Back in September, Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Norfolk, and six other first term members of Congress from swing districts stunned Washington by declaring they supported an inquiry to see if President Donald Trump should be impeached.
In the weeks since, she said new information that’s emerged about Trump’s July call to the Ukrainian president has convinced her that it is time for the next step.
Speaking to reporters before a community meeting in Williamsburg, she said she’s ready to vote for any articles of impeachment that might eventually be drafted by the Congressional committees that are about to hold public hearings on the issue.
Luria said she’s heard enough to convince her that Trump “leveraged military aid to an ally … for his personal political gain,” referring to the call and testimony from several officials that suggest that the Trump administration pressured the Ukrainian president to say his government was investigating Joe Biden and his son, as well as a unsubstantiated story that Ukrainians, not Russians, had interfered in the 2016 election.
Asked if she was worried that her stand on impeachment could hurt any bid for re-election next year, Luria said she felt she was elected to do the right thing and not to worry about the chance it could affect her chances in 2020.
“I think the President of the United States abused his office for his personal gain,” Luria told the community meeting, after one audience member shouted out that Congress was denying Trump due process.
Shad Plank is the Daily Press blog that tracks Virginia politics. It takes its name from the traditional Shad Planking political get-together, though hopefully it is tastier than the roasted fish featured at that Sussex County event. To contact Dave Ress with tips or questions, call 757-247-4535 or email dress@dailypress.com.
