A trio of House Democrats plan to introduce articles of impeachment against President Trump on Monday for inciting insurgency after Wednesday’s riots in the Capitol, multiple sources familiar with the efforts told CBS News.
The impeachment articles claim that Mr. Trump was involved in “serious crimes and crimes by deliberately inciting violence against the United States government.”
Sources told CBS News Mr. Trump does not intend to step down. But for the first time, the White House has recognized impeachment as a real possibility, saying it would only further divide the country.
The White House on Friday called the impeachment articles “politically motivated” and reiterated Mr Trump’s claim the previous night that he called for “healing and unity.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Friday that it is the Democrats’ “sincere hope” that Trump will “step down immediately.” But she said if he doesn’t, she is willing to move forward with the 25th amendment bill and motion to impeach Congressman Jamie Raskin.
In a one-hour talk with Democratic lawmakers on Friday, Pelosi supported the removal of Mr. Trump from office, although a source of the call told CBS News that she prefers Vice President Mike Pence to pass the 25th Amendment. call. President-elect Joe Biden deviated When asked about it on Friday, he said it was “up to Congress to decide.”
The impeachment articles have 150 co-sponsors, a sign of widespread support among House Democrats to take action after the violence in the Capitol.
CBS News has obtained a memo written by Senator Mitch McConnell’s staff and circulated to members Friday night outlining a timeline for a potential impeachment trial in the Senate. Without unanimous permission to recall all senators in the next 10 days, the Senate could receive last-minute impeachment articles from the House on Jan. 19, the memo said.
Twitter, meanwhile, has permanently banned the president from the platform, citing “the risk of further incitement to violence,” the company said announced late on Friday.
Samuel Corum / Getty Images
Contributions: Arden Farhi