Washington – Ten Republican members of the House, including one of the high-ranking leaders, voted with the Democrats to accuse President Trump of inciting the deadly attack on the Capitol last week by a violent crowd of his supporters.
The final vote was 232 to 197, as the ten Republicans, along with all 222 Democrats, voted in favor of the indictment.
The indictment will then be delivered to the Senate, where Mr. Trump will be executed. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said after the vote in the House that there was’ simply no chance that a fair or serious trial could be concluded before elected Biden was sworn in next week.
Mr. Trump is the first president to be charged twice. When he was indicted in 2019 over his efforts to put Ukraine under pressure to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden, no House Republicans voted to accuse him. But this time, ten members of his own party determined that his actions justified indictment.
Here are the Republicans who voted to accuse Trump:
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Liz Cheney of Wyoming
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Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio
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Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington
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John Katko of New York
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Adam Kinzinger from Illinois
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Peter Meijer of Michigan
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Dan Newhouse of Washington
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Tom Rice of South Carolina
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Fred Upton of Michigan
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David Valadao of California
Cheney, the third-ranked Republican in the House, said in a statement on Tuesday that she would vote to accuse Trump after he whipped up his supporters on Wednesday at a rally not far from the Capitol.
“The president of the United States called this mob, gathered the mob and lit the flame of this attack. All that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the president,” Cheney said, referring to Mr. Trump’s appearance. during a rally on January 6, when he told his supporters, “If you do not fight like hell, you will not have a country anymore.” She also criticized his repeated calls to Republican lawmakers to try to reverse the election.
“The president could have intervened immediately and forcefully to stop the violence. He has not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution,” Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, prosecuted. “I will vote to accuse the president.”
Congressman John Katko was the first Republican to say he would vote Tuesday to accuse Trump. Katko represents a district in New York State that is democratically leaning, and he has faced major challenges in his last two elections.
“Allowing the President of the United States to incite this attack without consequence is a direct threat to the future of our democracy,” Katko said in a statement reported by Syracuse.com. ‘That’s why I can not sit without taking action. I will vote to accuse this president. ‘
Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a regular critic of Mr. Trump, on Tuesday in a tweet, “I will vote in favor of accusation.”
“I have no doubt that the President of the United States violated his oath of office and incited this uprising. He used his position in the Executive to attack the Legislature … If this action – the article “Branch II’s deadly incitement against Article I branch – is not worth accusing, so what’s an uncontested offense?
Last week, Kinzinger also appealed to Vice President Mike Pence and Mr. Trump’s cabinet done 25th amendment to remove the president from office.
Michigan Congressman Fred Upton on Tuesday night announced his support for the indictment. “I would have preferred a dual, formal censorship rather than a lengthy indictment process,” he said in a statement. “But it’s time to say, ‘Enough is enough.’
Upton said Congress should “send a clear message that our country can and will not tolerate any attempt by any president to impede the peaceful transfer of power.”
Newhouse said Wednesday he will support the indictment.
“There is no excuse for President Trump’s actions,” Newhouse said in a speech on the House floor, adding that he would vote “with a heavy heart” for accusation. Democrats applauded after his speech.
The majority of the House Republican conference – including minority leader Kevin McCarthy and minority whip Steve Scalise – voted last week to reverse the outcome of the election.
Six Republican lawmakers passed a resolution Tuesday night condemning Trump. Unlike accusation, censorship has no practical consequences, but would be merely a formal conviction.
In the Senate, some senators have also indicated that they may be willing to vote to condemn Trump, even though the bar is higher in the upper chamber. Although a simple majority is needed to prosecute the president in the House, two-thirds of senators must vote for the president’s conviction and removal.