FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump departs on travel to West Point, New York from the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, U.S., December 12, 2020. REUTERS/Cheriss May
WASHINGTON — Democrats in the House of Representatives plan to introduce misconduct charges on Monday that could lead to a second impeachment of President Donald Trump, two sources familiar with the matter said, after a violent crowd of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an assault on American democracy.
With a majority in the House, Democrats appear poised for a historic first: No president has ever been impeached twice.
But it is unclear if lawmakers would be able to remove Trump from office, as any impeachment would prompt a trial in the Senate, where his fellow Republicans hold sway.
Top Democrats have called on Vice President Mike Pence and Trump’s Cabinet to invoke the U.S. Constitution’s 25th Amendment, which allows them to remove the president if he is unable to discharge his official duties. But Pence is opposed to the idea, an adviser said.
Democrats, who said a House vote on impeachment could come later in the week, hope the threat of impeachment could intensify pressure on Pence and the Cabinet to act to remove Trump before his term ends in less than two weeks.
The sources said the articles of impeachment, which are formal charges of misconduct, were crafted by Democratic Representatives David Cicilline, Ted Lieu and Jamie Raskin.
A copy of the measure circulating among members of Congress charges Trump with “inciting violence against the government of the United States” in a bid to overturn his loss to President-elect Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
The articles also cite Trump’s hour-long phone call last week with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which he asked him to “find” enough votes to overturn Biden’s victory in that state.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump “unhinged” on Friday and said Congress must do everything possible to protect Americans, even though Trump’s term in office will end on Jan. 20 when Biden is sworn in.
She also said she had spoken with the nation’s top general, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, about preventing Trump from initiating military hostilities or launching a nuclear weapon.
The extraordinary developments came two days after Trump exhorted thousands of followers to march to the Capitol, prompting a chaotic scene in which crowds breached the building, sent lawmakers into hiding and left a police officer and four others dead in their wake.
At least one Senate Republican, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, said he would consider supporting an impeachment proceeding.
Sasse, a frequent Trump critic, told CBS News on Friday he would “definitely consider” any articles of impeachment because the president “disregarded his oath of office.”
Trump allies, including Senator Lindsey Graham and the House Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, had urged Democrats to shelve talk of impeachment to avoid further division.
“If Speaker Pelosi pushes impeachment in the last days of the Trump presidency it will do more harm than good,” Graham said on Twitter.
If the House impeaches Trump, the decision on whether to remove him would fall to the Republican-controlled Senate, which has already acquitted him once before. With Trump’s term ending a day after the Senate is scheduled to return from recess on Jan. 19, the chances of an actual ouster appear slim.
Removing a U.S. president requires a two-thirds majority in the Senate. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not commented on a possible impeachment.
Biden has blamed Trump for inciting Wednesday’s violence but has not signaled whether he supports impeachment. Pelosi told members on a Democratic conference call that she would speak to Biden on Friday afternoon, according to a source who listened in.
She also said she had gotten assurances from Milley that there are safeguards in place for the use of nuclear weapons, the source said.
Milley’s office said Pelosi had initiated the call and that the general “answered her questions regarding the process of nuclear command authority.”
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