The article of impeachment charges the president with 'incitement of insurrection.'
House Democrats officially introduced their article of impeachment against President Donald Trump, which charges him with "incitement of insurrection" for encouraging a mob of his supporters to descend on the U.S. Capitol in an effort to block Congress from counting electoral votes and reaffirming Joe Biden's victory.
"President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government," the resolution states. "He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a co-equal branch of government. He thereby betrayed his trust as president, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States."
The article of impeachment was drafted by Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu of California, David Cicilline of Rhode Island and Jamie Raskin of Maryland. It is backed by at least 210 House Democrats.
The measure details the events leading up to and on January 6, beginning with Trump's repeated false claims that the election results were rife with fraud and should be overturned, as well as his comments during a rally near the White House the morning of the assault, in which he told the thousands assembled "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," the article states.
The Democrats also cited a phone call Trump had with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on January 2, during which he pressured Raffensperger to "find" enough votes to reverse the state's election results.
A vote on the article is expected later this week if Vice President Mike Pence declines to convene the Cabinet and invoke the 25th Amendment.
This story was originally published by CBS News on Jan. 11, 2021.
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