US House Democrats to introduce Trump impeachment article on Monday
House Democrats will introduce legislation on Monday calling for the impeachment of outgoing President Donald Trump following the violence in the US Capitol on Wednesday, Representative Ted Lieu said Saturday.
The California Democrat said on Twitter that the articles of impeachment Democratic members will introduce had drawn 180 co-sponsors as of Saturday afternoon.
Lieu was an active participant in the December 2019 House impeachment of Trump that ultimately failed in the Senate.
His impeachment declaration accuses Trump of engaging “in high Crimes and Misdemeanors by willfully inciting violence against the Government of the United States.”
It states that Trump “has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security, democracy and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law.”
A spokeswoman for Lieu said no Republicans have yet signed on. However, Republican Sen. Pat Toomey said on Saturday that Trump has “committed impeachable offenses.”
“I do think the president committed impeachable offenses,” Toomey said during an interview on Fox News’s “The Journal Editorial Report.”
On Wednesday, armed protesters broke into the US Capitol, forcing the chamber to halt the ongoing vote to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s election win.
After two months of refusal to accept his defeat in the November 3 election, Trump sparked violence in the Capitol, calling on his supporters to “fight like hell.”
Lieu’s statement comes after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer also called for the urgent removal of Trump from power on Thursday.
"This is an emergency of the highest magnitude," Pelosi said, branding Trump "a very dangerous person who should not continue in office."
Schumer also said that Trump should be removed from office, adding what the incumbent has done recently is “a manifestly impeachable offense.”
More alleged protesters arrested
Meanwhile on Saturday, the FBI said it had arrested and charged two men whose alleged participation in the Capitol protest went viral, as well as a West Virginia state legislator who allegedly livestreamed his illegal entry into the building.
The FBI said it identified Jacob Anthony Chansley, also known as Jake Angeli, of Arizona, as the man “seen in media coverage who entered the Capitol building dressed in horns, a bearskin headdress, red, white and blue face paint, shirtless, and tan pants”.
Chansley faces charges including illegal entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds as well as violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, the FBI said.
Adam Johnson is another person arrested by the agency. He is the man allegedly seen smiling while carrying the lectern of Pelosi through the rotunda of the Capitol complex.
Johnson, 36, was charged with one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, one count of theft of government property, and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Derrick Evans, a 35-year-old man recently elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates, has also been arrested, but according to Reuters, he had resigned.
“I hereby resign as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, effective immediately,” a one-sentence letter to West Virginia Governor Jim Justice reads.
The FBI said 13 others who allegedly took part in the protest had been apprehended and are currently facing federal charges. Another 40 people have been charged so far in Washington, DC Superior Court.
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