These are the impressions by Bob Schacht as reported at pd-hawaii.com about Rep. Abercrombie’s views on impeachment during the April 7th meeting hosted by Americans for Democratic Action (Hawaii) and Progressive Democrats of Hawaii in which the parents of Ehren Watada attended.

Abercrombie said that he would vote for a motion to impeach, if it came to the floor. However, he didn’t think that it would happen.

He also thought there weren’t enough votes in the Senate to find Bush guilty.

He thought that there were more important things to do, and worried about the House getting tied up in knots debating impeachment.

At one point, he defended the Democratic congress, pointing out how much had been accomplished in only 3 months, and that aggressive investigations were under way against the President’s misdeeds.

Not all the questions were about impeachment, but that was the main focus. After the Q & A had gone on for an hour, I was getting signals from Amy that we had 5 minutes more, but the questions were still coming fast and furious passionate, so when I tried to wrap things up, Rep. Abercrombie brushed aside the concern over time, and continued to respond to questions for another 20 minutes or so, and then stayed afterwards for about 15 minutes talking to individuals, including the Watadas, before leaving.

This meeting will not be the last word, but hopefully the beginning of an ongoing dialogue with Rep. Abercrombie. We are grateful for his attention, and for being so generous with his time!

If you were there, please add your own comments on the meeting!

Bob Schacht

Contact info for the Hawaii State Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee:

Clayton Hee

Phone 808-586-7330

[email protected]

Lorraine R. Inouye

Phone 808-586-7335

[email protected]

Clarence K. Nishihara

phone 808-586-6970

[email protected]

Mike Gabbard

phone 808-586-6830

[email protected]