Like so many around the country and the world, House Representative Steve Cohen was repulsed by Trump’s recent statements defending white supremacists after the Charlottesville, Virginia protest that left 32-year-old Heather Heyer dead, and over 15 other counter-protestors injured during a concurring domestic terrorist attack.
Cohen, who is also a top Democratic ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, announced on Thursday that he would be filing Articles of Impeachment against Trump. WKRN reports that after Cohen watched TV coverage of the Charlottesville rally, it reminded him of Nazi actions against Jews in Germany.
“It was every inkling of Kristallnacht,” he said, referring to the rash of glass-breaking vandalism and other anti-Jewish attacks that took place on the night of Nov. 9-10, 1938. “I couldn’t believe it was America.”
Likewise, Rep. Cohen was disgusted when Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides” referring to white supremacists/neo-Nazi protestors on and counter-protestors in Charlottesville on Saturday, August 12, 2017. As Cohen sees it, along with many other lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats, “There are no good Nazis. There are no good Klansmen.”
When pressed for specifics about the Articles of Impeachment, Rep. Cohen said they would include “high crimes and misdemeanors.” He added that Trump has “failed the test of moral leadership.” Here is Thursday’s tweet by Rep. Cohen.
Rep. Cohen states:
“President Trump has shown time and time again that he lacks the ethical and moral rectitude to be President of the United States. Not only has he potentially obstructed justice and potentially violated the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause, but he has also shown that he is incapable or unwilling to protect Americans from enemies, foreign and domestic. Neo-Nazis and the KKK are domestic terrorists. If the President can’t recognize the difference between these domestic terrorists and the people who oppose their anti-American attitudes, then he cannot defend us.”
The latest move by Rep. Cohen is not the first. Last June, Reps. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., and Al Green D-Texas introduced an article of impeachment and Cohen and 23 House Democrats also filed a no confidence resolution against Trump in June saying the behavior of Donald Trump is unacceptable behavior by the president of the United States. That list included:
· Trump’s questionable business deals
· Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey while Trump was under investigation by the FBI
· Trump’s “cozy” relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin
· Trump’s unfettered attacks on the press
· Trump’s derogatory comments about women
· Trump’s Twitter tirades against political opponents and anyone else who challenges him.
And that’s on a good day.
Few would argue that the rate of stress, demoralization and destruction Donald Trump has put on this country has been off the scales. But now more than ever it’s starting to feel like this dark era is coming to an end. It’s time. But it will take lawmakers like Rep. Steven to “step out.” And it will take the media to aggressively report the truth as quickly as possible, even if it interferes with the massive income and new readership they have gained via Trump news. It will take the judiciary to say “enough,” and it will take the American people to continue to fight, resist and persist when those are the last things they want to do. But the end is coming. And many of us are feeling it for the first time in eight months. And it feels good.