Expected to go along with that imploring resolution from the house, even though the president sicced an angry mob on him a week ago, that tried to hunt the Vice President down and kill him. At least thats what they said in their own words they were going to do. The president tonight, excuse me, the Vice President tonight made public this letter to nancy pelosi telling her formally that he will not take that route. That he doesnt support the 25th amendment path here regardless of what the house passes. Whats next . Well, the rules committee in the house is expected to take another vote tonight. Separate and apart from all this 25th amendment stuff. They will vote to put an article of impeachment against President Trump on the house floor for a vote sometime tomorrow. And heres what was sort of unimaginable about this, even just 24 hours ago. We have now started to see House Republicans come out and say they will vote with democrats tomorrow to impeach President Trump again. Republican congressman john katko of new york was the first to say he would support impeachment saying in part, we take oaths to defend the constitution because at times, the constitution needs to be defended. Without the peaceful transfer of power and the acknowledgement of Election Results, we cant sustain our political system. Congress is tasked with holding the executive accountable. 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 the president. Republican john katko. After him it was, liz cheney of wyoming. Of course the daughter of the hardline right wing dick cheney, Vice President to president george w. Bush. Her statement was even more blunt than what we got from congressman katko. She said on january 6th, a violent mob attacked the u. S. Capitol to obstruct the process of our democracy and to stop the counting of president ial electoral votes. This insurrection caused injury, death, and destruction in the most sacred space in our republic. Much more will become clear in coming days and weeks but what we know now is enough. The president of the United States summoned this mob, he assembled this mob, and he lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the president. The president could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence and he did not. She concludes, there has never been a greater betrayal by a president of his office and his oath to the constitution. I will vote to impeach the president. Thats the statement from liz cheney, the number three republican in the House Republican leadership. Since then, the republican congressman Adam Kinzinger has said he will vote to impeach the president. Republican congressman kinzinger of illinois. There may yet be more. But even those three are news, right . The first time trump was impeached a year ago, not a single republican in the house voted with democrats to support that impeachment, for him trying to force a foreign country to intervene in the 2020 election. But this time for the second impeachment it will be a bipartisan Impeachment Vote in the house. It is a near certainty that donald trump will be the first president ever to be impeached twice. That will happen tomorrow. Now it is a legitimately open question as to whether he will also be the first u. S. President he to not only be impeached in the house but to also be convicted in the u. S. Senate and thereby removed from office. 24 hours ago, i would not have told you under any circumstances that i thought this would be a live question. But apparently this is a live question now. Just remarkable news tonight. The New York Times first to report and cnn soon matched the reporting, the New York Times is the first to report the top republican, Mitch Mcconnell, in some sense of the word, is supportive of the impeachment effort against President Trump. Heres how the times phrased it. This report from Jonathan Martin and maggie haberman. Quote, senator Mitch Mcconnell of kentucky, the republican leader, has told associates that he believes President Trump committed Impeachable Offenses. And hes pleased that democrats are moving to impeach him. And he believes it will make it easier to purge trump from the party. Mr. Mcconnell has indicated that he wants to see the specific article of impeachment, the house is set to approve on wednesday, and he wants to hear the eventual arguments in the senate. But the Senate Republican leader has made clear in private discussions that he believes now is the moment to move on from the weakened lame duck president whom he blames for causing republicans to lose the senate. Cnn adds this characterization about mcconnells thinking. Quote, mcconnell has made no commitments on voting to convict trump but his silence on impeachment has been deliberate as he leaves open the option of supporting impeachment conviction and removal from office. Youll remember that Mitch Mcconnell last time around not only voted against convicting trump, the last time the house impeached him. The only republican who voted to convict a year ago was mitt romney. But mcconnell was not only a no vote. He was vociferously and loudly against those impeachment proceedings even started. By the time impeachment had made it through house and got to the senate, mcconnell didnt allow any witnesses to testify. Essentially didnt allow a real senate trial to happen. Basically blocked the whole thing. This time if this new reporting is accurate, mcconnell is kind of down with it. If Mitch Mcconnell supports the impeachment effort, that raises the prospect that there may very well be enough votes in the United States senate to convict President Trump and remove him from office. Which would be the first time that has happened to any president in u. S. History. If most or all of the Senate Democrats are going to vote to convict President Trump, republicans would need about a dozen and a half of their senators to vote to convict if all senators were present for the vote. Or alternatively, republicans would need about 20ish of their senators to stay away from the vote. To not participate in the vote one way or the other. In that case, maybe only a handful, maybe only five or six would be needed to vote with democrats for trumps conviction. Now, is that feasible . Could it really happen . Again, 24 hours ago i would have not even entertained the question. But look at this. There are two bylined reporters on this story. Jonathan martin and maggie haberman. Tonight jonathan tweeted this. A Senate Republican aide tells me he thinks there were about 20 give or take republicans, meaning republican senators, who were open to a conviction of President Trump. And that was before our story on mcconnell. And again, the story on mcconnell is that he is positively inclined toward this impeachment effort against the president. So i guess this is a live question. If the senate does vote the house is going to vote to impeach President Trump tomorrow. That will happen. If thereafter the senate votes to convict President Trump, if that happens while trump is still in office, the effect of the vote to convict him will be to remove him from office. Vice president mike pence will become the next president of the United States. That will make joe biden the 47th, not the 46th president of the United States, even if mike pence only serves for five minutes. Now, can a president be impeached after hes left office . Arguable question, lots of legal scholars on both sides weighing in. But lets say the conviction of donald trump on impeachment charges happens after the inauguration. Lets say they do pursue it in the senate but it happens after trump leaves office. Even in that circumstance, the conviction of President Trump in the senate would be followed by another vote, and the subsequent vote after they voted to convict him in the senate would be on whether President Trump should be permanently banned from ever holding federal office again. That vote would follow immediately, the twothirds vote in the senate to convict him. But that vote on banning him from Public Office, that would only take a simple majority of senators to pass. That would likely pass. So one of the things well be looking at tonight is the timing. If he so chose, if this reporting is right and senator mcconnell really does think donald trump is a clear and present danger to the republic and the Republican Party needs to make a clean break with him, that this is the moment, if that reporting is accurate and mcconnell wants to put his money where his mouth is, it is within his power to act against the president right now. As we discussed on last nights show, a little known rule passed after 9 11 says if mcconnell just agrees with the democratic leader in the senate, chuck schumer, if just the two of them agree these are extraordinary circumstances that warrant pulling the senate back into session to handle this matter, just those two senators can decide to do that. So that a Senate Impeachment trial could start while President Trump was still in office so he could be removed upon his conviction by twothirds of the senate. Senator schumer reiterated today, that is what he wants to do with mcconnell. He is ready to call the senate back in session to do this. There is no word tonight whether or not mcconnell likes that idea, whether or not he will make that move. But another thing well be talking about tonight is a sort of corollary to the charge on which trump is likely to be impeached tomorrow in the house. Weve been talking the last two nights, the way the article of impeachment is written, it seems the reference a section of the 14th amendment to the constitution. Part of the amendment that says anybody who participates in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, anyone who gives aid and comfort to those who do can never again hold Public Office in the United States. So that is turning into a sort of legal touchstone for what trump is about to be impeached for. It might also be a sort of backstop to the impeachment plan. As i said, trump will be impeached in the house tomorrow. That will be historic in itself. After, he very well may be convicted and removed from office by the senate. Well see. The ball is in your court, mr. Mcconnell. But if President Trump doesnt get convicted in the senate, the congress arguably could essentially just vote by a majority vote to find that President Trumps role in this insurrection renders him banned from further Public Office for life because of that provision in the 14th amendment of the constitution. Legal scholars are now arguing that the congress could do such a thing, could invoke the 14th amendment that way with or without the president being convicted in the senate. And that could roll up on us fast as well. Coming up, well talk with one of the legal scholars who has been laying out the road map for doing just that. But all of these things are happening in a rush, right . The strands of news developments are sort of twining together. The aftermath, the reaction, the repercussions to the trump mob attack on the capitol this week is bringing some of these threads into a single cord. Or maybe its a fuse. Theyre all coming together and theyre all being pursued all at once. For example, late today we got an extraordinary statement from the top uniformed military leadership of the United States. A statement signed by the chairman of the joint chiefs, commandant of the marine corps, chief of naval operations, the chief of staff of the air force, chief of space operations, because thats a thing now, the chief of the National Guard bureau, they all personally signed on to this statement. And what got the most attention was its existence, right . Uniformed military does not do anything even politics adjacent if they can help it. Let alone a Statement Like this. But the statement clearly and but the statement clearly and unequivocally states that the election is over and biden won. Quote, on january 20th, 2021, in accordance with the constitution, confirmed by the states and the courts, and certified by congress, president elect biden will be inaugurated and will become our 46th commander in chief. The statement sort of tries to put to rest any threat or worry that the military might be somehow ordered by trump to stop the inauguration of biden. To keep him in power somehow. They say that they will obey lawful orders from civilian leadership and that they remain fully committed to protecting and defending the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. They say, we support and defend the constitution. Any act to disrupt the constitutional process is not only against our traditions and values and oath, it is against the law. Meaning, any order to disrupt our constitutional processes would be an unlawful order. But then there is this. And this didnt get as much attention today in this statement from the military services chiefs. But i think this is important. This language is important. The violent riot in washington, d. C. , on january 6th, quote, we witnessed actions inside the Capitol Building that were inconsistent with the rule of law. The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition, and insurrection. Sedition and insurrection. Insurrection. Why is that ringing a bell . Because as we just discussed, thats what the 14th amendment talks about. Participating in an insurrection . Giving aid comfort . That makes you disqualified from ever holding Public Office again in the United States. That is what the military says happened here. That is the title of the trump impeachment article. Incitement of insurrection. Its also a federal crime with a very long prison sentence associated with it. Whats the u. S. Military says that was and we have that trump mob at the capitol. Violence, sedition, insurrection. Impeachable offenses. Offenses that bar from you ever holding Public Office. And that sentence you to long, long prison terms. Thats what the military says happened here. Today the top federal prosecutor in d. C. Finally gave a public briefing on arrests and prosecutions since the arrest on the capitol along with a local fbi official for d. C. Who didnt say anything very specific. Lots of questions as to why these two essentially local officials for d. C. Are the only people talking to the public. Why the fbi director chris wray and acting attorney general rosen still havent shown their faces or said anything on camera since the capitol attack. But we did learn from this u. S. Attorney today, he says in prosecuting people who took part in this attack, they set up a task force of prosecutors specifically to pursue, what is that word . Sedition. Sedition charges. Sedition is a 20year felony for what amounts to an effort to overthrow or oppose the u. S. Government by force. Just yesterday, our Office Organized a strike force of very Senior National security prosecutors and public corruption prosecutors. Their only marching orders from me are to build seditious and conspiracy charges to the most heinous things that happened in the capitol. These are significant charges that have felonies with prison terms of up to 20 years. To the very top of what he said there. Just yesterday our Office Organized a strike force of very Senior National security prosecutors and public corruption prosecutors. Marching orders for me are to National Security and public corruption prosecutors. To build sedition cases in conjunction with the attack on the capitol. Why would you need public corruption prosecutors for that . By definition, public corruption prosecutors pursue crimes by Public Officials. Public officials looking at sedition charges . Conjunction with the attack on the capitol . I mean, i dont know whats going through the president s head right now. I dont know if he is truly considering resignation, what he thinks about the fact he is definitely going to become the only u. S. President ever impeached twice, and that will happen tomorrow. But mr. President , i mean, he has to be learning something, right . Mr. President , what did you think was going to happen . Did you think it would work . Did you think that if you got enough violent and potentially armed supporters of yours into the capitol while the congress was there, and they did what they were there to do, wh