Page:Materials in Support of H. Res. 24.pdf/46

 ;::3. President Trump’s Actions Are Consistent with His Past Pattern of Undermining the Public Peace and the Orderly Operation of Democracy The Article of Impeachment charges President Trump for conduct connected to the events of January 6, 2021. The conduct that gives rise to that Article is, however, consistent with previous related conduct by President Trump that demonstrates an indifference to the public peace and to the lawful and orderly operation of our democratic government. That conduct encompasses his encouragement of lawless mob violence by his political supporters, and his urging of official actors to take ultra vires action to advance his falsehoods that he won the election and that it was stolen from him. The latter conduct includes a telephone call on January 2, 2021 in which he sought to induce the Secretary of State of Georgia to change the certified outcome of the 2020 presidential election in his favor. That President Trump has used the weight of his office to engage in such conduct in the past, and the recent escalation of that conduct which resulted in the January 6, 2021 insurrection, gives rise to a significant concern that, if not removed from office, President Trump will continue to engage in similar efforts to incite mass, violent lawless action during the remainder of his term.

President Trump has previously expressed both tacit and explicit support for mob violence perpetrated by his sympathizers. On August 12, 2017 multiple violent clashes broke out during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, including an incident in which one protester, a self-identified white supremacist, intentionally drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing one and injuring 19 others. The violence perpetrated by the protesters, who celebrated white supremacy and included separatists who espouse civil war, drew nearly universal and immediate condemnation. Uniquely among prominent public officials, President Trump’s statements condemned the hatred and violence “on many sides, on many sides” while also praising “very fine people on both sides.” In a context in which the values of human equality are enshrined in our Constitution and are universally agreed to be fundamental American values, all those who hold a position of trust under the Constitutional are expected to, and most regularly and loudly do, denounce white supremacy in clear and unambiguous terms. Against that backdrop, President Trump drew an equivalence between those who stood for white supremacy and those who stood against it. That public approach appears to convey a lack of disapprobation for the ideals and militant aspirations of the white supremacist movement, and was broadly so understood, including by prominent members of that movement.

During the 2020 Presidential campaign, President Trump was asked in the first Presidential Debate on September 29, 2020 to condemn white supremacists, but he would not. Asked by the debate moderator to condemn white supremacists and militia groups, and specifically prompted by the opposing candidate to denounce the group known as the Proud Boys, President Trump declined to denounce the group and instead issued a directive to them, stating, “Proud Boys, stand