Senate Must Follow Impeachment with Trump Conviction & Removal

Statement of Common Cause President Karen Hobert Flynn 

Our democracy was attacked by the President of the United States on Wednesday, January 6^th, and we must ensure that it never happens again. The Senate must immediately come back into session and quickly convene a trial and convict President Trump for inciting an insurrection in an effort to overturn the results of a free and fair election in which the American people elected Joe Biden by a wide margin as our next President. President Trump’s continuous lies over the last year about a ‘stolen election’, his baseless failed lawsuits, and his calls urging state elections officials to throw out the votes of predominantly Black and Brown communities laid the groundwork to incite the mob that stormed the Capitol last week. Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to the American people and to our democracy, and that threat will remain until he is removed from office and banned from ever running again. The House is to be commended for again impeaching the President, although it was shocking that only 10 House Republicans stood up for the Constitution and the rule of law. Now the Senate must act, and it must act swiftly, to end Donald Trump’s presidency.

Donald Trump is the first President of the United States to be impeached twice. He broke federal laws during his 2016 campaign and abused his power through four years in office. And for the last four years almost every Republican in Congress has refused to hold him accountable. Every Republican Senator but one acquitted Trump in his first impeachment when he illegally requested foreign interference in his 2020 bid for reelection. This is consistent with the pattern where nearly every Republican in Congress ignored their oaths of office and ignored the President’s abuses of power throughout his term. Republican inaction only served to embolden Trump to further abuse the powers of his office.

The Senate must act now to hold President Trump accountable. Republicans must put their country before their political party for the good of the nation and convict the President for inciting an insurrection. If they do not, the risk of President Trump resorting to still more desperate acts will only increase. This president has caused enormous damage to our democratic values and our Constitution. Donald Trump should be removed from office immediately and banned from ever holding public office again.