WASHINGTON \u2014 Former Attorney General William Barr on Thursday accused President Trump of betraying his office and \u201corchestrating a mob\u201d to attack Congress in a sharp rebuke of his former boss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOrchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable. The President\u2019s conduct yesterday was a betrayal of his office and supporters,\u201d Barr said in a statement to the Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It comes as members of the GOP begin to break rank and turn on the president in the wake of the violent siege on the US Capitol which left one woman shot dead and dozens injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois on Thursday became the first Republican to call for Trump to be removed via the 25th Amendment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a video released on Twitter which has so far been viewed 2.7 million times, Kinzinger, an Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran, held Trump entirely accountable for the ugly episode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHere\u2019s the truth: the president caused this. The president is unfit and the president is unwell. And the president must now relinquish control of the executive branch voluntarily or involuntarily,\u201d said Kinzinger, a frequent critic of Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll indications are that the president has become unmoored, not just from his duty, nor even his oath, but from reality itself,\u201d Kinzinger continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s for this reason that I call for the vice president and members of the cabinet to ensure the next few weeks are safe for the American people and that we have a sane captain for the ship,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUntil the president is able to himself, it\u2019s time to invoke the 25th Amendment and to end this nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Section 4 of the 25th Amendment says a president can be involuntarily stripped of his powers if he\u2019s unable to fulfill his duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It would allow Vice President Mike Pence and a majority of Trump\u2019s cabinet members to vote to install Pence as the commander in chief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to various reports, some cabinet members have begun discussing this but it\u2019s unclear whether they would take such a dramatic step with only two weeks remaining in Trump\u2019s presidency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dozens of Democrats have already called on Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and on Thursday morning were circulating drafted articles of impeachment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thousands of the president\u2019s supporters rushed to the Capitol on Wednesday after attending a rally outside the White House where Trump delivered a fiery speech claiming the election had been stolen from him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe will never concede,\u201d Trump told the cheering crowd. \u201cYou don\u2019t concede when there\u2019s theft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to walk down to the Capitol and we\u2019re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we\u2019re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,\u201d he went on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who will soon be named majority leader, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, on Thursday also called on Trump\u2019s Cabinet to remove him from office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a statement, Schumer said the attack on the Capitol \u201cwas an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president.\u201d He added, \u201cThis president should not hold office one day longer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schumer said Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet should invoke the 25th Amendment and immediately remove Trump from office. He added, \u201cIf the vice president and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pelosi called for his immediate ouster. \u201cIf the vice president and the Cabinet do not act, the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment,\u201d Pelosi threatened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Republican Party \u2014 once unconditionally loyal to Trump \u2014 dramatically split from the president on Wednesday during a joint session of Congress to certify Biden\u2019s Electoral College victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell accused the president of spreading \u201csweeping conspiracy theories\u201d and rejected the effort to overturn the election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of Trump\u2019s closest allies on the Hill, also declared \u201cenough is enough\u201d when the Senate returned to finish their work after the violent melee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barr, the nation\u2019s top law enforcement officer and one of Trump\u2019s most loyal cabinet members, resigned his post at the head of the Justice Department last month as Trump ratcheted up pressure on Barr to investigate his political enemies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several White House staffers, including former press secretary Stephanie Grisham and former chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, also handed in their resignations overnight following the Capitol chaos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON \u2014 Former Attorney General William Barr on Thursday accused President Trump of betraying his office and \u201corchestrating a mob\u201d to attack Congress in a sharp rebuke of his former boss. \u201cOrchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable. The President\u2019s conduct yesterday was a betrayal of his office and supporters,\u201d Barr said in a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":19219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"\n