Close Pelosi ally Jan Schakowsky supports inquiry
WASHINGTON » Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, a member of the House Democratic leadership, is calling for an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, arguing that doing so will allow lawmakers to obtain more evidence of the president’s alleged misconduct.
The move is likely to put greater pressure on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DCalif., who repeatedly has rebuffed calls from members of her caucus to open such an inquiry.
“Today, I am announcing that I believe that 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, high crimes and misdemeanors,” Schakowsky said in a video posted on her official website late Wednesday.
In an interview with The Washington Post on Thursday, Schakowsky, who is a senior chief deputy whip and a close Pelosi ally, called an impeachment inquiry “another tool in the toolbox” in order to obtain more evidence of Trump’s actions.
“A lot of people are going to say, ‘ Well, Nancy Pelosi, you’re a big supporter,’ which I am,” Schakowsky said. “And I think that she’s ultimately right, that the way that we’re going to get rid of Donald Trump is in the election in 2020. But in the meantime, I think we have to do everything that we can to get the information.”
The announcement by Schakowsky comes one day after Pelosi ruled out a congressional censure of Trump, a move some lawmakers have suggested as a less divisive alternative to launching impeachment proceedings.
The House speaker has been resisting calls from more than 70 House members — all Democrats but one — to launch impeachment proceedings.
Despite the slow trickle of lawmakers joining the impeachment push, Pelosi allies contend she is feeling little pressure. Indeed, Pelosi, these people said, will not be pushed into approving an impeachment inquiry even if a majority of her caucus wants it — not if public sentiment is against them.
Also, few members are actually lobbying Pelosi or calling on her to change her position. Leadership officials say there is a big difference between supporting impeachment publicly and actually pushing Pelosi for it.
Rep. Sean Casten, DIll., on Wednesday added his name to the list of lawmakers backing an impeachment inquiry, telling the Chicago Sun-Times that lawmakers “need to use every tool in our power to get those facts” about Trump’s actions “and get them to the American public.”
Casten is the third of the freshman House Democrats who flipped their districts from red to blue in 2018 to announce such a move.