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Raskin (D) Mocks 2020 Democrats for Rushing Congress to Impeach Trump

'Nobody on the Judiciary Committee is saying we should just go ahead like a runaway train'

May 21, 2019

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D., Md.) on Tuesday took a shot at Democratic presidential candidates who have been calling for the impeachment of President Donald Trump without following a specific process, saying this behavior is like a "runaway train."

Raskin, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, appeared on MSNBC's All In to discuss where his committee is on impeaching Trump. Host Chris Hayes asked Raskin to explain what his understanding is of a "formal inquiry of impeachment."

"Is it what Sheila Jackson Lee means, which is a resolution a majority votes on. Is it what Jackie Speier just suggested, which is that the Judiciary Committee can just initiate itself or something else?" Hayes asked.

"I would say the best way for it to be fashioned is for it to be an actual formal resolution on the House floor that gets referred to the Judiciary Committee," Raskin said. "Nobody on the Judiciary Committee is saying we should just go ahead like a runaway train, do our own thing, and then send it to the floor. That's not how we operate. Look, people want to operate like that, they go run for president."

Raskin went on to criticize the media for suggesting there are "divisions and polarization" among Democrats, calling the characterization "nonsense."

"We are having discussions. Somehow members of your profession have done a great job of getting information about what's going on behind closed doors and they blow it up into some big drama. We talk and that's how we make progress," Raskin added.