Top New Dem Calls On Pelosi To Open Impeachment Hearings

I first met Jim Himes when he was running for Congress in 2008, turning a red district blue. The southwest corner of Connecticut is a pretty wealthy area and had been represented since 1987 by moderate Republican Chris Shays, the last New England House Republican at the time, clinging on to a House seat. Although Shays won 14 of the district’s 17 towns, Himes took 80% of the vote in Bridgeport, the districts largest town and also beat him in the 2nd and third largest towns, Norwalk and Stamford. He beat Shays 51-47% and today the district has a nice safe D+7 PVI. Times vanquishes his GOP opponents with ease and was reelected last year 61.2% to 38.8%. Hillary did better (59.6%) against Trump in Himes’ district than anywhere else in Connecticut.

Himes is a classic liberal on social issues— 100% on Choice, same on LGBTQ issues, guns, immigration issues, etc. He joined the New Dems and rose to chair the coalition, which is why he’s gotten a bad reputation among progressives. A former Goldman Sachs employee and member of the House Financial Services Committee, he voted, for example, with the GOP to dismantle Obama era Dodd-Frank consumer protections. Monday Roots Action named him as one of the 15 Democrats who need to be primaried, entirely because of his work on the financial sector. Ironically, at the same time “Bad Blues” was being released, Himes, a senior member of the House Intelligence Committee, announced that he now backs beginning impeachment proceedings against Señor Trumpanzee. This was the official press release from his office:

Today, Representative Jim Himes (CT-04) called for the opening of an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump:

“During my career, I have learned that there are moments for calculation, prudence, compromise and the careful weighing of competing interests. And there are moments for clarity and conviction. This is such a moment.

“The time has come for the House of Representatives to begin an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. From the moment of his inauguration, this President has shown contempt for the truth, has attacked our institutions, and has ignored the Constitution he swore to defend. He has refused the oversight which is Congress’ long-established right and duty. In recent weeks, he has refused to comply with subpoenas, he has ordered administration officials to refuse to testify, and he has asserted executive privilege of unprecedented scope with respect to attempts to alter the census.

“The President attacks our free press, threatens to jail his political opponents and attacks courts and judges when they challenge his unprecedented behavior.

“That we have not slouched closer to autocracy is due to the strength of the democratic safeguards and protections that we have built and defended for two and a half centuries. Most Americans sense the danger and have reacted, most recently by electing a House of Representatives with the power and desire to check this President. The President has refused to acknowledge or acquiesce to that power.

“The framers of the Constitution placed the power of impeachment not in the courts, but in the Congress, so that Congress might consider not just the facts and the letter of the law, but the broader interests of the Republic.

I’ve, until now, been conflicted about those interests. Impeachment, along with the right to declare war, is the most awesome power of Congress.  The politics of impeachment are messy and uncertain, and might, in the short run, serve the President’s narrow political interests.

“But look at where we are today.  Republicans cheer or justify or stand woefully silent in the face of behavior for which they would have impeached a Democratic president many times over. Our best and most proven ideas cannot get even a hearing in the United States Senate. Unless we restore respect for the law, respect for truth and respect for common decency, we cannot hope to solve any of our other pressing problems.

“The American people should understand that opening an impeachment inquiry is not removal of the President. Given the behavior of the United States Senate, that outcome is probably out of the question. An impeachment inquiry will be a fair consideration of the facts that the American people must understand, with both sides fairly and openly represented.

“My motive today is not to pressure the Speaker of the House, whose leadership in this Congress has been superb. She leads us today in the epic mission of defending our democracy. That mission requires a vigorous debate and competing ideas, but it also requires care, discipline and a measure of deference.

“There are moments for careful calculation. For weighing political expediency and conflicting interests. And there moments for clarity and conviction. This is that moment.”

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