ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings died early Thursday at Johns Hopkins Hospital due to complications from longstanding health challenges, his congressional office said. He was 68.

A sharecropper’s son, Cummings became the powerful chairman of a U.S. House committee that investigated President Donald Trump, and was a formidable orator who passionately advocated for the poor in his district that encompassed a large portion of Baltimore.

Cummings hadn’t returned to work after having a medical procedure that he said would only keep him away for about a week.

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Information from: The Baltimore Sun, http://www.baltimoresun.com

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