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No. 3 House Republican Liz Cheney says she will vote to impeach Trump

12 January 2021
Dan Ackermann

GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) became the second GOP member of Congress and the highest ranking Republican to publicly announce her support for impeaching President Trump on Tuesday, joining Republican Rep. John Katko (N.Y.).

Why it matters: House Democrats introduced an article of impeachment that accuses Trump of inciting insurrection against the U.S. government, after a mob of his supporters breached the U.S. Capitol. They will vote Wednesday on impeachment.

What they're saying:

  • Cheney: "The President of the United States summoned his mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing ... There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution. I will vote to impeach the President."
  • Katko: “To allow the president of the United States to incite this attack without consequence is a direct threat to the future of our democracy. For that reason, I cannot sit by without taking action. I will vote to impeach this president."

Of note: Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Thursday called on members of the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment, which would remove Trump from office for not being able to perform his duties and replace him with Vice President Mike Pence through the end of the term.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.