OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.
House Democrats will hold a vote to impeach President Trump by the year’s end according to Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna.
The California congressman unveiled the prediction of when the impeachment vote would likely be held during an appearance on an ABC News podcast on Wednesday.
ABC News reports Khanna said he “would be surprised if the impeachment inquiry didn’t end with a vote on articles, opening the door for a formal vote to impeach President Donald Trump.”
Khanna, who is a member of the House Oversight Committee, continued: “We want to get it done, and then the Judiciary Committee will refer the articles to the House (for a vote).”
ABC News continues:
The inquiry, launched Sept. 24 by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, began after reports that a whistleblower had filed a complaint expressing national security concerns regarding a July phone call Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The White House released a transcript of the call on Sept. 25, corroborating information found in the whistleblower’s complaint.
Since the process began, the transcript, whistleblower complaint and Intelligence Community inspector general’s report have all been made public.
Echoing other lawmakers’ push for an inquiry that is expeditious and focused, Khanna said lawmakers can’t continue “throwing the kitchen sink” at the president if they want the American people to respect the process.
The information in the call was “an abuse of office and we can’t tolerate a compromise of our national security, and if we get the facts and we wrap it up before this year, then I think people will say the ‘Democrats are standing up for the Constitution, they’re standing up for our values and we’ll respect that’,” Khanna said. “But I do think the way we conduct ourselves is going to matter.”
According to the report, Khanna left the door open on bringing charges against Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani for their involvement in the call and subsequent controversy.
“We don’t — we’re very reluctant to prosecute presidents of the United States. The same doesn’t apply to Cabinet secretaries,” he said. “So I think they have to be very careful.”
Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz expressed concern that Democrats were bending the legal system to their political interest in accepting less-than-adequate evidence, calling the impeachment effort “an attack on the voters.”
"You would not be able to get the so-called evidence from this whistleblower admitted into a court of law, so how are we suppose to use it as a basis to impeach a president?" @RepMattGaetz said.
"And really that is an attack on the voters." pic.twitter.com/JZUXfOklbv
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) October 3, 2019
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