Press Releases

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) released the following statement in advance of the US House of Representatives vote to approve two articles of impeachment against the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump:

“Among the vast powers assigned to the Congress by our Founders, the impeachment of a chief executive is without question our gravest responsibility with the exception of a declaration of war. Since the beginning of the impeachment inquiry, I have been mindful of this responsibility every day.

“Although the President and his staff have obstructed the work of Congress  at every opportunity, the process carried out by the House has been scrupulously thorough and fair. That process has uncovered a mountain of evidence that President Trump has committed serious crimes. The evidence revealed in public hearings, provided by witness after witness issuing sworn testimony under oath, was consistent, powerful, and incontrovertible. The fact is that President Trump directly extorted a foreign government and an ally of the United States by withholding vital defense assistance in order to target a political rival. The efforts of the White House and its allies to distort this fact have not succeeded. 

“The Constitution demands that a President be removed  for 'high crimes and misdemeanors.' It does not define such crimes and leaves the matter up to the Members of Congress. I believe President Trump's actions meet that threshold. For that reason, I will vote today to impeach Donald Trump on both articles of impeachment before us. I will vote to impeach Donald Trump for abusing his power and I will vote to impeach him for obstructing our investigation into that abuse. I will cast these votes with a heavy heart but without hesitation. Our failure to hold President Trump to account will not only embolden him to continue to work with foreign governments to interfere with our political process and the next election, it will provide an invitation for his successors to do the same. For the health of our presidency, to uphold our rule of law, and to preserve American democracy, I will vote to impeach this President.”

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