Zoe Lofgren: “The President and Members of Congress each take an oath to uphold the Constitution. When the President abuses his…”

“The President and Members of Congress each take an oath to uphold the Constitution. When the President abuses his Presidential power to upend the constitutional order, we have an obligation to live up to our oath of office. We have been presented with direct evidence about the President's actions. They threaten our national security and undermine the integrity of the next election. We now vote on Articles of Impeachment for abuse of power and contempt of Congress as a result of that evidence. I have worked on Presidential impeachments as part of the Committee on the Judiciary twice before. This third time brings me no joy. President Nixon attempted to corrupt elections. His agents broke into the Democratic Party headquarters to get a leg up on the election, and then, just like President Trump, he tried to cover it up. Then, he resigned. This is even worse. President Trump not only abused his power to help his reelection, he used a foreign government to do it. He used military aid provided to fight the Russians as leverage solely to benefit his own political campaign. George Washington would be astonished since he warned ``against the insidious wiles of foreign influence.'' The direct evidence is damning. The President hasn't offered any evidence to the contrary. These actions constitute grounds for Presidential impeachment. What is before us is a serious abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. These abuses strike at the heart of our Constitution.…”