Alwaght- US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said on Friday she spoke to the country’s army chief about preventing the “unstable” President Donald Trump from “ordering a nuclear strike,” or even accessing nuclear launch codes or starting other military hostilities.
Pelosi called Trump an “unhinged president,” adding that the president must be stopped from using his assigned codes to launch America’s nuclear weapons.
The action was taken by her office on Friday in a letter to House Democrats under a section titled “Preventing an Unhinged President from Using the Nuclear Codes.”
Pelosi said she spoke to the top military commander about taking precautions to prevent Trump from initiating hostilities or ordering a nuclear strike before leaving office.
“This morning, I spoke to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, to discuss available precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike,” the speaker wrote.
“The situation of this unhinged President could not be more dangerous,” Pelosi said in the statement, just before a conference call with fellow Democrats to discuss whether to impeach Trump. “If the President does not leave office imminently and willingly, the Congress will proceed with our action.”
Earlier in the day, the Assistant House Speaker also said Democrats will impeach Trump unless Vice President Mike Pence invokes the Constitution's 25th Amendment to strip him of his powers.
Meanwhile, one Senate Republican said he would consider supporting a possible impeachment effort by Democrats. He accused Trump of disregarding his oath of office.
Pelosi told members she had gotten assurances from Milley that there are safeguards in place in the event Trump tried to launch a nuclear weapon.
Dems to introduce impeachment charges against Trump
Meanwhile, Democrats in the US House of Representatives plan to introduce new articles of impeachment against Trump on Monday, calling for his removal from office.
Two people familiar with the matter said on Friday said the articles, which are formal charges of misconduct, were crafted by Democratic Representatives David Cicilline, Ted Lieu and Jamie Raskin following this week's assault on the Capitol by Trump supporters, according to Reuters.
The measure charges Trump with "inciting violence against the government of the United States" in an attempt to overturn his loss to President-elect Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
"President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power and imperiled a coordinate branch of government," the legislation states.
After two months of refusal to accept his defeat in the November 3 election, Trump sparked violence in the Capitol, calling on his supporters to “fight like hell.”
Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, smashing windows, sending lawmakers into hiding and leaving five dead.
