Politics & Government

Rep. Lori Trahan: On Why She Voted To Impeach President Trump

Rep. Lori Trahan, of Westford, said she wants to send a clear message to future presidents.

(Jenna Fisher/Patch)

WESTFORD, MA — Rep. Lori Trahan, of Westford, voted to impeach President Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection that left at least five people dead and dozens of others injured.

Trahan said the vote to impeach the president, the only time in history a president has been impeached twice, is "what’s necessary to protect our Democracy and to send a clear message to future presidents that this kind of behavior has no place in our nation."

Some 70 people have been arrested so far, and photos from inside the building show rioters in the House Chamber and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's office, and security ushering out legislators, delaying the certification of the 2020 presidential election. Images show tear gas coming from the front of the building where some rioters climbed balconies and what is to be the inauguration stage when Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on Jan. 20.

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Trahan and her staff were among the legislators rushed away to lockdown, as law enforcement worked to secure the building.

Trahan cited the president's spread of lies regarding the results of the 2020 presidential election, purposely riling up his base and pressuring Georgia’s Secretary of State into finding votes to overturn their election results.

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"That alone was a despicable abuse of power," she said. "But he didn’t stop there. President Trump spent weeks telling his supporters to flock to Washington to help overturn the will of the American people on January 6th, and when he addressed the crowd last Wednesday, he told them to go to the United States Capitol and 'fight like hell' on his behalf."

Thousands of his supporters descended on the Capitol where they assaulted police officers, vandalized the building, and attempted to track down elected officials they felt were disloyal to the President.

This article passed the House with Republican support. It will go to the Senate, which can convict the President and bar him from running for office again.

Trahan has represented the Massachusetts 3rd Congressional District since 2019. The district includes parts of Essex, Middlesex and Worcester counties from Westford, Lowell and Chelmsford to Andover, and Acton and Concord to Fitchburg.

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