Virginia Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria told constituents in Williamsburg on Thursday she has heard sufficient evidence for President Trump to be impeached.
“I think the president of the United States abused his office for his personal gain,” Luria, a freshman Democrat from a swing district, said during a town hall meeting at a local library after an attendee shouted Trump was not receiving due process, the Virginian-Pilot reported.
Back in September, she joined six other freshman Democrats to support the impeachment investigations, stopping short of backing articles of impeachment. However, she told audience members in Williamsburg that after reading the transcripts of the depositions, she decided Trump needs to be impeached.
“I’m not sure how you sleep at night reading these transcripts and seeing how the president of the United States has abused his office,” Luria said.
According to the Virginian-Pilot, Luria said she believes Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into launching an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden, a potential 2020 political opponent, and Biden’s son Hunter.
“I understand that in the district I represent, the seat may typically be held by a Republican,” she added, “People would say: ‘Well, why would you do that? You might not be reelected.’ I don’t care, because I did the right thing.”
Luria, a former Navy commander, beat Republican incumbent Scott Taylor in 2018 by just over 2% of the vote. Trump won the district by just 3%.
The Virginia Democrat has faced questions from pro-Trump constituents in her district previously at her near evenly politically split town halls. At one town hall meeting at the New Hope Baptist Church convocation center in Virginia Beach, one attendee peppered her with questions about her impeachment stance.
