Representative Tom Rice stated:
It has been a week since so many were injured, the United States Capitol was ransacked, and six people were killed, including two police officers. Yet, the President has not addressed the nation to ask for calm. He has not visited the injured and grieving. He has not offered condolences. Yesterday in a press briefing at the border, he said his comments were “perfectly appropriate.”[1]
Representative Adam Kinzinger similarly explained: “There is no doubt in my mind that the President of the United States broke his oath of office and incited this insurrection. He used his position in the Executive to attack the Legislative.”[2] Representative Liz Cheney put the point simply when she recognized that “[t]here has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”[3]
ARGUMENT
I. President Trump Committed High Crimes and Misdemeanors
A President is subject to impeachment, conviction, and disqualification from future federal officeholding if he commits high crimes and misdemeanors. President Trump’s incitement of insurrection meets that standard.[4] His conduct endangered the foundation of our government.
- ↑ Press Release, Representative Tom Rice, Rep. Tom Rice Votes to Impeach President Trump (Jan. 13, 2021).
- ↑ Press Release, Representative Adam Kinzinger, Congressman Kinzinger Statement on Impeachment (Jan.12, 2012).
- ↑ Press Release, Representative Liz Cheney, I Will Vote To Impeach The President (Jan. 12, 2021).
- ↑ See Dan McLaughlin, Convict and Disqualify Trump, National Review (Jan. 15, 2021); David Post, A Senatorial Impeachment Two-Step?, The Volokh Conspiracy (Jan. 13, 2021); Gene Healy, Only Impeachment is Censure Enough, CATO Institute (Jan 13. 2021); Eric Posner, The Effort to Disqualify Trump is Worth It, Project Syndicate (Jan. 12, 2021); ACLU Again Calls for Impeachment of President Trump, ACLU Press Release (Jan. 10, 2021); Frank O. Bowman, III, The Constitutional Case for Impeaching Donald Trump (Again), Just Security (Jan. 9, 2021); Jeannie Suk Gerson, The Case For Removing Donald Trump, New Yorker (Jan. 9, 2021); Michael Stokes Paulsen, The Constitutional and Moral Imperative of Immediate Impeachment, The Bulwark (Jan. 8, 2021); Jonathan H. Adler, Yes, Congress May Impeach and Remove President Trump for Inciting Lawless Behavior at the Capitol, The Volokh Conspiracy (Jan. 8, 2021); Noah Feldman, I Testified at Trump’s Last Impeachment. Impeach Him Again., Bloomberg (Jan. 7, 2021); Steven G. Calabresi & Norman Eisen, We Disagree on a Lot. But We Both Think Trump Should Be Convicted, N.Y. Times (Jan. 13, 2021); David Landau and Rosalind Dixon, The 25th Amendment Can Remove Trump, but We Shouldn’t Stop There, N. Y. Times (Jan. 7, 2021); Stanford Law’s Michael McConnell on the 25th Amendment and Trump, Stanford Law School (Jan. 7, 2021); Keith E. Whittington, The Conservative Case For Impeaching Trump Now, Wash. Post (Jan. 7, 2021); David Priess & Jack Goldsmith, Can Trump Be Stopped?, Lawfare (Jan. 7, 2021); Cass Sunstein, Does the 25th Amendment Apply to Trump? Quite Possibly, Bloomberg (Jan. 7, 2021); John Podhoretz, Donald Trump Should Be Impeached and Removed from Office Tomorrow, Commentary Magazine (Jan. 6, 2021); Melissa De Witte and Sharon Driscoll, Stanford Scholars React to Capitol Hill Takeover, Stanford News (Jan. 6, 2021); Ilya Somin, A Qualified Defense of Impeaching Trump Again, Reason (Jan. 6, 2021); Will Baude, Samuel Bray & Stephen Sachs, Impeach and Remove, The Volokh Conspiracy (Jan. 6, 2021).
