Fresh off the sound defeat of the impeachment effort brought by Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI), which was launched over the deportation of an illegal alien with suspected ties to MS-13 and human traffickers, Rep. Al Green (D-TX) is once again calling on his colleagues to impeach the “authoritarian” president.
“I pen this communique with a heavy heart, driven by a conscience that will not allow me to ignore my well-founded, strong pre-election condemnation of Donald John Trump as a threat to American democracy that has now become our reality,” Green wrote in a letter urging his colleagues to impeach the president.
Green — who is no stranger to failed impeachment efforts — went so far as to argue that there does not need to be a constitutional crisis in order to impeach a president.
On Thursday, the Democrat lawmaker formally filed H. Res. 415, “Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, of high crimes and misdemeanors.”
In the impeachment articles, Green claims that Trump has engaged in “authoritarian” rule and ignored court orders. He also claims that Trump condoned “untruthful statements” against the Court’s opinion regarding the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran illegal alien with suspected ties to MS-13 and human smugglers.
An authoritarian does not have to commit a codified statutory offense to be impeached. The constitutional law that authoritarian President Trump would have Congress use to impeach a federal judge for ruling against him (Article II, Section 4 of the United States Constitution) is the same law that has been used, and can be used, to impeach him again for making his threats to democracy a reality,” Green wrote in the articles of impeachment.
He then vowed to “use that law again.”
Green’s impeachment effort is unlikely to gain much, if any support among House Democrats. Party leadership was furious with Thanedar’s hasty decision to file impeachment articles last week, with House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-CA) describing the effort as poorly-planned and “not the right approach.”
“I’ll join members of the leadership team in voting to table that motion,” Aguilar said Wednesday, adding that the lone lawmaker’s motion has become a “distraction” for the Democratic Party as they attempt to combat Republican spending proposals.
Green — who unsuccessfully attempted to impeach Trump on numerous occasions in his first term — said he is not afraid to “stand alone” on the current effort.
“I encourage all members to vote with their conscience. As for me, I stand where I have stood on impeachment, which is a question of conscience, even when the odds are against me — it is better for me to stand alone than not stand at all — it won’t be the first time,” Green wrote.
