Citing Virginia race scandals, Dem vows vote to impeach Trump (Al Green, D, Tx)

One of President Trump's sharpest congressional critics on Thursday vowed to force a House vote to impeach the president, citing the race-related scandals facing top Virginia lawmakers to argue Congress's responsibility to fight bigotry — “starting at the top.”

Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) said the refusal of both Virginia's governor, Ralph Northam (D), and the state's attorney general, Mark Herring (D), to resign after admissions of wearing blackface in the past "is but a symptom of a greater syndrome that currently plagues our country as a result of not acting on President Trump’s bigotry."

Green argued that the pair has been emboldened "to a great extent because the Trump presidency has sent a message that you can be immune to the consequences of bigotry, by daring those with the authority and power to constitutionally remove you from office."

"We no longer stare bigotry down; bigotry now stares us down," Green said in a statement, released late Thursday night. "Further, an argument that Governor Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring should resign will subject us to accusations of political hypocrisy if we refuse to take on a bigoted president."

Green introduced articles of impeachment against Trump in the last Congress, forcing floor votes on the measure twice against the wishes of Democratic leaders. The first, in December of 2017, was supported by 58 Democrats.

That number rose to 66 in January of 2018 — a rise attributed to Trump’s derogatory comments about Africa made just a week before that second vote.

Green's articles accused the president of inciting racial divisions across the country, pointing as evidence to Trump's ban on travelers from predominately Muslim countries and the president's equivocal response to racist violence in Charlottesville, Va., in the summer of 2017, among other incidents.

The effort will pose a headache for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democratic leaders, who have sought to tamp down impeachment efforts in their ranks. The leaders have argued the need to build public support for such a step, and to allow special counsel Robert Mueller the time needed to wrap up his long-running probe into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow to sway the 2016 election results. Efforts to oust the president before then, the leaders argue, would only politicize Mueller's findings.

“The Clinton impeachment was totally political and wrong,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said last week. “As a result, I think we’re being prudent and careful, and we’ll see what Mueller has to say.”

Green has dismissed that argument, noting that the Mueller probe "is unrelated to bigotry."

The scandals facing the top Virginia lawmakers have stunned the state and put Democrats — in both Virginia and Congress — on the defensive as they seek the appropriate response.

Northam is under fire for his association with a racist photograph in his 1984 medical school yearbook. And Herring is fighting for political survival after revelations that he dressed in blackface as an undergraduate college student in 1980.

Separately, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) is facing allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 — a charge he vehemently denies.

Virginia's Democratic delegation released a joint statement Thursday night, amplifying their earlier calls for Northam to resign. They have not demanded the same from Herring, instead urging the embattled attorney general to continue his "in-depth discussions with leaders and others in Virginia" and to "stand ready to answer questions from the public if he is to regain their trust."

Democrat Cong Al Green sought to differentiate his sex mess from former Democrat President Bill Clinton's bimbo messes: “As I recall, Clinton tried to persuade his accusers rather than bribe them to keep silent. It was only afterwards that he agreed to pay Paula Jones $850,000 to settle her sexual harassment lawsuit against him. So, I’d say the two cases are completely different.”

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THE GREEN TALE---BEFORE AND AFTER

BEFORE Congressman Slept With And Then Sued Allegedly Drug-Addicted Staffer / BY LUKE ROSIAK
SOURCE http://dailycaller.com/2017/11/27/congressman-slept-with-and-then-sued-allegedly-drug-addicted-staffer/

Texas Democrat Rep. Al Green had sex with a staffer who he said was a drug addict and then sued her when she threatened to go public with claims she suffered a hostile work environment, saying he “will not be extorted or blackmailed.”

Lucinda Daniels, his onetime district director, claimed she suffered a hostile work environment, claimed sexual harassment and demanded $1.8 million. Green sued her, saying she was using their sexual relationship to shake him down at the behest of other unnamed conspirators.

“Daniels has threatened to go public with her complaints if the Congressman does not per her money. Green has done nothing wrong and refuses to pay ‘hush money’ just for political expediency. Green will not be extorted or blackmailed by Daniels. He will not be the victim of a shakedown by Daniels and her agents. Green demands vindication of his actions and now sues Daniels for declaratory judgment relief relating to her workplace allegations and her quest for money,” documents Green filed in federal court in 2008 say. Daniels claimed Greene retaliated against her in the workplace because of her gender and because she refused additional romantic requests.” Green rejected her claims as false.

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AFTER--Dem Congressman Al Green Sends Preemptive Press Release Denying Sexual Assault Allegation
freebeacon ^ | November 27, 2017 | Alex Griswold
FR Posted on 11/28/2017, 6:59:28 AM by MarvinStinson

Texas Democrat Congressman Al Green sent an out-of-the-blue press release Monday acknowledging the existence of a previous sexual assault allegation against him, but denying it ever happened. Green sent an unprompted joint statement to Washington Post reporter Mike DeBonis signed by himself and Green’s former district director, Lucinda Daniels, denying anything untoward happened between the two.

“In the present climate, we wish to jointly quiet any curious minds about our former and present relationship with one another. We are friends, and have long been friends,” they wrote.

Greene Spox: “The attached statement is in reference to a circumstance that occurred in 2008. This circumstance did not involve the Cong. Office, nor the Office of Employment Counsel & did not involve the use of any taxpayer money.” 3:04 PM - Nov 27, 2017

“At an unfortunate time in our lives, when both of our feelings were hurt, we hastily made allegations and charges against one another that have been absolutely resolved. As consenting friends, we both regret our former claims and have since then maintained a respectful friendship,” the statement continued.

“We are friends,” they added for good measure.

“The attached statement is in reference to a circumstance that occurred in 2008,” a Green spokesman told DeBonis. “This circumstance did not involve the Congressional Office, nor the Office of Employment Counsel and did not involve the use of any taxpayer money.”

In 2008, Daniels publicly accused Green of forcing her to have sex with him. Green retaliated with a lawsuit maintaining the sex was consensual and claiming she threatened to sue him for workplace discrimination unless he paid her.

Eventually, both parties dropped their accusations against each other and issued a joint statement similar to Monday’s. “Congressman Alexander Green and Lucinda Daniels have both resolved and settled their respective disputes without payment, promise or receipt of any money. They regret any circumstances that created th

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Congressman Al Green currently serves on the
<><>Financial Services Committee.

And on three financial subcommittees:
<><>Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit,
<><> Monetary https://hotair.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/green-al.jpgPolicy and Trade,
<><> Oversight and Investigations, as a Ranking Member,

And is Assistant Whip of the Democratic Party.

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Pretzel Logic