House begins considering impeachment amid extraordinary security
The U.S. House of Representatives has gaveled in to consider the second impeachment of President Trump.
Democrats formally introduced an impeachment resolution Monday, charging Trump with "incitement of insurrection" after he told his supporters at a “Save America Rally” to march on the Capitol during Congress’ joint session to count Electoral College votes on Jan. 6.
"He also willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — lawless action at the Capitol, such as: "if you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a country anymore,'" the resolution reads.
“Thus incited by President Trump, members of the crowd he had addressed, in an attempt to, among other objectives, interfere with the Joint Session's solemn constitutional duty to certify the results of the 2020 Presidential election, unlawfully breached and vandalized the Capitol, injured and killed law enforcement personnel, menaced Members of Congress, the Vice President, and Congressional personnel, and engaged in other violent, deadly, destructive and seditious acts," it continues.
"In all this, President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government. He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States," it goes on.
The impeachment article also cited Trump's call with the Georgia Republican secretary of state where he urged him to "find" enough votes for Trump to win the state -- along with the Constitution's 14th Amendment, noting that it "prohibits any person who has 'engaged in insurrection or rebellion against' the United States" from holding office.
As House lawmakers arrived on Capitol Hill Wednesday, they were greeted by the sight of National Guard members dispersed throughout the Capitol complex before debate kicked off -- a stark sight from last week when Capitol Police were found outnumbered.