Should Trump be Impeached Again?

As the world watched on January 6th, Trump supporters and self-proclaimed "American Patriots" marched to the steps of the capitol building to protest the Electoral College vote that would affirm Joe Biden as the next President of The United States.

The rally, officially known as the “March to Save America,” was largely organized by a 501(c)(4) group known as Women for America First. The organization was certified by the Internal Revenue Service as a nonprofit that can engage in limited political activities. These groups are known as dark money organizations as they do not publicly disclose their donors.

(Source: Schwartz, Brian. "Pro-Trump dark money groups organized the rally that led to deadly Capitol Hill riot." CNBC 9, Jan. 2021)

The Rally would quickly turn angry and violent as protesters began to push back against police barricades eventually breaching the capitol. As armed protestors began to gain entry to the building, political staffers were forced to hide under tables in locked offices waiting to be rescued. Once inside, the protestors began looting and defacing government offices. Most notably it has now been confirmed that a laptop has been stolen from Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. This represents grave cybersecurity and espionage threats to The United States that could come from the information contained on the laptops.

As the attack raged on, President-Elect Joe Biden spoke in a televised address condemning the actions of the rioters and publically called on President Donald Trump to do the same. In his speech before the rally, President Trump told his supporters “We will never give up. We will never concede, we will stop the steal!” as the rioting went on however, the response from the president left much to be desired. Trump told his followers to go home in peace and leave the capitol, yet still continued to spout rhetoric of an election that was rigged and stolen from them.

By the time that the rioting ended, five people were left dead. Four protesters and one police officer were killed in the violence. Emboldened by the words of President Trump, the crowd of supporters that3 just months prior, had vilified and condemned the Black Lives Matter protests calling the protestors 'thugs', had now attacked their nation's own Capitol Building.

With only 9 days left in the presidency the country must now decide what course of action to take. House democrats have already begun the process of drawing up articles of impeachment. The charge that The President faces is "Incitement of Insurrection" and would fall under an impeachable offense. If found guilty, Trump would become the first president to be impeached twice.

While Democrats push forward with articles of impeachment, some Republicans have called for caution and have pushed back against the proceedings. Republicans have called for calm and an easing of tensions as the president's term comes to a close.

“Impeaching the President with just 12 days left in his term will only divide our country more. I have reached out to President-elect [Joe] Biden today and plan to speak to him about how we must work together to lower the temperature and unite the country to solve America’s challenges,”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)

Democrats, on the other hand, are concerned that allowing Trump to finish his term without impeachment would not only further embolden his supporters but also allow Trump to pursue the presidency again in 2024.

We may not yet know what the fate of Donald Trump's presidency will be, but one thing is for sure. America isn't out of the woods yet. With Inauguration Day just around the corner, this is far from over.