Title: Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.
Policy area: Congress

Summary:
This resolution impeaches President Donald John Trump for high crimes and misdemeanors.
Specifically, the resolution sets forth four articles of impeachment.
The first article states that President Trump abused the powers of the presidency by inciting an insurrection against the U.S. government. The article specifies a pattern of conduct by President Trump, including the following:
The second article states that President Trump abused the powers of the presidency by corrupting the electoral process. The article specifies the following conduct by President Trump:
The third article states that President Trump has accepted emoluments, including from foreign states, and, in doing so, has violated anti-corruption provisions of the Constitution and used the power of the presidency for improper personal gain.
The fourth article states that President Trump has obstructed justice by, for example, directing the firing of the Special Counsel who was investigating him in 2017 and later ordering federal officials to lie about this directive.
Each article states that, by such conduct, President Trump warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification from holding U.S. office.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 34 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 34

Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high 
                        crimes and misdemeanors.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 11, 2021

   Ms. Waters (for herself, Ms. Omar, Mr. Lieu, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. 
  Payne, Mr. Lawson of Florida, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Green of 
 Texas, and Mr. Bowman) submitted the following resolution; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high 
                        crimes and misdemeanors.

    Resolved, That Donald John Trump, President of the United States, 
is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors and that the following 
articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:
     Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives 
of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people 
of the United States of America, against Donald John Trump, President 
of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its 
impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors.

                               article i 

    In his conduct of the office of President of the United States--in 
violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office 
of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, 
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, 
and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws 
be faithfully executed--Donald J. Trump has abused the powers of the 
Presidency in an attempt to circumvent and subvert the rule of law by 
inciting an insurrection against the Government of the United States of 
America, in that:
    In a pattern of conduct attempting to create an insurrection 
against the Government of the United States, Donald J. Trump spread 
disinformation and allegations unsupported by any evidence regarding 
voter fraud in the 2020 United States Presidential election and the 
results of the 2020 United States Presidential election, and explicitly 
encouraged his supporters to descend on Washington, DC, on January 6, 
2021, while Congress engaged in its constitutionally mandated 
legislative business of certifying the electoral college results of the 
2020 United States Presidential election.
    Prior to January 6, 2021, Donald J. Trump told white supremacists 
to ``stand back and stand by'', an appeal to white supremacy consistent 
with his prior remarks and conduct, including an August 31, 2020, 
statement in defense of an extremist charged with murdering peaceful 
protestors and an August 15, 2017, statement defending white 
supremacists who had committed violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, 
as ``very fine people''. On December 20, 2020, Donald J. Trump stated 
that the January 6, 2021, show of force he purposefully incited would 
be ``wild''.
    On January 6, 2021, Donald J. Trump explicitly told his supporters 
to ``fight like hell'', and ``you'll never take back our country with 
weakness. You have to show strength.''. Shortly thereafter, those same 
supporters engaged in mass riots and insurrection on the grounds of the 
United States Capitol, leading to the breach and destruction of the 
Capitol building while Congress was in session conducting legislative 
business, as well as the death of at least five individuals, including 
a Capitol Police officer. The siege of the United States Capitol at the 
hands of Donald J. Trump created widespread terror, threatened the 
lives of members of the United States Congress, completely disrupted 
legislative business, threatened the continuity of government, and 
exposed the United States to grave national security risks.
    In all of this, Donald J. Trump has undermined the integrity of his 
office, has betrayed his trust as President, has acted in a manner 
which threatens the integrity and security of the United States 
Government and its people, has subverted the Constitution of the United 
States, the democratic process, and the rule of law and justice, has 
conspired to commit sedition and incited an insurrection against the 
United States Government, and has behaved in a manner grossly 
incompatible with the office of the President of the United States to 
the manifest injury of the people of the United States.
    Wherefore, Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, warrants impeachment 
and trial, and removal from office and disqualification to hold and 
enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.

                              article ii 

    In his conduct of the office of President of the United States--in 
violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office 
of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, 
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, 
and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws 
be faithfully executed--Donald J. Trump has abused the powers of the 
Presidency in an attempt to circumvent and subvert the rule of law by 
corrupting the electoral process, in that:
    In a pattern of conduct dedicated to corrupting the electoral 
process, Donald J. Trump solicited a foreign government, Ukraine, to 
intervene in the 2020 United States Presidential election by requesting 
that the Government of Ukraine publicly announce baseless 
investigations into his political rival to the benefit of his potential 
reelection. Donald J. Trump sought to ensure such investigations by 
conditioning United States Government support and acts of value on the 
acquiescence of the Government of Ukraine to Donald J. Trump's demands. 
In so doing, Donald J. Trump abused the power of the Presidency by 
subverting the rule of law in a manner that undermined national 
security and violated his duties to preserve, protect, and defend the 
Constitution.
    Following the results of the 2020 United States Presidential 
election, in a January 2, 2021, discussion between Donald J. Trump and 
Georgia State officials, Donald J. Trump solicited the assistance of 
the Georgia Secretary of State in overturning the free and fair 
election results in the State of Georgia, stating that ``I just want to 
find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have''. When the Georgia 
Secretary of State did not agree to his demands, Donald J. Trump 
threatened the Georgia officials with criminal prosecution if they 
didn't comply, stating that leaving the vote counts intact would be a 
``big risk''.
    Further, during the 2016 United States Presidential election, 
Donald J. Trump approved and directed a surreptitious and unlawful 
payment of substantial sums of money to obtain the silence of persons 
with unfavorable information about him in order to influence the 2016 
United States Presidential election.
    In all of this, Donald J. Trump has undermined the integrity of his 
office, has betrayed his trust as President, has acted in a manner 
which threatens the integrity and security of the United States 
Government and its people, has subverted the Constitution of the United 
States, the democratic process, and the rule of law and justice, has 
purposefully and maliciously corrupted public faith and trust in the 
electoral process, and has behaved in a manner grossly incompatible 
with the office of the President of the United States to the manifest 
injury of the people of the United States.
    Wherefore, Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, warrants impeachment 
and trial, and removal from office and disqualification to hold and 
enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.

                              article iii 

    In his conduct of the office of President of the United States, 
Donald J. Trump, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to 
execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best 
of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the 
United States, and in violation of article I, section 9, clause 8 and 
article II, section 1, clause 7 of the Constitution, has accepted 
emoluments from foreign states without the consent of Congress and has 
received and accepted emoluments from the United States and from 
individual States, and in doing so, Donald J. Trump has run afoul of 
anticorruption provisions of the United States Constitution, in that:
    In attempts to leverage the office of the President of the United 
States for personal profit, Donald J. Trump solicited and received from 
foreign governments presents and emoluments, designed to curry favor 
and to influence him. To facilitate his receipt of emoluments from 
foreign states, Donald J. Trump has failed to divest his ownership 
stakes in, or meaningfully separate himself from, the Trump 
Organization's vast network of business holdings, which engage with 
foreign governments. Through those business holdings, Donald J. Trump 
has received, and continues to receive, presents and emoluments, either 
directly or indirectly, from foreign governments. His receipt of 
presents and emoluments from foreign states creates both a conflict of 
interest between his personal business interests and his 
responsibilities as President of the United States, and an appearance 
that he is beholden to the foreign states from which he received the 
emoluments.
    Donald J. Trump has failed to disclose to Congress, or the public, 
the full extent of the presents or emoluments he has received from 
foreign states through his business interests, thereby violating his 
constitutional responsibility to obtain congressional consent to obtain 
such emoluments as required by article I, section 9, clause 8.
    Further, Donald J. Trump's receipt of emoluments and additional 
payments--including from lease agreements, other rental property 
agreements such as that with the General Services Administration for 
the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, and payments from 
Federal agencies such as the United States Secret Service--from the 
United States and from individual States beyond his salary directly 
violates article II, section 1, clause 7 of the United States 
Constitution, which prohibits the President from receiving benefits, 
monetary or otherwise, from the Federal Government, State governments, 
local governments, or their instrumentalities beyond the fixed 
Presidential compensation.
    In all of this, Donald J. Trump has used the power of his office 
for improper personal gain, has abused and exceeded the lawful powers 
of his office, has undermined the integrity of his office, has betrayed 
his trust as President, and has behaved in a manner grossly 
incompatible with the office of the President of the United States to 
the manifest injury of the people of the United States.
    Wherefore, Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, warrants impeachment 
and trial, and removal from office and disqualification to hold and 
enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.

                              article iv 

    In his conduct of the office of President of the United States--in 
violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office 
of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, 
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, 
and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws 
be faithfully executed--Donald J. Trump has prevented, obstructed, and 
impeded the administration of justice, in that:
    In a pattern of conduct solely dedicated to the obstruction of the 
administration of justice, on June 17, 2017, Donald J. Trump directed 
the firing of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III, who was 
investigating coordination between the 2016 Donald J. Trump United 
States Presidential campaign and the Russian Government, and in early 
2018, Donald J. Trump ordered Federal officials to lie about this June 
17, 2017, directive. Donald J. Trump further directed or compelled 
agencies, personnel, and former personnel of the executive branch to 
refuse to comply with lawful congressional requests for information and 
testimony, and otherwise suppressed cooperation with congressional 
inquiries.
    In all of this, Donald J. Trump has undermined the integrity of his 
office, has betrayed his trust as President, has acted in a manner 
which threatens the integrity and security of the United States 
Government and its people, has subverted the Constitution of the United 
States, the democratic process, and the rule of law and justice, and 
has behaved in a manner grossly incompatible with the office of the 
President of the United States to the manifest injury of the people of 
the United States.
    Wherefore, Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, warrants impeachment 
and trial, and removal from office and disqualification to hold and 
enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.
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