Republican Sen. Pat Toomey (PA) said on Saturday that he believed President Donald Trump had “committed impeachable offenses” after the President incited what turned into a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol earlier this week.
“I do think the President committed impeachable offenses,” Toomey told Fox News on Saturday.
"I do think the president committed impeachable offenses," GOP Senator Pat Toomey (PA) told Fox News on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/o6TSLVzULQ
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) January 9, 2021
The comments come after House Democrats announced that 180 House members had cosponsored a four-page draft article of impeachment against President Trump, that cited “incitement of insurrection” after Trump urged his supporters to descend on the U.S. Capitol in what became an attack that left five people, including a Capitol police officer dead.
“I don’t know what they are going to send over,” Toomey said of the draft article of impeachment, adding that he was concerned that Democrats might “politicize” the effort.
The Pennsylvania lawmaker said although he agreed the offenses were reason enough for impeachment he was’t sure if the effort to impeach would ultimately be “practical or possible.”
“I’m not clear that’s the best path forward,” he added.
Toomey was among the senators who rejected efforts by GOP colleagues to challenge Electoral College votes in his state during the joint congressional session on Wednesday that was disrupted by the violent mob of Trump’s supporters who raided the building.
On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had distributed a memo obtained by the Washington Post noting that the upper chamber would not reconvene for substantive business until its members returned from recess on Jan. 19, just a day before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
On Friday, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) became among the first Republicans in Congress to call on Trump to resign.
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) separately told CBS in a Friday interview that he would “definitely consider” the House’s effort to impeach the President adding that he believes Trump “disregarded his oath of office.”
Sasse had previously issued an open letter to his constituents saying he was discouraging his colleagues from backing the charade on Wednesday to object to Electoral College votes from some states, suggesting the effort which advanced false claims of fraud was antithetical to democracy and “a dangerous ploy.”
