“Future presidents, as well as anyone in positions of power in the government, will conclude that they can abuse their position for personal gain, without fear of accountability or consequences,” she added.
“If we allow the President to abuse his or her power, then our society will rot from top to bottom. We will turn into a banana republic, where people in positions of power—from the president all the way down to the traffic cop—will feel it’s okay to abuse their power with no consequences. This is not the kind of country that any of us want to see.”
Gabbard said the inquiry should be swift, thorough, and “narrowly-focused,” adding, “It cannot be turned into a long, protracted partisan circus that will further divide our country and undermine our democracy.”
The person who filed the complaint did not get their information directly, instead relying on secondhand accounts, and the inspector general found the person had “some indicia of an arguable political bias on the part of the Complainant in favor of a rival political candidate.”
The rival candidate was not named.
“I think what most people will see is, ‘Hey, this is another move by Democrats to get rid of Donald Trump,’ further deepening the already hyperpartisan divides that we have in this country,” she added.
Gabbard said that she believes Trump is “unfit to serve this country as president” and she is running for the presidency to defeat him.
“I just think it’s so important for our country to be able to move forward to bridge these divides, [such] that it be the American people that make this decision,” she said.
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