Ed Case supports Trump impeachment inquiry

Hawaii Congressman Ed Case has thrown his support behind an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, saying in a statement today that it’s justified in light of allegations the president pressured Ukraine to investigate a political foe.

“The allegations that the president pressured a foreign country to investigate a domestic political opponent and withheld foreign assistance as leverage, to go with his Director of National Intelligence’s refusal to produce the whistleblower’s complaint and independent Inspector General’s report to Congress as required by law, go to the core of this or any president’s constitutional duties and our national security,” said Case.

“Together with other claimed breaches and the president’s continued obstruction of congressional oversight, they fully justify Congress reviewing potential impeachment.”

Case, who until now has been reluctant to advocate for impeachment proceedings, said the review must be “responsible, deliberate and fact-based, focused not on policy differences but upholding and defending our Constitution.”

Case’s announcement comes hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House would initiate a formal impeachment inquiry against the president, bowing to months of pressure from within her own party. The inquiry will focus on allegations that Trump betrayed his oath of office and the nation’s security by seeking to enlist a foreign power for his own political gain – which Trump denies.

Trump has been accused of pressuring the leader of Ukraine to open a corruption investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. Biden is a frontrunner in the Democratic presidential primary.

More than two-thirds of the 235 House Democrats have said they support an impeachment inquiry, according to a tally by the New York Times.

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Hawaii’s other member of the U.S. House of Representatives, is among the minority of Democrats opposing impeachment proceedings. She said it would be “terribly divisive for our already divided country” in an interview with CNN today.

U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono, Hawaii’s two senators, support impeachment proceedings against Trump.

All members of Hawaii’s congressional delegation are Democrats.