Congressman Gonzalez Joins Privileged Impeachment Resolution Against President Donald J. Trump

WASHINGTON— Today, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15) joined a privileged resolution to impeach President Donald J. Trump for high crimes and misdemeanors, co-led by Reps. Ilhan Omar, David Cicilline, Ted Lieu, Al Green, Hank Johnson, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, Jamaal Bowman, Mondaire Jones, Veronica Escobar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Cori Bush.

Congressman Gonzalez was trapped in the House chamber when the domestic terrorists breached the doors. He made it out unscathed.

"Last night's insurrection has made one thing clear: Donald Trump is not fit to lead the United States of America and must be removed from office immediately," said Congressman Gonzalez. "A sitting President of the United States fomented a mob to attack the greatest democratic body in the world to prevent the peaceful transition of power. I refuse to stand by as this man continues to disgrace our country and endanger the lives of the American people. Regardless of time restraints we must fulfill the wish of the American people and give Trump what he's earned, an impeachment. We must take constitutional action now to remove him from office and prevent him from causing any further and lasting damage to our great Republic."

"Donald Trump remains the single greatest threat to our democracy," Rep. Omar said. "Every day that he remains in the office of the presidency—overseeing the United States military and nuclear arsenal—is a day the safety of the American people and the world are threatened. The very administration officials who have been complicit in his crimes cannot be relied upon. We must impeach and remove him from office immediately so that he cannot threaten our democracy and the world any longer or hold public office ever again. Congress should reconvene immediately to carry out this constitutional duty."

"After four years of lies, misinformation and abuse of power – that culminated in yesterday's treasonous and violent conduct – we in Congress are left with no choice but to impeach for a second time," said Rep. Johnson. "Orchestrating a mob to overthrow Congress and the government violates and subverts his duties as commander-in-chief and leaves us no choice but to act."

"Donald Trump presents a clear, direct threat to our democracy and national security, and yesterday's acts of white supremacist domestic terrorism on the U.S. Capitol—incited by Trump himself—is further evidence of the danger he presents," said Rep. Pressley. "Our nation cannot afford one more day with Trump in office. He must be immediately impeached by the House of Representatives and removed from office by the United States Senate. We must act with the urgency to defend our Republic."

"I've called for the impeachment and removal of Donald Trump since the day I arrived in Washington, D.C.," said Rep. Tlaib. "Donald Trump is a tyrant that has continued to endanger and bring harm upon the people in the United States. Yesterday's attack on the Capitol was a continuation of Trump's destructive reign in this country – he must be impeached again, removed, and barred from ever holding public office again. We cannot wait and hope a peaceful transition of power happens on the 20th, Trump and his supporters have already displayed that peace is nowhere in their minds. It's time for us to act."

"Donald Trump incited a violent mob to descend upon the legislative branch, all in an attempt to overturn the results of a free and fair election and undermine the integrity of our democracy," said Rep. Mondaire Jones. "We must ensure that this is nothing more than a last gasp for Donald Trump and his Republican co-conspirators in the House and Senate. That's why I'm proud to join my colleagues in calling for impeachment. Hundreds of Donald Trumps in the Republican Party seek to ascend to higher office, and we must send them a message that no one is above the law."

On January 6th, 2021, President Trump encouraged individuals who traveled to Washington, District of Columbia to violently attack the United States Capitol while both chambers of Congress were in session. After those supporters had violently breached the Capitol, he put out a further statement repeating his false claims of election fraud and telling the members of the mob, "We love you, you're very special".

Additionally, on January 2, 2021, President Trump violated his constitutional duty to uphold the laws of the United States when, on a recorded call, he repeatedly asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to overturn the finalized and verified results of the November 2020 Presidential election in the State of Georgia. President Trump misused the power of his office by threatening an elected official with unspecified consequences if he failed to pursue the President's false claims and attempting to coerce an elected official to commit fraud.

The bill is also cosponsored by Reps. Payne, Jr., Huffman, Newman, Rush, Schakowsky, Wilson, Espaillat, Swalwell, Hayes, Velázquez, Clarke, and DeSaulnier.