The majority of House Judiciary Committee Democrats now say they back launching impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump after Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) announced his support for the move on Thursday, a review of public statements by Politico shows.
Earlier today, Swalwell, who launched a longshot bid for the White House in April, became the House Judiciary panel’s 13th Democrat to support Congress opening an inquiry to oust the president. The California Democrat said he arrived at the decision following an interview in which President Trump told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in a Wednesday interview that he would consider accepting opposition research on his 2020 rivals rather than notify the FBI, saying, “I think maybe you do both.”
Swalwell tweeted in response to the president’s comments: “Congress has no choice: we must begin an impeachment inquiry against @realDonaldTrump. He has invited the Russians to again sabotage our elections. And he has obstructed (& obstructs) justice. Time to be held accountable. Our democracy is worth saving.”
As Politico notes, with 13 of the committee’s 24 members now supporting proceedings, chair Jerry Nadler (D-NY) would have the power to get the impeachment ball rolling. “It’s a significant milestone for the committee because it has the power to open and lead impeachment proceedings, and its members have been in the vanguard of Congress’ growing confrontation with the White House over access to former special counsel Robert Mueller’s evidence,” the news outlet pointed out.
In her weekly press conference on Capitol Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) critized President Trump’s ABC News interview, stating “It’s so against any sense of decency.”
“Everybody in the country should be totally appalled by what the president said last night. Totally appalled. But he has a habit of making appalling statements,” the speaker said Thursday. “Not anyone issue is going to trigger, ‘Oh now, we’ll go to this,’ because it’s about investigating, it’s about litigating.”
The development comes after reports alleging Nadler has pushed Pelosi during a pair private meetings to support impeachment, argueing it could help defeat the president in court when it comes to subpoenas.
Thus far, Pelosi has said House Democrat leaders have no plans to begin impeachment proceedings, though in a recent meeting she reportedly said she would rather see President Trump imprisoned instead.
Pelosi’s opposition to impeachment hasn’t stopped the efforts of progressive freshman Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who say Democrats are failing their constituents by not backing the move.
“I think that an impeachment inquiry is right on our doorstep,” Ocasio-Cortez told CNN on Tuesday. “If now isn’t the time, what is the bar, what is the line that we’re waiting to be crossed for an impeachment inquiry, and so far it doesn’t seem like there is one.”
“And so without a clear boundary, it seems as though we’re kind of sitting on our hands. So, if now isn’t the time, then I think a lot of folks would like to know, when is the time?” she concluded.
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