The House of Representatives voted 232-194 to impeach President Donald Trump on a single article for “incitement of insurrection.” It is the second time the House has impeached the president, who leaves office on Jan. 20.
The question now is whether the Senate will conduct a trial before the president leaves office. According to the Wall Street Journal:
Following Wednesday’s vote, the case moves to the Senate. While Mr. McConnell made clear he doesn’t plan to start a trial immediately, it isn’t clear when it would start. The Constitution dictates that it begin the day after the House sends an impeachment article to the Senate. It wasn’t immediately known when the House would take that step.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.)—who will take control of the Senate later this month after two new Georgia senators are seated and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris becomes the tiebreaking vote—encouraged Mr. McConnell to call the Senate back early and said he plans to hold a trial even if Mr. Trump is out of office.
In a video released Wednesday regarding the mob assault on the U.S. Capitol, the president said:
“…the incursion of the U.S. Capitol struck at the very heart of our republic,” Mr. Trump said. “It angered and appalled millions of Americans across the political spectrum.”
“I want to be very clear: I unequivocally condemn the violence that we saw last week,” he added. “Violence and vandalism have absolutely no place in our country. And no place in our movement. Making America great again has always been about defending the rule of law” and supporting law enforcement officials.
“Mob violence goes against everything I believe in and everything our movement stands for. No true supporter of mine could ever endorse political violence,” he said.
“If you do any of these things you are not supporting our movement. You are attacking it and you are attacking our country,” Mr. Trump said. “We cannot tolerate it.”