All Colorado Democrats in Congress support inquiry
Democrats in Colorado’s congressional delegation reiterated their support for an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump this week as the U.S. House begins an investigation with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s backing.
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, a Denver Democrat running for president, said Tuesday he supports the inquiry. All four House Democrats from Colorado are also in favor of the inquiry, which Pelosi threw her support behind Tuesday. Republicans from Colorado and elsewhere are not.
“Since Day One, Democrats have been trying to wrongly impeach the duly elected president,” said Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Colorado Springs Republican who accused Democrats of pandering to “a radical base” of supporters and putting “politics before progress.”
On Monday, U.S. Rep. Jason Crow joined forces with several other
Democratic colleagues who have career backgrounds in national security, writing an op-ed in The Washington Post that called the latest allegations against Trump “uncharted waters” and “unprecedented.”
“If these allegations are true, we believe these actions represent an impeachable offense,” wrote Crow and six of his freshman Democratic colleagues in requesting an impeachment inquiry.
Crow, an Aurora Democrat representing a district Republicans will target in 2020, first called for an impeachment inquiry in July. Within the Colorado delegation, Reps. Diana DeGette of Denver and Joe Neguse of Lafayette also previously made clear their desire for an inquiry. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, an Arvada Democrat who has tread lightly on the subject, said Tuesday he supports one, too.
“The president’s own admission that he urged a foreign power to intervene in our election process constitutes an impeachable offense,” DeGette said. “We need to gather the evidence and complete this impeachment inquiry immediately given the threat this poses to our national security.”
The state Republican Party singled the freshman Crow out for criticism Tuesday.
“From his call for impeachment to his extreme voting record, Jason Crow has put his constituents on the back burner and placed his personal ambitions ahead of the interests of working people,” said Kyle Kohli, a spokesman for the Colorado Republican Party. “Colorado’s 6th District won’t forget how Crow sided with Alexandria OcasioCortez and Nancy Pelosi over them.”
Steve House, a former Colorado Republican Party chairman challenging Crow, also criticized the congressman Tuesday, tweeting that he is following the “extreme D.C. left” by backing an inquiry.
Supporting an impeachment inquiry, as most House Democrats now do, is not the same as supporting Trump’s removal from office. But an inquiry, conducted by the House Judiciary Committee, could lead to articles of impeachment and then formal impeachment proceedings.
“Donald Trump has abused the presidency and the law,” Neguse said in a statement. “We must move forward with impeachment immediately.”
In July, the House voted 332-95 to block articles of impeachment against Trump. DeGette and Neguse voted against the motion, preferring that impeachment proceedings move forward. Crow and Perlmutter voted in favor of the motion to stop the articles of impeachment at that time.