US President Donald Trump was impeached for the second time by the U.S. House on a single charge of incitement of insurrection for his role in a riot by his supporters that left five dead and the Capitol ransacked putting an indelible strain on his legacy with only a week left in his term.
Wednesday's historic 232-197 vote makes Trump the only U.S. president to be impeached twice, a little more than a year since his first. It was supported by all Democrats and 10 Republicans, including Liz Cheney, the third-ranking GOP leader in the House.
"We know that the president of the United States incited this insurrection," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said before the vote. She called Trump "a clear and present danger to this country that we all love," reported Mint news.
Pelosi will now determine how quickly to send the impeachment article to the Senate for a trial. Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell has rejected Democratic leader Chuck Schumer's plea to agree to bring senators back for an emergency session and start the trial before Jan. 20 when Trump leaves office and President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated.
The House speaker signed the impeachment article Wednesday night, but hasn't indicated whether she'll delay transmitting it to the Senate.
Trump, in a video released by the White House Wednesday evening, denounced the Capitol attack and called on Americans to avoid further violence. He did not mention the impeachment vote.
He has kept an iron grip on the Republican Party for most of his four years in office. But his stoking of the angry mob of supporters that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 was too much for some in the GOP. Even Republicans who didn't vote for his impeachment denounced his actions.
