Several hundred Milwaukee residents joined with hundreds of thousands of people across the country, participating in more than 600 rallies on December 17 to support the impeaching of President Donald Trump on the eve of the expected vote in the House of Representatives.
The nationwide “Nobody Is Above the Law” rallies were intended to put a face on the majority of Americans that support impeachment and removal of President Trump for his crimes against the nation, and Milwaukee voters wanted their involvement to present local voices.
“If you don’t believe that the president should act against his oath and the law, or act against the government, or act against ’We the People’ and the United States, then we have to do something,” said Amani Latimer, one of the rally organizers. “For anyone who took a history class, it’s something called Checks and Balances, and its also our obligation as Americans to hold our leaders accountable.”
More than 200,000 people were estimated to participate in the protests in every congressional district in the country, ahead of the expected December 17 vote. The location selected for the Milwaukee rally was the Federal Courthouse, because it also hosts an office for Senator Ron Johnson.
“Trump believes the law doesn’t apply to him. He has always felt that he is above the law. But you know what, nobody is. Not even Trump. And let’s not forget his enablers. People like Senator Ron Johnson,” said Joe Kraynick, one of the rally organizers. “Johnson, who carries Trump’s water on “Meet the Press,” who covers for Trump at every turn, who somehow found the time to go to Russia on the Fourth of July, and who enables Trump to submit false information about whether Russia interfered in the 2016 election. Rather than taking his duty to the Constitution and the truth seriously, Ron Johnson is enabling the most corrupt administration in our lifetime.”
In the abuse of power article of impeachment, Democrats say Trump “solicited the interference” of Ukraine in the 2020 election by asking its government to publicly announce an investigation of an opponent to benefit Trump’s re-election.
In the obstruction article, Democrats say Trump “directed the unprecedented, categorical and indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas issued by the House of Representatives pursuant to its ‘sole Power of Impeachment.'”
“Each branch of government serves specific functions, and these legitimate functions include providing checks and balances upon the three co-equal branches of government. The ability of Congress to investigate is one of its primary functions. Without that, the ability to legislate and provide oversight would be meaningless,” Brian Eisold, one of the rally organizers. “The Trump administration has wrongfully acted with a theory of executive privilege. That has been a blanket refusal to cooperate with these investigations. They have illegitimately argued once again that a chief executive is above the law. Tonight we gather in cities throughout our great Republic to stand with our honorable House of Representatives to demand that these articles of impeachment are properly voted on, so that they may be sent to the United States Senate for trial.”
If either article of impeachment is approved, Trump would join Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton as the only presidents to be impeached.
“Those marching in the streets will send a clear message to Congress: Voters are watching, and we will remember who shows more loyalty to Donald Trump and the Republican Party than to the Constitution and their oath of office.” – Sean Eldridge, founder of advocacy group Stand Up America
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Lee Matz
