Trump faces ‘incitement of insurrection’ charge over deadly US Capitol riot

President Donald Trump faces a single charge of “incitement of insurrection” over the deadly riot at the US Capitol, according to a draft of the articles.

Politicians are set to introduce the legislation later on Monday with voting by the middle of the week.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s leadership team also will seek a quick vote on a resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence and Cabinet officials to invoke the 25th Amendment.

The four-page impeachment bill draws from Trump’s own false statements about his election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden.

Also cited is his pressure on state officials in Georgia to “find” him more votes and his White House rally ahead of the Capitol siege, in which he encouraged thousands of supporters to “fight like hell” before they stormed the building last Wednesday.

A violent mob of pro-Trump supporters overpowered police, broke through security lines and windows and rampaged through the Capitol, forcing politicians to scatter as they were finalising Biden’s victory over Trump in the Electoral College.  

Five people died including a Capitol police officer.

The legislation said: “President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government.”

The bill from Representatives David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Ted Lieu of California, Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Jerrold Nadler of New York, said Mr Trump threatened “the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power” and “betrayed” trust.

“He will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office,” they wrote.

Trump, holed up at the White House, was increasingly isolated. Judges across the country, including some nominated by him, repeatedly dismissed cases challenging the result. Attorney General William Barr, a Trump ally, said there was no sign of any widespread fraud.

“We will act with urgency, because this President represents an imminent threat,” Pelosi said in a letter late on Sunday to colleagues emphasising the need for quick action.

“The horror of the ongoing assault on our democracy perpetrated by this President is intensified and so is the immediate need for action.”

During an interview on 60 Minutes aired on Sunday, Pelosi invoked the Watergate era when Republicans in the Senate told President Richard Nixon: “It’s over.”

“That’s what has to happen now,” she said.

Pence has given no indication he would act on the 25th Amendment. If he does not, the House would move towards impeachment.

On impeachment, House Democrats would likely delay for 100 days sending articles of impeachment to the Senate for trial, to allow Biden to focus on other priorities.

Meanwhile, the New York State Bar Association is launching an inquiry into President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.

The inquiry will determine whether Giuliani should be removed from the membership rolls of the country's largest voluntary state bar association. 

Reference: Evening Standard: Anthony France  1 day ago