Expelled Tennessee lawmakers seek reappointment
Correspondent Charles Watson reports the latest from Nashville, Tennessee.
Top Democratic Party leaders are pushing for a federal investigation into the expulsion of two state lawmakers from the Tennessee legislature.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock are requesting the Department of Justice to investigate the expulsions of Tennessee state Reps. Justin Jones and Rep. Justin Pearson.
Rep. Justin Pearson, Rep. Justin Jones, Rep. Gloria Johnson People hold their hands up as they exit the House Chamber doors at Tennessee State Capitol Building in Nashville. (Nicole Hester /The Tennessean via AP)
Pearson and Jones, along with Democrat Reps. Gloria Johnson, egged on protesters and stormed the state House floor to call on their colleagues to take action against gun violence last month.
As a consequence of their actions, both Pearson and Jones were expelled from the House by Republicans.
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Schumer and Warnock, angered by the expulsions, are asking Attorney General Merrick Garland to "take all steps necessary to uphold the democratic integrity of our nation’s legislative bodies.".
The protest from the Democratic lawmakers came after a transgender shooter killed six people, including three children, at a private Christian school in Nashville.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) walk up the Senate steps in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
"We do not believe that breaking decorum is alone sufficient cause for employing the most draconian of consequences to duly-elected lawmakers," Schumer and Warnock wrote in their letter to Garland.
The letter continues, "This is un-democratic, un-American, and unacceptable, and the U.S. Department of Justice should investigate whether it was also unlawful or unconstitutional."
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Merrick Garland, US attorney general, speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC. (Ting Shen)
Jones, who was reinstated in the statehouse Monday, is calling for the Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton to resign, called him an "enemy of democracy."
A Memphis panel is expected to vote Wednesday on whether to reinstate Pearson.
Fox News' Danielle Wallace and Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
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