Connelly: Rep. Jayapal raises specter of impeachment

Representative Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., listens to a constituent's question during a town hall meeting at Shoreline Community College, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Representative Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., listens to a constituent's question during a town hall meeting at Shoreline Community College, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Photo: GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM Photo: GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Connelly: Rep. Jayapal raises specter of impeachment 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

If the latest scandal is borne out, that President Trump tried to quash an FBI investigation of ex-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, it would constitute "an impeachable offense," U.S. Rep. Praymila Jayapal, D-Wash., said Tuesday.

Jayapal is a member of the House Judiciary Committee, where any impeachment case against the 45th president would have to be made.

She is the second member of Congress to talk about future impeachment proceedings.

Asked by CNN's Wolf Blitzer about the possibility of impeachment proceedings, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said earlier Tuesday: "Reluctantly, Wolf, I have to say yes because obstruction of justice is such a serious offense."

Jayapal was reacting to a New York Times report, in which fired FBI Director James Comey wrote a memo on his Feb. 24 meeting at the White House with Trump. Comey said Trump asked him to end the FBI's probe of Flynn's ties to the Russian government. Flynn was a major Trump surrogate in the 2016 campaign.

"If true, Donald Trump's attempt to influence and intimidate the FBI Director James Comey to block an investigation is a textbook definition of obstruction of justice and it would be an impeachable offense," Jayapal said in a statement.

"Coming after Comey's firing and reports of the sharing of highly classified information with Russian officials, we've reached a new milestone in this president's systematic undermining of our democracy. Trump has created a White House of recklessness, corruption and authoritarianism."

The first-term House member from Seattle deplored the failure of Republican leaders in Congress to act.

"If this continues, Republicans will lose any remaining credibility," Jayapal added. "I call on my colleagues across the aisle to support an independent investigation into Russia's grip on the Trump White House."

Jayapal is at the progressive end of a Democratic caucus that numbers only 192 in a 435-member House of Representatives.

She is also one of the House members who rose with objections when 2016 electoral votes were counted in the Senate chamber. Then-Vice President Joe Biden, as presiding officer, gaveled her down.

Before dismissing her call, however, it's best to take a look back about 44 years.

The first impeachment resolution against President Richard Nixon was the work of a very junior liberal on the House Judiciary Committee. The Rev. Robert Drinan, a Jesuit priest, was a Massachusetts congressman.

The rest, as they say, is history.