U.S Congressman Al Green, D-Texas, the first legislator to call for the impeachment of President Donald Trump, notified the media he was working on actually drafting the articles of impeachment.
The papers would begin the impeachment process for the sitting president. Green is going through with this despite receiving multiple death threats at both his Houston and Washington offices.
“This is not something that I wanted to do, it’s something I feel compelled to do,” Green told CSPAN. “We will move forward, and as a matter of fact, I am currently crafting, drafting if you will, articles of impeachment.”
Trump’s decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, as well as his alleged calls to two intelligence chiefs asking them to publicly contradict Comey’s findings have Green and others believing Trump made a concerted effort to halt the Russia investigation, which is obstruction of justice.
Green also said that he had been working with constitutional lawyers and would move forward with the fight even if no one else stood with him.
“I am a voice in the wilderness,” he said. “I understand that I may stand alone, but I still stand, but our President obstructed justice.”
If the process moves forward, the House of Representatives will vote on whether to impeach the president, and then the Senate will ultimately decide whether to remove the president from office.
Many are old enough to remember the last president to be impeached. On Dec. 19, 1998, the House of Representatives impeached Clinton on grounds of perjury and obstruction of justice in connection with an extramarital affair he had with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Clinton initially denied he had an affair with Lewinsky on national TV. Unfortunately for Clinton, Lewinsky kept evidence of the affair. And on Aug. 17, 1998, Clinton became the first sitting president to testify before a grand jury and, after questioning, Clinton admitted on national television that he had “an inappropriate relationship” with Lewinsky. The case went to trial in the Senate, which ultimately voted on Feb. 12, 1999, to acquit the president of the charges. Clinton remained in office.
Baby Boomers, of course, remember that Richard M. Nixon resigned from the presidency on Aug. 8, 1974, before he could be impeached. The House of Reps had already brought three articles of impeachment against Nixon in July 1974 for obstruction of justice and other charges related to the break-in at the Democratic headquarters at the Watergate Hotel and its subsequent cover up.
Nixon continued to deny that his actions amounted to obstruction. But when the White House was forced by a subpoena to release secret recordings that proved Nixon was involved in the Watergate break-in and cover up, his tenure in the Oval Office was over.
