The Athens-Clarke County Democratic Committee has called on Republican Rep. Jody Hice, whose district includes most of Athens, to resign or be expelled from Congress due to his actions leading up to Trump supporters’ riot at the Capitol building last week.
Hice, like President Trump, has been pushing false conspiracy theories of voter fraud ever since Trump lost re-election nationwide and in Georgia. He challenged Georgia’s Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden even after a MAGA mob stormed the Capitol Jan. 6 in an effort to stop the formal Electoral College vote-counting.
Said the ACCDC’s executive committee:
The Executive Committee members of the Athens-Clarke County Democratic Committee (ACCDC) unequivocally condemn the insurrection encouraged by President Donald Trump and executed by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021. We also resolutely condemn the actions and intentions of Congressman Jody Hice (GA-10) which helped lead to the attack on the US Capitol. Through his words and actions, Hice has shown that his loyalty lies with Donald Trump, instead of the voters of his district. Congressman Hice has violated his oath of office and should resign or be expelled from Congress.
Both Jody Hice and the newly-elected Congressman Andrew Clyde (GA-9) voted to overturn the November 3 election results and to nullify the votes of over 35,000 Clarke County voters, of nearly 2,500,000 Georgia voters, and of over 80,000,000 American voters. They did this on the day that thousands of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol building, resulting in 5 deaths. Leading up to those incidents, Congressman Hice falsely accused the November 3 election of being fraudulent, yet considered his own re-election to be valid. On the morning of the deadly insurrection, Congressman Hice urged supporters to “FIGHT” and stated “This is our 1776 moment.”
It is paramount that our Congressional representatives serve their constituents and no other individual or power. Congressman Hice has shown that he does not prioritize our democracy and he has, intentionally or not, jeopardized our nation with his actions. Jody Hice must resign, and if he does not, then his colleagues in Congress should expel him.
At least two local elected officials—commissioners Melissa Link and Mariah Parker—have separately called for Hice to resign or be removed from office, in addition to commissioners Tim Denson and Russell Edwards and state Rep. Spencer Frye, who are members of the ACCDC executive committee.
Article 1, Section 5, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution empowers Congress to “punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.” Five representatives and 15 senators have been expelled, mostly for supporting the Confederacy during the Civil War. The last was Rep. Jim Traficant (D-Ohio), who was convicted of bribery and racketeering in 2002.
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