My vote against impeachment

I had hoped Lynlie was exaggerating her opinion on the response to the speech I had just given on the final day of the Intelligence Committee’s November 2019 hearings on the first impeachment of President Donald Trump. I was seen by both sides and the media, as the Republican most likely to vote for impeachment, which would have opened the door for other Republicans to do the same.

But I said no.

I had expertise in national security, and I was one of the few people on either side of the political aisle who was seeking facts rather than pushing a predetermined position.

After questioning witnesses, reviewing documents, consulting legal minds across the country, and sitting through hundreds of hours of depositions, I determined there was no evidence to warrant a vote for impeachment.

With that statement, and my vote against impeachment in the House, I crushed the hopes of Trump opponents across the country. And Lynlie, my wife, was right, social media exploded.

To be clear — I was open to voting for impeachment if I saw a violation of the law. That was my standard for impeachment.

But I wouldn’t vote for impeachment because I disliked what President Trump said in the call. And I wasn’t going to support impeachment because I disagreed with the president on other issues — which I did.

What brought me to vote against impeachment were the facts. Based on my definition of impeachment, a crime had to be proven.

The necessary elements of a bribe in a court of law weren’t in that phone call where the president asked for help in gathering information on alleged misdeeds by Joe Biden and Biden’s son Hunter.

The tale of President Donald Trump’s first impeachment came to a close on February 5, 2020, when the Senate decided to acquit him.

With a vote of 52-48, the Senate acquitted the President of abuse of power, and by a vote of 53-47, he was acquitted of obstruction of Congress.

Reflecting on the impeachment saga, it can seem complex. There were daily updates, numerous individuals involved, and unfamiliar congressional procedures.

The facts never changed. The politics never did, either.

I had developed my standard of impeachment under President Trump’s predecessor, President Barack Obama. Over the course of the Obama presidency, I was approached several times by Republican colleagues and vocal constituents about supporting efforts to try to impeach President Obama.

Their justifications for impeachment were the 2012 Benghazi attack — the assault on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya — as well as the president’s executive orders regarding immigration.

There was even talk about launching an impeachment over the insane and erroneous claims that President Obama was born outside the United States.

I always said no, for the same reason I voted against the Trump impeachment. I didn’t see evidence that laws were being broken. I was being consistent.

That’s an expression I’ve learned from my first chief of staff. What you say — your audio — has to match up with what you actually do — your video.

I based my work as a congressman on that principle, and I think it’s an important component of leadership.

We need to be ideologically consistent.

We need to do what we say.