22 retired GOP members of Congress call for Trump’s impeachment

Nearly two dozen Republican former members of Congress are calling for President Trump’s impeachment Monday in a joint statement accusing him of “actively orchestrat[ing] an insurrection on a separate but coequal branch of government.”

The GOP push comes the same day House Democrats unveiled an article of impeachment against Trump over his role in Wednesday’s riot at the Capitol, which forced lawmakers to hide in secure areas and eventually cost the lives of at least five people.

In a statement released by the Project on Government Insight, Republicans including former Reps. Barbara Comstock (Va.), David Jolly (Fla.), Charlie Dent (Pa.) and Tom Coleman (Mo.) urged the members of their party in the House and Senate to remove Trump from office and send a message that violence against Congress will not be tolerated.

“Surely, the Founders would be sickened by the thought of such actions. As members of the branch that was under attack — not just politically but physically — you must remove the president from office. Congress must send a strong and clear message not just to this president but future presidents that this type of behavior will not be tolerated or accepted. Franky, the message also needs to be made clear to the American people that there is no place in politics for political violence,” the statement reads.

The letter also dismissed arguments from those who have said that impeaching a president so close to the end of his term is unfeasible.

“While President Trump is scheduled to leave office on January 20, Congress should still stand up for itself and the Constitution. Knowing the president will be leaving office in less than two weeks should not be an excuse for not impeaching,” it said.

“In fact, the House of Representatives could still impeach President Trump after he leaves office. Doing so could help pave the way to prevent him from serving in any other federal elective or appointive office,” it continued.

Members of Congress in both parties have called for the president to resign or be removed from office in the wake of Wednesday’s violence; a handful of GOP senators have already indicated that they would vote to impeach the president should the House pass its article of impeachment this week.

The president was previously impeached by the House but acquitted last year in a Senate trial over the scandal surrounding his conversations with Ukraine’s president about potential investigations into his political opponents.