President Donald Trump impeached 2nd time

Donald Trump

Washington DC; 14 January 2021 (UMMN): The US House of Representatives has impeached President Donald Trump for "incitement of insurrection" at last week's Capitol riot, by 232-197 votes, on Wednesday, after several hours of impassioned debate.

10 Republicans sided with Democrats to impeach the president.

Trump is the first president in US history to be impeached twice.

Trump will now face a trial in the Senate, where if convicted could be barred from ever holding office again.

But, according to BBC, he is at no risk of having to quit the White House before his term ends in one week, because the Senate will not reconvene in time.

The article of impeachment stated that Mr Trump "repeatedly issued false statements asserting that the presidential election results were fraudulent and should not be accepted… wilfully made statements to the crowd that encouraged and foreseeably resulted in lawless action at the Capitol".

"President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government, threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperilled a coequal branch of government." read the article.

BBC quoted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said on the House floor: "The president of the United States incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion against our common country.

"He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love."

Democratic congressman Julian Castro called Mr Trump "the most dangerous man to ever occupy the Oval Office".

Most Republicans did not seek to defend Mr Trump's rhetoric.

The impeachment article will now head to the Senate, which will hold a trial to determine the president's guilt, where a two-thirds majority is needed to convict Mr Trump.

There is a possibility as 20 Senate Republicans are open to convicting the president, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

If Mr Trump is convicted by the Senate, lawmakers could hold another vote to block him from running for elected office again - which he has indicated he planned to do in 2024, reported BBC.

No US president has ever been removed from office through impeachment.