At least 16 House Democrats are demanding to begin some form of action on impeachment.
President Donald Trump’s total refusal to honor any congressional document subpoenas, his total blockade on allowing current and former administration officials to testify – even when facing a congressional subpoena – and his ongoing campaign of retaliatory threats of intimidation are leading more and more House Democratic lawmakers to reach the same conclusion.
They are calling for action, demanding an impeachment inquiry to begin.
The Washington Post notes Trump’s White House “is blocking more than 20 Democratic investigations into Trump, his finances or his policies.”
During Monday night’s closed-door House Democratic leadership meeting, Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly remained firm in her opposition to impeaching the President.
“Reps. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Joe Neguse of Colorado — all members of Democratic leadership — pushed to begin impeachment proceedings,” Politico reports.
“I think if this pattern by the president continues, where he’s going to impede and prevent and undermine our ability to gather evidence to do our job, we’re going to be left with no choice,” Rep. Cicilline said. “It’s a means where we can collect that information … We need to have the ability to gather the evidence.”
Politico adds that “in a Democratic Steering and Policy Committee meeting, Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee stood up and demanded Trump’s impeachment.”
And Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) also added to the calls for action.
“The president’s continuing lawless conduct is making it harder and harder to rule out impeachment or any other enforcement mechanism,” Nadler said. Reports say he is advocating fr an impeachment inquiry behind the scenes.
Also calling for action are House Ethics Committee Chairman Ted Deutch (D-FL), and Reps. Ted Lieu (D-CA), and Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO).
Reports are flooding in to Twitter, from lawmakers and reporters. #ImpeachmentInquiryNow is also trending on Twitter.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington:
Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas:
Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin:
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York:
CNN’s Manu Raju adds more names to the list:
MSNBC producer Kyle Griffin on Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) and Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA):
Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee (D-TX) wants to go further:
An impeachment investigation is not impeachment, nor a vote for impeachment. But many believe televised hearings, similar to those that captivated the nation during Watergate, would help inform and ultimately convince the American public. A recent Reuters poll found 45% of Americans support impeachment, up five points in the last month. 42% are opposed.