Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) on Thursday stepped up his push for impeaching President Trump following the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, despite reluctance from House Democratic leaders to go as far.
Green said during a press conference in his Houston district office that Mueller has “given us ample evidence for us to move forward with impeachment,” citing 10 instances of potential obstruction of justice outlined in the report.
The Texas Democrat again threatened to force another House floor vote on impeaching Trump if committees in the chamber do not act.{mosads}
“If we don’t step up and do our job, if we in engage in some sort of analysis and debate and refuse to say the word ‘impeachment,’ we will engage in what Dr. [Martin Luther] King calls the paralysis of analysis,” Green said.
Mueller said in his highly anticipated report that he was unable to “conclusively determine” during the course of his 22-month investigation that no criminal conduct occurred as to whether Trump obstructed justice.
“I will bring it to the floor for a vote if the committees do not act,” Green said. “I will not allow the paralysis of analysis to prevent us to engage in something that is lawful, constitutional, and expected such that a president will not be above the law.”
The public version of Mueller’s report, which is partially redacted, reviewed 10 episodes over the course of an obstruction of justice inquiry. Those episodes included Trump’s firing of James Comey as FBI director and efforts to deny that he ordered then-White House counsel Don McGahn to demand the special counsel be removed.
House Democratic leaders have long been wary of impeachment unless it can gain buy-in from Republicans, despite agitation from liberals like Green and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in an interview with The Washington Post Magazine last month that “unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don’t think we should go down that path, because it divides the country,” adding that Trump is “just not worth it.”
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) reiterated Thursday after Mueller’s report was released that he didn’t see anything in the documentation that would make seeking to impeach Trump a “worthwhile” effort “at this point.”
“Based on what we have seen to date, going forward on impeachment is not worthwhile at this point. Very frankly, there is an election in 18 months and the American people will make a judgment,” Hoyer told CNN.
Green dismissed the notion that Democrats shouldn’t move forward with impeachment proceedings on their own now that Mueller has completed his investigation.
“We can’t blame Republicans for the lack of an impeachment effort. We control the House. We control the agenda in the House. It is up to us to act. We have been given the report from Mr. Mueller. He has given us 10 circumstances to peruse and scrutinize. We must now act on these circumstances,” Green said.
Green forced two House floor votes in the last session of Congress on impeachment while Republicans controlled the House. Each vote garnered the support from about 60 fellow House Democrats.
The lawmaker’s past articles of impeachment stated that Trump has “sown discord among the people of the United States” by fueling racial tensions in America and did not focus on the subject of Mueller’s investigation.
Green first indicated in February that he would offer new articles of impeachment focusing on a similar theme, but has yet to do so.
Impeachment efforts among House Democrats have to date failed to gather much steam. Late last month, Tlaib introduced a resolution calling on the House Judiciary Committee to investigate whether Trump committed impeachable offenses, including whether the evidence from Mueller’s probe found obstruction of justice.
On Thursday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said that she would sign onto the resolution, citing the Mueller report in her decision-making.
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) reintroduced articles of impeachment on the first day of the new Congress in January, alleging that Trump obstructed justice by firing Comey from the FBI. So far, Green is the only co-sponsor of both Sherman and Tlaib’s measures.