Freshmen urged to impeach Trump
People at town halls push as support grows
WASHINGTON — Freshman Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., came face to face with impeachment fervor at a town hall. “Do your job!” shouted one voter.
Several states away, a woman held up a copy of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report and told freshman Rep. Elissa Slotkin at a Michigan town hall she hoped she would “be the person that puts us over the top to start an impeachment inquiry.”
These freshman lawmakers, and others like them, will likely decide if House Democrats start formal efforts to impeach President Donald Trump.
Neither Kim nor Slotkin supports impeachment. But with half the House Democrats now in favor of beginning an inquiry, the pressure will only mount on the holdouts to reach a tipping point.
The pro-impeachment group Need to Impeach is running television ads. Along with activists from other groups, it’s also fanning out to congressional districts to push lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to move more swiftly toward impeachment proceedings.
The organization’s lead strategist, Kevin Mack, says his counsel to lawmakers, especially those new freshmen who took over formerly Republican-held seats, is to ignore the campaign consultants and party strategists, and “do what you think is right” about Trump.
“You can’t really make the argument he’s the most corrupt president in American history and not hold him accountable,” he said. “Either you think what he’s doing is OK or you hold him accountable.”
Kim, a former national security official, told some 80 voters at a town hall in Riverside to remain evenkeeled and to trust in the investigative process that House Democrats are pursuing.
“I don’t think getting caught up in the knife fighting and name calling is going help us get out of this pit,” Kim said.
And when Slotkin faced the questioner armed with Mueller’s report, she told those gathered at the store in Mason about two recent moves by House Democrats that she sees as important — the special counsel’s testimony and House subpoenas of the Trump administration.
“I’m open to where this goes,” Slotkin said. “But I think that it is important that we do it in a way that communicates clearly what we are intending. And we do it in a way that doesn’t forget about the other part of our job, which is to legislate.”