Collin Peterson Will Vote Against Both Articles of Impeachment: ‘President Has Not Committed a Crime’

Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN-07) confirmed Saturday that he will vote against the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump “unless they come up with something between now and Wednesday.”

“Maybe something will change. I doubt it,” Peterson told The Worthington Daily Globe after telling a crowd of dairy producers gathered for a Saturday event that he will vote against both articles of impeachment.

“The biggest problem I have with this is that you had people who have decided they’re going to impeach him, and now they spend a year trying to figure out how they can make a case for it. That’s backwards. I just don’t agree with this,” Peterson said in an interview.

In regards to allegations that President Trump withheld funding from Ukraine, Peterson said that more than half the people in his district “think we shouldn’t do foreign aid in the first place.”

“So to convince them that holding up foreign aid is a big deal? They want to get rid of it,” Peterson continued. “We don’t have any firsthand information about what happened on that phone call. It’s all secondhand information. The whistleblower was secondhand information. The president has not committed a crime.”

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Peterson was one of two Democrats to vote against formalizing the impeachment inquiry. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-NJ-02), who joined Peterson in casting a dissenting vote, has reportedly told his staff that he plans to defect from the Democratic Party and join the Republicans.

President Trump won Peterson’s district by 30 points over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. Peterson, who now chairs the House Agriculture Committee, plans to wait until February to announce if he will seek a 16th term in Congress.

Peterson has represented the district since 1991, meaning he was around for the impeachment inquiry against former President Bill Clinton. He voted in favor of opening the inquiry against Clinton, but ultimately voted against impeaching.

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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].