The Guardian
Democratic leaders call for Trump to be removed from office
Pelosi and Schumer say that if the president is not removed through the 25th amendment, he should be removed a second time. Democratic leaders have asked that Donald Trump be forced out of office before his term ends on January 20 for his role in inciting the crowd to attack the US Congress, in what his successor, Joe Biden, described as “one of the days darkest “in US history. The president-elect said that Wednesday’s insurrection was carried out by “domestic terrorists” and accused his predecessor of unleashing a “total attack” on the country’s democratic institutions As a new 7-foot fence was erected late around the Capitol on Thursday, an investigation was launched to find out why the United States’s seat of democracy was so poorly defended against a predictable attack, but the main political focus was on the dangers of allowing a president widely seen as the ultimate instigator of the Wednesday’s mafia attack will retain power for the remaining two weeks before Biden’s inauguration Huck Schumer, who is the next Senate majority leader after the Democratic sweep in Georgia, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have asked that Trump be removed through the 25th amendment to the constitution, which allows a president to be replaced by his vice president if they become unable to do his job . Failing that, they argued that he should be charged a second time. Pelosi described Trump as “a very dangerous person who should not remain in office.” “This is urgent. This is an emergency of the highest magnitude, “said Pelosi. Several Democratic members of Congress have written new articles of impeachment for inciting Wednesday’s violence and deliberating on the subversion of US democracy.” What happened at the U.S. Capitol yesterday was an insurrection against the United States, prompted by President Trump. This president should not be in office for another day. The quickest and most effective way – can be done today – to remove that president from office would be for the vice president to immediately invoke the 25th amendment, “Schumer said in a tweet.” If the vice president and the cabinet refuse to stand, Congress must meet again for President Trump’s impeachment. “The accusations for Trump’s second impeachment were raised by several Democratic congressmen – Ilhan Omar, Ted Lieu, Jamie Raskin and David Cicilline – accusing him of” deliberately inciting violence against the United States government “and warning that he remains “A threat to national security, democracy and the constitution, if allowed to remain in office”. The use of the 25th amendment, arguing that incapacity for the job is a form of disability, would rely on the cooperation of Republicans, including Vice President Mike Pence, who would take over the government in the past two weeks. This seemed unlikely on Thursday. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a frequent Republican critic of Trump, joined in calls for the 25th amendment to be invoked, saying in a video message: “The president must now relinquish control of the executive branch voluntarily or involuntarily. But the Republican Party leadership did not appear shocked enough to dismiss its leader, who was warmly welcomed in a conference call with the Republican National Committee on Thursday morning. There have been a handful of resignations from second-tier officials, including education secretary Betsy DeVos; transport secretary Elaine Chao (married to the current Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell); the deputy national security adviser, Matthew Pottinger; Northern Ireland envoy (and former White House chief of staff) Mick Mulvaney; and the first lady’s spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham. But there was still no sign of an exodus or riot that would be needed to get the president out of office. Trump supporters in Congress and Fox News quickly began circulating unfounded conspiracy theories that disguised members of the left-wing antifa movement that sparked the insurrection. Trump spent most of the day in silence, before releasing a video on Thursday night, in which he tried to change the tone and condemn the violence he incited. In the video, posted on Twitter, the president also came closer to admitting defeat, recognizing that “a new government” would take over on January 20 and promising a peaceful transition of power. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany read a brief statement “on behalf of the entire White House” in which she condemned “violent protesters” when trying to compare them to the Black Lives Matter protests in the summer. She did not mention Trump and refused to answer any questions from reporters. Facebook has imposed an indefinite ban on Trump, whose campaign has long used the platform to spread misinformation and conspiracy theories. The decision may also have been influenced by Democratic success in taking control of the Senate. Former government officials were scathing about the role of the president, most notably the late attorney general, William Barr, who said that Trump was guilty of “betrayal of his position and supporters” for “orchestrating a crowd to pressure Congress . ”Former defense secretary James Mattis said Trump“ fueled ”the attack, with the aim of“ subduing American democracy by governing the crowd. ”But current Republican leaders were much more cautious. McConnell said the blame for The attack is on “unbalanced criminals” who carried it out “and those who incited them” but did not quote the president. Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s main allies in Congress, asked the president to accept his own role in the violence, saying that Trump “You need to understand that your actions were the problem, not the solution.” But asked about calls for Trump to be removed from office, the South Carolina senator said: “I don’t think it’s ap appropriate at this point. I am looking for a peaceful transfer of power. A YouGov poll of Republicans found that 45% of them supported the takeover of the Capitol, 2% more than those who opposed it. At least some of Trump’s main supporters abroad have tried to distance themselves, including Boris Johnson, who said it was “completely wrong” to “encourage people to invade the Capitol” and cast doubt on the outcome of the elections. In Washington, law enforcement agencies tried to respond to widespread outrage over the apparent impunity of insurrectionists and the lack of adequate defenses for a vital government body. Michael Sherwin, the United States attorney for the District of Columbia, said the protesters could face charges, including seditious conspiracy and insurrection. He also hinted that Trump himself could be investigated for his comments before the crowd invaded the Capitol. Asked whether prosecutors would examine the president’s incendiary comments at a rally less than an hour before the Capitol was breached, Sherwin told reporters, “We are looking at all the actors here, not just the people who entered the building, but .. there were others who helped or facilitated or played an auxiliary role in this. We will see each actor and all criminal charges. “More than 90 people were arrested by the police in Washington, Sherwin said, adding that prosecutors would bring” as many charges as we can. ” McConnell said the failure to protect the US Capitol was a “massive failure” and called for a full investigation. The Congressional arms sergeant, responsible for the building’s general security, resigned on Thursday, but Pelosi asked Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund to step down as well. Sund issued a statement saying that the invasion of the legislature was “Unlike anything I have experienced in my 30 years in law enforcement here” and argued that his officers had spread out by having to respond to two bombs found near the Capitol, while same time as the attack. Pelosi also said he did not receive a satisfactory response from defense secretary Christopher Miller about why the national guard took so long to respond, arriving in significant numbers only after the Capitol was occupied. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told reporters that he expected Wednesday’s events to be like other recent protests, adding that Pentagon officials had not imagined a violation of the Capitol in their “wildest imagination”. The head of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department also stated: “There was no intelligence to suggest that there would be a violation of the United States Capitol.” Critics responded that those responsible had telegraphed their intentions in advance. “Everything was open on social media, not to mention the president’s speech,” commented John Sipher, a former CIA officer, on Twitter.