House Democrats to vote for impeachment

BOSTON -- The U.S. House of Representatives is expected next week to take the historic step of voting to impeach Republican President Donald Trump, and members of the state's all-Democrat congressional delegation firmly back removing him from office.

Next Tuesday the Democratic-led House is scheduled to debate two articles of impeachment introduced by Democrats. They charge Trump with abuse of power for asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden while withholding federally approved military aid as leverage, and obstruction of Congress for stonewalling the House's investigation.

A nine-page document outlining the charges says Trump acted "corruptly" and "betrayed the nation" when he asked Ukraine to investigate Biden and the 2016 U.S. election.

Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Westford, called Trump's abuses in office a "clear and present danger" that requires action. When the House votes on the articles, she said will vote yes.

"The president has left us with no choice," Trahan said. "He has so clearly abused the power of his office for personal and political gain, which has jeopardized our national security."

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Salem, was one of the first House Democrats to call for Trump to be removed from office. He too plans to vote to impeach.

"The evidence is damning and it's our constitutional duty to hold the president accountable," he said. "Whether people like it or not, that's the law."

Moulton, a ex-Marine captain and former 2020 presidential candidate, said Trump's effort to enlist Ukraine to dig up dirt on his political rivals is an affront to the nation.

"This is something that our founding fathers explicitly feared -- foreign interference in our election," he said. "But I don't think even they imagined our own president would perpetrate it."

All of the state's 11 member congressional delegation, including Reps. Richard Neal, Joe Kennedy and Katherine Clark, have expressed support for impeaching Trump.

The Massachusetts GOP blasted their uniform support for removing the president, calling the process an "impeachment circus."

"Make no mistake, this partisan impeachment stunt is aimed at one thing and one thing only: to nullify your vote in November," Jim Lyons, the state party's chairman, said in an email blast to party members.

On Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee was wrapping up a marathon, two-day session and was expected to approve the articles of impeachment along party lines. Not a single Republican lawmaker on the 41 member committee voiced support for the impeachment articles, and the panel's Democratic majority rejected proposed GOP amendments to lessen the charges.

Democrats and Republican committee members traded barbs and gave hours of impassioned speeches making the case for or against proceeding with an impeachment vote.

"When his time has passed, when his grip on our politics is gone, when our country returns, as surely it will, to calmer times and stronger leadership, history will look back on our actions here today," House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said in opening statements on Wednesday. "How would you be remembered?"

Most Republicans, who have stood behind the president, argue that he has done nothing wrong. All of them are expected to vote against the articles when the full House takes its vote next week.

Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, the committee's ranking GOP member, said Democrats are impeaching the president because they think they can't beat him in the 2020 election.

"That's the wrong reason to impeach somebody, and the American people are seeing through this," Collins said Thursday.

Both sides of the battle are trying to sway public opinion, which will be crucial to the outcome. Polls show Americans are divided over the impeachment inquiry.

Trump, who has called the impeachment inquiry a "sham", took to social media on Thursday to denounce the proceedings and proclaim his innocence.

"I did nothing wrong. This will be the first impeachment ever where there was no crime," he posted on Twitter. "They don’t even allege a crime. Crazy!"

The U.S. Constitution allows Congress to remove presidents before their terms are finished for committing "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

If the House recommends impeachment, the GOP-controlled Senate will hold an impeachment trial, which could happen in early 2020. The senators would act as jurors and select House members would act as prosecutors, or impeachment managers. Chief Justice John Roberts will preside over the trial.

If the Senate approves impeachment with a two-thirds vote, the president is convicted and removed from office. If the articles are rejected, the president is acquitted.

To be sure, only two U.S. presidents — Bill Clinton in 1998 and Andrew Johnson in 1868 — have been impeached. President Richard Nixon resigned from office in 1974 once the House Judiciary Committee sent articles of impeachment to the floor for a vote.

No president has ever been convicted by the Senate and removed from office.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said this week he would be "totally surprised" if there were enough votes in the upper chamber to convict Trump.

Both of Massachusetts' two senators, Democrats Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, have said they support impeachment.