Elijah Cummings dead: Congressman key to Donald Trump impeachment dies aged 68 – Mirror Online, Mirror

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US Congressman Elijah Cummings – a key figure in the impeachment inquiry into PresidentDonald Trump– has died of “health complications” at 68, his office says.

Mr Cummings, a longtime Democratic Representative from Maryland, was chair of Washington’s House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

The 13 – term Congressman had been absent since he under went an undisclosed medical procedure in September that he said would only keep him away from work for a ***.

In late September, Mr Cummings said he anticipated that he would **** return to work in two weeks.

But the Trump nemesis still hadn’t returned to work by the time he died at 2. am local time on Thursday.

Mr Cummings said in a statement late last month: “I am recovering following my medical procedure and remain in constant communication with my staff and my colleagues in the Congress.

“My doctors anticipate that I will be returning to Washington, DC when the House comes back into session in two weeks.”

The session resumed on Tuesday.

Dad-of-three Mr Cummings had been treated for heart and knee problems in the past.

In May 2017, he under went surgery to repair his aortic valve and returned to work two months later.

His office announced his death on Thursday morning, saying he passed away at Johns Hopkins University Hospital due “complications regarding longstanding health challenges”.

Mr Cummings, whose wife Maya Rockeymoore Cummings is chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, had become a prominent figure in the impeachment probe into Mr Trump.

He was one of three Democratic committee chairmen who signed a letter along with a subpoena seeking documents from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Lawmakers are probing whether Mr Trump improperly pressured Ukraine to investigate rival and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, the former vice president.

(Born on January) , 1951, Mr Cummings, from Baltimore, worked as a lawyer for almost 20 years before he was elected to the House of Representatives in November 1996

He had won 13 biennial elections, including the last one in 2018, and served on a number of committees, most recently chairing the Oversight Committee, while representing Maryland’s seventh congressional district.

He was due to stand for re-election in November