against our government, designed to subvert and obstruct the results of our free and fair elections, caused serious harm to our nation’s fundamental interest in orderly democratic self-governance.
The Framers included the power of impeachment to thwart exactly such attempts at eroding our nation’s commitment to popular sovereignty. As explained in the Judiciary Committee’s previous impeachment report from the 116th Congress: “[T]he true nature of this threat is its rejection of government by ‘We the People,’ who would ‘ordain and establish’ the Constitution … When the President concludes that elections threaten his continued grasp on power, and therefore seeks to corrupt or interfere with them, he denies the very premise of our constitutional system. The American people choose their leaders; a President who wields power to destroy opponents or manipulate elections is a President who rejects democracy itself.”[1]
- b. Imperiling a Coordinate Branch
By engaging in this course of conduct President Trump willfully incited violence against the United States Congress, a coequal branch of the United States government, and the Vice President of the United States. Indeed, the violence that ensued jeopardized the safety of nearly the entire Legislative Branch, their staff, the many non-partisan workers employed by Congress, and the law enforcement officers serving to protect the Capitol. The insurrection incited by the President also threatened the safety of the three most senior officials in the presidential line of succession: Vice President Mike Pence, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and President pro tempore of the Senate Senator Chuck Grassley.
As described in detail in this report, many Members of Congress and their staff were forced to hide under tables or in offices while they awaited evacuation by law enforcement, while others were trapped on the House and Senate floor. Many feared for their lives, as armed attackers banged on the doors, and Capitol Police drew weapons.[2] Indeed, as set forth, at least five deaths occurred as a result of the violent mob’s ambush on our government.
In short, the insurrectionists incited by President Trump threatened the lives of everyone who works at the U.S. Capitol, including officials in the presidential line of succession, as well as the continued existence of a functioning Legislative Branch. As Representative Sean Maloney, who was present in the Capitol when the mob violence occurred, cautioned: “[f]or those pretending it’s something less than a violent insurrection, please watch and wake up. This is what [President Trump] and his enablers incited. He must be removed and held accountable.”[3]
- ↑ See H. Rept. 116-346 at 53. (emphasis added).
- ↑ See e.g. Tasneem Nashrulla, Members Of Congress Described What It Was Like When A Pro-Trump Mob Stormed The Capitol, Buzzfeed (Jan. 6, 2021).
- ↑ Jon Swaine, Dalton Bennett, Joyce Sohyun Lee & Meg Kelly, Video shows fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt in the Capitol, WashPo (Jan. 8, 2021); Sean Patrick Maloney (@RepSeanMaloney), Twitter (Jan. 8, 2021 2:28 PM), https://twitter.com/repseanmaloney/status/1347626297367941121?s=27.
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