Rep. Al Green (D-TX) reopened his call to impeach Donald Trump on Wednesday, backing 19 articles against the president.
Green forced a vote on a resolution to impeach Trump, whom he called an “authoritarian president who is devolving our democracy into an autocracy,” last month, but it failed in a bipartisan manner with all Republicans voting against it and 128 House Democrats joining to table the articles.
“We have one article that is currently on file. Articles on file, I call them the ‘sword of democracy,’ similar to the sword of Damocles, over his head, and at some point, we will drop this sort of democracy, not to harm him physically. This is not about his physicality, but to harm him as it relates to what he’s doing to our country. Then we can impeach him with these articles,” Green said outside the Capitol on Wednesday.
“But there’s also a set of articles that I have not presented that I will be presenting. This is not the last time. We’re not going to make this a one-off. This is as long as he breaches the Constitution, this will be our effort,” Green continued.
The Texas Democrat was joined in his effort by political activists from the Women’s March and Free Speech For People. The activists delivered a petition to Rep. Jamie Raskin’s (D-MD) staff with what they said was 1 million signatures from people demanding impeachment.
Raskin, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, was one of the Democratic leaders in the impeachment charges against Trump in his first term. He voted against Green’s effort last month.
Green’s previous push focused on Trump’s military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, which he called “illegal and unconstitutional.” The petition Wednesday referenced 19 articles of impeachment against Trump, including against his mobilization of military forces against civilian protesters in Los Angeles, his executive order aiming to end the constitutional right to birthright citizenship, and receiving foreign and domestic emoluments in his acceptance of a Qatari jet.
The House is beginning its August recess early, starting later Wednesday evening. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) released members a day earlier than planned in an effort to curb GOP anger about the Trump administration’s refusal to release files related to disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
When asked if introducing impeachment again before recess could interfere with a time frame for a vote, Green argued that “one day does not impact what we are going to do.”
“This number is growing,” Green said in reference to the petition signatures. “It will be larger when we get back — one day doesn’t make a difference. “
“It is always good to impeach when a president violates the Constitution. It really is that simple,” Green noted.
High-ranking Democrats have expressed dissatisfaction with Green’s moves to impeach Trump. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA), and Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA) all voted against his June push.
WHITE HOUSE SLAMS AL GREEN FOR FOURTH ATTEMPT TO IMPEACH TRUMP
Green argued that he needs to “lay the foundation” for impeachment to gain more support within his party.
“This is the foundation. These people are laying the foundation. And I assure you that these opinions are going to change. It’s just a matter of time,” Green said.
