Do not Impeach Trump, Prosecute Him After He Leaves Office

On Wednesday, January 6, while the House and the Senate were going to certify the Electoral College win of President Elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., protesters or rioters as some people described those Trump supporters, stormed the United States Capitol to stop the ceremonial process from going ahead.

President Trump, who has long spread baseless information that the November 3, 2020 elections were stolen from him, invited his supporters to the capital to pressure congressional leaders to not perform their constitutional responsibility by certifying Biden’s victory.

President Trump’s campaign filed closed to 50 legal challenges in courts across the country and lost, but that never stopped him from inciting his supporters who believe without any evidence, that the election was stolen from the president. They converged on the nation’s capital to show their support for the president.

During his speech, the president, his son Eric, and former New York City Mayor Giuliana , encouraged those in attendance to march down Pennsylvania Avenue to show to the Congress that they are dissatisfied.

The president’s supporters were not encouraged just by Mr. Trump but also by some Republican House and Senate members, led by Texas Senator Ted Cruz. These lawmakers insisted that the elections were unfair, again without evidence and were going to object to Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania Electoral College votes.

Mr. Trump, who prided himself as a law-and-order president, looked and without regard to the loss of property as mob under his direction, overpowered Capitol Police and ransacked the nation’s sacred house and the citadel of hope and democracy. According to CNN, a Capitol Police Officer and a 35-year-old woman were killed. Other news organizations reported that three other people died.

While these rioters were ransacking the Capitol, President Trump and some of his supporters were watching the event on television, doing nothing, thereby putting the lives of the Vice President, first and the Speaker, second in the line of succession in danger. The president acted only when President Elect Mr. Biden called on him to do something to stop and subsequently prosecute all those involved in breaching security at the Capitol. When order was restored, the Congress reconvened and completed their constitutional duties by validating the way of the people.

There are now calls for the Vice president to invoke the 25^th Amendment because the incident at the Capitol, encouraged by the highest office in the land through incitement and relentlessly undermining faith in the country electorate institutions, institutions that has for century done a remarkable work to ensure that the country’s electoral politics were respected by voters, losers, and winners alike.

Before resuming certifying the Electoral College Votes, both houses leaders called on the government to prosecute those responsible for the loss of lives and destruction of properties at the Capitol.

However, they called for people to be prosecuted must not exclude President Trump, his son Eric, Mayor Giuliani, and those lawmakers who spearheaded those conspiracy theories that the election was stolen, that voting machines flipped votes intended for Trump for Biden. These people cannot be left to go free while those who they incited or directed to disgrace the country are the only people that are prosecuted.

President-elect Biden on Thursday, a day following this incidence, said that nobody is above the law. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling on the vice president to invoke the 25^th Amendment to remove Trump from office.

While many are frustrated about what happened, everyone focus now is to call for calm and peaceful transfer of power. In my opinion, Trump should not be removed from office. However, his power should be limited so that he does not do anything that will plunge the country in bigger crisis. The President should serve his remaining days but with close supervision from the Congress and the vice president, and when he leaves office, must be prosecuted to serve as a deterrence for future presidents.