Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, Pa., said that President Trump “committed impeachable offenses” in his efforts to throw out the results of the 2020 presidential election.
“I do think the president committed impeachable offenses,” said Toomey during an interview on Fox News’ “The Journal Editorial Report.”
The House, after getting 185 co-sponsors, will propose impeachment Monday, though it’s unlikely to get through the Senate. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell noted the Senate is in recess until Jan.19.
It would take unanimous consent for the Senate to vote on impeachment before then, and President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in on Jan. 20.
The article of impeachment says Trump “willfully made statements that encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — imminent lawless action at the Capitol.”
Toomey stopped short of saying he would vote to impeach the president, adding that he would wait to see the document before deciding how he’d vote.
On Wednesday, Toomey spoke out against his Republican colleagues who voted to object to the Electoral College results in some states, including Pennsylvania.
“I voted for President Trump and endorsed him for re-election. But, on Wednesday, I intend to vigorously defend our form of government by opposing this effort to disenfranchise millions of voters in my state and others,” he said in a statement.
“I acknowledge that this past election, like all elections, had irregularities. But the evidence is overwhelming that Joe Biden won this election. His narrow victory in Pennsylvania is easily explained by the decline in suburban support for President Trump and the president’s slightly smaller victory margins in most rural counties.”
Toomey is not the first GOP senator to consider impeachment. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said there is a “deep brokenness” in Trump’s soul and he would “definitely consider” the articles brought forth by the House.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, called on the president to resign.
“I want him to resign. I want him out. He has caused enough damage,” Murkowski said in an interview, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
“I think he should leave. He said he’s not going to show up. He’s not going to appear at the inauguration. He hasn’t been focused on what is going on with COVID,” she said. “He’s either been golfing or he’s been inside the Oval Office fuming and throwing every single person who has been loyal and faithful to him under the bus, starting with the vice president,” she continued.
“He needs to do the good thing, but I don’t think he’s capable of doing a good thing/”