WASHINGTON: Democrat Ben McAdams stepped into a small town city council chamber just outside Salt Lake City and took a deep breath. I will vote yes, McAdams told reporters.
With a tight smile, the congressman made clear, in the heart of ruby-red Utah, that he will vote to impeach President Donald Trump.
The scene played out across the nation”s polarized landscape Monday as about a dozen of the 31 most vulnerable House Democrats climbed off the fence and into the ranks of lawmakers who will vote for formal abuse and obstruction charges against Trump this week. Trump faces two articles of impeachment brought by Democrats.
One says he abused the power of the presidency by pressuring Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden. The other says he obstructed Congress by trying to block the House investigation and its oversight duties, thus thwarting the nation”s system of checks and balances.
The president betrayed the Nation by abusing his high office to enlist a foreign power in corrupting democratic elections, says the 650-page report from the House Judiciary Committee accompanying the charges.
Trump withheld military aid from the ally as leverage, the report says, and that Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office. The House vote means Trump is on the brink of becoming only the third impeached president in American history.
With the stakes so high, Monday’s announcements on impeachment from the Democrats were tightly controlled, yet in some cases raucously received. McAdams” consisted of a press conference, a statement and no questions. I will vote yes, knowing full well the Senate will likely acquit the President in a display of partisan theater that Republicans and Democrats in Washington perform disturbingly well, he said.