Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) announced on Monday that he is formally voicing his support for opening an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
“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 wrote in a statement. “This is not a position that I’ve reached lightly.”
Luján serves as the assistant speaker under Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and is the fourth-ranking Democrat in the lower chamber. His recent calls to move forward with impeaching the president makes him the highest-ranking House Democrat to do so.
“The Trump presidency is creating grave national security concerns. Our country’s intelligence agencies have confirmed that the Russian government attacked American during the 2016 elections,” Luján said. “Numerous experts have warned that these attacks are ongoing to this day.”
“And when faced with this evidence from his own government, President Trump has failed to act,” he continued. “Not only has he ignored the warnings that our Democracy is being targeted, but he has also actively encouraged Russian interference.”
Luján, who revealed in April that he would be officially running for New Mexico’s open Senate seat, cited both the findings in the recently released Mueller report and the president’s lack of action on election security as his primary reasons for wanting to proceed with an impeachment probe.
“When Special Counsel [Robert] Mueller released his report, I read it in full,” Luján said. “I was alarmed by the Trump campaign and the Trump White House’s brazen disregard for the rule of law.”
“The report detailed sustained and frequent attempts by the Trump campaign to establish ties to the Russian government and an eagerness to benefit from the hacked information stolen from our fellow Americans,” he continued. “The Special Counsel also detailed ten different attempts by President Trump to obstruct justice during the investigation. This would be unacceptable behavior from any president.”
“President Trump’s lack of action is jeopardizing our elections, national security, and Democracy,” Luján added. “What is evident is that President Trump 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.”
The New Mexico congressman now joins more than half of the entire House Democratic caucus in urging leadership to move forward with an impeachment investigation. Accordingly, more than 125 of the party’s congressional lawmakers have officially backed the move. One Republican, Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), has also called to advance impeachment proceedings.
Pelosi, a close ally of Luján, has been reluctant to embrace her caucus’ demands, even as the calls grow louder. Democrats largely gained the House majority after a wave of moderates were elected to purple districts during the 2018 midterm election cycle. With the 2020 election on the horizon, Pelosi fears that voters’ distaste for impeachment could put the majority back in the hands of Republicans.
The House voted in April to kill a measure seeking to impeach Trump by a vote of 332–95, the first vote on such a measure since Democrats overtook the House.