Norcross Backs Pelosi Decision On Impeachment Inquiry Of Trump

Rep. Donald Norcross (D-1) reiterated his support for impeaching President Donald Trump moments after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House of Representatives is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry against the president.

“I agree with Speaker Pelosi,” Norcross said in a tweet Tuesday evening. “No one is above the law.”

Included in the tweet was a statement he made back on June 25, when he said, “I remain in favor of the impeachment process. The future of our country is at stake. No one is above the law.”

In May, Norcross said the president needed to be held accountable for stonewalling Congressional investigations.

“Every step we take to just gather information that congresses have done since the beginning of our democracy is now being blocked,” Norcross told nj.com at the time. “That’s a problem.”

Not all Democrats support impeachment, but support has been building in recent days. Rep. Andy Kim (D-3) said he didn't support impeachment in May. On Tuesday, he said Trump should be impeached if the latest facts are corroborated.

Support for impeachment has been building in the wake of recent news reports that Trump asked the president of Ukraine to investigate former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, over purported corruption.

Biden addressed the issue in a brief statement delivered Tuesday, urging Trump to stop stonewalling the investigation and provide Congress with all the facts, including a copy of the whistleblower complaint. Biden added that Trump should also stop stonewalling all other investigations into his alleged wrongdoings.

If the president does not comply and continues to obstruct Congress, Biden said lawmakers would have no choice but to initiate impeachment. Biden called the prospect of impeachment a tragedy but one of the president's own making. The announcement came from Pelosi after a House Democratic Caucus meeting.

Trump, who is currently in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, said on Tuesday that he would allow the release of the full transcript of his call with President Volodymyr Zelensky, which has led to the the recent mounting public pressure to call for impeachment. On Monday, The New York Times and others reported that Trump withheld $391 million in aid to Ukraine prior to the call where he is alleged to have made the request to investigate Joe Biden and his son.

However, along with the transcript of the call — which Trump said was a "very friendly and totally appropriate call" and which he says will clear him of any wrongdoing— many are also demanding the release of the whistleblower complaint that brought the allegations to light. According to The Washington Post, which broke the story, Trump's interactions with the Ukrainian president were so troubling that an official in the U.S. intelligence community filed the complaint.

On Thursday, acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire is scheduled to appear before House and Senate committees. According to news reports, Maguire is withholding the complaint.

With reporting by Feroze Dhanoa

Read more here: Nancy Pelosi: Official Impeachment Inquiry To Begin Against Trump