3 more Dems join calls for Trump impeachment

WASHINGTON — Three more Democrats have joined a slowly growing group calling for impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, including a close ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a Democrat who flipped a Republican district.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a congressional veteran, said in a Twitter video that Trump “certainly has committed all kinds of offenses that meet the standard” for a formal charge by the House. Rep. Sean Casten told the Chicago Sun-Times that he wants Congress to use “every tool” to investigate Trump, even if that means paying a political price in the 2020 elections. And California Rep. Tony Cardenas tweeted that he came to the decision after studying special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.

The two Illinois lawmakers spoke out Wednesday evening, shortly after former White House aide Hope Hicks refused to answer House Judiciary Committee questions about Trump during his presidency. The new statements highlight a slowly growing chorus of calls from almost 70 House members for an impeachment inquiry, though Democrats still oppose such a move. And Pelosi has resisted launching official proceedings without broad bipartisan support.

On Wednesday night, Schakowsky left that camp.

“The House of Representatives should begin an impeachment inquiry officially, because President Trump certainly has committed all kinds of offenses that meet the standard of impeachment,” she said in the tweeted video.

Casten on the same day set himself apart from many of the Democrats’ most vulnerable freshmen who helped flip the House from Republican control in 2018.

“I am in favor of initiating an impeachment inquiry,” he told the Chicago SunTimes in remarks confirmed by a spokeswoman.