Press Release
Posted:
Washington – Today Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05), a former member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, voted for the two articles of impeachment offered by the House Committee on the Judiciary after weeks of an impeachment inquiry conducted by the Intelligence Committee. The first article charges the President with an abuse of power and the second with an obstruction of Congress. A statement from Thompson on his vote is below.
“Impeachment is a solemn duty outlined in the Constitution and one that I do not take lightly. I did not run for Congress to impeach this President, but rather to help our community get ahead and to serve the country I love. Unfortunately, the President brought this on himself by putting his own personal and political interests above those of the people he serves. This jeopardized our national security.
“The two articles I voted to pass today outline serious breaches of the public trust committed by the President, rising to the bar of high crimes and misdemeanors spelled out in our Constitution. As a combat veteran and having served eight years on the Intelligence Committee, I understand the threat that foreign actors can play in our elections. Every elected official must dedicate themselves to protecting our democracy. No one should invite a foreign country to interfere with our most sacred act of voting. It was a severe abuse of power for the President to ask a foreign nation to interfere in our election to benefit his personal and political interest and to condition bipartisan and Congressionally-approved aid on that interference. And it was an unacceptable obstruction of Congress for the President to order his officials to defy legally-issued subpoenas.
“Unchecked, these actions could lead us down a path that will unravel the fabric of our nation. I am saddened to have had to vote in favor of these articles of impeachment. But, in the interest of defending our nation, I was compelled to vote to ensure our country holds the same values for our children and for generations to come. Ben Franklin, one of our most influential Founding Fathers, wrote that we have ‘a Republic, if you can keep it.’ I believe we must fight to keep it.”
The two articles of impeachment that passed the House today now head to the Senate where the chamber will hold a trial based on the charges in those articles.You can click here to watch Thompson’s remarks on the House floor during today’s debate.