Chris Smith Votes To Review Trump Whistleblower Complaint

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Along with every other member of Congress on Wednesday, New Jersey's sole Republican Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ4) voted to send the whistleblower compaint against President Donald Trump to Congress for full vetting and review.

But he says he does not support the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's impeachment inquiry.

"We must have only one objective: providing the American people the truth," he said. "But I do not support this inquiry that is being initiated by the speaker for impeachment. I want the truth, but in order to initiate an inquiry there has to be the allegation of serious wrongdoing and illegal high crimes and misdemeanors."

Smith, who represents Monmouth, Ocean and Mercer counties, voted for legislation Wednesday that will send the original whistleblower complaint to Congress, where it can be fully vetted and reviewed. With his vote, Smith joined every single other member of Congress in approving to send the whistleblower complaint for review; the decision was unanimously approved in both houses, by all Democrats and Republicans in Congress.

"Today I voted for legislation urging that the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community immediately transmit the August 12, 2019 whistleblower complaint to Congress, with the intent that Congress be given the opportunity to fairly evaluate the complaint in a bipartisan manner consistent with statutes and processes to guard classified and sensitive information," Smith said in a statement given to Patch.

Smith's fellow Congressman to the north, Rep. Frank Pallone, (D-NJ6), who represents towns like Aberdeen and Hazlet, issued a much more scathing statement of Trump this week:

"The president has done more than enough to meet the legal standards to justify impeachment," said Pallone Tuesday afternoon. "It's time for Congress to exercise its constitutional authority and impeach the president in order to protect the rule of law and our democracy."

Smith is the congressman for the fourth congressional district, which covers nearly all of Monmouth County, including towns such as Holmdel, part of Middletown, Colts Neck, Rumson, Manalapan, Freehold, Red Bank and Wall Township. The fourth district also reaches into Jackson and Lakewood in Ocean County and Hamilton and Robbinsville in Mercer County.

The 2018 midterms dealt a severe blow to New Jersey's Republican congressional delegation: Smith emerged last fall as the state's only Republican congressman to keep his seat. The state's four other Republican congressmen — Tom MacArthur, Leonard Lance, Rodney Frelinghuysen and Chris LoBiondo — all either lost their seats or chose not to run.

Smith has several Democratic challengers for his seat, all of whom said they support the impeachment inquisition.

"While my preferred way to remove President Trump from office would be via a vote in 2020, the actions he has taken by his own admission in demanding a foreign country interfere in U.S. elections represent a real threat," said one of his challengers, Stephanie Schmid, 39.

Before Schmid moved to Little Silver this past June and decided to run for Congress, she worked as the legal counsel for the Center for Reproductive Rights. She's also worked as a U.S. diplomat in Haiti.

Schmid is running against three other Democrats in the primary: David Applefield, a writer who moved to Red Bank earlier this year just before he registered to run against Smith; Tiffany Kaszuba, a former lobbyist representing nonprofits who recently moved back to Howell; and Christine Conforti of Ocean Grove, a holistic business and leadership coach.

"These allegations are extremely serious and warrant a methodical examination of the facts," Applefield told Patch. "Speaker Pelosi's approach in opening an impeachment inquiry is in the best interest of the nation so that we can fully understand the facts and their implications."

“The allegations against the president are extremely disturbing and are of grave concern to
the American people. I support Speaker Pelosi’s decision to launch an impeachment inquiry," said Kaszuba.

Conforti did not reply when asked by Patch if she supports the impeachment inquiry.

Despite efforts nearly every year, Democrats haven't been able to unseat Smith, who has represented the area since 1981. The fourth district has voted for a Republican in the past four presidential elections by comfortable margins: Trump, Romney, McCain and Bush.

The general election for the 4th district seat will be in November in 2020.

Related: Rep. Pallone Said He Supports Impeaching Trump

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