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For Immediate Release
November, 21 2019, 11:00pm EDT
Contact:
Edward Erikson, Press@FreeSpeechForPeople.org
POLL: 42 Percent of Americans Want Congress to Expand the Scope of the Impeachment Inquiry Beyond Ukraine
New poll shows growing support for expanded articles of impeachment covering the full range of President Trump’s abuses of power.
WASHINGTON
Public pressure is growing for Congress to expand the scope of its impeachment inquiry, according to a new poll conducted by Data for Progress. The poll found that 42 percent of American voters expressed support for a House investigation into a full range of abuses of power compared to only 9 percent of voters who would rather a narrow approach focused solely on President Trump's unlawful dealings with Ukraine.
While the impeachment narrative currently centers on Ukraine, this new poll also finds voters are already nearly as supportive of impeachment on other grounds entirely, such as Trump's separation of immigrant families or his history of inciting discrimination and bigotry. In addition, voters favor impeaching and removing the president by a 49-44 margin, and also favor the current impeachment inquiry by a 49-44 margin.
"This polling clearly shows that the American voters believe Trump has committed a wide range of impeachable offenses and that the impeachment inquiry remains definitely above water," said Sean McElwee, data scientist and co-founder of Data For Progress.
"These new poll results demonstrate that most of those supporting impeachment proceedings against Trump want Congress to hold Trump accountable not just for his bribery and extortion scheme in Ukraine, but for the full range of his impeachable offenses," says Ben Clements, Board Chair of Free Speech For People. "While using hundreds of millions of dollars as leverage to extort a foreign ally into aiding Trump's reelection campaign is more than enough to support his impeachment and removal, Congress must include in its Articles of Impeachment his other egregious impeachable conduct, including his corrupt self-dealing, obstruction, racism, bigotry, incitement to violence, and subversion of the Constitution."
"We're at a key point in history where House Democrats must show moral leadership by impeaching Trump for all of his abuses of power, not just Ukraine-related offenses," said Heidi Hess, co-director of CREDO Action. "This expanded scope will prove that Democrats have the backs of the communities Trump is terrorizing and make clear that bigotry and self-enrichment have no place in the White House. Our poll shows there is a growing public appetite to pursue all of Trump's offenses during the impeachment process - House Democrats need to take notice and take bold action immediately."
"Impeachment and removal are how we stop Trump's crimes from becoming the new normal and how we move toward a government truly by and for the people. A narrow process focused solely on Ukraine signals that the rest of Trump's violations are acceptable; while an expanded set of articles would expose and condemn the larger pattern of Trump subverting our democracy to advance his own interests," said Anthony Torres, Political Director of By the People. "These poll results show that millions of Americans want Congress to protect our democracy from the full range of Trump's racist and corrupt abuses of power."
A coalition of national advocacy groups, including Free Speech For People, CREDO Action, and By The People, has released comprehensive draft articles of impeachment that cover the full range of abuses of power by President Trump. These include (1) Abuse of power to target political adversaries, critics, and the press; (2) Corruption of electoral processes, (3) Abuse of office to promote discrimination, hostility, and unlawful violence; (4) Corruption and self-enrichment - violations of the Constitution's Emoluments Clause; (5) Obstruction of the administration of justice and Congressional inquiries; and (6) Misuse of armed forces and abuse of emergency powers.
The coalition is urging Members of Congress to endorse these draft articles, not only as a means to remove President Trump, but as a safeguard against future precedents of criminality and corruption.
Free Speech For People is a national non-partisan non-profit organization founded on the day of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. FEC that works to defend our democracy and our Constitution.
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After Maine's Republican Sen. Susan Collins told a reporter on Tuesday that she does not regret voting to confirm US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, despite the resulting reversal of Roe v. Wade, her Democratic challenger Graham Platner had a two-word response: "You should."
Noting that this is the five-term senator's first reelection campaign since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned Roe, a journalist from News Center Maine asked Collins whether she regrets voting for Kavanaugh—who was accused of sexual misconduct during the confirmation process.
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As Common Dreams reported earlier Tuesday, amid a wave of new state-level restrictions after Dobbs, reproductive rights advocates have emphasized the economic impact of abortion bans—which, according to a new analysis by the Institute for Women's Policy Research, cost the US economy over $140 billion annually.
The Dobbs decisions and many others from the current court have fueled calls for change. Platner has argued that if his party reclaims control of Congress in the November midterms, there is a "compelling case" to impeach at least two justices—an apparent swipe at Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, right-wing ideologues who have faced ethics scandals in recent years.
Platner has further called for expanding the high court the next time Democrats control Congress and the White House—and stressed that in order to do so, "we need to elect people to the Senate who want to wield power like that, who understand that power matters, that it's real and you can use it."
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Brooke Rollins last November: We have screwworm under control south of the border. Beef prices will come down by spring 2026.
(The screwworm has just been detected in Texas for the first time in 60 years) pic.twitter.com/ozXdI88jXk
— FactPost (@factpostnews) June 4, 2026
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Not joking but @elonmusk should have to pay for this right?
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Reproductive rights advocates and experts have long highlighted the dangers of abortion bans to people's health, but amid a wave of new state-level restrictions in the wake of Roe v. Wade's reversal, some have also recently emphasized the economic impact, as detailed in an analysis published Tuesday by the Institute for Women's Policy Research.
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Reproductive rights advocates have sounded the alarm over the FDA review. In response to reporting on it earlier this month, Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson called it "a politically motivated farce."
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