Vice President Mike Pence’s Press Secretary, Katie Waldman, on Thursday dismissed a story that Pence considered using an obscure constitutional device to remove President Donald Trump from office.
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Waldman merely tweeted, “FAKE NEWS.”
FAKE NEWS. https://t.co/cOB5SXzIG5
— Katie Waldman (@VPPressSec) November 7, 2019
The press secretary was responding to a tweet that detailed how the anonymous author of an insider tell-all book alleged that Pence was prepared to support any cabinet decision to use the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.
1. Exclusive: I’ve obtained passages from the book by ‘Anonymous’, the author of the NYT Op-ed
In the book, Anonymous claims that senior officials had no doubt that Pence would support invoking the 25th amendment if the majority of the cabinet agreed. https://t.co/MoTiIaQnuM
— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) November 7, 2019
The book in question is entitled “The Warning,” and is believed to have been written by an anonymous Trump “senior administration official” — and is a follow-up to an anonymous op-ed for the New York Times that gained considerable attention in 2018. (RELATED: Trump Demands NYT Give Up Anonymous Official For ‘National Security’ Reasons)
Portions of the book have been disclosed by the Huffington Post.
The 25th Amendment is a constitutional mechanism that has rarely been utilized, except as a temporary measure, but could be used by the cabinet to remove a president from office if the chief executive is unable to perform his duties due to physical or mental incapacitation.
According to the reported recollection of the anonymous writer, use of the amendment was briefly considered by the Trump cabinet, and Pence supposedly would have voted with them to remove the president from office.
Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren suggested that House officials should invoke the amendment in February. Warren, addressing a news conference in Las Vegas Sunday, said they have a duty to the Constitution to do so, according to The Nevada Independent. (RELATED: New Details Emerge About Anonymous Tell-All Book)
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“My point here is that if they believe that Donald Trump cannot fulfill the obligations of his office, then they have a constitutional responsibility to invoke the 25th Amendment,” Warren told reporters.