they are taking no chances on capitol
hill today democracy
is a fortress inside the president's
opponents
are about to begin a second impeachment
of donald j
trump the speaker nancy pelosi
arrived at the house through a phalanx
of national guard how important a day is
this
madam speaker she's letting the house of
representatives do the speaking today
democratic institutions taking charge
after the mayhem
of one week ago resolution 24
resolved that donald john trump
president of the united states is
impeached for high crimes and
misdemeanors
the democrats are not only lining up
against the president but also
a ticking clock with not much time left
on it
is this strictly necessary given that
he's out of office in one week's time
absolutely in one week he can still do a
lot of damage he still has a very big
platform for destruction
plus it would strip him of the ability
to ever run for public office again
there are many reasons why we should be
impeaching this president
but the most important one is that he
still poses a threat and a danger to our
democracy
last time the president was impeached
not a single house republican
joined the democrats this time though
republican unity
has broken down the president took an
oath to defend the constitution against
all enemies
foreign and domestic last week there was
a domestic
threat at the door of the capitol and he
did nothing
to stop it that is why with a heavy
heart
and clear resolve i will vote yes
on these articles of impeachment
the majority of republicans in the house
say they see no point in
impeachment why
why politics
and the fact that they wanna they wanna
cancel the president
we don't feel like we're partners at all
it's very adversarial pat fallon was in
the chamber on wednesday
one of a small group of politicians and
police desperately holding the door
against the mob it was dicey because you
didn't know what was on the other side
of that door at first because you just
heard the pounding
was it three people 30 people 300 people
uh did they have weapons
uh was it uh what kind of mayhem were
they up to and it's disgusting but i've
always condemned all political violence
i did last summer i've done it
in my entire life and i do i condem
categorically what happened but not
impeachment not in people that
impeachment again particularly because
of the timing
we get these guys got a week left now
what they're saying in there also is
he's an imminent threat to democracy
well that was last wednesday so six or
seven days it's been
pretty much radio silence i mean there's
no imminent threat to democracy that i
see
so in less than a day with no evidence
presented nor witnesses questioned
the house moved to a vote the eyes are
232
the nays are 197
the resolution is adopted without
objection the motion to reconsider is
laid upon the
table with that vote in the house which
was never really in doubt
the impeachment process moves down there
to the senate where
17 republican senators would have to
agree to remove
donald trump from office now that's not
impossible but
as things look right now it seems
unlikely
matters are now in the hands of the
republican senate leader mitch mcconnell
who let it be known yesterday that he
thought it might be a good idea to
impeach the president
to purge the republican party of donald
trump
we've seen a very different republican
party this time to the last impeachment
i spoke via zoom to william cohen a
republican former defense secretary
it was a truly outstanding statement
that he made even though it was
somewhat muted nonetheless the signal
that he sent
was that they have gone too far
so the stage is now set in washington
for joe biden's inauguration next week
and his predecessor's impeachment trial
in the senate
donald trump's influence on american
politics is set to last far longer than
his term in office