DeLauro Votes to Impeach President Donald J. Trump

WASHINGTON, DC – (December 18, 2019) Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) released the following statement after voting to impeach President Donald J. Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

"President Donald Trump's actions are a dangerous departure from his oath of office and his duty to uphold the Constitution. As with many of my colleagues, I was reluctant to call for impeachment because I feared it would further divide our country, be perceived as overturning the 2016 election, and go to the United States Senate where Republicans would acquit President Trump regardless of the evidence. But the President's unchecked actions gave the Congress no other choice."

"Today, the House of Representatives upheld its duty to protect the Constitution of the United States. Our founders set up a system of checks and balances, separation of powers, and rule of law so that no person would be above the law. That includes the President of the United States. The Constitutional recourse for ‘treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors' is clear: impeachment. It is a heavy price—intended only for matters of grave consequence to our republic. President Trump's actions meet that high bar, and that is why I voted in favor of the articles of impeachment."

"The facts of the case against President Trump are indisputable. On July 25, 2019, President Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and asked him to ‘look into' 2020 Presidential candidate Vice President Joe Biden and his son—an investigation solely for his own personal and political gain. In the weeks leading up to that call, the President withheld Congressionally-appropriated foreign aid to Ukraine, as well as a meeting between the two countries' presidents in the White House, as leverage. The President's abuse of power has been corroborated before the Congress by brave public servants over the last few months."

"Facing a Congressional investigation into these matters, President Trump ‘directed the unprecedented, categorical, and indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas issued by the House of Representatives pursuant to its "sole Power of Impeachment."' In doing so, President Trump obstructed Congress's Constitutionally-authorized investigation."