Rep. Schiff Statement on Impeachment
Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) released the following statement:
“On Wednesday morning, the Vice President and Congress gathered in Joint Session to count the votes of the electors and certify the results as part of the historic process laid out in our Constitution to formalize the results of a presidential election. While we were performing our duties, the President of the United States, in an unconscionable act of sedition and insurrection, incited a violent mob to attack the Capitol. As a result, scores of people broke into the Capitol and committed acts of violence, and five people died, including a Capitol Police officer.
“By inciting this act of insurrection, President Donald Trump has committed his worst offense against our country and Constitution to date. The danger of him continuing to abuse his power will go up, not down, in the time remaining in his term. To protect the country from any further harm, he must leave office, immediately. The best course would be for him to resign, but that would require a devotion to the country that Trump has never displayed. Failing that, the Vice President and Cabinet should invoke the 25th Amendment and remove him from any further performance of his duties.
“The Congress should act to begin impeachment proceedings as the only instrument wholly within our power to remove a president who has so manifestly and repeatedly violated the Constitution and put our nation at grave risk. The exigency of the circumstances warrants a departure from the ordinary and lengthy process in the House; a resolution of impeachment focused on the attack should be brought to the House floor on a privileged basis and, upon passage, taken up by the Senate with equal expedition so that the President can be tried, and through conviction, the country can be protected from further harm.
“For the first time in our history, the transition of power has not been peaceful, the tragic result of a President who has shown nothing but disdain for the Constitution, the separation of powers, our democracy, and the rule of law. Every effort must be made to protect the country from further harm, and to ensure that future presidents will know that any abuse of office will be met with the strongest remedy provided to Congress, impeachment.”
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