Resolution to impeach Trump rejected

The US House of Representatives rejected a resolution tabled by Democrat Texas Congressman Al Green to impeach President Donald Trump, the media reported.

The resolution was rejected in a 364-58 vote on Wednesday evening, reports The Hill magazine.

Every Republican voted with a majority of Democrats to turn away the resolution, while four Democrats voted "present".

Green's articles of impeachment did not allege Trump had specifically committed a crime. Instead, Green argued that Trump had "brought disrepute, contempt, ridicule and disgrace on the presidency" and "sown discord among the people of the United States".

To back up Green's assertion, the articles of impeachment cited Trump's equivocating response to the violent clash between white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia; re-tweets of anti-Muslim videos posted by a fringe British nationalist group; criticisms of NFL players kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality; disparate treatment of hurricane victims in Puerto Rico compared to Texas and Florida; and personal attacks against Representative Frederica Wilson, who, like Green, is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

House Democratic leaders made clear they did not support impeachment at this point, citing the ongoing special counsel investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russian officials in the 2016 presidential election.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer voted to table Green's resolution.

In a statement, they said there were "legitimate questions" about Trump's fitness for office, but that the ongoing investigations into Trump by congressional committees and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) needed to play out, The Hill magazine reported.

Green acknowledged that his effort to force an impeachment vote was facing opposition from fellow Democrats. But after pushing for Trump's impeachment for months, he said he believes Congress needs to discuss the President's fitness for office.

"May everyone vote their conscience knowing that history will judge us all," Green wrote in a letter to fellow lawmakers on Tuesday.

Green first unveiled a draft of his articles of impeachment in October, but refrained from triggering a vote at the time to allow the public to review them.

Other Democrats have also pushed for Trump's impeachment this year, but unlike Green have not forced a vote on the issue.

--IANS

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