Another House Democrat says he will vote against impeachment, predicts others will join him

Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) was one of just two House Democrats who voted against opening the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. Now, Peterson has confirmed that he will also vote against impeaching the president.

Speaking at an event over the weekend in Minnesota's 7th Congressional District, which he represents, Peterson confirmed that he plans to vote against impeachment "unless they come up with something between now and Wednesday," according to the Globe.

Peterson told the Globe that Trump "has not committed a crime" and said his "biggest problem" with the impeachment proceedings is that his caucus pre-determined that they were committed to impeaching Trump.

"And now they've spent a year trying to figure out how they can make a case for it. That's backwards. I just don't agree with this," Peterson said. "This is dividing the country for no good reason because he's not going to be thrown out of office. Why are we doing this?"

Instead of impeachment, Peterson said the issue of Trump's presidency should be settled by voters at the ballot box.

"If people don't like Trump, they can vote against him," he said.

Peterson further predicted that four or five other Democrats will join him in voting against impeachment. But he did not name which colleagues those will be.

The full House is expected to vote on impeachment this week after the House Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment last week, one for abuse of power and another for obstruction of Congress. The House is expected to vote down party lines with few defectors, as Peterson predicted.

The impeachment trial will take place in the Senate, where it is expected to die quickly.

New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew was the first House Democrat who committed to voting against impeachment; he was the second Democrat who voted against opening the impeachment inquiry. However, Van Drew is expected to formally join the Republican Party this week.