The u. S. House at 9 00 eastern tomorrow, there will be live on cspan. As we wait for the committee to return we take you back to the beginning of the committee with Opening Statements. The rules committee will come to order. The rules committee will come to order. Its unfortunate that we have to be here today. But the actions that the president theyve needed states have made that the excess erie. President trump withheld congressional approved a to the ukraine a, partner under siege, not to fight corruption, but to extract a personal political favor. President trump refused to meet with the cranes president in the white house until he completed this scheme. All the while, the road russia the very nation holding part of ukraine hostage, the very nation that interfered in our election in 2016, had another meeting in the Oval Office Just last week. These are not my opinions, these are uncontested facts. Weve listened to the hearings, weve read the transcripts. And its clear that this president acted in a way that not only violates the public trust, huge apologized our National Security. And he undermined our democracy. He acted in a way that rises to the level of impeachment. That is why we are considering h raise 65 today, impeaching Donald J Trump for high crimes and misdemeanors. Congress has no other choice than to act with urgency, and when i think back to the founders of this nation, they were particularly concerned about foreign interference in our elections. They understood that allowing outside forces to decide american campaigns would cause the fundamentals of our democracy to crumble. But the evidence shows that is exactly what President Trump did. Not only allowed, but solicited foreign interference, all to hear him in his reelection campaign. What shocks me, quite frankly, about so many of my republican friends, is their inability to acknowledge that President Trump acted improperly. It seems the only republicans willing to admit that said that he did something wrong have already retired, or announced plans they can they intend to retire at the end of this congress. I get it, its hard to criticize the president of your own party. But that shouldnt matter here. I admire president clinton when he was president of the United States and i still do today. But when this house impeached him, which i didnt agree with, i went to the host and said that what president clinton did was wrong. Because moments like this call for more than just reflective partnership. They require honesty. And they require courage. Are any republicans today willing to muster the strength to say that what this president did was wrong . Now let me say again what happened here. The president withheld congressional approved aid to a country under siege to extract a personal political favor. He did not do this as a matter of u. S. Policy, he did this for his own benefit. That is wrong. And if that is not impeachable conduct, i dont know what it is. Now ive heard some on the other side to suggest that this process is about overturning an election that is absurd. That is about President Trump using his office to try and rigged the next election. Now think about that. We like to say that every bone vote matters. That every vote counts. We learned about great school about all the people that fought for that right. It is a secret thing. I remember, as a middle schooler in 1972. Leaving leaflets of potential voters, urging them to support georgia go mcgovern for president. And he was dedicated to ending they ebb war in vietnam, feeding the hungry, and helping the poor. I remember, even to this day what an honor it was to ask people to support him even though i was too young to vote myself. And what a privileged was to ask ive been proud of winning campaigns and ive been proud of losing ones to people i thought would be great president like senator mcgovern would never given that chance i may i would take losing an election when the American People render that verdict and i will never if our nation decides our leaders for us. The president of the United States is rolling out the welcome mat to that foreign interference to not act, would send a dangerous president not just for this president but for any future president the. The evidence is as clear as it is overwhelming and this administration hasnt handed over a single subpoena article. Not now is our time to decide whether the United States is america oh is allowed to act like those who act like kings or queens as if the law doesnt apply to them its no secret that President Trump has a penchant forceds closing up to Vladimir Putin congratulated the rodrigo deterred are, lauded president erdogan fell in love with king john own. I can go on and on and on. And maybe the president is jealous, that they can do whatever they, want these dictators are the anticipates of what america stands for. And every day we let President Trump like the law doesnt apply to him, we moved a little closer to them. Now Benjamin Franklin left the Constitution Convention and said the founders have created a republican if you can keep. It there are no guarantees. Our system of government purse will persist only if we fight for it and the question for us is this are we willing to fight for this democracy . I expect will have a lot of debate here today i hope everyone searches their confidence to my republican friends imagine any president obama, president clinton, any of them would your answer here still be the same . No one should be allowed to use the power of the presidency to undermine our elections or, cheated in a campaign. No matter who it is. And no matter what their party. We all took an oath, not to defend a Political Party but to uphold the constitution of the United States. History is testing us, we cant control what the senate will do but each of us can decide whether we passed that test whether we defend or whether we uphold our oath, today we will put and when i cast my vote in favor my conscious will be clear between i turn to my Ranking Member i want to recognize him we take a lot of consensus rules and often where our differences of many issues. But he leads with integrity and, he cares deeply about this house. There will be passionate disagreement here today but i have no doubt side by side in this committee to better this institution. And let me also chair state for the record that mr. Chairman nadler is unable to be here today because of a family medical emergency, and were all keeping him and his family in our thoughts and prayers. Testifying instead today is congressman raskin, he is not only a valid member of this committee, but also the Judiciary Committee. In addition congressman raskin is a constitutional law professor, so he has a very comprehensive and unique understanding what were talking about here today. And i appreciate him stepping in but i also want to welcome back mr. Collins someone whom we dont agree with but i respect nevertheless and i appreciate his contributions to this institution i will turn this over to our Ranking Member mr. Cole thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Let me begin by reciprocating personal and professional respect for you and the other members of the committee. This is a day where were going to disagree and disagree strongly. It is, as you referenced, manier chairman, a sad day. A sad day for me personally, for the rules committee, for the institution of the house and for the American People. Were meeting today on a rule for considering articles of impeachment against a sitting president of the United States on the floor of the house of representatives. This is not the result of a fair process, and certainly not a bipartisan one. Sadly the democrats impeachment inquiry has been flawed and partisaned from day one. So i guess it should come as no surprise that democrats preordained outcome is also flawed and partisan. Seven weeks ago when this committee met to consider a resolution to guide the process for the democrats unprecedented impeachment inquiry i warned that they were treading on shaky ground with their unfair and closed process. Reflecting how things have played out since then, reaffirms my earlier judgment that this flawed process was crafted to ensure a partisan preordained result. Unfortunately this entire process was tarnished further by the speed with which my democratic colleagues on the goo judiciary and Intelligence Committees rushed to impeach the president for something, anything, whether there are stones left unturned or whether theres any proof at all. Theres no way this can or should be viewed as legitimate. Certainly not by republicans whose minority rights have been trampled on every step along the way and certainly not by the American People observing this disastrous political show scene by scene. As ive said before, unlike any impeachment proceedings in modern history, the partisan process prescribed and pursued by democrats is truly unprecedented. It contradicts Speaker Pelosis own words, back in march of this year, she said, quote, impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless theres something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, i dont think we should go down that path because it divides the country, unquote. The key word is bipartisan. Indeed during the nixon and clinton impeachments the process for opening the inquiry was considered on a bipartisan basis. Back then both sides treated the process with the seriousness it deserved. Snegs negotiating and finding agreement across the aisle to ensure fairness and due process for all involved in the inquiries. But thats not the case today. Instead democrats have pushed forward using a partisan process that limited the president s right to due process, prevented the minority from exercising their rights and charged ahead towards a vote to impeach the president whether the evidence is there or not. I suppose i should not be surprised by any of this. Democrats in the house have been pushing to impeach President Trump since before he was even sworn in. In december of 2017, when a current democratic member of the house forced a vote on impeachment resolution, 58 democrats voted then to impeach the president , even without an investigation, without any evidence to point to. Those numbers are only grown since then. To the point where the majority is now pushing forward with a final vote on impeachment, needless of where it takes the country and regardless of whether they have proven their case. Mr. Chairman, it didnt have to be this way. The when she became entrusted with the gavel over in the house, Speaker Pelosi assured us all she would not move forward with impeachment unless it was bipartisan and unless there was a clear consensus in the country. Neither of those two commissions are present here. Indeed, the latest real clear politics average of polls on impeachment shows the country evenly split, 46. 5 of americans in favor of impeachment, 46. 5 against. That is hardly what i would call a National Consensus in favor of impeaching President Trump. When half of americans are telling you that what youre doing is wrong, you should listen. I think this is the case given how close we are to the next election. In 11 months the American People are going to vote on the next president of the United States. Why are we plunges theing the country into this turmoil now when the voters themselves will resolve the matter one way or another less than a year from today. All it does achieve is make the Political Polarization and divisions in our country even worse. That makes no sense to me. We may be moving forward with a vote, i certainly do not believe the majority has proven its case or convinced the American People that the weeks of wasted time was worth it. Personally i believe the articles themselves are unwarranted. The majority is seeking to remove the president over something that didnt happen. The alleged quid pro quo with the president of ukraine. Never mind that the foreign aid went to ukraine as it was supposed to, never mind that no investigations were required for the ukraine to get the aid. And never mind that the two participants in the famous conversation, President Trump and president zelensky, said nothing inappropriate happened. According to the majority, however, a quid pro quo that never existed is an appropriate basis for removing the president from office. Even though the majority has not proven its case, even though theres no basis for impeachment, theyre still moving forward today. What i cannot discern is a legitimate reason why. Why the majority is moving forward when the process is so partisan. Why theyre moving forward when the American People are not with them, why they are moving forward when they have not proven their case and why they are moving forward when theres no basis for impeachment. Why . Why put the country through all of this . It makes even less sense to me when we consider the realities of the United States senate. We already know that the votes to convict and remove the president from office simply arent there. Bluntly put this is a matter that congress as a whole cannot resolve on its own. The majority is plunging forward regard lz ofless of the needless drama or damage to the institution or the country knowing full well at the end of the day the president will remain in office. For what . Scoring political points with their partys base . Again, mr. Chairman, this does not make sense to me. We didnt need to go this route. We didnt need to push forward on a partisan impeachment process that had only one possible result. But were here any way regardless of the damage it does to the institution and regardless of how much further it divides the country. As i said at the beginning, mr. Chairman, this is a sad day for all of us. It is especially sad for me knowing this day was inevitable. No matter what happens, no matter where the investigations led, the democratic majority in the house of representatives was pushing since the day they took over to impeach President Trump. Facts dont warrant that, mr. Chairman. The process is unworthy of the outcome. The president should not be impeached, i urge all members both here and in the rules committee and tomorrow in the house floor to vote no. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you very much. I appreciate your comments. Obviously we have strong disagreements. I just want a technical point i would like to make. None of us in this house have had an opportunity to vote on impeachment. The resolution that the gentleman refers to was some of us opposed tabling it, we thought it should go to committee where it could be appropriately evaluated. The committees have done their work, investigated the wrong doings, and now the Committee Recommended articles of impeachment. The first time anyone can vote on impeachment is tomorrow. I want to welcome both of our witnesses. And mr. Raskin, we begin with you. You. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Good morning, chair marn mmc carechairman mccover, good morning to my good friend mr. Collins. Its my solemn responsibility this morning to present for your consideration House Resolution 755 and the accompanying report concerning the impeachment of Donald John Trump, president of the United States for high crimes and misdemeanors committed against the people of the United States. Im appearing, as you said, mr. Chairman, this morning in place of chairman nadler, who could not be with us. Im sure i speak for all the members of both the Judiciary Committee and rules committee sending strength, love and prayers to chairman nadlers wife joyce and all our hopes for a speedy recovery. The Judiciary Committee along with other committees which investigated President Trumps offenses, the Permanent Select Committee on intelligence, the committee on oversight and reform bring these articles with a solid purpose and heavy heart but in active faith with the constitutional oaths of office we have all sworn. Investigating committees conducted 100 hours of deposition testimony with 17 sworn witnesses and 30 hours of public testimony with 12 witnesses. The Judiciary Committee is now in possession of overwhelming evidence that the president of the United States has committed high crimes and misdemeanors, violated his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of the president of the United States and to the best of his ability preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States and violated his constitutional duty to take care that the laws are faithfully executed. We present two articles of impeachment supported by hundreds of pages of detailed evidence and meticulous analysis. The evidence and analysis lead to the conclusions embodied in these articles of impeachment. First, President Trump has committed the high crime and misdemeanor of abuse of office. He abused the awesome powers of the presidency by using his office to corr