Schumer Admits Reason for Vindictive Second Impeachment of Trump
OK, Democrats: As all Americans can agree, the deadly Capitol riot that occurred Jan. 6 was despicable, tragic and deeply disturbing. It never should have happened.
It was not, however, as many on the left proclaim, the darkest day in American history. In an appearance with Tucker Carlson on his Fox News show earlier this week, conservative commentator Jason Whitlock noted that lawmakers are acting as if they’ve been through Pearl Harbor.
Nor was it instigated by President Donald Trump (for reasons cited below).
So why are Democrats, and some Republicans, engaging in such hyperbole? The new Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, provided the reason in a speech delivered on the Senate floor on Tuesday. (Schumer’s full remarks can be read in full here and viewed below.)
“President Trump is a threat to our constitutional order, whether he is in or out of office,” the New York Democrat said.
The most critical sentence in his entire address is as follows (emphasis mine): “We need to set a precedent that the severest offense ever committed by a president will be met by the severest remedy provided by the Constitution — impeachment and conviction by this chamber, as well as disbarment from future office.“
I repeat. “Disbarment from future office.”
Given that several Republicans in the Senate, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, say they are open to convicting Trump, a trial — and a guilty verdict — might be more likely than not.
If the Senate trial results in a guilty verdict, a second vote will be held to determine if Trump will be disqualified from seeking future public office.
According to an article by Michael J. Gerhardt, the Burton Craige Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of North Carolina School of Law, “through a separate vote after he is convicted, Trump may be subject to the unique constitutional penalty of disqualification.”
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the goal.
The “Washington establishment,” a group that includes longtime Republicans as well as Democrats, is united in making sure that Trump is unable to seek the presidency ever again. McConnell, who won his Senate seat in 1984, belongs to this group of elites.
Speaking with the same overblown rhetoric we’ve grown accustomed to hearing from the Senator from New York, Schumer told his colleagues: “Rioters, insurrectionists, white supremacists and domestic terrorists tried to prevent the transfer of power. They were incited by none other than the president of the United States.”
This characterization is false. Period.
First, FBI documents from the day prior to the Capitol incursion, reviewed by media outlets such as The Washington Post, disprove this charge. I wrote about this here and here earlier this week.
Second, The Associated Press reported that three days prior to the riot, “the Pentagon asked the U.S Capitol Police if it needed National Guard manpower. And as the mob descended on the building Wednesday, Justice Department leaders reached out to offer up FBI agents. The police turned them down both times, according to senior defense officials and two people familiar with the matter.”
Additionally, a read of Trump’s remarks to his supporters at the rally that day shows he called upon them to march “peacefully and patriotically” to “make your voices heard.” In fact, the incursion had begun while he was still speaking.
Nevertheless, a flash impeachment took place on Jan. 13 in the House of Representatives, and, as Schumer explained to his peers, a post-presidency trial in the Senate is a priority.
In fact, it is the No. 1 priority of the first three “essential items of business” on Schumer’s agenda. It comes ahead of confirming Cabinet officials and providing COVID-19 relief to Americans who are suffering as a result of the lockdowns.
Here is what Schumer told lawmakers: “Over the next several weeks, the Senate must accomplish three essential items: a second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, the confirmation of President Biden’s Cabinet and other key officials, and legislation to provide much needed, almost desperately needed, COVID relief.”
“Again, that’s three essential items of business,” he emphasized.
“One, as mandated by law and Constitution, once the House of Representatives delivers articles of impeachment to the Senate, we will conduct and complete a trial of Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection against these United States.
“Two, the Senate will confirm key members of soon-to-be President Biden’s Cabinet. Those Cabinet officials in charge of national security must be confirmed quickly, as well as those in charge of responding to the current health and economic crises.
“And three, the Senate will take up legislation to provide the country additional relief from the pandemic.”
Soon, Democrats will present their radical agenda to the American people. But first, they must vanquish their greatest enemy, Donald Trump, completely and forever.
They may accomplish this, but as Trump vowed in his farewell address, “We will be back in some form.” Trump may be defeated, but the movement he began is not.
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