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Elijah E. Cummings, Powerful Democrat Who Investigated Trump, Dies at 68 Elijah E. Cummings, Powerful Democrat Who Investigated Trump, Dies at 68
(about 1 hour later)
Representative Elijah E. Cummings, a son of sharecroppers who rose to become one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress and a key figure in the impeachment investigation of President Trump, died on Thursday in Baltimore, his spokeswoman said. He was 68. WASHINGTON — Representative Elijah E. Cummings, a son of sharecroppers who rose to become one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress and a key figure in the impeachment investigation of President Trump, died on Thursday in Baltimore, his spokeswoman said. He was 68.
His death resulted from “complications concerning longstanding health challenges,” the spokeswoman, Trudy Perkins, said in a statement, without elaborating on the cause.His death resulted from “complications concerning longstanding health challenges,” the spokeswoman, Trudy Perkins, said in a statement, without elaborating on the cause.
As chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Mr. Cummings, of Maryland, had sweeping power to investigate Mr. Trump and his administration — and he used it.As chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Mr. Cummings, of Maryland, had sweeping power to investigate Mr. Trump and his administration — and he used it.
A critical ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Mr. Cummings spent his final months in Congress sparring with the president, calling Mr. Trump’s effort to block congressional lines of inquiry “far worse than Watergate.” He was sued by Mr. Trump as the president tried to keep his business records secret. A critical ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Mr. Cummings spent his final months in Congress sparring with the president, calling Mr. Trump’s effort to block congressional lines of inquiry “far worse than Watergate.”
He was sued by Mr. Trump as the president tried to keep his business records secret.
With his booming voice and a speaking cadence with hints of the pulpit, Mr. Cummings was a compelling figure on Capitol Hill. For more than two decades, he represented a section of Baltimore with more than its share of social problems. He campaigned tirelessly for stricter gun control laws and help for those addicted to drugs. With his booming voice and a speaking cadence with hints of the pulpit — his parents eventually became preachers — Mr. Cummings was a compelling figure on Capitol Hill. For more than two decades, he represented a section of Baltimore with more than its share of social problems. He campaigned tirelessly for stricter gun control laws and help for those addicted to drugs.
He grabbed the national spotlight in 2015 when he took to the streets of Baltimore, where, bullhorn in hand, he pleaded for calm after riots erupted in his neighborhood after the funeral of Freddie Gray, a young black man who died in police custody. Hours earlier, Mr. Cummings had delivered Mr. Gray’s eulogy. He grabbed the national spotlight in 2015 when he took to the streets of Baltimore, bullhorn in hand, and pleaded for calm after riots erupted in his neighborhood after the funeral of Freddie Gray, a young black man who died in police custody. Hours earlier, Mr. Cummings had delivered Mr. Gray’s eulogy.
In July, after Mr. Cummings attacked President Trump for the conditions seen in immigrant detention centers on the southern border, Mr. Trump struck back, calling the congressman’s district a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess” where “no human being would want to live.” Mr. Cummings vociferously defended his hometown. When the president assailed Mr. Cumming’s beloved Baltimore — a city whose population is two-thirds African-American — as “a disgusting, rat and rodent-infested mess” and “the worst run and most dangerous” city in the United States, the congressman vociferously defended his hometown. He said while it was his “constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the executive branch,” it was his “moral duty” to fight for his constituents.
Mr. Cummings had been ailing recently, and was sometimes seen using a wheelchair and an oxygen tank. He was away from Congress for nearly three months following heart surgery in the fall of 2017. Soon afterward, he was admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for what his office described as a bacterial infection in his knee. Mr. Cummings took on both tasks with passion. He used his powerful perch on Capitol Hill to target Mr. Trump in the most public of ways. In February of this year, Mr. Cummings summoned Michael Cohen, the president’s former lawyer, to testify before his committee for an extraordinary hearing in which Mr. Cohen denounced the president as “a con man” and a “cheat.”
A hulking, bear-like man, Mr. Cummings had served in Congress since winning a special election in 1996 to fill the seat vacated by Kweisi Mfume, who resigned to become president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Mr. Cummings’s Seventh District includes most of West Baltimore and suburbs west of the city, as well as Howard County. The most arresting moment came from the congressman’s plaintive closing statement. “We have got to get back to normal!” Mr. Cummings thundered from the dais, in a moment that quickly went viral.
Mr. Cummings was in his 13th term serving as a representative for Maryland. He had been absent from Capitol Hill in recent weeks because of his illness. But before that, he could often be found in the Speaker’s Lobby — the ornate antechamber off the House floor, decorated with portraits of past House speakers — fielding reporter’s questions or quietly reading in the motorized wheelchair he used.
Mr. Cummings prided himself on his slow, methodical manner, but he could also work himself into a fiery oration, when his brow would furrow deeply and his voice would quiver with emotion. When Mr. Trump sued him in April to keep his business records secret, Mr. Cummings urged Congress to move slowly on impeachment. But the following month, with the White House raising a full-scale blockade of Democrats’ access to documents and witnesses, Mr. Cummings sounded impatient in an interview.
“It sounds like he’s asking us to impeach him,” the congressman said then, calling the White House blockade “a constitutional crisis” that was “far worse than Watergate.”
He had a series of health challenges in recent years, and had begun making his way around the Capitol in a motorized scooter and using a walker to steady himself. In 2017, he was in the hospital for two months after complications from a heart valve replacement, convinced, he said, that he was “living on borrowed time.”
But he was spiritual in his approach to his illness, and his life. He told the story of how one day, when was in such dire pain that he thought he might faint, a hospital worker turned up at his bedside, saying the Lord had sent her to deliver a message: “I’m just trying to get your attention. I’m not done with you.”
Republicans generally held him in high regard, and he had an improbable friendship with Representative Mark Meadows, Republican of North Carolina and a leader of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus. In Baltimore, where he came up as a lawyer and later a state legislator, he was a revered figure.
A tall, broad-shouldered man with an expressive face, Mr. Cummings had served in Congress since winning a special election in 1996 to fill the seat vacated by Kweisi Mfume, who resigned to become president of the N.A.A.C.P. Mr. Cummings’s Seventh District includes most of West Baltimore and suburbs west of the city, as well as Howard County.
Since his initial victory in 1996, Mr. Cummings had not been seriously challenged in either a primary or general election, according to The Almanac of American Politics. In 2003 and 2004, he was chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. He was an early supporter of Barack Obama for president and was co-chairman of Mr. Obama’s campaign in Maryland in 2008.Since his initial victory in 1996, Mr. Cummings had not been seriously challenged in either a primary or general election, according to The Almanac of American Politics. In 2003 and 2004, he was chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. He was an early supporter of Barack Obama for president and was co-chairman of Mr. Obama’s campaign in Maryland in 2008.
Elijah Eugene Cummings, the son of sharecroppers from South Carolina who moved north to improve prospects for themselves and their children, who would eventually number seven, was born in Baltimore on Jan. 18, 1951, and grew up in the city.Elijah Eugene Cummings, the son of sharecroppers from South Carolina who moved north to improve prospects for themselves and their children, who would eventually number seven, was born in Baltimore on Jan. 18, 1951, and grew up in the city.
He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Howard University in Washington, where he was student government president, with a degree in political science. He earned a law degree from the University of Maryland and was a practicing attorney while serving for 14 years in the Maryland House of Delegates, where he was the first African-American in the state’s history to be named speaker pro-tem. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Howard University in Washington, where he was student government president, with a degree in political science. He earned a law degree from the University of Maryland and was a practicing attorney while serving for 14 years in the Maryland House of Delegates, where he was the first African-American in the state’s history to be named speaker pro tem.