Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) will be required to abandon her presidential campaign for weeks if House Democrats do finally submit their articles of impeachment to the Senate, but she says she’s happy to take on the responsibility of removing President Donald Trump from office if it puts an end to his “crimes.”
Warren was speaking at a New Years Eve event in her home state when she made the claims, adding that she believes Republicans are complicit in the President’s unlawful behavior, according to the Washington Examiner.
Trump, she said, had “become bolder with his lies and more brazen in his law-breaking,” necessitating the impeachment proceedings — a strange comment to make given that the existing articles of impeachment, drafted and voted on by the House, don’t list any specific crimes, only “obstruction of Congress” — a charge that could simply fall under the president’s power to invoke Executive Privilege — and “abuse of power” for an alleged quid pro quo agreement with Ukrainian officials that was never conclusively demonstrated.
Warren, of course, didn’t elaborate on what “crimes” she believes the president committed, but did note that she believes all Republicans can be considered accomplices to Trump’s lawlessness.
“Meanwhile, the Republicans in Congress have turned into fawning, spineless defenders of his crimes,” she said.
As for impeachment, well, like many Democrats who have been calling for Trump to be impeached and removed from office since January of 2017, when he first moved in to the White House, Warren claims she didn’t want to take part in such a serious process, but was called to do her duty to stop Trump from trampling all over the Constitution.
It brought no one any joy, but the House Democrats upheld their sworn duty to the Constitution and impeached the president of the United States. Soon I will return to the Senate to do my sworn duty as well,” she said. “But unless some Senate Republicans choose truth over politics, Donald Trump will be emboldened to try to cheat his way through yet another election.”
Whether and when she will return to the Senate to do her “sworn duty” remains up in the air. House Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) have so far refused to submit the articles of impeachment ot the Senate, claiming that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is not an “impartial juror” in the matter because he, as the ringleader of the process, has been communicating with the White House over the trial. Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) say they will refuse to send the articles to McConnell until he agrees to allow witnesses to testify at any Senate trial — something Democrats desperately need in order to correct holes in the case established by the House Intelligence Committee.
If Warren is called to do her “sworn duty,” she will have to leave the campaign trail, probably just before the first primaries in early February. She, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), will all be required to be in attendance for the full trial, six days a week, for at least two weeks.