Dems to launch new impeachment push on Wednesday

A group of House Democrats will join forces Wednesday to introduce new articles of impeachment against President Trump, representing the broadest effort yet to oust him as commander in chief.

The office of Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), a Memphis liberal, announced the move. Cohen had indicated in August that he would join the official push to remove Trump from office, citing the president’s response to the deadly white supremacist marches in Charlottesville, Va., that same month.

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), an immigration reformer who’s emerged as one of Trump’s loudest critics, will team up with Cohen in the effort. It’s unclear how many other Democrats will join the pair, and neither office would say what grounds the articles will cite. In previewing the effort earlier in the month, Gutiérrez said the lawmakers were working closely with constitutional lawyers and will “not leave you lacking for reason.”

“It is clear to us that he is unfit to be president of the United States of America,” Gutiérrez said at the time.

The lawmakers join Reps. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) and Al Green (D-Texas) in launching an official bid to remove Trump from the White House. Sherman has focused his impeachment articles on Trump’s firing of former FBI Director James Comey, who was leading the federal probe into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 elections, including the possibility that Trump’s team had colluded with Moscow to sway the result. Sherman said Trump obstructed justice by firing Comey.

Green’s impeachment resolution is more wide-ranging. It cites a laundry list of charges Green says should merit Trump’s removal, including “a demonstrable record of inciting white supremacy, sexism, bigotry, hatred, xenophobia, race-baiting and racism.”

The impeachment bid has been a contentious topic within the Democratic Caucus, as party leaders — notably Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) — are discouraging the effort for fear of muddling the Russia investigation being conducted by special council Robert Mueller.Still, Gutiérrez said party leaders had not pushed back against the latest impeachment attempt.