Impeach or not — your reps chime in
State delegation’s views differ on Ukraine, inquiry
WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives has launched an impeachment inquiry into President Trump. Here’s a summary of where Wisconsin’s elected representatives to Congress stand on the impeachment inquiry and the issues driving it.
Their comments below are drawn from lawmakers’ written statements, comments on social media, comments at public events, and interviews with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel — and were made at varying points amid fastmoving developments.
These include the Sept. 24 announcement of an impeachment inquiry, the subsequent release of a summary record of President Donald Trump’s phone call asking the leader of Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden and the whistleblower complaint about the call, and Trump’s public call on Thursday for China to start an investigation of Biden.
Wisconsin’s eight House districts represent different segments of the state’s electorate with varying degrees of public support for and opposition to the president.
Three districts are represented by Democrats, four by Republicans, and one (the 7th Congressional District in northern Wisconsin) was represented by Republican Sean Duffy until his retirement last month — and is now vacant.
Sen. Ron Johnson (Republican)
Johnson is chairman of the Senate foreign relations Europe subcommittee and a member of the Senate’s Ukraine Caucus who has traveled to that country several times. He contends that Trump was not improperly using his office to pressure Ukraine to investigate Biden.
“I realize the Democrats (and) a lot of members of the press are putting the worst possible construction on everything about (the phone call with Ukraine). … I’ve been involved in (Ukraine). … I’ve had direct contact with (their) president. I never got any sense at all there was any kind of pressure on him. I just put the best construction on the call. I know how (Trump) talks. That’s who he is,” Johnson told the Journal Sentinel on Sept. 26.
Johnson says he lobbied Trump to free up aid to Ukraine while Trump was withholding it but rejects the idea that Trump was using the aid to pressure that country for dirt on Biden. Johnson told the Wall Street Journal Oct. 4 that he heard from the U.S. ambassador to the European Union that the frozen aid was being used to pressure Ukraine to conduct investigations Trump sought into the 2016 U.S. election, but that when he asked Trump about that, the president strongly denied any quid pro quo.
Asked Oct. 3 about Trump’s urging China to investigate Biden, Johnson told reporters, “I don’t think there’s anything improper about doing that.” Aides said later that was a general comment on requests by presidents for help from other countries with ongoing investigations, not on Trump’s specific comments. But Johnson declined to criticize Trump over his China remarks.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (Democrat)
Baldwin announced her support for a House impeachment inquiry on Sept. 24.
“The White House call memo confirms what was revealed … in the whistleblower complaint — President Trump solicited interference from Ukraine in our 2020 election. This is a serious abuse of power that risks our national security and weakens efforts to protect our Democracy.” Baldwin said on Twitter Sept. 26.
She spoke again on Twitter on Oct. 3 after the president’s statements urging China to investigate Biden.
“This is your democracy and we should stand united and put our country first, sending a clear message to (Trump) and the rest of the world that we will not tolerate foreign interference from Ukraine, China or any foreign country in our American elections,” she said.
Rep. Bryan Steil (Republican)
1st Congressional District: The southeastern corner of the state, bounded by Janesville in the west, Kenosha and Racine in the east, and the southwestern suburbs of Milwaukee in the north.
“Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats are putting political theater over the issues impacting the American people. If Speaker Pelosi wants to move forward with the impeachment inquiry, she should bring the resolution to the House floor and have every Member of Congress put their name on the line. I do not support the ongoing impeachment investigation. Under Speaker Pelosi’s direction, six House committees are focusing on more investigations rather than lowering prescription drug costs, fixing our southern border, and reining in federal spending.” (statement, Oct. 3)
Rep. Mark Pocan (Democrat)
2nd Congressional District: anchored by the city of Madison but extends to six other counties south and west of Dane County
Pocan first called for an impeachment inquiry in May, accusing the president of stonewalling Congress regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“The president in this case not only broke the law by asking a foreign government to manufacture evidence against a political opponent, he’s also openly admitted it, which puts us in a very different territory . ... In this case it’s crystal clear by his own admission,” Pocan said in a Sept. 24 interview.
“He renewed his call to the Ukrainian government and now threw in China. We think he’s trying to normalize it somehow, but it’s not normal. It’s a violation of the oath of office and it’s a crime,” Pocan said a town hall meeting Oct. 3 in Dodgeville.
Rep. Ron Kind (Democrat)
3rd Congressional District: a predominately southwestern Wisconsin seat that also stretches into the central Wisconsin cities of Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids.
Kind has criticized the president’s conduct and endorsed a House investigation but not explicitly backed an “impeachment” inquiry.
“As we continue to learn more details about the President’s alarming actions, I remain extremely concerned that the President actively coerced a foreign government to meddle in our election and then tried to cover it up. It’s more vital than ever for Congress to get all the facts it can and I will continue to support Congress’s ongoing investigations into the whistleblower complaint. As a former special prosecutor, I believe it is important for Congress to complete its investigation before we make any decision of this magnitude.” (Statement to the media, Sept. 27)
Rep. Gwen Moore (Democrat)
4th Congressional District: city of Milwaukee and most of the suburban communities in the northern half of Milwaukee County.
Moore had come out in support of an impeachment inquiry well before the Ukraine controversy.
“It’s clear that Trump tried to bully a foreign leader into investigating his political rival to better his 2020 bid,” she said on Twitter Sept. 26 after the release of the whistleblower complaint.
“I absolutely will vote to impeach the president,” she said in an interview aired Sept. 29 on WISN Channel 12. “It’s not just that we don’t like this man. This man is a national security threat. This man is dangerous to our democracy and to our foreign policy, our allegiances around the world.”
Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (Republican)
5th Congressional District: the communities on the west and northwest periphery of Milwaukee, including most of Waukesha County and all of Washington County.
Sensenbrenner says he would be troubled if there were a “quid pro quo” involved in the president’s request that Ukraine investigate Biden and his son, Hunter. But he contends there was none.
“The Democrats have been searching for any alleged ‘impeachable’ offense since the beginning of the Trump Presidency. I expect the Judiciary Committee and others will continue their partisan investigations, tarnishing Congress’s credibility and further dividing the country,” he said in a Sept. 24 statement.
In an interview with the Journal Sentinel Sept. 26, he said the Ukraine controversy was “made up by people who have been spending two and half year trying to get Trump.”
Rep. Glenn Grothman (Republican)
6th Congressional District: an east-central Wisconsin seat that includes the cities of Fond du Lac, Manitowoc and Port Washington.
“I was disappointed to see Speaker Pelosi move forward with impeachment proceedings. ... We know that probably every Democrat in the House voted for Secretary Clinton in 2016 and the endless string of investigations in the House are a reaction to that election. But, the fact remains that the important business before the House has ground to a halt due to these distractions . ... I do think there are legitimate questions to be raised as why Hunter Biden was employed by Ukrainian-based gas company, Burisma Holdings, at the same time his father oversaw Ukrainian relations for the Obama Administration, and why was Ukrainian prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, fired during this time period?” (Sept. 25 statement)
Rep. Mike Gallagher (Republican)
8th Congressional District: a northeast Wisconsin seat that includes the Fox Valley region and city of Green Bay and stretches north to the Michigan border. “The question of impeachment is serious business, and Congress must be responsible in how it discharges this authority. Unfortunately, Democratic Leadership rushed to judgment, and called for impeachment before getting all the facts. Already, many of the anonymously sourced media reports have proven to be false. A matter as grave as impeachment demands deliberation, seriousness, and reliance on hard evidence and not the amateur theatrics and partisan hysteria we have seen so far — that goes both for my Democratic colleagues, the media, as well as for allies of the administration. It is imperative that we rely on established processes and laws in our oversight duties, and not the passions of social media . ... The more transparency we have, the better.” (statement, Sept. 25).