CASE STATEMENT ON TODAY’S ANNOUNCEMENT OF ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT
News Release from Office of Rep Ed Case, December 10, 2019
(Honolulu, HI) – U.S. Congressman Ed Case (Hawai‘i – District 1) issued the following statement following this morning’s announcement of articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump:
“I have supported the formal impeachment inquiry since the whistleblower’s report on the President’s dealings with Ukraine was provided to Congress in September. I have closely followed the inquiry, to include a full review of the Intelligence Committee’s 400-plus page majority and minority reports and personally attending the Judiciary Committee’s hearings. I have received thousands of responses from my constituents to my requests for their input. I believe that the facts revealed by the inquiry to date justify full U.S. House consideration of articles of impeachment for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
“However, I owe it to my country, my constituents and my own constitutional responsibilities to fully inform my decision before I vote on the articles. I’m not there yet because I haven’t reviewed all of the actual articles, the Judiciary Committee’s report and the full House debate. When I have done so, I will discharge my constitutional duty in this truly sad matter per my oath of office and to the best of my ability.”
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KITV: Local Democrats criticize hesitation on impeachment support – “While both Ed Case and Tulsi Gabbard voted to initially begin the impeachment inquiry, now that the articles of impeachment against President Trump have been introduced, neither has committed to voting to impeach.”
HNN: Hawaii congressman says he’s not ready to support impeachment
Sept 27, 2019: Flip-Flop Tulsi Gabbard reverses position, decides to climb on Impeachment bandwagon
WTOP: Tulsi Gabbard makes fans of Trump supporters in New Hampshire (Will she alienate them?)
Big Q: What do you think of the two articles of impeachment against President Trump?
Case Takes His Time To Make A Historic Decision On Impeachment
CB: … Before U.S. Rep. Ed Case takes any votes on impeachment, he said he must consider the “sizeable” number of his constituents who don’t support it.
Case is a moderate Democrat who rode into office on the blue wave of 2018, but unlike some of his colleagues he doesn’t represent a district that Donald Trump won in 2016.
Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District overwhelming voted for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, meaning a vote to oust the president won’t carry the same ramifications as it might for someone like U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, who represents a swing district and could be vulnerable in November.
(But Ed Case is elected on Democratic Primary day in a multi-candidate race. The General Election is just pro-forma. He wins because of Republican and Independent crossover voters who are allowed into the open primary. Those are the voters Case is pandering to.)
Still, Case has been deliberate in how he thinks about impeachment.
He’s conducted online constituent surveys, hosted town halls and talked with people on airplanes and in supermarkets, all in an attempt to gauge where they stand on what has become a historic moment in Washington.
The result, according to Case, is that about one-third of the people he’s heard from don’t back the Democrats’ inquiry.
“I’m the only voice for them on this issue in the U.S. House,” Case said. “I owe those people in particular — and everybody else — a very careful and deliberate analysis before I make my decision.”
2017: Hawaii Democrats Push for Closed Primary Fails--SCOTUS Refuses to Hear Case
read … Case Takes His Time To Make A Historic Decision On Impeachment