As House nears vote on impeachment inquiry, here’s what Don Young said about opening the Clinton inquiry

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote Thursday on officially opening an impeachment inquiry into President Trump, marking the first public vote representatives will take on impeachment as the inquiry moves from closed-door meetings into the public eye.

It’s unlikely that there will be much of a surprise from Alaska’s U.S. Rep. Don Young, who’s called the inquiry a “waste of time” and was quick to declare that “there’s been no laws broken” with Trump’s pressuring of Ukraine to investigate the family of political opponent Joe Biden.

But as we’re oft reminded, Young is the longest serving member of Congress, the Dean of the House and the lone member to have been part of three impeachment inquiries dating back when Nixon resigned before a vote on the articles of impeachment was reached.

Today, his statements on the Oct. 8, 1998 vote to open the inquiry into Clinton recirculated on social media. Here’s what he said:

“I believe we must continue to move the process forward in order to deal with the serious felony allegations documented against the president. Being truthful to the American people is part of our system of justice. Americans deserve to know the full truth about this issue in a fair and complete manner.”

Young also railed against a Democratic proposal that would have placed a time limit on the inquiry, adding that “Rushing an important decision on impeachment would not be fair to the president or American people. It is imperative that Congress continue to handle the impeachment inquiry in a extremely careful and complete manner.” Young ultimately voted in favor of all four articles of impeachment against Clinton in December 1998.

The post tricked a few people into thinking it was a surprising turn for the 86-year-old Young, but it wasn’t meant to be.