(CNSNews.com) -- On Monday, House Democrats introduced a resolution to impeach President Donald Trump for "high crimes and misdemeanors," claiming that he incited an insurrection against the government by asserting that there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election and by making statements that "encouraged lawless action at the Capitol."
This is the second time House Democrats have tried to impeach Trump. In December 2019, Democrats alleged that Trump abused his power and obstructed Congress about a telephone call he had with the president of Ukraine. Trump was acquitted of those charges by the U.S. Senate on Feb. 5, 2020.
The new impeachment resolution was introduced by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.). The House is expected to vote on the measure this week. President Trump's term in office ends next Wednesday, Jan. 20.
The impeachment article reads,
ARTICLE I: INCITEMENT OF INSURRECTION
The Constitution provides that the House of Rep-
resentatives ‘‘shall have the sole Power of Impeachment’’
and that the President ‘‘shall be removed from Office on
Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or
other high Crimes and Misdemeanors’’. Further, section
3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution prohibits
any person who has ‘‘engaged in insurrection or rebellion
against’’ the United States from ‘‘hold[ing] any office . . .
under the United States’’. In his conduct while President
of the United States—and in violation of his constitutional
oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the
United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, pro-
tect, and defend the Constitution of the United States,
and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that
the laws be faithfully executed—Donald John Trump en-
gaged in high Crimes and Misdemeanors by inciting vio-
lence against the Government of the United States, in
that:
On January 6, 2021, pursuant to the 12th Amend-
ment to the Constitution of the United States, the Vice
President of the United States, the House of Representa-
tives, and the Senate met at the United States Capitol for a
Joint Session of Congress to count the votes of the
Electoral College. In the months preceding the Joint Ses-
sion, President Trump repeatedly issued false statements
asserting that the Presidential election results were the
product of widespread fraud and should not be accepted
by the American people or certified by State or Federal
officials. Shortly before the Joint Session commenced,
President Trump, addressed a crowd at the Ellipse in
Washington, DC. There, he reiterated false claims that
‘‘we won this election, and we won it by a landslide’’. He
also willfully made statements that, in context, encour-
aged—and foreseeably resulted in—lawless action at the
Capitol, such as: ‘‘if you don’t fight like hell you’re not
going to have a country anymore’’. Thus incited by Presi-
dent Trump, members of the crowd he had addressed, in
an attempt to, among other objectives, interfere with the
Joint Session’s solemn constitutional duty to certify the
results of the 2020 Presidential election, unlawfully
breached and vandalized the Capitol, injured and killed
law enforcement personnel, menaced Members of Con-
gress, the Vice President, and Congressional personnel,
and engaged in other violent, deadly, destructive, and sedi-
tious acts.
President Trump’s conduct on January 6, 2021, fol-
lowed his prior efforts to subvert and obstruct the certifi-
cation of the results of the 2020 Presidential election.
Those prior efforts included a phone call on January 2,
2021, during which President Trump urged the secretary
of state of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, to ‘‘find’’ enough
votes to overturn the Georgia Presidential election results
and threatened Secretary Raffensperger if he failed to do
so.
In all this, President Trump gravely endangered the
security of the United States and its institutions of Gov-
ernment. He threatened the integrity of the democratic
system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power,
and imperiled a coequal branch of Government. He there-
by betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury
of the people of the United States.
Wherefore, Donald John Trump, by such conduct,
has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national
security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to re-
main in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incom-
patible with self-governance and the rule of law. Donald
John Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, re-
moval from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy
any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United
States.