Letter from Deb Haaland (my NM representative to congress) regarding impeachment.
Thank you for reaching out to me regarding H.Res. 257, a resolution to open an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. I appreciate you taking the time to write and helping me serve as your representative. Your input is valuable to me.
There is a mass cover up going on at the White House. The obstruction and disrespect for Congress' role as an equal branch of government is simply unacceptable. Since I took my oath in January, we have been working diligently for the people, passing our platform to address problems every American experiences. The House of Representatives has passed legislation ranging from bipartisan universal background checks for gun purchases and safeguards for public lands, to equal pay for equal work across the genders and civil rights protections for the LGBTQ community, to a raise for military servicemembers and an increase in the minimum wage, for starters. As your representative, I will continue to introduce and advocate for legislation that improves the lives of New Mexicans. One of the other Constitutional roles of Congress is to hold the President accountable, and I am fighting for aggressive oversight of this President. While I continue to support the ongoing investigations into the President's abuse of power, I believe it is also time to open an impeachment inquiry to ensure the American people know the truth. This isn’t political- it’s our responsibility to defend our Democracy.
I want to be clear about what an impeachment inquiry is and is not. An impeachment inquiry will allow House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler to investigate whether or not the President committed high crimes or misdemeanors. It is not a vote to impeach the President, but the first step in gathering all of the information and determining whether the President should or should not be impeached. We must separate the facts from the rumors, discover what has been exaggerated, and uncover new evidence, not only for Congress to know but for the American people to know. An impeachment inquiry will allow to us continue digging for the facts and present them to the public, shining a light on the full behavior of this Administration.
The portions of Special Counsel Mueller's report that have been made available to Congress and the public reveal that President Trump's campaign welcomed Russian interference in the election and provide a significant amount of evidence that President Trump obstructed justice ten different ways. Through both his report and his testimony before Congress, Special Counsel Mueller made it clear that the Department of Justice's internal memos outlining approved actions prevented him from indicting the President. Special Counsel Mueller also made it clear that Congressional action was the only way forward, referring to impeachment in an exchange with Representative Veronica Escobar.
Attorney General William Barr's actions to date have more resembled those of President Trump's personal lawyer than what is expected from the American people's Attorney General. Given Barr's apparent bias, confirmed by Special Counsel Mueller in his May 29, 2019 public statement in which he contradicted Barr's claim that the report exonerated the President by stating "If we had confidence that the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so," the version of the Mueller Report that was made public and provided to Congress that was redacted by AG Barr is not what the American people need to determine the truth. Many other members of the Trump Administration, current and former, continue to outright ignore Congressional subpoenas, believing themselves above the law and beyond the reach of the Constitution's clear mandate of Congressional oversight.
Since he began running for president, Donald Trump has endorsed harmful and cruel policies and has used divisive and hurtful rhetoric now found in white supremacist manifestos across the country. He has told Members of Congress who are American citizens born in the United States of America to "go back" to the countries they came from, despite being Americans, and later basked in chants of "Send her back" at his campaign rally. He equates violent and murderous neo-Nazis with peaceful protesters and continues to divide America by employing white identity politics. There are signs that President Trump has used his office to line his own pockets and his family business and indications that he has sought to bend independent agencies to his will. Trump and his administration have repeatedly refused to cooperate with Congressional efforts to perform our constitutionally required oversight duties. Add to that the temper tantrum we all witnessed when President Trump refused to work with Congress on a critical infrastructure bill until he gets his way.
No one is above the law, not even the President. I will work with my colleagues in Congress to investigate and legislate to protect our democracy and uncover the truth. If the evidence discovered by an impeachment inquiry warrants it, I would support the House of Representatives moving forward with the impeachment process.
The Constitution empowers the House of Representatives to impeach sitting presidents as the ultimate and final check on the executive branch. The House has impeached just two presidents in our nation's history, Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, both of whom were ultimately acquitted by the Senate and remained in office. We hold an awesome power that we must use wisely to protect our democracy, and when we decide how far to proceed down that path we must know that the outcome will strengthen our country. Please rest assured that I am keeping your thoughts in mind and I am watching the situation very closely.
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