Washington Rep. Jayapal: Impeachment ‘only remedy’ for latest Trump scandal

Following an announcement that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would be launching a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, Washington state’s politicians are speaking out.

How Washington representatives voted on Trump impeachment

Over the summer, Washington state’s House Democrats were aligned in support of impeachment proceedings. That changed when Rep. Adam Smith joined the throng of votes in favor of tabling those proceedings. As of this week, Smith has rejoined the effort.

Now there are new allegations that Trump abused his presidential powers by withholding aid to coerce a foreign government, Ukraine. A whistleblower has claimed this was done to help dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden.

“Congress appropriated the aid. The president withheld the aid because he wanted to pressure a foreign power to investigate his political opponent. The only remedy for this is impeachment. Period,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal said on Twitter.

Jayapal isn’t the only Washington politician to weigh in on the impeachment inquiry announcement.

Patty Murray

“We know there was foreign interference in the 2016 elections — and now, we have confirmation from this President that he is inviting foreign interference in the next election. This is gross corruption and a clear threat to our democracy. Anyone who doesn’t speak out is complicit,” Sen. Patty Murray agreed.

We know there was foreign interference in the 2016 elections—& now, we have confirmation from this President that he is inviting foreign interference in the next election.

This is gross corruption and a clear threat to our democracy. Anyone who doesn't speak out is complicit.

— Senator Patty Murray (@PattyMurray) September 24, 2019

Adam Smith

Congressmember Smith’s office released a statement Wednesday morning.

The evidence is clear that President Trump withheld congressionally approved military assistance to pressure Ukrainian President Zelensky to dig up dirt on a political opponent. The President has yet to deny these allegations. If true, it is a brazen abuse of presidential power and an impeachable offense.

After years of debate and uncertainty, this may represent a new chapter of clarity. It is imperative that Congress receive direct testimony from the whistleblower. I will not accept an edited transcript – refusal to provide an unredacted transcript and un-doctored recording would blatantly violate federal law and the Whistleblower Act. Time and again, the Trump Administration has demonstrated that it is not a reliable arbiter of the truth.

It is now the job of Congress to act as swiftly as possible to uncover the full extent of the President’s corruption and degradation of democracy. The American people deserve to know how the President leveraged congressionally authorized taxpayer dollars for his own personal interest over national security as we move toward impeachment proceedings.

It is urgent that Congress uncover any and all evidence that President Trump used military aid as leverage in this coercion. I am fully committed to upholding the rule of law through impeachment investigations.

Other support

Also voicing support for impeachment in the past have been Democratic Reps. Rick Larsen, Suzan DelBene, Derek Kilmer, and Denny Heck.

“This president has no concept of this widely and tightly held belief of Americans. His comments do not protect the concept of U.S. citizenship. They undermine it. He should not be the President of the United States,” Kilmer said back in July.

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Not every Washington politician is on board though, with Republican Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) speaking out against the move.

“This is yet another example of the hyper-partisan political climate today. Instead of waiting for all the facts, House Democrats are jumping to unfounded conclusions,” she said in a news release. 

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