Swing district Democrat Katie Porter announces support for impeachment proceedings
WASHINGTON — Rep. Katie Porter, a Democrat from a swing district, announced her support for an impeachment inquiry Monday, providing more fuel for a growing number of Democrats who support at least beginning such proceedings and further pressuring reluctant House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Porter, a first-term Democrat representing Orange County, California, said in a social media post that she came to the decision after “weeks of study, deliberation, and conversations” with voters.
“I didn’t come to Congress to impeach the President,” Porter said. “But when faced with a crisis of this magnitude, I cannot with a clean conscience ignore my duty to defend the Constitution. I can’t claim to be committed to rooting out corruption and putting people over politics and then not apply those same principles and standards in all of the work I do.”
While more than 65 Democrats have officially backed impeachment proceedings, the vast majority are from safe, solidly Democratic districts. Porter joins Rep. Tom Malinowski of New Jersey as the only two lawmakers who barely won their election against Republican incumbents in the last election to endorse an impeachment inquiry. Porter won her race with 52 percent of the vote and Malinowski with 51.7 percent. Both are on Republicans' target list of seats to win in 2020.
During a town hall discussion with voters in Tustin, Calif., last month, she said that there had been “a turning point” on the issue of impeachment after special counsel Robert Mueller’s public statement and after the repeated defiance of Congressional subpoenas by the administration.
“The question is not whether a crisis is in our midst, but rather whether we choose to fight against it,” Porter said Monday. “I’ve reached a point of clarity in my decision. Congress must continue the work of Special Counsel Mueller.”
Pelosi has resisted calls to open an impeachment inquiry, saying just last week that the idea is “not even close” to having the support in the Congress to move forward. She maintains the position that it’s best to “investigate, legislate and litigate.” She points to the judiciary successfully ruling in Congress' favor in court challenges.
But if more members in districts like Porter’s come out in support for impeachment, it could be more difficult for Pelosi to resist.
An NBC News/WSJ poll released on Sunday found that a growing number of people are supportive of impeachment proceedings, an increase of 10 points — to 27 percent — in the past month. The number of Democrats who support impeachment hearings has risen from 30 percent to 48 percent.