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Former US Attorney General: Trump's conduct is a 'betrayal' of the presidency

US Attorney General William Barr

Former US Attorney General William Barr says President Donald Trump has betrayed the office and his supporters by encouraging his loyalists to storm the Capitol.

He said on Thursday that “orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable.”

Barr, one of Trump’s most loyal and ardent defenders in the Cabinet, resigned last month over the president’s claims of election fraud.

Trump’s longest-serving attorney general made the remarks a day after armed protesters broke into the US Capitol, forcing the chamber to halt the ongoing vote to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s election.

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.”

The violence overwhelmed police and drove Congress from its chambers. House members and senators fled the scene as shots were fired to disperse the crowd. Police later cleared US Capitol of the Trump supporters and enforced curfew. At least four people were killed.

US media reports said Wednesday that Trump’s cabinet members discussed the possibility of invoking the 25th amendment to the US Constitution, which allows for a president's removal by the vice-president, if he is judged "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office."

Several House Democrats and Republicans also called for Trump’s immediate removal from office, even as less than two weeks remain from his term in office.

US media accused the president of attempted coup and sedition.


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