Sen. Tammy Baldwin Says Trump Impeachment Probe Is 'Appropriate Action,' 2 Democratic Wisconsin Reps. Firmly In Favor
CHICAGO (CBS) -- U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) said the House is "taking appropriate action" with an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, while two of three Democratic members of Congress from Wisconsin have expressed support for an impeachment probe.
— Sen. Tammy Baldwin (@SenatorBaldwin) September 24, 2019
Baldwin released a statement on Twitter reading:
"In 2016, Donald Trump invited, encouraged and welcomed Russian interference in our American election. Now there are reports that President Trump solicited interference from Ukraine in the 2020 election.
"In addition, a whistleblower has filed a complaint and the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community has found it 'credible' and 'urgent.' We cannot accept President Trump attacking and intimidating this whistleblower, and by law, the Trump Administration needs to turn over this whistleblower complaint to Congress.
"The House is taking appropriate action in response to the Trump Administration's refusal to follow the law and provide this whistleblower complaint to the Inspector General report to Congress, which has a constitutional responsibility to get all the facts and provide oversight of the Executive Branch."
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Baldwin had not previously endorsed impeachment.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisconsin) – whose district includes Madison, its suburbs, and several surrounding counties – has voiced support for impeachment proceedings against Trump on Twitter for some time. On Friday of last week, upon the announcement that President Trump had approved deployment of U.S. forces to Saudi Arabia after an attack on oil facilities, Pocan tweeted that it was "way past impeachment time."
Outrageous. It's way past impeachment time. https://t.co/ZUBDnPSjmh
— Mark Pocan (@MarkPocan) September 21, 2019
The Journal Sentinel quoted Pocan in an interview as saying Trump had broken the law by asking Ukraine to "manufacture evidence against a political opponent," and also said Trump had openly admitted to it.
Rep. Gwen Moore, whose district includes Milwaukee and several of its suburbs, issued a statement in favor of an impeachment inquiry Tuesday.
The findings of the Mueller report were deeply troubling. Trump's call pushing Ukraine's president to investigate his political opponent is the latest example of Trump's corruption. I support an #ImpeachmentInquiry. Read my statement here: pic.twitter.com/gJo5slqtUy
— Rep. Gwen Moore (@RepGwenMoore) September 25, 2019
The statement read in part: "I welcome Speaker Pelosi's decision to begin an impeachment inquiry. The findings from the Mueller report troubled me and made it clear that he solicited help from Russia and obstructed justice. Trump's abuse of presidential power did not stop there. His recent calls urging Ukraine's president to investigate his political opponent is the latest example of Trump's lawlessness. The administration's mishandling of the whistleblower complaint also illustrates the persuasiveness of their corruption."
Rep. Ron Kind, whose district includes La Crosse, Eau Claire, and the Wisconsin side of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, released a statement that did not mention an impeachment inquiry, but did encourage an investigation into the allegations against Trump. The statement was not found on Kind's social media or website, but was published in articles by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and by the La Crosse Tribune:
"The reports of a whistleblower complaint alleging that the president actively coerced a foreign government to meddle in our election are extremely concerning. The administration must hand over the whistleblower report, as required by law, so Congress can investigate these claims as part of its constitutional duties. As a former special prosecutor, I know no one is above the law — not even the president."
Moore expressed hope that some of her Republican colleagues would come around to support impeachment. But none have, and some dismissed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to launch an impeachment inquiry.
Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin) told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Pelosi's comments "do not change the state of play," and accused the Democrats of fishing for impeachable offenses since Trump took office.
Trump won Wisconsin in 2016 with 47.2 percent of the vote. It was the first time Wisconsin had gone red in a presidential election since 1984.
Politico reported late Tuesday that 202 Democrats in Congress publicly support impeachment proceedings, while 33 do not or don't yet. No Republicans have broken ranks with the president.
