U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland was named lead manager for the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Tuesday night in a news release.
Eight other managers were named: Diana DeGette of Colorado, David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Joaquin Castro of Texas, Eric Swalwell of California, Ted Lieu of California, Stacey Plaskett of New York, Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania and Joe Neguse of Colorado.
“It is their constitutional and patriotic duty to present the case for the President’s impeachment and removal,” Pelosi said in the release. “They will do so guided by their great love of country, determination to protect our democracy and loyalty to our oath to the Constitution.”
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Raskin, a Montgomery County Democrat who also represents parts of Carroll and Frederick counties, is a member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, where he serves as chair of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and on the Judiciary Committee, where he’s vice chair of the Subcommittee on the Constitution.
He also serves on the Rules Committee and the Committee on House Administration, where he is vice chair. Before his time in Congress, Raskin was a three-term state senator and a professor of constitutional law at American University’s Washington College of Law for more than 25 years.
Swalwell earned a bachelor’s degree in government and politics at the University of Maryland, College Park and his juris doctor at the University of Maryland School of Law. Swalwell serves on House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where he chairs the Intelligence Modernization and Readiness Subcommittee, and on the Judiciary Committee. He is a former prosecutor and is the son.
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Earlier in the day, Raskin called on Vice President Mike Pence to convene and mobilize the principal officers of the executive departments of the Cabinet to activate Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to declare Trump incapable of executing the duties of his office and to immediately exercise powers as acting president.
The House on Tuesday night approved a resolution urging Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and “declare what is obvious to a horrified Nation: That the President is unable to successfully discharge the duties and powers of his office.” The resolution was approved, 223-205.
Democrats proceeded even though Pence said he would not do what the resolution asked. In a letter to Pelosi, he said it would not be in the best interest of the nation and it was “time to unite our country as we prepare to inaugurate President-elect Joe Biden.”
[ Raskin writes a possible substitute for Maryland’s Confederate-sympathizing state song ]
Raskin has introduced the bill in several previous sessions — it never passed — saying an independent commission is necessary so Congress can use its authority to provide a proper check on the president.
Democrats will begin debate Wednesday on a single impeachment charge against Trump: “incitement of insurrection.”
“President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government,” reads the four-page impeachment article, which was introduced by Cicilline, Lieu and Raskin.
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“He will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office,” it reads.
The article says the behavior is consistent with Trump’s prior efforts to “subvert and obstruct” the results of the election and references his recent call with the Georgia secretary of state, in which he said he wanted him to find him more votes after losing the state to Biden.
Trump has falsely claimed there was widespread fraud in the election, and the baseless claims have been repeatedly echoed by congressional Republicans and the insurgents who breached the Capitol last Wednesday. Just before the riots, Trump spoke to the supporters near the White House and encouraged them to “fight like hell.”
“All of us have to do some soul searching,” Raskin said in imploring Republicans to join efforts to remove Trump from office.
Raskin on Tuesday was among several Democrats who assailed a collection of always-Trumpers — Republicans who pressed the president’s false accusations even after last week’s insurrection at the Capitol.
“They have a full-blown independent reality, totally cut apart from the world of facts, and that is the groundwork for fascism,” Raskin said. “When you add racism, anti-Semitism, conspiracy theory and magical thinking, that is an absolute powder keg in terms of an assault on democracy.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.