WASHINGTON, DC - Republican member of the House of Representatives Liz Cheney (Wyoming), the eldest daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, has slammed President Trump for his role in the storming of the U.S. Capitol last week,

Cheney, the House Republican Conference Chair, is the third-highest ranked member in the Republican House leadership. On Tuesday she vowed to vote for impeachment of the president.

"On January 6, 2021 a violent mob attacked the United States Capitol to obstruct the process of our democracy and stop the counting of presidential electoral votes. This insurrection caused injury, death, and destruction in the most sacred space in our Republic," Cheney said in a statement released on Wednesday.

"Much more will become clear in the coming days and weeks, but what we know now is enough. The president of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack."

"Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the president. The president could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution," Cheney said.

"I will vote to impeach the President," she added.

Proceedings began in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, despite Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell saying the Senate would not consider impeachment as the Senate is not set to resume until 19 January, the day before the inauguration of Joe Biden.

House Speaker Nacy Pelosi however has not been deterred. We know that the president of the United States incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion against our common country, she told the House on Wednesday. He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.

Republican Rep. John Katko (New York) also declared he would support impeachment. "It cannot be ignored that President Trump encouraged this insurrection, both on social media ahead of January 6th, and in his speech that day. By deliberately promoting baseless theories suggesting the election was somehow stolen, the president created a combustible environment of misinformation, disenfranchisement, and division," he said in a statement posted on Twitter on Wednesday morning.

Three other Republicans in the House have since said they too will support impeachment.

(Photo credit: Jamie Squire | Getty Images).