No. 4 House Democrat issues call for impeachment inquiry

By LAURIE KELLMAN
August 19, 2019

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Ben Ray Luján on Monday became the highest-ranking Democrat in the House to call for an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, saying it’s time to hold him accountable.

The New Mexico congressman, third in line behind House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a 2020 candidate for Senate, said Trump has not tried to secure American elections from foreign interference.

“I support moving forward with an impeachment inquiry, which will continue to uncover the facts for the American people and hold this president accountable,” Luján said in a statement . He said former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report left no doubt that Trump’s campaign made “sustained and frequent attempts...to establish ties to the Russian government and an eagerness to benefit from hacked information. Trump, he added, “is abdicating his responsibility to defend our nation from Russian attacks and is putting his own personal and political interests ahead of the American people.”

Mueller concluded there was insufficient evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but he also did not exonerate the president on questions of whether he committed obstruction of justice. Trump has denied wrongdoing and characterized the investigation as a “witch hunt.”

Luján’s announcement makes him the highest ranking of 121 House Democrats to call for opening an inquiry, according to an Associated Press tally. ...

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