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After Capitol violence, Trump faces calls for removal and staff exodus

Published 01/07/2021, 03:42 AM
Updated 01/07/2021, 03:07 PM
© Reuters. A day after Trump supporters occupied the U.S. Capitol building, in Washington

© Reuters. A day after Trump supporters occupied the U.S. Capitol building, in Washington

By Andy Sullivan and Jonathan Landay

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The top two Democrats in Congress on Thursday called for President Donald Trump to be removed from office, one day after his supporters stormed and vandalized the U.S. Capitol in a harrowing assault on American democracy.

With 13 days left in Trump's term, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer both said Vice President Mike Pence should invoke the U.S. Constitution to remove him from office before then.

Absent that, they said Congress should move quickly to expel him through the impeachment process.

"We are in a very difficult place in our country as long as Donald Trump sits in the White House," Pelosi said at a news conference.

Members of Trump's Cabinet and allies of the Republican president have discussed invoking the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which allows them to remove a president who is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, a source familiar with the situation said, though another source said that was unlikely.

Congress formally certified Democratic President-elect Joe Biden's election victory early on Thursday, after they were forced into hiding by hundreds of rioters who overwhelmed police and invaded the building. More than half of House Republicans and eight senators voted to challenge the election results.

During the proceedings, Pelosi pulled Pence off the House floor to talk.

Meanwhile, Trump faced a staff exodus. One Cabinet official, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who is married to top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell, said she would resign, citing the violence.

Other Trump officials, including top Russia adviser Ryan Tully and envoy Mick Mulvaney, Trump's former chief of staff, also quit. More departures were expected.

Biden blamed the president for the attack but declined to say whether he should remain in office.

"He unleashed an all-out assault on the institutions of our democracy from the outset. And yesterday was but the culmination of that unrelenting attack," he said at a news conference.

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), a key social media platform for Trump, also said it would ban Trump posts until Biden's Jan. 20 inauguration. Online retailing platform Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) said it would take down Trump stores.

CALLS FOR TRUMP TO LEAVE

Dozens of Democrats have called for Trump to be removed through the 25th Amendment or impeachment.

At least two Republicans, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, also said he should go.

But several Republican sources said the 25th Amendment effort was unlikely to go anywhere, given Trump's short time remaining in office.

Democrats' drive to remove Trump through impeachment fell short in February 2020, when the Republican-led Senate voted to acquit him on charges of abuse of power and obstructing Congress after Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden.

Trump pledged in an early-morning statement an "orderly transition" ahead of Biden's inauguration, in part to prevent more staffers from leaving. Yet Trump has stood by the false charge the election was stolen from him.

Trump has not condemned the extraordinary violence that unfolded after he encouraged supporters on Wednesday to march to the Capitol, despite pleas from senior members of his administration.

"I implore the President and all elected officials to strongly condemn the violence that took place yesterday," Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said.

Trump has increasingly isolated himself in the White House, relying on a small group of diehard loyalists and lashing out at Pence and others who dare to cross him, four sources said.

On Capitol Hill, new fencing was being installed around the Capitol ahead of Biden's inauguration.

The assault on the Capitol was the culmination of months of divisive and escalating rhetoric by Trump and his allies around the Nov. 3 election, with the president repeatedly making false claims that the vote was rigged and urging his supporters to help him overturn his loss.

Rioters broke windows and besieged the House chamber while lawmakers were inside, banging on its doors. Security officers piled furniture against the chamber's door and drew their pistols before helping lawmakers and others escape.

FBI ASKS FOR HELP

The FBI asked the public for tips identifying people involved in the mayhem in which four people died.

In certifying Biden's election triumph, longtime Trump allies such as Pence and McConnell rejected Trump's pleas for intervention.

The Senate and the House rejected two objections by Republican lawmakers to the tally and certified the final Electoral College count, with Biden receiving 306 votes and Trump 232 votes.

© Reuters. A day after Trump supporters occupied the U.S. Capitol building, in Washington

Election officials of both parties and independent observers have said there was no significant fraud in the election. Biden received 7 million more votes than Trump in the national popular vote.

 

Latest comments

Collapsing of House of Cards in reality, sigh!
Staged and fake. They’re afraid he will run again and want to destroy him.
Democrats calling for Trump being removed? Shocker...is this news?
Pack ur back. A VIP room in federal correctional facility is waiting.
And that was the end Trump, now condemned by the entire world and all the sane people of his own country.
Republicans gained honor yesterday by not agreeing with Trump. They will restore the honor to the party by removing Trump from office immediately. Do it before it is too late and before people and the world think you are on Trump's side!
Clinton powell, another supporter of treason by Confederate trash and sedation of Trump and his supporters.
Anything else brwoncoat?
*not
A total disgrace. Two long months of nitmare and complete discredit of the USA throughout the world, which has been able to appreciate the immense evil of Trump, many of his Republican colleagues and his collaborators in the White House. He projects the image of a paranoid patient obsessed with defeat. Now less than 8 days from the terrible end, his offer of an orderly transition is a joke in bad taste. The resignation of collaborators the same. Thanks to Biden's efficiency, the job is done. Say no. Merce impechemant or invoking the 25th Amendment. Clean the chicken coop ...
seek therapy
America’s decline has gathered pace!
and the dums will sprint to the bottom as they always do.. feeding their globalist corporatist overlords while enslaving their mindless followers.
The Washington politicians have divided all facets of our society, fragmented them, have us warring with each other...no category or group of people in this country is happy...except those politicians in Washington...people of all creed and differences wake up!! Its not us that are the problem...it's the Washington politicians dividing us then devour us...we must come together and oust out their doings.
Make no difference.. Who is going sit in the oval office is same type.. Bunch of hypocrite... Crooks.. Selfish... Made from the cloth
the 11th hour shall be beautiful in all this.
USA will fail by american
Russia is conquering and destroying America without firing a single shot...Putin unleashed their secret weapon....Trumsky, the orange jellyfish agent.
"Sleeping Joe" has inflicted a crushing defeat on the evil Trump .... who, as a bad loser, has given the world the worst spectacle of unimaginable democratic perversion, supported, it must be said, by that "silent majority of Republican congressmen" that if the nation American does not purify, the world is already doing it .......
You don’t find it funny the most American centric president in years has been made out to be the evil orange dictator? What are all you people gonna talk about when Trump just quietly leaves office, as he will,...What we are seeing is a large mass of good people, completely hoodwinked, and to handing their freedoms and liberties over to a communist takeover that is being led by the main stream media which has been working on this since the 60s.
 "What are all you people gonna talk about when Trump just quietly leaves office"   -- is that what you are telling us, he is leaving office quietly?  what color is the sky in your world???
I think that his sky's colour is orange just like Trumsky's fake hair.
Democracy will prevail.
where did Trump have anything to do with proud boys?
The states admitted to breaking their own constitutions and election laws and there were thousands of affidavits of fraud? Exactly what is unfounded?
“Stand back and stand by.” Trump’s failure to condemn a clearly racist organization which espouses white supremacy makes him complicit in his support of it. Regarding any of the states’ admitting fraud, you should post a link or otherwise cite your source of that information. While it may be true that some ballots were counted that may have been in error, there is no indication that: 1) It was deliberate, and 2) that the numbers were widespread enough to have come anywhere close to altering the outcome of the election as attested to by the United States Attorney General who was appointed by Trump. Again, any allegations should be examined by the authorities to determine validity. That’s part of the legal process. The allegations were brought forward in each state of concern and were determined to be unworthy of prosecution in each and every case. The United States Supreme Court with THREE Trump appointees wouldn’t even hear the case. Stolen election? Nope.
Better stock some food. When Taiwan is surrounded and threatened with fire and brimstone commodity prices will soar.
That's Great
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