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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Edward Erikson, 202-420-9947, Edward.Erikson@gmail.com

58 Members Of Congress Vote To Impeach Donald J. Trump

As Momentum for Impeachment Builds, Free Speech For People Releases a Detailed White Paper on the Legal Case for a Congressional Investigation on Whether to Impeach Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON

Today, fifty-eight Members of Congress voted in support of articles of impeachment against President Trump in a floor vote led by Congressman Al Green (D-TX).

"Today's vote shows that momentum is building for the call for an impeachment investigation of President Trump," says John Bonifaz, the Co-Founder and President of Free Speech For People. "In the face of opposition from their own party's leadership, fifty-eight Members of Congress today stood up to place country over party and to defend our Constitution and our democracy. Those numbers in Congress will only continue to grow as millions of Americans across the nation add their voices to this demand to hold the President accountable for his reckless and dangerous defiance of the rule of law. The constitutional crisis is here and now, and we will keep the pressure on for an impeachment investigation of this President."

"Just months ago, a single member of Congress was calling for impeachment. Yesterday it was seven," says Ben Clements, Chair of the Board for Free Speech For People. "Today it is 58. It's time for all members of Congress who still believe in the Constitution and the rule of law to step up and join their 58 patriotic colleagues."

"Today's vote was a watershed moment," says Ron Fein, Legal Director of Free Speech For People. "We commend the 58 Members of Congress who stood up for the rule of law, even though they did not win a majority today. The impeachment process against Richard Nixon began in a similar way. Now it's time to start holding hearings so the American public, half of which already supports impeachment, can hear the factual and legal arguments on this critical question."

Free Speech For People released today a white paper detailing the legal case for impeachment hearings. This paper presents a legal analysis based on the text, structure, and history of the Constitution and federal law, and legal and political precedent. Free Speech For People developed this paper in consultation with a wide range of experts over the past ten months. The case for an impeachment investigation includes the President's direct and ongoing violations of the two anti-corruption provisions of the US Constitution; obstruction of justice; conspiracy between the Trump Campaign and the Russian Government; giving aid and comfort to white supremacists; abusing pardon power; recklessly threatening nuclear war; eroding the rule of law by directing law enforcement to prosecute political adversaries; and undermining freedom of the press.

Read the Legal Case for a Congressional Investigation on Whether to Impeach Donald Trump here.

Free Speech For People is a national non-partisan non-profit organization founded on the day of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. FEC that works to defend our democracy and our Constitution.