Published on December 18, 2019 by Michael Goot

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, released a statement Wednesday morning opposing the impeachment of President Donald Trump, and her Democratic opponent, Tedra Cobb, issued a statement saying she supports impeachment.

“House Democrats failed to uphold their constitutional duty and instead pursued a partisan impeachment process due to their visceral disdain for President Trump and the will of the American people who elected him,” Stefanik said in a news release.

“In order to impeach a duly-elected president, there must be direct evidence of impeachable offenses — high crimes and misdemeanors, bribery or treason. Neither the Intelligence Committee nor the Judiciary Committee found direct evidence, resulting in bipartisan opposition to impeachment,” the statement said.

Stefanik went on to say that the process was “unprecedented, partisan, and filled with abuses of power started by Adam Schiff, continued by Jerry Nadler, and finished by Nancy Pelosi.”

“The Democrats’ case rested on the illusion of a quid pro quo: that President Trump refused to provide aid to Ukraine until the Bidens were investigated,” she added. “However, this case is easily disproven by two critical facts: security assistance and defensive lethal aid was provided to Ukraine, and there was no investigation into the Bidens. It’s unfortunate that House Democrats believe their disdain for President Trump is more important than respecting the will of the American people.”

Stefanik did not speak on the House and did not submit any written remarks as part of the hearing, according to spokeswoman Maddie Anderson.

Cobb, in her statement, said she supports impeachment.

“Given the seriousness of the charges and based on the overwhelming evidence that the President used $400 million in taxpayer money for his own personal, political gain, while risking our national security, I would vote in favor of impeachment. We must ensure that anyone who occupies the highest office in the land never abuses the powers of that office,” she said in a statement.

“I urge members of Congress to get to work on the issues they were sent there to address: reducing the cost of health care and prescription drugs, safeguarding Medicare and Social Security, and protecting our environment,” Cobb added.

You can read the full article athttps://poststar.com