Illinois leaders call for Trump’s impeachment
Crusader Staff Report
Illinois leaders are supporting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s move to begin a formal inquiry for President Donald Trump’s impeachment after reports say he withheld $250 million in military aid from Ukraine unless its newly-elected president investigate Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden.
In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) on Tuesday, September 24, Durbin also called for the whistleblower complaint to be provided to the appropriate House and Senate committees.
“If this President of the United States can attempt to extort a foreign leader to withhold security funds that were to be given by the United States to this country in order to pursue and promote his own political agenda, we have reached a new low in the United States,” Durbin said. “The whistleblower’s claim needs to be released to the appropriate congressional committees and evaluated according to the law, and Congressional Republicans – House and Senate – need to make it clear, once and for all, that no President can solicit or strong-arm a foreign country to further his own campaign.”
U.S. Congressman Bobby L. Rush (D-IL, 1st District) said, “The President’s recent admission that he attempted to persuade and intimidate a foreign nation into providing dirt on a political opponent is a clear violation of the law and, at the same time, raises severe national security concerns that surpass the threshold for impeachable conduct.
“It is also critical that we receive a full, unredacted copy of the alarming accusations put forth in the whistleblower complaint, as required by law.”
California Congresswoman Maxine Waters said
“I am supportive of the leadership of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who has united the Democratic Caucus and has formalized an impeachment inquiry of the current President of the United States. Donald Trump has admitted to abusing the power of the presidency by asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch an investigation into his political opponent in order to get dirt that the Trump campaign could exploit in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. This action within itself — where the president is seeking the cooperation and assistance of a foreign government in uncovering dirt on his opponent — is unlawful, unconstitutional, and unpatriotic. I am elated that the Congress of the United States will move forward in an expedited manner to investigate and impeach this president.
On Tuesday, September 24, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House will move forward with a formal impeachment inquiry. Democrats said it was not clear what form that inquiry will take or how quickly it will lead to a decision on whether to vote to impeach Trump.
