House Democrats plan event to scrutinize Trump’s mental health

House Democrats plan to hold an event intended to highlight what they say is President Trump’s deteriorating mental health.

House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) said he and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) will host Dr. Bandy Lee, a Yale School of Medicine psychiatrist who edited the best-selling book “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President.”

“We are planning to do something where she can make a presentation to other members, so that they’ll be aware of what she’s been working on,” Yarmuth told The Hill in a brief interview.

{mosads}Yarmuth said he anticipates the event, which was first reported by the Washington Examiner, will happen sometime in July.

Yarmuth said he thinks it’s important that members of Congress and the public understand the position of Lee and the other psychologists in the book, which argues that Trump’s mental health has deteriorated to the point where it poses a threat to the country.

The position is controversial, because none of the psychiatrists have treated the president and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) prohibits members from speculating about the mental state of public figures.

“Even though none of them had actually treated Trump, they in their practices, and their experience, they recognize certain patterns of behavior, and when it’s their professional responsibility to alert people who may be endangered by someone’s behavior,” Yarmuth said. “And in this case it’s the American people.”

Yarmuth, who has called for Trump to be impeached, said he doesn’t equate that issue with the president’s mental health. He said he just wants the public to be aware of the concerns.

During the presidential election in 2016, when discussion of then-candidate Trump’s mental state became widespread, the APA reminded members of the rule governing ethics in the profession.

“The unique atmosphere of this year’s election cycle may lead some to want to psychoanalyze the candidates, but to do so would not only be unethical, it would be irresponsible,” then-APA President Maria Oquendo said at the time.