Slotkin plows forward with pro-impeachment vote intention 

ROCHESTER, MONDAY, Dec. 16 — U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, publicly defended her decision today to support impeaching President Donald Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress only hours after releasing her intention in a Detroit Free Press opinion article. 

The first-term Democrat from a politically competitive district, which includes Ingham County,  told a raucous town hall meeting at Oakland University that based on her intelligence experience she was comfortable with making a hard decision when "the security of the country is at stake." 

Her conversation in front of an overflowing room of more than 400 came two days before the U.S. House is expected to vote on impeachment on the grounds that the president abused power by soliciting the help of the Ukraine government to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and son Hunter Biden. 

"I made this decision out of principle, and I will stick with that decision regardless of what this does to me politically because this is bigger than politics," she said, spurring a standing ovation from roughly 80%-85% of those in attendance. 

Slotkin said didn't support impeaching Trump after special prosecutor Robert Mueller's report regarding alleged collusion with the Russians over the 2016 election because it was a "retrospective" issue. Trump using his power to push a foreign government for his personal political gain for a future election, she said, was an abuse of power. 

"Impeachment was put into the Constitution by our founding fathers because nobody is above the law," she said. 

Slotkin plowed ahead with her reasoning over the top of continuous outbursts from hecklers in the back of the room. 

Shouts of "Four more years," "MAGA," "quid pro quo" and "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Elissa Slotkin has got to go" rarely stopped during the hour-long conversation. 

Nonetheless, Slotkin rarely was tripped up from her chain of thought. She didn't look or sound rattled. The protesters, many holding signs that said "Trump Keep America Great! 2020" and "Impeach Slotkin, Keep Trump" were never asked to be removed.  

Several uniformed Oakland University were in the room in case things got out of hand. They didn't. 

Slotkin said she made her decision on impeachment Sunday at her Holly farm home. She penned her op-ed that day and sent it to the newspaper "very early" this morning. 

So why the town hall? She said she knew the pushback would be significant.  

Slotkin told press after the town hall that got into the congressional race in 2017 because she didn't feel then-incumbent Mike Bishop, a Republican, was being transparent with the public. She wasn't going be criticized for something she criticized him for. 

The former intelligence official also briefed constituents about work on prescription drugs, health care reforms, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, the federal budget and PFAS — synthetic chemicals used in manufacturing that scientists say are harmful to consumers. 

Slotkin represents an 8th Congressional District that was politically competitive in 2018 after being held by Republican for nearly two decades and has a 56% GOP political base. 

She hung around after the town hall and answered 17 minutes of questions from a couple dozen members of the media and did one-on-one interviews with Detroit and Lansing media for a while after that. 

Standing in the back of the room during the town hall with other pro-Trump hecklers was Cathy Kubik of Commerce Township of the 11th District, who brought with her a sign reading, "Rep. Slotkin use your integrity. Vote no on impeachment." 

"I'm sad she's doing it. I thought she'd have more integrity. We have no leadership," she said. 

Also in the back of the room was Norm, Shinkle, who chairs the GOP organization in Slotkin’s district, along with Republican candidate Paul JUNGE. 

"I'm still waiting to hear what crimes he committed. How do you impeach a president if he hasn't committed a crime? It's supposed to be high crimes and misdemeanors. I can't even find a low-crime," Shinkle said. 

Among those in the crowd was recently retired Rochester Hills resident Roy Goldsberry, a lifelong Republican who has voted for Rick Snyder, John McCain and Mitt Romney. 

How does he feel about Slotkin's decision?  

"I'm completely happy with that. He has clearly committed the offensives he's been charged with and holds his own personal interests above that of the nation," Goldsberry said. "I find it mindboggling. I'm constantly amazed that 90%, or whatever the number is, of Republicans are supporting what Trump is doing. I think it's ridiculous. He's incompetent. He's in it for himself and he's not doing good for the country from what I can see." 

Barbara Hamilton of Clarkston said she felt was "courageous." 

"She's my hero. I have a great deal of respect for her," she said. 

Asked why Congress should push to remove him when voters could do so next year in the 2020 election, Hamilton said, "When somebody commits a crime, you don't wait eight months to address it. That's not a place to resolve a crime. You do that in the courts." 

But Russell Stabile of Rochester is not convinced. Coming to the town hall with his Democratic wife and cousin-in-law, he said he voted for neither Trump nor Hillary Clinton in 2016 and probably won't vote Trump in 2020 either. 

"If I believed the president committed a crime, he should be impeached," Stabile said. "But in my opinion, it's not impeachment what he did." 

(Kyle Melinn of the Capitol news service MIRS is at melinnky@gmail.com.)