Obama Impeachment Talk of the Town Hall
Published at
US House of Representatives(WASHINGTON) — The talk of town hall meetings this month has mostly focused on health care, immigration overhaul and international crises, but one unexpected topic has found its way into the conversation: the impeachment of President Obama.
At least two members of Congress — one from Texas and the other from Michigan — have openly discussed the possibility of booting the president from office.
Rep. Kerry Bentivolio, R-Mich., Monday said it would be a “dream come true” to write a bill to impeach President Obama after constituents asked what he is doing to stop the president from “doing everything that he’s doing against [the] Constitution.”
“If I could write that bill and submit it, it would be a dream come true,” Bentivolio said at the Birmingham Bloomfield Republican Club Meeting. “I feel your pain. I stood twelve feet away from [the president] and listened to him. I couldn’t stand being there, but because he is president I have to respect the office. That’s my job, as a congressman. I respect the office.”
Bentivolio went on to say that he has already asked various lawyers and scholars to advise him on “how [he] could impeach the president of the United States.”
But the congressman also said he would be unable to bring any impeachment plans to fruition without the necessary evidence, which he does not have.
House impeachment is the equivalent of an indictment, which is then followed by a Senate trial.
Earlier this month, Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, told town hall attendees in Luling, Texas, that the House of Representatives would be in favor of impeaching President Obama, but that proceedings would most likely fail in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
“If we were to impeach the president tomorrow, you could probably get the votes in the House of Representatives to do it,” he said to constituents. “But it would go to the Senate, and he wouldn’t get convicted.”
Despite an inability to articulate what makes the president impeachable, Farenthold went on to argue that the country would be “damaged” if it had to endure another failed impeachment, like that of the Clinton presidency.
In both cases, constituents brought up the possibility of impeachment to their congressional representatives.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio