Thread by @jentaub

"This was not a protest; it was an insurrection. . .I saw evil . . .these were traitors. . . And they were acting under the orders of Donald Trump." -- @RepMcGovern

"America was attacked and we must respond. Even when the cause of this violence resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue."

Republican who is speaking claims this is a "race to the floor." Now he quotes Jonathan Turley who called it a "dangerous snap impeachment."

No it was a dangerous insurrection which is ongoing with threats of massive armed protests beginning this coming weekend.

It's an emergency, that's why we cannot treat this like every other impeachment, sir.

Word the the wise, quoting Turley and Dershowitz as experts does not mean what you think it means.

Ha. Ha. Ha. Such concern trolling. Republicans want us to believe they will be supportive of Biden's efforts to seat his cabinet and be effective? Pleaaaaase. These are the same folks who said they would block a vote on @neeratanden. Can't do that thanks to winning the Senate now

McGovern asked for unanimous consent to introduce yesterday's statement by
@RepLizCheney in support of impeachment. See here:

cheney.house.gov/2021/01/12/che…

Republican theme seems to be delay and not hold Trump accountable. This speaker makes it sound like an investigation and prevention of further danger is a substitute for accountability. So much for the party of law and order and accountability.

Now @LeaderHoyer is speaking. "The actions of the President of the United States demand urgent, clear action".

In addition to Republican Liz Cheney, Hoyer is listing other Rs who are joining the Ds to hold Trump accountable for inciting this insurrection.

Now @RepAlGreen is speaking. This man is a saint. He is the real deal. Met with him nearly two years ago in early 2019. He is a man of conscience and humility.

"The healing that we talk about that has to begin, it has to start with some of these people that were here initially that helped to lay this foundation. 110 people."

This Rep. Jason Smith has a lot of chutzpah. Very whiney and very phony. How dare he call this a "reckless impeachment." How dare he he say an impeachment is putting politics before people. Wimp. Coward. Embarrassment.

"If we want to put the people first, we ought to impeach him" and put him out of office as soon as possible -- @RepMcGovern

So, Jim Jordan is shouting in a very grating voice. This does not invite unity. Fuck this guy. (No intended offense meant to consensual sexual activity).

He's still promoting the Big Lie. Goodbye Gym. Your time has expired.

So, every time Republicans use the word "Democrat" as an adjective they are showing their true colors. They are being abrasive and are not seeking unity.

This would lower the bar of impeachment. Oh, please. Come on, man. As McGovern said his words "launched a violent attack. . .so give me a break."

"The President of the United States is an insurrectionist" –– @JacksonLeeTX18

Why do the Republican men speak in a very high whiny tone?

Trump attempted to violently overthrow the first branch of government, but he bungled the attack says @RepLloydDoggett. "America, we did stop the steal, we stopped Donald Trump" from stealing the election and becoming a tyrant.

Feeling all the feels. God bless America. We will stand up to this dictator wannabee.

Rules Committee hearing about to end. Dems are done speaking. Closing remarks from Rep. Cole (R from Oklahoma). Cole opposes.

McGovern will speak next before this part of the process ends and we move on to the next step in the impeachment.

McGovern is filled with "a deep sadness for our country." Recounts his years working in and reverence for the Capitol. Has been here since his days as a college intern. Acknowledges the cafeteria workers, the staff, everyone who was terrorized by the attack last Wednesday

"Unity after they voted to overturn a free and fair election . . .after many of them gave oxygen to Donald Trump's conspiracy theory, to the big lie . . .to bigotry. . .they just let it go. . . Words have consequences and ignoring words that are wrong also has consequences."

McGovern says the Capitol siege would not have happened if people stood up to the Big Lie. Also praised those Rs who have courage to stand up under pressure.

"Last week we took an oath to protect this nation. . I pray we all have the moral clarity to uphold it here today."

Voice vote first, but now there will be a recorded vote member by member.

Vote on the rule for proceeding toward impeachment vote will take an hour. I'll break for now until that's done.

Watch expert @FOBowman3 on
@pbs now. Very happy with the interviews and commentary from @JudyWoodruff
.

I'll pick up this thread after the vote.

We are now expecting that at 12:15 p.m. the impeachment debate itself will begin. No word yet on when the Speaker will send over the article of impeachment to the Senate

Really enjoying @msnbc coverage now that @mitchellreports is anchoring the discussion. Helpful commentary from @clairecmc and Chuck Rosenberg

Still waiting for the vote to wrap up and hearing room to be cleaned.

Here we go. The clerk is reading the article of impeachment.

You can read the article impeachment here

int.nyt.com/data/documentt…

And here are screenshots of the four pages of the article of impeachment

The first speaker for the second impeachment debate is Nancy Pelosi. @SpeakerPelosi refers to the oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic

Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to the nation she says.

“This is not motivated by partisanship”

Now speaker Pelosi is referencing the speech that JFK was supposed to give in Dallas in November 1963.

Here is the text of that speech that was never delivered by JFK

post-gazette.com/news/nation/20…

Jim Jordan is shouting and claims that there will be a peaceful transition of power next Wednesday. How does he know that? There are armed protest planned. Assassinations have been threatened. This has not been peaceful. For God sake there was an armed insurrection a week ago

Jordan is now using the refrain that Republicans use when they don’t want to be held accountable. Cancel culture. Law and order for all of us, but they call it cancel culture when they want to dodge responsibility

Now @RepJerryNadler links Trump’s rhetoric and big lie about his election loss with racism

Rep McClintock seems to believe that if you toss in the word peacefully erases the abundance of rhetoric demanding people fight and not be cowards. After months of saying election was stolen from them and they had to fight.

Gohmert is a disgrace. Will not even quote him.

Love that @RepRichmond in his last floor speech before he joins in administration reminds us that Trump told the proud boys to stand back and standby.

Rep. @davidcicilline is giving an excellent speech. The Republicans who are standing with Trump though have no shame. The majority of them voted in support of the Big Lie and tried to throw out the electoral votes

The R who just spoke invited us all to link arms. No thank you. Stop enabling violent insurrection, then we can talk about unity

Now @RepJoeNeguse explains "we are proceeding on this path out of love for our country."

Listening now to @WhipClyburn. Like other Dems, he places the incitement of insurrection in the context of Trump's attempt to throw out the electoral college votes. Also, notes that our democracy's survival depends on accepting loss and the peaceful transfer of power.

We got to the part where the "socialists in Hollywood" are not to blame. These dude is screaming.

Also this is a LIE. Mueller did find evidence of conspiracy and he explicitly said he was not looking at collusion as that's not a legal concept. He just did not find sufficient evidence. F these liars.

Grateful for @RepRaskin. Reminds us the "Smashing windows and beating police officers over the head . . .bloody mob . . .erected a gallows and repeatedly shouting 'hang Mike Pence'" and looked for "Nancy" and for six hours shut down counting of electoral votes.

This right here. Raskin said "it's a bit much" to argue that they would not violently attack the capitol "if we weren't just so mean to them".

Also quotes Cheney.

Here's the slide containing an excerpt from Republican @RepLizCheney that @RepRaskin referenced and read from

Listening now to @RepSwalwell. Clarity and righteousness. "I'm just asking you to do your job."

Inspiring remarks from @JoaquinCastrotx and @RepDean

Rep. McCarthy thanks the capitol police. Opposes impeachment. He's in the camp delay and claims that a vote to impeach will "fan the flames" of partisan division.

Is that a threat?

He says the president bears responsibility for the mob riot and that he should have immediately spoken to stop the violence.

Hello, he has the nuclear codes. He still holds power

Hey @GOPLeader we are not looking like a healthy democracy. My man, more than 375,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus, most of whom would be alive if Trump took the disease seriously. And, we are facing more pro-Trump violence in the coming days. Impeach!

Here comes the fast-talking, gun-toting, finger pointing @laurenboebert. She said the Dems are "only unified in hate." Her time expired.

Beautiful to now see @RepMaxineWaters now. "The Republican party is now the Trump party." She said this power grab will continue. Said it's been reported Trump watched the invasion from the Oval Office "and seemingly enjoyed it."

"He's capable of starting a civil war. He must be stopped now" –– @RepMaxineWaters

Applause broke out when Republican @RepNewhouse announced he was voting for impeachment.

"I am choosing truth; it's the only way to defeat fear" said Republican @HerreraBeutler who announcement her pro-impeachment vote. Beautiful speech.

Now a Republican blames "resist" movement for violence. Sounds very rapey. If you'd just shut up and accept Trump's abusive policies and lies, then our supporters won't violently attack and kill people. Sorry, no. We (women's march, tax march, etc) engaged in nonviolent protests

Another misleading Republican. Facts: Every Dem presidential candidate who lost has conceded as soon as the electoral college voted. And most have conceded on election night. So the fact that a few Dems opposed the vote is not the same as Trump's ongoing lie and legal challenges.

Need to focus on work more attentively. . .will add to this thread on occasion before we get to the closing of the debate.

Liar. No democrats said it was a "spontaneous riot." They have said the opposite. This is a straw man. Who was that guy? He actually is trying to blame Speaker Pelosi for knowing about the insurrection and ignoring it. Unbelievable

We have nearly an hour of time left for the debate

Lots of shouting. It's 2:30 ish. I'll be back when we get to the end

The debate is over, after a voice vote, the recording voting began around 3:53 p.m.

Oh, good @JoyceWhiteVance is on @TheBeatWithAri with @AriMelber. Looking forward to her commentary

Plus wonderful to have @repdonnaedwards providing her insights

Historic moment. So far 10 Republicans voted to impeach Donald Trump. Much higher than many expected.

The House impeached Donald Trump. It's done. Again. Will report next steps when I hear them.

The final vote was 232-197, with 10 Republicans joining the Dems to impeach.