Representative Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) has announced that she plans to file articles of impeachment against President Trump.
“Later on this month, I will be joining folks and advocates across the country to file the impeachment resolution to start the impeachment proceedings,” Tlaib said at a press conference Wednedsay. “I think every single colleague of mine agrees there’s impeachable offenses. That’s one thing that we all agree on. We may disagree on the pace.”
The freshman Democrat, who has called Trump a “direct and serious threat to our country,” accused the president of “violations of the United States Constitution” and obstruction of justice in announcing her decision.
“We saw record turnout in an election year, where people wanted to elect a jury that would begin the impeachment proceedings to Donald Trump,” she said.
Tlaib made waves in January when she promised the day she was sworn in that the new Democratic House majority would “impeach the motherfu**er.” She defended herself in the days that followed, saying the president “needs to put a mirror up” and that he “has met his match,” but later apologized for causing a “distraction.”
Democratic leadership has cautioned against impeachment, warning that it would bitterly divide the country and hurt the party’s 2020 chances.
“I’m not going into that,” House speaker Nancy Pelosi said when asked about the issue last week. “Impeachment is a divisive issue in our country.”
Jerry Nadler, the Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which would be responsible for pursuing impeachment, on Monday announced a new investigation into “alleged obstruction of justice, public corruption, and other abuses” by the Trump administration. But Nadler has also cautioned against being too quick to impeach the president, saying in December that, “you have to be reluctant to do an impeachment.”
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the probe a “disgraceful and abusive investigation into tired, false allegations already investigated by the special counsel and committees in both chambers of Congress.”
Two other Democratic congressmen, Brad Sherman of California and Al Green of Texas, previously introduced articles of impeachment that did not gain enough support to reach the House floor.