Mullin legislation would expunge Trump Jan. 6 impeachment

Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) is leading a resolution that aims to erase former President Trump’s second impeachment after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack and repeats numerous arguments to cast doubt on the integrity of the 2020 election.

A copy of Mullin’s draft bill obtained by The Hill said that the incitement of insurrection impeachment charge “contains a subjective account of that which transpired at the Capitol on January 6, 2021” and “omits any discussion of the circumstances, unusual voting patterns, and  voting anomalies of the 2020 Presidential election itself.”

Mullin, a former mixed martial arts fighter, leaped into action to barricade doors to the House chamber during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, making his move to erase Trump’s impeachment after the attack particularly notable.

In the several paragraphs the resolution spends addressing the 2020 election, it says that Trump won 18 of 19 so-called bellwether counties that have traditionally corresponded with the winner of the presidential election and that Trump won more votes than he did in 2016. It mentions voting rules changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic and recount efforts being “vociferously opposed” by officials in some states.

The fifth-term congressman is running for Senate in Oklahoma, as Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) is retiring. Trump has not endorsed in that race, and Inhofe endorsed his former chief of staff Luke Holland.

Mullin is expected to introduce the bill on Wednesday. His office sent an email to House Republican congressional offices on Tuesday seeking support for the resolution, multiple GOP offices confirmed. The Daily Beast first reported Mullin’s planned introduction of the impeachment expungement proposal.

This is the second resolution from Mullin to expunge a Trump impeachment. He previously introduced a measure in March to expunge the Dec. 18, 2019, impeachment of Trump over his encouraging Ukraine to investigate the business dealings of Hunter Biden, the son of President Biden, while discussing military aid to Ukraine. That measure got co-sponsorship from seven Republicans, including Rep. Ronny Jackson (Texas), Rep. Barry Moore (Ala.) and Rep. Greg Steube (Fla.). 

The Senate failed to reach the two-thirds majority required to convict Trump both times he was impeached.

The new resolution also takes issue with the process of the impeachment after Jan. 6, noting a lack of hearings and its hasty release. The fact that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts did not preside over the Senate impeachment trial, it says, was “perfecting the entirety of the process as nothing more than an unconstitutional exercise in futility, moot, and fantastical political theater.”

Mullin declined to comment until after official introduction of the bill.