Washington, DC – U.S. Representative Charlie Crist (D-St. Petersburg) released the following statement on House passage of H. Res. 660, a resolution directing committees to continue ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach the President.“Testimony in recent weeks by senior Trump Administration officials has only heightened concerns that the President sought to leverage military aid to an ally under attack, in exchange for investigating a political opponent,” said Rep. Crist.
“A President putting personal political interest above our country’s national security interests is unacceptable. It rises to the level whereby impeachment must be considered. As the Founding Fathers designed, the House will continue to follow the facts where they lead as a co-equal branch of government. No one is above the law – not even the President. The American people deserve the truth, and we will uphold our Oath of Office to protect and defend the Constitution.”
Some more background on the process…..
Democrats said the procedures — which give them the ability to curb the president’s lawyers from calling witnesses — are similar to rules used during the impeachment proceedings of Presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. Republicans complained they were skewed against Trump.
It is likely to take weeks or more before the House decides whether to vote on actually impeaching Trump. If the House does vote for impeachment, the Senate would hold a trial to decide whether to remove the president from office.
Both parties’ leaders were rounding up votes as Thursday’s roll call approached, with each side eager to come as close to unanimity as possible.
Republicans said a solid GOP “no” vote would signal to the Senate that the Democratic push is a partisan crusade against a president they have never liked.
Democrats were also hoping to demonstrate solidarity from their most liberal elements to their most moderate members. They argued that GOP cohesion against the measure would show that Republicans are blindly defending Trump, whatever facts emerge.
