As you know, on December 18th, the U.S. House of Representatives impeached the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. I know many of my constituents support that vote, and some do not.

What I can tell you is that I voted for impeachment after great deliberation, and with a deep sense of duty to the oath I took when sworn into office, that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

[OCS: I wonder if she understands that the Democrat Party has been infiltrated by socialists, communists, and foreign actors who are acting as a fifth column to destroy our nation from within?]

As you know, the President was charged with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. These are charges that our Founding Fathers spoke to specifically when they enshrined in our Constitution the right, duty, and obligation of Congress to impeach a sitting President under certain circumstances.

[OCS: No! I seem to remember that the only impeachable offenses in the Constitution are: "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." Maladministration, the idea that one faction did not like the policies of the presidency, was specifically rejected as the Founding Fathers attempted to ensure that the presidency never served at the will of congress. Nowhere can you find charges of “abuse of power” or “obstruction of Congress” which are so constitutionally vague as to be meaningless.]

In this case, it is clear, by the President’s own words, corroborated by the testimony of many witnesses, that he withheld $400 million in U.S. foreign aid targeted for the specific purpose of combating Russian aggression.

[OCS: This is a lie. Other than the one fact witness Ambassador Gordon Sondland who testified under oath that the President did not specifically ask him for a quid pro quo and vehemently rejected the idea, all testimony was based on hearsay, opinion, speculation, and presumption. Even worse, the witness who supplied the precipitating complaint was never sworn nor questioned under oath. The opposition was denied the opportunity to call their own witnesses. And, most disturbing of all, it appears that House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff and his staff conspired to tamper with witnesses, suborn perjury, and, in some cases, may have perjured themselves.]

Let me be clear. Russia is our enemy. Russia repeatedly attempts to undermine our democracy, including by interfering in our elections. Russia repeatedly threatens our national security. Russia repeatedly attempts to undermine our allies. Russia is one of the most corrupt nations in the world, led by one of the most corrupt leaders in the world.

[OCS:  It is true that Russia did try to undermine our democracy and interfere in our elections. As did China, North Korea, and a host of other nations seeking to destroy our national exceptionalism and direct our foreign policy. No surprise here.]

In short, President Trump used $400 million in US aid, intended to protect the American people from Russian aggression, to extort a democratically elected leader of Ukraine to state on CNN that he was investigating Joe Biden’s son.

[OCS: This is another lie. There is no evidence that President Trump misused any US aid to any country. In fact, it was the Democrats in the Obama Administration that withheld lethal aid to Ukraine at a time when their troops were being slaughtered by Russian-backed forced. With nary a peep out of the Congress about Barack Obama failing to protect the American people from Russian aggression.

I have not seen one example of anyone trying to extort the Ukraine President to investigate Joe Biden or his son. The fact that the Ukraine got their aid and there was no announcement of an investigation or an investigation is prima facie proof of the falsity of the charges.]

Think about that for a minute. Our President used your hard-earned taxpayer dollars -- risking the safety and security of every man, woman and child in the country -- to force an embattled leader of a foreign country to provide a sound bite on CNN so that he could cheat in the 2020 elections. I cannot think of a more troubling abuse of power than that. I cannot think of a more corrupt motive than that.

[OCS: That you cannot think should come as no surprise. Perhaps because you are so blinded by party politics or enthrall to the party’s funding of your campaign, that you cannot clearly see the truth.

Joe Biden, by his own recorded words, is guilty of extorting the former Ukraine President into firing a state prosecutor who was looking into one of the most corrupt Ukraine companies that was, not so coincidently, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to Joe Biden’s son who lacked any qualifications to sit on the corrupt company’s board of directors. And, not a peep from the Congressional Democrats at the time. Now that is corruption: plain, simple to understand, and easy for everyone to witness without any he said/she said/they said hearsay, opinion, speculation, or presumption.

President Trump does not need to cheat in the 2020 election given the selection of radical far left Democrat candidates and their policies which would destroy America as we know it.

And as for corrupt motives, it is another Democrat projection of their actual behavior on the opposition.]

Our Constitution created Congress as a co-equal branch of government specifically so that it can act as a critical check on the President’s power. Our Founding Fathers knew that absolute power tends toward corruption. They knew that if they gave the President control of the military and the responsibility to enforce our domestic laws, that Congress must be given the responsibility and the power to be a check on the President.

[OCS: Absolutely true. But, the powers of Congress are not unlimited and do not abridge or modify the constitutional powers granted to the other branches. The duties of oversight are not unlimited and do not provide for obtaining information protected by presidential privilege or which violate the separation of powers.

And if you were intellectually honest, you would note that the absolute power of the House majority not only tends toward corruption – but perpetrated corrupt acts.]

That’s why Congress was given the power of the purse, the power to issue subpoenas and conduct oversight of the Executive Branch, and the sole power to impeach the President and remove him from office.

[OCS: Again, the power of Congress is not unlimited when it comes to the co-equal branches of government. While Congress can issue subpoenas, it remains a fact that it is up to the Supreme Court to determine if they are lawful. A process that can take months – and apparently was too long for the Democrat’s plans of an “expedited impeachment” process. Not responding to subpoenas which have been challenged is not “Obstruction of Congress,” especially since the Senate was not involved and the entire House was not consulted by a vote. If anything, it was obstruction of  a partisan House majority that was making their own rules, perverting those rules, and then ignoring those rules. The minority was denied their rights under the rules and there was no due process to be found anywhere in Adam Schiff’s secret basement star chamber. It makes one think of  legal proceedings in China or the old Soviet Union.]

Our democracy cannot endure unless the rule of law is supreme, and the rule of law cannot be held supreme unless all people, including the President, are accountable under it. The President’s oath to uphold the Constitution is an oath to respect the Constitution.

[OCS: How you can write this in good conscience is beyond me. The House Democrats destroyed the rule of law, due process, and even the basics of the code of federal regulations and court procedures. As for being above the law, surely you are joking as the Clintons, Bidens, and even Obama and high-ranking members of his administration walk free?]

In this instance, the President obfuscated and refused to comply with lawfully issued subpoenas from Congress. He ordered executive branch employees to refuse to answer subpoenas presented to them by Congress, and he refused to deliver documents subpoenaed by Congress. This is clear obstruction, and it is the type of obstruction that our founders specifically had in mind when they gave Congress the power to impeach.

[OCS: This is not obstruction. And, these were not lawfully issued subpoenas. The Supreme Court did not rule that the subpoenas were necessary, proper, and did not violate presidential privileges and separation of power. The subpoenas were so broad, it might have taken a year or more to prepare a response.

This faux obstruction does not rise to treason, bribery, high crimes or misdemeanors as they were known in the time period of the framers of the Constitution.]

The only remedy for a citizen who refuses to answer a subpoena from law enforcement is jail time, and the only remedy for a President who refuses to answer a subpoena from Congress is impeachment. There can be no rule of law if subpoenas can be ignored. Without the rule of law, our republic cannot stand.

[OCS: Again, a subpoena can be challenged and unless a court compels a response, it is the right of any subpoenaed individual or entity to resist. Then it is up to the issuer to turn to the courts. Something that was not done. In fact, when one subpoenaed member of the Administration turned to the court for guidance, the subpoena was withdrawn and the matter rendered moot.]

As you know, the President chose this path. Most Members of Congress voted repeatedly not to impeach him last year, and as recently as this summer. However, in the face of the extremely damning Muller Report, that outlined 10 instances when President Trump committed crimes, rather than reversing course and abiding by our laws, President Trump doubled-down on his obstruction and criminal abuse of power. He openly stated that he would continue to invite foreign interference in our elections, and then he did precisely that.

[OCS: Blind and stupid – what a combination. The Mueller report contained NO CRIMES. The so-called “invitation” was said as a jest. Another big lie.]

While President Trump chose this path, the only path I could choose, and stay true to my oath to uphold our Constitution, is to impeach. It was a vote as much about this President’s unlawful and immoral actions, as it was to send a message to future Presidents, Republican and Democrat, that no one is above the law, especially not the one person entrusted with the awesome responsibility to uphold the law.

[OCS: I could make the case that former President Obama and others committed actual crimes and yet not a peep out of the Democrats, or even the Republicans. Perhaps, if you understood the Constitution and the depths of corruption within your own party, you might see the error in your judgement.

Morality is subjective and not part of the Constitution or any law of the land. President Trump has not been charged with any federal crime. So there is no support for impeachment.]

President Trump’s repeated statements that he invites illegal, foreign interference in our elections and his repeated current attempts to obstruct Congress’ oversight authority, cannot go unanswered. Further, President Trump’s most recent actions to bribe a foreign government in exchange for his own political gain, using taxpayer dollars appropriated by law to protect our nation's national security, demonstrates Donald Trump's profound and continuing contempt for the rule of law, the security of the American people, and the moral authority the United States has long relied on to promote democracy around the world.

[OCS: We saw the Democrats solicit Russian interference in our election. We saw the Democrats invite Ukraine interference in our election. These are facts. As is the fact that the Democrats got caught spying on American citizens, interfered with a presidential election, and are attempting to interfere in the 2020 presidential election because they have no suitable candidates to challenge President Trump.

Bribe – you mean what Biden did, and President Trump did not do? ]

Under the Constitution, Congress was given not only the right, but the obligation, to consider impeachment should the facts warrant it, as a foundational cornerstone of this great democratic experiment. I voted to impeach Donald Trump because the evidence of his guilt is overwhelming.

[OCS: If anything is overwhelming, it is your partisanship and corruption. President Trump does not stand accused of committing a crime. There is no federal crime in the Articles of Impeachment. If Trump is guilty of anything, it is embarrassing Hillary Clinton, the Democrats, and the media.]

If you have not already done so, I encourage you to read the House Judiciary Committee report on impeachment and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence report . You can also watch the many Committee hearings and review other evidence on this matter online at: www.house.gov.

[OCS: I actually read the documents, but I am willing to bet that you relied on staff summaries and biased media reports.]