The statement: Trump’s second indictment was “not just twofold – it’s the most dual indictment in American history.” – Jake Tapper, CNN anchor.
Tapper made the statement moments after the vote was taken on January 13th.
Fact assessment: true. Trump’s second indictment drew more dual support – 10 GOP floor votes in favor – than the accusations of Andrew Johnson or Bill Clinton, or Trump’s first indictment.
Discussion
No Republicans supported Trump’s first accusation in 2019. It is also higher than the five Democrats who voted in 1998 to accuse President Bill Clinton of both successful counts. And that was more dual than the accusation of President Andrew Johnson, who has no Democratic support. (We would also like to thank President Richard Nixon, who resigned under threat of accusation.)
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The article of indictment, which was discussed by the House on January 13, quoted Trump’s false allegations about the election results, including during the rally of his supporters on January 6. By “inciting” the crowd, Trump said Trump was protecting the security of the United States and its government institutions. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power and endangered an equal branch of government. ‘
The final vote was 232 to 197, with 10 Republicans joining all Democrats to vote for the only indictment.
The Republicans who broke ranks and voted to accuse were representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the third-ranking Republican; John Katko of New York; Adam Kinzinger of Illinois; Fred Upton and Peter Meijer of Michigan; Jaime Herrera Beutler and Dan Newhouse of Washington; Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio; Tom Rice of South Carolina; and David Valadao of California.
Here is an overview of the presidential allegations, including some committee votes.
The accusation of Andrew Johnson
When Johnson was arrested in 1868, no Democrat in the House supported the overall vote for prosecution. In that vote, all but two Republicans voted in favor. The House passed 11 specific articles of indictment, along with mainly party list votes.
The accusation of Bill Clinton
The Bill Clinton accusation in 1998 received less dual support for the two of the four articles approved by the legal committee that garnered approval on the House floor.
The first House-wide article was Article 1, which said that Clinton had given “willful, false and misleading evidence” to the grand jury related to the cases of Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky on sexual harassment. . ‘This article was adopted by the committee at a party vote. On the floor, the article was approved 228-206, with five Republicans voting against it and five Democrats voting for the article.
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The other one that the House would pass, Article 3, said Clinton obstructed justice in connection with the lawsuits against him. This article also passed the committee on a party vote, and it passed the full house by a margin of 221-212, with 12 Republicans voting against it and five Democrats voting for the article.
Two articles passed the committee, but it was not right. Article 2 involved perjury during Clinton’s responses in depositions. In committee, it was a party vote, except for one Republican apostate – then Rep. Lindsey Graham, RS.C. On the floor, it failed, 205-229.
And Article 4, which addressed the impediment of Congress, was adopted by the committee on a party vote before failing on the floor, 148-245.
The first accusation of Donald Trump
Article 1 against Trump in 2019 addressed abuse of power and focused on Trump’s alleged efforts to strongly arm Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden. The article was accepted by the judicial committee at a party vote.
Article 2 focuses on Trump’s efforts to block cooperation with Congress on his accusation investigation. It was accepted by the judicial committee with an identical vote by the party.
On the House floor, no Republican voted for either article. Two Democrats voted against Article 1, Reps Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey. (Van Drew later switched his commitment to the IDP.) Peterson and Van Drew, along with Democratic Representative Jared Golden of Maine, voted against Article 2.
The indictment against Richard Nixon
President Richard Nixon’s accusation in 1974 did not make it to the House floor because Nixon resigned first. It is therefore not directly comparable. But we can see what happened in the House Legal Committee when he approved three articles of indictment against Nixon.
Article 1, which focused on obstruction of justice, received support from six Republican committee members as well as all Democrats. That was about a third of Republicans on the committee.
Article 2, which focused on abuse of power, also secured the support of six Republican committee members in addition to all Democrats.
Article 3, which focused on obstructing Congress, received less dual support, although it was passed by the committee. In this article, two Democratic deviations have been seen and only two Republicans join the Democratic majority.
Such voices make Nixon’s accusation the previous high-water mark for doubles, but it’s not a case of apples to apples either, because we’ll never know what the floor voice would look like. That said, the number of committees Republicans joined Democrats for the Nixon indictment was smaller than the number of overall House Republicans supporting Trump’s second indictment.