A trio of House Democrats are scheduled to file indictments against President Trump on Monday for inciting insurgency following Wednesday’s riots at the U.S. Capitol, several sources familiar with the efforts have told CBS News.
The dismissal articles accuse Mr. Trump of engaging in “high crime and misdemeanor deliberately inciting violence against the United States government.”
Sources told CBS News Mr. Trump he does not plan to leave office. But for the first time, the White House has acknowledged that dismissal is a real possibility, saying it would only divide the country.
On Friday, the White House called the dismissal articles “politically motivated” and repeated Trump’s claims the night before calling for “healing and unity.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Friday that it is the Democrats’ “sincere hope” that Trump will “resign immediately.” But, he said that if he does not, he is prepared to move forward on legislation 25th Amendment by Congressman Jamie Raskin and the indictment.
On Friday, in an hour-long call with Democratic lawmakers, Pelosi supported Trump’s removal, though a source in the call told CBS News that his preference was for Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment. President-elect Joe Biden swerved when asked about it on Friday, he said it was “up to Congress to decide.”
The dismissal articles have 150 sponsors, a sign of strong support among House Democrats for acting in the wake of the violence at the Capitol.
CBS News has obtained a note written by Sen. Mitch McConnell’s staff and distributed to members Friday evening setting a timetable for a possible Senate impeachment trial. Without the unanimous consent to reclaim all senators in the next ten days, on January 19 as soon as possible the Senate could receive articles of removal from the House, the note states.
Meanwhile, Twitter has definitively suspended the president of the platform, citing “the risk of further incitement to violence,” the company announced late friday.
Samuel Corum / Getty Images
Collaborator: Arden Farhi