Michigan’s GOP congressmen reject impeachment but avoid questions on Trump’s conduct

The Capitol in Washington is seen at dawn, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019. House Democrats are moving quickly on the impeachment probe of President Donald Trump after a whistleblower exposed a July phone call the president had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in which Trump pressed for an investigation of political rival Joe Biden and his family. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)AP

Michigan’s Republican congressmen oppose an impeachment inquiry launched by House Democrats but have largely avoided questions about whether the president acted inappropriately.

U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, told an audience at the Detroit Economic Club “there are legitimate questions” about President Donald Trump’s interactions with Ukraine, and while Upton is supportive of House committees’ efforts to get the facts, he does not support an impeachment inquiry. Other Republicans expressed a less nuanced view to MLive.com, saying Democrats are embarking on an illegitimate effort to remove the president, but also avoided questions about Trump’s conduct.

“I believe many Democrats in Washington are seeking to undo the outcome of the 2016 election and disenfranchise the millions of Americans who elected Donald Trump president,” said U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, in a statement. “We are approximately 13 months from the next election, and I believe the American people should decide how we best move forward.”

Huizenga echoed a stance taken by the White House, which announced Tuesday that it would not cooperate with committees investigating the president. In a letter to House Democratic leaders, the White House called the inquiry “a naked political strategy that began the day (Tump) was inaugurated, and perhaps even before.”

All of Michigan’s Democratic members of Congress support the impeachment inquiry, though it’s less clear how many would actually vote to impeach Trump. U.S. Reps. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, and Haley Stevens, D-Rochester Hills, said they are waiting to read the evidence presented in articles of impeachment before making up their minds.

However, Michigan Democrats said information released by the White House shows it’s likely that Trump committed impeachable offenses. U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, said impeachment is “our only answer," adding that previous investigations already uncovered many illegal acts and impeachable offenses the president committed.

“I made this decision early on because it was clear the lawlessness and king-like activity coming out of the White House endangers our democracy and the American people,” Tlaib said in a statement. “The president’s attempt to extort the Ukrainian president into investigating Joe Biden is just the latest in a long line of instances where he’s put his personal interests before the country he took an oath to serve and risked American lives by disregarding our national security.”

How impeachment works

Frank Bowman, a law professor at the University of Missouri, said impeachment is best understood as a tool Congress uses to deal with misconduct in the executive branch.

The U.S. Constitution gives the House authority to decide whether there are reasons to believe the president committed impeachable acts. The Senate is responsible for conducting a trial and can remove the president from office with a two-thirds majority vote.

Contrary to popular belief, the House does not need to prove Trump broke the law to impeach him. Bowman said the standard laid out in the Constitution -- " treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors" -- does not refer to criminal conduct.

Abuses of power plainly qualify as impeachable offenses, he said.

“There is no requirement that a president, or any other official included in the impeachment jurisdiction, have committed an actual crime in order to be impeached,” Bowman said. “Indeed, we know in some cases that you can actually commit an indictable crime and that probably isn’t enough. (former President Bill) Clinton plainly did commit crimes -- perjury, potentially obstruction of justice -- and even though he was impeached the Senate acquitted him.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump violated the Constitution by seeking help from a foreign leader to damage his political rival. Trump acknowledged he asked the Ukrainian president to investigate Democratic primary front-runner Joe Biden -- a summary of the July conversation was also released by the White House -- but said their talk was “perfect.”

“I would like you to do us a favor,” Trump said before asking the Ukrainian president to investigate hacking of the Democratic National Convention and Biden. Trump has since said he was attempting to root out corruption, while Democrats say the president was asking Ukraine to dig up dirt on his possible 2020 opponent.

“President Trump has used the power of his office and put our national security at risk to advance his own narrow personal interests," said U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint, in a statement. "It is never appropriate for a president to ask a foreign leader to investigate a U.S. citizen, which is why President Trump’s actions have taken us to this moment where the opening of an impeachment inquiry is necessary to defend the rule of law and learn more about his conduct.”

U.S. Rep. Andy Levin, D-Bloomfield Township, said Republicans should at least concede that the president’s admitted actions require further investigation.

Michigan’s Republican congressmen did not answer several questions MLive posed to all members of the state’s House delegation through email, including whether the president attempted to solicit damaging information about a political rival. Republicans did not answer whether the president should have instructed the Justice Department or FBI to investigated allegations of corruption against Biden instead of asking a foreign leader.

U.S. Rep. Paul Mitchell, R-Dryden, said there is not sufficient evidence to suggest Trump committed impeachable offenses.

“Impeachment is not designed to be a solely partisan act; however, Democrats have been calling for impeachment since day one of President Trump’s presidency, and it appears that they’re on autopilot at this point," Mitchell said in a statement.

Republicans said their Democratic colleagues are fixated on impeachment instead of working to solve the issues they were elected to address. Several GOP congressmen cited their commitment to passing the United-States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, lowering prescription drug prices and boosting Michigan’s economy.

The impeachment announcement shows Democrats are “bending to the socialist wing of their party at the expense of getting important work done for the American people,” said U.S. Rep. John Moolenar, R-Midland, in a statement.

Several GOP congressmen cited their commitment to passing the United-States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, lowering prescription drug prices and boosting Michigan’s economy.

“Their never-ending, all-consuming quest for impeachment is detrimental to the country and grinds to a halt any type of important policy work,” said U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, in a statement.

Only three Michigan House members serve on committees involved in the impeachment inquiry. The rest said they have virtually no role in investigating the president.

Levin is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, while Tlaib and Brenda Lawrence, D-Southfield, serve on the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

Kildee is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which is working to obtain Trump’s tax returns, though that effort is separate from the impeachment inquiry.

Huizenga said Pelosi also tasked the Financial Services Committee with bringing evidence forward, but he has not been apprised of how his committee will proceed.

Public opinion matters

Republican National Committee spokesperson Michael Joyce said the impeachment fight is expected to rally GOP-voters around efforts to remove vulnerable Democrats from their seats in 2020. The RNC and Trump’s reelection campaign raised $15 million in 72 hours after impeachment inquiry was announced.

Republicans criticized House Democrats for not holding a formal vote on opening the impeachment inquiry. The White House said it will not cooperate with the impeachment inquiry in part because the House had not voted “to authorize such a dramatic constitutional step” or provided the president with “due process protections.”

Bowman said there Constitution does not require the House to vote on authorizing an impeachment inquiry. However, he noted that a failed impeachment attempt disadvantaged Republicans when it was leveled against Clinton.

“A failed impeachment attempt can provide some political benefit to the president who survives, but what we’re going to find out now is whether that lesson is universally true, regardless of the substance the allegations,” Bowman said.

Forcing House Democrats to vote on starting an impeachment inquiry could provide the GOP with ammunition against incumbents who represent districts Trump won. House Democrats like Slotkin and Stevens, both of whom flipped Republican districts that voted for the president, faced a flurry of attacks from Republican campaign organizations.

A survey of 800 likely voters by the National Republican Congressional Committee found 57% of independents in targeted congressional districts don’t believe Trump committed impeachable offenses. Six of 10 voters in Democratic-controlled districts won by Trump don’t believe the president should be impeached.

Meanwhile, several new polls released this week show public opinion on impeachment appears to be shifting nationally, according to an impeachment polling tracker published by FiveThirtyEight.

Trump railed against a poll released by Fox News, which found 51% percent of voters want Trump impeached and removed from office.

“Fox News doesn’t deliver for (the) U.S. anymore. It is so different than it used to be,” he tweeted. 'Oh well, I’m President!”

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