Congressman Kinzinger uses impeachment talk to fundraise for campaign
Campaign Facebook page calls impeaching Trump 'radical agenda'
By Derek BarichelloEmailFollow
Sept. 25, 2019
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Congressman Adam Kinzinger's campaign Wednesday took a different tone than a press statement his office released a day earlier regarding an impeachment probe of President Donald Trump.
The congressman utilized the impeachment news to launch into fundraising efforts.
Tuesday, the Channahon Republican said he is reserving judgment until more information is released whether Trump used his presidential powers to seek help from a foreign government for his re-election.
A day later Kinzinger on his campaign page asked supporters "to make their voice heard and donate whatever you can right now, to send a message that we will not stand for this attack on the very foundation of our country."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi launched a formal impeachment inquiry against Trump on Tuesday. The probe centers on whether Trump abused his presidential powers and sought help from Ukraine for his re-election. Pelosi said such actions would mark a "betrayal of his oath of office" and declared, "No one is above the law," according to Associated Press reports.
The White House account shows Trump was willing to engage a foreign leader to dig up dirt on a political foe and he volunteered his attorney general to help, according to the Associated Press. But Trump appears to stop short in the call of any explicit quid pro quo, such as linking Ukraine's help to American military aid or other assistance.
Days before the call, Trump froze nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine. It was not clear from the summary whether Zelenskiy was aware of that, and the White House did not respond to requests to clarify. The president has said he did nothing wrong and has denied any request for help was tied to the aid freeze.
It's illegal under federal law to seek foreign government assistance for U.S. elections.
Kinzinger said Tuesday he was looking forward to reviewing the White House transcript and that he'd reserve judgment. Kinzinger's office hasn't responded Wednesday to questions of what the congressman thought of the transcript.
His Facebook post Wednesday said of Democrats: "Now, more than ever, we have to stand up to these radical socialists."
"Their crusade to impeach the President has never been about the facts -- we know because they've pulled the impeachment trigger when Congress is still missing crucial information that could prove the President did nothing wrong. But that doesn't matter to them. This is nothing short of a blatant disregard for the will of the American people and our democracy. The Far Left didn’t like the result of the 2016 election, so they have chosen to tear apart our country to advance their radical agenda."
Kinzinger had said Monday on a Fox News program if Trump utilized his presidential power, he didn't believe it rises to the level of impeachment.
He also said Monday no foreign government should have an influence on the U.S. election, nor should an American president utilize his power to affect an election, calling the action wrong and one that should not be defended.
Above is from: https://www.mywebtimes.com/2019/09/25/congressman-kinzinger-uses-impeachment-talk-to-fundraise-for-campaign/a9jbt8a/
House Republican Mark Amodei backs inquiry but not impeachment
09/27/2019 09:14 PM EDT
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Rep. Mark Amodei on Friday became the first Republican to explicitly back the House’s investigation into President Donald Trump over his interactions with Ukraine, though the Nevada lawmaker made clear that he does not support impeachment.
In a conference call with local media, the five-term congressman told reporters, “I’m a big fan of oversight, so let’s let the committees get to work and see where it goes,” according to an audio of the call released by The Nevada Independent.
Amodei said he is withholding judgment on whether Trump’s actions amounted to an impeachable offense — “Let’s put it through the process and see what happens,” he said — but he did express concern over the possibility that Trump asked a foreign government to dig up dirt on a political opponent.
“Using government agencies to, if it’s proven, to put your finger on the scale of an election, I don’t think that’s right,” Amodei said. “If it turns out that it’s something along those lines, then there’s a problem.”
After the Nevada Independent ran an article saying Amodei backs an impeachment inquiry, he put out a statement through his office to clarify that “in no way, shape, or form, did I indicate support for impeachment."
But he added that “we have to follow the facts and figure out what happened here.”
Amodei joins a small but growing list of Republicans who are alarmed by Trump’s efforts to press Ukraine into investigating the Biden family, at the same time that the Trump administration was withholding $250 million in foreign aid from Ukraine.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) has said he found Trump’s Ukraine call “troubling,” and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) has called it “inappropriate.”
Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said on Thursday, “I want to say to the president, 'This is not okay. That conversation is not okay.'” Rep. Adam Kinzinger said the whistleblower complaint raises “important questions.” And Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) said “there is a lot in the whistleblower complaint that is concerning.”
But even as some Republicans try to put some daylight between them and Trump, they’re still unwilling to wholly break with him, suggesting the president's firewall of GOP support on Capitol Hill is still standing firm — for now.
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