The Democrats moved forward on Monday, January 11, towards the opening this week of a second impeachment procedure against Donald Trump, accused of having “Incited to violence” during the invasion of the Capitol, on January 6, by pro-Trump rioters, killing 5 people.
Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi announced a series of actions to remove the Republican president, described as “Imminent threat” against democracy and the Constitution of the United States.
The Republican billionaire is thus threatened, at 74, with a sanction that would remain in the history of the United States and could mortgage his political future: to become the first president to be twice indicted in Congress (« impeached ») in an impeachment proceeding. Here are the main stages.
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Filing Monday of the impeachment motion for “incitement to insurrection”
In the majority in the lower house of Congress, Democrats on Monday filed an article impeaching the president for “Incitement to insurgency” in the context of impeachment proceedings.
At the same time, they asked Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25e amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which allows the executive to remove a president deemed unfit for office, but Republican elected officials have temporarily blocked his consideration by an oral vote.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has given Mr. Pence twenty-four hours to respond to the request from the time it is voted on, which is expected to take place on Tuesday. However, loyal to Donald Trump, but no longer having contact with him since the events of the Capitol, Mike Pence has so far shown no desire to trigger the device, which would amount to making him endorse the executive powers for the ten last days of Trump’s tenure.
In the event of the probable rejection of their request by the vice-president, the Democrats should therefore continue the impeachment procedure. The indictment article has already been drafted.
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Vote on impeachment motion in the House of Representatives on Wednesday
In fact, the leader of the Democratic group in the House of Representatives, Steny Hoyer, has said that the vote on the impeachment procedure could take place as early as Wednesday. The impeachment motion will then be adopted or rejected. If a simple majority believes that the evidence is sufficient to initiate proceedings and votes for adoption, then a trial will be opened in the Senate.
According to the site Politico, at least 218 Democrats out of the 435 elected representatives in the House of Representatives support the resolution on impeachment, which would be sufficient for its adoption.
If adopted, the accused – here Donald Trump – would be suspended from his duties upon his appearance in the Senate. To judge the president, the Senate is then no longer chaired by the vice-president, as is usually the case, but by the president of the Supreme Court. The trial resembles a regular criminal procedure, the accused is represented by one or more lawyers. If the two-thirds majority of senators find that the president of the United States is guilty, he is removed and his vice-president immediately replaces him.
The outcome of such a trial in the current context, while the Senate is still with a Republican majority, is however more than uncertain. Democrats will not take control until January 20 and will need the rallying of many Republicans to achieve the necessary two-thirds majority.
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Calls for the resignation of Donald Trump
Some Republican elected officials, however, on Sunday called on Donald Trump to resign to spare the country the complexities of the impeachment procedure, such as the 25e amendment.
This “Would be the best option”, Senator Pat Toomey told CNN. Since the presidential election of November 3, which he lost, Donald Trump “Has sunk into a level of madness and has committed absolutely unthinkable and unforgivable acts”, he added. “The best thing for the unity of the country would be for him to resign”, added on ABC Adam Kinzinger, elected Republican of the House of Representatives.
On Friday, Senator Lisa Murkowski was the first Republican to publicly declare that Donald Trump must immediately step down.
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Donald Trump already targeted by impeachment proceedings in 2019
Donald Trump has already been the target of impeachment proceedings, launched by Democrats in December 2019, in connection with the pressure exerted on Ukraine to open an investigation into Hunter Biden, the son of Joe Biden, and that who was then considered his likely great rival for the presidential election. Donald Trump was acquitted in February by the Senate, where his Republican supporters were in the majority at the time.
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Three other presidents threatened with impeachment
Apart from those against Donald Trump, only three impeachment proceedings have concerned Presidents of the United States since the entry into force of the American Constitution in 1789.
The House of Representatives voted an indictment in 1868 against Andrew Johnson for overriding a procedure for appointing top executive positions that had just been passed, and in 1998 against Bill Clinton, for “Perjury” and “Obstruction of justice” in the Monica Lewinsky case. The Senate then acquitted the two presidents. In the midst of the Watergate scandal, the preparation of impeachment proceedings had been initiated against Richard Nixon in 1974. But it did not succeed, the president having chosen to resign.
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