Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke on Tuesday said Congress should begin impeachment proceedings against President Trump and that he’s willing to endure political blowback if it ends up hurting his own party in the end.
“We should begin impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump,” he said at a CNN town hall in Iowa. “It’s an incredibly serious, sober decision that we should make as a country, really the last resort when every other option has failed us.”
Mr. O’Rourke cited the White House’s defiance on congressional subpoenas and other investigations and said Mr. Trump “did everything in his power to obstruct” the investigation into interference in the 2016 election.
“If we do nothing because we are afraid of the polls or the politics or the repercussions in the next election, then we will have set a precedent for this country that, in fact, some people because of the position of power and public trust that they hold are above the law,” he said.
Mr. O’Rourke acknowledged that there could be political blowback for him personally if he ends up winning the Democratic nomination.
“But listen, the consequence of the alternative is to turn a blind eye to this and, in doing so, turn our back on the future of this country,” he said. “And I cannot be part of that. We’re going to have to make the tough decisions now.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been fending off calls from her left flank to move forward more aggressively on the issue, and Democrats are slated to meet on Wednesday morning to discuss potential next steps.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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