I will introduce a resolution urging the Congress of the United States to immediately consider and adopt Articles of Impeachment against Donald J. Trump, President of the United States.
Section 4 of Article II of the United States Constitution allows for removal of the President from office for reasons of “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” President Donald J. Trump has been credibly accused of various high crimes and misdemeanors, among them abuse of office, preventing, obstructing and impeding the administration of justice, dereliction of duty, gross unfitness for office, corruption, and malfeasance, requiring the immediate attention of the Congress of the United States.
- President Trump attempted to corrupt, impede and obstruct the administration of justice by ordering the firing of FBI Director James Comey, almost certainly due to Comey’s investigation of purported collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential election. In unguarded comments to Russian officials on May 10, 2017, President Trump affirmed that the firing had “taken off” the “great pressure” of the Russia investigation. President Trump later confirmed to NBC News on May 11, 2017 that the Comey firing occurred because of “this Russia thing.”
- President Trump has been derelict in his duty to defend the United States against all foreign enemies by consistently taking no action to prevent or punish Russian or other foreign interference in the 2016 presidential election or in future elections, despite repeated warnings from the highest-ranking intelligence officials of the nation.
- President Donald Trump demonstrates gross unfitness for office by continuously and purposely making false, baseless, and misleading statements for no other reason than to deceive the people of the United States. The New York Times has compiled over 2,000 false public statements made by the President in his first 9 months in office, a list that grows with every passing day. President Trump’s willful disregard for the truth violates the public trust, threatens our relationships with our allies, and dishonors the Office he holds.
- President Trump has corrupted his office by continuing to accept payments from foreign governments to his hotels and other business operations in violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which states that “no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”
- President Trump has abused the powers of the Presidency to target vulnerable minority and immigrant populations, including issuance of an unconstitutional travel ban preventing citizens of majority Muslim nations from entering the United States, making offensive, derogatory, and racist comments about immigrant populations from non-European countries, and refusing to disavow white nationalist movements throughout the United States and the world.
- President Donald Trump, through constant malfeasance and abuse of office, has threatened democratic norms, institutions and the rule of law. He has mounted an unceasing propaganda campaign against the Justice Department and the FBI. He has pledged to review libel laws and proposed directing the Federal Communications Commission to revoke licenses of news outlets he deems unsympathetic. He has used the powers of the Presidency to attack Federal judges, law enforcement agencies and government officials with charges that are false and entirely meritless.
Our forefathers empowered Congress to investigate public officials who violate the public trust or act contrary to their sworn oath of office. President Trump’s hostility to American values and corrupting influence at home and around the world requires a political solution to correct course so our nation may reclaim our core principles. Impeachment is not a criminal prosecution, but a political mechanism to investigate allegations of corruption, find the truth, and preserve the integrity of the democratic institutions that have protected the American way of life for almost 250 years. It is beyond debate that the allegations against President Trump merit immediate investigation by the Congress of the United States through an impeachment inquiry.
Please join me in cosponsoring this resolution. |
