Toomey says Trump should resign and could face ‘criminal liability’
Sen. Pat Toomey said Sunday that President Donald Trump should resign from office and could face “criminal liability” after the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol, becoming the second Republican senator to call for the President’s resignation.
“I think at this point, with just a few days left, it’s the best path forward, the best way to get this person in the rearview mirror for us that could happen immediately,” the Pennsylvania Republican told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.” “I’m not optimistic it will. But I think that would be the best way forward.”
Toomey joins a growing number of Republicans who want the President out of office before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in as the next president on January 20. He is now the second Republican US senator to call for Trump’s resignation. On Friday, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski told the Anchorage Daily News, “I want him out. He has caused enough damage.”
On Saturday, Toomey said that he thinks Trump has “committed impeachable offenses,” but that he is not certain attempting to remove the President days before he leaves office is the right action to take. He doubled down on that point Sunday but also said it’s possible Trump could face consequences for inciting the riot.
“I think there is also a possibility that there is criminal liability here. I’m not a lawyer. I’m not a prosecutor,” he told Tapper. “So … you know, the standard for a conviction in a criminal prosecution is quite high.”
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican who has also called for Trump’s resignation, said Sunday that the President is responsible for the siege at the Capitol, adding that he is “embarrassed and ashamed” of some GOP members of Congress who continue to support Trump after the deadly riot.
“There is no question in my mind that he was — he was responsible for inciting this, this riotous mob. This was an insurrection,” Hogan told Tapper on the same program Sunday. “You know, they stormed the Capitol, and threatened to kill the vice president and put the lives of people in danger. And he had a huge part, a huge role to play in that.”
House Democrats are set to introduce their impeachment resolution against Trump on Monday. A draft of the resolution, which consists of one article of impeachment for inciting an insurrection, already has more than 190 co-sponsors. By impeaching and removing Trump, even at this late stage of his term, the Senate could subsequently vote to disqualify him from ever holding federal office again, taking an extraordinary action against a former president.
Sen. Joe Manchin told Tapper on Sunday “there’s no doubt” Trump should be impeached, but that he’s not sure the move would be practical.
“There is no doubt about it he should be impeached, basically. But if we can’t do it — you have to be practical about what we are doing now, Jake,” the West Virginia Democrat said. “You got two paths to go. We are about ready to install a new government. If I was Joe Biden, I’d want to be able to put my government together, start putting confidence back into the American people that we can govern ourselves and be the beacon of light for the whole country and the whole world. That’s what we need to do.”
This is story has been updated with additional details Sunday.
