To exclude from trial . Therefore, from the American Public evidence. I mean, were prosecutors, we are used to evidence. Thats how we measure our cases, measure our progress. And if Senator Mcconnell has decided in coordination with the white house that its going to be run in a particular way to exclude facts and evidence and witnesses an documents what does that make the senate . It is just an amazing point for you to be making. Americas history is being an advocate around the world for the i think it is fair to call that a banana court, a banana republic, a kangaroo court. We used to be a country that helped bring the rule of law to other countries. So impeachment wasnt designed to be a trial like in an article 3 court but it was designed to be a process and a high mined one in which facts mattered. Right . The framers had this fascinating
trial. You could have put an Impeachment Trial in the judiciary. They didnt want to. Theoretically, the house, the house had the other job of sort of functioning as the grand jury and putt it in the senate and then eddie reminded me senators appointed and more approach to high minded individualism where people were thoughtful and process oriented. I dont think thats going to be the case. Maya . One of the things that strikes me where prosecutors were also professors and there is something that we absolutely demand of the Education System which is that our children learn what it means to understand what the forks in the roads are and which one to take. At the center of impeachment traditionally in this country, even though we have had very few, has been a real and significant debate about what that fork is and the
implications for the nation. Andrew johnson, the first Impeachment Trial in country, a lot of that trial was fundamentally of what does our constitution mean . Is this impeachable . Why . Why not . Thats a legitimate impeachment debate. If we were hearing a debate about the impact on the impeachment clause of the constitution, the impact on what the standard should be for considering whether a president s just making a bad decision or a president is making a corrupt decision. Those are the kinds of key kind of democracy debates that this process should be permitting. And instead, its been so infected i think as eddie said so poignantly by the jaundiced lens that it corrupted the very notion about what this article of the constitution even means. Donna edwards, chairman
nadler has taken his seat and we may not talk again until after this committee has taken a historic vote to impeach donald j. Trump on two articles. Your thoughts . I think this is an incredibly sober moment and i hope that republicans and democrats did take the night to reflect on what their responsibility is and i am moved by the moment because it doesnt happen and it shouldnt happen often except in the most outrageous circumstances in the behavior of the president and i think that we have reached that moment and we will remember this moment in history. Lets listen in. Thank you. Judiciary committee will come to order. A quorum being present. Having agreed to the articles of impeachment against President Trump, the pending business is reporting the resolution favorably to the house. Reporting quorum being present, the question is now in the
motion to report. Pursuant to house rule, two distinct propositions, we will divide the question between the two articles. The question now is on article 1 of the resolution. Impeaching President Trump for abusing his powers. The clerk will call the roll. Mr. Nadler . Aye. Lofgren . Aye. Jacksonlee . Aye. Cohen . Aye. Johnson of georgia . Aye. Deutsch . Aye. Bass . Aye. Richmond . Yes. Jeffreys . Aye. Sicilyny . Aye. Swalwell . Aye. Liu . Ras kin . Aye. Giapol . Aye. Demmings . Aye. Karaya . Yes. Scanlon . Aye. Garcia . Aye. Nagoos . Aye. Mcbath . Aye. Stanton . Aye. Dean . Aye. Powell . Aye. Escobar . Aye. Collins . No. Sensenbrenner . No. Shavit . No. Gohmert . My vote is no. Jordan . No. Buck . No. Radcliffe . No. Robi . No. Gates . No. Johnson of l la . No. Biggs . No. Mcclintock . No. Lesko . No. Rushen thalor . No. Klein . No. Armstrong . No. Stuby . No. Is every member voted who wishes to vote . Chairman, may i ask if im recorded . Hows the gentleman recorded . Gohmert, no. I want to make sure. The clerk will report. Mr. Chairman, there are 23 ayes and 17 noes. The article is agreed to. The question now is on article ii of resolution. Impeaching president donald j. Trump for obstructing congress. The clerk will call the roll. Nadler . Aye. Lofgren . Aye. Jacksonlee . Aye. Cohen . Aye. Johnon of georgia . Aye. Deutsch . Aye. Bass . Aye. Richmond . Yes. Jeffreys . Aye. Sicilyny . Aye. Swalwell . Aye. Liu . Rasken . Aye. Chiapal . Aye. Demmings . Aye. Kari a . Yes. Scanlon . Aye. Garcia . Aye. Neguse . Aye. Mcbath . Aye. Stanton . Aye. Dean . Aye. Pow snell. Aye. Escobar . Aye. Collins . No. Sensenbrenner . No. Chabot . No. Gohmert . No. Jordan . No. Buck . No. Rat cliff . No. Roby . No. Gaetz . No. Johnson of louisiana . No. Biggs . No. Mcclintock . No. Lesko . No. Rushen that willer . No. Cline . No. Armstrong . No. Stubey . No. Has every member who wishes to vote voted . The clerk will report. Mr. Chairman, there are 23 ayes and 17 noes. The article is agreed to. The resolution is amended as reported favorably to the house. Members will have two days to submit views. The resolution reported as a single amendment. Without objection, staff makes technical and conforming changes. Without objection mr. Chairman . Mr. Chairman . For what purpose . Senate i give not. Notice is heard. Without objection, the committee is adjourned. And there you have it. History has been made. The House Judiciary Committee this Morning Voting along party lines 2317. The two articles of impeachment against donald trump. There was some debate in this committee about how many articles to bring. They settled on two. Nine pages the original document. Abuse of power and obstruction of congress. David jolly, your thoughts . The whispers of history around this president and his presidency became a roar this morning, nicole. A majority of the House Judiciary Committee has determined that donald trump as president impugned the office, impugned the nation and in the language of the Impeachment Articles that were just approved should be disqualified from holding any position of honor or trust or profit in the united
states. And that roar of history will now follow donald trump in his presidency. No tweet can undo what just happened to Donald Trumps presidency this morning. He was caught doing wrong by the nation, doing wrong by the office he holds, loaned for four years. Today he was held accountable for that. The full house will have a voice next week and assuming they agree with the yair commit tee well see the president of the United States on trial in the United States senate after the new year. Garrett haake is on capitol hill for us in this historic moment. I was following your calls for Energy Drinks but obviously something pretty remarkable to witness there this morning. Reporter yeah, nicole, when they recessed last night, the chairman said to go home and think about this and there was thought of us covering this the republicans to gum up the works more, offer procedural votes, try to dismiss the hearing but
going home took some of the vinegar out of the proceedings. This was always going to be a foregone conclusion how the vote in the committee would go and i think we saw that realized this morning. That does not mean that the fight over this is over. I expect to see at least a day or two next week of a very bitter fight over these articles on the house floor. Democrats have largely given up the hopes to convince any republicans to come across the aisle and vote in favor of the articles but not true going the other way. Still republicans think they might be able to peel off some of the vulnerable democrats in front line districts and make an effort to cast this as something damning to the Democratic Party in the future so i think expect to see next week republicans really aggressively targeting particularly the Freshman Members to try to convince them that this didnt rise to the level and vote against the articles on the house floor. We are far from done with this. You cover the whole building there. Any reaction among democrats or
republicans to Mitch Mcconnell saying the quiet part out loud last night, that the senate trial is rigged an enand in Constant Contact with the white house . Reporter look. Democrats are frustrating by this. Mcconnells feelings about this were no big secret but saying it on National Television last night changes it a little bit. The president said he wants to have a fair trial at the senate and not participated in anything the house does and the house said the foreman of the jury is saying this wont get done. Mcconnell is saying this for weeks, no chance that the president gets convicted. Lately started to say basically no chance that any republican votes in favor of conviction. But yeah, look. Democrats are frustrated. They would like to be able to go and present the case in a clean and straightforward way in front of the senate but thats not what theyre going to get. They will get the little bit of a shell of a trial here essentially. An opportunity to present the reports as they exist right now and then probably a up or down vote on acquittal or the articles themselves before witnesses are called. There is one wrinkle in this and if any four republican senators decide what they want to hear, this is a 50vote 51vote threshold. Mike pence doesnt get to participate in this. If any four republican senators decide, you know what . They want to hear from a john bolton or Mick Mulvaney on the senate floor, theres a possibility but it is the slenderest of possibilities that we see anything more than a proforma trial on the senate floor right now. Heidi, slenderest possibilities come to define 2019. Your thoughts on this historic morning . We could just tell from the looks on all of their faces, nicole, that this is a moment in
history that none of them really wanted. No one knows how the politics of this are going to play out. For democrats, this is truly about the constitution. And for republicans, they say this is an unfair process. Its a good time to remind everyone that just a week ago 500 legal scholars, not just the legal scholars called before the Judiciary Committee, but 500 of the nations finest scholars said the president did commit impeachable offenses and one feels against this process, Jonathan Turley of the republicans witnesses but listening even on fox news and ken starrs main argument against this is not one about the constitution. Its that this isnt bipartisan and that from a political perspective only bipartisan impeachments are successful. Stick to the fundamentals of why we are here. Democrats tell me it is really
not about ukraine. It is about us, it is about the United States and our system of democracy and that unlike anything that we have seen in the history of this country this president abused his power in all three ways that the founders feared the most. He abused it for personal gain, he betrayed the National Security, and corrupted elections full stop. That is the democratic argument. We are lucky to be joined by nbc news Correspondent Hans Nichols at the white house. We have lived through history together but none of this strife this morning the House Judiciary Committee voted on two articles of impeachment against the guy in the office with no corners. Your thoughts . Reporter the president wasnt watching live on television. We know that Rudy Giuliani at the white house. We saw him and since you know the grounds so well, this makes sense to you. Walking from the old executive
building into the west wing, accompanied by his son who also works here. We dont know and no one will tell us whether or not rudy has a meeting on the schedule with the president of the United States. We do know that President Trump is meeting the paraguayan counterpart and well get a sense of where the president is on the next phase and i think crucially be able to tell whether or not he spoke with Rudy Giuliani, to what extent the president reads out of rudy coming back from ukraine and that rudy eager to share his findings. We may see whether or not Rudy Giuliani got to the president and if he is still the president s personal attorney. Nicole . Somebo many echos of historyh two generations of Giulianis Walking to the building that houses the west wing and the residence. Whats amazing to me, hans, this
is also a story, no matter what you think of donald j. Trump, the brazenness. The day after mueller testified before congress about russian attack really on the 2016 election, donald trump reached out to another Foreign Government to seek their involvement, their engagement in the 2020 election. Any sense that anyone there thinks that the president has taken anything from getting caught red handed or is it all a story, again, and always, about brazenness . Reporter it seems its Business As Usual here and theres a certain Bunker Mentality and been the mentality for if not the last six months three years. Theres discussion on whos going to represent the president when this trial goes to the senate. Pam bondi was on fox news pouring cold water on the idea that pat sipliani is the main attorney representing the president and kind things to say about pat but on all this,
nicole, gio bai go back to the president saying the team is me. Regardless of there in the senate and the well of the senate representing the president , the president s still going to be his own attorney, own defender and whether it is on twitter, or whether or not next to a foreign leader. We are going to see what the president s latest reaction is here in just a little bit and i stress to listen carefully to think we spoke he spoke to Rudy Giuliani beforehand. Where he goes after and whether or not he tries to tout this at least from the chinese side a completed trade deal because when you talk to the president s advisers on what matters for the reelection theyre not that focused on impeachment. Theyll mention it. Theyre very focused on the state of the economy and the extent to which the u. S. M. C. A. Trade deal with canada and mexico and the trade economy and thats a crucial importance. Nicole . If only they could get the boss to focus on the same things. Hans nichols at the white house for us, thank you so much. It is remarkable on so many levels that Rudy Giuliani is at the white house today walking, hans nichols reports, walking across that short driveway where senior staffers park from the Old Executive Office building to the west wing with his son to see the president as the house votes on articles of impeachment. Many president s wouldnt want to be seen with individuals under criminal investigation. Thats a great point. The head of the Criminal Division as doj put out a notice saying he would have never met with Rudy Giuliani if he knew he was under investigation. President s are properly careful about the images. All president s. You dont typically want to be photographed with folks who are under investigation or under indictment. Not only are they together, this is the president s lawyer. I mean, in part because the president s last lawyers in prison and much more difficult for him to come visit. It is a bit jarring, nicole. Now, the president is you know, mr. Giuliani is presumed innocent and the president is free to employ anybody he wants as his lawyer and still somewhat surprising. I also heard in hans reporting this white house civil war. Pam bondi pouring cold water in hans nichols words. Why do they stay . I have no idea. Outside of being in proximity to power, outside of knowing that no one else would probably replace them. These folks are just as as we said before, just as complicit at donald trump in making this all happen. I think i was sitting here thinking about looking at that image of the representatives voting for both articles and
thinking this is the death rattle of the Republican Party. Right . Im just this is the death rattle. And im just trying to figure out, what will be the funeral durge. Who else will show up today . Because this is the beginning. Right . Not the beginning. This is the moment that i think im hearing the last breath. Right . So lets be clear. Let me say this, too, really quickly. If the white house thinks that impeachment will not matter, remind him. They got wiped up the floor in 2016 midterms, 2018. They dont think they have lost every special election. In deep red states, kentucky and louisiana. If he thinks it doesnt matter, we need to point to the facts but facts dont matter. Lets bring david jolly in on eddies point. Are you in agreement there . I am. You know, i think as we were talking earlier about this era
of posttruth and postreason politics there will be an element of the Republican Party that remains very strong, particularly in flyover states where democrats continue to try to perform better. But what we have seen from donald trump and his behavior today with giuliani is the inev itability of the moment. They always wanted it from day one. The reality is it was Donald Trumps behavior that inevitably to lead to this.