Buchanan, Steube Vote Against Impeachment Again

Todays News

The House of Representatives for the second time in 13 months voted to impeach President Donald Trump, this time just a week from the end of his term. One article was passed by a vote of 232-197, with 10 Republicans supporting the action. However, no Florida Republicans were in that group, including Reps. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, or Greg Steube, R-Sarasota.

During proceedings Wednesday, Steube was among those members to take to the House floor to speak out against impeachment. Democrats allege Trump's statements the past several months claiming the November election was "stolen" spurred violence by rioters in Washington, D.C. last week. The article of impeachment charges Trump with inciting an insurrection, detailing a speech made by the President ahead of the Capitol riots last Wednesday, but Steube said a review of the speech shows no call to violence.

“Around the 18-minute mark, he stated, ‘Peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,'” Steube said. “You may think that he is inciting violence because he thinks there was election fraud. That’s his opinion. And he’s entitled to that opinion, just as all of you were entitled to your false and fraudulent opinion that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.”

Steube also controversially cited a 1969 Supreme Court case saying a Klu Klux Klan leader could not be charged with incitement of violence based on First Amendment protections and a failure to prove a direct correlation between his words and actual violence that took place later.

Buchanan did not speak on the floor but issued a statement making clear he considered articles of impeachment to be a mistake.

“Today I voted against the impeachment of President Trump because the rushed effort to remove a president from office six days before he leaves office is divisive and misguided,” Buchanan said. “Congress should be focused on helping people get the COVID vaccine and on efforts to reopen the economy and our schools. [Speaker] Nancy Pelosi’s unprecedented decision to launch a second partisan impeachment in 13 months sets a dangerous precedent and further polarizes an already divided country.”

Buchanan last week voted against any challenge to electoral college votes for swing states won by President-elect Joe Biden, who defeated Trump in November. Steube voted to challenge votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania, and previously signed an amicus brief supporting a failed Texas case asking the Supreme Court to toss results from those two states, as well as Michigan and Wisconsin.

Neither local congressman voted in favor of articles of impeachment against Trump in December 2019 either.

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