Five new cosponsors sign onto House impeachment resolution
Five new cosponsors have signed onto a House resolution to begin impeachment proceedings against the president in the wake of the report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Rep. Rashida Tlaib introduced the resolution before the report was released with only one cosponsor, Rep. Al Green.
Although the special counsel concluded that the Trump campaign did not conspire with the Russians to influence the 2016 election, the report did outline several ties between campaign officials and individuals associated with the Russian government. Mueller also made no determination as to whether President Trump obstructed justice, but detailed several instances where obstruction may have occurred.
Tlaib, a freshman Democrat, has been a vocal opponent of Mr. Trump. She made waves earlier this year when she said that it was time to "impeach the motherf---er," referring to Mr. Trump. Reps. Filemon Vela, Jared Huffman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley have now also signed on as cosponsors.
Ocasio-Cortez and Omar in particular have emerged as powerful progressive voices in the House, and are frequently criticized by Mr. Trump and other Republicans. Omar recently stirred controversy within her own caucus by making comments about Israel which some interpreted as anti-Semitic.
Mr. Trump has said that he would challenge any impeachment proceedings in the Supreme Court if Democrats attempted to remove him from office. However, most Democrats -- including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- have expressed caution about launching impeachment proceedings.
Speaking at the TIME 100 Summit in New York Tuesday, Pelosi said there are "many ways to hold the president of the United States accountable."
"This is about being totally free from passion, from prejudice, from politics, it's about the presentation of the facts. And when we the facts we'll have a better idea of how we go forward," Pelosi said. "Impeachment is one of the most divisive paths that we could go down in our country. But if the path of fact-finding takes us there, we have no choice. But we're not there yet."
Mr. Trump has frequently condemned the report since it was released, and called it a "coup" in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity Thursday night. "This was an attempted overthrow of the United States government," he said.