Over the course of the past few weeks I have been unrelenting in my correspondence with Rod Blum, who happens to be my representative for the 1st District of Iowa in the U.S. House of Representative. Over the same period of time I have been critical of Rod Blum, in general, due to his relative lack of transparency with voters and his imperial attitude when it came to his own ethical standards. Granted, when you are living in the world of Trump nothing is beyond the pale.
Well, Rod Blum finally got back to me in writing and it was not a formulaic email thanking me for my interest in whatever topic. It is as underwhelming as you would imagine:
Thank you for contacting me directly and sharing your concerns regarding the impeachment of President Trump. It is an honor to serve you in Congress and I appreciate your input on topics such as this. [NOTE: I did not call for the impeachment of President Trump. I called for investigations into President Trump’s potentially illegal activity.]
I take any allegations of unethical or illegal activity by public officials very seriously. Similarly, as a staunch defender of your Constitutionally-guaranteed rights, I believe strongly in the unalienable right to due process. Our President deserves the same Constitutional rights as every other Americans, and it is unacceptable to deny such rights. [NOTE: No one is asking to deny the President of the United States his right to due process. We are asking that Congress do its job and investigate.]
If credible evidence is presented that the President was involved in criminal behavior related to his time in office, I will join my colleagues in denouncing that action and calling for the appropriate proceedings. My commitment to ethical behavior does not exempt the oval office [sic]
At this point, President Trump has not been even accused of charges by our completely independent judicial branch and I decline to participate in speculation. I have full faith and confidence in the legal process of this country and I am grateful for the department’s work. [NOTE: The Judicial Branch is not the same as the Department of Justice, which would be tasked with investigating a crime. The Department of Justice is headed by someone appointed by the President, thus it is of questionable independence.]
The White House and witnesses have cooperated with the Special Counsel and have turned over more than one million pages of documents. I am confident that they will continue to cooperate. [NOTE: There is much more to the potential illegal activity that occurs under the aegis of President Trump than the allegations of collusion with Russia. My concern runs to a whole host of issues besides potential collusion.]
Thank you again for taking your time to share your opinion on this matter.
Complete and utter garbage. Rod Blum, or some staffer, regurgitated Fox News approved word salad that in some cases does not even make sense. This is what you get when your member of Congress is more concerned with pandering to Trump supporters than actually doing his job.
I would ask Rod Blum, who is supposed to do the investigative work to determine if President Trump or anyone in his administration has acted illegally? During President Obama’s time in office Congress took glee in bringing officials before its committees to “investigate” even the slightest whiff of malfeasance. Never mind that most charges were little more than Alex Jones approved conspiracy theories fanned by the bloviating of Sean Hannity.
Rod Blum and the rest of the Republican party in control of Congress has abdicated their duty to act as a check and balance on the power of the executive. It is their marching orders to ignore any damage done to the fabric of this country as long as the judiciary is packed with judges that hew to their partisan line and tax cuts keep going to the wealthy.