State Department website mysteriously claims ‘Trump’s term ended’ today
Biography pages for president and Mike Pence were added, then removed, after claiming they were already out of office
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump’s biography on the US Department of State website said only that the president’s term has ended, as of 11 January 2020.
The page was edited at least twice, with two different times, reading “Donald J. Trump's term ended on 2021-01-11 19:49:00” and "Donald J. Trump's term ended on 2021-01-11 19:22:18."
A similar biography page for Mike Pence was also edited at least twice, reading only that the vice president's “term ended on 2021-01-11 19:41:00.”
Both pages were taken offline on Monday afternoon.
The Independent has requested comment from the State Department; the White House has referred requests to the State Department.
The URL path on the State Department websites leads to a “biographies” page, which includes only the biographies of members on the U.S.-Pakistan Women’s Council. There are no links to the president’s or vice president’s biographies from that page.
Both pages appear to have been created within the last 24 hours.
The edits appeared as Democratic lawmakers prepare to pressure the vice president to invoke the 25 Amendment or impeach the president after he incited a deadly insurrection at the US Capitol, where a pro-Trump riot stormed the halls of Congress in an attempt to interfere with the results of the 2020 presidential election that the president has sought to overturn.
A “disgruntled employee” at the State Department is believed to be responsible for the edits, according to BuzzFeed News. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has reportedly ordered an internal investigation.
On Monday, House Democrats introduced articles of impeachment; the House is set to vote on Wednesday, a week before president-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office as the 46th president.
House Republicans objected to a quick vote to urge the vice president and Trump Cabinet to remove the president from office by invoking the 25 Amendment of the US Constitution.
The move prevented the measure from being considered under unanimous consent, forcing the House to hold a vote on the measure on Tuesday.
Congressman Jamie Raskins’s resolution calls on Mr Pence "to convene and mobilise the principal officers of the executive departments in the Cabinet to declare what is obvious to a horrified Nation: That the President is unable to successfully discharge the duties and powers of his office.”
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