Liz Cheney, the third-highest Republican leader in the House, has said she will vote to impeach the president on Wednesday, as a growing group of Republicans back efforts to hold Donald Trump to account for inciting the attack on the U.S. Capitol last week.
In a statement with strong rhetoric released Tuesday, Cheney, a representative from Wyoming and daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, said Trump had “called this move, rallied, and blazed ignite this attack ”.
“Everything he followed was done,” she said. “It simply came to our notice then. I will vote to impeach the president. “
Washington representative Jaime Herrera Beutler, New York representative John Katko, Illinois representative Adam Kinzinger, and Michigan producer Fred Upton joined Cheney who said they would vote for impeachment.
The House is expected to begin impeachment proceedings against Trump Wednesday.
The president opposes a single impeachment accusation, “incitement to rebellion”, for what he did before the mob attacked the Capitol. If a majority of House members vote to accuse Trump, he will be the first president to be introduced twice. The timetable for the following Senate exam is uncertain.
Herrera Beutler accused Trump of not doing anything meaningful for hours to stop the Capitol attack, before issuing “a patient rejection of the violence that was also a nod and awakening to those who did it. “
“I understand the argument that the best course of action is not to enter the country anymore or attack Republican voters. But I am a Republican voter… I see that my own party will be best served when those among us choose truth, ”she said.
Kinzinger said Tuesday that Trump was responsible for dismantling an “angry mob”, leaving five dead. He said there was “no doubt in my mind” that Trump had “broken his oath of office and instigated this uprising”.
Katko, meanwhile, said that Congress had a “responsibility to hold the executive to account” and that “the country always comes first”.
Former federal prosecutor Katko said he did not take the decision lightly, adding: “Allowing the president of the United States to incite this attack is fruitless. a direct threat to the future of our democracy. I can’t sit by doing action. “
Cheney, a strong conservative and Republican of status in Congress, could give cover to another Republican who wants an imperial vote.
A handful of senior GOP figures have already joined calls for Trump to go. And, importantly, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has signaled to allies that he believes Trump deserves to be included, the New York Times reported Tuesday, with the Kentucky Republican of the idea that it would make it easier for the party to clean up, such as liability.
The New York Times also reported that House minority leader Kevin McCarthy had made a toy by urging Trump to resign, supporting a high-profile protest and considering a vote to criticize president.
Cheney has fallen into Trump’s crucifixion after opposing his efforts to validate the election results. At his rally in Washington DC before the Congress vote to confirm election results, Trump told supporters: “Liz Cheneys the world. We need to get rid of them. “
The special support of three Republicans for Wednesday’s vote stands in contrast to Trump’s first impeachment in 2019, which followed his efforts to pressure Ukraine to scrutinize its electoral rival, Joe Biden. At the time, no House Republican voted to support the two impeachment allegations leveled against Trump, and only one Republican senator, Mitt Romney of Utah, voted to condemn the president on one article of impeachment during Senate trial.
An increasingly isolated Trump did not show remorse for last week’s attack and has tried to shift the blame on the Democrats.