In the weeks before he unseated Republican Claudia Tenney in a closely waged and watched congressional race, Democrat Anthony Brindisi preferred talking about local-level issues in the race.
President Donald Trump’s trip to Utica, in the heart of the district, to fundraise for Tenney last summer, was considered white noise by the Brindisi campaign.
Now Brindisi is taking a similarly cautious approach on whether to support impeachment proceedings against Trump, who carried the 22nd congressional district with ease in 2016.
“I’m very cautious. I want to make sure I have the facts and the best information before I move forward and say I’m going to support impeachment or an impeachment inquiry,” he told Spectrum News’s Washington, DC bureau. “Right now we don’t have any of the facts.”
Brindisi is one of two Democrats (the other is Staten Island’s Max Rose) who defeated incumbent Republicans last year in Trump friendly territory. The impeachment drive is an added quandary to a Democrat representing a district with an otherwise reddish hue ahead of re-election next year, when the president is, presumably, once again at the top of the ticket.
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The White House on Wednesday released a readout of the call between Trump and the new president of Ukraine, showing Trump asked his counterpart to investigate the business dealings of the son of his political rival, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Trump did not explicitly link foreign aid to the push for the investigation, but he did mention the support the U.S. has given the country.
Scores of House Democrats came out in favor of impeachment on Tuesday, including lawmakers who represent battleground districts like Antonio Delgado. But Brindisi indicated he was still yet to read the full readout of the call and wants to hear from top intelligence officials and the unnamed whistleblower who had first raised concerns.
“I’m troubled by the allegations and I think the American people deserve answers,” he said, adding, “I think some folks are very quick to jump on news reports without having all the details just yet.”