Republican Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler represents Washington's 3rd Congressional District.
The political group Clark County Republican Women is condemning Republican Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler for her role in the second impeachment of Donald Trump.
Herrera Beutler, who represents Washington’s Congressional District 3, which includes Clark County, was one of 10 Republican House members to vote in favor of Trump’s impeachment on Wednesday, Jan. 13.
In a statement posted to her social media accounts, Herrera Beutler said she believed the president deserved to be impeached for his role in a Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol that left five people dead, including a Capitol police officer who was alleged beating over the head with a fire extinguisher during a pro-Trump mob’s siege on the Capitol building.
“The President of the United States incited a riot aiming to halt the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next,” Herrera Beutler stated this week. “People everywhere watched in disbelief as the center of American democracy was assaulted. The violent mob bludgeoned to death a Capitol police officer as they defaced symbols of our freedom. These terrorists roamed the Capitol, hunting the Vice President and the Speaker of the House.”
“Hours went by before the President did anything meaningful to stop the attack,” Herrera Beutler added. “Instead, he and his lawyer were busy making calls to senators who were still in lockdown, seeking their support to further delay the Electoral College certification.”
Herrera Beutler added that House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy described “pleading with the President to go on television and call for an end to the mayhem, to no avail.”
“The President attacked Vice President Mike Pence on Twitter while Pence was in a secure room, having fled from the mob that breached the Senate floor threatening to hang him,” Herrera Beutler added. “Finally, the President released a pathetic denouncement of the violence that also served as a wink and nod to those who perpetuated it: ‘I love you,’ he said to them, ‘you are special.’”
Herrera Beutler said she believed the president’s actions were impeachable based on “indisputable evidence” and that, while she understood the argument some Republicans made, “that the best course is not to further inflame the country or alienate Republican voters,” she believed Republicans would be best served by impeaching the president.
“I believe in our Constitution, individual liberty, free markets, charity, life, justice, peace and this exceptional country,” Herrera Beutler said. “I see that my own party will be best served when those among us choose truth. I believe President Trump acted against his oath of office, so I will vote to impeach him.”
Following the congresswoman’s statement, the Clark County Republican Women condemned Herrera Beutler’s plans to impeach the president, stating that if Herrera Beutler voted to impeach (which she did on Jan. 13), she would be showing “a complete disregard to the citizens who elected you in the Third Congressional District of Washington.”
“If you cast this vote to impeach, you will never receive our support or votes again at any time in the future,” the group told Herrera Beutler. “Additionally, we will do everything in our power as the largest Republican Women’s organization in Washington state to recruit and elect a conservative candidate who will represent our values.”
The group said its “entire membership” condemned Herrera Beutler’s “actions to betray a sitting Republican president” and that her vote “will never be forgotten” as it was “a personal affront to the 70 million-plus Americans who voted” for Trump.
Clark County Republican Women is a 71-year-old organization. Former Republican state legislator Liz Pike, of Camas, is the group’s president. Liz Cline is the group’s vice president. Anna Miller, also of Camas, acts as the group’s membership secretary, and Nicole Wubben is the group’s treasurer. To learn more about the group, visit clarkcountyrepublicanwomen.org.
