Rep. Elissa Slotkin: How I reached my decision on impeachment

Elissa Slotkin | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin defends decision to vote for Trump impeachment U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin held a contentious town hall meeting at Oakland University Monday she explained her decision to support the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

On September 23, I wrote in an op-ed column for the Free Press that I believed President Trump's actions regarding Ukraine, by his own admission, warranted the opening of an impeachment inquiry. I was part of a group of freshman members of Congress, all with backgrounds in military or intelligence, who called on the U.S. House of Representatives to use all available authorities to determine the truth and protect our national security.

I did not make that call lightly. Over the past year, while an increasing number of my colleagues started calling for impeachment and pro-impeachment protesters started rallying at my events, I remained unconvinced. While the President had said and done some seriously troubling things, I ultimately believed that the American people would render a judgment at the ballot box in 2020.

That changed with the events surrounding the President’s actions with Ukraine.

In September, I called for an inquiry because of the simple fact that it seemed that the President had used the power of his office to pressure a foreign leader to provide him information for personal political gain.

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To be clear, presidents from both parties have leveraged the powerful role of the United States to get foreign countries to do what’s in our interest. It’s quite standard, as senior U.S. officials wield leverage to increase our own national security.

But here’s the fundamental difference: President Trump used the power of the presidency for his own benefit, to give himself some advantage in the very election that would determine whether he remained in office.

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Since coming out in support of an inquiry, I have held four town halls across the congressional district I represent, and I am holding a fifth one today in Rochester. Since then, my offices have received more than 1,500 phone calls and more than 6,500 emails and letters on the subject. In response, I committed to remaining objective as the inquiry took place, and being transparent about my vote.

Over the past few days, I have done what I was trained to do as a CIA officer who worked for both Republicans and Democrats: I took a step back, looked at the full body of available information, and tried to make an objective decision on my vote.

To that end, I have read and re-read reports and transcripts. I have gone back and looked at the articles of impeachment that were drafted during the Nixon and Clinton presidencies to get some historical context. And most importantly, I went back to the original documents that outlined and explained impeachment as a tool: the Constitution, the Federalist Papers, and the book of “House Practice,” the official guide to the rules, precedents, and procedures of the House that every new Member of Congress is issued.

The vote that we will take this week will be on two articles of impeachment. The first is for abuse of power, accusing the President of soliciting the interference of a foreign government in the 2020 election for his personal political benefit. The second article is for obstruction of Congress, accusing the President of directing the defiance of the House inquiry.

I will be voting yes on both. And I want all of my constituents to know why.

On abuse of power: I believe that the President illegally solicited the help of foreigners to influence the American political process. On September 19, the President’s lawyer announced proudly on live TV that he had encouraged Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. On September 22, in response to a reporter’s question, the President affirmed it. The President later went on to encourage China to “investigate” his political rival, doubling down on it when asked by reporters.

These first-person statements, on top of the raft of first- and second-hand accounts provided in sworn testimony, paint a clear picture of a president abusing the power of his office for personal political gain.

As a former CIA officer, I believe this lies at the very heart of impeachable conduct. To my colleagues and constituents considering this vote, I think it is important to ask: Should we invite foreign help into our competitive political system? Is that something we should accept from this President, or any other?

And if a President admits that he’s done it, and solicits additional help from even more capable foreign governments, then isn’t it our constitutional duty to provide a clear response to that abuse of power? Our democracy is in danger if this behavior becomes the new normal.

On obstruction of Congress: As I went back and did my research on the previous impeachment processes, it became clear that, in contrast to the proceedings against Andrew Johnson, Nixon and Clinton, President Trump sent out unprecedented guidance to refuse and ignore the requests and subpoenas of the inquiry. He did this even though the Constitution gives the House of Representatives the “sole power of impeachment.” While the President may not have liked the inquiry, he broke with 100 years of tradition by ignoring the subpoenas, and in doing so, obstructed Congress’ authorities.

Over the past few months, I’ve been told more times that I can count that the vote I’ll be casting this week will mark the end of my short political career. That may be.

But in the national security world that I come from, we are trained to make hard calls on things, even if they are unpopular, if we believe the security of the country is at stake. There are some decisions in life that have to be made based on what you know in your bones is right. And this is one of those times.

Elissa Slotkin represents Michigan's Eighth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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