Washington, Jan 11 (IANS): The Democrats on Monday asked Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove outgoing US President Donald Trump from office, otherwise they will go ahead with the unprecedented second impeachment of Trump in the last few days of his term.
Even as the Democrats unveiled a single article of impeachment charging Trump with "incitement of insurrection", the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a copy of a resolution, calling on Pence to act.
Accusing Trump of encouraging "rioters and insurrectionists to 'march on the Capitol' and 'fight'" last Wednesday, the resolution seeks Pence to "declare what is obvious to a horrified nation: that the President is unable to successfully discharge the duties and powers of his office".
It also charges Trump with "at least 3 attempts to intervene in the lawful vote counting and certification process in Georgia".
If no action is taken on the resolution, Democrats have signalled their intention to impeach President Trump instead.
The impeachment resolution cites Trump's repeated unsubstantiated claims that he won the November elections, his speech in Washington on the day of the riot, and his plea with Georgia's top voting official to "find" more Republican votes even after the tally had been finalised, the BBC reported.
"In all this, President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of government. He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States," it said.