Democrat Max Rose on Impeachment: ‘Clear’ Trump Would Obstruct, Deflect, Lie

Democrat freshman Max Rose (D-NY) told CBS News Friday it was clear after the Ukraine “scandal” broke that the Donald Trump administration would “practice pure and unadulterated obstruction” to block any Democrat investigation into his conversations with Ukrainian leaders.

Rose — a freshman Democrat who represents Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, New York — told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett he decided to back an impeachment inquiry into President Trump after it became clear the Trump administration was going to obstruct any investigation into the president’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Rose said:

Immediately when this Ukraine scandal hit, right out the door I said that this is alarming, a potential national security issue, something that we have to get to the bottom of, and all options are on the table. Over the course of several days thereafter, it became clear that this administration was going to practice pure and unadulterated obstruction and deflection and lying in the process, and it was at that point that I did make the decision to support this impeachment inquiry.

Democrat Rose was one of the last Democrats to back an impeachment inquiry into President Trump. Congressman Rose represents one of the 13 House districts that Democrats flipped during the 2018 midterm election, and President Trump won during the 2016 presidential election by more than six percent. Rose’s 11th congressional district represents one of the key districts that Republicans hope to take back during the 2020 congressional elections.

Congressman Rose has also made inflammatory comments in the past regarding his support for impeachment.

In an inverted sense of the American justice system, Rep. Rose said in October that President Trump should “prove” innocence regarding the impeachment charges Democrats have levied against him.

“I do not want to be here. This is the last thing I want to be doing,” Rose said. “But no one is to blame but the president. The president says he is innocent, so all we are saying is ‘prove it.’ But that is not what they are doing. They are not cooperating, and we need to get to the bottom of it.”