Republicans begin to join impeachment push
By
Mike DeBonis,
Josh Dawsey and
Seung Min Kim
Jan. 12, 2021 at 6:59 p.m. EST
The push for an unprecedented second impeachment of President Trump took a dramatic bipartisan turn Tuesday, as several senior House Republicans joined the Democratic effort to remove Trump for his role in inciting an angry mob to storm the Capitol last week and the White House braced for more defections.
Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), the third-ranking House Republican, and Rep. John Katko (N.Y.), the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, both held Trump responsible for Wednesday’s violence. They were joined by Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), a frequent Trump critic.
“The president of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack,” Cheney said in a statement, adding, “There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”
Katko’s language was similarly strong. “To allow the president of the United States to incite this attack without consequences is a direct threat to the future of our democracy,” he said.
Kinzinger added, “If these actions . . . are not worthy of impeachment, then what is an impeachable offense?”
A senior administration official said the White House expects at least a dozen House Republicans to support impeachment. The White House is rudderless, unwilling or unable to mount any defense other than saying that Trump will already be leaving next week, two administration officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to disclose internal dynamics.
Trump, banned from Twitter, for the first time lacks the ability to aim angry tweets at those who oppose him, and White House officials conceded that he has few ways to stem the tide. He has asked Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) to urge fellow Republicans to oppose impeachment, an official said
The Republican statements supporting impeachment — which came after Trump delivered remarks earlier Tuesday expressing no regret for his actions — represented a watershed moment. They signaled high-level GOP concern about the role of Trump and other party leaders in spreading conspiracy theories about the recent election, and reflected how much the political landscape has shifted since Trump was acquitted in his first impeachment trial last February.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been telling associates since the attack that Trump probably committed impeachable offenses, as first reported by the New York Times. McConnell, a close adviser said, has not decided how he will vote on impeachment and wants to hear the case first.
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