As the U.S. House of Representatives continues subpoenas and depositions and President Donald Trump rails against the process, an Illinois Congressman is saying the impeachment process is a waste of time and a distraction. 18th District Congressman Darin LaHood says that the inquiry by House Democrats into President Donald Trump’s dealings with the Ukraine as well as his dealings with Russia have came and went with the Mueller investigation. “I was one who said that Bob Mueller needs to do his job in the previous investigation. There was a narrative built by the Democrats that said that President Trump had done several things wrong and it would lead to his impeachment and to wait for the Mueller Report. We got the report and it was a thorough investigation and there was nothing there. He found no criminal liability, but the Democrats couldn’t stop there.”
LaHood also seems to be having similar ideas as the president about Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. President Trump said that Speaker Pelosi hated the United States of America at a rally in Louisiana Friday night, calling the inquiry unconstitutional. LaHood believes the origins of Pelosi’s push for impeachment comes from the far wings of her party. “Before she had even read the transcript of the phone call to the Ukraine or heard the report of the whistleblower said we are moving forward with impeachment. It might be nice to look at the evidence and the facts before you move forward. This is partisan. This is political. I think she’s being driven by the far, the radicals, of her party. It’s spilled over into the presidential race, as we have kind of seen this herd mentality by the Democrats. I’m all for having the election and a vigorous debate in our participatory democracy, but impeachment is not the road we need to be going down. It’s a distraction. It’s a plague to the country and I think it will cause major disruption to our political system.”
LaHood told Quincy’s KHQA Friday morning that he doesn’t see evidence to what he said “nullifies an election” of the president. LaHood wants Congress to move on from the investigation and work on what he feels are more important matters like trade deals and improving the country’s skilled labor force.