Trump impeachment is back on the table. Here’s what Democrats could investigate if they win the House

Hakeem Jeffries says Democrats would follow the facts, while Democratic voices identify Trump family business dealings and foreign gifts as potential areas of investigation.

U.S. House Democratic Leader, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), says that should Democrats take control of the House of Representatives following the November midterm election, impeaching President Donald Trump isn’t off the table.

“We haven’t ruled anything in, and we haven’t ruled anything out in terms of impeachment,” Jeffries told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.

Speaking to the possible investigations into Trump’s actions during his second term as president, the likely next U.S. House Speaker said, “We’ve got to follow the facts, apply the law, be guided by the Constitution, and then let the chips fall where they may, in the best interests of the American people.”

Trump, who was impeached twice during his first term, has repeatedly warned Republicans that he will be impeached if his party loses power in Congress. Until this point, Democratic leadership has remained reserved on the topic of impeachment. However, several House Democrats have become more open to the idea in response to actions taken by the president, from unilateral military strikes in Venezuela and Iran to the Trump family’s multi-billion-dollar business earnings while the president oversees influential domestic and foreign policy. Other Democrats have indicated that suspicions of a cover-up related to the yet-to-be-fully-released FBI files on sexual child predator Jeffrey Epstein could be an area of interest.

Michael Hardaway, a Democratic strategist and advisor to Leader Jeffries, tells theGrio that investigating the Trump family’s investments and business dealings is paramount for Democrats should they retake the U.S. House. More importantly, he said lawmakers must uncover “whether they’re connected to any decisions [Trump has] made during the presidency.”

Other areas of interest for the former Jeffries communications director are Trump’s gift of a $400 million plane from Qatar, which has been remodeled as Air Force One, and whether anything was “offered” in exchange for the aircraft or “anything else that was given to Donald Trump or his family members.”

A recent investigative report by ProPublica found that the lavish private-island wedding of Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., was partially bankrolled by a Russian oligarch connected to Russian dictator, President Vladimir Putin.

“That’s crazy, because first of all, nothing is free,” Hardaway told theGrio. “So the question is, why is this oligarch spending all of this money on the president’s son’s wedding? What is he getting in return? So I think [House Committees on] Judiciary and Oversight have to investigate those things.”

Jalanda Jones, a Texas state representative, attorney, and former U.S. congressional candidate, told theGrio that in addition to military action without congressional approval, Trump should also face impeachment for his immigration enforcement that has resulted in the deaths of U.S. citizens.

“When is anybody going to stop him? He basically is just bullying everybody. I just don’t understand it. Every day it’s something,” said Jones, who added that if former President Barack Obama had taken the actions made by Trump, he would’ve “been impeached.” She added, “They probably would have tried to lock him up [and] put him under the jail.”

Even if Trump is impeached by House Democrats in the next session of Congress, beginning in 2027, he is unlikely to be removed from office. The Constitution requires a two-thirds vote in the U.S. Senate (67 votes) to convict a sitting U.S. president. Though Democrats have a chance to win a majority of Senate seats in November, any majority would not be enough, and Republicans have historically been loyal to Trump, even when critical of him during his past two impeachment trials.

Still, Hardaway says, if there is evidence that impeachable offenses were committed, Democrats have an obligation to follow suit.

“I went through the first impeachment. It’s incredibly frustrating when you prove your case, and you get it done in the House, and the Senate decides to not do the right thing,” he said.

The former Jeffries staffer added, “The Constitution says if there are impeachable offenses, then you have to move forward in that way. That should be what House Democrats do. They can’t worry about what the Senate is going to do.”