US House Democrats to vote on Trump’s impeachment on Wednesday

Washington [US], January 12 (ANI): US House Democrats plan to vote Wednesday to impeach President Donald Trump, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told Democrats on a caucus call on Monday (local time).
Hoyer said that the House will vote Tuesday evening on a resolution urging Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from power, and then plan to vote Wednesday at 9 am ET on the impeachment resolution, CNN reported.
Democrats formally introduced their impeachment resolution Monday, charging Trump with “incitement of insurrection” as they attempt to impeach him for the second time.
The single impeachment article, which was introduced when the House gaveled into a brief pro-forma session on Monday, points to Trump’s repeated allegations that he won the election and his speech to the crowd on January 6 before the rioters breached the Capitol, according to CNN.
“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,” said the resolution.

House Republicans blocked the move by Democrats to have Vice President Mike Pence invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, citing feedback from members, floated the possibility of “a resolution of censure under the rules of the House,” as well as a bipartisan commission to investigate riots.
However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, on the call with House Democrats Monday, called the idea of censuring Trump an “abdication” and made it clear it’s not an option she’s willing to consider, according to a person on the call, CNN reported.
Chaotic and violent scenes erupted at the Capitol on Wednesday as supporters of Trump stormed the building to protest the Electoral College vote, forcing a lockdown and confrontations with the police.
Wednesday’s violence came hours after Trump encouraged his supporters to fight against the election results as Congress was certifying Biden’s victory in the November vote.

US State Dept website says terms of Trump, Pence ended; messages pulled down

Washington [US], January 12 (ANI): The US Department of State‘s website on Monday (local time) displayed a curious message on the pages of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, claiming that their terms had ended, accompanied with a timestamp.
“Donald J. Trump’s term ended on 2021-01-11 19:42:55,” read Trump’s biography on the website.

Vice President Mike Pence‘s biography on the state department website was also changed.

“Michael R. Pence’s term ended on 2021-01-11 19:46:38,” the message read.

The reasons behind the messages are not clear.
After some time the messages were removed and the site was down and displayed the following message: “We’re sorry, this site is currently experiencing technical difficulties. Please try again in a few moments.”

Some local media as well as social media there were speculations that it was apparently the handiwork of “disgruntled State Deptartment staffer”. The White House and the State Department has not commented n the incident so far.
This comes as US House of Representatives is pushing forward with articles of impeachment against Donald Trump for his role in encouraging a mob of his supporters to run riot at the Capitol on January 6, though House Republicans blocked a measure calling on Mike Pence and the Trump cabinet to remove the president by invoking the 25th Amendment, delaying consideration until Tuesday. The House will vote on impeachment on Wednesday.
Chaotic and violent scenes erupted at the Capitol on Wednesday as supporters of Trump stormed the building to protest the Electoral College vote, forcing a lockdown and confrontations with the police.
Wednesday’s violence came hours after Trump encouraged his supporters to fight against the election results as Congress was certifying Biden’s victory in the November vote. (ANI)