By Mike Kinney
Congressman Mark DeSaulnier today said the 25th Amendment “should be immediately invoked to remove the President from control” following the stunning siege of the U.S. Capitol Building by Trump supporters on Wednesday. And if “the Vice President and Cabinet refuse to take action, Donald Trump should be impeached as rapidly as possible,” DeSaulnier added in a statement.
“Yesterday, the U.S. Capitol was invaded by a mob that was quite deliberately incited by the current President of the United States,” said DeSaulnier, whose district encompasses much of Contra Costa County. “It is a miracle that there was not greater carnage and loss of life. Donald Trump should not be in office for one moment longer, and should never again be allowed to hold office. He has defiled his sacred oath.”
DeSaulnier is among a growing number of congresspeople calling for the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from office in the wake of Wednesday’s Capitol siege, which resulted in the fatal shooting of a Trump supporter, the death of a U.S. Capitol Police officer, the deaths of three others due to medical emergencies and dozens of injuries. Trump is accused of inciting his supporters at a rally during which he repeated unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
At the time of the siege, DeSauliner was inside a U.S. Capitol room awaiting the start of Congressional debate on ratifying the election results, which confirmed Joe Biden as the 46th President. As DeSaulnier has underlying medical conditions, he was self-isolating from other members on the floor. The room where he and members of his staff were waiting had a view of the National Mall, the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, and of some of the shocking events that unfolded.
DeSaulnier, who provided social media video updates about the incident, said he watched President Trump give his speech to supporters and noted, “They started to come up here.”
“They had breached the barricades that were down on the curb by the front of the lawn,” he said. “Then they came up and forced their way past more barricades, and came up the steps trying to get over the fence on this side. There was a pretty good contingent of Capitol Police able to keep them from this entry way that is below me here.”
An announcement over the intercom instructed people inside the U.S. Capitol to shelter in place and lock the doors.
“I wasn’t too concerned until I could hear angry voices, scuffling and heard some people running by trying the doors which were locked,” he said. “Then I realized quite incredibly that the mob had gotten to sanatorium of self-government of America and democracy which they were hell bent on destroying it. We stayed and we were quiet.”
DeSaulnier said while the law enforcement response to the siege should be reviewed, he saw U.S. Capitol police personnel “fully engaged” in protecting people in the building. They escorted DeSaulnier and his staff to a secure place, where they stayed for several hours and followed the news.
“What we have seen from him over the last four years and beyond is a clear disrespect for rule of law and the Constitution except as it suits him,” DeSaulnier stated in today’s statement. “We cannot let this go. History will not forgive him, and if we are silent it will not forgive us.”