By Sharon Zhang
This article was originally published by Truthout
“Trump is clearly the most impeachable President our country has ever endured,” Rep. Steve Cohen said.
A House Democrat has filed articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, calling him the “most impeachable president” in U.S. history and accusing him of high crimes and misdemeanors ranging from his war on Iran to his schemes to enrich himself and his allies while in office.
House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Steve Cohen, of Tennessee, introduced 26 impeachment articles on Thursday, covering a broad range of actions from the president since his return to office last year.
Two of the articles focus on Trump’s military aggression, in Iran and in his “extrajudicial killings in the international waters of Venezuela.” Numerous articles are focused on the administration’s actions relating to his mass deportation and anti-immigration agenda, including the administration’s defiance of court orders, imprisonment of immigrants in a notorious torture camp in El Salvador, and deployment of the National Guard to U.S. cities.
Other articles focus on Trump’s attempts to punish his political enemies; his attacks on the press; his alleged misappropriations of federal funds; and his various corruption schemes, including his “profiting personally and directly from the presidency.”
“Trump is clearly the most impeachable President our country has ever endured. His continued presence in office is a danger to our democracy. That the sycophantic Republican majority in Congress is derelict in its duty does not mean that I must abandon my responsibilities,” said Cohen in a statement on the articles. “When historians write about this period, and our constituents ask who stood up to President Trump’s lawlessness, this resolution is the answer.”
Like previous attempts to impeach Trump, the articles are doomed to fail under the Republican-controlled Congress.
The latest attempt, by Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), garnered 147 votes to advance the measure, all from Democrats, in a vote earlier this month.
Eighteen Democrats joined Republicans in voting to table the articles, including some of the most conservative Democrats in the caucus like Representatives Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez — who have also twice broken with their caucus to help buoy Republican priorities in recent weeks. Another 46 Democrats voted “present,” including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York).
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) also recently introduced articles of impeachment against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The eight articles focused on the U.S.’s military campaigns in Iran, Venezuela, Yemen, and in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, while also accusing Hegseth of disregarding civilian safeguards and suppressing the speech of critics. Massie moved to force a House vote on the articles, but was blocked by GOP leaders.
A majority of Americans say that Hegseth should face impeachment, however. Recent polling found that a slim majority, 51 percent, of U.S. voters say that Hegseth should be impeached, The Economist/YouGov found.
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