COLUMBIA, S.C. — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Tuesday the House will start a formal impeachment inquiry into , and reaction to that news was swift from South Carolina politicians.
Pelosi said she was launching the probe over allegations that the President pressured the leader of Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden's family.
Within minutes, congressmembers from around the country were reacting, including from South Carolina. Here's what they said.
Rep. James Clyburn (House Majority Whip/6th Congressional District)
“My approach is always to proceed with reason and not emotion, which is why I have supported methodical oversight of this President in order to uncover evidence of any abuses of power. Recent revelations and allegations that the President used the power of his office to force a foreign government to attack a political rival, and may be directing subordinates to violate the law requiring the transmission of a whistleblower complaint to Congress, constitute an egregious violation of his constitutional duties. This is about protecting our national security, standing up for the rule of law, and patriotism. I support the official impeachment inquiry announced by the Speaker today.”
Rep. Joe Wilson (2nd Congressional District)
Congressman Joe Wilson released the following statement in response to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement today on the decision to launch an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump:
“Since President Donald Trump was first elected, Democrats have been obsessively scraping for any sign of alleged wrongdoing by the Administration and citing impeachment. Every time a new accusation comes to light, it is backed by unsubstantiated evidence and later disproved. It is disappointing that instead of addressing issues truly affecting Americans, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi continues this divisive, baseless attack on President Trump.”
Rep. Jeff Duncan (3rd Congreesional District)
“There you have it folks – the witch hunt continues. The House Democrats are proceeding on impeachment against President Trump without any evidence of wrongdoing and against the will of the American people.
“They have spent the last three years trying to overturn an election that didn’t go their way by spinning fairy tales of Russian collusion and claiming they had evidence of it. Did they? No. There was no collusion and no obstruction. Now, in their continued efforts to remove President Trump from office, they are moving on to the next shiny object. If this accusation fails to achieve the opposition’s desired result, they’ll just keep trying with another issue.
“I’m glad that President Trump is releasing the unredacted transcript of his conversation with the President of Ukraine tomorrow so the American people can see exactly what was said. But the fact remains: it’s chilling to see an entire political party unify and back impeachment before the facts are revealed. That’s truly telling – they hate this President so much.
“The left and some extremely biased members of the mainstream media have perpetuated the Russian collusion hoax and now Ukraine in an incredibly irresponsible way. Report first – accuse first – fact-find later. Remember folks, in the words of Rep. Al Green, “I’m concerned that if we don’t impeach this President, he will get re-elected.” That’s what this is all about. They can’t stomach the thought of President Trump in the White House for four more years, so they are going to continue the mindless and unhinged witch hunts.
“Instead of helping the American people, Democrats have simply wasted everyone’s time. It’s just a shame they aren’t done yet. This is Trump Derangement Syndrome at its finest.”
Rep. Ralph Norman (5th Congressional District)
Democrats have launched an impeachment inquiry based on a whistle-blower's secondhand account of a phone call, but couldn't bother to wait for the actual transcript of the call itself.
That should tell you something. Despite the incredible things @realDonaldTrump has accomplished, imagine how much further along our country would be if Democrats weren't actively trying to destroy him at every turn.
Rep. William Timmons (4th Congressional District)
Speaker Pelosi's announcement today was the definition of political theater. If Democrats were serious about impeachment they would file Articles of Impeachment and let the House vote. Until then, I'm going to stay focused on the issues that matter to people in the Upstate.