Charge. The truth is in the history of this republic, theres never been a single party fraudulent Impeachment Process deployed against a president like the one thats being used against donald trump. Thats whats unprecedented here. Its not the claim that a president doesnt want to turn over witnesses or documents. That, as weve said many times today, is actually quite common. And by the way, lets remember it needs to be noted again that President Trump has consistently cooperated with this congress in fulfilling its oversight you are listening to one of the many hours of todays very Historic HouseJudiciary Committee hearing on the articles of impeachment against president donald trump. Our live continuing coverage will take place over this hour and further hours as needed. But we want to let you know how were going to cover this. Were keeping an eye on this hearing. We have reason to believe there could be a vote on the current amendment soon. The committees obviously been going full speed ahead all day with limited breaks. What were going to do here
im ari melber is dip back to the hearing. When theres news we may come back out. We have analysts standing by. As this Judiciary Committee continues, were waiting for final votes that will tee up a house floor vote. Well keep watching right along with you and break in as the news warrants. Some would even call it president ial harassment because the administration is being used by these Democratic Committee chairs to advance their political agenda. This agenda does not allow them time to proceed to a court to do this the right way, to go through the process that is historic and comports with our custom and practice and tradition and the constitution. Professor turley was our only witness, the only one weve been allowed in the judiciary on our side, and the very exceptional testimony he submitted in writing. I want to read you this excerpt because its on point. Quote, this is page 42 of his
document. If this committee elects to seek impeachment on the president s power to yield congressional demands on oversight, it will have to distinguish a long line of cases where prior president s sought the very same review while withholding witnesses and documents. Take the Obama Administration on Fast And Furious, Congress Justifily began oversight into that scandal. Some members called for Impeachment Proceedings but President Obama provoked Executive Privilege and barred documents. President obama did that. This is not unprecedented. The position of the Obama Administration was regarded as extreme there and some even said absurd. But heres the point. President obama had every right to seek Judicial Review in the matter and many members of this very committee supported that. On this Obstruction Theory would itself be an abuse of power by
congress. It would be extremely dangerous precedent to set for the future president s and congresss in making an appeal to the Judicial Branch into a high crime and misdemeanor, unquote. Heres the deal. Impeachment was never intended to be a remedy for political disagreements. It wasnt intended to be a remedy even for legal disagreements between the legislative branch and the Executive Branch. Thats why theres a third branch of government. Thats why we have the judiciary. This is a dangerous road indeed as Professor Turley noted. I hope and pray that Future Congresss can and will exercise greater restraint than whats been shown by Chairman Schiff and Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Nadler and the rest. The stability of our republic is going to depend on that in the future. And i pray that we can put this geeny back in the tbottle. I yield back. For what purpose does the gentle woman from florida seek recognition . I triek to i move to strike the last word. Gentleman womans recognized. Thank you. You know, its truly disheartening to hear my colleagues on the other side argue in favor of crippling the very institution that theyre a part of. The power of impeachment has built in due process protections. We are the American Peoples duly elected representatives, and we, members of congress, are empowered to hold to account corrupt and criminal president. When the president obstructs an impeachment inquiry, hes obstructing the people who have a right to know how the president is running their government. After all, that is the basis of our government by the people, for the people. We have requested hundreds of documents and have been provided with absolutely not one document. The president has actually
instructed the State Department to not give us the information that weve asked. He has told witnesses, people that we have subpoenaed, to come in front of congress to testify, to not come and testify. Talk about a dangerous precedent. I think that the people deserve to know how hes using the office of the presidency to advance his own interests above those of the people whom he was elected to serve. The president has abused his office and is now using that power of the office to hide the extent of that abuse from the people. That is abuse of power. That is an impeachable offense. And i just want to end by saying that it is also appalling that throughout this process, the president and the Republican Party have continuously attacked Foreign Service officers, the men and women of the military, our intelligence community, those who protect us every day,
undermining our National Security. They are patriots and they should be treated as such. After all, we are all americans. I yield back. Gentle lady yields back. For what purpose does mr. Yolmer seek recognition . Does the gentleman strike the last word . Yep, yes, i do. Gentlemans recognized. This is so surreal. It seems that weve come to a time when right is wrong, wrong is right, bullies are the victims and the victims are called bullies. For three years this president has been harassed. Hes been electronically surveilled, spied upon as normal people would call it. Allegations have never ceased. They continue and theyre
continuing today. At some point you would think that someone would look at the abuses by congress, by the Justice Department friends of our democrats, by the friday friend of our democrats who aided the president when he was nothing but a candidate. At some Point Somebody would go this is out of control. We need to step back and say wait, wait, this train is off the tracks. Its time to get and heres the word reasonable. Whats gone on the last three years is not reasonable. Theres a doctrine, those who are attorneys know, youre going to try to pursue some remedy. You need to have clean hands. The majority has been so abusive. Sure, this administration has produced tons of witnesses after
subpoenas, some without. Sometimes its just negotiated. But normally what happens is subpoena is received and it means youre not going to be able to use an Agency Attorney even though an Agency Attorney will not be allowed in even though the only way that the witness can appear and have Executive Privileges properly claimed is to have an agency or Department Attorney with them. And thats when things get negotiated and get worked out. But some of our friends know that if theyre abusive enough with subpoenas and with law fare not warfare, but using the law as a weapon you can run people out of office. They successfully did that suing sara pailen, ryan zinky. This is the kind of stuff thats been going on. And so this will end up since our friends are not being reasonable, were not willing to negotiate with the administration so Agency Lawyers could come claim Executive Privilege even though the target kept changing. They didnt know what they were going to testify about. They were being accused of all kinds of different things. That kept changing and is changed even in the last 48 hours, 24 hours. Its changed. How do you defend yourself when the charge keeps changes . This is like a stalinesque type court system. You know, you dont get to meet and cross examine your witnesses. And in fact, well just have some Law Professor thats paid by our friends come in and
explain what the witnesses probably said, did say what it is. Thats all you need to hear. If youre going to vote on guilt or innocence, Um Impeachmeimpea not, you dont need to hear from the witnesses. We dont need no stinking witnesses. Just bring us the chance to vote and we will vote. It is an outrage. Theres nothing reasonable about whats gone on. And especially it is so ironic. This is the same week when the corruption of the Department Of Justice has been shown, and there is no sorrow, no apology, no no remorse whatsoever by this incredible abusive system. So, the obstruction of congress is by people in congress. The administration has not been unreasonable. Theyve seen what has happened
when this abusive Justice Department gets people in a perjury trap. They got nothing to go on, but if we can get you in and get you to testify, then we can prosecute you if you make a mistake while youre testifying. It was very, very reasonable not to come answer the subpoenas when you couldnt have an Agency Lawyer and theres no negotiation with the other side. I yield back. Gentleman yields back. For what purpose does mrs. Dean seek recognition . To strike the last word. Weve seen a stark contrast between the patriots who have stood up to tell the truth and those who have turned a blind eye to the truth. Tonight to those patriots i want to lift you up. I want to tell you thank you. I am in awe of you. Im in awe of your courage to uphold your oath at great personal sacrifice and professional cost. Patriots like Lieutenant Colonel
alexander vindman, purple heart recipient and iraq war veteran. Ambassador william taylor, Bronze Star Recipient and vietnam war veteran. Marie yovanovitch, extraordinary foreign ambassador to ukraine who joined the service during the reagan administration. Dr. Fiona hill, former Deputy Assistant to the president and senior director of europe and russia on the National Security council and so many others. More than a dozen others detailed the wrong doing of the president. They described a president who repeatedly abused his power for personal gain, jeopardizing your security and democracy. These patriots had courage to live up to their oath. Their words mattered, patriots. My family knows something about the sacrifice of service. Two of my brothers served in the navy during the vietnam, My Brother Bob Serving Two tours in vietnam. And im lucky to serve with those who have served on my own staff. First lieutenant collin mylon who was recently called to active duty and tim mac and dave corr gann, proud marines. Now as members of congress, it is our turn to stand up. Dr. King once said the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience. Its where he stands at time of challenge and controversy. This is a time of great challenge. And some of my colleagues do not want to face the realities of a president s wrong doings. And so i ask my colleagues tonight, what are you afraid of . This country was built by those who were brave enough to stand up against king george. We are called to stand up against donald j. Trump. What are you afraid of . Look to our framers. Look to our patriots for courage because this is about courage, the courage to honor our oath, my oath, your oath. Mr. Chairman, i will with somberness and purpose yet with confidence in our constitution be voting no on this amendment and be voting yes on these articles of impeachment. And with that, i yield back. Mr. Chairman. The gentle lady yields back. Who seeks what purpose . Gentleman is recognized. Thank you mr. Chairman. I support the amendment and i offer this to you. Charging the president with obstruction of congress is frankly unprecedented. And in itself, it threatens our
system of government. The principles of Separation Of Powers and checks and balances demand that a president be permitted to resist demands that he finds burdensome of his privileges. It is absurdity to claim that the granting to congress of the sole power of impeachment implies duties of the president to cooperate in any and all congressional requests no matter their merit. Disputes between the branches are actually a feature. Theyre awe feature of our system. Theyre not a bug in the system. The branches are required to engage in a process of accommodation to reach an agreement that takes into account the relative equities of both sides. But both branches have rights and interests to protect. We do. The executive does. If those disputes cannot be resolved, the courts are to step in. Anything less threatens the Separation Of Powers that is the
very foundation of this constitution. This majoritys taken the position, quite frankly the dubious position, that despite through precedent to the country that a vote of the full house is not required to open an Impeachment Proceeding. Think of the implication of that. Any rogue Committee Chairman can on his or her own commence an Impeachment Proceeding against a president. That chairman can submit whatever subpoenas and document requests they wish under the theory of these articles the president has no choice but to comply with a single rogue Committee Chairman because his failure to do so would be impeachable. How does that comport with Separation Of Powers . The house should not be able to artificially President Trumps actions are not unprecedented. President obama on many occasions as my colleague from louisiana pointed out a moment
ago. Many president s have outright refused to cooperate with Investigati Investigations as well. Im going to give you three historical cases that are not artifacts but are actual cases where, for instance, president jackson said in 1837, he called a House Subpoena Illegal and unconstitutional stating that he would repel all such attempts as an invasion of the principles of justice as well as of the constitution. And he shall esteem it his sacred duty to the people of the United States as he would establishment of spanish ininquiry decision. Thats from andrew jackson. Later, President Coolidge said in a New York Times article that he sent a message to the senate that he would cease to participate in their sbrus in questioning the legitimacy of their investigation. President truman published an Executive Order in the federal register Ordering Executive Departments to respectfully decline any subpoena pertaining to congressional investigation into Executive Branch personnel. And then we have the recent obama example. So, if you had a problem, you dont necessarily the chairman said he didnt exert privilege. Well, actually he claimed Executive Privilege in a very broad way. Yall were disgusted by it when he initially did. He would issue subpoena and have it served. The person doesnt show up. Guess what we do. We go into court and we prove the prove nins of our subpoena. The court issues an additional order, maybe a warrant for arrest, maybe a fine, maybe a
contempt citation. But we avail ourselves of the process. You havent done that. You havent done it because mr. Schiff said so just last week because he didnt want to take the time to avail himself of the process that you claim youre defending. And that is precisely why Professor Turley and all who look at this with objective eyes say you are the ones abusing the process. You are abusing congress and youre abusing the president and the Executive Branch. But im afraid what happens is we actually denigrate our body and we denigrate the very process that we claim to be protecting today. With that i yield back. Gentleman yields back. What purpose does ms. Escobar seek recognition . Move to strike the last word. Recognized. Thank you, chairman. Weve heard our colleagues argue
that obstruction of congress has not happened. One of our colleagues called the charge ridiculous. Another colleague said, quote, the president has consistently cooperated with democrats, a stunning statement. You know, ive had the incredible privilege of serving on the House Judiciary Committee now for almost a year. The freshmen were sworn in january 3rd and weve had many, many, many hearings. And theres a thread that runs through all those hearings, especially those hearings where we are trying to provide proper oversight over the president of the United States. And that thread is that my colleagues complain bitterly about our efforts to be a check, our efforts to perform our obligation under the constitution, and our efforts to provide oversight. We hear it time and time again. And this idea that the president has cooperated, that is the claim that is actually absurd. In fact, during some of our oversight hearings, we heard the president say that he was covered under absolute immunity without listing the documents or the reasons why he deserved absolute immunity. And no president , not even richard nixon, no president has refused to honor subpoenas during impeachment. So, if you can imagine, this president has achieved a new low and lowered the bar significant. If it were not for the patriots and i associate myself with the statement by representative dean who thanked them. They are heroes. They put their reputations, their names, their safety, and
their security at risk so that they could defend this country and defend the constitution and uphold the Oath Of Office the oath that they took as public servants. But lets find out just how cooperative this president has been during this investigation. And id like to ask representative swalwell, my colleague who serves on intelligence, representative swalwell, how many documents did you all request during this investigation . Gentleman lady yields to mr. Swalwell. On pages 30 and 31 on the findings, it was 71 documents to the white house. And how many witnesses . 12 witnesses. We asked to show up who the president directed not to show up. So, the American People understands, you requested 72 documents, how many documents and how many witnesses did the president provide . 12 were asked to show up and he directed them not to show up. Zero of the 71 documents were provided. Thank you so much, representative swalwell. I want to ask the American People what is president trying to hide from you . Why is he trying to keep you in the dark . If he has nothing to hide, then let him come forward with those documents and those witnesses. I want to conclude by just touching a little bit on something i mentioned last night. Unfortunately, weve come to expect this kind of behavior from the president , and this really is a very, very tragic moment in American History, a very dark moment in American History. But its made more tragic by enablers who seek to make sure that they protect one man at any cost, one man who is not for america, one man who is for
himself. This is a reckoning for us, and this is a moment when we should be standing with the patriots. I am very proud, as dark as this moment is, i am very proud to stand with the patriots here on this committee. And i will continue to stand with the patriots who defend this country. Mr. Chairman, i yield back. Gentle lady yields back. What purpose does oh, sorry. What purpose does mr. Cline seek recognition . Move to strike last word. Gentleman is recognized. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Weve already talked today about the lack of evidence in support of the first article of impeachment, abuse of power article. They cant prove bribery. They cant prove extortion. They cant even prove a Campaign Finance violation. Since they dont have the
elements to prove any crime, they created one and said there was, quote, no higher crime. There are higher crimes. There are actual crimes, but since the president didnt commit one, here we are. Its laughable if it werent so sad. We do know a few things though. The same four facts that have been repeated throughout. Both President Trump and president Zelenski Have said there were no pressure on the call. There was no conditionality of aid in the call transcript. The ukrainians were not aware that the aid was withheld when the president spoke. And we have the Time Magazine article by andrew yar mock. My colleagues said earlier we cant prove any of it so were going to accuse him of all of it and call it abuse of power. Thats it to a point. So, now we have an article, a second article, charging obstruction of congress. The democrats have alleged that the president directed the unprecedented categorical and indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas issued by the house of
representatives. But the facts dont match up with these claims. President has legitimate constitutional privileges and the courts can and should determine the boundaries of these privileges. The white house released two Call Transcripts to the public for review during this process. Ambassador sondland said the president told him go tell the truth when the ambassador told the president he was asked to testify before congress. In addition these claims of obstruction ignore the appropriate role of the third branch of government, to review conflicts between the executive and congress. The majority by seeking to impeach the president for failing to yield to their demands in oversight or impeachment investigation fails to distinguish instances where the prior president south review while Withholding Testimony and documents. They also oversaw where the two branches negotiated in good faith over the return of documents. But after the failure of the majority to negotiation in good faith over the rules for this
very Impeachment Proceeding, why would we think that there would be an effort by the president to acknowledge and work in good faith to resolve said dispute . Better in their minds to wait for the courts to resolve it which is their right. President obama during the Fast And Furious investigation invoked Executive Privilege and barred Essential Testimony and documents. During its litigation, the Obama Administration argued it had no authority over the denial of witnesses and evidence to congress. But the federal court and committee on oversight disagreed. Professor turley in his testimony to this committee testified that he thinks the democrats Impeachment Process is an abuse of power. He said, quote, what im saying is that if you want a wellbased, a legitimate impeachment case to set this abbreviated schedule, demand
documents, and then impeach because they havent been turned over when they go to court, when a president goes to court, i think thats an abuse of power. If you make a high crime and misdemeanor out of going to the courts, it is an abuse of power. Its your abuse of power. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and i yield back the balance of my time. Gentleman yields back. Move to strike last word. Thank you, mr. Chairman. My republican colleagues have been putting forward a lot of excuses today. And so i want to go through the ones that weve heard the most. First, theyve said that the president s behavior was all about his supposedly gentlemleg concern about corruption. But what we know is that all of President Trumps agencies, all of his advisers, everyone unanimously told him that
ukraine had passed all anticorruption benchmarks. What we know is that the Department Of Defense said no further review on Ukraine Corruption was necessary. What we know is that President Trumps budget cut aid for ukraine designed to fight Ukraine Corruption. And what we know is that President Trump before both the calls with president zelenski is april and july was given official talking points, official Talking Oinpoints in ukraine, yet he never used the talking points. In fact, he never mentioned the word corruption on either call. The only two names that President Trump mentioned were joe and hunter biden on july 25th. Second excuse the republicans put forward. They suggest that this was all about the president s desire to get the European Union to share more of the burden of foreign
assistance. Well, lets look at that. Mr. Holmes told us that europe provides four times as much assistance, more aid to ukraine, than we do. And actually, the United States aid largely gets paid back. On top of that, ambassador sondland, President Trumps ambassador to the European Union testified clearly that nobody ever told him to go to the European Union and actually ask for more military aid to be provided. That simply wasnt the case. The only thing that President Trump told ambassador sondland to communicate to ukraine, what was that . He told us that resumption of aid would likely not occur unless president zelenski announced the investigations. And ambassador sondland made clear and this is a quote unless zelenski went to the mic and announced these investigations, there would be a stalemate over the aid. So, what were the what were these investigations . 2016 Election Interference and burisma, meaning the bidens. So, finally, left with no other defenses, my republican colleagues say that President Trump had a Gentlemlegitimate Ro InvestigateVice President biden. But once again, lets look at the facts. That makes no sense whatsoever. The minoritys own report states that the allegations against the bidens were from 2015. 2015. But President Trump readily gave military aid to ukraine in 2017 and again in 2018. President trumps own aids told him that there was no merit to these investigations. So, what changed . What led to the sudden push to hold up congressionally approved, desperately needed military aid without telling anybody the reason . Vice President Biden began beating President Trump in the polls. The evidence is clear. When President Trump said do us a favor though, who was the us . We know. We know who the us was because he said it. President trump told president zelenski that his personal attorney, his personal lawyer, rudy giuliani, quote, very much knows whats going on. President trump could have gone through official channels if he wanted. He could have asked for the Attorney General to conduct an investigation. He could have conducted all sort of legitimate investigations but he didnt. And we know that too because the Department Of Justice said that President Trump never asked them to do any investigations or even talk to ukraine. Instead, President Trump asked his personal attorney because us was not about america. The president was not putting america first. This wasnt official policy. This wasnt what was right for our country. Every witness told us that too. This was personal. It was all for President Trumps personal political gain to benefit his own campaign and his reelection, and thats why he used his personal attorney to do that. He abused his power. He abused the power entrusted to him by we, the people. And he placed our safety, millions of dollars of Taxpayer Money on the table. That is an abuse of power. We must impeach donald j. Trump. I yield back. Gentle lady yields back. What purpose does mr. Armstrong seek recognition . Move to strike the last word. Gentleman is recognized. Talk about obstruction of congress and subpoenas and i would like to talk about subpoenas for a little bit. And the democratic majoritys abuse of subpoenas and how it started. And it started in this committee with a subpoena to the attorney
general bill barr. That compliance with that subpoena would have required him to violate the law. So, like a reasonable, rational, deliberative body we are, what did we do . We held him in contempt. We held the Attorney General of the United States in contempt of congress for not violating the law. But it gets better because after that, we held a hearing in judiciary about whether or not we should have held him in contempt. Oversight democrats subpoenaed documents from commerce, legal documents, relating directly to a case that was pending in front of the supreme court. As i stated earlier, those same democrats on oversight subpoenaed the personal emails of President Trumps children. Democrats in Ways And Means have submitted President Trumps tax returns for purely political purposes. Speaking of politics, adam schiff used the Subpoena Power of the Intelligence Committee to obtain Phone Records. He released the Phone Records as a member of the press and the Ranking Member and his political opponent. You cannot weaponize the Subpoena Power of congress in order to harass the Executive Branch and not expect the executive to use every legal remedy at their disposal for the subpoenas. You can continue with an Impeachment Proceeding. What you cannot do is charge obstruction because youre going to continue then allow the courts to decide it. I would like to point out a few things. Do you know who we havent subpoenaed . Ambassador bo ambassador bolton who basically begged. Adam schiff. The whistleblower. Everyone the whistleblower talked to in relation to this phone call. So, if we want to talk about abuse and obstruction and why these things are going on, i think as another comment my
Professor Turley said in a different hearing, weve met the enemy and he is us. And with that, i yield back. Gentleman yields back. What purpose does mr. Deutsch seek recognition . Move to strike last word. Recognized. Thank you mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, there are two articles of impeachment. Each is vitally important. Obstruction of Congress Matters to all of us who value the Separation Of Powers here in the house, and it will matter to all of those who value the Separation Of Powers in the United States senate. Article one vests in the house the sole power of impeachment. Thats set forth in the constitution. So, what has the president done . President trump is the first and only president in American History to openly and indiscriminately defy all aspects of the constitutional Impeachment Process. October 26, the president argued that congress should not even be allowed to impeach him under the constitution. And then on october 8th, white House Counsel acting on behalf of the president wrote a already to the house and said that President Trump cannot permit his administration to participate. Well, this is not a fishing expedition. This is a matter of grave importance, and weve talked about at length the abuse of power that the president has exhibited. But what why did the president refuse to produce . Weve heard about the dozen officials that hes blocked. But what about all of the documents that weve asked for . What about the witnesses who did come forward, who told us about the Briefing Materials for President Trumps calls with president zelenski that were prepared by Lieutenant Colonel vindman and the staff summaries of conclusions for meetings relating to ukraine including
military assistance . What about the memorandum of conversation from President Trumps meeting in new york with president Zelenski On September 25th . And what of all of the additional documents from the Vice President . The notes taken by Jennifer Williams between the call between President Trump and president zelenski . The Briefing Materials prepared for the meeting . And on November 24th The News Report conducted review and turned up hundreds of documents that reveal extensive documents to reveal justification. Thats what were talking about. Obstruction of Congress Matters because we know what were looking for. We know how important it is. The president has stood in the way of this House Of Representatives doing its important work. The president should allow should have allowed these officials to speak, should have allowed these documents to
speak. My colleagues on the other side understand this is not a fishing expedition. They know that these documents are there. And if they were to help the president , they would be urging the president to work with us rather than obstruct us. We have to proceed with this obstruction of Congress Article of impeachment. And i oppose this amendment. I yield the balance of my time to mr. Johnson. Thank you mr. Deutsch. Tonight we are called upon to protect the nations core values and im going to tell you money and the economy are not our core values. Cutting regulations are not our core values. Tax cuts for the top 1 , not our core values. Withholding desperately needed Security Assistance from an ally desperately in need is not a core value. Coercing a foreign power to interfere in a president ial
election is not our core value. Giving congress the finger as it seeks to exercise its authority as a coequal branch of government is not a core value. Ill tell you what a core value is fair and free elections and respect for the constitution and to take care that your duties are faithfully executed as president. That is our core value. The faithful execution of the Office Of The President , the upholding of the Oath Of Office are our core values. To the best of your ability preserving, protecting, and defending our constitution, that is the nations core values. When a president commits a grave abuse of the public trust by
running rough shot over the high office of president , then congress is left with no choice but to do its duty to protect the public and the republic from clear and president danger. We must impeach this president. And with that, i yield back. Gentleman yields back. For what purpose does mr. Jeffreys seek recognition . Move to strike the last word. The gentleman is recognized. Donald trump pressured a Foreign Government to target an american citizen for political gain. At the same time withheld 391 million in military aid from a vulnerable ukraine without justification as part of a scheme to solicit foreign interference in 2020 election. The July 25th Rough Transcript is a smoking gun, and donald
trumps words pulled the trigger. 5 words. Do us a favor, though. An Essential Question for us to resolve on this committee is whether the president sought a political favor, or is he, as my republican colleagues suggest, an Anticorruption Crusader . That notion is laughable. But lets just check the record to see what it says. Donald trump spoke to the ukrainian president twice, once on april 21st. He did not use the word corruption once. He had a second call with the president of ukraine on july 25th. He did not use the word corruption once. Donald trumps own Department Of Defense rowe a letter to the
congress on may 23rd and said that the new ukrainian government, the new ukrainian government, has satisfied all necessary preconditions to receive the aid including the implementation of anticorruption protocols. That was Donald TrumpsDepartment Of Defense saying there are no corruption concerns that should justify the withholding of the aid. Thats why so many trumpappointed witnesses came forward and were troubled. And i just want to enter into the record three, lieutenant Colon Colonel alexander vindman, who was on the call, reported his concern because, quote, they had
significant National Security implications for the country. And Lieutenant Colonel vindman said it is improper for the president of the United States to demand a Foreign Government investigate a u. S. Citizen for a political opponent. That was Lieutenant Colonel vindman, iraq war veteran, purple heart recipient, 20 years of active duty. Gordon sondland, ambassador appointed by donald trump, what did he say . Everybody was in the loop. It was no secret. Was there a quid pro quo . The answer is yes. Is sondland a nevertrumper . He was appointed by donald trump. He gave 1 million to trumps n inauguration. And then of course theres bill taylor, west point graduate. What did he say . To withhold that assistance for
no good reason other than help with a Political Campaign made no sense. It was illogical. It could not be explained. It was crazy. That is the record evidence that has been established. Donald trump did not care about alleged corruption in ukraine. He sought a political favor. And at the same time that donald trump was allegedly concerned with corruption in ukraine, he authorized 8 billion in weapon sales to the corrupt Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia and other gulf states. 8 billion in april he authorized. He was supposedly concerned about corruption. This was a regime that butchered a Washington Post journalist with a bone saw and then lied about it. And at the same time, he was withholding money from ukraine, he authorized 8 billion in
weapon sales over the objection of congress. The president pressured a Foreign Government to target an american citizen for political gain. He solicited foreign interference in the 2020 election. The record is clear. He abused his power. He must be held accountable because in america no one is above the law. I yield back, mr. Chair. Gentleman yields back. What purpose does mr. Collin seek recognition. Move to strike the last word. Gentleman is recognized. You know, it is it is ive listened to this idea of the process and the i fully support this amendment. I support it because frankly were in a position we dont need to be. Its also been interesting to listen all day today to the trying to build a case out of nothing. Ive already went through the fact that the majority has already disparaged beyond belief mr. Zelenski. Im not sure why they do character assassination, but they did and they still are. Im not sure why they choose to continue to put out articles saying that members of the Ukraine Military died because of aid that was withheld. That was thats just a lie. And even their own articles to prove it says we cant actually say that thats true, but keep sending it out there. Believe me, the American People are watching this farce. But it is amazing to me to listen to my colleagues talk about how we do proper process and subpoenas. Let me just take you on a Wonderland Trip back through this committee this year in which we issued more subpoenas and did more things that were amazingly outrageous than i could ever imagine. Weve learned stuff this year. No offense to the chairman. Hes been doing the best he can to satisfy the many demands of being the chairman who has to go
over to get impeachment over. But weve learned this year that subpoenas were, you know, they just helped you look better in court. We learned that subpoenas are a conversation starter. Im not sure what that is about. I know in court that theyre not a conversation starter. Theyre compelling information. Theyre actually wanting us to move forward. So, when you really look at this and you Start Talking about how the democrats have been denied process and denied this, you know, its really interesting to me that again 70something days the other day i think the gentle lady from california said tried to make comparison that the Ken Star Investigation that was after almost 3 1 2 year of investigation. And that one weve had since september to now. The majority is acting like petulant children who are not getting their way fast enough because santa claus hasnt come
yet. Theyre getting ready to vote for their christmas president. I think the American People next november will remember their christmas president. If we want to talk about the sanctity of subpoenas, why did the majority withdraw from the suit . Why did they withdraw from that . They wanted to continue they could have done this. They could have had this charade and stayed in court. Dont hand me these High And Mighty arguments about process. This is about Congress Just being petulant and saying we dont want because we wanted it now. I can take you back to february of this year. Acting Attorney General whitaker. Ill remind some of the folks. They were trying to get acting Attorney General whitaker here because they were trying to make political points before as the year got started because there was nothing rolling yet. Mueller hadnt happened so they couldnt talk about it except in broad generic terms. Bill barr wasnt sworn in yet. One week before bill barr was sworn in, we brought in mr. Whitaker. We threatened him with a subpoena and made public declaration about a subpoena. Until we find out the night before sent him a letter saying if you showed up we wont do a subpoena. So, its a little bit hard for me to hear how this congress, this committee, and then were not even going to get started on mr. Schiff who, again, loves a camera, loves a microphone, loves his own gavel, but doesnt like to have to answer his own questions about his own work and what hes actually done. He like to have to answer questions. Him and mr. Goldman last week on who ordered the matching of that so that they could unmask Ranking Member and journalist when they could have just as easily put in if it had been proper member one, Congress Person one, individual it doesnt matter. They could have used whateverto
for drive by purposes. So tonight as we hear the angst and we hear the plain out just hypocrisy remember that this is majority that had one thing in mind, and i will not deny they have not passed bills, but i will also deny they have not passed bills that can actually get any bipartisanship in the senate, which is known for tat. We pass bills that actually get signed into law. Instead we want to talk about subpoenas we dont enforce, processes you dont follow. Why . Because you cant make the argument. You dont have abuse of power and you definitely dont have obstruction of congress. I yield back. Gentleman yields back. Move to strike the last word. I recognize. One of my colleagues said moments ago were using the law as a weapon. Well, the law is a weapon
against people who violate it, dont respect it, dont obey it. My republican colleagues have claimed theres not enough here to impeach a president. I have heard them previously say that this is merely about eight lines from one phone call. Well, perhaps they forgot that the pressure against ukraine lasted for months. Perhaps they forgot that trying to limit this merely eight lines on one phone call underestimates the risk to our National Security and our national interests. You see you cranes ability to protect themselves against russian aggression is directly tied to our ability to protect ourselves from russian aggression. But thats right. This president only cares about and i, quote, the big stuff. Big stuff, big things that are directly tied to his personal agenda. But my colleagues also seem to ignore the pattern of behavior, the pattern of misconduct and certainly the abuse of power. First the president welcomed interference in the 2016 election. His campaign had multiple contacts with russia, and he himself publicly invited russia to interfere. Remember this, russia if youre listening . I hope youre able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. And then after the Special Counsel was assigned to investigate the president s conduct, the president tried to cover it up by obstructing the investigation and refusing to
cooperate. Then this one really has someone used to say, takes the cake. Just one day after the Special Counsel testified before congress, the president was at it again, apparently undeterred and emboldened he demanded interference into the 2020 elections. Telling a vulnerable ally, i would like you to do us a favor though and conditioned official acts on the announcement of a Sham Investigation into the president s chief political rival. And true to form, after the president s scheme was exposed, after he was caught and congress launched an investigation, the president tried to cover it up by trying to undertake a complete blockade of congress
investigation. The president s misconduct is a part of a pattern. First the president advises foreign powers to interfere in our elections, and then he obstructs lawful inquiries into his behavior. Whether by congress or by law enforcement. And then he does it again. Because remember he believes he is above the law, and he certainly has the full support of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. Most recently the president suggested publicly that china, why dont you come on in, the waters warm. China should interfere in our elections by investigating former Vice President joe biden. The president has taken no accountability for his misconduct. He has shown no remorse, no surprises there. Rather he has doubled down and
made clear he will continue to solicit interference in our election for his own personal gain, not the gain of the American People. He will continue to disregard a coequal branch of government that were designed to keep the Executive Branch in check. In other words, unless he is stopped, the president will continue to erode our democracy and the values on which our country was founded. We cannot, and we will not allow that to happen. Mr. Chairman, i yield back. Gentle lady yields back. Move to strike the last word. The gentleman is recognized. I yield to . Thank the gentleman from texas. Theres a saying and its that facts dont care about your feelings, so lets go through some facts. Lets talk about the Trump Administration and how much they actually have guantanamocoopera congress. In the report, the schiff report, Chairman Schiff argued that President Trump has obstructed the impeachment inquiry. In letters sent to deposition witnesses chairman wrote and i quote any failure to appear shall constitute obstruction in the houses impeachment inquiry, end quote. However, theres ample evidence of the administration complying with the congressional oversight and investigations during 2017 and 2018 even with congressional probes the administration did not find legitimate. For example, over 25 Administration Officials testified before the House Oversight committee. Over 20 Administration Officials have testified before the House Judiciary Committee. Additionally as of the start of
the democrats impeachment inquiry, the administration has produced more than 100,000 pages of documents to the House Oversight committee. Thats over 100,000 pages of documents. I must say they produced them in a timely manner. They didnt dump them within 48 hours of the hearing, but again i digress. The House Oversight democrats initiated a sweeping investigation into the White House Security clearance practices despite the president s Broad Authority to grant Security Clearances to whomever the administration wishes. In that investigation the administration provided a Current White House chief Security Officer to brief both member and staff of the White House Security clearance process. The administration has also provided Committee Staff with in camera reviews of over 500 pages of white house documents and
policies related to Security Clearance process. The fbi has also allowed Committee Staff review and Encamera Hundreds of documents relate today the role and the White House Security clearance has played and provided Committee Staff with multiple followup briefings regarding their own internal security process. We heard democrats talk this evening about the border, so lets just talk about the border and the administrations willingness to open themselves up to review in that regard, too. The administration has produced more than 9,600 documents in response to the committees subpoenas related to child separation at the border. Again, thats over 9,600 documents. Additionally in august and September Of 2019 the administration accommodated nine separate multiday surprise congressional visits to i. C. E. And dhs facilities across the