Maxine Waters declares Trump Impeachment to be her ‘number one priority’

20th November 2017   ·   0 Comments

By Hazel Trice Edney
Contributing Writer

(TriceEdneyWire.com) — U. S. Rep. Maxine Waters says she has made the impeachment of President Donald Trump her “number one priority” and that she will soon “unveil impeachment resolutions” for supporters to read and educate others.

“I’ve decided to put my career on the line to make the removal of this president my number one priority. To make the removal of this president my number one priority because he not only does not deserve to be president and he’s dangerous but he has undermined the whole democracy,” Waters told hundreds in the audience at the 90th Anniversary reception of the National Bankers Association (NBA). “I’m about to unveil impeachment resolutions so that you can read it and you can see it’s about collusion, it’s about obstruction of justice; it’s about violation of the emoluments clause. We are going to make sure everyone gets copies of it because I want you to talk about it. I want you to talk about it everywhere you are and explain it to other people so that people understand that yes it is possible.”

Waters made her remarks Oct. 5 just before receiving the NBA’s “Statesperson of the Year” award from NBA President Michael Grant. In various press interviews and speeches, Waters has repeatedly made clear her intent to lead impeachment proceedings against Trump. In her NBA speech she was explicit about her reasons. At the top of the list, “He’s colluded with Russians.”

Although, there has not yet been proof of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, numerous Trump associates have been found to have been in touch with Russians during his presidential campaign against Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton.

A special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, have announced charges against three advisers to the Trump campaign.

Former Trump campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, has turned himself in to the F.B.I. and pleaded not guilty to a 12 count indictment that includes millions in laundered money. Manafort’s longtime advisor, Rick Gates, also a Trump campaign associate, has also been charged and has turned himself in while pleading not guilty.

A third Trump associate, George Papadopoulos, former foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, has pled guilty to lying to the F.B.I. and has been cooperating with investigators, according to the FBI. Federal investigators believe Russians contacted Papadopoulos through intermediaries in order to offer “dirt” on Clinton through thousands of emails, according to widespread reports.

“It was about getting Trump elected and preventing Hillary Clinton from getting elected. And maybe when Mr. Mueller gets finished doing his job and connecting the dots, we’re going to see exactly what happened,” Waters told the bankers in anticipation of the charges.

But in her speech, which was punctuated with applause, Waters expressed belief that there’s sufficient reason for the impeachment of Trump even without any findings of collusion or Russian engagement.

She said the president has become a danger to Americans as he nods, winks and gives comforting messages to hatemongers. As examples, Waters pointed out that Trump messaged when White supremacists, Ku Klux Klan members, and white nationalists came to Charlottesville, Va., prepared to shoot people, during a rally in which one protestor, Heather Heyer, 32, was killed when intentionally hit by a car driven by a White supremacist.

“He said there are some good people over there too and he stood up for them. And so, we know who he is and we know what he’s doing,” Waters said.

Waters encouraged the bankers to “step outside the box” and to aggressively join her in speaking up on key democratic issues.

“Bankers, African Americans, leaders, business persons, you owe it to this country to give leadership. We can’t wait for somebody else to do it as if we don’t have any role in all of this,” she said. “It’s important for us to understand that we do have some power, we do have some influence and that we must organize that power and that influence. And we must speak out on the issues of this democracy.”

The NBA is made up of banks that have historically served in communities which are often redlined or denied for loans by major White-owned banks. Waters praised their records of standing with and for oppressed communities. “You have not only stayed the course, but you’ve remained in our communities and we all have a responsibility to help you grow and to be stronger and to get the impediments and the road blocks out of the way. We’re going to do that,” she said.

Waters, now the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, has attended NBA annual conferences for the past 10 years. She is a favorite as she pushes to “establish an agenda for minority and Black-owned banks and work with Democratic Caucus in trying to bring about equality in the financial services world.”

At the close of her speech, NBA President Michael Grant awarded Waters with what he described as “the highest honor a public official can receive in this country.” He said, the “‘Statesperson Award’ means they have transcended politics, that they have put their country and the greater good above their own careers and their own safety.”

Grant praised Waters for repeatedly standing for Black bankers and business, demanding a fair share. He added, “She not only fights for African Americans and for women and workers. She doesn’t care what color you are. Anybody who’s locked out or left out find their way to her. She has the largest Congressional District in the Country. It goes from Los Angeles to Boston and from Miami up to Detroit,” he said to enthusiastic applause.

”Everything that you fight for seems to be the good fight, the just fight, the fight for or the concern for the least of these,” Grant said. “She understands patriotism better than anybody I know in this country. She loves America, she loves democracy. She wants this country to be what the flag tells us it is – one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”

This article originally published in the November 20, 2017 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.