Pence (right) under pressure to remove his boss
* Impeachment article has 200 co-sponsors — US Rep.
Maravi Express
The House of Representatives’ rules committee was as of Tuesday debating a resolution that was calling on Vice-President Mike Pence to convene the Cabinet and remove President Donald Trump from office before his term expires next week.
House of Representatives
The BBC reports that Pence is under pressure to invoke an obscure amendment to force out his boss and if he fails to act a vote to impeach Trump will be held on Wednesday as expected.
According to reports, the Democrats charge Trump with “incitement of insurrection” over the invasion of the US Capitol last week, but Trump, denies any wrongdoing in his first live comments since the riot.
Demonstrations that Trump sanctioned
The BBC reports that dozens have been detained in connection with last week’s violence, which left five people dead.
The reports also say the FBI has warned of armed protests in all 50 states by right-wing extremists ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration.
On Tuesday, Trump flew to Alamo on the border with Mexico to highlight work on building a wall and before departure at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, he denied any wrong doing.
Trump before flying out to Alamo
“You have to always avoid violence,” he is quoted as saying. “And we have tremendous support. We have support probably like nobody’s ever seen before. Always have to avoid violence.”
Asked about his personal role in what happened at Congress, he deflects blame saying that his words were “totally appropriate”.
“If you read my speech — and many people have done it and I’ve seen it both in the papers and in the media on television — it’s been analysed and people thought that what I said was totally appropriate.”
Inspecting the wall on the Mexican border
Meanwhile, the White House flag was lowered to half-staff in honor of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died defending the Capitol against insurrectionists.
ABC News reports that the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington opened a federal murder investigation into the death of Sicknick.
The investigation is being conducted jointly between the FBI and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, with cooperation from U.S. Capitol Police.
Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen
Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said in a statement that the Department of Justice “will spare no resources in investigating and holding accountable those responsible.”
House Democrats were circulating the draft, citing “incitement of insurrection” on Friday and said they could introduce it as early as Monday and hold a vote as early as the middle of the week.
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