Daily US Times: US House impeached President Donald Trump for a historic second time Wednesday. The president was charged with “incitement of insurrection” over the deadly mob siege of the Capitol building in a swift and stunning collapse of his final days in office.
With the Capitol secured by heavily armed National Guard soldiers inside and out, the House voted 232-197 to impeach Mr Trump. The proceedings moved at lightning speed, with lawmakers voting just one week after violent pro-Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, egged on by Mr Trump’s calls for them to “fight like hell” against the election results.
Ten Republican congressmen fled Trump, joining Democrats who said he needed to be held accountable and warned ominously of a “clear and present danger” if Congress should leave him unchecked before Joe Biden’s inauguration January 20.
Trump is the only president in the US history to be twice impeached. It was the most bipartisan presidential impeachment in modern times, more so than against former president Bill Clinton in 1998.
The Capitol insurrection angered and stunned lawmakers, who were sent scrambling for safety as the violent mob descended, and it revealed the fragility of the country’s history of peaceful transfers of power. The riot also forced a reckoning among some Trump’s fellow Republicans, who have stood by President Trump throughout his presidency and largely allowed him to spread false attacks against the integrity of the 2020 election.
President Donald Trump was first impeached by the House in 2019 over his dealings with Ukraine, but the Senate rejected the charge in 2020.
