Minnesota swing-district Democrat says she will vote for impeachment

Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), who unseated a Republican incumbent to win Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District last year, said in a letter on Sunday that she has decided to vote for both articles of impeachment against President Trump.

In the open letter to her constituents, Craig said that she came to the decision after “reviewing the public testimony from non-partisan public servants and officials appointed to their roles by the President himself — as well as the final House Intelligence Committee report.”

“No elected leader is above the law,” she continued. “It is clear from the testimony and the report delivered to Congress that the President attempted to coerce a foreign government into investigating his political rival by withholding Congressionally-appropriated military assistance to a foreign ally.”

“This is a clear abuse of power by a sitting U.S. President for his own personal gain. It is also clear that the President obstructed Congress by refusing to produce documents and blocking testimony during the impeachment inquiry, which is against the law,” she continued. 

Craig said that her “values would require the same vote if this were a Democratic President.”

Trump won Craig’s district by just over on point in the 2016 presidential election. The district backed former President Obama in both the 2008 and 2012 elections.

Craig’s comments come after freshman Rep. Antonio Delgado (D-N.Y.), who represents a district that Trump won by more than 6 points in 2016, also came out in support of impeachment.

“The president pressured a foreign government for personal political gain while withholding congressionally approved foreign aid, and in doing so, both abused his power and put our national security at risk,” Delgado, who unseated a Republican last year, said then.

“The president also obstructed Congress by blanketly refusing to cooperate with the body’s constitutional right to investigate the matter,” he added. 

The full House is expected to vote on two articles of impeachment, which charge Trump with obstruction of Congress and abuse of power, later this week. If the majority of the Democratic-led chamber votes in favor of the articles, Trump will become the third U.S. president in history to be impeached.