Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney of New York is urging the White House cabinet to consider stripping President Joe Biden of power through the 25th Amendment of the Constitution.
Tenney sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday evening following the release of a report by special counsel Robert Hur, who investigated Biden’s handling of classified documents from his time as a senator and vice president. Hur declined to recommend charges against Biden in part because the special counsel believed a jury would be reluctant to convict the 81-year-old president if he presented himself as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” as Biden presented himself to the special counsel.
Tenney invoked the 25th Amendment over “grave concerns” about Biden’s health and mental acuity described in the Hur report, according to Fox News, which obtained a copy of Tenney’s letter. The 25th Amendment authorizes the White House cabinet to strip the president of authority if he is deemed “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”
“After concluding that President Biden knowingly and willfully removed, mishandled, and disclosed classified documents repeatedly over a period of decades, Mr. Hur nevertheless recommended that charges not be brought against him,” Tenney wrote. “Special Counsel’s reasoning was alarming.”
“He recited numerous instances in which President Biden exhibited dramatically compromised mental faculties and concluded that a jury would be likely to perceive President Biden as a sympathetic and forgetful old man,” she continued.
The New York congresswoman said that Biden “needs to be charged, unless he is not mentally competent to stand trial.”
“Candidly, Special Counsel’s report makes a reasonable case that he is not,” Tenney said. “Being unable to remember what position he held, and when, is exceptionally concerning. Being unable to remember when one’s child died – even within a time frame of several years – is perhaps more a more damning reflection of his mental impairment.”
“So it is incumbent upon you to explore proceedings to remove the President pursuant to the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution,” she continued. “President Biden needs to be charged, or he needs to be removed.”
“There is no middle ground,” Tenney said.
Discussion over the 25th Amendment broke several years ago when Democrats suggested creating a commission to analyze whether a president is mentally fit enough to execute the duties of the office. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) suggested the commission in light of former President Donald Trump’s perceived mental instability.
“This is not about President Trump. He will face the judgment of the voters, but he knows the need for us to create a process for future presidents,” she said in October 2020. “This legislation applies to future presidents, but we are reminded of the necessity of action by the health of the current president.”
Hur’s report raising concerns about Biden’s mental competence – pointing out that Biden had trouble remembering such dates as the year of his son Beau’s death and the years of his vice presidency – has triggered calls among Republicans that Biden may not be fit to execute the duties of the Oval Office. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia called for Biden to be removed from office Thursday afternoon, invoking the 25th Amendment as well.
“The Special Counsel’s report exposing that Joe Biden’s mental decline is so severe that he can not stand trial means he is unfit for office,” Greene posted on X. “We must demand either the 25th amendment be invoked or impeachment.”
Post a Comment