Pro-Trump lawmakers unveil resolutions to 'expunge' his 2 impeachments and pretend they never existed

23 June 2023

The Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson, a Never Trump conservative and former GOP strategist, is extremely skeptical over claims that the Republican Party will "move on" from former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. Ultimately, Wilson has predicted, the GOP will "bend the knee" to Trump, and he still believes that the ex-president is on track to win his party's nomination — regardless of the criminal indictments he is facing.

To be sure, much of the GOP has been defending Trump vigorously as he faces criminal prosecutions by special counsel Jack Smith/the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) has been claiming that the indictments are politically motivated.

Now, two of McCarthy's pro-Trump allies — House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-New York) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) — are proposing that Trump's two impeachments be "expunged." Both congresswomen unveiled resolutions on Thursday, June 22.

Stefanik, in a June 22 press release promoting her resolution, bragged that if Trump were "expunged," it would be "as if such articles of impeachment had never passed the full House of Representatives."

Axios reporter Andrew Solender explains, "Expungement is a process that typically applies to far lower-profile criminal proceedings that can be effectively erased from the public record. This would be largely symbolic, given that Trump's impeachments were highly publicized events."

Solender adds, "It's unclear whether either measure would get a vote, though Stefanik, as chair of the House Republican Conference, has more sway than most members in making that happen."

Trump was the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice, although both times — first in 2019, then in 2021 — he was found "not guilty" in the U.S. Senate. Four U.S. presidents have faced articles of impeachment — Democrat Andrew Johnson, Republican Richard Nixon, Democrat Bill Clinton and Republican Trump — but none of them were actually removed by the U.S. Senate. Nixon, in August 1974, resigned before a Senate trial could come about.

Axios' full report is available at this link.

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