US. NBC news has reported that the Georgia senator told attendees at a town hall that the
effort is not feasible without Democratic control of the House.
Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., signaled support for impeaching
President Donald Trump during a town hall he hosted near Atlanta on Friday,
telling attendees that the president's conduct "has already exceeded any
prior standard for impeachment."
"I mean, I saw just 48 hours ago, he is granting
audiences to people who buy his meme coin," Ossoff said. "When the
sitting President of the United States is selling access for what are
effectively payments directly to him. There is no question that that rises to
the level of an impeachable offense."
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for
comment on Friday night.
Video of the town hall was made available online by NBC
affiliate WXIA. Ossoff, who is currently running for reelection to the U.S.
Senate, made the remark in response to an attendee who questioned why Democrats
have not moved to impeach Trump, stating her belief that "everything that
Trump is doing is leading us down an authoritative rule."
"Do more. I like you and I will vote for you if you are
brave, and you do what we need," the attendee said. "We need him
impeached, we need him removed."
Ossoff in response said he "strongly" agreed with
the attendee, but told the audience that the move is not currently feasible
given the current make up of the House of Representatives, which is responsible
for introducing articles of impeachment.
"The only way to achieve what you want to achieve is to
have a majority United States House of Representatives," Ossoff said.
"And believe me, I'm working on it every single day, every single
day."
The Georgia senator also pointed to what he characterized as
Trump’s defiance of a federal court order as another potentially impeachable
offense. Ossoff did not specify exactly which case he was referring to, but the
remark comes as Democrats accuse Trump of disregarding a Supreme Court order
requiring his administration to "facilitate" the return of Kilmar
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native and former Maryland resident deported to El
Salvador.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate
GOP's campaign arm, called Ossoff's remarks "disgusting," accusing
him of attempting to "overturn the will of Georgia voters who just elected
President Trump."
Ossoff now joins a handful of congressional Democrats who
have backed calls to impeach Trump in his second term.
Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who called for Trump's impeachment
several times during his first term and was removed from Trump's joint address
to Congress in March, was the first Democrat this cycle to back the idea.
Additionally, Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., said earlier this
month he "fully supports impeaching" Trump, accusing the president of
"not abiding by a lawful Supreme Court ruling."
Trump was impeached twice during his first term, but was
acquitted by the Senate following each impeachment trial. Ossoff joined all
Democrats in voting Trump "guilty" after Trump's second impeachment.
He was not in Congress during Trump's first impeachment.
Impeaching Trump again would require the support of a
majority of the House and two-thirds of the Senate. Because Republicans
currently control both chambers of Congress, the effort is a nonstarter, at
least until the midterm election cycle.
But still, the support among Democratic voters for
impeachment is reflective of broader calls for the party to more actively and
aggressively counter Trump's agenda, a notion that polling suggests is
widespread among the party’s base.
A recent NBC News poll found less than a third of Democrats
want their party leaders to make legislative compromises with Trump, while
nearly two-thirds would rather congressional Democrats stick to their positions
even if that risks sacrificing bipartisan progress
