Martha mccallum is there with the story. She has coverage continuing of this Impeachment Process and her interview with the Attorney General. Martha in michigan. Martha tonight, you will see dueling screens in the Nations Capital and in a 2020 swing state as the nation watches the impeachment. Im martha mccallum, live in detroit this evening. And this extreme juxtaposition is the story tonight. On one side, you are looking live at the floor of the United States house of representatives. Representative cheney of wyoming at this moment as lawmakers are preparing to take historic vote on the impeachment of president donald j. Trump. Two charges against the president abuse of power and Obstruction Of Justice. At the same time the
campaign rolls along as you see on the righthand side of your screen. Not all that far away in battle creek, michigan, where President Trump is about to take the stage tonight and rally his supporters who have not been swayed by the democrats case in the house. Tonights vote is expected to pass the democratic majority in the house. Long expected to do so, making President Trump the third president in American History to be impeached by the the house. And that sets up a trial in the republicanled senate, a two thirds vote there would be needed to remove him from office. These two Scenes Tonight Underscore The Deep polarization that divides our country, begs the question has a new era of deeper partisanship begun. A short time ago, i sat down exclusively with Attorney General william barr, who shared some of his skepticism about The Big Picture of impeachment as we move ahead. I think we have to be
careful about trivializing the process and they put in a hurdle of high crimes of treason, bribery and other high crimes. The articles of impeachment here do not allege a violation of the law. Im concerned about it being trivialized and used as a Political Tool. Martha as we go in and out of the coverage tonight from the house of representatives, we will show some more of the Attorney General interview in minutes and the balance of that you can come back for it and see tomorrow night. But we begin tonight with that story. This vote, as we watch it we are getting very close, actually, to the time when we are going to start to hear the votes underway. Joining me now karl rove deputy Chief Of Staff under president george w. Bush and fox news contributor. Spicer and spokesman for America First action
President Trumps first Press Secretary under President Trump. Juan williams cohost of the five and fox news political analyst. Gentlemen, great to have all of you with us this evening. You all have witnessed a lot of history as we have looked across the american political spectrum. This is an important event, even though it has been seen as a solidly partisan event, which has given it sort of a strange aura of a lack of drama at times along the way here. But, karl, you know, your big picture thoughts as we look at what is about to unfold tonight. Well, it is historic moment. Only the third president in history to be impeached. We know what the vote is going to be. Its going to be overwhelmingly democrats in favor. A few Democrats Join with republicans in opposing it. Will go to the senate. We know whats going to happen there. My sense is that while we have heard a lot today, we havent heard anything new. And my sense is the people who are watching this are likely to be partisans whose views are not going to be suede. Independents turning increasingly against
impeachment have had their fill of it. I suspect a great many of them are not watching tonight knowing that the outcome is going to be knowing what the outcome is going to be. Martha sean spicer, you worked with this president on the campaign, through the rnc, worked with him when he was first in the white house, you were the first Press Secretary there. What goes through your mind as you sort of witness this as a president that you worked with very closely is about to be impeached . I mean, i think we all both during the campaign and right after were concerned about how the media and how the left was treating President Trump in this historic election. And to see it now go this far frankly weaponizing the tool of impeachment is something that i frankly never thought we would come to do. And i think tonight we have changed the trajectory of you who impeachment will be used Going Forward. Back in the, you know, 80s and early 90s this idea of Being Bourqueed changed the
names Going Forward. Tonight we are seeing impeachment being weaponized and used as a Political Tool in a way that it will change how we do this Going Forward the standard that democrats set during the Clinton Impeachment and frankly the standard that they set only months ago was an impeachment needed to be bipartisan. And the only thing that is bipartisan tonight is a vote against impeachment. There is at least Democrats Joining republicans voting no. There are no republicans joining the democrats. This process doesnt live up to their own standards both from decades ago and months ago. Martha yeah. I think its a great point. And i think that is something that is clearly something that Attorney General barr spoke about today the fear of this weaponization of impeachment. And when you talk about Being Bourqueed, sean. We have seen the impact of that in terms of Supreme Court Confirmation Processes and how virile its become in so many ways. Juan, is that of concern to
you, especially given the fact that nancy pelosi said, you know, we cant impeach. Impeachment is just way too divisive. Right. But she said that a long time ago. And subsequently has said that President Trump gave the democrats no choice, given his phone call with the ukrainians and efforts to gain political dirt on his likely rival for the presidency joe biden. I think that tonight as we look out here, i think this is a deeply divided country. All the polls indicate that its about 50 50, impeach or not. And the big difference to me here is that you see so many people just lined up. You know, saying that this is a partisan affair. You were describing it, martha. I think thats what we are about to see in battle creek, michigan, where the president is holding a rally to stir his base and use impeachment to suggest that he is the victim and that they have a grievance against either the democrats or the media. I could keep going on. Im sure we will hear all of it. But the fact is that from the democrats perspective, donald trump engaged in abuse of power that threatens the constitution and, the idea that people would say oh, where is the case . Whats the case . 70 of americans have said the president did something wrong. And i think people have to keep that in mind because one side may say oh, its partisan. This is partisan. But the other side is intentionally closing their eyes. Martha juan, i think you have a good point, there are polls do show that there is a lot of people, that means there is a lot of people on both sides who believe that the president that the phone call was not perfect and that the president did something wrong. But where the divide happens, karl, when they say whether or not they believe that should lead to impeachment. This very, very Dramatic Movement of impeachment. Thats where the divide comes. Yeah. I couldnt agree more. Look, noble did a poll at the time, but i suspect if
they did, they would have found that 70 or 80 of the American People thought it was wrong for President Obama to say to Dmitry Medvedev in 2012 tell Vladimir Putin who is going to succeed medvedev as president of russia in a couple of weeks tell him that with regard to Missile Defense and other issues this is my last election and i will have more flexibility after the election. If you ran a poll, i suspect a lot of americans would say trying to tell Vladimir Putin lay off of me during the election and i will give you a benefit afterwards by being flexible on Missile Defense would be wrong. Yeah. We didnt say impeach him. Similarly, i would suspect that a lot of americans would say it was wrong for Hillary Clinton to hire the British Secret agent who calls up his contacts in moscow, former russian intelligence agents and say you got any dirt on donald trump, the famous steel dossier, i suspect a lot of people would say that was wrong. If she were president , would we really expect democrats standing up and saying impeach him. And same on the Obstruction Of Justice question. What the president said im not going to let my top aides be called before congress to testify. And in july of 2014, Eric Holders Justice Department told the Obama White House your aides have no responsibility to be called, even low level aides, and simply repeating what they did in fast and furious. Nobody, i dont remember republicans filing request to impeach. But thats where we are today. And i agree, we have gone down a path that is a very bad path of trivializing this enormous power that congress has to remove the president. Martha well, since karl has so astutely outlined those three examples and i would just point out the first example with regard to President Obama, that move with regard to the Missile Shield is a lean towards russia. And it is something that made those Eastern Block countries in a much would have made them in a much more perilous situation in terms of defending themselves, which is the National Security issue that we hear so much about with regard to ukraine as with. And then there is the political element of the
Hillary Clinton example that karl gives which was, you know, for her own benefit. And the question of whether or not this would resound to impeachment for her i think is a valid one. Juan, let me take it back to you then for your response to that. I mean, first of all, in the example with President Obama and medvedev, the president was acting in the national interest, for the United States of america in terms of saying. [laughter] juan we have an issue here with regard to a Missile Shield being constructed in Eastern Europe that the russians were objecting to. This was all about nato, the u. S. Interest, and u. S. Relationship. Remember, they talked about that reset, martha with russia. Juan, juan. Hold on, karl. I gave you all the time. After he got elected. Heres the point. The point is that President Trump was acting in his Self Interest for political dirt. Thats a huge disconnect and thats why he is being impeached. With all due respect to
juan. Martha thats why the Hillary Clinton example that karl pointed out is applicable. Go ahead, karl. Yeah. Martha, with Awe Due Respect to juan. President obama removed the Missile Shield in Central Europe in 2009 and 2010. This is 2012. In March Of 2012 as he is running for reelection. Of the Missile Shield has been taken off the table. No. The russians want it. This has to do with the Missile Shield that defends the United States of america. This was not in the national interest. This was dont mess around with me during the Political Campaign and i will give you some flexibility after the election. Talk about a quid pro quo. But would we be talking about impeaching the president . You may think it was right, but a lot of people in america think that was wrong. But i doubt we would all be agreeing even those of us who thought it was wrong would say impeach him over it. Martha okay. Thats the issue at hand. Because as we say there a lot of people who believe that there was something wrong with the call. The question is whether or not they believe that the president of the United States should be impeached over this incident sean, let
me go to you. The president is in battle creek, michigan about to do a rally. He says impeachment is an ugly word. Give us a sense what you think is going through his mind or what have you heard from people still there working with him about how they feel about tonight. I. I think if you look. He has really taken this town and he is making this very clear. Election. He has a record of accomplishment that he is talking about. The democrats who promised if they took over the house that they would have an agenda for the American People for Working Families have shown that their agenda is simply investigate, investigated, investigate. And the president , i think, is going to use this as an opportunity to drive a wedge and make sure that people understand the difference between a trump agenda and a accomplishments and what democrats do with the privilege that they got to
govern. So, i expect that the president is going to use this as an opportunity and amplify it i is not going to walk away from it. More tweets. He is going to ramp it up more than anything else. Martha the impact on what that is on democrats that would like to be president. Juan there is a couple things going on here in the senate. In fact, now there is some consideration among democrats as to whether or not nancy pelosi, the speaker, should simply hold the articles of impeachment after they are passed here tonight. And try to force mitch mcconnell, the Senate Majority leader, the republican from kentucky to hold the trial, if you will, on their terms in terms of the calling witnesses. You may have heard about the Minority Leader in the Senate Charles schumer saying he wants certain witnesses. John bolton, Mick Mulvaney the Chief Of Staff to testify. I think we wanted a few witnesses in the house. Its interesting how when it was in the house none of these same democrats thatted
witnesses were brave enough to stick up and say you know what in the republicans should get witnesses. Martha there should be fairness on both sides. Yeah. And during the clinton years also the guy in 1998 that said we dont need to have any more witnesses with the senate procedure. That happened in the house. They conveniently forget their own comments and what their stance was just as recent as this current in the house. Sean is, it the case. Martha we have got to go. I would point out that Lindsey Graham also sort of flip flopped on witnesses with regard to when it was beneficial for republicans and not beneficial for them. So, that seems to work on both sides. Divided as a country. There is no doubt about that. Steve scalise, congressman is speaking right now on the floor of the house. Were going to take a quick break here and were going to come right back. The house debate now down to the final members as we await this historic vote. Thank our guests who are going to stick around for the rest of the evening with me. Also waiting for President Trump as i mentioned here in michigan where we expect his first comments on what is unfolding today. Quick break. Right back after this from detroit, michigan tonight. We see your spark in each nod, each smile, we see sparks in every aisle. We see you find a hidden gem, and buying diapers at 3am. We see your kindness and humanity. The strength of each community. Weve seen more sparks than we can say. About 20 million just yesterday. The more we look the more we find, the sparks that make america shine. Man 1 vo proof of less joint pain woman 1 oc this is my body of proof. And clearer skin. Man 2 vo proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis. Woman 2 vo . With humira. Woman 3 vo humira targets and blocks a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. Its proven to help relieve pain, stop further irreversible joint damage, and clear skin in many adults. Humira is the number one prescribed biologic for psoriatic arthritis. Avo humira can lower your ability to fight infections. Serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Man 3 vo ask your rheumatologist about humira. Woman 4 vo go to humira. Com to see proof in action. Martha we are being told that we are minutes away from this Historic House vote on the impeachment of President Trump lets go back to the floor of the house of representatives. Just four days after the subpoena himself responded to your subpoena. The Department Of Defense a week later responded to the subpoena. The Department Of Energy responded to the subpoena. We can go on and on with all of these agencies. Thats an abuse of power. Thats an obstruction of congress. Responding to your subpoena that thats what they did. They responded. You might not have liked the answer. But thats not the way this works. You dont impeach a president because you dont like his Foreign Policy. As so many of those Foreign Policy experts came and testified. But this isnt just about donald trump. They dont just hate donald trump, Madam Speaker. They hate the 63 million americans who voted for this president. The forgotten Men And Women of this country who have been left behind Madam Speaker. [boos] [gavel] house will be in order. Gentleman may proceed. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Its those forgotten Men And Women of this country that washington had left behind. Whats this president doing for them . He is delivering for them. 600 jobs pennsylvania. A thousand jobs workers in mingo junction, ohio. 750milliondollar investment for 600 new jobs across this country. Detroit news, chrysler, 6500 new jobs. Thats what this president is doing to deliver for those Men And Women of this country who have been left behind. Its about time somebody stands up for them. [applause] and President Trump is. So it is a political vendetta. But if they are going to go through with, this Madam Speaker, impeachment will not just be a stain on this democrat majority. Time has inspired. Impeachment will be. Reminded to address the remarks to the chair. [cheers] gentleman from california. [applause] Madam Speaker i recognize ms. Custer from New Hampshire for unanimous consent request. Gentle lady is recognized. Madam speaker, i request the consent unanimous consent for enter by statement into the record regarding the 75th Anniversary of the Battle Of The Bulge in favor of articles of impeachment. Thank you. Without objection. Madam speaker it is now my pleasure to recognize the gentleman from maryland, the Majority Leader of the house of representatives, mr. Hoyer for one minute. The gentleman is recognized. My colleagues. [gavel] the gentleman will suspend. The house will come to order. The gentleman is recognized. Madam speaker, i have had the honor of serving in this house for over 38 years. I have served during six president s. Presidencies. I have been here through moments of tremendous progress and terrible tragedy. I have seen periods of rank partisanship and patriotic bipartisan. I have seen our two party system work. And i have seen it break down. Never, in all my years of serving in this Great Institution that i love, and
the people of my district did i ever expect to encounter such an obvious wrongdoing by a president of the United States. [boos] nor did i expect to witness such a craven rationalization of president ial actions put our National Security at risk, undermine the integrity of our elections, and defied the Constitutional Authority of the congress to conduct oversight. We have heard from republicans that this impeachment really has to do with Policy Differences, or how we feel personally about the president. About his temperament or that we simply dislike him. Throughout the trump
presidency, democrats have resisted pursuing impeachment, even as we watched with dismay and disgust at a pattern of wrongdoing. That pattern included ordering federal agencies to lie to the public. Firing fbi director for refusing to end investigations of his campaign. Siding with Vladimir Putin against our intelligence agencies, taking funding away from the military to put towards an ineffective border wall. , and setting policies that have led to the separation of families and caging of children. We have to be sure deep
disagreements with the policies and actions taken by this president. There has been a lot of talk about the 63 Million People who voted for mr. Trump. Little talk about the 65 Million People who voted for Hillary Clinton. [applause] the Policy Difference or those votes, this president was elected legitimately. [applause] [gavel] the gentleman will suspend. The house will stay in order. The gentleman deserves to be heard. The gentleman is recognized. [boos] because we have electoral college. But none of these are reasons to pursue what
chairman schiff is called a Wrenching Process for the nation. In fact, democrats rejected that process emphatically in three specific votes. In december of 2017, democrats overwhelmingly voted against pursuing articles of impeachment. , including the speaker and myself. We did so again in 2018 with over 60 of the democrats rejecting pursuing articles of impeachment and again just months ago, in july of 2019, 60 of the democrats said no to pursuing articles of impeachment. Just days before the infamous july 25th telephone call, we did the same with 60 of democrats voting not to proceed credible witnesses. Many of whom appointed to office by President Trump, have corroborated the details. And timeline of his abuse of president ial power. , which forms the basis of the first article of impeachment in this resolution. Instead, i will not recount all of the witnesses or abuses that have occurred, i con congratulate my colleagues mr. Nadler and
his committee and mr. Schiff and his committee, for setting forth a compelling case. They have been laid out fully in the articles before us and by colleagues in their remarks. What i will do is remind americans that the house provided President Trump every opportunity to prove his innocence. But the witnesses were precluded from coming forth. The witnesses who have personal knowledge did not come either at the president s request, in which he refused to show up because he thought it was a sham as so many of you have said. Or to the committees. Instead he ignored congressional subpoenas for documents and for testimony by white house officials and ordered his subordinates not to cooperate. Perhaps they could have exonerated him. This, itself, i suggest to you, is unprecedented. When President Nixon and clinton were asked to hand over documents and allow officials to testify, ultimately both complied because it is the law. Such actions of the president can be taken as further evidence of his obstruction and abuse of power. It is in and of itself, impeachable conduct. The subject of the second article of impeachment. These two articles before us concern two very profound constitutional issues. About the abuse of power in our republic. First, whether it is acceptable for the president of the United States, any president , to solicit
foreign interference in our elections. There is a difference as to whether he has done that in the place to try that is in the United States senate. But we believe strongly there is probable cause to conclude that. To undermine our National Security, the integrity of our elections and the integrity of our democracy. And secondly, whether it is permissible for the president to obstruct congress and act as if he is above the law. And immune from constitutional oversight. 4th heard the testimony of Constitutional Law Experts who weighed in on these points. Some 1500 historians have said the same thing. As professor noah feldman
said if we cannot impeach a president who abuses his office for personal advantage, we no longer live in a democracy. We live in a monarchy or live under a dictatorship. The votes we are about to take concern the rule of law and our democracy itself. Let us not forget the words of john lock, so influential to the founders of our republic. John lock a millennia ago said this Wherever Law Ends Tier Rei Tyranny begins. This impeachment asked whether we are still a republic of laws. As our founders intended or whether we will accept that one person can be above the
law in america, as we have said over and over again, no one is above the law. But only as long as we hold every person accountable for breaking the law, even a president will that be true. If the house does not act, if we wait and delay, we run the risk of allowing the president s misconduct. If we believe it to be so, to be repeated at the expense of the integrity of our elections, our National Security and our constitutional system of separation of powers. Democrats did not choose this impeachment. We did not wish for it. [murmurs] we voted against it. We voted against it once. We voted against it twice. We voted against it three times as recently as july. We did not want this. However, President Trumps misconduct has forced our Constitutional Republic to protect itself. [applause] these votes that we are about to take and the process that will follow in the senate are not only an assessment of the president s commitment to the constitution or to his oath of office, it is as well a test of our own. Damning evidence of the president s high crimes has
emerged. Nevertheless, republican members of this house and of the senate have continued to defend the president whose actions seem to many of us to be indefensible. All of us feel a sense of loyalty to party. Its what makes our two party system function. Its what helps hold president s and majorities accountable. But Party Loyalty must have its limits. And as evidence of the president s impeachable offenses, have mounted daily as the witnesses testified, it has become increasingly clear that the limits of partisanship have been reached and passed. Now democrats and republicans together face a test before our
constituents, our country men, and our creator. The New York Times on october 18th summarized the question now posed to house and senate. Republicans and democrats compromised by compromise donald trump has hammered away at what republicans once saw as foundational virtues. Decency, honesty, responsibility, and, yes, even civility. Go on to say will they commit themselves and their Party Holly T wholly to mr. Trup embracing even his most antidemocratic actions or will they take the First Step Towards separating themselves from him and restoring confidence in the rule of law. Madam speaker, we have seen republican courage throughout our history. From the civil war to the cold war. In 1950, Margaret Chase smith, the senator from maine, a republican, spoke bravely against the cancer of mccarthyism in her party. Leading six of her republican colleagues in a declaration of conscience against their own leadership. We are republicans, they declared. But we are americans first. In 1974, one congressman took the brave and principled step of becoming the first republican on the Judiciary Committee to support impeaching President Nixon. He said to his colleagues and to the country, and i quote it isnt easy for me
to align myself against the president , to whom i gave my enthusiastic support on whose side i have stood in many legislative battles, whose accomplishments and foreign and Domestic Affairs i have consistently applauded. But it is impossible, he went on to say, for me to condone or ignore the long train of abuses to which he has subjected the presidency and the people of this country. Constitution and my own oath of office, he said, demand that i bear true faith and allegiance to the principles of Law And Justice upon which this nation was founded. He concluded and i cannot in good conscience, turn away from the evidence of evil that is, to me, so clear and compelling. My colleagues, that Congress Name was larry hogan sr. He represented the Fifth District of maryland, which i now represent. His son is presently the second term republican governor of our state. When larry hogan senior died in 2017, every obituary led with praise for his act of political courage. Who among us, many years from now will receive such praise as a man or woman of courage . Who will regret not having earned it . We talked a lot about partisan differences. There is one person who has
spoken today who is neither a member of the Republican Party nor the democratic party, his name is justin amash. Amash, who represents a republican district. He left the Republican Party and in doing so he admonished his colleagues that, quote this president will only be in power for a short time but excusing his behavior will forever tarnish your name. He spoke on this floor in support of the two articles that we will consider this evening neither a democrat or a republican. Representative amash, of course, is the only member of this house who has no allegiance to either party. But to his country. He is supporting, as i have said, both articles. We need not ask who will be the first to show courage by standing up to President Trump. The question we must now ask is who will be the last to find him. The pages of our history are filled with americans who chose country or party over personality. As President Kennedy wrote the party of past courage can teach. They can offer hope. They can provide inspiration. But they cannot supply courage itself. For this, President Kennedy said, each man, each woman, must look into their own soul. I urge my fellow colleagues
in the house and, yes, in the senate, to look into your soul. Summons the courage to vote for our constitution and our democracy. I understand we will all not see the same conclusion. But to do less betrays our oath and that of our founders who pledged their lives their fortune, and their scref sacred honor. Let us neither turn away from the evidence, which, to me, seems so clear nor from our good conscience which compels us to do what in our hearts we know to be right. Let us not allow the rule of law to end or for tyranny to find its toe hold. With our votes today, we can
bear true faith and allegiance to the vision of our founders, and we can show future generation what it truly means to be americans first. Vote yes. The gentleman yields back. [applause] gentleman from georgia. [applause] Madam Speaker, a few weeks ago just off of this floor, i said that a dark cloud was descending upon this body. And today because of the clock, and the calendar, it is closing. It is amazing to me what i just heard from the Majority Leader, that mr. Schiff and mr. Nadler presented a compelling case for impeachment. If this is a compelling case for impeachment, im not sure why we are here. Right now. It is not anywhere close to compelling. But you know what is interesting is what i have heard today the Majority Leader just spoke and said that if the president was given every opportunity to come prove his innocence. I tell you what Madam Speaker, let me just have a few minutes, stop the clock and let me go around to the press corps and ask everybody here and im going to accuse you of something. Did you it. You did it. Did you it. You did it. You did it. Now, prove its wrong. You did it. Prove its wrong. You did it . Guess what, you dont want to because deep down you know thats turning the entire jurisprudence of this country upside down. You are not guilty until you are proven. You are innocent. And today from this floor, we have heard the Majority Leader say this president is guilty and not the other way around. He is innocent and these come nowhere close to proving it. But what is left of this
body . Lets have an honest conversation, Madam Speaker. What we have found over the past few weeks that it is okay for the majority to tear down a foreign leader because they cant make their case. They have called him a liar or weak or worse or called in the Committee Even looked like a battered wife. It is below the dignity of this body and this majority to tear down a foreign leader because they cant make their case against this one. [applause] we have broken rules in this house, even to this moment, chairman schiff and the others have broken House Resolution 660 by not turning over the things that they should be turning over. I still have not got a transcript. We still dont know in the white house still has not got their stuff. I guess Minority Hearing Rule days dont matter either. You see there is a problem here. Because we are going to vote this tonight while breaking the rules. What a shameful incident. But we also found and creative interpretation of minority rights. We saw the rise of partisanship because of things that have been done
even further and we have even seen members smeared in reports by drive by political hacks. When they match numbers of the majority of the Ranking Member and the members of the press. That ought to concern every one of you as much as it concerns every one of us. Nothing but a drive by hit. But you know something . This Majority Leader also just said wherever law ends tyranny begins. I will say this, in this house, wherever the rules are disregarded, chaos and mob rule actually begin and the majority has taken that to a new level. It has been said today where is bravery . I will tell you where bravery is found and courage is found, its found in this minority who has lived through the last year of nothing but rules being broken, people being put down, questions not being answered and this majority say be damned with anything else, were going to impeach and do whatever we want to do. Why . Because we won an election. I guarantee you one day you will be back in the minority and it aint going to be that fun. Because when you look at it, when you actually trash the
rules of this house, you want to really look at what did you gain at the end by Trashing The Institution you claim to love. Thats the things we found out so far. But you know they are really careful saying you want to deal in process and process. As i said last night in the Rules Committee where they didnt want to listen, i will win on process and i will win on facts because we have the truth on our side. Let me remind you that heres what the process actually says. There was no pressure. Look at the call. President zelensky, President Trump, no pressure. There was no conditionality. There was nothing done to get the aid and the aid actually came. There were five meetings. When you look at it right now, none of which matter. Because right now the dark cloud is descending upon this house. And i am fearful, Madam Speaker, when i look out in that abyss, i dont know what i see but i will tell you what i do see, i see coming off a President Put his head down through this Sham Impeachment and he will do his job. He will put the American People first. [applause] he will tell them that i
care but. He will still put the economy first. And he will make sure this country stands strong. Thats what i see in this abyss. Thats where we are going. [applause] and Madam Speaker it is that hope in the future that i recognize right now that i yield one minute to the republican leader of this house the republican from california, mr. Mccarthy. The gentleman is recognized. Madam speaker, i must warn you im about to Say Something my democratic colleagues hate to hear. Donald j. Trump is president of the United States. [applause] [cheers] he is president today. He will be president tomorrow. And he will be president when this impeachment is
over. [applause] Madam Speaker, when they accept that maybe this house can get back to work for the American People. Now tonight i rise not as the leader of the opposition to this impeachment. Or as the elected representative from the Central Valley of california. I rise as Kevin Mccarthy, citizen, no better, no worse than the 4435 44445 representatives in this chamber or the 330 million americans watching this Institution Making what i believe one of the worst decisions we have ever made. It doesnt matter whether you are a democrat or a republican, whether you are liberal or you are conservative, whether you are the first generation or the tenth, at our core we are all americans, all of us. We choose our future. We choose what kind of nation we want to be. Heres our choice tonight. Will we let impeachment become an exercise of raw political power regardless if it damages our country . Or will we protect the proper grounds and process for impeachment now and in the future . For months, democrats and many in the media have attempted to normalize the Impeachment Process that would remove a duly elected president from office. After three years of breathless and baseless outrage, this is their last attempt to stop the trump presidency. Madam speaker, Speaker Pelosi even recently admitted that democrats have been working on this impeachment for two and a half years. Those were her words. They were not mine. Because they lost to him in 2016, they will do anything or say anything to stop him in 2020. Thats not america. Thats not how democratic republics behave. Elections matter. Voters matter. And in 11 months, The Peoples Voice will be heard again. Impeachment is the most consequential decision congress can make other than sending our Men And Women into war. Yet, 85 days ago Speaker Pelosi chose to impeach the president of the United States. She wrote the script and created an artificial timeline to make the details fit. Why else are we doing this just hours before christmas . If thats all it was, a rush to judgment, she could be forgiven. But before the speaker saw one word or one shred of evidence, she moved to impeach. In the past, in this body, such a step demanded a vote from all of us from the start. But not only did thee move to impeach before she gave this house and the hundreds of millions of people we represent a say in whether to pursue an impeachment inquiry, she threw out the bipartisan standards this house gave President Nixon and clinton that is why i immediately sent Speaker Pelosi a letter asking her to follow the rules of history, of tradition, and
follow those standards that have served america well. What did she say . She rejected it. She rejected it because democrats knew a fair process would crumble their case. A fair process would have exposed to the American Public what many already knew democrats have wanted to impeach President Trump since the day he was elected. And nothing was going to get in their way, certainly not the truth. Madam speaker, chairman schiff said he had evidence, more than circumstantial of collusion. That was false. In january, where we all stood in this body, we stood up, we raised our hands, we swore that we would uphold the constitution,. [muconstitution,. [murmuring] [applause] and a few mere hours after that, Congresswoman Tlaib said she was going to impeach the mother fer. Those are not my words, a year before taking the majority chairman nadler campaigned to the democrats that he wanted to be chairman of the Judiciary Committee where impeachment is. New york times writes, Madam Speaker, because he is the strongest member to lead a potential impeachment, and congressman raskin, a leading democrat on the Judiciary Committee, one that the democrats had represent in the Rules Committee, for these articles just yesterday, told a crowd he would impeach President Trump two days before he was ever
sworn in to office. What we have seen is a rigged process that has led to the most partisan and least credible impeachment in the history of america. That is this legacy. Any prosecutor in this country would be disbarred for such blatant bias, especially if that prosecutor was the fact witness, the judge, and the jury. [applause] Madam Speaker, democrats havent just failed on process, they have also failed on evidence. I have heard a lot of debate on this floor today. But i havent heard one member of this body dispute this simple fact. President trump provided lethal aid to ukraine. It came before the call, it came after the call, and it continues to this day. President trump provided Ukraine Tank Busting bombs. The previous administration, they gave blankets. This is the truth. Meanwhile, the democrats case is based on secondhand opinions and hearsay. Simply put, there are no grounds for impeachment. As constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley and i would challenge to say he is probably the most respected and we all know it, a democrat who did not vote for the president , said under oath there was no bribery, there was no extortion, no Obstruction Of Justice, and no abuse of power. Based on the facts, based on the truth, based on the lack of evidence turley called this the fastest thinnest
and weakest impeachment in the u. S. History. Such a definitive answer should be the end of all of this. But Speaker Pelosi is still moving forward with this impeachment. Without evidence of facts, or truth or public support. The speaker says it is out of allegiance to our founders. On this, i agree, i agree with the speaker we should listen to the founders. And if one does, its very clear that this impeachment is unfounded and improper. In the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton wrote there will always be there would always be the greatest danger that impeachment would be driven bipartisan animosity instead of real demonstrations of innocence or guilt. That impeachment would be driven bipartisan animosity instead of real demonstration of innocence or guilt. James ma madison another author of Federalist Papers wrote the danger of abuse must lead to the same tyranny as is threatened by executive abuse. The founders did not want impeachment to be used for political or partisan battles. If my colleagues do not want to follow the constitutional high standards for undoing a national election, perhaps you could have followed Speaker Pelosis standards. At least the one she promised to follow back in march. It was a very sensible standard. She says impeachment is so divisive that the evidence must be overwhelming, compelling, and bipartisan. Not one of those criterias
have been met today. Based on the facts, based on the evidence, based on the truth, this impeachment even fails that pelosi test. Those now who say removing President Trump would protect the integrity of our democracy have it backwards. By removing a duly elected president on empty articles of impeachment, congress Will Enrode The Public Trust in our system of government. I understand you dislike the president his beliefs, the way he governs and even the people who voted for him. How do i know this . Because you say so day in and day out in 2016 they even dismissed his supporters. Remember calling us deplorables . Now they are trying to disqualify our voice before
the 2020 election. They want to undo the results of the last election to influence the next one. As i said, President Trump will still be president when this is all over. But congress will have wasted months of time and taxpayers dollars on impeachment rather than doing what americas people want us to do. It didnt have to be this way. Is this why we came here to serve, to trample on Due Process Rights . To issue more subpoenas than laws . To appease the new democrat socialist base . [murmuring] [gavel]
that is not leadership. That is raw political politics and you know it. By refusing to acknowledge the truth or follow the facts by substituting partisan animosity, for real demonstration of innocence or guilt, and by continuing a threeyear effort to undermine the president , this impeachment has divided this nation. Without any concern for the repercussions. Moreover, politicizing this process has discredited the United States house of representatives. And could forever weaken the remedy of impeachment. To again quote professor turley, it is the democrats rush to impeachment on these grounds with unfair procedures that is an abuse of Power History will right
that. Madam speaker, as i said at the beginning, we face a choice. Do you trust the wisdom of the people or do you deny them a say in their government . Fortunately, the people will have the opportunity to speak up and render their verdict in 11 months to my fellow americans. So my fellow americans, if approve of the way this house has conducted their business, if you want to see your tax dollars go forward to endless investigations, support this impeachment. But if you want to restore a working congress, like the Previous Congress that listened to you, and worked to bring the best economy in this. Martha House Minority leader Kevin Mccarthy and up next will be nancy pelosi, the speaker of the house. The vote on two counts, articles of impeachment coming up shortly. Obstruction of congress and abuse of power
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