Senator Dick Durbin Joins 11 Chicago Area Congressional Democrats Seeking Trump Impeachment Probe; Rep. Dan Lipinksi Leaning In Favor
CHICAGO (CBS) -- As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi launched impeachment proceedings against President Trump, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, and all but one member of the Chicago-area congressional delegation now support such an inquiry.
"His admission that he solicited negative info from the Pres. of Ukraine concerning his potential opponent, Joe Biden, while withholding $250M in US security aid for Ukraine is beneath the dignity of any President & by any reasonable legal standard merits an impeachment inquiry," Durbin posted on Twitter on Tuesday. "Because the White House refuses to respond to Congressional subpoenas, I feel a formal impeachment inquiry is the only way to pursue this critical investigation, which I believe will ultimately be tested in the courts."
Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate and a consistent Trump critic, has for the first time called for impeachment.
His admission that he solicited negative info from the Pres. of Ukraine concerning his potential opponent, Joe Biden, while withholding $250M in US security aid for Ukraine is beneath the dignity of any President & by any reasonable legal standard merits an impeachment inquiry.
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) September 24, 2019
The refusal of the President and Attorney General to release the whistleblower report as required by law has also convinced me that an impeachment inquiry is the only course we can follow under our Constitution to make certain the American people know the facts.
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) September 24, 2019
All but one Chicago-area Democrat in Congress all have voiced support for an impeachment inquiry.
And that one holdout, conservative Democrat Dan Lipinski, tweeted on Tuesday that if Trump withheld foreign aid money to pressure Ukraine "to investigate someone because they are a political opponent ... it would be an impeachable offense." The tweet did not explicity support impeachment proceedings.
No president can withhold foreign assistance in order to force a country to investigate someone because they are a political opponent. If @POTUS conducted a quid pro quo such as this, it would be an impeachable offense. The #whistleblower complaint deserves a full investigation.
— Former Rep. Daniel Lipinski (@RepLipinski) September 24, 2019
That makes 11 of 12 Chicago-area Democrats who favor impeachment, with Lipinski leaning that direction. The 13th Democrat in the Illinois delegation, Cheri Bustos, who represents much of the conservataive northwest portion of the state, told Politico last week, "You know, I think people can call it whatever they want to call it, but I think we're just trying to get to the truth and we'll see where that leads us."
The Washington Post reported Trump froze almost $400 million in military aid for Ukraine about a week before the president reportedly pressured the Ukrainian president to investigate the son of former vice president Joe Biden.
North suburban Democrat Brad Schneider issued a statement on Tuesday supporting impeachment proceedings:
"The facts of this situation are not in dispute: President Trump and his personal legal counsel both publicly admit that the President of the United States pressured the President of Ukraine to launch a sham investigation of a political rival, while withholding millions of dollars of military aid. Blocking this much needed aid to our ally, Ukraine, for the President's personal political gain dangerously threatens U.S. national security interests and undermines America's foreign policy objectives.
"President Trump's actions to pressure a foreign government into investigating a political rival are an absolute abuse of the powers of the Presidency, and this flagrant corruption demands an urgent response from Congress.
"The President must be held accountable, which is why I support initiating articles of impeachment to do so."
The other Illinois Dems who support impeachment are: Lauren Underwood, Bill Foster, Sean Casten, Jan Schakowsky, Bobby Rush, Robin Kelly, Danny Davis, Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, Raja Krishnamoorthi and Mike Quigley.
Underwood and Bustos both flipped Republican seats in the 2018 mid-term.
Politico reported late Tuesday that 202 Democrats in Congress publicly support impeachment proceedings, while 33 do not or don't yet. No Republicans have broken ranks with the president.