In a strict party-line vote, U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath of the 6th Congressional District of Georgia sided with fellow Democrats Friday as the House Judiciary Committee voted in favor of two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.
The vote was 23-17, and the full House, which is controlled by Democrats, is expected to vote next week, before breaking for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
The impeachment proceedings center around allegations that Trump threatened to withhold foreign aid to Ukraine if it didn’t investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democratic presidential candidate.
The first article of impeachment defined that as an abuse of power, and the other article accuses the president of obstructing Congress by trying to impede a House investigation into the Ukraine claims.
Trump is the fourth U.S. president to have articles of impeachment returned against him. Andrew Johnson in 1867 and Bill Clinton in 1997 were impeached by the House, but were acquitted in subsequent Senate trials.
In 1974, the House Judiciary Committee returned articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon, but he resigned before a full House vote.
If Trump is impeached by the House, a trial in the Republican-held Senate could come early next year.
McBath, a first-term Democrat from Marietta, made remarks on Wednesday referencing her teenage son, shot dead at a Jacksonville, Fla., gas station, which prompted her run for Congress on gun-control issues, and also cited legislation she’s supported to protect veterans that was signed by Trump:
But, I am not proud of the President’s actions that bring us here tonight.
For months, we have carefully and methodically explored the facts.
I have listened to our witnesses. I have examined the evidence from our intelligence community. I have heard from the brave men and women who have dedicated their lives in service to our country, both at home and abroad.
I am greatly saddened by what we have learned, and I am forced to face a solemn conclusion.
I believe the President abused the power of his office, putting his own interests above the needs of our nation—above the needs of the people I love and serve.
For that, I must vote my conscience.
I do so with a heavy heart and a grieving soul.
This is not why I came to Washington.
Her full statement can be seen and heard in the video below:
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