The House Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump on Friday morning, meaning a vote on the articles in the full House of Representatives will soon be held. The decision came after a week of deliberation over whether enough evidence existed to draft and approve the articles. The abuse of power charge stems from Trump’s July phone call with the Ukraine president pressuring him to announce an investigation of Democrats as he withheld US aid.
Representative David Price of North Carolina’s fourth district says he plans to vote in favor of both articles. Price, who represents all of Orange County and parts of Wake County in the House of Representatives, tweeted his support of the articles of impeachment against President Trump on Wednesday.
The congressman said he believes the evidence Trump withheld funds to Ukraine in an effort to spark an investigation into political rival Joe Biden’s son’s business dealings has been clearly established and is comprehensive.
“We have very impressive testimony on the record for very impressive people and I believe the case is very tight,” Price said. “I don’t think we can hold hostage further proceedings [because of] the president’s refusal to cooperate.”
Price said it’s difficult to grasp the abnormality of an impeachment, especially in these proceedings. But he said just from the articles being drafted by members of the House alone, it’s clear Trump’s actions will change the course of history.
“I think this is the most serious [impeachment] in American history. You could argue Andrew Johnson’s [charges] were pretty narrow. We know about Watergate, we know the highly politicized Clinton impeachment. I think this is the most serious set of charges of all.”
I do not take this responsibility lightly, or without thorough consideration of the facts at hand. It is my judgement that the Constitution requires us to act, and I intend to vote in favor of both articles of impeachment when they are brought before the full House for a vote.
— David E. Price (@RepDavidEPrice) December 11, 2019
With Republican lawmakers in the House claiming there are no grounds for impeachment of Trump, the proceedings have been largely divisive along party lines. Price said it’s extremely worrying how partisanship is causing his Republican peers to treat the impeachment process. He said the partisanship draws comparisons to Clinton’s impeachment, but the difference in potential charges is substantial.
“This, on the other hand,” he said, “is a very serious impeachable offense. This is a very threatening example of presidential misconduct that is a danger to the country’s national security interests and to the integrity of our elections.”
Price said he still hopes some of his colleagues across the aisle will put aside partisanship when voting on the articles of impeachment.
“We’ve had very serious differences with the president, it’s true, but none of us came to Washington to impeach him or any other president,” said Price. “The impeachment question arises only with his serious misconduct. One would hope Republicans and Democrats would take a look at the evidence and make an objective judgement as to what these offenses warrant in terms of congressional action. If not impeachment, then what?”
The full House of Representatives is expected to vote on the two articles of impeachment next week.
Now there’s a shocker!