By Gus Trujillo, Democratic candidate for U.S. House of Representatives District 13

Previously I stated that I don’t believe that I would’ve voted for the articles of impeachment. I wrote this because I believe that we needed to have a thorough investigation before taking a vote.

At that point, I truly believed that if the House concluded that the president had done anything that undermined the integrity of our elections, those actions would be thoroughly investigated by members of both parties and appropriate action—including Articles of Impeachment would be issued.

I was let down, like all Americans, by believing in the integrity and impartiality of our senators. They are Constitutionally tasked with sitting in impartial judgment, much the same as you are charged to do when serving as a juror. It is important that matters such as impeachment be as little tainted by political bias as possible--but this can only happen if everyone is acting in good faith and playing by the rules. I, unfortunately, assumed Republicans in the Senate would live up to their institution’s reputation as “the greatest deliberative body on earth.” What happened in the Senate was not a procedure that “could be deemed a trial by reasonable judges,” and therefore did not meet the constitutional requirements for the impeachment process.

Over the last few decades, the power of Congress has been diminishing while the power of the executive branch has been expanded. There are several reasons that can be cited as reasons for this shift, including fear of opinion polls and a greater emphasis on party loyalty vs. dedication to constituents.

President Donald Trump has taken advantage of this opportunity. With a majority of Republicans in the Senate, the President has felt free to abuse his power without fear of consequence.

And Senators, whether from fear of reprisals, political opponents, or a false sense of security based on party loyalty have failed to do their duties to receive evidence and to weigh that evidence fairly and impartially. In their haste, many have acknowledged the president’s wrong-doing, yet they seem to agree that he is not responsible for the same Rule of Law that regulates the behaviors of ordinary citizens.

The President exercised the power of his public office to obtain an improper personal benefit while ignoring the national interest. His foreign solicitation for Ukraine to interfere in our 2020 presidential election is indeed impeachable.

The president was caught in the act of soliciting foreign influence and when subpoenaed by Congress to produce witnesses and evidence he chose to block them completely. This defiance of the impeachment inquiry was a clear obstruction of Congress and thus it is an obstruction of the law. That also is an impeachable offense.

No one, not even the President of the United States is above the law. Everyone must be held accountable to the Rule of Law otherwise this foundation of our Democracy will crack.

As our Founding Father Alexander Hamilton said “What is the most sacred duty and the greatest source of our security in a Republic? An inviolable respect for the Constitution and Laws.”