A Democrat in the House of Representatives offered a resolution to impeach President Donald Trump on Wednesday, but quickly He withdrew it before any action could be taken
Texas Rep. Al Green says he’ll do it again and intends to eventually force a vote.
‘I want my colleagues to have a chance to review it and I want the American people to get some sense of what’s going on,’ Green told reporters.
Green presented the 15-page articles of impeachment to the House, claiming that Trump has ‘brought disrepute on the presidency’ by ‘fueling an alt-right hate machine.’
Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green argued for impeaching President Donald Trump on Wednesday
Green presented the 15-page articles of impeachment to the House, claiming that Trump has ‘brought disrepute on the presidency’ by ‘fueling an alt-right hate machine’
That, he said, has caused ‘immediate injury to American society.’
An aide to a senior House Republican laughed the episode off.
‘This is a PR stunt,’ the Capitol Hill staffer told DailyMail.com. ‘It’s just an attention-seeking opportunist looking to hurt the president.’
Wearing an American flag-themed tie, Green initially declared that his impeachment bid would use a special ‘privilege’ procedure that he could have invoked to force a vote.
The resolution itself doesn’t accuse Trump of any crimes.
Green argues that that’s not necessary, but cited Article 2, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution in his floor speech.
That section declares that a U.S. president ‘shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.’
Since ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ was a legal term of art used in 18th-century British impeachments, some legal scholars have argued that mere dereliction of duty is a sufficient standard.
Green, a persistent liberal Trump critic, claimed the president has incited ‘white supremacy, sexism, bigotry, hatred, xenophobia, race-baiting and racism.’
The House of Representatives has impeached only two American presidents., Bill Clinton (left) and Andrew Johnson (right), butthe U.S. Senate acquitted them, saving their presidencies
Green cited Trump’s statements and actions related to Muslims, Puerto Rican hurricane victims, transgender Americans, NFL football players and others.
He said Trump has incited ‘white supremacy, sexism, bigotry, hatred, xenophobia, race-baiting and racism.’
The House of Representatives has impeached only two American presidents. Neither was removed from office via a conviction in the U.S. Senate.
Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 after he fired his Secretary of War without seeking the Senate’s approval – something required at the time by an 1867 law.
The same Senate acquitted him by a single vote, saving his presidency.
And Bill Clinton survived a Senate vote after the House impeached him in 1998 for lying to a federal grand jury about his extramarital affair with a White House intern.