U.S. Representative David Cicilline described pro-Trump supporters breaking into Capitol Hill as an attack on the country's democracy that was encouraged by President Donald Trump. Aside from that, he called for significant reforms for tech giants.
A rapidly growing number of House Democrats is hurriedly pushing to impeach Trump a second time, following the Capitol's Wednesday invasion by a group of pro-Trump supporters. They are bent on forcing Trump to leave office days ahead rather than allowing him to leave on his own terms.
Cicilline, one of the representatives spearheading an impeachment resolution to target the president following the Capitol's riot last week, said Sunday that Congress is compelled to impeach Trump. Touting the riot as an attack on America's democracy, he told America’s News HQ on Sunday that they witnessed rebellion against the U.S. government during the sacred process of Electoral College.
He argued that such a kind of attack on the country's democracy could not be allowed without consequence. Cicilline and other House Democrats were preparing a new article of impeachment against the president Friday. The riot that took place just two days earlier was a doomed-to-fail attempt to block the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden's win and a major security breach that saw lawmakers evacuating to secure locations.
With 12 days remaining in his presidency, removing Trump from office via constitutional means is an arduous task. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hasn't formally confirmed her decision to push for the second impeachment. However, she met with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff about suppressing Trump’s power to launch nuclear weapons, Washington Post reported.
In her statement on Friday, Pelosi noted that their deliberations would continue with great respect, laying out a slew of options such as impeachment. She said she is hoping that Trump would immediately resign instead, but that seems highly unlikely.
Over the weekend, Cicilline opened up about his plans to issue the article of impeachment with 200 original cosponsors, noting that the number is expected to grow. He went on to say that some people think Trump is anyway slated to leave in ten days and willing to overlook it.
In an interview on Friday, Biden said it is up to Congress to decide whether or not to impeach Trump, adding that he is focused on his job, Yahoo News reported. Biden said he is focused on the urgency of getting the virus under control, ensuring the vaccine reaches every American, adding it is currently being done in a very sad way.