Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that impeachment is a necessary tool to protect against presidential overreach. He stated that President Donald Trump has committed impeachable offenses, citing specific actions such as defying Congress and stealing from government appropriations. Raskin emphasized that impeachment is not a taboo or fetish for Democrats but rather a critical tool in their toolbox. According to Raskin, Trump's two previous impeachments constituted half of all impeachments in U.S. history.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, says that while impeaching Donald Trump again is not out of the question, it's also not a guaranteed solution to the country's problems. In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press", Raskin stated that impeachment can be a useful tool for defending against a president who acts unconstitutionally, but noted that Trump has already been impeached twice and was acquitted both times by Republican lawmakers in the Senate. The January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, which occurred during Trump's presidency, was a key moment that Democrats were unable to use to their advantage in an impeachment trial. Raskin also emphasized that if Democrats retake control of the House, they will prioritize issues like healthcare rather than pursuing impeachments.
Written for “US Impeachment Debate Continues” on 2026-09-07,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.65, but every quote it verified points left, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 5765: score contradicts its own evidence · logged 2026-09-06
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that President Donald Trump has “undoubtedly” committed impeachable offenses but that Democrats would also focus on issues like healthcare if they win back the House.
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they → tell → House
“Everybody on our side understands that impeachment is a critical tool in the toolbox for constitutional self-defense against a president acting like a king, an imperious, lawless, arrogant king,” Raskin said, responding to a question about whether Democrats should move to impeach Trump if they retake the House.
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they → understand → House
He added, though, that Trump’s two impeachments constituted half of all impeachments in U.S. history, noting that after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, Democrats were unable to persuade enough Republicans to side with them to convict the president.
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Democrats → add → president
Trump has been impeached twice, though he has never been convicted.
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he → impeach → ?
As midterm elections approach, Democrats have not closed the door on moving to impeach Trump again if they retake the House.
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they → approach → House
Trump, too, has warned his supporters that Democrats could try to impeach him again.
uncertain
Democrats → warn → him
Moderator Kristen Welker pressed Raskin again on his stance toward impeachment, and Raskin said, “Impeachment is not a taboo with us.”
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Impeachment → press → us
“It’s not a fetish with us,” he said.
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he → ’ → us
“We understand it’s not a panacea.
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it → understand → ?
We will not hesitate to use it if we need to use it.”
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we → hesitate → it
Raskin, who previously served as a lead impeachment manager against Trump, said that the president had “undoubtedly” committed impeachable offenses in his second term, adding: “We don’t have time to remotely scratch the surface.”
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We → serve → surface
“But going to war without a declaration of war, for example, continually defying Congress in terms of our appropriation of money, stealing our spending power from us,” he continued.
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he → go → us
“I mean, I would say even just bulldozing the East Wing of the White House.
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I → mean → House
If he can bulldoze the East Wing, he can bulldoze the West Wing.
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he → bulldoze → Wing
He believes that he is a king.
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he → believe → ?
They’ve been plundering money from our government in the most massively corrupt presidential administration in American history.”
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They → plunder → history
Raskin added that “nothing comes close to the kind of plunder and corruption we’ve been seeing in this administration, and all of that could warrant an impeachment investigation if we wanted to do it.”
uncertain
we → add → it
“But more important to us right now is getting healthcare to the American people and ending the lawlessness,” he said.
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he → get → lawlessness
Trump has warned Republicans that if they do not win in the midterms, Democrats would “find a reason to impeach me.”
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Democrats → warn → me
Trump was impeached for the first time in 2019 over allegations that he pressured Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son while withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in aid.
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he → impeach → aid
He was impeached for a second time after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
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He → impeach → Capitol
The president was acquitted both times.
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president → acquit → ?
Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said last month on “Meet the Press” that Democrats should not make impeaching Trump a priority if they regain the House majority.
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they → say → majority
Instead, he said, Democrats’ priority should be “making housing, education, energy, healthcare affordable and accessible for all of our citizens.
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priority → say → citizens
“Impeaching the president will not do that,” he added.
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he → impeach → that
In June, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said on “Meet the Press” that Democrats “haven’t ruled anything in or ruled anything out in terms of accountability” when he was asked about whether his party would try to impeach Trump if it wins the House.
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it → say → House
“What we have said is that our focus is going to be to make life more affordable for the American people,” he said at the time.
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he → say → time
