A Texas legislator called for President Donald Trump’s impeachment Wednesday on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, citing allegations that the president obstructed justice, an impeachable offense.
“Our democracy is at risk,” said U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Texas. “We’re talking about a president who fired the FBI director who was investigating the president for his connections to Russian involvement in the president’s election.”
Green laid out the case for impeachment earlier this week, pointing to Trump’s firing of FBI director James Comey, his subsequent warning that “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations,” and his acknowledgement that he had the Russia investigation on his mind when making the firing decision.
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“These acts, when combined, amount to intimidation and obstruction,” Green wrote.
“We cannot allow this to go unchecked,” Green said Wednesday. “This offense has occurred before our very eyes. It is conspicuous. It is easy to understand.”
Green insisted that he did not consider politics while deciding to call for Trump’s impeachment.
“I do this because I believe in the great ideals that this country stands for: Liberty and justice for all,” he said. “I do it because … there is a belief in this country that no one is above the law, and that includes the president of the United States of America.”
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A growing number of Democrats have called for Trump’s impeachment in the days following Comey’s dismissal.
The White House gave conflicting reasons for the firing, although Trump said during an interview with NBC News that Comey was a "show boat" who continued the investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians to influence the election, despite it being a non-issue.
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“I said to myself … this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story, it's an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won,” he said.
The Washington Post reported Monday that Trump shared highly classified, sensitive information related to the fight against the Islamic State last week during a meeting with the Russian foreign minister and the ambassador. The White House has denied the report. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday offered to provide lawmakers with a recording of the meeting to refute the report.
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The New York Times reported Tuesday that Trump encouraged Comey to drop his investigation into the president's former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Flynn was forced from his position in February after it was revealed that he lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his contact with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
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