House Republican Says He’d Vote For Trump Impeachment ‘Expungement’ That He Just Called ‘Not Wise In Terms Of Constitutional History’

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins was taken aback by Rep. Ken Buck’s (R-CO) response to her question about whether he would vote to “expunge” both impeachments of former President Donald Trump.

Some House Republicans have suggested the GOP-controlled chamber vote to do so, even though “expungement” of impeachments is not a thing. Thus, the measure would be purely symbolic.

Collins asked Buck about the possibility on Friday’s installment of The Source.

“On Capitol Hill, we saw this effort this week, this idea of [Speaker] Kevin McCarthy having to deny that he promised Trump he would bring a vote to the House floor to expunge Trump’s two impeachments,” she said. “I’m not even sure if it’s–you can actually do that. Do you think that’s a wise move?”

“It’s probably wise for the Republican base,” Buck answered. “It’s not wise in terms of constitutional history. It’s not wise in terms of precedent that it sets. The Senate expunged when they voted not to impeach.”

“But it’s still on the record,” she said. “Would it even pass a Republican-controlled House?”

“But what record?” Buck said. “You don’t go to a courthouse to look up a record. In this case, it’s just a public record. He was impeached by the House, he was acquitted by the Senate.”

She then asked whether the speaker should pursue it:

COLLINS: So, do you think that Kevin McCarthy should not pursue that?

BUCK: Oh, I don’t care. I mean, I will vote for it because it’s uh–

COLLINS: You would vote to expunge it?

BUCK: Oh, sure.

COLLINS: Why?

BUCK: Because it makes no difference. And there’s a whole lot of Republican voters who are sitting out there saying to themselves, you know, “Why should President Trump have been–why should he have this on his record?” The record’s gonna exist one way or the other.

COLLINS: But why would you vote to expunge it if you’re saying you don’t even know if it’s constitutional to do that?

BUCK: Well, it’s not unconstitutional. What I’m saying is, there’s nowhere in the Constitution where it talks about expungement. So, it is just a matter of–it’s almost like a sense of Congress. We’re having a vote on a sense of Congress that he should not have been impeached. I voted against both impeachments.

As Fox News legal analyst Jonathan Turley noted about impeachments last month, “It is not like a constitutional DUI. Once you are impeached, you are impeached.”

Watch above via CNN.

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