Al Green: ‘If We Don’t Impeach This President, He Will Get Re-Elected ... We Must Impeach’ Him

EXCERPT:

GREEN: “I’m concerned that if we don’t impeach this president, he will get re-elected. If we don’t impeach him, he will say he has been vindicated. He will say the Democrats had an overwhelming majority in the House and they didn’t take up impeachment. He will say that we had a constitutional duty if it was there and we didn't. He will say that he’s been vindicated. But here’s what I say. We’re confronting a constitutional crisis as I speak to you. As I look the people of America in the eye, I’m telling you, we have a constitutional crisis. When the chief executive officer of the president of the United States refuses to comply with subpoenas and says he will order others to do so, this creates a constitutional crisis. But this isn’t the genesis of it. It started when the President decided he would fire Mr. Comey for his failure — pardon me, as a result of his desire not to be investigated. And when he decided to do this and he went on national TV at prime time and indicated he was thinking about this Russia thing, that was the genesis of it. We have a constitutional crisis. I regret that I’m the canary in the coal mine. I regret that I was the person who had to first say there’s some obstruction taking place here. I regret it had to be me, but it had to be somebody. And I take my duties seriously. I love my country, and I want you to know this: We must impeach this president. If we don’t, it’s not the soul of the nation that will be at risk only, it is the soul of the Congress that’s at risk. Congress has a duty, a responsibility and obligation that only it can fulfill. No one else can, no other entity can. It is Congress that will have to act. And if we put people above party, we’ll act properly. But if we allow a party to be above principle, we will not. If we allow political expediency to Trump moral imperative, we will have created a shameful situation that this Congress that will never live down, history won’t be kind to us. We must impeach him.”