*By Christian Smith*
The clamor to impeach President Trump has increased in volume since Democrats won back the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month ー and one member of the chorus is former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman, who said the president's term recalls another dark period in American political history.
"There are very serious issues with regard to President Trump's conduct," Holtzman told Cheddar Monday.
"Some of this resonates with and echoes what happened during the Nixon administration."
Holtzman makes her full case for President Trump's impeachment in her new book, "The Case For Impeaching Trump."
Holtzman served in Congress from 1973 until 1981, representing parts of Westchester and the Bronx in New York as a Democrat.
In the book, she argues that Trump has committed impeachable offenses that resemble Nixon's crimes during the Watergate era ー specifically, she said, firing DOJ officials involved in his investigation and offering pardons to keep his allies quiet.
Nixon eventually resigned before Congress was able to vote on his impeachment. Holtzman served on the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate probe and voted in committee to impeach Nixon.
Critics have said that Holtzman, a Democrat who also called for the [impeachment of President George W. Bush](https://www.thenation.com/article/impeachment-george-w-bush/) in 2006, simply wants to impeach Republican presidents. But she dismissed that argument ー largely because her impulse to impeach isn't governed by political party.
"If I had been in Congress when Lyndon Johnson was there I might have said something very different about him," Holtzman said.
"He was a Democrat and he lied about getting us into the war ー escalating the war in Vietnam. I think that was a real danger to this democracy."
For President Donald Trump, tariffs — or the threat of them — can bend nations to his will.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
A new poll finds most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
