Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday came out in support of the articles of impeachment against President Trump, saying he planned to join the vast majority of House Democrats in voting to impeach Trump on Wednesday.
Brindisi had been considered one of the most likely House Democrats to split from his party and vote against impeachment due to representing a district that Trump won by 15 points in 2016.
“The fact this president withheld aid from Ukraine for his own political gain is very troubling,” Brindisi told Syracuse.com. “In fact, I think it’s unconstitutional.”
Brindisi flipped the district as Democrats swept into the majority in 2018, defeating Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney by 1 point.
“I know some people will be upset with me,” he noted. “But I was elected to do what was right, not what’s good for me politically.”
Brindisi said his decision to support impeachment caused him “great pain” due to the fact that he has worked closely with the Trump administration on a variety of issues including trade and national security, and has even visited the White House twice in the past year for private meetings with Trump and Vice President Pence.
“President Trump is my president, too,” Brindisi told the news outlet. “I always said I would work with him, but that I would put our country first and stand up for what I believe in.”
Brindisi’s support for impeachment comes after as a number of vulnerable Democrats have said they will back the move. It also comes after former Democratic Rep. Jefferson Van Drew (N.J.) said he would switch political parties and become a Republican over his opposition to impeachment.
Brindisi was one of the few House Democrats who had yet to say they would vote for impeaching Trump, saying he came to his decision over the weekend.
“To me, it all kind of clicked over the weekend,” he told Syracuse.com. “It’s just the failure of the president to follow the rule of law. The rule of law is what holds this country together. When you’re putting national security at risk in exchange for personal gain, that’s a problem.”