The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Himes in limelight with major role in impeachment inquiry
WASHINGTON — One could argue that all 10 years of Rep. Jim Himes’ career on Capitol Hill have been a rehearsal for this moment: A leading role in the impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
Himes has seats on two of the six House committees charged by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with working up potential articles of impeachment. But it is Himes’ seat on the House intelligence committee that will put him more in the spotlight than ever before.
The committee is in the lead on investigating the episode that tipped the scales among House Democrats last week in favor of opening an impeachment inquiry: Trump’s July 25
phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to lobby him for an investigation of Hunter Biden, former Vice President Joe Biden’s son.
Himes understands all too well the historical implications. The impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1998 made and broke Congressional careers, especially on the prosecutorial Republican side. And while the Watergate congressional investigation hearings of the early 1970s did not result in impeachment hearings (because President Richard M. Nixon quit beforehand), they produced moments like Sen. Howard Baker, RTenn., saying: “What did the president know and when did he know it.”
Although flippant remarks are sometimes his forte, he assures there’ll be no hotdogging on his part before the cameras.
“I’m going to conduct myself as seriously and dutifully as I can,” said Himes, 53, who has held his seat representing most of Fairfield County since 2009. “I’m very concerned that we rise to this occasion. We need to demonstrate to the American people we are being serious and fair.”
Himes is helped by having his increasingly liberal 4th Congressional District behind him. In 2018, he bested Republican challenger Harry Arora by a 22percentagepoint margin. Once a bastion of Yankee Republicans, Connecticut has morphed in recent decades to reliably blue with an allDemocratic complement of five House members and two senators.
“I would be very surprised if a Republican in (Himes’) district made a big issue out of impeachment,” said Ronald Schurin, a University of Connecticut political scientist. “It wouldn’t work to their benefit. This would be a more interesting story to write if there were some Republicans in the delegation.”
Himes already is omnipresent on MSNBC and CNN, sometimes with his studious blackframe glasses and sometimes without. But impeachment hearings will up the ante considerably, making him more of a household name than ever before.
Of course, if the impeachment process founders and Trump emerges triumphant, Himes has his role on the House Financial Services Committee and local Connecticut issues to fall back on. But if impeachment goes forward as something greater than a purely political exercise, the benefits may be huge — particularly if a statewide run presents itself.
“If he wants to run statewide, he’d find himself in good stead there,” said Gary Rose, a political scientist at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield.
In Himes’ view, part of the trick in pursuing impeachment is staying on course and not getting distracted by disagreements on hotbutton issues like immigration or LGBTQ policy.
And, above all, Democrats need to “stay away from the salacious stuff, Stormy Daniels.” He was referring to the porno film star who accepted hush money just before the 2016
election to stay silent about her sexual encounter with Trump.
Ironically, one person uniquely positioned to understand Himes’ situation is his onetime opponent: former Rep. Chris Shays, a Republican who represented the Fairfield County in the House from 1987 to 2009. Shays views the current impeachment inquiry as “legitimate,” but distressing.
“I dread it,” Hayes said in an interview. “I understand that it has to happen, but I dread it.”
Shays, who served in the Republicanmajority House during the Clinton impeachment, knows the political gridlock, partisanship and political struggle that can result from impeachment.
“When you have an impeachment process the government basically shuts down,” said Shays, who at age 73 is living in retirement in Maryland. “The idea that a lot’s going to get done or anything’s going to get done is pretty remote. So that’s a huge negative, whatever side of the equation you’re on.”
In 1998, Shays was one of only five Republicans to vote against all four articles of impeachment against the president.
“I opposed impeachment of Bill Clinton because I thought the proven offense were not impeachable and the impeachable offenses weren’t proven,” said Shays.
That decision was a tough one for Shays, who called a town hall the week before the 1998 vote to help him make up his mind. While he did not support impeachment, he thought Clinton should be out of the White House: “He had (oral sex) in the White House with an intern. How do I say to any police officer or fireman that he shouldn’t lose his job, because they would!”
The 4th District was split on impeachment in 1998, Shays said. His party’s impeachment inquiry meant Shays gained a primary challenge in the 1998 election.
“I lost Republican support from that point on,” he said. “Controversy is the enemy of the incumbent.”
Shays held his seat in 1998. But not all in his party fared so well. Republicans lost five seats in the House and did not pick up any in the Senate. Three days later, thenHouse Speaker Newt Gingrich relinquished his leadership role.
Nevertheless, Shays believes the current Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom he served with, made the right call Tuesday to start an impeachment inquiry. He called Trump’s phone call with the Ukrainian president “incredibly concerning” and the surrounding facts “stunning.”
“In the whole list of things for which you could rightfully consider impeachment for Donald Trump, you have not only the potential for a very real impeachable offense, but you have potentially a coverup,” Shays said. “There are a number of people who must have the real story.”