WASHINGTON D.C. — U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, is looking for co-sponsors on a resolution to determine whether President Donald Trump has committed impeachable acts while in office.

Tlaib is circulating a letter among colleagues asking them to join a resolution despite the finding of Special Counsel Robert Mueller that the president did not work with Russia to help him get elected. Politico, a website and publication in the nation’s capital, reported on the letter, which the Free Press then obtained.

The Free Press also learned that Tlaib made short remarks explaining the resolution to House Democratic colleagues at the party’s caucus meeting on Tuesday morning.

“We all swore to protect our nation, and that begins with making sure that no one, including the president of the United States, is acting above the law,” Tlaib wrote in the letter to colleagues.”I urge your support in recommending that the House Committee on Judiciary begin hearings, take depositions and issue subpoenas to answer this question that is fundamental to the rule of law and the preservation of our democracy.”

Tlaib’s push comes despite House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s suggesting that impeachment proceedings are off the table, at least until there is enough evidence of offenses that could sway Republican opinion in the Senate.

Tlaib, however, wants Trump and his businesses investigated to determine whether they have violated a constitutional provision, known as the emoluments clause, that prohibits him from receiving foreign payments. Several questions have been raised specifically about foreign governments spending at Trump’s D.C. hotel after he became president and whether it was intended to curry his favor.

After getting elected, Trump removed himself from operational control of his businesses but did not give up his ownership stake. His administration has said, however, that funds paid his hotel from foreign governments are reimbursed to the U.S. Treasury.

Tlaib also wants the Judiciary Committee to look into whether Trump directed payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in violation of campaign law and to go through any evidence Mueller may have found as to whether the president committed any crime in trying to foil his investigation.

It’s not surprising that Tlaib is pushing for the resolution to investigate Trump. She made the case in an opinion piece published in the Free Press before she even took office and made headlines the night she was sworn in when she referred to the president by a coarse term and said she wanted to impeach him.

An impeachment resolution is unlikely to move forward easily, however, with Democratic leadership in the U.S. House feeling that the process will take too long and faces an uncertain outcome. There are also political concerns it could put more moderate seats — won in the last election — at risk in 2020 and hurt Democrats’ chances of winning back the White House next year.

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