Manchin Criticizes House Impeachment Plan

Leah Barkoukis | January 12, 2021 7:45 AM

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin criticized impeachment efforts by House Democrats on Monday, calling the move “ill advised,” especially given that there are not enough votes in the Senate to convict and remove President Trump.

Manchin made the comments during an interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier, who wondered if the West Virginia Democrat saw any “scenario” where the president would be removed.

“I don’t see any of that, because there will be 48, still 48 Democrats, until we seat Warnock and Senator Ossoff,” he told Fox News’s Bret Baier. “So, until that happens, you need 67 votes. I think, my arithmetic, that means we have 19 Republicans. I don’t see that. And I think the House should know that also. We have been trying to send that message over. They know the votes aren’t there. You would think that they would do that.

“I think this is so ill-advised for Joe Biden to be coming in, trying to heal the country, trying to be the president of all the people, when we’re going to be so divided and fighting again,” he continued. “Let the judicial system do its job. And then, we’re a country of the rule of law. That’s the bedrock of who we are. Let that take its place. Let the investigations go on. Let the evidence come forth, and then we will go forward from there. There’s no rush to do this impeachment now. We can do it later if they think it’s necessary.”

Attorney Alan Dershowitz has dismissed the notion that Trump can be impeached after leaving office, noting that the "Constitution specifically says, ‘The President shall be removed from office upon impeachment.’ It doesn’t say the former president. Congress has no power to impeach or try a private citizen, whether it be a private citizen named Donald Trump or named Barack Obama or anyone else."

The Article of Impeachment House Democrats introduced Monday charges President Trump with "inciting an insurrection."