UPDATE: 4 p.m. Nov. 4, 2019:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, came to Oceanside on Monday afternoon for a discussion with U.S. House Rep. Mike Levin, D-Oceanside, on campaign finance and ethics reform.
The event comes just a week after the House voted to formalize rules for an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. In a letter to House Democrats, Pelosi wrote that the purpose of the inquiry is to “eliminate any doubt as to whether the Trump Administration may withhold documents, prevent witness testimony, disregard duly authorized subpoenas, or continue obstructing the House of Representatives.”
Pelosi opened up Monday’s conversation with a discussion on concerns over foreign government interference into American elections.
House Resolution 1, also known as For the People Act, which passed in the House and is awaiting a hearing in the Senate, aims to stop that.
“What it was about was to say we’re breaking down the cynicism that exists around our electoral system,” Pelosi said. “We have a greater commitment to rid our political system of dark special interests.”
Levin said the legislation would require politicians to report whether they received any financial assistance from a foreign entity.
Pelosi reminded the audience that accepting assistance from a foreign entity is illegal anyway.
“You can not accept any assistance from a foreign government,” Pelosi said, alluding to the impeachment inquiry into Trump. “That’s what makes some of the current conversation curious or incurious.”
“We have a real fight for who we are as a country,” she added.
HR1 also intends to limit partisan district gerrymandering and limit private donors, or so-called dark money, in politics.
--
Original story:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, is coming to Oceanside Monday afternoon for a discussion with Representative Mike Levin, D-Oceanside. They’ll be talking about campaign finance and ethics reform.
The event comes just a week after the House voted to formalize rules for an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. In a letter to House Democrats, Pelosi wrote that the purpose of the inquiry is to “eliminate any doubt as to whether the Trump Administration may withhold documents, prevent witness testimony, disregard duly authorized subpoenas, or continue obstructing the House of Representatives.”
At the forum Monday, Pelosi and Levin will discuss the For the People Act, which is legislation passed this year on clean and fair elections.
Levin held a community meeting in Oceanside on Saturday, where he told KPBS that the forum is a chance for “our constituents to hear directly from the speaker.”
“There’s nothing more important to me than making sure we protect our democracy. We’re going to have to look back in years to decades to come. I have two young kids at home and someday they are going to have to look back at their father's service and understand that I did what was right to protect and defend the Constitution,” Levin said.
The next steps in the impeachment investigation will be open hearings with key witnesses, Levin said.
RELATED: San Diego Congressional Leaders Discuss Climate Crisis
“A lot of the same witnesses that have already testified, we will now be hearing from them in an open set of hearings, again with balance between republicans and democrats, being given equal time and opportunity to ask questions," he said.
Levin won San Diego County’s 49th Congressional District in 2018 against Republican Diane Harkey. Levin flipped the seat when he won, replacing Republican Darrell Issa. Levin is running for re-election in 2020.
Levin said he doesn’t think having a forum with Pelosi will hurt him in the race, despite what many call a partisan political environment.
“This district that I served in was historically a conservative district. But Hillary Clinton won the district by seven points," he said. "I do know that we have a lot of great support and momentum out there. And the work I'm doing doesn’t just appeal to one political party."
The impeachment investigation is a multi-step process, Levin said. After an investigation, he said the House Intelligence Committee will write a report on its findings and send it to the House Judiciary Committee, which will then decide on whether and how to proceed.
