Rep. Steve Cohen, (D, Tennessee), is promising to introduce articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump in the wake of Trump's meandering and insufficient comments after the murder of a 32-year-old woman and the fatal crash of a helicopter with 2 Virginia State troopers who were looking for the suspect.
That suspect, James Alex Fields, 20, of Ohio, ran over Heather Heyer, 36, who was a counter-protester. Heyer and hundreds of other counter-protesters was picketing a white supremacist, neo Nazi, KKK (Klu Klux Klan) rally that was taking place in Charlottesville, Va.
last Saturday, August 12, 2017, when the incident occurred.
Trump's comments after Charlottesville
After the tragic events in Charlottesville, Trump's comments were largely considered to be inadequate. In these observations, which were issued on the day of the event, last Saturday, Trump stated that the incident was "unacceptable." He did not single out the hate groups that perpetrated the events of that day by name, i.e., the KKK, the white nationalists and neo Nazis. Instead, Trump stated that there were people "on both sides" who were behaving inappropriately and that the "incident" was "unacceptable." These comments were largely considered so inadequate because they blamed the "incident," but did not blame the perpetrators of the incident.
On the following Monday, (August 14), Trump issued another statement in which he stated that white supremacy, white nationalists groups, neo Nazi factions, and hatred, in general, were not acceptable in the United States. However, Trump' comments were thought of by the vast majority of observers as "too little, too late."
On Wednesday, August 16, Trump made a statement that was akin to his comments on Saturday.
In his Wednesday comments, Trump stated that "both sides" were to blame for the Charlottesville deaths. He also stated that there were "good people" and "bad people" on both sides, and even falsely stated that some of the counter-protesters had come after the white nationalists with clubs. There was no evidence to corroborate Trump's claims.
'Stay away' request
On Wednesday, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton requested that Trump cancel his plans to hold a campaign-style rally in his city next Tuesday. Stanton stated that he made his decision to ask the White House to cancel Trump's trip to Phoenix after Trump issued his numerous statements following the Charlottesville tragedies. Stanton stated that he did not feel that the climate is right for such a visit right after the Charlottesville events.
Stanton also expressed concerns over the likelihood that Trump will pardon former Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, 85, at the rally. Arpaio has been convicted of numerous crimes stemming from failing to uphold the rights of immigrants, to misuse of public funds.
Arpaio's discriminatory policies have resulted in his being labeled a racist by Americans throughout the country.
Cohen's impeachment articles
Based on Trump's reactions to the Charlottesville events, and based upon Trump's failure to condemn the white nationalist, neo Nazi and KKK groups that perpetrated the violence that occurred in that city, Rep. Cohen will be introducing articles of impeachment against Trump in the next few days.
Citing Trump's character as a person and a president, Cohen stated: “No moral president would ever shy away from outright condemning hate, intolerance, and bigotry," according to the Huffington Post on Thursday. All articles of impeachment must originate in the House Of Representatives.
If the House votes to impeach the President, the matter goes to the United States Senate, which acts a jury during the impeachment trial.
If the President is found guilty of any of the articles of impeachment in a two-thirds vote of the Senate, he will be removed from office. In that scenario, Mike Pence would be sworn in as the nation's forty-sixth President immediately, and he would appoint nominate someone to be his Vice-President. That person would have to be confirmed by a two-thirds vote in the Senate before being sworn in as Vice-President.
