Democrat who missed Hegseth impeachment vote caught outside Capitol ‘with minutes to spare’

Detailed summary

​Representative Jonathan Jackson was one of several Democrats who claimed a traffic incident caused them to arrive late to the impeachment vote

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A Democrat late to the vote to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was allegedly spotted outside the Capitol with “minutes to spare.”

​Representative Jonathan Jackson of Illinois was one of 11 Democrats to miss the Tuesday vote, which resulted in a 211-204 decision to refer eight articles of impeachment to the Judiciary Committee, delaying any future impeachment effort.

Jackson and several other Democrats have said that a traffic incident stopped them from arriving in time for the vote.

​“The vote last night was at 6:05 p.m. I saw you on the steps last night about 10 minutes before that,” TMZ reporter Charlie Cotton told Jackson in footage recorded on the Capitol steps on Wednesday.

​“You claimed there was a traffic jam that prevented you from reaching the vote and voting, but I had seen you having arrived on the steps with minutes to spare,” Cotton said. “So, I’m sorry to put you in a tricky position, but I’m wondering why didn’t you vote? You were here!”

​Jackson responded by citing the traffic incident, which he had previously said on X involved a “police-escorted bus.”

​The representative said in his statement that he has entered a “NO” vote on the Congressional Record and labeled the vote to refer eight articles of impeachment to the Judiciary Committee as “a move designed to stall accountability without a direct vote on the merits.”

​“It’s not a tricky position,” Jackson told Cotton. “I shared with you that I missed the vote. There was a traffic jam that was there. It’s inexcusable.

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