Samuel Case, FISM News

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This morning, House Democrats filed impeachment measures against President Donald Trump, less than 10 days from the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States. The article of impeachment charges the president of “incitement of insurrection,” based on Trump’s rhetoric leading up to the Capitol Hill riot last week.

The article argues the President, “willfully made statements that encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — imminent lawless action at the Capitol. Incited by President Trump, a mob unlawfully breached the Capitol, injured law enforcement personnel, interfered with the Joint Session’s solemn constitutional duty to certify the election results, and engaged in violent, deadly, destructive, and seditious acts.”

The U.S. Legal Code defines inciting a riot as follows:

Urging or instigating other persons to riot, but shall not be deemed to mean the mere oral or written (1) advocacy of ideas or (2) expression of belief, not involving advocacy of any act or acts of violence or assertion of the rightness of, or the right to commit, any such act or acts.

While the President’s actions do not meet the legal definition of “incitement,” the articles can still proceed regardless, as impeachment is a political action, not a legal one.

Law professor and legal representative for President Trump during his 2020 impeachment trial, Alan Dershowitz, argued on Fox News that the article may pass, but won’t go to trial.

All the Democrats can do is impeach the president in the House of Representatives. For that, all you need is a majority vote. You don’t have to take evidence. There are no lawyers involved. But the case cannot come to trial in the Senate, because the Senate has rules. And the rules would not allow the case to come to trial until — according to the majority leader until 1:00 p.m. on January 20, an hour after President Trump leaves office.

House Democrats are also looking to remove Trump from office through the use of the 25th amendment. Last night, Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to her caucus that Vice President Mike Pence has “24 hours” to respond to the request.