FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Florida Congressman Ted Deutch, a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, said Thursday he supports an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, citing "substantial evidence" that the president obstructed justice.
A formal vote to authorize an impeachment inquiry isn't necessary, Deutch said, arguing that the Judiciary Committee's examination of presidential conduct means an impeachment investigation effectively is already underway.
In a column Deutch wrote for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Deutch explained how he is approaching the issue after last week's public hearings where the former special counsel examining Russian meddling in the 2016 election testified before the Judiciary Committee.
"Although Special Counsel Robert Mueller's testimony may not have been a summer blockbuster, it confirmed the damning conclusions of his report. The investigation revealed substantial evidence that President Trump obstructed justice. And that the special counsel did not exonerate him," Deutch wrote.
"President Trump claimed victory. He seems to think that Mueller's performance wasn't enough to trigger an impeachment inquiry. Sorry, Mr. President, the question is no longer whether the House should vote to proceed with a formal impeachment inquiry. The inquiry has already begun."
There are plenty of reasons to consider the issue, Deutch wrote. Among them: "The Trump Administration has taken unprecedented and unconstitutional actions to ignore congressional subpoenas and pressure witnesses not to appear. President Trump has turned the White House into a black box. The Justice Department fabricated a theory of blanket immunity and distorted claims of executive privilege. The Administration wants to silence the witnesses to the president's obstruction."
Deutch, a Democrat who represents parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, has been a critic of many of the Republican president's policies and behavior. But he's been reluctant to discuss impeachment.
At a June 6 town hall in Oakland Park, he cautioned constituents who favored impeachment against a rush to act, arguing that something seen by the public as a fight between Trump and the Democrats in Congress would play into the president's hands.
He said at the town hall that he wanted to educate people about Mueller's findings, arguing it was necessary to make more people aware about the president's conduct before taking the step of opening an impeachment inquiry.
In his column, Deutch wrote that an investigation into "abuse of power" by Trump has been underway in the Judiciary Committee since March, that it encompasses possible impeachment, and that the panel's chairman already has the necessary authority and subpoena power.
"No additional step is required. No magic words need to be uttered on the House floor. No vote to authorize an impeachment inquiry is necessary," Deutch said.
In the last eight weeks, many Democrats' views have changed. About half the Democrats in the House now favor an impeachment inquiry. As of Wednesday night, the tally was 110 of 235 Democrats supporting an inquiry.
Of the 24 members of the Judiciary Committee _ the panel that would handle impeachment _ 15 have already said they support an impeachment inquiry. Deutch is No. 16.
In Florida, Deutch's stance makes him the third of 13 Democrats in favor of an impeachment inquiry. The other two are U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell of Miami and Val Demings of Orlando, who are both also Judiciary Committee members.
Even in liberal South Florida, where Democratic lawmakers are outspoken critics of the president, U.S. Reps. Lois Frankel, Alcee Hastings, Donna Shalala, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Frederica Wilson have not come out in favor of impeachment inquiries.
The movement of Democrats toward favoring an impeachment inquiry accelerated after last week's hearings with special counsel Mueller in front of the House judiciary and intelligence committees.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California has not, so far, favored an explicit impeachment inquiry, regarding emphasis on the issue as a bad move politically for Democrats. She wants to protect Democratic members of Congress from swing districts that are home to many Trump supporters, and she believes the party's best course is concentrating on issues that directly affect the lives of voters.
Until recently, many House leaders have followed Pelosi's lead. But that has begun to change. On Tuesday evening, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel of New York said he favored a formal impeachment inquiry.
In addition to serving on the Judiciary Committee, Deutch is a member of Engel's committee, and chairman of the House Ethics Committee.
On Sunday, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler of New York said on CNN that the president "richly deserves" to be impeached. "My personal view is that (Trump) richly deserves impeachment," Nadler said. "He has done many impeachable offenses, he's violated the laws six ways from Sunday." But Nadler isn't among the committee members supporting a formal impeachment inquiry.
Mueller's report, most of which was released in April, found that Russia meddled in the 2016 election and detailed efforts by Trump to interfere with the investigation. Mueller did not charge Trump with crimes, but also didn't exonerate the president.
In a May news conference, Mueller said, "If we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so. We did not, however, make a determination as to whether the president did commit a crime."
