UPDATED: Congressman Fitzpatrick Votes Against Impeachment

UPDATED: 11:58 p.m., Wednesday:

Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick’s office released the following statement:

The only overwhelmingly bipartisan and bicameral solution that both holds the President accountable for his outrageous conduct and also unifies our nation is censure language that mirrors and is identical to the Democrat’s impeachment resolution. I introduced this very censure resolution the same day the article of impeachment was introduced. If we want to both hold the President accountable and unify our nation with a bipartisan voice, this censure resolution is the only path forward. Today’s action by the House is highly likely to result in a second acquittal of the President, which will just perpetuate and exacerbate the divide in our country. 

A seamless start to a new administration’s First 100 Days includes the timely confirmation of cabinet appointees and other positions requiring Senate confirmation. This requires our country to show a sense of unity, while respecting the will of our voters in their choice for President. I was provided with a great amount of hope that our country would be able to lower the temperature following the most turbulent election of our lifetime when I learned the news that Vice President Pence would be continuing a longstanding tradition of our nation by attending the inauguration of President-Elect Biden. Any impeachment proceedings occurring while our country’s priority should be coming together would cause considerable harm towards achieving civility and unifying our country for the betterment of our future.  

Regardless of party, I want every new President to have the chance to succeed because when the President succeeds, the country succeeds and moves forward. I find myself agreeing with West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin when he recently said about starting impeachment proceedings “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 are going to be so divided and fighting again.” Forcing a time-consuming and divisive trial in the Senate would undermine President Biden’s ability to govern effectively. Because of these concerns, I support a bipartisan censure resolution making sure that the Congress holds the President accountable by putting it on the record that Congress condemns his reprehensible conduct which led to the riots at our nation’s Capitol—a permanent stain on his legacy. Our country deserves closure, and the opportunity to begin anew with the incoming administration. And a censure resolution is the only unifying means for achieving this.

Original Story:

During a late Wednesday afternoon vote, Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick voted against impeaching President Donald Trump.

While Fitzpatrick voted against the move, the majority of the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump. As many as 10 Republicans joined in the effort.

The impeachment for “incitement of insurrection” will next head to the U.S. Senate for a trial that is likely to begin next week.

Trump is the first president in the history of the country to be impeached twice.

Although President-Elect Joe Biden will assume the office next Wednesday at noon, the impeachment trial would be able to continue.

The vote on Wednesday came a week after a large group of insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol complex. The violence led to one police officer being killed, dozens of officers hurt, and four citizens dead. It followed weeks of misinformation and conspiracies about the 2020 election that were spread by the president and many of his high-profile allies. Members of Congress have pointed to the president’s language during a rally leading up to the attack and past statements as evidence of inciting the attack.

Fitzpatrick on Tuesday introduced a resolution with GOP members of Congress Tom Reed, of New York; Young Kim, California; Fred Upton, Michigan; John Curtis, Utah; and Peter Meijer, of Michigan, to censure the president.

Unlike Fitzpatrick, Upton and Meijer supported censure and voted for impeachment.

Censures are formal statements of disapproval or condemnation against an elected official. The Senate website notes that a censure can “have a powerful psychological effect” on the person it is inflicted upon.

Fitzpatrick’s office said the resolution for censure against the outgoing president was for “attempting to unlawfully overturn the 2020 Presidential election and for violating his oath of office on January 6th, 2021. In the aftermath of the riot at the Capitol last week, lawmakers have the solemn duty to accomplish two missions: hold the President fully and unequivocally accountable for his actions, and simultaneously calm and heal the fever-pitch tensions in our country.”

“President Trump’s attempts to undermine the outcome of the 2020 election have been unconscionable. The combination of a false information campaign coupled with inflammatory rhetoric led to the devastation that I was a personal witness to on the House Floor on January 6th. His actions threatened the integrity of our democracy, Congress, and his own Vice President. For months, President Trump has been lying to the American people with false information, and giving his supporters false expectations. The election is over,” Fitzpatrick said in the statement Tuesday. “Joe Biden will be sworn in as President of the United States on January 20th, 2021. President Trump’s actions, behavior, and language are unacceptable and unbecoming of the office he holds for the next eight days.”

“Our country must both hold the President accountable and provide closure and the opportunity to begin anew with the incoming administration. A concurrent censure resolution with language nearly identical to the impeachment resolution introduced in the House is the only immediate, appropriate, and effective means for achieving this,” the statement from Fitzpatrick’s office said.

On Tuesday evening, the congressman was among 25 Democratic and Republican members of Congress to sign a letter to Trump that requested him to “address the nation and unequivocally denounce domestic terrorism, condemn harmful propaganda, urge anyone considering mobilizing to stay home and affirmatively state that you are no way supportive of violent messages of any kind. We must, as one nation, stand up against extremism in all its forms.”

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee issued a statement after Fitzpatrick’s vote and that slammed the congressman, who has won the past three elections against Democratic candidates.

“Once again, Congressman Fitzpatrick is refusing to hold President Trump accountable for the five Americans killed – including a Capitol Police officer – at the hands of the insurrectionist mob they helped incited at the U.S. Capitol. With this vote, Brian Fitzpatrick chose the insurrectionist mob over the U.S. Constitution,” said DCCC Spokesperson Brooke Goren.

Fitzpatrick voted against the 2019 impeachment of Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The congressman made the point that Trump’s actions were concerning but said the process took an “entirely partisan path with an artificial timeline and a predetermined outcome.”

The congressman, an attorney and former FBI special agent, did not cast his ballot for Trump in 2016. Fitzpatrick told WBCB News he voted for Trump in 2020. He was the recipient of a robocall endorsement from the president last fall.

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