[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 14 (Monday, January 25, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S129-S130]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE

  At 7:12 p.m., a message from the House of Representatives, delivered 
by Mr. Raskin (manager on the part of the House in the matter of 
impeachment of Donald John Trump), announced that the House has agreed 
to the following resolution

                               H. Res. 24

       Resolved, That Donald John Trump, President of the United 
     States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors and 
     that the following article of impeachment be exhibited to the 
     United States Senate:
        Article of impeachment exhibited by the House of 
     Representatives of the United States of America in the name 
     of itself and of the people of the United States of America, 
     against Donald John Trump, President of the United States of 
     America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment 
     against him for high crimes and misdemeanors.


                 article i: incitement of insurrection 

       The Constitution provides that the House of Representatives 
     ``shall have the sole Power of Impeachment'' and that the 
     President ``shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, 
     and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and 
     Misdemeanors''. Further, section 3 of the 14th Amendment to 
     the Constitution prohibits any person who has ``engaged in 
     insurrection or rebellion against'' the United States from 
     ``hold[ing] any office . . . under the United States''. In 
     his conduct while President of the United States--and in 
     violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute 
     the office of President of the United States and, to the best 
     of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the 
     Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his 
     constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully 
     executed--Donald John Trump engaged in high Crimes and 
     Misdemeanors by inciting violence against the Government of 
     the United States, in that:
       On January 6, 2021, pursuant to the 12th Amendment to the 
     Constitution of the United States, the Vice President of the 
     United States, the House of Representatives, and the Senate 
     met at the United States Capitol for a Joint Session of 
     Congress to count the votes of the Electoral College. In the 
     months preceding the Joint Session, President Trump 
     repeatedly issued false statements asserting that the 
     Presidential election results were the product of widespread 
     fraud and should not be accepted by

[[Page S130]]

     the American people or certified by State or Federal 
     officials. Shortly before the Joint Session commenced, 
     President Trump, addressed a crowd at the Ellipse in 
     Washington, DC. There, he reiterated false claims that ``we 
     won this election, and we won it by a landslide''. He also 
     willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged--and 
     foreseeably resulted in--lawless action at the Capitol, such 
     as: ``if you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a 
     country anymore''. Thus incited by President Trump, members 
     of the crowd he had addressed, in an attempt to, among other 
     objectives, interfere with the Joint Session's solemn 
     constitutional duty to certify the results of the 2020 
     Presidential election, unlawfully breached and vandalized the 
     Capitol, injured and killed law enforcement personnel, 
     menaced Members of Congress, the Vice President, and 
     Congressional personnel, and engaged in other violent, 
     deadly, destructive, and seditious acts.
       President Trump's conduct on January 6, 2021, followed his 
     prior efforts to subvert and obstruct the certification of 
     the results of the 2020 Presidential election. Those prior 
     efforts included a phone call on January 2, 2021, during 
     which President Trump urged the secretary of state of 
     Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, to ``find'' enough votes to 
     overturn the Georgia Presidential election results and 
     threatened Secretary Raffensperger if he failed to do so.
       In all this, President Trump gravely endangered the 
     security of the United States and its institutions of 
     Government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic 
     system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and 
     imperiled a coequal branch of Government. He thereby betrayed 
     his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people 
     of the United States.
       Wherefore, Donald John Trump, by such conduct, has 
     demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national 
     security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to 
     remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly 
     incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law. Donald 
     John Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from 
     office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of 
     honor, trust, or profit under the United States.
  The message also announced that the House has agreed to the following 
resolution

                               H. Res. 40

       Resolved, That Mr. Raskin, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. 
     Castro of Texas, Mr. Swalwell, Mr. Lieu, Ms. Plaskett, Mr. 
     Neguse, and Ms. Dean are appointed managers to conduct the 
     impeachment trial against Donald John Trump, President of the 
     United States, that a message be sent to the Senate to inform 
     the Senate of these appointments, and that the managers so 
     appointed may, in connection with the preparation and the 
     conduct of the trial, exhibit the articles of impeachment to 
     the Senate and take all other actions necessary, which may 
     include the following:
       (1) Employing legal, clerical, and other necessary 
     assistants and incurring such other expenses as may be 
     necessary, to be paid from amounts available to the Committee 
     on the Judiciary under applicable expense resolutions or from 
     the applicable accounts of the House of Representatives.
       (2) Sending for persons and papers, and filing with the 
     Secretary of the Senate, on the part of the House of 
     Representatives, any pleadings, in conjunction with or 
     subsequent to, the exhibition of the articles of impeachment 
     that the managers consider necessary.

                          ____________________