Speaker McCarthy supports expunging Trump’s impeachments over Ukraine and Jan. 6

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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy expressed his support on Friday for expunging the two impeachments of Donald Trump, as conservative Republican allies of the former president introduced proposals to negate the historical charges. McCarthy, a Republican from California, concurred with Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Elise Stefanik, who aimed to erase the accusations against Trump from his 2019 and 2021 impeachments.

“I believe it is appropriate,” stated McCarthy. “As I have consistently held, these charges should be expunged since they should have never been pursued in the first place.”

When pressed for further clarification, McCarthy affirmed his agreement with expunging both of Trump’s impeachments: the 2019 charges of abuse of power related to pressuring Ukraine’s president to investigate Joe Biden and the 2021 charge of inciting the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol, when Trump supporters attempted to overturn Biden’s election victory.

In both instances, Trump was acquitted by the Senate after being impeached by the House. However, expunging the charges from his record would provide further vindication for Trump as he pursues another term in the White House.

This effort by Trump’s allies represents the ongoing endeavor to reshape the narrative surrounding the former president’s time in office. It also highlights the pressure McCarthy faces from the conservative wing of his party.

Recently, McCarthy successfully opposed a proposal by Representative Lauren Boebert, a Republican from Colorado, to impeach President Biden, instead referring it to committees for review.

In explaining his stance, McCarthy stated that the initial impeachment of Trump in 2019 should have never occurred, mistakenly conflating it with a separate investigation by the Justice Department into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Regarding the swift 2021 trial conducted in the week following the Capitol riot, McCarthy commented, “The second impeachment lacked due process.”

The speaker did not indicate any immediate plans to advance the proposals from Greene, a Republican from Georgia, and Stefanik, the fourth-ranking GOP leader, for House votes. When asked if the proposals were a priority, McCarthy shifted focus to other goals of the Republican Party.

When questioned about his conversations with Trump regarding expunging the impeachment record, McCarthy confirmed that he had not spoken to him.

Trump, currently campaigning for a return to the White House, became the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice by the House. However, he was acquitted by the Senate of all charges.

Democrats have defended their decision to impeach Trump for a second time following the mob attack on the Capitol in 2021. They argue that the evidence presented during the trial was visible to the world, as the defeated president encouraged his supporters to gather in Washington and march to the Capitol while Congress was certifying Biden’s election victory.

Trump’s initial impeachment took place in 2019 after it was revealed that he had urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate political matters concerning then-presidential candidate Biden in advance of the 2020 campaign. This occurred while Trump was withholding U.S. military aid to Ukraine as it confronted Russia.

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