Congressman Charlie Crist joins call for formal impeachment proceedings
September 24, 2019 - U.S. Representative Charlie Crist released a statement today calling for the House of Representatives to begin formal impeachment proceedings against President Trump. Crist joins a chorus of voices in the House, following Trump's admitted attempt to pressure Ukrainian President Zelensky to investigate Vice President Joe Biden and his son. The phone call between leaders, which took place on July 25, happened just days after President Trump withheld $400 million in aid from Ukraine. Crist's statement reads: “Reports detailing the whistleblower complaint and the President’s subsequent admission make it clear that the President has endangered America’s national security for his own political gain. Pressuring a vulnerable, sovereign nation to dig up dirt on a political adversary while dangling Congressionally mandated military aid is not only blatantly unethical and unbecoming of the highest office in the land – it is a crime against the Constitution. “The President is acting like he believes he is above the rule of law. He is not. President Adams called our Republic, ‘a government of laws, not of men.’ The People’s House must deliver on that fundamental American value that no one – not even the President – is above the law. “Today, I join the People of Florida’s 13th Congressional District in calling for the House to launch formal impeachment proceedings against President Trump. I do not reach this conclusion lightly. The urgency of accountability is laid bare by the President’s ongoing willingness to abuse the immense power of the Office of the United States President. Someone who believes there is nothing wrong with soliciting foreign interference in American elections – again – can cause unthinkable harm to our national security, our country, and our Constitution during the remaining 15 months of his term in office. “The American people expect my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the Capitol to put partisanship and political expediency aside to do the right thing for the People and for our Constitution. It is time to act.”