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A dozen House Democrats just pivoted toward impeaching Trump. Here’s why each is a big deal.

cigaretteman

HR King
May 29, 2001
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THE BIG IDEA: Several House Democrats facing tough reelection fights next year in districts that Donald Trump carried in 2016 are expressing openness to impeachment for the first time, a major tipping point that reflects their palpable outrage over the president’s purported conduct toward Ukraine and will intensify pressure on their colleagues who hold safer seats to follow suit.

The latest is freshman Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan. She picked up an open seat in the Detroit suburbs last fall that Republicans had held for decades. Trump won the district three years ago by 4.4 percentage points. In a statement sent after 7 a.m., Stevens said she did not get to this point lightly – “but rather out of a sober obligation to stand up for the rule of law and our national security.”

“Over the last several days, I have been deeply alarmed by reports of serious abuse of power by President Trump,” Stevens wrote. “The President is alleged to have used the power of his office to pressure a foreign head of state for his own personal political gain. Furthermore, the Director of National Intelligence continues to illegally withhold information about this matter from Congress. If investigations confirm recent reports, these actions represent impeachable offences that threaten to undermine the integrity of our elections and jeopardize the balance of power within the federal government.”

Stevens’s announcement follows a new Washington Post report that Trump ordered his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, to hold back almost $400 million in military aid for Ukraine at least a week before a phone call in which the president is said to have pressured the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden’s son. That’s according to three senior administration officials.

Trump confirmed this morning at the United Nations that he withheld military aid from Ukraine but insisted that he did so because he wanted other European countries to chip in. “But very importantly, Germany, France, other countries should put up money, and that’s been my complaint from the beginning,” the president told reporters at the United Nations.

Trump acknowledges U.S. withheld military aid to Ukraine

On Sept. 24, President Trump fielded questions from reporters as to why he blocked aid at least a week before a call with his Ukrainian counterpart. (The Washington Post)

We’ve been hearing lots of metaphors from plugged-in Democratic strategists we’ve spoken with over the past 24 hours like “the dam is breaking” and “the train is leaving the station.” Or, as Democratic pollster Geoff Garin put it, “The horse is out of the barn. Saddle up.”

Stevens is the third Michigan congresswoman to express support for moving toward an impeachment inquiry in a period of just 12 hours. As of 10 a.m., 148 House Democrats have now publicly expressed support for at least opening an impeachment inquiry into whether Trump committed “high crimes and misdemeanors.” (Follow our running whip count here.)

Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who represents a district that Trump carried by 6.7 points in 2016, which stretches from the northern Detroit suburbs to the state capital in Lansing, submitted an op-ed to The Washington Post last night with six other House freshmen who have extensive national security experience. They agreed that, if the allegations against Trump are true, “we believe these actions represent an impeachable offense.” And they’re calling on their colleagues to use all congressional authorities, including impeachment hearings, to “address these new allegations, find the truth and protect our national security.”

Slotkin, who toppled Republican incumbent Mike Bishop in the midterms, is a former CIA officer who was personally involved in briefings for both George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Fluent in Arabic, she was a Middle East analyst for the agency and deployed to Iraq for three tours over five years. Then she became the director for Iraq policy on the National Security Council, moved to the State Department and finally the Pentagon. (I profiled her in a 2017 Big Idea.)

The other signatories are Reps. Gil Cisneros of California, Jason Crow of Colorado, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Elaine Luria of Virginia, Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia. “We have devoted our lives to the service and security of our country, and throughout our careers, we have sworn oaths to defend the Constitution of the United States many times over. Now, we join as a unified group to uphold that oath as we enter uncharted waters and face unprecedented allegations against President Trump,” the seven wrote. (One of the members, Crow from the Denver suburbs, endorsed impeachment in July. But the others had all previously held off.)

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), the widow of the legendary John Dingell, has her finger on the pulse of the caucus better than all but a handful of her colleagues. She’s been exceedingly cautious on impeachment – arguing that it would “tear the country apart” – until last night. “This country is divided. We cannot be divided on the rule of law. As an elected official my oath is to protect national security and the Constitution,” she tweeted at 10:22 p.m. “After recent revelations, I support an impeachment inquiry because we must follow the facts and hold the President accountable.”

What Trump has said about his Ukraine conversations

After initially declining to discuss his conversations with Ukraine, President Trump on Sept. 22 appeared to acknowledge the two leaders discussed Joe Biden. (JM Rieger/The Washington Post)

Because of Rep. Justin Amash, an independent from the other side of Michigan who left the GOP on July 4 after endorsing impeachment, Democrats can afford to lose 18 or so votes and still pass any article of impeachment. Republicans who control the Senate would then most likely acquit Trump during an ensuing trial in that body. Nancy Pelosi, though, wants something as close to unanimity in her caucus as possible and she’s been afraid to endanger her front-line members like Stevens.

Many prominent impeachment skeptics in the Democratic caucus have been friends and loyalists of the speaker who hold solidly blue seats but defer to her political judgment. That’s why it’s a huge deal that Pelosi loyalists have moved toward impeachment over the past 24 hours. The most prominent of these is Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut.

In a lengthy statement last night, she said Trump’s “reckless abuse of power” is a “turning point.” She explained that her thinking changed and impeachment “may be the only recourse Congress has” to hold Trump accountable. “Congress must meet this pivotal moment in our nation’s history with decisive action,” she wrote.

Anyone who knows DeLauro knows she doesn’t put that statement out before checking with Pelosi. And another member from Connecticut who is close to Pelosi, Rep. John Larson of the Hartford area, piled on, as well. “The Director of National Intelligence must comply with the law on Thursday,” he tweeted. “If not, the Trump Administration has left Congress with no alternative but for the House to begin impeachment proceedings, which I will support.”

Trump calls whistleblower complaint another ‘witch hunt’

President Trump arrived at the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 23, where he called a whistleblower complaint against him a "witch hunt." (The Washington Post)





More at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-each-is-a-big-deal/5d89b3d088e0fa6261fefdac/
 
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Reactions: BGHAWK
Keep it up you will elect Trump again. Congrats! They still can't get over Hillary losing.
 
That's all well in good, but does anyone really expect the twenty-some (or whatever number) needed Republicans in the Senate to magically find a moral compass and place country above party?

Assuming these impeachment charges even have merit, I sure as hell don't.
 
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