I wrote to my Congressbeing.

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I wrote to "my" representative in Congress, Mark Meadows, on the subject of impeachment.  Here is what I said.

Text of my message to Mr. Meadows

I am remiss in not having told you this sooner, but I am in favor of an impeachment inquiry.

A more recent development: the White House refusal to cooperate with the inquiry is itself an impeachable offense.  Note that I said "is," not "may be."

So, there is no point in continuing the inquiry.  Instead, the correct course of action for the House is to hold a vote now, not on authorizing the inquiry, but on impeaching the President.  If such a vote is held, I would ask that you vote "yes."

Given your statements on related matters, I don't really expect you to do what I ask.  Indeed, if you really believe what you have said, then it is, in a sense, appropriate for you to vote according to your beliefs.

I simply regard it as my duty as a citizen to go on record as to what I believe you, and the House as a whole, should do.

Notes on my message

If it sounds like I was steamed, that's because I was.

Why did I say "So, there is no point in continuing the inquiry"?  I attempted to explain that here: Impeachment: Is It Time to Vote Now? (See "Note 2" therein).

Why did I say "… I don't really expect you to do what I ask"?  The above-referenced URL at The Well has something on that, too: see "Note 5."  But led me add: Meadows was, until recently, the chairman of the "House Freedom Caucus," which is "… considered the furthest-right grouping within the House Republican Conference" (according to Wikipedia).  Also, in 2012, when President Obama was up for re-election, Meadows said, "2012 is the time we are going to send Mr. Obama home to Kenya or wherever it is."  (You can see video of him saying it here, among other places.)

Other than that, he's a swell guy.  He may even believe most of what he says.

But seriously.  Perhaps the real reason I'm giving you all this background on Meadows is to make excuses for why I waited as long as I did to write to him about impeachment.

At any rate, it was on October 9 that I wrote to Meadows, and on October 12 that I posted the above-linked "… Is It Time to Vote Now?" tirade at The Well.  Then, on October 18, Meadows replied to me.  Below, I share the text of his reply.  It's "behind a cut"; for those not fully conversant with Dreamwidth-speak, that means that you have to click on "Read more" in order to see it.  I present it that way because it's on the long side — though I am mightily tempted to claim something about "potentially offensive content."

Text of Mr. Meadows' reply

Thank you for contacting me about the impeachment inquiry of President Donald J. Trump.  It is an honor to serve as your representative, and I appreciate the opportunity to hear from you.

As you know, on September 26, the White House released an unclassified version of a whistleblower complaint detailing an allegation about a July 25 phone call between President Trump and President Zelensky.  The complaint was not released originally because it did not fall under guidelines in the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act.  Specifically, when assessing the complaint, the Department of Justice concluded: “based on the facts and applicable law, that there was no campaign finance violation and that no further action was warranted.  All relevant components of the department agreed with this legal conclusion, and the department has concluded the matter.”

Democrats continue to insist the President committed an impeachable offense, without basis, and even announced they would pursue an impeachment inquiry before the transcript of the call was released.  However, upon my reading the transcript of the call, it is evident the whistleblower’s key contentions were not accurate: there was no promise made by President Trump, no threat to withdraw military aid to Ukraine, and no quid pro quo action.  I encourage you to read the transcript for yourself here, if you have not already.

Speaker Pelosi continues to refuse to hold an official vote in the House of Representatives for an official impeachment inquiry.  Sadly, my colleagues have weaponized investigatory powers in bad faith.  The American people do not want endless, ongoing news stories about collusion.  The American people are fed up with these endless investigations and a Congress that is doing nothing.  It is past time we in Washington get to work on issues of critical importance, such as protecting our border, providing affordable healthcare, and enacting policies that continue to grow the economy and create more jobs.

Again, thank you for contacting me.  I appreciate your concerns, and after reviewing the evidence, I stand with the President.  To stay up to date on my work in North Carolina and Washington, you can sign up for my newsletter and follow me on Facebook.

Comments on his reply

If you didn't read the whole thing, here are two partial sentences which I think pretty well sum it up.  First: "However, upon my reading the transcript of the call, it is evident the whistleblower’s key contentions were not accurate: …"  Second: "… and after reviewing the evidence, I stand with the President."

I was joking, above, about "potentially offensive content."  I don't really think that most people would find this letter "offensive" (except, perhaps, to the extent that they are offended by sophistry).  I will make only one concrete criticism: the man writes, in my insufficiently humble opinion, as if he doesn't understand the difference between fact and opinion.

I disagree with most of what Mr. Meadows says here.  But I am not particularly interested in condemning him.  His beliefs are whatever they are, and his motives are whatever they are.

Perhaps, like me, you will not find his attempts at persuasion convincing.  Or perhaps you will; if so, I'd be happy to talk with you about that, but would prefer to do so on a one-to-one basis.  It seems more efficient to hear what you have to say first, rather than to anticipate what you will say, and expend energy in trying to refute that.

When I wrote to Mr. Meadows, I didn't have much expectation of changing his mind.  So why did I bother to do it?  Partly because it puts me in a better position to exhort others to write to their own Congressbeings.  So, if you are eligible to do that, please consider yourself exhorted.