Elissa Slotkin Backs Impeachment: Security of Country 'At Stake'

Freshman swing district Democrat Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) announced in an op-ed Monday she will vote for both articles of impeachment, contending the national security of the country is “at stake.”

Rep. Slotkin wrote an op-ed for the Detroit Free Press, explaining how she decided to back impeachment against President Donald Trump.

The Michigan Democrat, a former CIA officer, said, “President Trump used the power of the presidency for his own benefit, to give himself some advantage in the very election that would determine whether he remained in office.”

Rep. Slotkin continued:

On abuse of power: I believe that the President illegally solicited the help of foreigners to influence the American political process. On September 19, the President’s lawyer announced proudly on live TV that he had encouraged Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. On September 22, in response to a reporter’s question, the President affirmed it. The President later went on to encourage China to “investigate” his political rival, doubling down on it when asked by reporters.

These first-person statements, on top of the raft of first- and second-hand accounts provided in sworn testimony, paint a clear picture of a president abusing the power of his office for personal political gain.

…

And if a President admits that he’s done it, and solicits additional help from even more capable foreign governments, then isn’t it our constitutional duty to provide a clear response to that abuse of power? Our democracy is in danger if this behavior becomes the new normal.

Rep. Slotkin represents one of the 13 congressional districts that President Donald Trump won during the 2016 presidential election, and House Democrats flipped during the 2018 midterm elections.

The Michigan Democrat narrowly beat incumbent Rep. Mike Bishop (R-MI) by 3.8 percentage points.

Rep. Slotkin said she decided to back impeachment despite the negative backlash she might receive from her constituents in the 2020 elections.

“But in the national security world that I come from, we are trained to make hard calls on things, even if they are unpopular, if we believe the security of the country is at stake,” Rep. Slotkin said. “There are some decisions in life that have to be made based on what you know in your bones is right. And this is one of those times.”