Gabbard on Impeachment Inquiry ‘Yes’ Vote: I Did It for ‘Transparency’ | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's note: This informational nugget was sent to me by Ben Shapiro, who represents the Daily Wire, and since this is one of the most topical news events, it should be published on BCN.

The author of this post is Frank Camp.

    On Sunday, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) appeared on Fox Business Network's "Sunday Morning Futures" with host Maria Bartiromo.

    During the segment, Bartiromo asked Gabbard about her thinking when she voted in favor of the formalization of the impeachment inquiry on Thursday.

• BARTIROMO: So, you voted "yes" on this resolution last week. Tell us why.
• GABBARD: To get the facts. To get the information. There were serious questions and concerns being raised. The American people deserve to get some answers to those questions so we can bring out into broad daylight what exactly happened, gather this information - understanding that the vote that took place was a vote for more transparency as this inquiry continues.
• BARTIROMO: What about the treatment of the Democratic party? I mean, you yourself have talked about this process being unfair, and we see this unfair treatment every day with this impeachment inquiry going on behind closed doors. Can you give us a sense of what's going on in the [Democratic] Party that we're not seeing more transparency on all of the above?
• GABBARD: Well, I think one of the issues has been that only those who are serving on the Intelligence Committee have had access to the different interviews and conversations they've been having. I think as this inquiry moves forward, once again, this is why I voted for that inquiry the other day, is to make sure that the American people actually are getting the information that only some members of Congress have been getting access to thus far.

    Gabbard has previously appeared on Fox News' "Hannity," where she made similar remarks.

    "I think it needs to be a transparent process. I have long expressed my concern about going through impeachment proceedings in a very, very partisan way because it will only further tear apart an already divided country. I think that inquiry needs to be done in a very narrowly focused way, and it must be done transparently," Gabbard told host Sean Hannity.

    Gabbard added that she didn't "have access" to much of the information, and that Americans "deserve" to see the evidence as it rolls out.

    Polling data shows that a slim majority of the American people agree with the House's impeachment resolution. As of publication, the RealClearPolitics polling average has 50.9% in favor of impeachment, and 42.3% opposed.

    Looking more deeply into the raw data, three of the most recent polls suggest a general consensus around impeachment.

    According to a Fox News poll conducted between October 27-30: "49% want Trump impeached and removed from office, 4% say he should be impeached but not removed, and 41% oppose impeaching Trump."

    An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll conducted at the same time asked respondents: "Based upon what you know today about President Trump's call and actions related to his discussion with the Ukrainian president, do you approve or disapprove of the impeachment inquiry being conducted by Congress to determine if there is enough evidence to remove Donald Trump from office?"

    53% approved, while 44% disapproved.

    When probed further, 49% of respondents said they wanted Congress to "impeach Donald Trump and remove him from office," while 46% said that the president should not be impeached or removed from office.

    An Economist/YouGov poll conducted between October 27-29 asked respondents: "If the U.S. House of Representatives votes to impeach Donald Trump, do you think the U.S. Senate should or should not remove him from office?"

    47% said that the Senate "should remove" Trump, while 40% said the Senate "should not remove" Trump from office. 13% were "not sure."