State House News Service

By Michael Norton

After rioters loyal to President Trump overran police and violently invaded the Capitol last Wednesday, Congressman Stephen Lynch of South Boston expects authorities to have a stronger presence next week to ensure that the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris goes smoothly.

“There is a lot of action on Twitter and on social media about another attack on the Capitol to prevent President Biden and Kamala Harris from becoming president and vice president,” Lynch told WCVB’s “On the Record” program Sunday morning in an televised interview. “I trust that there will be much better preparation and much better leadership in terms of resisting that attack. But we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Twenty-foot fences are going up, he said, drawing comparisons to violent mobs in countries he has visited like Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and Yemen. “I’ve never seen it happen here until now and it’s a disgrace,” he said.

Lynch said he supports a second impeachment of Trump, forecasting a possible House vote on Wednesday. He said “it would be great” if Vice President Mike Pence and Trump’s Cabinet attempted to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office without the involvement of Congress.

“Right now he’s been reluctant to do that,” Lynch said.

Lynch said he was at the Capitol last Wednesday morning and retreated to his nearby apartment after Trump urged his supporters to go to the Capitol, the moment when Lynch said it “really hit the fan.”

“This president supported an insurrection against the elected government,” he said. “He used force against the legislative branch to stop them from performing their constitutional duty in counting and certifying the Electoral College results. That warrants forceful action on the part of all Americans who support the constitution.”