John,

The death toll from Wednesday's insurrection continues to grow. A U.S. Capitol Police officer who was injured amid Wednesday’s takeover of the U.S. Capitol died Thursday night.¹ The death of Officer Brian D. Sicknick marks the 5th person who died as a result of the violent insurrection that further stained Trump's presidency and our democracy.

On Wednesday, as the U.S. Senate prepared to confirm the Electoral College Count—the final formal step of electing Joe Biden as our next President—Trump incited a right-wing mob to march on Capitol Hill.

We all know the tragic result. And Donald Trump must be held accountable and immediately removed from office.

We cannot merely stand on the sidelines and await a potential resignation from Trump, and we can't take the chance of leaving him in office until January 20th. All federal officials with the constitutional power to remove Donald Trump from office must do so immediately. This means either impeachment by Congress or the use of the 25th Amendment by the Vice President and the Cabinet. Add your name!

Moments before Trump's insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol, Trump spoke to them directly, saying, "All of us here today do not want to see our election victory stolen by a bold and radical left Democrats which is what they are doing and stolen by the fake news media. That is what they have done and what they are doing. We will never give up. We will never concede. It doesn't happen. You don't concede when there's theft involved. Our country has had enough. We will not take it anymore, and that is what this is all about."²

Trump's term ends on January 20th. But no one can predict what Trump may try to do before he leaves office. We can't allow Trump to remain President to issue blanket pardons to the violent mobs that stormed the Capitol. We can't allow Trump to further undermine the institutions of our democracy. We can’t allow him to put more lives at risk, which he did by refusing to direct the Department of Defense to approve Washington, DC’s request to activate National Guard troops to support the defense of the Capitol building. (Vice President Pence had to approve such action after dangerous delay.³) Trump is a threat and he must be removed immediately.

But we can't do this without you. We need to have a groundswell of support from thousands of people in every state of our country. Join CHN and our allies across the country. Tell all federal officials with the constitutional power to remove Donald Trump from office to do so immediately!

The Cabinet and the Vice President can and should invoke the 25th Amendment: Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution makes it clear that a President can be temporarily removed from office, if the Vice President and a majority of Cabinet members inform Congress that he is incapable of serving his duties.

If that is not accomplished, it is critical that Congress return to work and immediately impeach and remove Trump from office. Articles of impeachment have been drafted and are waiting for introduction.

Thank you for all you do to demand accountability from our political leaders and to fight for the needs of the vulnerable, the sick and the poor.

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs