Trump won't commit to peaceful transfer of power if he loses

Northern Nevada's lone congressman waiting to see what comes of House investigation

James DeHaven | Reno Gazette-Journal

U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., says he will support President Donald Trump’s impeachment if the facts support it.

Nevada’s lone Republican in Washington, D.C., on Friday told reporters he hasn’t seen credible evidence that Trump broke the law by pressuring Ukraine’s leader to investigate Democratic political rival Joe Biden.

But if it’s proven that Trump did use his office to try to influence an election, Amodei said that would be “a problem.”

Sam Gross/RGJ

“Everybody’s going to come to their own conclusions,” he said during a half-hour teleconference with reporters. “That’s not unusual. Let’s put it through the process and see what happens.

“If it’s proven you were using government agencies to try to put your finger on the scale of an election, then I don’t care who the president is, I don’t think that’s right.”

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Amodei didn’t directly answer questions about how he would vote on impeachment if called back to Capitol Hill this weekend.

He said he had read the transcript of Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and reviewed the explosive whistleblower complaint that accuses Trump of abusing his power "to solicit interference" from Ukraine in the upcoming 2020 election.

The documents offer Congress “something to discuss,” Amodei said, if not necessarily the smoking gun some Democrats hope will help to remove Trump from office.

“I want to see what the process produces,” the longtime Northern Nevada legislator added. “If it comes to the House floor, the question is, do I think there’s credible evidence (Trump) broke the law?

“No part of my process will be political. … If you broke the law, there are consequences for that.”

Jason Bean/RGJ file

Friday’s remarks seemed to temper Amodei’s earlier opposition to the formal impeachment inquiry launched by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

On Tuesday, Amodei told the Associated Press he opposed the probe and blasted his Democratic counterparts for supporting the effort.

U.S. Reps. Susie Lee and Steven Horsford, both Nevada Democrats, said in a statement that it was “dire” and a “direct abuse of power” for Trump to withhold $400 million in aid to Ukraine a few days before he pushed that nation’s leader to investigate Biden and his son.

There is no evidence that either Biden did anything wrong.

Nevada’s other Democratic House member, U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, called for an impeachment inquiry in July.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.