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

IV 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 1 United States, is impeached for high crimes and mis- 2 demeanors and that the following articles of impeachment 3 be exhibited to the United States Senate: 4 Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of 5 Representatives of the United States of America in the 6 name of itself and of the people of the United States of 7 America, against Donald John Trump, President of the 8 United States of America, in maintenance and support of 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR34.IH HR34 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 34 IH its impeachment against him for high crimes and mis- 1 demeanors. 2 ARTICLE I 3 In his conduct of the office of President of the United 4 States—in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully 5 execute the office of President of the United States and, 6 to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the 7 Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his 8 constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully 9 executed—Donald J. Trump has abused the powers of the 10 Presidency in an attempt to circumvent and subvert the 11 rule of law by inciting an insurrection against the Govern- 12 ment of the United States of America, in that: 13 In a pattern of conduct attempting to create an insur- 14 rection against the Government of the United States, Don- 15 ald J. Trump spread disinformation and allegations un- 16 supported by any evidence regarding voter fraud in the 17 2020 United States Presidential election and the results 18 of the 2020 United States Presidential election, and ex- 19 plicitly encouraged his supporters to descend on Wash- 20 ington, DC, on January 6, 2021, while Congress engaged 21 in its constitutionally mandated legislative business of cer- 22 tifying the electoral college results of the 2020 United 23 States Presidential election. 24 Prior to January 6, 2021, Donald J. Trump told 25 white supremacists to ‘‘stand back and stand by’’, an ap- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:27 Jan 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR34.IH HR34 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 34 IH peal to white supremacy consistent with his prior remarks 1 and conduct, including an August 31, 2020, statement in 2 defense of an extremist charged with murdering peaceful 3 protestors and an August 15, 2017, statement defending 4 white supremacists who had committed violence in Char- 5 lottesville, Virginia, as ‘‘very fine people’’. On December 6 20, 2020, Donald J. Trump stated that the January 6, 7 2021, show of force he purposefully incited would be 8 ‘‘wild’’. 9 On January 6, 2021, Donald J. Trump explicitly told 10 his supporters to ‘‘fight like hell’’, and ‘‘you’ll never take 11 back our country with weakness. You have to show 12 strength.’’. Shortly thereafter, those same supporters en- 13 gaged in mass riots and insurrection on the grounds of 14 the United States Capitol, leading to the breach and de- 15 struction of the Capitol building while Congress was in 16 session conducting legislative business, as well as the 17 death of at least five individuals, including a Capitol Police 18 officer. The siege of the United States Capitol at the 19 hands of Donald J. Trump created widespread terror, 20 threatened the lives of members of the United States Con- 21 gress, completely disrupted legislative business, threatened 22 the continuity of government, and exposed the United 23 States to grave national security risks. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR34.IH HR34 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 34 IH In all of this, Donald J. Trump has undermined the 1 integrity of his office, has betrayed his trust as President, 2 has acted in a manner which threatens the integrity and 3 security of the United States Government and its people, 4 has subverted the Constitution of the United States, the 5 democratic process, and the rule of law and justice, has 6 conspired to commit sedition and incited an insurrection 7 against the United States Government, and has behaved 8 in a manner grossly incompatible with the office of the 9 President of the United States to the manifest injury of 10 the people of the United States. 11 Wherefore, Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, war- 12 rants impeachment and trial, and removal from office and 13 disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, 14 trust, or profit under the United States. 15 ARTICLE II 16 In his conduct of the office of President of the United 17 States—in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully 18 execute the office of President of the United States and, 19 to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the 20 Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his 21 constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully 22 executed—Donald J. Trump has abused the powers of the 23 Presidency in an attempt to circumvent and subvert the 24 rule of law by corrupting the electoral process, in that: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR34.IH HR34 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HRES 34 IH In a pattern of conduct dedicated to corrupting the 1 electoral process, Donald J. Trump solicited a foreign gov- 2 ernment, Ukraine, to intervene in the 2020 United States 3 Presidential election by requesting that the Government 4 of Ukraine publicly announce baseless investigations into 5 his political rival to the benefit of his potential reelection. 6 Donald J. Trump sought to ensure such investigations by 7 conditioning United States Government support and acts 8 of value on the acquiescence of the Government of Ukraine 9 to Donald J. Trump’s demands. In so doing, Donald J. 10 Trump abused the power of the Presidency by subverting 11 the rule of law in a manner that undermined national se- 12 curity and violated his duties to preserve, protect, and de- 13 fend the Constitution. 14 Following the results of the 2020 United States Pres- 15 idential election, in a January 2, 2021, discussion between 16 Donald J. Trump and Georgia State officials, Donald J. 17 Trump solicited the assistance of the Georgia Secretary 18 of State in overturning the free and fair election results 19 in the State of Georgia, stating that ‘‘I just want to find 20 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have’’. When the 21 Georgia Secretary of State did not agree to his demands, 22 Donald J. Trump threatened the Georgia officials with 23 criminal prosecution if they didn’t comply, stating that 24 leaving the vote counts intact would be a ‘‘big risk’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR34.IH HR34 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HRES 34 IH Further, during the 2016 United States Presidential 1 election, Donald J. Trump approved and directed a sur- 2 reptitious and unlawful payment of substantial sums of 3 money to obtain the silence of persons with unfavorable 4 information about him in order to influence the 2016 5 United States Presidential election. 6 In all of this, Donald J. Trump has undermined the 7 integrity of his office, has betrayed his trust as President, 8 has acted in a manner which threatens the integrity and 9 security of the United States Government and its people, 10 has subverted the Constitution of the United States, the 11 democratic process, and the rule of law and justice, has 12 purposefully and maliciously corrupted public faith and 13 trust in the electoral process, and has behaved in a man- 14 ner grossly incompatible with the office of the President 15 of the United States to the manifest injury of the people 16 of the United States. 17 Wherefore, Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, war- 18 rants impeachment and trial, and removal from office and 19 disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, 20 trust, or profit under the United States. 21 ARTICLE III 22 In his conduct of the office of President of the United 23 States, Donald J. Trump, in violation of his constitutional 24 oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the 25 United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, pro- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR34.IH HR34 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HRES 34 IH tect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, 1 and in violation of article I, section 9, clause 8 and article 2 II, section 1, clause 7 of the Constitution, has accepted 3 emoluments from foreign states without the consent of 4 Congress and has received and accepted emoluments from 5 the United States and from individual States, and in doing 6 so, Donald J. Trump has run afoul of anticorruption pro- 7 visions of the United States Constitution, in that: 8 In attempts to leverage the office of the President 9 of the United States for personal profit, Donald J. Trump 10 solicited and received from foreign governments presents 11 and emoluments, designed to curry favor and to influence 12 him. To facilitate his receipt of emoluments from foreign 13 states, Donald J. Trump has failed to divest his ownership 14 stakes in, or meaningfully separate himself from, the 15 Trump Organization’s vast network of business holdings, 16 which engage with foreign governments. Through those 17 business holdings, Donald J. Trump has received, and 18 continues to receive, presents and emoluments, either di- 19 rectly or indirectly, from foreign governments. His receipt 20 of presents and emoluments from foreign states creates 21 both a conflict of interest between his personal business 22 interests and his responsibilities as President of the 23 United States, and an appearance that he is beholden to 24 the foreign states from which he received the emoluments. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR34.IH HR34 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HRES 34 IH Donald J. Trump has failed to disclose to Congress, 1 or the public, the full extent of the presents or emoluments 2 he has received from foreign states through his business 3 interests, thereby violating his constitutional responsibility 4 to obtain congressional consent to obtain such emoluments 5 as required by article I, section 9, clause 8. 6 Further, Donald J. Trump’s receipt of emoluments 7 and additional payments—including from lease agree- 8 ments, other rental property agreements such as that with 9 the General Services Administration for the Trump Inter- 10 national Hotel in Washington, DC, and payments from 11 Federal agencies such as the United States Secret Serv- 12 ice—from the United States and from individual States 13 beyond his salary directly violates article II, section 1, 14 clause 7 of the United States Constitution, which prohibits 15 the President from receiving benefits, monetary or other- 16 wise, from the Federal Government, State governments, 17 local governments, or their instrumentalities beyond the 18 fixed Presidential compensation. 19 In all of this, Donald J. Trump has used the power 20 of his office for improper personal gain, has abused and 21 exceeded the lawful powers of his office, has undermined 22 the integrity of his office, has betrayed his trust as Presi- 23 dent, and has behaved in a manner grossly incompatible 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:27 Jan 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR34.IH HR34 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HRES 34 IH with the office of the President of the United States to 1 the manifest injury of the people of the United States. 2 Wherefore, Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, war- 3 rants impeachment and trial, and removal from office and 4 disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, 5 trust, or profit under the United States. 6 ARTICLE IV 7 In his conduct of the office of President of the United 8 States—in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully 9 execute the office of President of the United States and, 10 to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the 11 Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his 12 constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully 13 executed—Donald J. Trump has prevented, obstructed, 14 and impeded the administration of justice, in that: 15 In a pattern of conduct solely dedicated to the ob- 16 struction of the administration of justice, on June 17, 17 2017, Donald J. Trump directed the firing of Special 18 Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III, who was investigating co- 19 ordination between the 2016 Donald J. Trump United 20 States Presidential campaign and the Russian Govern- 21 ment, and in early 2018, Donald J. Trump ordered Fed- 22 eral officials to lie about this June 17, 2017, directive. 23 Donald J. Trump further directed or compelled agencies, 24 personnel, and former personnel of the executive branch 25 to refuse to comply with lawful congressional requests for 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:27 Jan 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR34.IH HR34 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HRES 34 IH information and testimony, and otherwise suppressed co- 1 operation with congressional inquiries. 2 In all of this, Donald J. Trump has undermined the 3 integrity of his office, has betrayed his trust as President, 4 has acted in a manner which threatens the integrity and 5 security of the United States Government and its people, 6 has subverted the Constitution of the United States, the 7 democratic process, and the rule of law and justice, and 8 has behaved in a manner grossly incompatible with the 9 office of the President of the United States to the manifest 10 injury of the people of the United States. 11 Wherefore, Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, war- 12 rants impeachment and trial, and removal from office and 13 disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, 14 trust, or profit under the United States. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 F [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]