Providing for Consideration of H. Res. Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for High Crimes and Misdemeanors
Floor Speech
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 41 and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows: H. Res. 41
Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order without intervention of any point of order to consider in the House the resolution (H. Res. 24) impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the resolution and on any amendment thereto to adoption without intervening motion or demand for division of the question except two hours of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary or their respective designees.
Sec. 2. Until completion of proceedings enabled by the first section of this resolution--
(a) the Chair may decline to entertain any intervening motion, resolution, question, or notice; and
(b) the Chair may decline to entertain the question of consideration.
Sec. 3. Upon adoption of House Resolution 24--
(a) House Resolution 40 is hereby adopted; and
(b) no other resolution incidental to impeachment relating to House Resolution 24 shall be privileged during the remainder of the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress.
Sec. 4. Section 5 of House Resolution 8, agreed to January 4, 2021, is amended by striking ``January 28'' each place that it appears and inserting ``February 11''.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Rules Committee met and reported a closed rule, House Resolution 41, providing for consideration of H. Res. 24, impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.
The rule provides 2 hours of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the Committee on the Judiciary. The rule also provides that upon adoption of H. Res. 24, H. Res. 40 is hereby adopted.
Finally, the rule extends recess instructions, suspension authority, and same-day authority through February 11, 2021.
Mr. Speaker, we are debating this historic measure at an actual crime scene, and we wouldn't be here if it weren't for the President of the United States.
On Wednesday, January 6, Congress gathered here to fulfill our constitutional duty, tallying the electoral college victory of President-elect Biden and Vice-President-elect Harris after a free and fair election.
This is largely a ceremonial role for the Congress, one that sends the message to the world that democracy in the United States persists. But at a rally just a mile and a half down Pennsylvania Avenue, Donald Trump and his allies were stoking the anger of a violent mob.
A Member of this very body proclaimed on that stage: ``Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.''
Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, called for a ``trial by combat.''
Then Donald Trump told the crowd: ``We are going to have to fight much harder . . . you will never take back our country with weakness.''
Even though, according to his own administration that this election was the most secure in our history, Donald Trump repeated his big lie that this election was an egregious assault on democracy.
He said Vice President Pence ``was going to have to come through for us.''
Trump then told this mob to ``walk down to the Capitol.''
The signal was unmistakable: These thugs should stage a coup so Donald Trump can hang on to power. The people's will be damned.
This beacon of democracy became the site of a vicious attack. Rioters chanted, ``Hang Mike Pence,'' as noose and gallows were built a stone's throw from the Capitol steps. Capitol police officers were beaten and sprayed with pepper spray. Attackers hunted down lawmakers to hold them hostage or worse. Staff barricaded doors. People sent text messages to their families to tell them they loved them. They thought they were saying good-bye, Mr. Speaker.
This was not a protest. This was an insurrection. This was a well- organized attack on our country that was incited by Donald Trump.
Domestic terrorists broke into the United States Capitol that day and it is a miracle more people didn't die. As my colleagues and I were being evacuated to safety, I never ever will forget what I saw when I looked into the eyes of those attackers right in the Speaker's lobby there. I saw evil, Mr. Speaker. Our country came under attack not from a foreign nation, but from within.
These were not protesters. These were not patriots. These were traitors. These were domestic terrorists, Mr. Speaker, and they were acting under the orders of Donald Trump.
Some of my colleagues on the other side have suggested that we just move on from this horror. But to gloss over it would be an abdication of our duty. Others on the Republican side have talked about unity. But we can't have unity without truth and without accountability. And I am not about to be lectured by people who just voted to overturn the results of a free and fair election.
America was attacked and we must respond, even when the cause of this violence resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Each of us took an oath last week. It wasn't to a party and it wasn't to a person. We vowed to defend the Constitution. The actions of Donald Trump have called each of us to fulfill that oath today. I pray that we rise to this responsibility because every moment Donald Trump is in the White House, our Nation and our freedom is in danger. He must be held to account for the attack on our Capitol that he organized and he incited.
I solemnly urge my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying article. The damage this building sustained can be repaired, Mr. Speaker; but if we don't hold Donald Trump accountable, the damage done to our Nation could be irreversible.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the powerful statement by Congresswoman Liz Cheney, who is the chair of the House Republican Conference, titled ``I will vote to impeach the President.'' Cheney: I Will Vote To Impeach the President January 12, 2021.
Washington--Wyoming Congresswoman and House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) released the following statement ahead of votes in the House this week:
``On January 6, 2021 a violent mob attacked the United States Capitol to obstruct the process of our democracy and stop the counting of presidential electoral votes. This insurrection caused injury, death and destruction in the most sacred space in our Republic.
``Much more will become clear in coming days and weeks, but what we know now is enough. The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.
``I will vote to impeach the President.''
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I want to be clear about just one thing: If we vote to impeach the President today and we send it over to the Senate, there is nothing to prevent the Senate from taking it up immediately if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell decides that he wants to proceed, number one.
Number two, we all want to talk about unity. I can't think of anything that would unify this country more than if there was a big bipartisan vote in favor of impeachment. Every second that this President remains in office is a danger to this country and to the world. We have no idea what he is capable of doing, whether he will pardon these terrorists or whether he will go to war.
So I urge all my colleagues on both sides to support this rule and the impeachment resolution.
Chu).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, let me remind all of my colleagues that what happened on Wednesday would not have happened if it weren't for the occupant in the White House. If we want to put the people first, we all ought to vote to impeach him and remove him from office as soon as possible.
Brownley).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Welch).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, some of us objected 4 years ago as a protest vote to raise concerns about what all of our intelligence agencies had stated clearly, which was that Russia had interfered in our election.
What the gentleman fails to acknowledge is that we all acknowledged that Donald Trump was the President the day after the election. Hillary Clinton conceded the day after the election.
And none of us push conspiracy theories like some of my friends on the other side of the aisle have been doing, and this President, that somehow the President won in a landslide. Give me a break.
Yesterday, in the Rules Committee, I asked the gentleman from Ohio if he would just say five simple words. Mr. Speaker, I will tell you that he was talking about healing. The five simple words that one could say that would help heal this Nation are that: ``The election was not stolen.'' That is it, five simple words. He refused. He said he never said the election was stolen. Well, the evidence shows otherwise. Let me reference this Dana Milbank piece titled ``Five pesky little words keep stumping Jim Jordan.''
Mr. Speaker, the bottom line is this. This Capitol was stormed. People died because of the big lies that were being told by this President and by too many people on the other side of the aisle.
Enough. People should be outraged as to what happened. It was unforgivable, unconscionable. Coming up on this floor and talking about whataboutism and trying to make these false equivalencies, give me a break.
The President of the United States instigated an attempted coup in this country. People died. Everybody should be outraged, whether you are a Democrat or a Republican. If this is not an impeachable offense, I don't know what the hell is.
This President is not fit to remain in office.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, when my friends talk about the President being committed to a peaceful transition, I just point to what happened on Wednesday when his words launched a violent attack against this Capitol where five people lost their lives and many more were injured. So give me a break.
Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Contrary to my good friend's words, the President of the United States is an insurrectionist. He led an insurrection against the United States of America.
Prior to the January 6 attack by violent domestic terrorists, the President spoke to the crowd for 1 hour, and these were his words. These were his words, which is that we cannot take the Nation back. We have to take the Nation back with strength, and you must go and do that. Those were the paraphrase of his words.
The President provoked these domestic terrorists with words, with actions and conduct that betray a contempt and hostility to the national value of equal justice under the law, telling domestic terrorists, nearly all of them white supremacists, many of them, who support him politically, who stormed the Capitol to derail Congress from completing its constitutionally required duty of counting and verifying the vote.
Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Committees on the Judiciary and on Homeland Security, I rise in strong support of the rule governing debate on H. Res. 24, a resolution impeaching the current President of the United States for High Crimes and Misdemeanors, warranting his conviction and removal from office and, in accordance with Article I, Section 3, clause 7, disqualification from ever again holding and enjoying an Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States.''
I strongly support the rule and the underlying resolution calling for impeachment and removal of this President because after the horrifying events of Wednesday last, January 6, 2021, another day that will live in infamy, the continuance in office of this President for even one moment longer represents a clear and present threat to the security of the United States, its people, institutions, and democratic form of government.
To put it in the words of the Framers, the current President's conduct reflects and reveals a person ``whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.''
To put it in contemporary terms, the current President can rightly be said to be perhaps the leading cause of state-sponsored domestic terrorism.
Every minute this President remains in office represents a minute of maximum peril to the American people and the American Experiment.
Unrepentant after his perfidious and treacherous conduct of Wednesday last, the President just yesterday went to Alamo, Texas, without giving any advance notice or consultation to the leaders of that community.
Does anyone really doubt that the President's true purpose in going to Alamo was to signal to his band of disloyalists his desire that they make a last stand and fight to the death in his name?
I do not, and neither does the majority of the American people, and I suspect that in their heart of hearts, neither do our colleagues on the Republican side.
Mr. Speaker, three facts demonstrate why immediate action to remove the President is essential.
First, the abject failure and refusal of the President to take care that the laws be faithfully executed puts lives at risk.
When the U.S. Capitol was besieged last week by domestic terrorists, the President obstructed and denied the request of the Mayor of the District of Columbia to call out the National Guard to protect life and property; it took the Vice-President, working with Speaker Pelosi and incoming Senate Majority Leader Schumer to prevail upon the Department of Defense to come to the defense of the Capitol and the people trapped inside.
Instead of acting in accordance with his sacred oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and to take care that the people and property of the United States are protected against all enemies, foreign or domestic, the President did nothing but watch the mayhem on television, ebullient at the enthusiastic display of support from his lawless loyalists.
Second, the current President's conduct stands in stark and marked contrast to his conduct earlier this year when protests were sweeping the country in response to the murder of George Floyd, when the President dispatched law enforcement authorities to put down peaceful protests led by moms and veterans in Portland, Oregon and social justice activists in Washington, D.C.
Back then, the President mobilized a heavy police presence, many on horseback and others using tear gas, to clear Lafayette Square of peaceful protesters so he could walk across the street to have himself photographed clutching a bible upside down in front of a church.
Third, the President's words, actions, and conduct betray a contempt and hostility to the national value of equal justice under law, telling the domestic terrorists, many of whom were white supremacists who support him politically, who stormed the Capitol to derail Congress from completing its constitutionally required duty of counting and verifying the votes of presidential electors, that ``we love you. You're very special,'' while referring to African Americans and other persons of color protesting social injustice and inequalities in the criminal justice system as ``animals,'' ``thugs,'' and ``anarchists.''
Mr. Speaker, the President's actions inciting insurrection against the United States was the proximate cause of the horrifying siege of the U.S. Capitol, the destruction and desecration of the Citadel of Democracy, and the deaths of at least six persons, one of whom was a uniformed officer to the United States Capitol Police, whom was bludgeoned to death by the incited mob.
Abusing the powers and resources of his high office, Donald John Trump has actively and continuously endeavored to undermine the essential institutions and foundations of a democratic system of government in the United States, engaging in a long train of abuses and usurptions, pursuing invariably the same object, evincing a design to make himself an authoritarian ruler unaccountable to, and independent of, the people of the United States.
The utter unfitness of the President for the office he holds and his contempt for the sacred oath he took before the nation with God as his witness, was vividly on display on January 6, 2021.
But signs of his calumny were on display in plain sight, reflected by his misbehavior and malfeasance from the earliest days of his administration.
Abusing the powers and resources of his high office, this President has actively and continuously endeavored to undermine the essential institutions and foundations of a democratic system of government in the United States, engaging in a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evincing a design to make himself an authoritarian ruler unaccountable to, and independent of, the people of the United States by:
(1) Soliciting and welcoming the assistance of a hostile foreign power to aid him in securing election in 2016 as President of the United States;
(2) Refusing to acknowledge Russian interference in the internal affairs of the United States, and then opposing responses by Congress and the Executive Branch to protect the national security and interests of the United States against future Russian interference and aggression;
(3) Publicly conveying his interest and willingness to accept the assistance of foreign powers in his attempt win reelection as President of the United States;
(4) Refusing continuously to acknowledge to the American people that he would accept and be bound by the verdict rendered in the 2020 Presidential election, instead claiming that any outcome in which he was not declared the winner was fraudulent, rigged, and illegitimate;
(5) Taking active measures to impede and undermine the ability of American citizens to convey their disapproval of his continuance in office by exercising their rights as voters, including misusing the United States Postal Service to prevent the timely delivery of mail-in ballots;
(6) Instituting frivolous lawsuits to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential election, falsely alleging wide-spread voting fraud but producing no evidence in support of his spurious allegations;
(7) Exhorting and inciting his supporters to believe falsely that victory in the 2020 Presidential election had been stolen from him and that constitutionally required Joint Meeting of Congress for the purpose of counting the votes of electors and announcement of the result by the President of the Senate was illegitimate and intended to complete the theft of his victory; and
(8) Failing to take action to protect and defend Federal officers and personnel, property, buildings, and institutions on January 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol that was besieged by supporters of Donald John Trump, resulting in extensive damage to the property of the United States and the deaths of at least four persons.
This is why multiple Members of Congress, introduced resolutions of articles of impeachment; joined by dozens of original cosponsors, I introduced H. Res. 26, impeaching the President for the High Crimes and Misdemeanors of (1) Abuse of Power and (2) Willful Refusal And Failure To Protect And Defend The Constitution Of The United States.
Mr. Speaker, Donald John Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.
He must be impeached, convicted, removed from office, and disqualified from ever again holding and enjoying an Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States.
My love and reverence for the Constitution compels me to vote to impeach this President and I urge all my colleagues who revere the Constitution and our democracy, which has endured for more than 240 years, to join me in voting for the rule for H. Res. 24, so we can vote to impeach Donald John Trump for High Crimes and Misdemeanors against the United States.
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Mr. McGOVERN. DeLauro).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Castor).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. Omar).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a New York Times article published January 9 titled `` `Our President Wants Us Here': The Mob That Stormed the Capitol.'' It is another example of why our country cannot risk even one more day of Donald Trump. [From the New York Times, Jan. 9, 2021] Our President Wants Us Here: The Mob That Stormed the Capitol (By Dan Barry, Mike McIntire and Matthew Rosenberg)
It was the table setter for what would come, with nearly 2,000 people gathering in Washington on Tuesday evening for a ``Rally to Save America.'' Speaker after angry speaker stoked stolen-election conspiracy theories and name-checked sworn enemies: Democrats and weak Republicans, Communists and Satanists.
Still, the crowd seemed a bit giddy at the prospect of helping President Trump reverse the result of the election-- though at times the language evoked a call to arms. ``It is time for war,'' one speaker declared.
As the audience thinned, groups of young men emerged in Kevlar vests and helmets, a number of them holding clubs and knives. Some were aligned with the neofascist Proud Boys; others with the Three Percenters, a far-right militia group.
``We're not backing down anymore,'' said a man with fresh stitches on his head. ``This is our country.''
That night reflected a disconcerting mix of free speech and certain menace; of everyday Americans supporting their president and extremists prepared to commit violence for him. All had assembled in answer to Mr. Trump's repeated appeals to attend a march to the Capitol the next day that he promised would be ``wild.''
It was. By Wednesday afternoon, a narrow group of Trump supporters--some exuberant, some hellbent--had been storm- tossed together into infamy. A mob overran the nation's Capitol, as lawmakers hid in fear. Wholesale vandalism. Tear gas. Gunfire. A woman dead; an officer dead; many injured. Chants of ``U.S.A.! U.S.A.!''
But the insurrection failed.
It had been the culmination of a sustained assault by the president and his enablers on fact-based reality, one that began long before the November election but took on a fevered urgency as the certainty of Mr. Trump's defeat solidified. For years, he had demonized political opponents and the media and egged on thuggish behavior at his rallies.
Since losing to Joseph R. Biden Jr., he had mounted a campaign of lies that the presidency was being stolen from him, and that marching on the Capitol was the last chance to stop it. To many Americans, it looked like one more feel-good rally to salve Mr. Trump's wounded ego, but some of his supporters heard something altogether different--a battle cry.
Now, dozens of them have been arrested--including an armed Alabama man who had Molotov cocktails in his car and a West Virginia lawmaker charged with illegally entering the Capitol--and the Federal Bureau of Investigation is asking for help in identifying those who ``actively instigated violence.'' Many participants in the march are frantically working to erase digital evidence of their presence for fear of losing a job or being harassed online.
Mr. Trump, meanwhile, has been broadly condemned and cut off from his social media megaphones, as a new administration prepares to take power.
Kevin Haag, 67, a retired landscaper from North Carolina who ascended the Capitol steps as the crowd surged forward, said he did not go inside and disapproved of those who did. Even so, he said he would never forget the sense of empowerment as he looked down over thousands of protesters. It felt so good, he said, to show people: ``We are here. See us! Notice us! Pay attention!''
Now, back home after several days of reflection, Mr. Haag, an evangelical Christian, wonders whether he went too far. ``Should I get down on my knees and ask for forgiveness?'' he said in an interview. ``I am asking myself that question.''
But the experience seemed to have only hardened the resolve of others. Couy Griffin, 47, a Republican county commissioner from New Mexico, spoke of organizing another Capitol rally soon--one that could result in ``blood running out of that building''--in a video he later posted to the Facebook page of his group, Cowboys for Trump.
Couy Griffin, a Republican county commissioner from New Mexico and organizer of the group Cowboys for Trump, said a future Capitol rally could have ``blood running out of that building.'' ``You want to say that that was a mob? You want to say that was a violence? No, sir, no, ma'am, no. We could have a Second Amendment rally on those same steps that we had that rally yesterday. You know, and if we do, then it's going to be a sad day, because there's going to be blood running out of that building. But at the end of the day, you mark my word, we will plant our flag on the desk of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and Donald J. Trump, if it boils down to it.''
Couy Griffin, a Republican county commissioner from New Mexico and organizer of the group Cowboys for Trump, said a future Capitol rally could have ``blood running out of that building.'' CreditCredit . . . Cowboys for Trump via YouTube. ``At the end of the day, you mark my word, we will plant our flag on the desk of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer,'' he said. He paused before adding, ``And Donald J. Trump if it boils down to it.''
Plans take shape online: `Pack a crowbar'. The advance publicity for the ``March for America'' had been robust. Beyond the repeated promotions in tweets by the president and his allies, the upcoming event was cheered on social media, including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
But woven through many of the messages to stand up for Mr. Trump--and, if possible, block the congressional certification of the election he claimed he had won--was language that flirted with aggression, even violence.
For example, the term ``Storm the Capitol'' was mentioned 100,000 times in the 30 days preceding Jan. 6, according to Zignal Labs, a media insights company. Many of these mentions appeared in viral tweet threads that discussed the possible storming of the Capitol and included details on how to enter the building.
To followers of QAnon, the convoluted collection of conspiracy theories that falsely claims the country is dominated by deep-state bureaucrats and Democrats who worship Satan, the word ``storm'' had particular resonance. Adherents have often referred to a coming storm, after which Mr. Trump would preside over a new government order.
In online discussions, some QAnon followers and militia groups explored which weapons and tools to bring. ``Pack a crowbar,'' read one message posted on Gab, a social media refuge for the far right. In another discussion, someone asked, ``Does anyone know if the windows on the second floor are reinforced?''
Still, the many waves of communication did not appear to result in a broadly organized plan to take action. It is also unclear if any big money or coordinated fund-raising was behind the mobilization, though some Trump supporters appear to have found funds through opaque online networks to help pay for transportation to the rally.
``Patriots, if you need financial help getting to DC to support President Trump on January 6th, please go to my website,'' a QAnon adherent who identified himself as Thad Williams, of Tampa, Fla., posted on Twitter three days before the event. He said he had raised more than $27,000. (After the Capitol assault, the money transfer companies PayPal and Stripe shut down his accounts. Mr. Williams did not return a phone message, but the website for his organization, Joy In Liberty, said it had given out $30,000 to fund transportation for ``deserving patriots.'')
Other rally goers set up fund-raising accounts through the online service GoFundMe; Buzzfeed News cited at least a dozen, and GoFundMe has since closed them.
One of the most conspicuous figures in the Capitol assault--a bare-chested man with a painted face, flag-draped spear and fur hat with horns--was linked to the online fund- raising. A familiar presence at pro-Trump rallies in Phoenix, Jacob Anthony Chansley, a 33-year-old voiceover actor, is known as the Q Shaman. He started a GoFundMe account in December to help pay for transportation to another Trump demonstration in Washington, but the effort reportedly netted him just $10. Mr. Chansley retweeted Mr. Williams's funding offer on Jan. 3, but it is unclear whether he benefited from it.
On Tuesday, the eve of the march, a couple thousand people gathered at Freedom Plaza in Washington for ``The Rally to Save America'' event, permitted as ``The Rally to Revival.'' The disparate interests of those attending were reflected by the speakers: well-known evangelists, alt-right celebrities (Alex Jones of Infowars) and Trump loyalists, including his former national security adviser Michael Flynn and the self-described Republican dirty trickster Roger Stone, both of whom he had pardoned.
The speakers repeatedly encouraged the attendees to see themselves as foot soldiers fighting to save the country. Americans, Mr. Flynn said, were ready to ``bleed'' for freedom.
``The members of the House of Representatives, the members of the United States Senate, those of you who are feeling weak tonight, those of you that don't have the moral fiber in your body, get some tonight,'' he said. ``Because tomorrow, we the people are going to be here and we want you to know we will not stand for a lie.''
Inside the Capitol descends into chaos. It was President Trump's turn. At about noon on Wednesday, he emerged from a viewing party in a tent, strode onto a stage set up in a park just south of the White House and, for more than an hour, delivered a stream of inflammatory words.
He exhorted the crowd of more than 8,000 to march to the Capitol to pressure lawmakers: ``Because you'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong.''
Even before he had finished speaking, people started moving east toward the Capitol. The crowd included supporters who had come by caravan from across the country, Trump flags rippling in the wind, as well as people so moved by the president's appeal for support that they had jumped into their cars and driven for hours.
They traveled from various corners of resentment in 21st- century America. Whether motivated by a sense of economic disenfranchisement or distrust of government, by bigotry, or conspiracy or a belief that Mr. Trump is God's way of preparing for the Rapture, they shared a fealty to the president.
Now the moment had come, a moment that twinned the thrilling with the ominous.
``I'm happy, sad, afraid, excited,'' said Scott Cyganiewicz, 56, a floor installer from Gardner, Mass., as he watched the throngs of Trump loyalists streaming through the streets. ``It's an emotional roller coaster.''
American flags and Trump paraphernalia mingled in the crowd. Credit . . . Pete Marovich for The New York Times. Mr. Cyganiewicz said he was on his way out of town. He did not want to be around if violence broke out. Only a portion of the broader crowd continued onto the Capitol grounds.
Soon word spread that Vice President Mike Pence--who would oversee the pro forma count by Congress of the electoral votes for certification--had announced he would not be complicit in the president's efforts to overturn the election.
``You can imagine the emotion that ran through people when we get that word,'' said Mr. Griffin, the county commissioner from New Mexico, in a video he posted on social media. ``And then we get down to the Capitol and they have all the inauguration set up for Joe Biden.''
He added, ``What do you think was going to happen?''
Many in the crowd spoke portentously of violence--or even of another Civil War. A man named Jeff, who said he was an off-duty police officer from York County, Pa., said he didn't know what would happen after he and his wife Amy reached the Capitol. But he felt ready to participate if something were to erupt.
``There's a lot of people here willing to take orders,'' he said. ``If the orders are given, the people will rise up.''
By the time the bulk of the crowd reached the building, its leading edge had metastasized into an angry mob. A man barked into a megaphone: ``Keep moving forward! Fight for Trump, fight for Trump!''
``Military Tribunals! Hang them!'' shouted someone wearing a cowboy hat.
Arrest Congress!'' screamed a woman in a flag scarf.
People surged past a few Capitol Police officers to bang on the windows and doors. Many eyewitness accounts and videos have since emerged that convey the pandemonium as hundreds of people overwhelmed the inadequate law-enforcement presence. In several instances of role reversal, for example, rioters are seen firing what appeared to be pepper spray at police officers trying to prevent mobs from getting closer to the Capitol Building.
After a few minutes, the crowd broke through and began streaming into an empty office. Glass shards crunched under people's feet, as the scene descended into chaos.
Some stood in awe, while others took action. As one group prepared to break through an entryway, a Trump supporter raised a wine bottle and shouted, ``Whose way?'' To which the crowd responded, ``Our way!''
Confusion reigned. ``Hey what's the Senate side?'' said a tall man in camouflage and sunglasses.
``Where's the Senate? Can somebody Google it?''
All the while, members of The Oath Keepers, a self- proclaimed citizens' militia, seemed to be standing guard--or the transgressors. They wore olive-drab shirts, helmets and patches on their upper-left sleeves that said, ``Guardians of the Republic'' and ``Not on Our Watch.''
American flags flapped beside ``Trump 2020'' flags, and people wearing ``Make America Great Again'' regalia moved beside people wearing anti-Semitic slogans. Chants of ``Hell No, Never Joe'' and ``Stop the Steal'' broke out, as did strains of ``God Bless America'' and ``The Star-Spangled Banner.''
Derrick Evans of West Virginia, who just two months before had been elected as a Republican state delegate, wandered the halls of the Capitol Building, filming himself and joining in the occasional chant. At one point he shouted, ``Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!''
Outside the building, Mr. Griffin, who was once photographed wearing a 10-gallon hat and sitting across from President Trump in the Oval Office, was now gleefully addressing the camera from atop one of the crowded terraces, declaring it ``a great day for America.'' Asserting that ``we came peacefully,'' he was interrupted by a man wearing a jacket with a hand-grenade logo, who said, ``Believe me, we are well armed if we need to be.''
Amid the cheers and whoops of excitement were questions of what to do next. Some can be heard hunting for specific members of congress, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose office was broken into by several people. She and other lawmakers were hiding for fear of their safety.
One image showed a trim man moving through the Senate chamber in full paramilitary regalia: camouflage uniform, Kevlar vest, a mask and baseball cap obscuring his face. He carried a stack of flex cuff--the plastic restraints used by police. The image raised a question yet to be answered: Why carry restraints if not to use them?
Several rioters wielded fire extinguishers. One stood on a balcony on the Capitol building's west side, spraying down on police officers trying to fend off the crowd. Others carried them into the building itself, one into Statuary Hall and another onto the steps outside the Senate Chamber, spraying in the direction of journalists and police officers.
Our president wants us here,'' a man can be heard saying during a livestream video that showed him standing within the Capitol building. ``We wait and take orders from our president.''
Despite his followers' hopes and expectations, President Trump was missing in action as rioters rampaged through the halls of Congress. It would be hours before he eventually surfaced in a somewhat subdued videotaped appeal for them to leave.
``We have to have peace,'' he said. ``So go home, we love you, you're very special.''
Some of Mr. Trump's supporters expressed frustration, even disbelief, that the president seemed to have given up after they had put themselves on the line for him.
Mr. Haag, the retired landscaper, was among the disappointed. Still, he said, the movement will continue even without Mr. Trump.
We are representing the 74 million people who got disenfranchised,'' he said. ``We are still out here. We are a force to be reckoned with. We are not going away.''
One man wandered away from the Capitol in the evening gloom, yelling angrily through a megaphone that Mr. Pence was a coward and, now, Mr. Trump had told everyone ``to just go home.''
Well, he can go home to his Mar-a-Lago estate,'' the man shouted, adding, ``We gotta go back to our businesses that are closed!''
As some rioters face fallout, others mull a repeat. In the aftermath of what Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, called a ``failed insurrection,'' scores of those who responded to the incendiary words of the president now face a reckoning.
A chief target of investigators will be whoever struck Brian Sicknick of the Capitol Police with a fire extinguisher; the 42-year-old officer died Thursday after being injured in the riot. At the same time, authorities are investigating the fatal police shooting of Ashli Babbitt, 35, an Air Force veteran who had joined those breaching the Capitol.
Among those charged so far with federal crimes are Mr. Chansley, the so-called Q Shaman; Mr. Evans, the West Virginia lawmaker--who resigned on Saturday; and Richard Barnett, an Arkansas man who was depicted in a widely circulated photograph sitting with his foot on a desk in Ms. Pelosi's office.
Meanwhile, Mr. Griffin, the commissioner from New Mexico who runs Cowboys for Trump, saw his group's Twitter account suspended and calls for his resignation.
The anger, resentment and conspiracy-laced distrust that led to Wednesday's mayhem did not dissipate with Thursday's dawn. Along with the smashed furniture in the Capitol Building, there were smashed expectations of a continued Trump presidency, of lawmakers held to account, of holy prophecies fulfilled.
Signs of potential violence have already surfaced. Twitter, which terminated Mr. Trump's account on Friday, noted that ``plans for future armed protests have already begun proliferating'' online, including ``a proposed secondary attack on the U.S. Capitol and state capitol buildings on January 17.''
The urge for more civil unrest is being discussed in the usual squalid corners of the internet. Private chat groups on Gab and Parler are peppered with talk of a possible ``Million Militia March'' on Jan. 20 that would disrupt the presidential inauguration of Mr. Biden.
There is chatter about ride shares, where to find lodging in the Washington area--and what to bring. Baseball bats, perhaps, or assault rifles.
``We took the building once,'' one commenter posted, ``we can take it again.''
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, may I ask the gentleman how many more speakers he may have?
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Mr. McGOVERN. We have exhausted all of our speakers.
I thank my friend, the ranking member of the Rules Committee, Mr. Cole, for his friendship and for the way he conducts himself in this Chamber. I know he has great respect for this institution.
Mr. Speaker, it is impossible for me to fully capture the reverence that I have for the United States Capitol. I worked on these grounds starting back when I was a college intern working for Senator George McGovern back in 1977. No relation. Great last name.
Since that time, I have done everything from working as a staffer for Congressman Joe Moakley of Massachusetts to being elected to the United States House of Representatives myself.
But that internship will always be a high point of my life: Coming here for the first time, walking these hallowed Halls, and seeing the glory of American democracy up close.
The idea that someone would incite an out-of-control mob of homegrown fascists and domestic terrorists to desecrate the people's House fills me with a deep sadness for our country. The contempt that these people had for our democracy and our freedom fills me with horror.
What Donald Trump did, encouraging them, fills me with rage not just on behalf of all of those serving here, but all of those who work in these Halls. And I am talking about the reporters, the cafeteria workers, the custodians, the Clerks, the Parliamentarians--I can go on and on and on--and the staff, the Democratic staff, the Republican staff, the nonpartisan support staff, who were terrorized, some hiding under their desks and barricading in their offices.
I was in the Speaker's chair the day this unfolded, and many of the people who are sitting up there now were present at that time. What a horrifying thing for anybody to have to experience.
Now, some of my Republican friends have been trying to lecture us about unity here today after they voted to overturn a free and fair election of the United States of America, but also preaching unity and not acknowledging that, for 4 years, many of them gave oxygen to Donald Trump's conspiracy theories, to the big lies. They have turned the other way in the face of racism and bigotry and how he embraced some of the most intolerant voices in this country. They just let it go.
I will remind everybody here that words have consequences, and ignoring words that are wrong also have consequences. What happened would never have happened if everybody stood up in unity and called out the President when he was not telling the American people the truth, when he was pushing a big lie. We will never have unity without truth and also without accountability.
This week in Congress, we saw the best of us and the worst of us. Some of my colleagues have shown that they will defend this President no matter what he does. There is nothing that he could do that would dissuade them from all-out support. But some are standing up and doing the right thing under tremendous pressure, and I am proud of that and I honor them for their courage.
This impeachment resolution outlines the truth of what Trump did. It is time that this Congress now holds him accountable for his words and for their devastating impact.
Last week, we took an oath to protect this Nation. As history calls on us today, I pray that we all have the moral clarity to uphold it here today.
The material previously referred to by Mr. Cole is as follows: Amendment to House Resolution 41
At the end of the resolution, add the following:
Sec. 5. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the House shall proceed to the consideration in the House of the bill (H.R. 275) to establish the National Commission on the Domestic Terrorist Attack Upon the United States Capitol. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. The bill shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the bill are waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and on any amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Homeland Security; and (2) one motion to recommit.
Sec. 6. Clause 1(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the consideration of H.R. 275.
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Mr. McGOVERN.
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