Bay Area Republicans Say Impeachment Inquiry Of President Trump Will Backfire
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry of President Trump on Tuesday and some Bay Area Republicans are saying the plan is going to backfire.
The impeachment inquiry that has been bandied about in Democratic circles for moments has finally been made official by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
"The intelligence community inspector general formally notified the congress that the administration was forbidding him from turning over a whistleblower complaint on constitution day. This is a violation of law," Pelosi said in a televised statement Tuesday afternoon.
The impeachment inquiry will umbrella investigations already underway in multiple committees in the House of Representatives.
LIST: Bay Area Reps. Who Backed Trump Impeachment Inquiry Ahead Of Pelosi Announcement
Republicans in the Bay Area say the plan will backfire on 2020 presidential candidates.
"It is dumb, it is short-sighted, it is a distraction," said GOP national committee member Harmeet Dhillon. She says history has not been kind to parties who have attempted and failed at impeaching a President, citing the GOP bloodbath after failed proceedings against President Bill Clinton.
"In the course of a failed impeachment effort, the democrats are going to kill the chances of their front runner Joe Biden who's action are what precipitated this entire dispute," Dhillon told KPIX 5.
Bay Area congressman Eric Swalwell says impeachment must happen.
"I'm not looking at the politics of this. In fact, doing nothing would only bring worse behavior from the president. Doing nothing would reduce the standard of conduct for future presidents," he said during an interview with FOX News.