(Photo by Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images)
Representative Al Green of Houston, Texas has become the first United States congressman to call for the impeachment of President Trump.
The Democratic congressman accused Trump obstructing the investigation into possible ties between Trump’s campaign and the Kremlin’s influence over the 2016 election.
Green named three specific acts committed by President Trump that he believes warrant impeachment:
- The firing of former FBI Director James Comey, who was overseeing a lawful investigation into possible campaign ties to Russian influence.
- Trump acknowledging that he considered the investigation when he fired Comey.
- Making Comey the subject of what Green calls a “threatening” tweet. It read, “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press.”
Green says these acts combined add up to intimidation and obstruction.
Similarly, Alan Dershowitz, one of the country’s most prominent scholars on United States constitutional law and criminal law and a leading defender of civil liberties called the accusations against Trump the “most serious charge ever against a sitting U.S. president.”
Via CNN:
Dershowitz also had a warning for Democrats, cautioning that it would be “a serious mistake” to conflate this with whether the Trump campaign had possible ties to Russian officials.
“We should not be talking about these other issues, we should be focusing only on this threat,” he said. “That’s where Republicans and Democrats can agree. Democrats should not be trying to take political advantage of this. This should be a national security issue pure and simple in isolation of everything else that went on before.”
But Dershowitz also noted the President is able to declassify information, and because of that, Trump would be “safe from criminal investigation” and “probably safe from impeachment.”
He added that “we may have to ban all laptops starting tomorrow” because of the alleged disclosure, calling the situation “an emergency.”
About Congressman Al Green
Green represents Texas’ 9th District in the House of Representatives. He was born in New Orleans and attended Florida A&M University, Howard University, and the Tuskegee
Green is currently serving his seventh term in Congress.
In 1977, he became a Justice of the Peace in Harris County, Texas, a position he held for 26 years. He has also spent 10 years as president of the Houston branch of the NAACP.
Congressman Green’s Full Statement on Impeaching Donald Trump
via House.gov:
A bedrock premise upon which respect for, and obedience to, our societal norms is “No one is above the law.”
President Trump is not above the law. He has committed an impeachable act and must be charged. To do otherwise would cause some Americans to lose respect for, and obedience to, our societal norms.
President Trump has committed an act for which he should be charged by the U.S. House of Representatives. The act is the obstruction of a lawful investigation of the President’s campaign ties to Russian influence in his 2016 Presidential Election.
This charging, of the President, is known constitutionally as impeachment.
Impeachment, of the President, by the House of Representatives is not a finding of guilt. The House of Representatives cannot find the President guilty of anything. Only the U.S. Senate can do this after a trial.
Here are the acts committed by the President that, when combined, merit his being charged (impeached) for obstructing a lawful investigation:
· The President fired the F.B.I. Director overseeing a lawful investigation of the President’s campaign ties to Russian influence in the President’s 2016 Election.
· The President acknowledged he considered the investigation when he fired the F.B.I. Director.
· The President made the F.B.I. Director the subject of a threatening tweet – “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press.”
These acts, when combined, amount to intimidation and obstruction.
If the President is not above the law, he should be charged, by way of impeachment, by the U.S. House of Representatives. Whether he is guilty is a separate action for the U.S. Senate to decide. I have said on previous occasions, and do now say again, the President should be impeached. I also say that this can happen with a Republican-controlled House and Senate if the public weighs in by demanding that the Republican President be charged by way of impeachment.
Our mantra should be “I. T. N. – Impeach Trump Now.”
