The national board of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union voted Tuesday morning to hold a disciplinary hearing for President Trump, a member of the union, in connection with the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
In a statement Tuesday afternoon, SAG-AFTRA said the board voted in response to charges that Trump incited the attack by promoting conspiracy theories about election fraud. The president faces expulsion from the union depending on the outcome of the hearing.
“Donald Trump attacked the values that this union holds most sacred – democracy, truth, respect for our fellow Americans of all races and faiths, and the sanctity of the free press,” union President Gabrielle Carteris said in a statement. “There’s a straight line from his wanton disregard for the truth to the attacks on journalists perpetrated by his followers.”
The union noted that many of its members are journalists and the group accused Trump of directly endangering freedom of the press in connection with the riots.
“Our most important role as a union is the protection of our members. The unfortunate truth is, this individual’s words and actions over the past four years have presented actual harm to our broadcast journalist members,” National Executive Director David White said in a statement. “The board’s resolution addresses this effort to undermine freedom of the press and reaffirms the principles on which our democratic society rests, and which we must all work to protect and preserve.”
The union’s constitution allows for members to be suspended or expelled as a penalty for “engaging in actions antagonistic to the interests or integrity of the union.” The group’s constitution requires a two-thirds vote from the union’s national board to expel a member.
While SAG-AFTRA does not make political endorsements, it has previously criticized the president for calling journalists “the enemy of the people.”
Trump receives a $90,776 pension for his television work and a further $8,724 from his work covered by the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. These would be unaffected if the union expels him, according to Deadline.