WA Republican lawmaker cites ‘indisputable’ evidence behind vote for impeachment

Washington Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler joined nine of her Republican colleagues in the House to cast her vote in favor of impeaching President Donald Trump earlier in the week. On Friday, she expanded on the reasoning behind that decision, citing “indisputable and publicly available facts.”

Pair of Washington GOP lawmakers vote to impeach President Trump

Herrera Beutler had previously released a statement outlining her initial reasoning prior to the impeachment vote, stating that she believed the president had “acted against his oath of office.”

She provided more insight into her reasoning Friday, detailing a series of tweets from President Trump leading up to a speech he delivered shortly before violence began at the U.S. Capitol. In one tweet before that rally, the president promised that it would be “wild.”

During his speech, he went on to urge his supporters to “fight much harder” against the certification of the election results.

Rather than take any action to curb the threats, the president at his rally said, “When you catch somebody in a fraud, you are allowed to go by very different rules.” He said “You’ll never take our country back with weakness.”

— Jaime Herrera Beutler (@HerreraBeutler) January 15, 2021

Herrera Beutler went on to point out that Trump’s frequent claims that the election had been stolen from him only served to further foment violence in the weeks and months leading to Jan. 6.

“For months, he insisted the election had been stolen and consistently urged people to ‘fight’ in order to change the results,” she said, detailing a Dec. 18 tweet where Trump had urged his party and supporters to “fight” for him, and to “never give up.”

That all culminated in repeated false claims from Trump that Vice President Mike Pence somehow could overturn the election results as part of the Jan. 6 certification of Electoral College votes.

“On Jan. 5 he tweeted, ‘The Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors,'” Herrera Beutler described. “He told supporters at a Georgia rally that day, ‘I hope Mike Pence comes through for us, I have to tell you. I hope that our great Vice President, our great Vice President, comes through for us. He’s a great guy. Of course if he doesn’t come through I won’t like him quite as much.'”

During the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol building, Trump then tweeted criticism of Pence, saying that he “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution,” after it was made clear that the vice president wouldn’t be attempting to overturn the 2020 election results.

Opinion: WA Republicans share blame for Trump mob’s insurrection

Shortly after that, rioters could be heard chanting “hang Mike Pence” as they stormed the Capitol.

“The commander in chief’s primary job is to protect U.S. citizens. While this mob hunted for Pence, who had fled to a secure location, the only action we know the president took was calling GOP Senators, seeking their support to delay the Electoral College certification,” Herrera Beutler detailed.

Rep. Herrera Beutler was joined by fellow Washington Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse in her vote for impeachment on Wednesday. Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers was the lone vote against impeachment in Washington’s Congressional delegation.

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