The article of impeachment (“Incitement of Insurrection”), contained in House Resolution 24, would impeach President Donald Trump for engaging in “high Crimes and Misdemeanors by inciting violence against the Government of the United States.” The article alleges Trump incited violence and insurrection by repeatedly issuing “false statements asserting that the Presidential election results were the product of widespread fraud and should not be accepted by the American people or certified by State or Federal officials”; by reiterating the claim that “we won the election” at his January 6, 2021, Washington, D.C., rally; and by saying in his January 6 speech, “if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
The House adopted the article of impeachment on January 13, 2021 by a vote of 232 to 197 (Roll Call 17). We have assigned pluses to the nays because President Trump had not committed any crime — much less “high Crimes and Misdemeanors” (the constitutional standard for impeachment) — by exercising his right to free speech regarding the election results and political activism. Also, to interpret his “fight like hell” remark as a call to violence is ludicrous. In the same speech, Trump stated, “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
