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Bay Area Congressmembers react to 2nd Trump impeachment
Members of Congress from the Bay Area are reacting to the impeachment of President Donald Trump Wednesday.
OAKLAND, Calif. - Members of Congress from the Bay Area are reacting to the impeachment of President Donald Trump Wednesday.
"That mob was chanting hang Mike Pence and if they could have they would have," said Rep. Anna Eshoo, whose district covers the South Bay. "They came to kill. They did. They came to desecrate. They did."
The congresswoman did not mince words when KTVU spoke to her from Washington, D.C. shortly after the House of Representatives levied onto Mr. Trump the second impeachment of his presidency, this time on the charge of "incitement of insurrection," for the incident that took place at the Capitol Building exactly one week prior.
The raid on the Capitol Building by Trump supporters of Jan 6th has forced a reckoning among some Republicans, who have stood by Trump during his time in office.
During the vote to impeach, 10 Republicans backed the Democratic-led impeachment process.
"If what he did in the last week is not impeachable then I can’t conceive of anything that would be impeachable," said Rep. Mark Desaulnier.
It did not stop Republicans during the proceedings from deflecting as some claimed that the impeachment was being used as a tool to harass the president.
"This Congress needs to lead my example and behind the process of healing the division that exists about us as Americans," said Dr. Ronny Lynn Jackson, a Republican representative of Texas.
For their part, Democrats say the president's action simply cannot be brushed aside and pointed to Mr. Trump’s inflammatory speech to supporters before the insurrection on the Capitol Building began.
President Trump's impeachment now heads to the Senate for trial, where East Bay, Representative Eric Swalwell will play an important role thanks to an appointment by fellow Bay Area lawmaker, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
"She has named me as one of nine impeachment managers that will go over to the Senate very soon to make the case against the president," Swalwell told a group of Bay Area supporters via Zoom after the impeachment vote.
With the threat of a Senate impeachment trial looming, President Trump faces the prospect of being denied the perks of post-presidency life, such as losing his lifetime pension, an annual travel budget, funding for an office and staff, and being unable to run for political office again.