After Impeachment Can a President Run Again

U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett supported President Donald Trump on Wednesday's impeachment, just the Knoxville Republican doesn't expect the president will be a political force for long.

"I don't meet him coming back to run for president at that stage," Burchett told Knox News immediately after he cast his vote. "I simply think the country volition move on."

More:How Tennessee's congressional delegation voted on a 2d impeachment of President Donald Trump

Nigh a week to the minute after insurrectionists supporting Trump stormed the Capitol with the president'southward encouragement, Burchett joined 196 fellow Republicans to vote confronting impeaching him. The opposition didn't matter. 10 Republicans joined the Firm'due south Democrats to vote 232 to 197 in favor of impeachment.

It was the second fourth dimension the Business firm has impeached the president, and the 2d time Burchett voted to oppose it.

During Midweek's interview with Knox News, Burchett besides explained why he voted against the certification of the Electoral College in Arizona and Pennsylvania concluding week.

The following is the question-and-answer session with a reporter, edited for brevity.

You just bandage your vote for impeachment. Why did you vote no?

"I think information technology was incredibly rushed. Last time it took weeks, if non months (to reach an impeachment hearing) ... Information technology wasn't a legitimate process. In that location weren't any hearings and at that place was no real debate. I think information technology'due south just a bad procedure and sets a horrible, horrible precedent."

You said Trump showed "extremely poor leadership" last calendar week. Should he be allowed to continue to serve or exist allowed to serve again in federal office?

"(Bourgeois legal expert) Alan Dershowitz said he doesn't call back you can be impeached later you're out of role. Politics is a lifetime. I don't see him coming back to run for president at that phase. I but think the country will move on. Four weeks is a lifetime in politics, and four years — a lot of things can happen between now and then."

But do you remember he should be allowed to serve again after what's happened in the last calendar week and the last few years?

"That's not for me to say if he'due south allowed to. I mean, if he'south immune to legally, he'due south allowed to, only if the law says he tin can't, and so no, I don't think he should."

Editor's notation: The president could exist barred past the Senate from filling public office in the future, but merely if he'south convicted first of the impeachment charge. In other words, House members initiate the decision about whether Trump is allowed to run for role over again through their impeachment vote.

What gives you confidence that the president wouldn't practice something or effort to do something that equals terminal week's riot, or something fifty-fifty worse than that, before he leaves office?

"Nothing gives me more confidence than Joe Biden doing something his first minute (in office). I mean, that'due south why there's a checks-and-balance system in this country. You don't just snap your fingers and it happens. We make glaciers look similar the Indy 500. You know, we just don't move that fast, and I don't encounter anything happening."

Do yous think the checks-and-balance system has worked to restrain the president?

"I think it has. I hateful, we're withal a commonwealth. I just went and voted ... The organization however works."

Earlier today, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the president bears responsibility for last calendar week's set on and said he should have immediately denounced the mob. Practise you lot think the president is to blame for the riot?

"I think the president could've called it off. Once he saw the crowd in front end of the Capitol, I call up he should have (said something). I think he bears responsibleness there. But ultimately information technology's the responsibility of the thugs that were climbing the walls and breaking the glass and coming in and assaulting officers. They're responsible.

"In this land, we seem to accept forgotten about personal responsibility and everybody gets a trophy and everybody has somebody else to blame, but ultimately those folks that I saw in the mob, they're the ones responsible. You lot know, they can be on one side of that gate and the fence hurling insults and screaming, doing all that and proverb ugly things ... just one time they cross those barriers they became criminals."

Did he assistance incite an coup?

I don't believe and so, no.

What'due south the difference between an insurrection and what happened last week?

"You're saying that the president told those people to come up here and ultimately they bear that responsibility ... and (authorities) take arrested over 60 people and they're analyzing the film, which I'thou glad they did considering it was an assault on our commonwealth."

The president did call them upward there though, to be fair. For weeks he had said that Jan. 6 was the engagement to circle and fifty-fifty that morn he said they should come on down ...

"There's nothing incorrect with that. At that place's aught wrong with coming to our nation'south Capitol. We host people every solar day."

Over lx courts, the U.S. Supreme Court and Attorney Full general Neb Barr and others have dismissed the idea that there was widespread voting fraud, even so you voted to overturn a free election in Arizona and Pennsylvania. Tin can you talk almost that?

"I call up our state needs to have trust in all elections.

"You know, in Florida in 2000 there were objections raised by Democrats and Florida'due south legislature — which is what the federal police force says, the state legislature is who is supposed to address laws and individual states — but we had unelected bureaucrats, we had judges and all these other people that were making interpretations and rulings, and that's wrong.

"To put that in perspective, in Florida when they had Bush 5. Gore, they had all those bug, the hanging chads and all that, and the land legislature got in and changed the laws. And we knew who won the presidency and the senators and all the races were decided that dark. ... Today, they're nevertheless counting votes in New York for a congressional race. So, I call up that bears in mind that we demand to accost these things at the state level and correct them as the federal police force, which I think is a very good law. Merely in several, near states they did not follow that law."

Fifty-fifty though elected leaders in those states said that they did ...

"It was never near overturning the election. If in that location's voter fraud, then we need to address it and that's why people in this country don't trust these elections because at that place is voter fraud, and it'southward been turned around (to where) they said there was no voter fraud.

"They didn't say that ... (they said) there was non plenty to overturn the election. I don't intendance. If in that location'south 1 or there's a million we demand to address that. Because any time a vote is stolen it ways somebody else'due south vote was canceled out."

Burchett went on to say in that location should be bipartisan hearings about voting fraud in last twelvemonth's election.

Progressives take said y'all and your GOP colleagues bear responsibility considering you voted in back up of the Electoral Higher objections. Why is that off-white or non?

"The left could accept been rioting confronting me and I wouldn't accept changed my mind. I'm non going to yield to a bunch of thugs, whether they're on the right or the left, they're criminals and I don't attach to any of that. I had my mind made up before that we had improprieties and in that location were irregularities ... The riots didn't make the election problems disappear, and I'm not going to be intimidated, regardless whether it'south some radical group threatening my life back dwelling or a anarchism and mob upwardly here."

Impeached again

Ten Republicans broke from their political party — and the president — to join Democrats in approving the single article of impeachment on Wed. Trump will leave ability equally the first president in the nation's 245-year history to be impeached twice.

Business firm Speaker Nancy Pelosi will decide when to transmit the commodity to the Senate, which must either dismiss the charge or hold a trial. At least 67 of the 100 senators are needed for conviction, which would require Trump's removal from office.

Contributing: Usa TODAY

brownriggouggialk.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/politics/2021/01/14/trump-impeachment-tim-burchett/4150310001/

Share this post