County's reps discuss impeachment inquiry
In the wake of U.S. House Democrats opening an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, several federal officials with Butler County constituents voiced their opinions Wednesday.
A memo summarizing a conversation between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky inspired the latest round of controversies.
In the memo, Trump is quoted asking the foreign leader to investigate the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. The president also instructs the Ukrainian to work with Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani.
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., came out in support of the inquiry Wednesday afternoon in a phone conference with reporters.
“I don't think anyone has seen conduct like this by any American president,” Casey said. “There has to be a consequence for that. The Constitution, of course, only has one remedy. And that remedy is impeachment.”
Casey said that while he supports impeachment in the House, he doesn't yet know whether he would support removing Trump from office, a duty which falls on his own legislative chamber if the House first voted to impeach.
Pennsylvania's other senator, Republican Pat Toomey, released a short statement about the event.
“The memorandum released by the White House today reveals no quid pro quo,” Toomey said. “While the conversation reported in the memorandum relating to alleged Ukrainian corruption and Vice President Biden's son was inappropriate, it does not rise to the level of an impeachable offense.”
As for U.S. representatives, Mike Kelly, R-16th, and Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, R-15th, both struck similar tones in dismissing Democrats.
“There are some in Congress who simply cannot accept the outcome of the presidential election,” Thompson's statement reads.
Kelly wrote: “Socialist Democrats have never been able to accept that the American people chose President Trump to lead them in November 2016.”
U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, D-17th, took a decidedly middle-ground approach.
“As I said yesterday, we need to get the full text of the whistle-blower complaint by Thursday, not just the transcript of one phone call,” Lamb said Tuesday. “It appears that we will learn more facts in the coming days, and I'll have more to say after that.”
