In one of the more poignant moments of the final day of the House of Representatives’ impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, Baltimore was front and center.

After the House successfully passed both articles of impeachment—citing abuse of power and obstruction of justice—Baltimore native Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi paid tribute to her colleague and friend, the late Congressman Elijah E. Cummings, who served as the House Oversight Committee chair and presided over Maryland’s 7th District until his passing in September.

“There’s one person who isn’t with us in this room, but I know was present all day for the deliberations,” Pelosi said at a press conference following the eight-hour hearing and subsequent vote Wednesday. “He said, ‘When we’re dancing with the angels the question will be, what did you do to make sure we kept our democracy intact?’ We did all we could, Elijah. We passed the two articles of impeachment—the president is impeached.”

The swell of Democratic support for impeachment has grown louder as the process and hearings, in which 17 witnesses testified, has gone on. On Wednesday, an overwhelming majority of Democratic House members voted to impeach Donald J. Trump after evidence and testimony was presented that indicated the president had pressured Ukraine to assist him by declaring they were investigating potential 2020 rival Joe Biden, and the president’s refusal to provide documents following Congressional subpoenas.

Maryland House members were among those who voted along party lines, issuing strong statements in favor of the House’s decision to impeach.

“President Trump took direct aim at the heart of our democracy,” reads a statement from John Sarbanes of Maryland’s 3rd District. “I believe that Americans should decide our elections, not a foreign country. As long as the President continues to invite foreign inference into our democracy, the integrity of the 2020 election remains at risk. We had no choice but to impeach.”

The Republican Party has been united in its staunch opposition to impeachment, put forth by the House’s Democratic majority after a whistleblower. The whistleblower, understood to be an intelligence officer, came forward with allegations Trump was withholding a White House meeting and Congressional military aide to Ukraine, which has been at war with Russia, in exchange for the announcement of a corruption inquiry into Biden—whose son had been on the board of a controversial Ukrainian company. Not a single House Republican voted in favor of either article.

“The articles of impeachment passed on a purely partisan vote by the Democrats prove what a partisan stunt this impeachment sham really is,” said Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland’s 1st Congressional District, in a statement.

Harris also invoked a previous instance in which Eric Holder, the Attorney General under the Obama Administration, refused to answer House subpoenas—stating that they infringed on executive privilege.

Baltimore native Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland’s 2nd District also released a statement, reiterating the need to consider the facts of the case and service the Constitution.

“President Trump has no one to blame but himself,” Ruppersberger’s statement reads. “He violated his oath of office. This is why I support both articles of impeachment. The facts clearly warrant this action to protect the Constitution of the United States.”

The attention now turns to the Senate, which will hold a trial of the president. Only if the president is found guilty of one or more of the articles of impeachment can he be removed from office. There is currently a delay in the transmission of the impeachment documents, however, as Democrats attempt to negotiate the guidelines for the trial.

Pelosi suggested Wednesday night that the House might not hand over the articles of impeachment before it is promised a fair trial. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has suggested that his position on the matter is no different than the White House’s in a trial where Senate jurors are required to be impartial.

“As we go forward, it’s up to the American people to demand a fair trial,” reads a statement from U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen, who previously represented Maryland’s 8th congressional district. “Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has publicly expressed his plan to work in lockstep with the President during the trial and has rejected reasonable requests to allow key fact witnesses to testify. I hope my other Republican colleagues will agree that we have a duty to get all the facts and do justice.”

Locally, a number of Baltimoreans have voiced their support for impeachment. A “Nobody Is Above the Law” rally was held at McKeldin Square in the Inner Harbor a few days ago, one of hundreds held nationwide. Participants were visible to commuters on their way home from work, spirited and making their presence known.

And when the news came down, Steny Hoyer, the House Majority Leader representing Maryland’s 5th Congressional Disctrict, offered a solemn closing argument.

“All of us feel a sense of loyalty to party,” Hoyer said. “It’s what makes our two-party system function. It’s what helps hold presidents and majorities accountable. But party loyalty must have its limits.”

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says he supports the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump in the wake of a whistleblower’s report of alleged widespread abuse of power by the president and his administration.

President Trump and others in his circle and administration—including the president’s personal attorney, Rudolf Giuliani, and U.S. Attorney General William Barr—have been implicated in an alleged scheme to pressure the Ukrainian government into investigating Trump’s potential Democratic rival in the 2020 election, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his son Hunter Biden, in exchange for the release of U.S. military aid.

“I think we do need an inquiry because we have to get to the bottom of it,” Hogan told PBS’ Firing Line host Margaret Hoover in a segment that will air Friday night at 8:30 p.m. “I’m not ready to say I support impeachment and the removal of the president, but I do think we should have an impeachment inquiry.”

At the same time, Hogan expressed some apprehension that the impeachment inquiry led by the Democratic-led House of Representatives would be “a fair, objective one.” But he added, “I don’t see any other way to get the facts.”

Hogan joined two other other Republican governors in blue states, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, in their backing of impeachment inquiry proceedings.

Hogan, who did not support Trump for president in 2016—he says he wrote in his since-deceased father, former Maryland U.S. Rep. Lawrence Hogan Sr., on the ballot—added he would not support Trump again in 2020. However, he added, he could not possibly support a Democratic nominee either.

“We’re 14 months from the election, I’m not sure who the nominee is going to be, who the president is going to be,” Hogan added with a nervous laugh as Hoover pressed him. “We’re just going to have to wait and see.”

When Speaker of the House and Baltimore native Nancy Pelosi announced the start of the impeachment inquiry on September 24, Maryland’s congressional contingent, which had been withholding calls for the start of a formal impeachment investigation, unanimously came out in favor of the inquiry.

To date, all but a handful of the 235 Democratic members of the House of Representatives have expressed support for the impeachment inquiry. But not a single member of 197-member GOP caucus has publicly backed the inquiry. Former GOP-turned-independent congressman Justin Amash has pledged his support for the inquiry.

If the House impeaches Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said the GOP-controlled Senate will hold a trial. In order for Trump to be removed from office, at least 20 of the 53 Republican senators would have to vote in favor of impeachment.

On Friday on Capitol Hill, former Ukrainian Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch testified before the House Intelligence Committee after receiving a subpoena. The White House had attempted to block her appearance and in her opening remarks, Yovanovitch said her sudden departure in May was the result of pressure from Trump and others “with clearly questionable motives” on the State Department to remove her.

Governor Hogan, profiled by Baltimore a year ago, is familiar with the process of impeachment proceedings and has often noted that his father was the first Republican member of the Judiciary Committee to call for the impeachment of former President Richard Nixon in 1974.

Hogan considered a primary challenge to Trump earlier this year and travelled to the early primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire. He eventually decided against running in June, citing his commitment to governing the state on the heels of winning reelection and his new role as chairman of the National Governors Association.

That said, as Hogan, 63, himself highlighted in a Washington Post story this summer: “At some point, there’s no longer going to be a Donald Trump Party.” Whether Trump survives the latest controversy surrounding him and his administration, Hogan most likely has his eyes on a 2024 bid for the GOP nomination and will be keeping his options open should an opportunity arise sooner.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Tuesday afternoon that the House of Representatives will begin a formal impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. Pelosi’s action—long awaited by many Democratic activists after findings in the Mueller Report—comes in response to startling new allegations that the president recently sought to enlist Ukraine in his personal electoral cause. Namely, undermining current frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020—former Vice President Joe Biden.

Pelosi, the daughter of former Baltimore mayor Thomas D’Alessandro Jr., announced the start of an impeachment inquiry on Capitol Hill following a closed-door meeting with her Democratic caucus.

“The actions taken to date by the president have seriously violated the Constitution,” she said. President Trump, she said, “must be held accountable—no one is above the law.”

Impeachment has occurred twice in U.S. history, with charges brought against Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. Neither president was removed or left office. Rather than face a House of Representatives vote on impeachment over the Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974.

Even if the House—where the Democrats hold a majority—votes to impeach Trump after their inquiry, forcing a president from the White House requires a conviction in the Senate. In that chamber, where Republicans hold a majority, elected GOP officials have remained in lockstep behind Trump during each controversy of his presidency.

Trump’s alleged efforts to pressure Ukraine into investigating Biden, his potential rival, and his son, Hunter Biden, who served on board of the country’s largest private gas company, were brought forth by a U.S. intelligence whistleblower. Earlier Tuesday, Trump acknowledged he withheld $391 million in military support for Ukraine in the run-up to his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The president and his personal lawyer, former New York Mayor and former GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, have suggested Biden tried to protect the Ukrainian company, and thereby his son, from a corruption investigation. Neither Trump, Giuliani, nor anyone else to date, has provided evidence of illegal activity by either Biden.

Fact checking and investigations by multiple U.S. news outlets have repudiated Trump’s and Giuliani’s allegations that the former vice president attempted to protect his son by advocating for the removal of the former top Ukrainian prosecutor. The current prosecutor general of Ukraine, Yuri Luiseno, has looked into the matter and cleared the Bidens.

Leading up to Tuesday’s announcement by Pelosi, Maryland’s congressional delegation, who had been hesitant to speak out in favor of an impeachment inquiry previously, offered their strong backing for formal hearings.

“We can now see with our own eyes that the President is jeopardizing our national security,” Rep. Elijah Cummings said in a statement, referring to Trump allegedly holding back military aid to an ally in exchange for damning information on an American political candidate. “He admitted to personally withholding military security that Congress appropriated to help Ukraine counter Russian aggression. He admitted to personally urging a foreign actor to dig up dirt on his political rival. And he personally attacked a whistleblower whose protected information is being withheld from Congress in violation of the law.”

In a move described as unprecedented, the Trump Administration’s acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, has refused to share the whistleblower complaint with congressional intelligence committees, even after receiving a subpoena.

Trump tweeted on Tuesday that he would release the transcript of his phone call with the Ukrainian president, referring to the conversation as “totally appropriate.” The release of the whistleblower complaint, which is required to be turned over to Congress, remains another story, however. Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson determined that whistleblower’s allegations involving the president and his contact with Ukraine—of which the July 25 phone call with the Ukrainian president is just a part, according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and The Washington Post—were deemed credible and of “urgent concern.”

The Mueller Report, of course, found multiple contacts between Trump campaign officials and Russian representatives during the 2016 election season.

Fellow Maryland Democratic Rep. C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger emphasized his national security concerns regarding the president’s contacts with Ukraine: “As a former prosecutor, I have resisted calls to begin formal impeachment proceedings against the President until we had clear, indisputable evidence that transcends politics,” Ruppersberger said in a statement. “Jeopardizing our national security is where I draw the line. Withholding duly appropriated money meant to aid a country that could be overtaken by Russia is reckless and dangerous. This is yet another example of the President doing Putin’s bidding.”

“President Trump’s actions are a threat to our democracy,” Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said in a press release. “His continued disregard for our Constitution and the democratic norms that guide our nation have caused irreparable harm to our country, our standing in the world, and to the Office of the Presidency. As the White House continues to prevent the House of Representatives from exercising their Constitutionally-mandated oversight role, it has become clear that the tools provided by an impeachment inquiry must be employed.”

Maryland Democratic Congressman John Sarbanes said Trump’s alleged conduct, “constitute[s] a direct attack on our democracy and signify an unprecedented new level of corruption and lawlessness in the White House.”

“President Trump’s attempt to pressure a foreign government to interfere in the 2020 election is a blatant abuse of power,” Sarbanes said.

By coincidence, former Vice President Joe Biden was scheduled for a private fundraising event at Citron, a Pikesville restaurant and event space, Tuesday evening, according to reporting by The Baltimore Sun. However, Biden and his team were forced to head back to home to Wilmington, Delaware, after realizing the former vice president would not make it in time because of traffic caused by an overturned a tractor-trailer on I-95.