Jamie Raskin, prominent Trump foe in U.S. House, diagnosed with cancer

Gram Slattery
Updated ·2 min read
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FILE PHOTO: U.S. House Select Committee holds final meeting to release report on Jan. 6, 2021 assault on Capitol in Washington
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By Gram Slattery

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Jamie Raskin, a Democratic U.S. lawmaker who rose to prominence as he oversaw former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial in the House of Representatives, has been diagnosed with cancer, he said on Wednesday.

"After several days of tests, I have been diagnosed with Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma, which is a serious but curable form of cancer," Raskin, 60, said in a statement released by his office.

"I am about to embark on a course of chemo-immunotherapy on an outpatient basis at Med Star Georgetown University Hospital and Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. Prognosis for most people in my situation is excellent after four months of treatment."

Raskin, who represents part of Maryland, oversaw the House's impeachment of Trump for "incitement of insurrection," finding that he encouraged the rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The November 2020 election results were being certified by lawmakers when the Capitol was attacked after weeks of false claims by Trump that he had won the election.

The House voted to impeach the president, but he was acquitted in the Senate, with 57 senators voting for his conviction, short of the 67 votes required to convict.

Raskin has also served on the January 6 Committee, which investigated the Capitol attack and Trump's role in it.

In the next Congress, Raskin is set to serve as the top Democrat on the House Oversight panel. In that capacity, he will butt heads with Republicans, who are expected to launch a number of contentious investigations, including an inquiry into the business dealings of Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's son.

Raskin said in the statement that he expected to continue working, but that he had been advised by doctors to minimize unnecessary exposure to contagious viruses including COVID-19 during the treatment period.

Raskin told MSNBC during an interview later on Wednesday that the chemotherapy treatments were scheduled to begin this week.

(Reporting by Gram Slattery in Washington; additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los AngelesEditing by Matthew Lewis and Grant McCool)