Donald Trump was impeached today for the second time during his presidency. He is the only President of the United States to be impeached twice in American history.

I watched a good deal of the debate that was televised starting around 9:00 A.M. and into the early afternoon. In the end, ten Republicans joined all Democrats in a 232 to 197 vote in favor of impeachment.

This impeachment cited Donald Trump for instigating an insurrection. Although ten Republicans joined the Democrats, 197 did not. Those that voted no defending Trump and claimed he had nothing to do with those who stormed the Capitol. They breached the halls of Congress and came very close to reaching all members of Congress and staff. Many of these Republicans used the “now’s the time for unity” argument. Impeachment now “denied the president due process by fast-tracking the process. This would only further divide a nation torn apart by political acrimony.”

The Insurrection

However, on January 6, thousands of white insurrectionists charged and committed insurrectionist crimes. As most members of the House claimed, this white mob was given instructions to charge the Capitol when the joint Congress was in session and fight for their rights. According to these House members, now is the time to hold the President accountable for inciting these insurrectionists.

Speaker Pelosi indicated that she would immediately sent the article of impeachment to the Senate for trial. At this point it is in the hands of Senator Mitch McConnell to decide whether to call the senate back before the inauguration of Joe Biden, and hold the trial. There are 7 days before the inauguration.

Most likely the Impeachment trial in the Senate will occur after January 20. In order to find Trump guilty of the charges, 2/3’s of the Senate must vote to convict. Since the Democrats hold 50 states, 17 Republicans will have to join them to convict Trump.

Much has been said about healing the nation by Republicans. They forget so quickly that it was Donald Trump who divided the nation by lying throughout his presidency. These lies fomented in the minds of people who believed that their race was superior to all others, and that they possessed white power and privilege. The swarm that invaded the United States Capitol on January 6 were members and allies of right-wing hate groups.

Impeachment Article

Trump’s actions were brought before the House of Representatives and after hours of debate, the House voted on one article to impeach Trump for “incitement of Insurrection.”

The impeachment goes directly to the heart of Trump’s efforts to subvert and obstruct the certification of the 2020 presidential election. In particular the article of impeachment includes Trump’s earlier effort to urge the Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to find enough votes to overturn the election and outcome and threatened him if he didn’t.

The article of impeachment also states that the Capitol was breached by an unlawful mob:

Incited by President Trump, a mob unlawfully breached the Capitol, injured law enforcement personnel, menaced Members of Congress and the Vice President,5interfered with the Joint Session’s solemn constitutional duty to certify the election results, and engaged in violent, deadly, destructive, and seditious acts.

At the end of the article of impeachment, it is said that if convicted he warrants removal from office, and disqualification to hold “any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.