Rep. Jonathan Jackson Says Pete Hegseth Impeachment Can't Wait | TMZ DC

It's good to see you, mate. Good to see you. How are you? I'm good, thank you. Hey, you're about to vote on Hegseth impeachment. Yes. My question to you is, is it really in the Democrats' best interest to impeach him now in this Congress when Trump can then nominate someone potentially more dangerous, in your opinion, and rush him through because he's got the numbers? Yeah, well, first of all, it's not the Democratic agenda. It's not the Democratic Party's agenda. This is being led by a Republican congressman, Thomas Massey. They still have the majority and so this is a member of Secretary Hegseth's own party that is saying he wants to have him impeached. There are members of the Republicans that want to see the Secretary of Defense who's wrongfully called it the Secretary of War. That was an act of Congress to change it before from the Secretary of War to Defense and so he's going against the Constitution. So I would support the Republicans and this is not a democratic But you understand as well that Like, impeaching him right now... Is the right thing to do. Is the right thing to do. Yes, because he has committed war crimes. But impeaching him in the next Congress might be more beneficial to Democrats getting a more tame hit. Well, first of all, it's about safety, and it's about what's proper and in order. Shouldn't you wait then? If it's about safety and stuff, isn't it better if you guys have the numbers next Congress? Like, if you don't go along with the Hegseth impeachment now, you can save it up. So you guys can have more of a say-so, right? No, I think we have the numbers now. This is the reason why Speaker Johnson was afraid to keep us into session in the middle of September, out of all of our... We've been gone for seven weeks now because of Thomas Massey's article of impeachment against Secretary Hegseth. And so now it's the order of business. Let's go forward with what the Republican Party wants to vote on. And for that, I agree with them. And I don't think we have one more day to wait. Our soldiers are in jeopardy. They're in danger. Soldiers have already died. We've not declared this a war. And so what Secretary Hegseth said has cost us trillions of dollars. You're going to find out. He's the one that's raising inflation on his own by getting us into this ill-timed and illegal war. And now they're boasting about having kidnapped a president from Venezuela. They're boasting about having dismantled diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that the military academies say they want. The military academy has written amicus briefs on behalf of diversity, equity, and inclusion. So, Pete Hegseth says it's a disgrace. He's bad for military morale that they have. And he has no right to kill people in the Caribbean. That's the job of the Coast Guard. So, we just want to bring back the balance of law and order. There is a check and balance. The president is not a king. So, you're saying basically... Impeachment can't wait. It's out of your hands. And if there's a vote on it, you can't vote like not to impeach him because, you know, and so even though it might be better for Democrats to wait, you just can't and you won't because we don't have a choice. It's the order that the Republicans put before us and we can't supersede it. So let's deal with their natural order of business. And there are some good things the Republicans have done. And Thomas Massie is going to go down as a true patriot, a true great American. He's a courageous American. He wanted to expose the pedophiles that have abused children down in Epstein Island. He wanted to expose the criminal actions of the Secretary of Defense. And so I have enormous respect for the Secretary. I'd like to present to you. I'm sorry, not for the Secretary. I have general respect. I've got all the respect for Thomas Massie, my colleague. That's a very good man. Last thing, I'll let you go. Do you think that Trump is happy that you're impeaching him now? Like, Trump would be kind of stoked that if you impeach him now, he gets more say-so in the next pick. You know, to tell you the truth, I've not thought about his happiness for one moment. I've felt all the pain that other people have had, and so I want him to act like the president of all of the United States, for all the people. I want him to act like the most powerful person in all of the world and assume that responsibility. Let's stop with all the name-calling, all the pettiness, all the vindictiveness. Stop threatening lawmakers. Stop telling the Attorney General to go after Democrats that want to do their job in oversight. Like, let's screw up. Love it, man. Thank you so much. Appreciate you. You're the best. Thank you.