Four House Democrats introduced five articles of impeachment against President Trump on Wednesday, saying a “great number” of Democrats believe he has engaged in impeachable offenses.
Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., led the push and was joined by three other Democrats at a press conference in the Capitol. Cohen and Reps. Al Green, D-Texas, Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., and Adriano Espaillat D-N.Y., said there’s enough evidence to impeach Trump.
Cohen and the other members hope to host briefings with experts to inform the public why they believe there is enough evidence to impeach the president.
“There are already sufficient facts in the public record to warrant the start of impeachment proceedings in Congress,” Cohen said. “There’s no reason for delay.”
Cohen pointed to Trump’s firing of former FBI Director James Comey, a meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian attorney during the campaign, and what Democrats consider violations by the president relating to foreign and domestic emoluments clauses as some of the mounting evidence they consider sufficient. The members also said the president’s efforts to undermine the courts and the press and endangering the country’s democracy shows he is unfit for the office.
“These facts are uncontested,” he said.
Reps. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, and John Yarmuth, D-Ky., also plan to sign on, bringing the total to six Democrats, according to Cohen.
“There are some others who might think they just want Trump to hang himself and that we don’t need to help him but I think there are a great number of Democrats [who] think there have been impeachable offenses,” Cohen said when pressed on the fact that his party leaders have tried to tamp down impeachment talk. “I know there are Republicans who think that, too.”
Cohen and Gutierrez both sit on the House Judiciary Committee, which is undertaking its own effort behind the scenes. Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are weighing what options Democrats may have to impeach Trump if they win the House in 2018 or if the ongoing investigations into Russian meddling find a smoking gun.
“I think this will not hurt the Democrats in 2018, it will help the Democrats,” Cohen said. “The Democratic base needs to know there are members of Congress willing to stand up to this president and bring impeachment charges and bring light to illegal conduct that is taking place and threatening our country.”
Though an increasing number of Democrats are calling for some action on impeachment, Democratic leaders aren’t on board. They know they can’t impeach Trump without holding majorities in either chamber, making the push premature to many.
“Nancy [Pelosi] and I are saying look the issue is not impeachment the issue is the economy,” Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters moments after the four Democrats introduced the articles of impeachment.
“Electing a president of the United States is the most important act that American citizens take in setting the policies of their country, that should not be overturned except for the most egregious and demonstrable facts,” Hoyer said. “Leader Pelosi and I believe it is not timely to address that issue given what’s in front of us.”
