House Impeaches President Trump by 232-197 Vote

Other items in this column include:

*U.S. Attorney, District Attorney Warn Against Inauguration-Related Violence
*Anti-Defamation League Urges FBI Investigate Gab’s Role in Assault on Capitol
*County Supervisors to Try to Exceed State-Mandated Reductions in Greenhouse Gasses

By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO — After more than three hours of televised, often heated debate, a united Democratic party, aided by 10 Republicans, impeached President Donald Trump for an unprecedented second time.  The vote on Wednesday, January 13, showed 232 members of Congress in favor of impeachment, and 197 members, all of them Republicans, opposed.  The matter goes next for trial by the U.S. Senate which Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said will not convene for formal business until January 19, one day before President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are scheduled to be inaugurated.

Following the vote, Trump delivered a televised statement saying that no supporter of his should endorse violence, and urged that there be “no violence, no law breaking, no vandalism of any kind.”  He urged the country to “overcome the passions of the moment and come together as one American people.”  In his short address, he did not directly address his impeachment nor mention or congratulate Biden.

During the House debate, I counted 14 members of the Jewish community and three members of Congress from San Diego County who spoke on the floor, with newly elected Democratic Congresswoman Sara Jacobs’ one-minute speech falling within both categories.  She commented: “Madam Speaker, the response to political violence must always be accountability.  Without accountability, more violence will follow.  I learned that working at the United Nations and the State Department in conflict settings around the world.  And the United States Congress is now a conflict setting.  A violent mob threatened our lives in this chamber, and almost succeeded, incited by the President of the United States, who broadcast lies about the outcome of the election.  We must hold this President accountable.  It is the only way to protect our democracy.”

Other representatives from San Diego County who spoke on the floor were Republican Darrell Issa and Democrat Mike Levin.  The other two San Diego County representatives, Democrats Scott Peters and Juan Vargas, did not speak but voted, like Levin and Jacobs, in favor of impeachment.  In contrast, Issa said that President Trump was not responsible for the murderous attack on the U.S. Capitol that occurred Jan. 6, leaving five people dead in its wake.  He said Trump had called for peaceful protest, and the riots that ensued were not his work, but that of anarchists.

The other Jewish members of Congress who spoke included Republican Lee Zeldin of New York, and the following dozen Democrats: Jerrold Nadler of New York, who served as floor manager for the pro-impeachment forces; Adam Schiff of California, David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts; Steve Cohen of Tennessee; Andy Levin of Michigan, Elaine Luria of Virginia, Brad Sherman of California, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz of Florida, Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, and Kathy Manning of North Carolina.

Much of the debate was repetitive with Democrats arguing that Trump’s refusal to recognize the legitimacy of the presidential election won by Joe Biden, his assembling of a rally at the Washington Ellipse to “Stop the Steal” and his admonition to the crowd to “fight like hell” amounted to incitement to riot.  On the other hand, Republicans argued that Trump’s also used the word “peaceful;” that there was no evidence presented that the rioters were actually motivated by Trump as opposed to being self-motivated, and that with just a week remaining in Trump’s term, impeachment amounts to a pointless act of political retribution that will further divide, rather than unite, the country.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, was floor manager for President Trump’s defenders and the Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) was the wrap-up speaker for the minority.  He said political violence has to stop, regardless of whether it comes from the right wing as it did in the Capitol invasion or from the left-wing who had violent protests in cities throughout the country during the summer in the wake of police killings of unarmed African-Americans.  Quoting President Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address during the closing days of the American Civil War, Scalise said the Congress should adopt a policy of “malice toward none, charity toward all.”  Rather than impeach the President, Scalise said, Congress should unite to “bind up the nation’s wounds.”

House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland wrapped up the case for impeachment, on several occasions quoting Republican Congressional Caucus Chair Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, who was one of the 10 Republicans voting for impeachment.  Cheney, who did not speak during the debate, earlier in the week released a statement that Trump deserved to be impeached because he “summoned the mob, assembled the mob” and lit the flame of that attack” in what she described as “the greatest betrayal by the President in United States history.’

While the Congress debated, armed National Guardsmen stood on guard at the Capitol’s perimeter, preventing any possible recurrence of the Jan. 6 attack.

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U.S. Attorney, District Attorney Warn Against Inauguration-Related Violence

U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer and San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan jointly warned on Wednesday against anyone planning inauguration-related violence.  They said they were acting on information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation that “armed protests” are being planned by extremists in all 50 states.

Said Brewer: “We are issuing the strongest warning possible to anyone who is planning violence in connection with the inauguration. If you repeat the despicable behavior we saw at the Capitol last week, and if you disrespect our great democracy by bringing harm to people or property in a display of hatred and rage, the consequences will be swift and strong. You will be found, and you will be charged. Don’t let that become part of your story.”

Stephan added: “I want to be clear that my office will prosecute those who break state laws when they choose violence, hate, assault or vandalism to harm our community—including attacks on fellow citizens and peace officers. I call on our community members to work hand in hand with law enforcement to keep our neighborhoods safe and to honor our democracy by reporting suspicious activity. If you see something, say something.”

Both law enforcement officials condemned the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol that occurred while Congress was meeting in joint session to certify the electoral college compilation of votes in the presidential election.  ““The insurrection that occurred in the U.S. Capitol last week was a despicable, anti-American attack on the democratic fabric of our nation,” Stephan said. ” It’s a wakeup call that locally, we must work together to keep our community safe, including alerting law enforcement to the threat of violence.”

Brewer said: ““The attack on Congress was a shameful and reprehensible affront to our democracy. Our Constitution protects the rights of free speech and assembly, but it does not protect mob violence, threats to harm public officials, assaults on law enforcement officers, or damage to government buildings.”

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Anti-Defamation League Urges FBI Investigate Gab’s Role in Assault on Capitol

In an open letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Anti-Defamation League urged a criminal investigation be initiated to determine the role the Gab social media platform may have played in the assault on the Capitol.

Following is the text of that open letter:

The January 6 attack at our nation’s Capitol was deliberate and coordinated. Individuals who broke the law must be held accountable, but we cannot ignore that social media platforms, like Gab, may well bear a measure of criminal responsibility for the attack as well. To the extent Gab intentionally served as a forum for people to plan, coordinate, engage in or otherwise facilitate the criminal activity that took place on January 6, a Department of Justice investigation is warranted. The platform—as well as any other tech platform that may have undertaken or facilitated such actions—must be held accountable. To the extent Gab executives were aware and intended for the platform to be used to carry out violations of federal criminal law, such individuals must also be held accountable.

In making this recommendation to the Department of Justice, we believe the following information is relevant:

According to at least one report, directions for which streets to take to avoid the police and which tools to bring to help pry open doors were exchanged in comments on Gab leading up to the attack. Additionally, the report said that multiple people posted about carrying guns into the halls of Congress.

ADL’s Center on Extremism is aware that Gab CEO and founder Andrew Torba sent a message to “Gab News” subscribers the day before the attack saying: “If you are heading to DC tomorrow remember to record video footage in landscape mode while filming. Document as much as you can and please know that your content is safe on Gab and Gab TV. Big Tech will undoubtably [sic] be censoring any and all footage to downplay the massive turnout and hide any communist violence that arises. If you are unable to attend, Gab is the one place on the internet where you know you can find the real story of what is happening throughout the day uncensored and ‘fact check’ free.”
On the day of the attack, Torba posted on Gab: “In a system with rigged elections there are no longer any viable political solutions.” The phrase “there is no political solution” is used in online accelerationist white supremacist circles to further the idea that the US government system is rotten, democratic processes for change are futile and therefore the system should be destroyed. The phrase embraces political violence as the only valid response.
Before hundreds of rioters broke into the Capitol building, Torba reportedly posted on his platform: “would be a real shame if the people outside stormed the Senate.”
We need to determine whether white supremacist and extremist rioters used Gab’s services to plan their attack and communicate during the ongoing illegal activities of January 6. Through force, rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol Building to obstruct Congress’ proceeding to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. These individuals engaged in several clear violations of federal criminal law.

Criminal investigations should not be entered into lightly, particularly with regard to online platforms where the values of free speech rightly hold great sway. There is a considerable amount of hateful content online that should be removed by platforms under appropriate content moderation policies but does not rise to a level warranting a criminal investigation. Acknowledging that criminal investigations at times have been weaponized in this country to suppress free speech and to subvert social justice movements, ADL does not lightly call for such an investigation. But those who planned and used violence, storming the Capitol and seeking to stop certification of a legitimate election, were not engaged in constitutionally protected activity. They were engaged in dangerous criminal activity. Their actions predictably and horribly led to death, and if a platform intentionally facilitated such unlawful conduct it may itself have engaged in criminal acts for which it should be held accountable. That is what must be determined.

In light of this, ADL calls on the Department of Justice and the FBI to launch a criminal investigation into Gab and CEO Andrew Torba to determine whether the platform intentionally aided, conspired with, or directed individuals to carry out the January 6 attack. We note that the immunity from liability that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act affords internet companies does not apply to federal criminal law.

In addition to Gab, we call on the Department of Justice and the FBI to launch criminal investigations into any other social media platforms or websites where evidence emerges that might lead them to a reasonable belief that the platform or its employees intended to aid and abet the January 6th rioters. Websites and apps such as thedonald.win and Parler provided forums for extremists to communicate, organize, and mobilize for the events of January 6. We urge any investigation also to consider whether these services, or others, bear any legal culpability for the U.S. Capitol Building attack.

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County Supervisors to Try to Exceed State-Mandated Reductions in Greenhouse Gasses

County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer and  Chairman Nathan Fletcher have persuaded the 5-member board to unanimously work toward reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the county as part of a new Climate Action Plan (CAP).   According to Fletcher, “the goal is to create and enact a CAP that not only reaches, but exceeds state-mandated GHG reductions.”  In tandem, the supervisors also voted to integrate the county government’s climate action plan with that of various regional authorities.

The resolution adopted by the board directed county staff to “develop a Climate Action Plan for the County of San Diego that is comprehensive and legally enforceable, does not rely on the purchase of carbon offsets to meet emission reduction targets, uses updated data and modeling, emphasizing environmental justice and equity, is shaped by community input, and will achieve at a minimum Senate Bill 32 greenhouse gas emissions reductions of 40% below the 1990 level by 2030 and establish actions to meet a goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2045 (in line with Executive Order B-55-18).”  In pursuance of that, the resolution, directed county administrative staff to “conduct stakeholder engagement, hold public hearings,  and undertake environmental review” and to report progress on a bi-monthly basis.

Lawson-Remer commented, “We face a climate crisis and now we have new leadership committed to climate action.  This is a climate-conscious Board of Supervisors committed to decarbonizing San Diego as quickly as possible, in a way that creates green and sustainable jobs and prioritizes social equity.  It is essential that we craft a climate action plan that is effective and innovative — and that can serve as a national model for how we can address the climate crisis.”

Fletcher, who also serves as a member of the California Air Resources Board, commented: “Given the dire impacts that climate change is projected to have on our community, we need immediate action.  A net-zero carbon economy is achievable and will make our region more prosperous, more equitable and more livable.”

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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World.  He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com