New York Rep. Elise Stefanik rebuked Democrats after they asserted that Republicans do not believe Russians interfered in the 2016 election.
During the impeachment testimony from Fiona Hill and David Holmes, Stefanik unloaded on Democrats for suggesting that Republicans were only interested in Ukraine’s role in the 2016 election because they do not believe the Russians interfered in the election despite evidence from Robert Mueller’s investigation.
“I just wanted to say to my Democratic colleagues, not a single Republican member of this committee has said that Russia did not meddle in the 2016 elections,” Stefanik said. “As the ranking member stated, we published a report focused on Russian Active Measures in 2016 with policy recommendations as to how we strengthen our cyber resiliency and election security to counter Russia.”
She noted that she has worked with bipartisan members of the House Intelligence Committee and the Foreign Services Committee. Stefanik blasted Democrats for suggesting that she and her fellow Republicans are unconcerned by Russia’s actions.
“To have our Democratic colleagues say these untruthful statements just reeks of political desperation in their continued obsession to manipulate mainstream media coverage,” Stefanik said. “But the good news is the American people understand that this has been a partisan process from the start.”
Stefanik criticized Chairman Adam Schiff and noted that his staff had met with the whistleblower prior to the report being filed. She noted that the impeachment has been highly partisan, with the only bipartisanship coming when two Democrats voted with every Republican against formalizing impeachment.
“The Democratic coordination with the whistleblower, the incessant and astounding leaks, the unprecedented closed-door process, closed to the majority of members, closed to the press, closed to the people,” Stefanik explained. “Starting this inquiry without taking a vote, and then when finally forced to take a vote, the vote was with bipartisan opposition.”
Stefanik, 35, has been a key Republican throughout the impeachment hearings. President Trump went as far as to call Stefanik a “star” in the Republican Party.
