Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI-08) has not decided if President Donald Trump’s interactions with Ukraine rise to to the level of impeachable offenses.
The freshman representative told reporters Monday that she wanted to read the House Intelligence Committee’s report on the alleged impeachable offenses before deciding, according to MLive.
“I think the facts should lead that conversation, not politics,” Slotkin said at a healthcare event.
Slotkin noted during the event that quid pro quos are common in foreign policy.
“We always do this kind of quid pro quo — to be honest, we do it — but we do it for the national security interests of the United States, not for personal or political gain,” the former CIA official said.
In September, Slotkin, along with six other freshman Democratic representatives, wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post explaining why they supported impeachment “if the allegations are true.”
“I swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. If true, these new allegations against the President are a threat to our national security, and constitute an impeachable offense,” she tweeted.
I swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. If true, these new allegations against the President are a threat to our national security, and constitute an impeachable offense. https://t.co/4JrTEVl2Yn
— Rep. Elissa Slotkin (@RepSlotkin) September 24, 2019
If Slotkin does change her mind, she would be the second prominent Michigan House member to change their tone on impeachment. Last week, Rep. Brenda Lawrence said she would censor Trump rather than impeach him with the 2020 election being only less than a year away. However, Lawrence retracted her statement and reaffirmed her support for impeachment after her comments received national attention.
On Tuesday, the Intelligence Committee released its findings into what it describes as Trump using “the powers of his office to solicit foreign interference on his behalf in the 2020 election.”
“President Trump’s scheme subverted U.S. foreign policy toward Ukraine and undermined our national security in favor of two politically motivated investigations that would help his presidential reelection campaign,” the report claims.
On the other hand, Republican members of the House also released a report into the impeachment inquiry Monday. In the report done by Republicans on three different committees, it said the “evidence does not prove any of these Democrat allegations.”
Furthermore, the report accuses House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA-28) and House Democrats of wanting to impeach the president because they disagreed with his actions.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of Battleground State News. If you have any tips, email Zachery at [email protected].
Photo “Elissa Slotkin” by Elissa Slotkin.
