Washington – Reps. Jahana Hayes and Joe Courtney on Thursday said they will vote to impeach President Donald Trump.
“I will solemnly support the articles of impeachment introduced this week when they come before me for a vote in the House,” said Courtney, D-2nd District.
Hayes, D-5th District, said “impeachment is not a course I wanted to pursue.”
“I came to Congress to make a difference, not to impeach a president,” Hayes said.
But, after reviewing the two articles of impeachment that are expected to be approved by the House Judiciary Committee late Thursday, Hayes said she would support them when they come to the full House for a vote, probably next week.
“It is clear to me that the president attempted to use the Office of the President to demand a foreign leader investigate an American citizen for political gain,” Hayes said.
With their support for impeachment, Hayes and Courtney join Reps. John Larson, D-1st District, and Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District, in publicly stating they will vote to impeach the president. Only Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, who had a major role in the impeachment inquiry as a member of the Intelligence Committee, has not yet declared how he’ll vote.
The impeachment articles focus narrowly on the president’s interaction with Ukraine.
One accuses the president of abuse of power, saying Trump pressured Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter by withholding U.S. military aid and a coveted White House meeting.
Courtney, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he read both the report from House Intelligence Committee Democrats, who took the lead in the impeachment inquiry, and the Republican minority report. He said the administration’s 55-day hold-up of military assistance to Ukraine was indefensible.
“During that time, the Los Angeles Times reported that 25 Ukrainian soldiers lost their lives in combat,” Courtney said. “The gravity of this feckless decision is clear and stunning.”
The second article will center on a contempt of Congress charge brought after Democrats determined Trump kept administration officials from testifying or providing documents in the impeachment inquiry.
“It is my intention to support the rule of law and uphold Congress’s constitutional role as a coequal branch of our government, and vote in favor of Article Two,” Courtney said.
It is expected most House Democrats will vote for Trump’s impeachment.
Some Democratic defections are expected, however, even though the articles were narrowly focused on the Ukraine issue at the insistence of moderates in the party who represent districts won by Trump in 2016.
Hayes said “as the impeachment discussion progressed, I remained committed to not weighing in publicly, believing it was important that everyone had the chance to examine the case for themselves.”
She also said she “deliberately chose not to comment without having had a chance to review all the evidence and study the full articles as drafted.”
“As I listened to the testimony, I became more concerned about the actions of the president,” Hayes said. “While some may argue these actions do not merit impeachment, to do nothing and normalize this behavior would be a dereliction of my oath of office.”
If the Judiciary Committee adopts one or both articles, as expected, Trump would join Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton as the only presidents who faced specific charges over alleged misconduct. Johnson and Clinton were impeached; Nixon resigned before the House held an impeachment vote.
The CT vote dance has been a complete charade. They’ve known what their votes would be the moment the Dems assumed a House majority. Anyone telling you differently is a liar.
Can you please cite where you have obtained this information? And speaking of turning the house in 2018, can you provide any rationale why the GOP chose not to initiate investigating Biden’s alleged misdeeds when they controlled the presidency and the Legislature? Could it be that there’s nothing there and this is a charade to attack a political rival of trump? Thanks in advance!
Did Biden not say bragging “fire the prosecutor or your not getting the money” ? Did Biden’s son not get a job that he wasn’t qualified for? Need I say more?
Oh, please. Wholly different situation (see my response to somebody else above). And since I read an article that Hunter Biden had done some work for Burisma prior to being named to their board, who’s to say he’s not qualified? On the other hand, how many people, anywhere, anytime, have gotten jobs they weren’t qualified for? The guy currently in the White House comes to mind.
Ivanka and Jared earned over $123 MILLION last year on the coattails of her father. So there’s that…
I’ll forego responding in kind (with snark.)
1) Common sense and paying very close attention.
2) As far as Republican efforts, they’d have to answer that. One must remember that Paul Ryan was in charge and he despised the President and conservatives in his own caucus. However, “Biden’s alleged misdeeds” really didn’t become widely known about until much later, as more and more became known about Democrat collusion with foreign interference.
Perhaps you have “somehow” missed the Foreign Affairs speech of Biden bragging as to how he got the “investigation” into Barisma and his dishonorably discharged son Hunter ended by having the prosecutor fired. While he bragged he and Obama would withhold a billion in taxpayer dollars from Ukraine if they did not fire the prosecutor and end the “investigation.. Biden proudly boasts he got this accomplished in six hours. I’m sure if you HAVE ANY interest you can easily find the tape.
Perhaps you have “somehow” missed the fact that the investigation of Burisma pertained ONLY to allegations that occurred 2010-2012 — years BEFORE Hunter Biden joined the board. And the prosecutor who was fired was not pursuing that investigation. And he was not pursuing an investigation into what happened to $1.8Billion in loans that somehow ended up in some oligarch’s offshore bank accounts. And the fact that other countries besides the US — not to mention Ukraine’s own citizens — wanted that prosecutor fired because he was NOT pursuing corruption.
But, hey, these are only easily discoverable facts. Inconvenient facts.
When the VP clearly said during his tirade and the National Committee meeting that he TOLD the president of Ukraine to Fire the prosecutor in six hours or he was withholding 1 billion in loans, what do you call that? The media reports that was US policy but go back to the news reports and they paint a different picture at that time. It took all of ten minutes to find the articles of the major news outlets. When asking about Joe Biden, after his gaffes, is he really a top contender or is he being propped up by the media? Just listening to the man he sounds like Pelosi in her latest ramblings.
You might want to take a little more than ten minutes and read all the facts. But then again, if your mind is made up, it would likely be a waste of time.
You do understand that there was agreement throughout the EU and Congress that the prosecutor at the time was unwilling to clamp down on the rampant corruption that was pervading Ukraine and aid would be withheld until he was removed? A bit different than withholding aid to get Ukraine to investigate a political opponent. Supporters of the GOP shouldn’t automatically ignore what is factually correct.
Of course. The Democrats have always had their minds made up, as opposed to the Republicans, who… um… um… have always been clearly impartial and open-minded about Trump’s conduct and were waiting to hear the facts before reaching a decision, right?
What goes around comes around, CT Democrats will hopefully pay the price in the next election. If they polled their constituent they would more than likely realize that their wrong! They ar voting party line and that is not going to cut it!
This has nothing to do with impeachment and everything to do with regaining power. Over every aspect of our lives. It’s about the election and nothing else.
Of course they will vote to impeach. It doesn’t matter that there is no crime, that this cabal started to impeach aka overthrow this President from the day we elected him, and that the farce we are being subjected to is as corrupt as the party they have become. Americans not consumed with hatred are well aware of what this so called “impeachment” is all about and the polling already clearly shows their worst nightmare is coming true. But none of that matters. They have been on a mission to overthrow our election and eliminate the peaceful transfer of power ,from the moment the election results were in. Sadly, the repercussions their actions will have are far worse than anyone can fully comprehend right now. Power and corruption are a deadly combination and damage the foundation of this amazing country. It will definitely blow up in their faces, as each attempt to remove this President have, but the damage to our Republic is done.
Did anybody out in CT expect any thing different. When Courtney needs the military budget to bolster his donors he is all for President Trump assistance, when Hayes was siding with the Fab Four she quickly distanced herself but walked the party line. I think it is sad that the legislators in CT really think they are representing the middle class when all they do is keep adding to the national credit card for our children and grandchildren.
Everyone opposed to this procedure needs to contact their Congressmen/women and make you voices heard before the vote next week.. They went to Washington to represent us, not the political machine that feels like the election of 2016 was an error, with calls of “Not my President” by their followers. The left has tried since then to find anything to trip up this duly elected President. All you need to hear is Madame Speaker just this week saying the farce has been 18+ months in the making.
All this President has done is strengthen our military, help the Vets, and spear headed a booming economy for a state that has been so anti-business that companies (GE and Travelers) have left.
I hope ant upcoming votes do have consequences in the 2020, as if my Congressman does indeed vote for impeachment, I will never vote for him again……..and I did vote for him in 2018. Just one voice, but still…………………..
I’ve already done that, as I have regarding several other issues. All that happens is I receive a response full of lies that clearly demonstrates they never even bothered to read/listen to my carefully thought out and supported contact or pay the least bit of attention to applicable facts.
They can do this because they know they’ll rarely face a close election in Deep Blue CT. The CGA is just as bad.
My representative, Jahana Hayes, and the rest of CT’S congressional delegation were not elected to harass the president. While they are busy trying to get rid of President Trump, they are doing nothing which benefits CT’S citizens. This will backfire on the Democrats.
Not in CT, where the only qualification for Congressional candidates (and many State and local ones, too) seems to be the “D” after their names.
Oh, really, now. Even before impeachment, what have CT’s congressional representatives done for CT’s citizens in the past year? Two years? Five years? There has been so much gridlock for so long, and both parties are to blame.
“During that time, the Los Angeles Times reported that 25 Ukrainian soldiers lost their lives in combat,” Courtney said. “The gravity of this feckless decision is clear and stunning.”
Sir, it is convenient to not remember that the previous Administration made a conscious decision (kudos because it WASN’T feckless) to not send any lethal aid to the Ukrainians (which is what you are talking about with Javelin missiles, and by the way, would these missiles have made it there during this time if released? The would haven sent overnight by UPS, correct?), before and during the conquest of Crimea. How many Ukrainians perished during those years? I’m sorry it is not okay to cherry pick your facts, to satisfy your liberal anti-President slant, especially when in 3 years he has done SO MUCH for your constituents at the Naval Sub Base in Groton by allowing for the rebuild of our naval fleet. You have worked very hard for them too, that why I am very disappointed that you have decided to go the political route instead of looking out for your constituents. You know that the he Dems running, if voted in, will strip the monies that are currently going to our military (my son is an A-ganger) and again would work to neuter our great armed forces.
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Interesting information about the aid held up and Congressman Courtney’s decision
to vote for impeachment……a purely political stunt………
From a reply: Deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Laura Cooper, herself testified that the delay in aid had no meaningful effect on Ukraine since the money was allocated to be released by the end of September anyway. She also testified that Javelin missiles were funded via a separate FMS (Foreign Military Sales) aid package that was not part of the aid Trump held up.
Shocking! They are going to follow the left’s false narrative? Who would have guessed that? Party above country once again. Similar to their immigrants before citizens policy.