Trump's 'Crimes And Obstruction' Have Accelerated: Rep. Pascrell

ENGLEWOOD, NJ — Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. said that President Donald Trump's "crimes and obstruction of justice" have not abated, but accelerated because Trump has not been constrained.

Pascrell Jr., a Democrat representing New Jersey's ninth District, sounded off on U.S. House Democrats' push to possibly impeach Trump.

"Doing the right thing is not someone else's job:It is our job," Pascrell said in a statement. "There can be no question that Trump’s crimes and obstruction of justice have not abated but accelerated because of failure to constrain him. In this context polling and electoral considerations mean nothing. And if, upon overwhelming evidence the House of Representatives ratifies articles of impeachment of Donald Trump and the Senate rejects that evidence, that dereliction will be their burden to bear, not ours."

Trump is accused of offering $250 million in stalled military aid to the Ukrainian president under the condition that the country launches a probe into Biden and his family. Trump has denied the accusation, The Washington Post reported.

On Tuesday, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, announced Congress is launching a formal impeachment inquiry, CNN reported.

"The president must be held accountable," Pelosi said. "No one is above the law."

Pascrell spoke about the inquiry in his statement.

"The House membership did not want to arrive at this moment. Our bar was high. But Donald Trump’s decision to extort a stalwart ally to smear an American political leader and meddle in our elections is banana republicanism," Pascrell said. "If we allow it to stand unanswered, then we will render the Article I branch and our entire constitutional order null and void."

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com