Wyoming Attorney General Bridget Hill did not sign a letter condemning President Donald Trump’s impeachment because she wants to remain impartial in her role as an appointed public servant, she said.
“As an appointed, not elected, attorney general, it is important to me that I remain impartial in matters that may be viewed as political or having a political component,” Hill wrote in an email. “My position is not elected and is not based on a political campaign.”
Republican attorneys general from 21 states signed a letter sent to the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, which said the impeachment process “threatens all future elections and establishes a dangerous historical precedent.”
The new precedent set by the impeachment could erode the separation of powers between the nation’s legislative and executive branches, the letter opined.
Hill wrote that her duties as attorney general are to focus on legal matters alone, so she would not to join what may be seen as a politically motivated rebuke.
“In addition to actually remaining impartial, it is important that I maintain an appearance of impartiality so that the citizens of Wyoming know that my decisions are based on legal factors alone and not my personal political views,” Hill wrote. “In this instance, the letter in question was only from Republican attorneys general and thus had the potential to create the appearance that it had a political component to it.”
Hill wrote her decision not to sign the letter is not a personal statement, nor an indicator of her stance on the impeachment.
“Nor should my not signing the letter be viewed as agreement or disagreement with the contents and legal points in the letter,” Hill wrote. “My decision was based solely on the potential for this letter to be viewed as me making a political statement, which as an appointed attorney general I refrain from making.”
Hill was joined by four other Republican attorneys general, who did not sign the letter from Arizona, Idaho, New Hampshire and North Dakota.
Attorneys General who signed the letter:
Alan Wilson, South Carolina
Jeff Landry, Louisiana
Sean Reyes, Utah
Steve Marshall, Alabama
Curtis Hill, Indiana
Kevin Clarkson, Alaska
Derek Schmidt, Kansas
Leslie Rutledge, Arkansas
Daniel Cameron, Kentucky
Ashley Moody, Florida
Douglas Peterson, Nebraska
Christopher M. Carr, Georgia
Lynn Fitch, Mississippi
Eric Schmitt, Missouri
Jason Ravsborg, South Dakota
Tim Fox, Montana
Herbert H. Slatery, III, Tennessee
Dave Yost, Ohio
Ken Paxton, Texas
Mike Hunter, Oklahoma
Patrick Morrisey, West Virginia
