This past Wednesday, October 11, 2017, U.S. Congressman Al Green (D-TX) continued his call for the impeachment of President Donald J. Trump by reading/noting Articles of Impeachment.
Rep. Al Green did not force a vote on the Articles of Impeachment, stating that he wanted to provide his colleagues in the U.S. Congress, as well as the American public, an opportunity to review the articles. However, he indicates that there will be a vote.
The impeachment process can be messy and complex, and is often misunderstood. So what exactly happens when a President has, using Benjamin Franklin’s words regarding impeachment, “rendered himself obnoxious?”
Impeachment begins in the House of Representatives. For a President to be impeached, a simple majority must vote to adopt Articles of Impeachment and send the articles to the Senate for trial. The Senate trial would determine whether the President is removed from office. To secure an actual conviction in the Senate, the trial, presided over by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, requires a two-thirds majority vote.
“Impeachment does not mean that the President would be found guilty. It simply means that the House of Representatives will bring charges against the President,” explains Congressman Green. “It is similar to an indictment but not quite the same thing. Simply put, the impeachment occurs in the House and the trial and removal from office occurs in the Senate.”
It is important to note that impeachment terminology can be misleading and imply a need for criminal activity, which is not true. Impeachment does not require the commission of a crime.
In the Articles of Impeachment presented by Congressman Green, he cites that President Donald John Trump “has undermined the integrity of his office, has brought disrepute on the presidency, has betrayed his trust as President to the manifest injury of the people of the United States of America, and as a result is unfit to be President.”
In support of his articles, Congressman Green uses numerous examples wherein President Trump “has fueled and is fueling an alt-right hate machine…engendering racial antipathy, LGBTQ enmity, religious anxiety, stealthy sexism, and dreadful xenophobia.”
Congressman Green has guaranteed that there will be at least one vote for impeachment – his.
He has quoted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., indicating that he will do that which is “‘neither safe, nor politic, nor popular.’ [He] will do that which is right and let others do what they may and allow history to judge [them] all.”
To view the Articles of Impeachment presented by Rep. Al Green on October 11, 2017, go to www.algreen.house.gov.