Michigan members of a Catholic religious institute are calling on lawmakers to immediately remove President Donald Trump from office following the deadly riot that shook the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
Members of the Adrian Dominican Sisters -- a congregation of more than 500 Dominican Sisters with leaders operating out of Adrian, Michigan -- argue that the insurrection at the nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6 was incited by Trump and that he must be removed from office to prevent him from further exercising the “fearsome powers he holds.”
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“Today, with heavy hearts, we depart from our accustomed role of issue advocacy to take the unprecedented step of adding our voice, as religious leaders, to those of others in the civic life of our nation who call for the immediate removal of the sitting President of the United States,” the Sisters wrote in a statement Friday.
“The alarming, heart-sickening and treacherous insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 not only endangered our elected leaders and their staffs but also held hostage our democratic process of ratifying the election of the President of the United States,” the statement continues. “The attack on the Capitol left five persons dead and caused grave injury to others. Carried out by Confederate-flag waving white supremacists, conspiracy theorists, and anti-Semitic extremists, among others, the riot was incited by President Donald J. Trump who exhorted his supporters at a rally near the White House to march to the Capitol, crying, ‘You will never take back our country with weakness.’”
On Wednesday, a mob of pro-Trump extremists rioted outside of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. before invading the buildings while Congress was in session, forcing lawmakers to flee in search of safety. The rioters had an hours-long run of the Capitol buildings, during which many people were injured. A total of five people reportedly died during or as a result of the attack, including a woman pro-Trump supporter who was shot inside the Capitol, and a Capitol police officer.
Several lawmakers from Michigan and across the nation have called for the removal of Trump from office since Wednesday, sharing the Sisters’ view that the president’s rhetoric incited, encouraged and excused the violent behaviors seen from his supporters in Washington. A number of Michigan representatives have called on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office and assume his duties for the remainder of his term.
The Adrian Dominican Sisters -- who founded and sponsor Siena Heights University in Michigan -- specifically singled out senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow and Rep. Tim Walberg on Friday to take action to remove President Trump from office. The president’s term will expire in 12 days when President-elect Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20.
See: Trump tweets he won’t attend Biden inauguration ceremony
No formal action has been taken to remove the president from his position as of Friday afternoon, but House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi has announced plans for impeachment. Pelosi and Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer have also called on Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, but action by Pence or the Cabinet now appears unlikely -- especially after two top officials, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, suddenly resigned in the aftermath of the violence at the Capitol and would no longer be in the Cabinet to make such a case.
Several Cabinet members and White House employees have resigned from their posts following the deadly siege of the U.S. Capitol. President Trump has since publicly condemned the violence in Washington, and even conceded to President-elect Biden for the first time on Thursday evening.
Read the entire statement from the Adrian Dominican Sisters below.
Pelosi seeks to curb Trump’s nuclear power, plans to impeach (AP)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday she has spoken to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff about preventing an “unhinged” President Donald Trump from ordering military actions including a possible nuclear strike in his final days and hours at the White House.
Pelosi said in a statement to colleagues that she spoke with Gen. Mark Milley “to discuss available precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes” for nuclear war. She said Milley assured her steps are in place.
The president has sole authority in the U.S. government to order the launch of a nuclear weapon. But a military commander could refuse the order if it were determined to be illegal.
Pelosi said the situation of “this unhinged president could not be more dangerous.”
Pelosi was meeting with the House Democratic caucus Friday to consider impeachment proceedings against the president as soon as next week after the deadly siege of the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob that shocked the nation and the world.
Pelosi told Democrats that the top military official assured her steps are in place to prevent a Trump nuclear launch.