No one from Oklahoma’s delegation was among the 10 Republican U.S. representatives who joined 222 of their Democratic counterparts on Wednesday in voting to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time.
The article of impeachment says Trump incited a siege on the capitol last week. None of Oklahoma’s five Republican House members debated against impeachment on the floor before voting against it.
Rules Committee Ranking Member Rep. Tom Cole laid out his arguments against it earlier in the day as the House weighed rules for Wednesday afternoon’s debate.
"In every modern impeachment inquiry, an investigation and committee action has preceded bringing an impeachment resolution to the floor. In part, this is to ensure that members have the full facts, the opportunity to engage expert witnesses and have a chance to be heard. It also provides due process to the president of the United States," Cole said.
Cole also argued an impeachment trial would slow President-elect Joe Biden in setting up his administration and that Trump could be found responsible in future legal proceedings.
Last week’s invasion of the Capitol by pro-Trump extremists has resulted in at least six deaths and happened after weeks of lies from the president and members of his party that the election was stolen from him and encouragement that they "fight like hell."
Rep. Markwayne Mullin posted a video to Twitter after the vote in which he called the attack on the capitol a "dark day" in American history but said removing Trump from office won’t help the country move forward.
"Right now, people are looking to point fingers at someone, someone to blame. You know, it’s the Republicans that’s to blame, it’s President Trump to blame, it’s the Democrats that’s to blame, it’s Speaker Pelosi, it’s Maxine Waters, it’s whoever we want to look to blame for what happened, but, really, we’re all responsible for our own actions," Mullin said.
In a statement, Rep. Kevin Hern cited the lack of an investigation before the impeachment as a reason for voting against it. Rep. Frank Lucas said in a statement the impeachment skipped the committee process and "is void of any due process." Rep. Stephanie Bice in a statement called the process a rushed vote for "political expediency that will only impede efforts to heal the nation."
All five of Oklahoma's representatives voted last week to object to the results of the 2020 election.
