Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.) criticized his own party for the impeachment investigation underway in the House, during a Fox News interview on Nov. 17.
Van Drew, one of two Democrats who voted against the impeachment proceedings in October, said the endeavor is a waste of time.
“I just think we keep going down this road, keep spending more time. Many of us came to Congress because we really wanted to accomplish goals, really work on issues such as health care, work on issues dealing with prescription drugs, election security, the debt, the deficit—the list goes on,” Van Drew said.
New Jerseys 2nd Congressional District, which Van Drew represents, went to Trump during the 2016 election.
In the interview, he said people should understand how important impeachment is, adding that no president in history has been convicted in the Senate after being impeached by the House.
“Were going to have an election next year. Lets have the election, lets fight through the election, lets do what Republicans and Democrats and whomever else does. But this [inquiry] is going to get us nowhere. Weve spent millions of dollars, in my opinion, tons of money, tons of time, tons of hurt, fracturing the nation apart. I havent seen this to be a good thing,” he said.
House Democrats allege that Trump abused his power by pushing Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son before he would authorize about $400 million in U.S. military aid to Ukraine. Trump has denied the charges.
His comments come as the House Intelligence Committee prepares for a second week of public hearings as part of its inquiry, including with the man who is arguably the most important witness. Gordon Sondland, Trumps ambassador to the European Union, is the only person interviewed to date who had conversations directly with the president.
On Nov. 19, the committee will hear from Tim Morrison, former top national security adviser to the president, Read More – Source
