Trump impeached, all four Utah Representatives vote against resolution
The United States House of Representatives formally voted to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time late Wednesday afternoon.
The vote makes Trump the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice while in office.
The Articles of Impeachment, which were released on Monday, charge the president with high crimes and misdemeanors.
According to the resolution, Trump is accused of inciting insurrection and violating his constitution oath to faithfully execute the office of President.
All four of Utah’s representatives, Rep. Burgess Owens, Rep. John Curtis, Rep. Chris Stewart and Rep. Blake Moore voted “No” on impeachment.
In a statement released on Twitter, Owens said impeachment will only cause further division.
“With only seven days until President-elect Biden takes office, any debate on impeachment will not only deepen the divide, it will also be rushed, purely political and distract from the unprecedented challenges facing Utah families.”
Curtis, while condemning the president’s words and actions, released a joint statement with Reps. Dan Crenshaw, Nancy Mace and Chip Roy, calling the impeachment proceedings a “rushed proposed reaction.”
“Voting to impeach the President seven days before his departure from office serves little purpose given the senate will not be able to hold a trial by that time and risks establishing this impeachment as politically motivated,” the report says.
Even though the House of Representatives has voted to impeach, the Senate must vote to remove Trump. The Senate’s next session starts on Jan. 19. As a result, Trump will likely not be indicted until after Biden is sworn in as president of the United States.
While most Republicans agreed with these statements, there were 10 House Republicans who voted for impeachment.
“The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing,” Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney said.
After the House vote, Trump addressed the nation from the Oval Office. Instead of talking about the impeachment proceedings, the president instead stressed the “rule of law.”
“No true supporter of mine could ever endorse political violence,” he said. “No true supporter of mine could ever disrespect law enforcement or our great American flag.”
After Congress certified the results of the election last week, Trump assured the American people that there will be a peaceful transfer of power.
“Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20.”