AOC demands Trump is impeached NOW saying Democrats need to move to 'uphold the rule of law' despite Nancy Pelosi slapping down the effort
- The New York Democrat argued it would be just as 'politicized' to decide not to impeach the president
- She said the effort being doomed in the Senate is not a compelling argument
- Brought up the Clinton impeachment, which ultimately backfired on Republicans
- Said Trump is 'now obstructing legally binding subpoenas'
- Former White House Counsel Don McGahn defied a subpoena on Tuesday
- Said failure to impeach is a 'neglect of due process'
- 'We need to do our job & vote on impeachment. What Sen does is on them'
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made a public push Tuesday to begin impeachment proceedings of President Trump despite the obstacles, even as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seeks to put the brakes on increased internal pressure to move ahead.
'We need to do our job & vote on impeachment,' she wrote in one of several tweets pushing that the House move ahead and begin an impeachment inquiry.
The first-term lawmaker took on some of the chief arguments being put forward by Pelosi and her allies against jumping on the impeachment train.
Pelosi has warned colleagues that even if the House were to impeach Trump, the effort would almost certainly fail in the Senate, where Republicans have rallied around the president on matters great and small.
'We need to do our job & vote on impeachment,' wrote Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Tuesday
It also could potentially backfire politically, without necessarily removing Trump from office.
'Just as what happens in the House doesn’t control Senate, what happens in the Senate shouldn’t control the House,' Ocasio-Cortez wrote to her 4 million followers on Twitter.
'DoJ outlined ev of 10 criminal instances,' she wrote, referencing 10 areas of potential obstruction reviewed in the Mueller report. 'Pres is now obstructing legally binding subpoenas. We need to do our job & vote on impeachment. What Sen does is on them,' she continued, using abbreviations for president and Senate.
Former White House Counsel Don McGahn defied a subpoena on Tuesday. House Judiciary Chairman Jerold Nadler held a scheduled hearing anyway, blasting Trump for 'intimidating' the witness, and saying: 'Our subpoenas are not optional.'
Ocasio-Cortez also took on a key political argument coming from leadership – that if Democrats are viewed as rushing to impeach rather than following the facts, Trump could use the issue against them and conceivably cost them control of the House and all the oversight power it gives them.
'It is just as politicized a maneuver to not impeach in the face of overwhelming evidence as it is to impeach w/o cause,' she wrote. 'Congress swore an oath to uphold the Constitution. That includes impeachment. We have a duty to preserve our institutions + uphold the rule of law,' she added.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made the case that a lack of support in the Senate should not impact the decision on impeachment
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., speaks to a reporter on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 21, 2019
President Trump 'is now obstructing legally binding subpoenas,' wrote Ocasio-Cortez
McGahn features prominently in the Mueller report, which describes phone calls he received at home from Trump. McGahn says Trump told him to contact the deputy attorney general and have him tell Mueller he couldn't be special counsel
She also brought up the 1998 impeachment of Bill Clinton, an effort that proved unpopular with the public and cost Republicans seats.
'Remember, Clinton was also impeached - that failed in Sen too,' Ocasio-Cortez wrote, again using abbreviations. 'Our institutions didn’t suffer then, but they have been damaged greatly today w unwillingness to impeach. Whether it’s Dem fear or GOP recklessness, doesn’t matter. Failure to impeach now is neglect of due process.'
Her friend and ally Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) has been rounding up support for an impeachment effort.
-
Bahrain says conference co-hosted with US aimed at helping... 
'There will be painful consequences!' Iran says Trump is... 
Trump appeals ruling allowing Congress to see his financial... 
Hardline GOP politician who chaired failed 'voter fraud'... -
Hope Hicks is latest former Trump aide to be subpoenaed by...
Share this article
She brought up the impeachment of Bill Clinton, which Speaker Pelosi considers a cautionary tale
Ocasio-Cortez argued not to defer to the Senate, where Republicans are in control and it would be exceedingly difficult to reach a two-thirds threshold on impeachment
She argued it would be 'politicized' to avoid impeachment due to the potential costs
Senior members also have been pushing the effort, amid a split among House Democrats. Lawmakers including Rep. Jamie Raskin, David Cicilline of Rhode Island, and Joe Neguse of Colorado are pushing to move ahead on an impeachment inquiry now.
Cicilline tweeted Monday: 'If Don McGahn does not testify tomorrow, it will be time to begin an impeachment inquiry of @realDonaldTrump.' Other Democrats have made the case that without impeachment, future presidents might conclude they can get away with the same obstruction Trump is accused of committing.
Pelosi heard from members in a closed-door leadership meeting Tuesday. The Caucus will work through the situation in a Wednesday meeting.
Before the mid-terms that put Democrats in charge of the House, it was often Trump and his GOP allies who talked up the impeachment threat – rather than Democrats, who tried to campaign on health care and a legislative agenda.
