Several House Democrats introduced articles of impeachment targeting President Donald Trump on Wednesday, asserting that he has violated the constitution. “We’re calling upon the house to begin impeachment hearings immediately,” said Democrat House Representative Steve Cohen of Tennessee, who is the sponsor of the resolution.
“We have taken this action because of great concern for our country and our constitution, our national security and our democracy,” continued Cohen. “We believed that President Donald Trump has violated the constitution and we’ve introduced five articles of impeachment.”
"We believe that .@POTUS has violated the Constitution, & we've introduced five articles of impeachment," Rep. Steve Cohen said at a press conference
I’m infuriated 😡Obama gives💰to Iran 1.3B taxpayers💰 Hillary sells uranium, 💰laundering;etc This is BS pic.twitter.com/abowPMAIbr— 🦅 Eagle Wings 🦅 (@CRRJA5) November 16, 2017
The articles target Trump’s firing of former FBI director James Comey, perceived violations of the emoluments clause that prevents public officials from accepting gifts from foreign governments as well as actions “undermining the judiciary and freedom of the press.” Republicans slammed the Democrats move as a “baseless radical effort”.
“Given the magnitude of the constitutional crisis, there’s no reason for delay,” said Rep. Steve Cohen. The other Representatives who endorse the articles are Luis Gutiérrez (Ill.), Al Green (Texas), Marcia Fudge (Ohio), John Yarmuth (Ky.) and Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.).
“It is way too soon to be calling for the impeachment of Donald Trump.”
Me: OUT OF MY WAY! pic.twitter.com/lJyrpumyT0
— Power to the People ☭🕊 (@ProudSocialist) November 15, 2017
The Representatives have pointed out numerous reasons for why they believe that Trump is unfit to hold office, however, they singled out five specific actions that merit instant impeachment. The firing of Comey stands on top of that list, mainly because he was leading the federal investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and its connections to Trump’s campaign.
The accusation of Trump’s violation of the emolument clause is both of foreign and domestic nature, the Representatives claim that President Trump is profiting from his office and that his undermining of two of the country’s central institutions (the courts and the press), directly threatens the nation’s democracy.
Democrat lawmakers have officially filed articles of impeachment against President Trump pic.twitter.com/zOIh7lRXx1
— NowThis Impact (@nowthisimpact) November 15, 2017
Al Green, the U.S. Representative from Texas’s 9th congressional district, who last month introduced impeachment articles of his own where he accused Trump of sowing racial and ethnic divisions in the country, has said that the impeachment clause “was drafted for a time such as this and a president such as this”.
The Republican National Committee who was highly critical of the Reps articles vowed that they won’t allow the clause to distract the president’s agenda. “House Democrats lack a positive message and are completely unwilling to work across the aisle, so instead they’ve decided to support a baseless radical effort that the vast majority of Americans disagree with,” said RNC spokesman Michael Ahrens.
.@larryelder on calls to impeach @POTUS: "If the standard is this low, then there should have been several articles of impeachment brought against @BarackObama." https://t.co/OlBA0lvIeM pic.twitter.com/ZfYes2d4TC
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 16, 2017
Article inspired by The Hill // House Dems introduce articles of impeachment against Trump