The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to impeach President Donald Trump on charges he incited an “insurrection” at the U.S. Capitol a week ago. The chamber voted 232-197 in favor of impeachment, making Trump the first U.S. president in history to be impeached twice.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said as she signed the article of impeachment, “Today, in a bipartisan way the House demonstrated that no one is above the law, not even the president of the United States. That Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to our country and that once again we honor our oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help us God. And now, I sadly and with a heart broken over what this means to our country, of a president who would incite insurrection, will sign the engrossment of the article of impeachment.”
Trump released a video statement from the Oval Office hours after the impeachment, but declined to address the vote. He condemned the violence at the Capitol last week and decried what he described as the “unprecedented assault on free speech” after his suspensions on Twitter and other social media platforms.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell declined to convene an emergency session to open an impeachment trial in the upper chamber, saying in a statement following the impeachment that there was “no chance that a fair or serious” impeachment trial could conclude before President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated next week.
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