Arizona political leaders react to Trump impeachment probe news
Sep 24, 2019, 3:00 PM | Updated: 7:40 pm
PHOENIX – Arizona political leaders quickly weighed in Tuesday as news spread that the House planned to move forward with an impeachment probe into President Donald Trump’s phone call with Ukraine’s leader.
The inquiry was spurred by reports that Trump pushed Ukraine’s leader for help investigating former Vice President Joe Biden, the president’s potential Democratic opponent in the 2020 election, and his son during a summer phone call.
As could be expected, Arizona’s politicians were split across party lines in their reaction.
U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton (D) issued a statement saying “failure to act would create a dangerous precedent.”
My statement regarding further evidence of President Trump's impeachable conduct: pic.twitter.com/LNUXVG8SoT
— Greg Stanton (@RepGregStanton) September 24, 2019
In May, Stanton called for impeachment proceedings in response to the Mueller report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego echoed Stanton’s sentiment in a statement plus a tweet tagged with #ImpeachTrump.
No president in the history of our country has ever been subject to as many credible allegations of illegal conduct as Donald Trump. #ImpeachTrump
— Ruben Gallego (@RepRubenGallego) September 24, 2019
“The nature of these crimes is serious and warrants serious and immediate action by Congress,” the Democrat’s statement said. “We cannot stand by as Donald Trump erodes the rule of law and our democracy.
“As a Marine and as a member of Congress, I swore to protect the Constitution and in order to uphold this duty, I believe we must move forward with the impeachment of President Trump.”
Democratic U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva tweeted that the administration’s corruption was “widespread, entrenched, and damaging to our democracy.”
On the other side of the aisle, Republican U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar tweeted that he “proudly” stood by Trump and noted that the president agreed to release an unredacted transcript of his phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The media is already moving the goalposts. The whistleblower was not on the phone call! @realDonaldTrump is releasing the full, unredacted transcript of the phone call. https://t.co/zEdaYqIRyt
— Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (@RepGosar) September 24, 2019
Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, an unflinching supporter of the president, called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement about the inquiry “nothing short of a sham and a fraud.”
“This is a sad story in the history of the United States of America, and it will take a long time for the nation to heal once the Democrats are finished with their unstoppable carnage of this republic,” he said in a statement.
GOP Rep. Debbie Lesko appeared on Fox News to criticize the Democrats and their motive.
.@RepDLesko to guest host @cvpayne: All the Democrats care about is influencing the 2020 election and it's so obvious pic.twitter.com/pzaiBVBaUH
— Neil Cavuto (@TeamCavuto) September 24, 2019
She also issued a statement questioning the validity of the reports that led to the inquiry.
My full statement on House Democrats’ baseless push to impeach President @realDonaldTrump: pic.twitter.com/EDdIFdEWS5
— Congresswoman Debbie Lesko (@RepDLesko) September 24, 2019
“Now they are using unverified claims from unknown sources without any evidence to formally launch their impeachment inquiry,” her statement said. “Democrats will stop at nothing to undermine the President of the United States.”
Lesko went on to predict the impeachment inquiry will “will backfire on Speaker Pelosi and her Democratic Caucus” and make it easier for Trump to win reelection in 2020 and for the GOP to claim control the House.
