A coalition of national advocacy groups on Thursday delivered 10 million signatures—what they are calling the biggest online petition campaign in U.S. history—urging the House of Representatives to begin impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump. The groups held a press conference on the Capitol Lawn with supporting Democratic Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Al Green before delivering the petition signatures to Congress. Tlaib, one of a handful of members of Congress who has embraced the growing grass-roots movement to impeach Trump, said of the 10 million signatures: "That's the population of the 12 smallest states combined." "Movements happen with actions like this where millions of us speak up demanding that our representatives work on our behalf," she said. Tlaib said Trump should be impeached because he violated the U.S. Constitution's Emoluments Clause, which prohibits any elected U.S. official from accepting "any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State" without the consent of Congress. Trump critics, including the groups behind the petition, have used this argument to push for removing the president from office. "It is so important that we completely push back, very strongly, very loudly against this president not abiding by the U.S. Constitution," she said, "And not only that but a number of obstruction of justice decisions that he has made." Tlaib held up a thumb drive with the 10 million signatures before introducing Green, who had pushed for impeaching Trump long before calls ramped up after the redacted Mueller report was released. "We are holding in our hands 10 million reasons for being here today," Green said. "It's important for these organizations to get a message to the masses." Green referenced an argument made by Pelosi and others, that Trump could be goading the House into moving forward with impeachment because he believes it would strengthen support from his base. The congressman dubbed this sort of reasoning a "myth" and "reverse psychology." "This is merely his way of causing us to do that which he really wants us to do and that is avoid impeachment," said Green. "You can't say we have a Constitutional crisis and then do nothing." - @RepAlGreen on Capitol Hill, receiving 10 million petition signatures to impeach the president Watch LIVE: https://t.co/Dbrqtoa7HS — Need To Impeach 🍑 (@Need2Impeach) May 9, 2019 The 10 million signatures included more than 8 million gathered by the Need to Impeach campaign launched by billionaire Democratic donor Tom Steyer in October 2017. Other organizations involved in the effort include Free Speech for People, MoveOn, CREDO, Democracy for America, Women's March, Courage Campaign and By the People. When groups first began calling for Trump's impeachment, Democratic leaders were reluctant, saying they were awaiting the results of the Mueller report. Some Democratic representatives have since joined the effort, and calls to impeach Trump have escalated since the redacted Mueller report was released last month. "The Democratic leadership are still obsessed with a misguided notion of catering to the middle," Steyer said in a statement. "But what the American people want are representatives with the courage and moral clarity to fight for a system that represents the people." A small number of Democratic presidential candidates—including Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, and former Representative Beto O'Rourke—have publicly supported the idea of the House beginning the impeachment process. However, none of these White House hopefuls currently has any authority to get that process started. Impeachment must begin in the House, where it would only require a simple majority of representatives to sign off on the articles of impeachment. Given the Democrats hold a solid majority in this chamber, it could succeed at this initial stage. However, actually removing a sitting president would be more difficult. After passing the House, the process would move on the Senate for a trial. To convict and remove a president would require a two-thirds majority. With Republicans currently holding 53 of the chamber's 100 seats, it would require a significant number of GOP senators to vote for removal of their party's de facto leader.<doc-sep>A reported 10 million signatures on multiple petitions were shared with Congress on Thursday, from people who support the impeachment of President Trump, reports NBC News. The backdrop: Talk of impeaching the president has ramped up following the release of the Mueller report. 2020 hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren called to begin impeachment proceedings on the Senate floor for obstruction of justice on Monday. One day following, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused Trump of "goading" House Democrats to impeachment. Details: The signatures — collected by MoveOn and including groups such as Need to Impeach, CREDO and the Women's March organizers — were delivered to Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) who introduced a bill for the House Judiciary Committee to move forward with impeachment proceedings, per NBC. Tlaib was scrutinized earlier this year for suggesting that Democrats "...impeach the motherf*cker." A tweet previously embedded here has been deleted or was tweeted from an account that has been suspended or deleted. Go deeper: Democrats' impeachment fever wanes in early 2020 states<doc-sep>WASHINGTON — National advocacy groups on Thursday delivered to Congress multiple petitions of what they said contained 10 million signatures from people who support the impeachment of President Donald Trump. They delivered the signatures to Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., who has introduced a bill that would direct the House Judiciary Committee to investigate whether Trump committed impeachable offenses — an issue that has been heating up among congressional Democrats and presidential contenders. MoveOn spearheaded the effort that included groups such as Need to Impeach, CREDO and the organizers behind the annual Women's March. "This is incredible because this is how movements start," Tlaib told supporters rallying for impeachment next to the Capitol building. "We cannot set a precedent and allow the rule of law to be eroded, allow our democracy to continue to be corrupted by this president." Tlaib, who came under fire in January for saying Democrats are "gonna impeach the motherf---er," said Thursday that impeachment of Trump is not only about special counsel Robert Mueller's report, but about his administration's policies. This is how we do it. This is a movement to take back our country. 10 million people want to protect our democracy. 10 million people want us to uphold the U.S. Constitution. 10 million people are demanding we hold individual 1 accountable to the rule of law. #TimetoImpeach https://t.co/jUAgjpnFMm — Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) May 9, 2019 The petition containing the signatures was delivered to Tlaib on a flash drive. "We will not avoid impeachment and we will not avoid it because my dear friends, there comes a time in the history of your country where you have to take a stand," said Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who joined Tlaib at the event, and who has formally introduced articles of impeachment against Trump. Tlaib’s impeachment-related measure has seven co-sponsors, most of whom signed on after the release of the redacted Mueller report late last month, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. Meanwhile, Democratic leaders remain cautious about impeachment proceedings. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Thursday, "This is very methodical. It's very Constitution-based, it's very law-based, it's very factually based. It's not about pressure — it's about patriotism."<doc-sep>
Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Al Green, alongside with a number of activist groups, delivered a petition to Congress on Thursday containing what they said were 10 million signatures calling on lawmakers to begin impeachment proceedings against President Trump. The two are vocal advocates of removing Mr. Trump from office: Green introduced the articles of impeachment shortly after Mr. Trump's inauguration in 2017, and Tlaib called on Congress to "impeach the motherf---er" in January. Tlaib also introduced a resolution in March calling on the House Judiciary Committee to investigate whether Mr. Trump should be impeached, which has seven cosponsors. The initiative was organized by a coalition of liberal groups, including Need to Impeach, an organization backed by billionaire Democratic activist Tom Steyer, a vocal advocate for impeachment. At an event outside the Capitol with activists before submitting the petition, Green challenged what he called the "myth" that Mr. Trump wants to be impeached. Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib speaks during an event with activist groups to deliver over 10 million petition signatures to Congress urging the House to start impeachment proceedings on Capitol Hill on May 9, 2019, in Washington, DC. / Getty Images "The president does not want to be impeached. All would-be authoritarians, would-be tyrants, want to be loved. They want to be revered," Green said. "He would have us believe this. And in my neighborhood, we call this reverse psychology. This is merely his way of causing us to do that which he really wants us to do." His comments were a reference to those of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier this week, who said Mr. Trump was "goading" Congress to begin impeachment proceedings. Pelosi has not endorsed impeachment, and has said it would be incredibly divisive. Tlaib said that starting impeachment proceedings would be fulfilling Congress's constitutional responsibilities. "I think all of us want to protect our democracy and we love our country, and the complete chaos that you see before us with this current administration and this president — this is exactly why we have certain provisions in the United States Constitution," Tlaib said. "This is why we have impeachment process, is for those presidents currently, now, and in the past who think they think they can commit offenses that you and I would be held accountable and put in jail for." In addition to Need to Impeach, representatives from liberal groups Free Speech For People, CREDO, MoveOn, Democracy for America, Women's March, Courage Campaign and By the People joined Tlaib and Green at the event.