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“The issue that got to me was this idea that the President, the most powerful man in the world, reached out to a foreigner, a foreign leader, and asked him to dig up dirt on an American,” Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin said Thursday, explaining to the crowd how she went from opposing an inquiry to penning an op-ed in support.
Before the former CIA officer could finish her sentence, a vocal group in the crowd called out “Not true!” and “Fake news!” As Slotkin pressed on, attendees became more agitated and started yelling over each other and the congresswoman. The critical voices did not appear to represent the feelings of everyone in the room, and Slotkin continued her explanation as others called for the critics to quiet down.
Slotkin held a series of town halls in her district — which voted for Trump by 7 percentage points in 2016 — during Congress’ brief recess, with Thursday’s taking her to Hartland Township. The break from Washington was an opportunity for lawmakers to gauge early voter reaction on impeachment, especially in swing districts.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the chamber’s formal impeachment inquiry the day after the op-ed was published.
Talking to reporters after the town hall, Slotkin said she knew when she made the decision to support the inquiry “that it was going to bring a lot of energy in the district, and it did.” Most people at the event, she noted, “were extremely respectful, even if we disagreed.”
“I was trained as intelligence analyst, so we read the facts and make an assessment, and that’s what I plan to do when the facts are presented,” Slotkin said.
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