© 2024 WFSU Public Media
WFSU News · Tallahassee · Panama City · Thomasville
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

With House Vote Looming, Congressman Al Lawson Is Backing Impeachment

Alex Brandon
/
AP Photo

The full U.S. House of Representatives could vote on President Donald Trump’s impeachment Wednesday. North Florida Congressman Al Lawson spoke with WFSU about how he will vote.

“I’ll be voting in favor of it,” Lawson said, during what he characterized as a busy day on Capitol Hill.

Lawson initially held out on announcing how he would vote. Until late September, Lawson said he was still getting a pulse on how his constituents felt on the matter. The North Florida representative says he heard from “quite a few people.”

“I wanted to see how people really felt because this is a historic moment – and I also wanted to explain to them about the impeachment process,” Lawson said. “A lot of people in the district think that once (the House) votes, that’s it, he’s impeached, but we’re just starting the process, saying we feel he is guilty. So after this vote, if it’s successful, it goes to the Senate. And the Senate always holds a trial.”

Lawson has no prediction for what the Senate will do. He does feel confident, however, that the evidence he’s been presented with implicating the President is solid.

“All the evidence leads toward the President used the $400-some million we set aside for opposition against Russia aggression, that he used it to try to get dirt on the (former) Vice President (Joe Biden) and his son, which is a violation of the Constitution,” Lawson said.

Lawson also defended the integrity of witnesses who’ve testified during the House’s impeachment proceedings.

“We have had enough hearing from outstanding diplomats that have served for years under different parties, that came to the same conclusion,” the congressman said. “Some people said ‘Why did you all start it?’ But we didn’t start it, the President did. If the President were never involved in this, the impeachment probably would’ve never taken place.”

Lawson says there are some raw feelings between House members of the two parties as the proceedings go on. He hopes his colleagues will “come together” after the holiday break to pass budget resolutions to keep the federal government running.

Ryan Dailey is a reporter/producer for WFSU/Florida Public Radio. After graduating from Florida State University, Ryan went into print journalism working for the Tallahassee Democrat for five years. At the Democrat, he worked as a copy editor, general assignment and K-12 education reporter.