would be divisive.
A reason for not impeaching Trump
by Congressman Brady
| Kevin Brady Member of Congress 8th District of Texas Deputy Whip |  | Ranking Member, Committee on Ways and Means Joint Committee on Taxation |
January 15, 2021 |
Thank you for sharing your thoughts regarding impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump. I condemn the violent events that took place at the Capitol building on January 6, 2021 and individuals who participated in these events should be prosecuted to the fullest extent under the law. However, any effort to remove President Trump from office will only further divide our country in ways the proponents have failed to fully consider. I will not support impeachment of President Donald Trump.
On January 6, 2021, tens of thousands protested what they perceived to have been election fraud and the failure of so many states to conduct an election in accordance with their own laws. Of the over 100,000 protesters who came to Washington that day to show support for the President, most were peaceful. They gathered near the White House, listened to the President speak and returned to their homes. Unfortunately, a significant number made their way to the Capitol and once there, several hundred rioters, looters, and vandals breached the barriers, broke windows and violently forced their way past police officers injuring many in the process. The violent events that took place were unacceptable and shameful and led to the death of five individuals. One of those who died was U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who valiantly and courageously gave his life to protect the men and women in the United States Capitol. In response to this tragedy, Speaker Pelosi has urged Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment on the grounds that President Trump is unfit to serve as the President of the United States. Further, Speaker Pelosi introduced one article of impeachment, asking for the removal of President Trump for inciting an insurrection.
Those calling for impeachment or invoking the 25th Amendment in response to President Trump’s statements this week are themselves engaging in intemperate and inflammatory language and calling for action that is not only irresponsible but could well incite further violence. President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to bring America together and be the President of all Americans. With less than eight days until his inauguration, President Trump cannot be removed from office in the next week. President-elect Biden should lead, and he should reject calls to go down this ill-considered path which will only serve to further divide the country.
We have great and important tasks to accomplish soon. We must focus on defeating Covid, rebuilding our economy, and uniting Americans around our shared ideals and principles. I am committed to working together with President-elect Biden to do just that. Thank you for letting me know your opinion. Let’s keep in touch, and if I can be of help in the future, don’t hesitate to let me know.
Sincerely,
Kevin Brady
U.S. Representative
Eighth District of Texas
The Response to Congressman Brady January 17, 2021
For a man who wins his district by 90%, I am astounded in your statements of who has divisive rhetoric. For four years, because certain Americans have wished for equal justice or medical care equity, the man you are defending , as well as many who supported him in the Legislature, have divided the nation by vilifying fellow Americans calling them radical leftists and communists. This to condition, hold close and incite Trump’s base of voters. Those very voters he threatens to and has unleashed against any GOP politician that would dare to temper him as he desires more power.
Those who have been arrested for storming and attacking the Capital in support of Trump we find are not just fringe loners or isolated white power radicals. They are Real Estate Agents, State Legislatures, ex-military officers, active duty police officers, corporate lawyers and Olympic gold medal winners. Calling these Republican voters as just ‘rioters, looters, and vandals’ and dismissing the underlying reasons that they found themselves breaking the law is at best ingenuous.
My original discussion was not that Trump needed to be removed for political reasons. It was because I realized and even wrote about it in my blog back in 2015, the warning signs of this ‘Man who would be King.’ He used the political process for personal gain and has himself become hypnotized with his power. He turned decent Republicans, some maybe even in your district in support of his cause for this power, into criminals with his destructive rhetoric.
Trump has become the ‘ mystical medicine man’ to Republicans as Carl Jung’s depiction of Hitler was for the Germans. You likely do not agree but ask yourself how such upstanding individuals found themselves marching to the Capital and rushing police officers? Why did they find themselves justified in walking past the broken glass and destroyed doors into the Capitol while others were yelling for the hanging of Vice President Pence. Why did they not do as you termed, just listened ‘to the President speak and returned to their homes?’ They were asked to march of the Capitol by Trump and said in his mystical way, He would protect them ; ‘I will be there with you’
It was because of this ability to propagandize destructive rhetoric and the effects on the Republican party with its 72 million voters that I asked for his removal from the ability to hold office. The continuation of turning the Republican party into this violent arm of his must not be allowed to progress over the next four years. Trump must not be allowed to gather campaign money for his persona profit in a feign for a 2024 election run.
Republican party policies over the years have benefitted myself, no doubt. I would live peacefully as my office colleagues would extol the benefits of Republican policies and senior management would support benefits for Republican candidates including yourself. It was part of the process of growing American values and our democratic nation. Of course, I do not agree with some of the Republican social policies from a standpoint of how God interacts with individuals and that the Government cannot and should not attempt to make that choice for the individual in some vain attempt to provide for their salvation. I do believe in the right of the individual to pursue their own life and their own happiness in the liberty of our Democratic Republic. I do believe this is best done by the representative government of the people of this nation as a whole.
In closing, let me rephrase my original correspondence. I do fear for the destruction of the Republican party, even if you do not, and with it the danger to our Democratic Republic by this man’s quest for power. The most vivid example might be found in the difference between the 2016 Republican platform and that of 2020.
We affirm — as did the Declaration of Independence: that all are created equal, endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Vs
…had the Platform Committee been able to convene in 2020, would have undoubtedly unanimously agreed to reassert the Party’s strong support for President Donald Trump and his Administration
The Republican Party cannot become the party of one man.
ABSOLUTA LIBERTAS 