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Politics and Government News
Briana Bierschbach
Prior Lake, Minn.

Rep. Angie Craig says she’s waiting to make a final judgment on impeachment

U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., speaks at a town hall meeting
U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., speaks at a town hall meeting in Prior Lake, Minn., on Saturday.
Briana Bierschbach | MPR News

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Democratic U.S. Rep. Angie Craig says she is waiting to see the results of House committee investigations before taking a position on whether the chamber should move to vote to impeach President Trump.

Craig, serving her first term in Congress representing Minnesota's 2nd District, told constituents at a town hall meeting in Prior Lake on Saturday that she supports hearings in the House judiciary and intelligence committees that aim to determine whether to recommend the removal of the president.

"This is one of the most important decisions that any member of Congress will ever make. I have decided that I would like to see the results of those investigations completed from a due process perspective before I make a final judgment,” she said. "But I am very supportive of the investigations underway in the U.S. House committees."

The town hall hit on a range of issues, from drug prices and trade wars to achievement gaps in schools, but two constituents pushed her to state her position on impeachment.

Democrats in Congress are feeling increased pressure from their base to move to an impeachment vote following the Mueller Report and a recent whistleblower report alleging that Trump asked the Ukrainian president to start an investigation into the son of former Vice President Joe Biden. Biden is currently a leading contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Another Democratic candidate, Elizabeth Warren, has accused Congress of being "complicit" in not moving to impeach Trump.

At her town hall, Craig said she's concerned about the recent whistleblower report, but she said Congress has yet to be briefed on what happened. Trump on Saturday acknowledged a conversation with Ukraine's president but denied allegations of any wrongdoing.

“The inspector general has sat down with Adam Schiff on House Intelligence, but members of Congress have not yet been briefed,” Craig said at the town hall. “We have only seen what you have seen in the press reports. I want to acknowledge that it's a very serious allegation that has been made, and I look forward to Adam and House Intelligence working to get to the bottom of it.”

Republicans in Congress have been critical of the hearings, arguing Democrats are creating the illusion that impeachment is underway when no such vote has been taken.

If the House committees ultimately recommend articles of impeachment against President Trump, the full chamber would need to vote to impeach the president by a simple majority. But the process would then head to the Republican-led Senate, which is unlikely to vote to remove Trump.

It’s put House Democrats in swing districts in a tough spot. The 2nd District, which includes the southern Twin Cities suburbs, flipped from red to blue in the last election, with Craig defeating former Republican Rep. Jason Lewis by more than five percentage points.

While some constituents have pressed Craig to support impeachment, Prior Lake resident Kim Churchill said Saturday that she doesn't want Congress to move on impeachment.

“I think it wastes the government’s time because we all know that the Senate is not going to ratify it, and it’s just going to give a rallying point for people who are in support of President Trump,” Churchill said. “Our government needs to spend time governing rather than wasting time going up a hill that it’s never going to get over.”

Craig is facing pressures not just from constituents but also from potential challengers. Richard Painter, a former Republican White House ethics counsel who unsuccessfully mounted a primary challenge to DFL U.S. Sen. Tina Smith last year, has hinted that he could run as a third-party candidate in the 2nd District if Craig doesn’t back impeachment.

Lewis is challenging Smith for the U.S. Senate in next year's election, but former Michigan state Rep. Rick Olson, who now lives in Prior Lake, has announced he’s seeking the Republican endorsement to challenge Craig in 2020.

Craig, a former human resources executive at St. Jude Medical, said she’s pushing back on corruption in government by authoring a bill to permanently ban members of Congress from serving as lobbyists and requiring them to sell individual stocks when they are sworn into office.

“It’s not even popular sometimes on our side of the aisle that I say I think you ought to have to sell all of your individual stocks,” she said, referring to her fellow Democrats. “There are people there on our side of the aisle who still serve on corporate boards while still serving as members of Congress.”