The claim: Trump’s second impeachment was “not just bipartisan – it’s the most bipartisan impeachment in American history”. – Jake Tapper, CNN anchor.
Tapper made the statement moments after the vote was held on 13 January.
PolitiFact rating: true. Trump’s second impeachment drew more bipartisan support – 10 votes in favor of the Republican Party plenary – than the impeachment of Andrew Johnson or Bill Clinton, or Trump’s first impeachment.
Discussion
No Republican supported Trump’s first impeachment in 2019. He’s also taller than the five Democrats who voted for President Bill Clinton’s impeachment on both success counts in 1998. And he was more bipartisan than President Andrew Johnson’s impeachment, that received no democratic support. (We will also speak with President Richard Nixon, who resigned under threat of impeachment.)
TEXAS TAKE: Get the latest news on Texas policy sent straight to your inbox every day of the week
The impeachment article considered by the House on Jan. 13 cited Trump’s false allegations about the election results, including the supporters’ demonstration on Jan. 6. By “inciting” the crowd, the article said, Trump “gravely threatened the security of the United States and its government institutions. It threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power and endangered an equal branch of government. “
The final vote was from 232 to 197, with 10 Republicans joining all Democrats in voting for the only impeachment article.
Republicans who broke ranks and voted for impeachment were Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the House’s third Republican; John Katko, from New York; Adam Kinzinger, from Illinois; Fred Upton and Peter Meijer, from Michigan; Jaime Herrera Beutler and Dan Newhouse from Washington; Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio; Tom Rice of South Carolina; and David Valadao of California.
Here is a summary of past presidential impeachments, including some committee votes.
Andrew Johnson’s impeachment
When Johnson was impeached in 1868, no Democrats in the House supported the general plenary vote for impeachment. In this vote, all but two Republicans voted for impeachment. The Chamber passed 11 specific impeachment articles, largely with party votes.
Bill Clinton’s impeachment
Bill Clinton’s impeachment in 1998 attracted less bipartisan support for the two of the four articles approved by the Judiciary Committee that won approval in the House plenary.
The first article that was approved by the House plenary was Article 1, which said that Clinton had “deliberately provided perjury, false and misleading testimony” to the grand jury related to the sexual harassment of Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky. This article was approved by the committee by party vote. In plenary, the article passed 228-206, with five Republicans voting against and five Democrats voting in favor.
About PolitiFact
PolitiFact is a fact-checking project to help you separate fact from fiction in politics. Truth-O-Meter ratings are determined by a panel of three editors. The burden of proof falls on the speaker, and PolitiFact assesses the statements based on the information known at the time the statement is made.
The other to pass the House, Article 3, said that Clinton obstructed justice related to the lawsuits against him. This article was also approved by the committee in a party line vote, and passed the entire House by a 221-212 margin, with 12 Republicans voting against and five Democrats voting in favor of the article.
Two articles were approved by the committee, but failed in the plenary. Article 2 involved perjury during Clinton’s responses to the depositions. On the committee, this was a party line vote, except for a Republican defection – then Rep. Lindsey Graham, RS.C. On the ground, he failed, 205-229.
And Article 4, which dealt with the obstruction of Congress, was approved by the committee in a party line vote before failing in plenary, 148-245.
Donald Trump’s first impeachment
Article 1 against Trump in 2019 addressed the abuse of power, focusing on Trump’s alleged efforts to strengthen Ukraine in Joe Biden’s investigation. The article was approved by the Judiciary Committee by party vote.
Article 2 focused on Trump’s efforts to block cooperation with Congress in his impeachment investigation. This was approved by the Judiciary Committee by an identical party vote.
In the House floor, no Republican voted for any of the articles. Two Democrats voted against Article 1, Reps. Collin Peterson from Minnesota and Jeff Van Drew from New Jersey. (Van Drew later changed his Republican Party affiliation.) Peterson and Van Drew joined in the vote against Article 2 by Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine.
The impeachment effort against Richard Nixon
The impeachment of President Richard Nixon in 1974 did not reach the House floor because Nixon resigned first. Therefore, it is not directly comparable. But we can see what happened in the House Judiciary Committee when it passed three impeachment articles against Nixon.
Article 1, which focused on obstructing justice, won the support of six members of the Republican committee and all Democrats. That was about a third of the Republicans on the committee.
Article 2, which focused on abuse of power, also secured the support of six Republican members of the committee, in addition to all Democrats.
Article 3, which focused on obstructing Congress, received less bipartisan support, although it was approved by the committee. This article saw two Democratic defections and only two Republicans joining the Democratic majority.
These votes make Nixon’s impeachment the previous high point for bipartisanship, although, again, it is not a case of apples with apples, as we will never know what the plenary vote would be like. That said, the number of Republicans on the committee who joined the Democrats for Nixon’s impeachment was less than the number of House Republicans in general who supported Trump’s second impeachment.