Beto O'Rourke calls for impeachment proceedings to begin against Trump

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Former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke on Tuesday said impeachment proceedings should begin against President Trump because of the administration's refusal to comply with "any subpoena."

Speaking at a CNN town hall, the 2020 contender from El Paso, Texas, said while it's "not something that I take lightly," he believes there are no other options than to start the impeachment process.

"It's an incredibly serious, sober decision that we should make as a country. Really the last resort when every other option has failed us," O'Rourke, a Democrat, said. He added that it's because Trump won't respond to subpoenas and overall because he won't allow witnesses to testify to Congress "so we can find out what happened to this great democracy in 2016."

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"A president invited the involvement of a foreign power in this democracy in 2016, and then did everything in his power to obstruct the investigation into what has happened," the former congressman said.

O'Rourke said that fear of what impeachment could mean for the country following the 2020 election shouldn't matter. Because if that happens, "then we will have set a precedent for this country that, in fact, some people, because of the position of power and public trust that they hold, are above the law."

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has pushed back on impeaching Trump. O'Rourke said he understands her viewpoint and "the political implications" of such proceedings, and said the U.S. needs to think about the future of the country.

"The only way that we're gonna get the documents and the facts and the truth" is through impeachment proceedings," he said. "It's the only way we're gonna get to the facts necessary to have accountability and justice."