File photo: U.S. Capitol, Getty Images.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah lawmakers have responded to the launch of a formal impeachment inquiry, announced Tuesday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Speaking from Capitol Hill in Washington, Pelosi said the probe will investigate whether Mr. Trump abused his Executive power by asking a foreign government for help in his re-election. Pelosi said such actions would mark a “betrayal of his oath of office.” She then declared, “no one is above the law.”
Reaction from Utah lawmakers has been mixed, but, none of them wanted to say the president was either guilty or innocent.
In a statement released before the inquiry was announced, Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams called for cautionary steps forward.
“Before making any judgments, I want to know the facts of what occurred between the president and Ukraine,” McAdams said. The statement continued with, “I share Senator Romney’s view that if the president used his position to pressure a foreign power to dig up dirt on a rival for his own personal gain, it would be deeply troubling. I believe it would be a betrayal of the loyalty owed to our country and the Constitution.”
Utah’s Second District Congressman Chris Stewart agrees that if the accusations against the president are true, it’s very concerning. During an appearance on CNN, he said, “I said last week to members of the media, ‘Look we should subpoena this information, if we need to.'”
However, he believes this is just a continuation of the Democrats doing whatever they can to have President Trump removed from office, despite winning the election. He says the American people will essentially roll their eyes at this new inquiry.
“You don’t start out with a guilty finding and then say, ‘Oh, by the way, I guess we’ll have a proceeding,'” he said.
Stewart also blasted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declaring the president had broken the law without reading the transcript of the call he made with the president of the Ukraine.
“Ms. Pelosi came on and she unequivocally said this president has broken his oath of office. He has betrayed national security. How in the world does she know that?” Stewart asked.
Republican Rep. Rob Bishop agrees with Rep. McAdams on the importance of waiting until all the facts emerge before forming an opinion about guilt or innocence.
Bishop tells KSL, “I’d like to see the details first before I make any kind of pronouncement about that.”
However, he agrees with Stewart about this inquiry being another political move to remove a president that won the election.
“If you’re logical, you find the evidence first then you make a conclusion based on that evidence. If you’re playing political games, then you do it the other way around,” Bishop says.
He has been asked to begin impeachment proceedings three times. The first, during the presidency of George W. Bush. The second time was during the Obama administration. And now, he says, Trump’s. “I have consistently rejected these requests because each was a political effort to minimize the voice of the people,” Bishop said.
“Elections have consequences and the voters’ will deserves respect,” Bishop’s statement continued. “Impeachment is the ultimate power Congress has over a president and should be used as a last resort, not for purely political purposes.”