IRVINE (CNS) - Rep. Katie Porter, D-Irvine, announced today that she supported impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, the first Orange County House member to do so.
In an announcement made on social media, Porter explained that she spent hours reading the U.S. Constitution, the writings of scholars and after ``weeks of study and deliberations and conversations with Orange County families I've decided to support an impeachment investigation of the president.''
Porter said she did ``not come to this easily'' and added, ``I didn't come to Congress to impeach the president... but when faced with a crisis of this magnitude I cannot with a clean conscience ignore my duty to defend the Constitution.''
Porter pointed to special counsel Robert Mueller's recent announcement that Justice Department policy prohibited him from indicting the president.
``But the special counselor was clear that he could not exonerate the president,'' Porter said.
``The (Trump) administration has refused to respect the rule of law,'' Porter added. ``They have ignored multiple subpoenas, they directed current and former high-ranking officials to disregard summons to testify and the president has continued his effort to spread mistrust for law enforcement, contempt for our journalists and false information about the law, Mueller's findings and basic, uncontested facts.''
Porter said she ``came to this position as an attorney and law professor, a mom to three amazing kids and as a patriot... Today, I have a heavy heart and deep concern about the state of our nation, but I have faith in our Constitution and the tools it gives us to meet this challenge head-on.''
Fred Whitaker, chairman of the Orange County Republican Party, criticized Porter's announcement.
``To me, this is just par for the course for her liberal ideology,'' Whitaker said. ``She doesn't even come close to representing her district, which is very center-right.''
Whitaker said party leaders ``did some internal polling recently and the vast majority, over 60%, want people to accept the Mueller report and move on for the good of the country.''
Whitaker said if a prosecutor said he did not have enough evidence to make a case, ``What's Congress going to do? Just doing this. The only thing they have to win in 2020 is investigations of Donald Trump -- nothing from a policy point of view to win in 2020.
``They're not pushing through any bills in Congress. Katie doesn't even have the support of the Speaker (Nancy Pelosi). It's a failed mission. Her district is going to reject it and reject her.''