Max Rose, Once On The Fence, Comes Out In Favor Of Impeachment Inquiry
Democrat Max Rose campaigning for Congress in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, on Aug. 3, 2018. Image by Ben Fractenberg
By Ari Feldman October 3, 2019
Rep. Max Rose (D-N.Y.) is supporting the ongoing impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump’s conduct in a call with the president of Ukraine, Politico reported.
Rose is a moderate Democrat elected in a predominantly Republican district in 2018’s “blue wave” that swept Democrats into power in the House. Even so, Trump won his congressional district by 10 points in 2016 — the only district in New York City to go red that year. Rose has at times put himself in opposition to more liberal Democratic freshmen lawmakers.
Last week, when news about Trump’s call broke and a whistleblower complaint about the call was made public, Rose was one of a few Democrats who did not immediately sign on support for an impeachment inquiry.
At a routine town hall meeting Wednesday on Staten Island — at which the impeachment inquiry was not on the agenda — Rose changed course.
“While the president of the United States may be willing to violate the Constitution to get re-elected, I will not,” Rose said. “I will not shirk my duty, and I will not violate my oath. I will support and defend the United States Constitution.”
Rose said what changed his mind was the Trump administration had “resisted any form of partnership” with the House on the impeachment inquiry, requiring its escalation.
Rose had initially declined to make a decision about whether to support the impeachment inquiry, asking for all documents related to the whistleblower complaint to be released in a statement released last week. The statement came after several moderate Democrats — including a Jewish member of Congress — sounded their support for the impeachment inquiry.
“I will not operate on any false timeline when our national security is at stake,” he said in a statement last week. “Under no circumstances will I allow politics to influence my decision regarding this matter.”
Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. Contact him at feldman@forward.com or follow him on Twitter @aefeldman
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