NEW: Rep. Ted Deutch became the 23rd lawmaker to call for an impeachment inquiry since Mueller testified -- and with him, a majority of House Democrats now say they'd vote to take that step.
politico.com/story/2019/08/…
Other factoids:
-Deutch is chair of the Ethics Committee; 12 out of 20 standing committee chairmen would vote for an impeachment inquiry
-17 out of 24 Dems on the Judiciary Committee publicly support an inquiry. (And Nadler has backed it privately)
-Majorities of other investigative committees also support an inquiry, including 9/13 on the Intelligence Committee.
-Backers think there are a lot more to come; a slew of progressive members are still on the sidelines. But 218 is still a long way away, especially w/o Pelosi.
Dems who support an inquiry tell me they're watching two players:
-Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, a Dem leader who is running for Senate and helped elect a lot of the freshmen in 2018
-Rep. John Lewis, who has deferred to Pelosi on the issue.
Their support could move a lot of other Dems.
One more notable fact:
-Though just 2 of the 6 chairmen Pelosi tasked with invsetigating Trump have come out for an impeachment inquiry (Engel and Waters), a majority of all their committee members support such a move.
61 out of the 114 on these panels want to take that step.
WHY SOME COUNTS DIFFER: A lot of the impeachment whip counts vary by a couple members. We included in ours everyone who confirmed - either to us or in statements - that they would vote for an inquiry.
Some members were explicit with us but haven't been public about it otherwise.
That includes members like Reps. Bass and Pallone -- who both say they're not necessarily agitating for an impeachment inquiry but would vote for one if it came before them.
To us, that's the key metric of support in a body that measures things by voting.
Dem #119 who would vote for an impeachment inquiry: Rep. AGUILAR is the 24th lawmaker to back an inquiry since Mueller testified.
There's some confusion out there about Pallone. Here's what he told me on July 18 - the day after the Al Green vote.
"Personally I think that he's obstructed justice and he's done all these terrible things that would qualify for impeachment. So that's why I vote that way..." 1/2
Pallone said he had qualms about whether it was worth the House's time because the Senate would just kill it. But he said he personally supports - and would vote for it.
"If the opportunity comes to vote, I will vote for it."
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