NY19 candidates vary on willingness to discuss Trump impeachment
With more to lose, the two major party candidates in the 19th Congressional District are far less willing to talk about a potential impeachment inquiry for President Donald Trump than are the two minor party candidates.
Freshman Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. John Faso, R-Kinderhook, and challenger Antonio Delgado, D-Rhinebeck, have declined to an-
swer whether there are sufficient grounds to initiate proceedings that could lead to his removal from office.
Asked whether he has seen or heard anything done by Trump that should result in impeachment hearing, Faso had a oneword answer: “No.”
Faso has previously said the U.S. Justice Department probe of the administration led by Robert Mueller should continue. He also says he can keep an “open mind” toward evidence of malfeasance, despite campaign contributions to him over the years from political action committees founded on behalf of Vice President Mike Pence, Trump’s media lawyer/ spokesman Rudy Giuliani, U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes, and U.S. National Security
Adviser John Bolton, and Trump himself.
Delgado has retreated from statements he made in May, when he enumerated specific actions by Trump that warranted an impeachment inquiry. In early October, the Democrat would not discuss whether enough information was publicly available for him to take a position on impeachment.
“I do not believe that we should at this time be moving forward with impeachment proceedings,” he said. “The reason is because there is an ongoing investigation that has yet to be concluded and we must await the full extent of that report to make an informed and thoughtful decision how to proceed.”
Following a Democratic Party forum in May, Delgado was asked the same question and without hesitation responded: “We’ve heard a lot of things that
certainly raise suspicion and deep, deep profound concern. The fact that (Trump) fired (former FBI Director James) Comey and his intentions he laid bare on national television speaks for itself. The fact that he took very long to enforce the sanctions on Russia after the Congress has essentially unanimously said that we should . ... The fact that he took so long to even acknowledge it.”
Delgado in May, also said he wanted to wait for the conclusion of the Mueller probe, but not before adding that impeachment hearings could be based on the June 9, 2016, meeting between Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner and former campaign manager Paul Manafort with RussianAmerican lobbyist named Rinat Akhmetshin, Kremlin-connected lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, and apparently two other Russian
nationals.
Independent candidate Diane Neal, of Hurley, who is seeking to give up her Democratic enrollment to become non-affiliated, agrees the Muller investigation should continue, but said there is considerable evidence in public view to initiate impeachment hearings. She specifically cited Trump’s business associations with foreign powers as something that should deeply concern district voters.
“I think he’s had a lot of violations of the emoluments clause,” she said. “I don’t think he should be able to profit. I worry about things like all of the Chinese patents and licenses that Ivanka’s been getting. I don’t that people should, ... from the president on down, should be able to personally profit from public service. It defeats the purpose of public service.”
Green Party candidate
Steve Greenfield, of New Paltz, takes the strongest stance of any candidate, and says he is not confident the Mueller probe will overcome Washington, D.C., politics.
“Donald Trump must be impeached and the Mueller investigation, while I very much would appreciate if it would reveal impeachable information about Donald Trump, I don’t expect that it will,” he said.
Greenfield said that, just within the past month, Trump has profited by his position as president.
“There’s been a giant Women for Trump convention being held at the Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C.,” he said. “The violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution is ongoing. It’s a daily routine in the current presidency. People who are supporting the president are renting Trump-owned property and sending cash
right into the family pockets. That’s an ongoing matter and illegal and should be stopped.”
Greenfield also said he believes Trump maneuvers to force legislation also rise to the level of criminality.
“The separation of children at the border from families, which was stated many times by Donald Trump as something he was doing in order to apply pressure to Senate Democrats to approve funding for the wall,” he said. “That changes it from immigration policy to political extortion of a legislative nature and is, therefore, kidnapping and should be an impeachable offense on its own. I have no interest in waiting for the Mueller report, although I would certainly be thrilled if it turns up some additional crimes. There’s been enough crimes already and they’re ongoing so they need to be stopped.”