Bill Posey said the resist movement has been harassing Donald Trump from start

Republican Rep. Bill Posey suggested Wednesday Democrats’ efforts to impeach Donald Trump for a second time are continuing a pattern of harassment that began with the “resist movement,” not because Trump deserves it.

“While his sins may be different than yours or mine, they clearly are not treasonous,” Posey said during the impeachment hearings Wednesday.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday was debating whether Trump committed sedition when he contended the presidential election had been stolen from him and encouraged a mob of followers to go to the Capitol, which they promptly seized and sacked.

Posey contended the impeachment article drafted by Democrats and presented on the floor Wednesday “reeks of nothing more than revenge and sets a dangerous precedent.”

“In our campaigns we may be adversaries. But usually after the campaign season is over we have traditionally come together for the good of our nation,” Posey said. “Now, more than ever in our lifetimes, we are a divided nation.

“One of the reasons? The resist movement, which has harassed, harangued and denigrated this President from the second he became the nominee,” he said, referring to the informal name of the progressive movement that opposes Trump and his policies.

He urged the House to vote no “if you truly want our nation to heal.”

Posey also suggested Congress needs to back off and give people, particularly police, time to recover from the shock and injury produced last Wednesday.

The clearly undermanned and under-supported Capitol police were overrun; one was killed, 14 others were injured, and at least one has subsequently committed suicide. Yet authorities believe the police might have managed to help prevent what could have been worse. Some of the attackers carried nylon ties and were looking for Vice President Mike Pence, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and others, possibly to take hostages. Others had chanted they wanted to kill Pence and the congressional leaders.

“Let our men and women in blue who have suffered a lot more stress than the members of Congress they protected have the time they deserve to recuperate, and do the same for the millions of Americans who feel they’ve been disenfranchised,” Posey said.