All House Democrats from Washington support impeachment inquiry

All seven of Washington’s Democratic U.S. House members are now calling for an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.

The Seattle Times reports that Reps. Kim Schrier, Suzan DelBene, Derek Kilmer, and Denny Heck on Sunday cited corruption, obstruction of justice and failure to protect elections from foreign interference as justifications for an impeachment inquiry, which would be a first step in a lengthy process.

Kilmer issued a statement on Sunday evening. In part, “The president’s open acceptance of support from Russians was undeniably disruptive to the integrity of our democracy. We are now learning that the Russians penetrated election systems in all 50 states. This ongoing threat is real, and it is the duty of both parties to protect our democracy from a similar assault in 2020.”

An excerpt from Schrier’s statement reads: “If I had done any one of the things that our president had done to obstruct justice or act against the interest of this country, I would be in jail. The American people — and the people of the 8th District — deserve to know that no one is above the law.”

DelBene posted a statement on her website on Sunday. An excerpt reads, “The notion that a sitting President would attempt to derail an investigation of a direct attack on our democracy is shocking, unpatriotic, and a violation of the oath we share.”

Heck also posted a statement on Sunday. Excerpt: “Americans deserve to know the full extent of the facts. Officially initiating an impeachment inquiry substantially strengthens the legal hand of the House to discover all information.”

How Washington representatives voted on Trump impeachment

Democratic Sen. Patty Murray also voiced support for an inquiry.

As we have learned more about the gravity of the potential threats to our democracy identified in Special Counsel Mueller’s report, it has become clear the House should begin proceedings to determine whether the President’s actions necessitate impeachment.

— Senator Patty Murray (@PattyMurray) July 28, 2019

In May, U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, of Seattle, was the first House member from Washington to call for an impeachment inquiry.

“From a guy who deliberately put out racist Tweets, we have to call it out,” Jayapal told CNN’s Chris Cuomo two weeks ago.

Rep. Adam Smith joined Jayapal in June, citing obstruction of justice and efforts to undermine Congress.

Rep. Rick Larsen added his support earlier this month.

He told KTTH’s Jason Rantz, “It’s not so much the attack on these four members of Congress specifically, it’s his attacks that expose the president, that he doesn’t appreciate or understand, in my view, what citizenship is or the dream of citizenship. And I think a president needs to value that. I have concluded the president doesn’t value that.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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