ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A Republican lawmaker who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump in his run for governor of Maryland introduced a resolution on Thursday to impeach popular Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, accusing him of “malfeasance in office.”
The resolution introduced by Del. Dan Cox, who represents parts Frederick and Carroll counties, also accuses Hogan of “misuse of the police power, violations of the separation of powers, theft of the people’s liberty and property, deprivation of the religious liberties of the people, and abuse of power under false pretenses.”
While unlikely to advance, the resolution introduced in the Maryland House of Delegates underscores division in the GOP regarding support for Trump.
The governor, who is term limited and hasn’t ruled out a White House bid in 2024, has been a frequent Trump critic. Michael Ricci, a spokesman for Hogan, dismissed the delegate as “a QAnon conspiracy theorist.”
The QAnon movement claims Trump is waging a secret battle against the “deep state” and a sect of powerful devil-worshipping pedophiles who dominate Hollywood, big business, the media and government.
“He has this weird obsession with the governor,” Ricci told news outlets. “Surprised that it took this long, frankly.”
The resolution accuses the governor of violating the rights of residents by issuing orders that were “restrictive and protracted” during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also says the governor awarded “procurement contracts based on political relationships, misspent Marylanders’ tax dollars on unusable COVID-19 test kits, and intentionally misled the legislature and the public on the status of the inadequate test kits.”
Democrats who control the General Assembly also have criticized the governor over the procurement of 500,000 COVID-19 test kits from South Korea in 2020, when the tests were scarce.
MORE: Audit criticizes Gov. Hogan's purchase of 500k COVID-19 tests from South Korea last year
Maryland House Speaker Adrienne Jones, a Baltimore County Democrat, did not say much about the resolution, when asked about it Thursday afternoon during a video conference on a separate matter.
“It’s gone on to Rules,” the speaker said, referring to the House Rules & Executive Nominations Committee Committee.
Hogan, who is only the second Republican ever in Maryland to be re-elected governor, remains popular in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1.
Doug Mayer, a senior advisor for Kelly Schulz, Hogan’s former commerce secretary who is running for the Republican nomination for governor against Cox, described her opponent as “what happens when crazy meets stupid.”
“Unfortunately for his constituents, he’s also an extremely ineffective legislator who consistently fails to do anything remotely productive in service to them,” Mayer said. “Add today’s nonsense to his long list of failures.”
