The first Democrat to call for the impeachment of President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE says it was "worth it" despite death threats he received.

Rep. Al Green Alexander (Al) N. GreenThe Memo: Trump's race tactics fall flat Trump administration ending support for 7 Texas testing sites as coronavirus cases spike The Hill's Coronavirus Report: Miami mayor worries about suicide and domestic violence rise; Trump-governor debate intensifies MORE (D-Texas) told BuzzFeed News that he feels "vindicated" after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiDemocratic senator to party: 'A little message discipline wouldn't kill us' Overnight Health Care: New wave of COVID-19 cases builds in US | Florida to lift all coronavirus restrictions on restaurants, bars | Trump stirs questions with 0 drug coupon plan Overnight Defense: Appeals court revives House lawsuit against military funding for border wall | Dems push for limits on transferring military gear to police | Lawmakers ask for IG probe into Pentagon's use of COVID-19 funds MORE (D-Calif.) formally began an impeachment inquiry Tuesday, almost 2 ½ years after he first called for impeachment.

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"I do feel vindicated. I have to be truthful," Green told BuzzFeed News. "But I think that many others are vindicated because it has been an effort of the many not the few."

The Texas representative said "it was lonely" being the first Democrat to speak out. He said when he delivered his first statement on the House floor calling for impeachment, he received death threats and had to hire a person with a gun to protect his office.

"We had to hire someone who sits in my office with a gun. When you walk in the first thing you see is a person with a gun in uniform."@RepAlGreen discusses how calling for impeachment affected his life, including receiving death threats, and why he feels it's been worth it pic.twitter.com/UAiwVfZv6c — AM2DM by BuzzFeed News (@AM2DM) September 25, 2019

"We have had to change our lives, but it's been worth it because it's in the cause of justice that we do this," Green said.

Democratic lawmakers have demanded impeachment following reports that the president asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to "look into" former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenFormer Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick Bloomberg rolls out M ad buy to boost Biden in Florida MORE, Trump's potential 2020 opponent. This request came days after Trump withheld funds from Ukraine, prompting lawmakers to assert this was a quid pro quo deal.

The call came to light after media reports determined it was the subject of a whistleblower report that the Trump administration originally refused to provide to the House Intelligence Committee.