impeachment or by the 25th amendment.
This post will be updated as news develops.
UPDATE: Yes, this is happening.
I have just informed Congressman Ciciline that I will sign the Articles of Impeachment as an original co-sponsor. It is time to remove the President from office. https://t.co/MkdK2OLlEu
— Kai Kahele (@kaikahele) January 7, 2021
UPDATE 2: We're up to 60 members
The number of members of Congress calling for the 25th Amendment to be invoked or impeachment and removal is over 60 now and growing.
— Travis Akers (@travisakers) January 7, 2021
UPDATE 3:
Pelosi steps up with the impeachment threat if the 25th Amendment isn't invoked:
Pelosi begins her news conference by saying, "Yesterday the President of the United States incited an armed insurrection against America." pic.twitter.com/zwSpuWFkLS
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 7, 2021
"I join the Senate Democratic leader in calling on the vice president to remove this president by immediately invoking the 25th amendment. If the vice president and cabinet do not act, the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment." -- Pelosi pic.twitter.com/tGdFSbNBMs
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 7, 2021
Here is the YouTube of Speaker Pelosi's Press Conference:
UPDATE 4:
SCHUMER on invoking the 25th amendment: "Speaker Pelosi & I tried to call the VP this morning to tell him to do this, they kept us on hold for 25 mins and then said the VP wouldn't come on the phone. So we are making this call public because he should do it and do it right away."
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) January 7, 2021
UPDATE 5:
And there we go: 112 House Democrats want to impeach Trump—more than half of the caucus https://t.co/rCxbt7JPrC
— David Nir (@DavidNir) January 7, 2021
