Nevada delegation follows party lines in impeachment vote

WASHINGTON — The Nevada congressional delegation mirrored the full House of Representatives on Wednesday and voted along party lines on the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

All three Democrats in the delegation voted to impeach the president on two counts — abusing his office and obstruction of Congress. The lone Republican voted against both counts.

Democrat Rep. Dina Titus, the dean of the state’s delegation, announced early that she would vote to impeach Trump.

She participated as a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in hearings and heard testimony into the president’s dealings with Ukraine.

“He tried to rig the 2020 elections by soliciting foreign interference and then engaged in an unprecedented cover-up once he got caught,” said Titus, a former UNLV professor of American government.

She said she discussed impeachment with her students during her teaching career.

“I never thought I’d actually be participating in the process,” Titus said, “but this president has left us no choice.”

The Republican in the delegation, Rep. Mark Amodei, who served as Trump’s Nevada campaign manager in 2016, said that after reviewing the case, he found witnesses and testimony were often contradictory, and there was insufficient evidence for either charge.

A former member of the Judiciary Committee, known as the most politically polarized committee in Congress, Amodei suggested a partisan motive for the impeachment articles.

“I acknowledge that politics are important. However, our nation’s institutional integrity and our fundamental touchstones have a value that should overcome political fanaticism and lust for power,” Amodei said in a statement.

Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., said that when he came to Washington and “took my oath of office, I swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States and to serve this country.”

Despite the divisiveness of impeachment, Horsford said it “has become apparent that President Trump is a continuing threat to our democracy and danger to our national security.”

“He abused the power of his office for personal and political gain at the expense of national security,” Horsford said.

Moderate Democrats were pressured by the White House and Republicans to vote against impeachment or face the political consequences.

In the end, the debate appeared to galvanize party divisions, and most moderates voted to impeach, including Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev.

“When you put the facts together, it’s clear that the president put his personal political interests above our national security, or free and fair elections, and our constitutional system of checks and balances,” Lee said in a statement.

Lee said the nation has lived in relative peace for over two centuries in the strongest democracy on earth.

“It’s my constitutional duty to ensure it stays that way,” Lee said.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.