- Capital Hill, Washington D.C. USA
Republican Representative Dan Newhouse of Central Washington said Wednesday afternoon that he will break away from the GOP party and vote to impeach Donald Trump. During the house's debate before the voting begins. Newhouse said that everyone is responsible and his colleagues are responsible for not condemning rioters, as well as the rioters who formed CHOP in Seattle's Capital Neighborhood in early 2020 during the George Floyd protests.
Newhouse also said that he should of taken actions sooner and should of spoken up sooner before last weeks Capital mob and breach that left 5 dead.
Newhouse said "these articles of impeachment are flawed however... there's no excuse for President Trump's actions. The president took an oath to defend the constitution both foreign and domestic. Last week there was a domestic threat at the door of the capital and he did nothing to stop it. That is why by a heavy heart and clear resolve I will vote yes on these articles of impeachment."
During debate on the articles of impeachment, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked Republicans and Democrats to “search their souls” ahead of the historic afternoon vote. Trump would be the first American president to be impeached twice.
Trump “must go,” Pelosi said. “He is a clear and present danger to the nation we all love.”
The impeachment proceedings came one week after a violent, pro-Trump mob breached the U.S. Capitol, sending lawmakers into hiding and revealing the fragility of the nation’s history of peaceful transfers of power. The riot has also forced a reckoning among some Republicans, who have stood by Trump throughout his presidency and largely allowed him to spread false attacks against the integrity of the 2020 election.
As two Republican lawmakers — Washington Reps. Dan Newhouse and Jaime Herrera Beutler — announced on the floor they would vote to impeach, Trump issued a new statement urging “NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind.” But he has repeatedly declined to take any responsibility for last week’s riots.
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said for the first time that Trump does bear responsibility, acknowledging on the House floor before the vote that Biden is the next president and that radical liberal groups were not responsible for the riots, as some conservatives have falsely claimed. But McCarthy said he opposed impeachment, instead favoring a “fact finding commission” and censure.
As for threats of more trouble from intruders, security was exceptionally tight at the Capitol with shocking images of massed National Guard troops, secure perimeters around the complex and metal-detector screenings required for lawmakers entering the House chamber.
“We are debating this historic measure at a crime scene,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.
Though McConnell is declining to hasten an impeachment trial, a Republican strategist told The Associated Press the GOP leader believes Trump committed impeachable offenses and considers the Democrats’ impeachment drive an opportunity to reduce the divisive, chaotic president’s hold on the GOP.
McConnell called major Republican donors last weekend to gauge their thinking about Trump and was told that Trump had clearly crossed a line. McConnell told them he was through with Trump, said the strategist, who demanded anonymity to describe McConnell’s conversations.
Article By: Brandon Sanchez MLWA 7 / Lisa Mascao AP News
Video By: NBC News New York