Huffman co-sponsors articles of impeachment against Trump

February 27, 2018

North Coast U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman signed on as a co-sponsor of articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, stating his oath to defend the U.S. Constitution compels him to “provide checks and balances on executive power.”

“While we do not have the bipartisan votes needed to advance an impeachment proceeding right now, I think it’s important to call out the impeachable offenses that are taking place and to convey to President Trump and the American people that no one is above the law,” Huffman stated on his Facebook page Tuesday.

Huffman is backing a bill from Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen, a Democrat, who introduced the move in November 2017.

“Several bills have been introduced on this subject, but I chose to cosponsor the Cohen version because it focuses on the most serious offenses and I believe reflects the most credible grounds for an impeachment process that must have bipartisan support to be successful,” Huffman said.

The articles outline five reasons for impeaching Trump, which Huffman calls “the most serious and egregious examples” of the president’s actions in office. Those actions include obstruction of justice; receiving foreign and domestic emoluments — or payments for goods and services; undermining the judiciary independence; and for undermining freedom of the press.

The articles list specific examples of each action from demanding a loyalty pledge from the FBI director to causing the federal government to spend $73,000 on golf carts at a business owned by Trump.

Huffman has been an outspoken critic of the Trump presidency both on social media and in Washington, D.C. since Trump took office.

“President Trump has shown contempt for the institutions and safeguards that are essential to the rule of law and the proper functioning of our democracy,” Huffman said in a statement. “That is precisely the situation that the rare remedy of impeachment was intended to address.”

He called Cohen’s bill a starting point, noting there were other actions that could be considered as impeachable offenses as well.

“There are some additional grounds I would include (like abusing power by mishandling classified information to the detriment of our national security interests), but this is a good start,” he said.