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Citing his pledge to "support and defend the Constitution," North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman has cosponsored a resolution with five articles of impeachment against U.S. President Donald J. Trump. The Articles of Impeachment were introduced by Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen in November.

Huffman has been an active critic of Trump, consistently criticizing and insulting him on social media, and has been beating the impeachment drum since his inauguration in January of 2017. In the past year, Huffman has criticized Trump's approach to healthcare, offshore oil drilling, disaster funding and has also joined a federal lawsuit intended to force Trump to disclose financial documents that may reveal whether or not he is in violation of the emoluments clause.

The articles of impeachment, which can be found here, cite Trump's alleged interference with the U.S. Justice Department's investigation into his ties with Russia, violations of the emoluments clause and engagement in "a pattern of conduct designed to undermine the freedom of the press."

"President Trump has shown contempt for the institutions and safeguards that are essential to the rule of law and the proper functioning of our democracy," Huffman said in his statement. "That is precisely the situation that the rare remedy of impeachment was intended to address.”

Editor's note: This blog was updated to reflect more accurate information about when Rep. Cohen first announced the articles of impeachment.

From the office of Rep. Jared Huffman:

Rep. Huffman Signs on to Articles of Impeachment

Washington, D.C.- Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) released the following statement after joining as a cosponsor of Articles of Impeachment, introduced by Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice:

“Every member of the House of Representatives pledges to support and defend the Constitution of the United States when we are sworn into office. That carries with it the responsibility to provide checks and balances on executive power, and in exceptional circumstances, to impeach a President who has violated the law or abused power to the serious detriment of our country.”

“I’m cosponsoring Rep. Cohen’s articles of impeachment because they focus on the most serious and egregious examples of President Trump’s impeachable actions – his obstruction of justice, his unprecedented conflicts of interest, his unwillingness or inability to credibly and forthrightly address Russia's interference in the 2016 election, and his recklessness with matters of national security. President Trump has shown contempt for the institutions and safeguards that are essential to the rule of law and the proper functioning of our democracy. That is precisely the situation that the rare remedy of impeachment was intended to address.”

This resolution sets forth five articles of impeachment on the following: Trump’s obstruction of justice, foreign emoluments, domestic emoluments, undermining the independence of the judiciary, and undermining freedom of the press.

You can read a summary of the articles of impeachment here.