As the backlash to President Donald Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey escalates, Democratic lawmakers are increasingly raising the prospect of impeachment.
Some, such as California Rep. Maxine Waters, have explicitly called for impeaching the President. Others, like Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, have merely mentioned the possibility, with Gabbard saying last month that she was studying the impeachment process.
Impeachment requires the support of a majority of members of the House of Representatives. No Republicans have publicly voiced support for impeaching Trump. CNN’s KFile is, however, keeping a running count of Democratic lawmakers who have talked about impeachment. That count, which includes those who discussed impeachment prior to Comey’s firing, is currently at 11, 10 members of the House and Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
Here’s the list:
California Rep. Maxine Waters: Waters has been talking about impeachment for months, most recently telling MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Thursday that “The President needs to be impeached.” Waters also suggested in the interview that Trump could be charged with “obstruction of justice” for saying that the FBI’s Russia investigation was a factor in his decision to fire Comey.
Texas Rep. Al Green: Green told local news station KRIV Tuesday evening that Trump’s firing of Comey would be an impeachable offense if it was done to stop the investigation into alleged ties between Russian and Trump’s 2016 campaign.
“If the President is found to have done this to circumvent this investigation, to thwart to the efforts to get the bottom of this, I think this is going to be an impeachable offense,” Green said. “He’s really treading in some very dangerous waters. This is unusual for this kind of thing to happen in the United States of America.”
California Rep. Jared Huffman: Huffman said at both a town hall this week and on Twitter that impeachment would happen if Democrats had the votes in the Congress.
“Impeachment will happen if handful of Republicans in Congress join Dems to put country above party. Or in 2019 after Dems win the House,” Huffman tweeted at 1:51 a.m. on Friday morning.
Kentucky Rep. John Yarmuth: Yarmuth told Kentucky local news station WHAS11 on Thursday that Democrats were “actually pretty close to considering impeachment.”
Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan: Pocan, speaking on local progressive radio and in a call with progressives earlier this week, said if there was an “impeachment clock,” Trump’s firing of Comey would have moved it an hour closer.
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal: Blumenthal told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Wednesday that the Comey firing could lead to impeachment proceedings.
“It may well produce another United States vs. Nixon on a subpoena that went to United States Supreme Court,” he said. “It may well produce impeachment proceedings, although we’re very far from that possibility.”
New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries: According to NY1, Jeffries raised the idea at an event this week that high crimes and treason could have been committed. Thursday night, he added on Twitter, “Evidence of Trump’s effort to obstruct justice continues to emerge. Lock HIM up?”
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard: Gabbard said at a town hall last month, while Comey was still leading the FBI, that the bureau’s investigation into collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign had led her to study the impeachment process.
“On the issue of impeachment, I am doing my homework,” Gabbard said at the Hilo, Hawaii, event. “I am studying more about the impeachment process. I will just say I understand the calls for impeachment, but what I am being cautious about and what I give you food for thought about is that if President Trump is impeached, the problems don’t go away, because then you have a Vice President Pence who becomes President Pence.”
Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison: Ellison said at CNN’s February Democratic National Committee debate that Trump “has already done a number of things which legitimately raise the question of impeachment.”
Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro: In an interview with BuzzFeed News in February, Castro called for Congress to investigate “whether President Trump intentionally exceeded his constitutional authority” with his travel ban, saying that if Trump did, he should be impeached.
Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin: Raskin was talking about impeaching Trump for violating the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause even before the President was inaugurated.
“It says that no elected official, either member of Congress or the President of the United States, can accept a gift, an emolument or any payment at all from a foreign government,” Raskin said in a January interview with “The Young Turks.” “He just simply refuses to accept that reality. So if he goes into office and he refuses to divest himself, the moment that the first conflict comes up, that’s going to look like an impeachable offense.”