U.S. Rep. Donald S. Beyer Jr, had particularly harsh words to characterize President Trump in remarks to an annual Democratic banquet last night in the wake of the decision by the party’s U.S. House delegation to commence with a formal impeachment inquiry Wednesday. Beyer, who was the first member of the Virginia congressional delegation to call for an impeachment inquiry months ago, called Trump “the worst human being to occupy any high office in the U.S.”     

The attendees at the sold-out event rose with cheers and a standing ovation when Beyer hailed the news of the impeachment. “We are going to impeach this person,” Beyer said, saying with a smile that he chose “person” because he didn’t want to use his preferred term for fear of how it would play in the press.     

Beyer said that the goal of the House Democrats is to have a formal vote on impeachment before Christmas, and that the decision has been made to narrow the focus of the inquiry to the recent revelations about the president’s coercion of the president of Ukraine and subsequent coverup of the contents of that phone conversation. This is despite reports that the Democrats have amassed 12 to 18 potential articles of impeachment associated with allegedly impeachable misdeeds of the president in his first two years. Instead of forming a select committee to proceed with this matter, the House Intelligence Committee, chaired by Rep. Adam Schiff, will spearhead the effort.     

This development was not met in a celebratory mood by the House Democrats, Beyer told the attendees, “Because it will suck all the oxygen out of our ongoing efforts to pass over 32 pieces of critical legislation to improve the lives of all Americans. He praised the “courage of my colleagues engaged in key races to step up in this case, willing to risk losing their races in order to do the right thing,” he said.