Democrats eager for a formal impeachment inquiry against President Trump view Rep. John Lewis as their best chance to convince House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to endorse such an effort.
Lewis, a civil rights leader who hails from Georgia, has so far remained silent on opening an impeachment inquiry, but hinted that an announcement is coming soon.
“My time is growing near,” Lewis said this week, according to Politico. “I’ve never been supportive of this so-called president. Before he was inaugurated I said he was not legitimate. So I have some very strong feelings.”
Even as more than half the Democratic caucus supports an impeachment inquiry, Pelosi has resisted a formal House vote that would authorize the House Judiciary Committee to launch an official impeachment inquiry.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler has nonetheless declared the panel is conducting an official investigation. The committee voted Thursday to establish formal rules for pursuing an impeachment inquiry, and Nadler declared a House vote is not needed to authorize one.
Democrats believe Lewis, a close ally to Pelosi, could sway the California Democrat who walked out on the press Thursday, shutting down questions about whether the House is conducting a formal impeachment inquiry, as some lawmakers claim.
“No question about it. Who wants to be on the other side of John Lewis?” said Democratic Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a supporter of an impeachment inquiry. “When he speaks, everybody listens.”
Rep. John Larson, a Democrat from Connecticut who has not endorsed an impeachment inquiry, said Lewis “is so widely respected that anything he would say — anything he would be a part of — carries a lot of weight.”
Some also believe that Lewis backing impeachment proceedings could be a sign that leadership has already decided to embrace the formal process.
“When he comes out it will be a signal that the leadership has decided [to support it],” an unnamed Judiciary Committee Democrat told Politico. “I would be surprised.”
Lewis has said Trump is not a “legitimate” president and has boycotted multiple events because of their opposition to Trump, including the State of the Union address.
