Pennsylvania Congresswoman Madeleine Dean Named Impeachment Manager In Trial Of President Trump
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) -- Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, of Pennsylvania, has been named one of nine impeachment managers as the House of Representatives moves to impeach President Donald Trump for his alleged role in inciting the attack on the U.S. Capitol last week. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi made the announcement Tuesday evening.
The managers will make the case to senators that the president should be removed from office.
"Tonight, I have the solemn privilege of naming the Managers of the impeachment trial of Donald Trump," Pelosi said in a statement. "It is their constitutional and patriotic duty to present the case for the President's impeachment and removal. They will do so guided by their great love of country, determination to protect our democracy and loyalty to our oath to the Constitution. Our Managers will honor their duty to defend democracy For The People with great solemnity, prayerfulness and urgency."
Dean represents Montgomery and Berks Counties. Dean was a lawyer before going into politics.
"Never would I have thought that I would be sitting on the House floor when domestic terrorists surrounded the chambers — motivated and infected by dangerous lies — seeking to assassinate a Speaker, hang a Vice President, and hunt down members of Congress, staff, and reporters," Dean said in a statement to CBS3. "I am honored to serve as an impeachment manager among my esteemed colleagues — it is for the sake of our country, not the hate of one man or anyone, but for the love of our country and constitution. The case is clear: it is our solemn duty to impeach Donald J. Trump. This tragedy must have consequences."
Other impeachment managers include Lead Manager Congressman Jamie Raskin, Congresswoman Diana DeGette, Congressman David Cicilline, Congressman Joaquin Castro, Congressman Eric Swalwell, Congressman Ted Lieu, Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett, and Congressman Joe Neguse.
The U.S. House rushed ahead Tuesday toward impeaching President Trump for the deadly Capitol attack, taking time only to try to persuade his vice president to push him out first. Trump showed no remorse, blaming impeachment itself for the "tremendous anger" in America.
Already scheduled to leave office next week, Trump is on the verge of becoming the only president in history to be twice impeached. His incendiary rhetoric at a rally ahead of the Capitol uprising is now in the impeachment charge against him, even as the falsehoods he spread about election fraud are still being championed by some Republicans.
The House convened Tuesday night to vote on urging Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to remove Trump with a Cabinet vote. But shortly before that, Pence said he would not do so in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
He said that it would not be in the best interest of the nation or consistent with the Constitution and that it was "time to unite our country as we prepare to inaugurate President-elect Joe Biden."
Meanwhile, three Republican lawmakers, including third-ranking House GOP leader Liz Cheney of Wyoming, announced they would vote to impeach Trump on Wednesday, cleaving the party's leadership.
Trump, meanwhile, warned the lawmakers off impeachment and suggested it was the drive to oust him that was dividing the country.
"To continue on this path, I think it's causing tremendous danger to our country, and it's causing tremendous anger," Trump said.
In his first remarks to reporters since last week's violence, the outgoing president offered no condolences for those dead or injured, only saying, "I want no violence."
Impeachment ahead, the House was first pressing Pence and the Cabinet to remove Trump more quickly and surely, warning he is a threat to democracy in the few remaining days of his presidency.
The House was expected to approve a resolution calling on Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to declare the president unable to serve. Pence, who had a "good meeting" with Trump on Monday, their first since the vice president was among those sheltering from the attack, was not expected to do so.
After that, the House would move swiftly to impeachment on Wednesday.
Trump faces a single charge — "incitement of insurrection" — in the impeachment resolution after the most serious and deadly domestic incursion at the Capitol in the nation's history.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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