Video
Here
Senators Collins (R-Maine) and Murkowski (R-Alaska) will never be able to live this down. Here is retiring Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) explaining his
capitulation and debasement to Donald Trump. What a horrible legacy.
The only GOP Senator to vote to impeach Trump on Abuse of Power. Good for Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah).
This is his statement:
The Constitution is at the
foundation of our Republic’s success, and we each strive not to lose
sight of our promise to defend it. The Constitution established the
vehicle of impeachment that has occupied both houses of Congress for
these many days. We have labored to faithfully execute our
responsibilities to it. We have arrived at different judgments, but I
hope we respect each other’s good faith.
The allegations made in
the articles of impeachment are very serious. As a Senator-juror, I
swore an oath, before God, to exercise “impartial justice.” I am a
profoundly religious person. I take an oath before God as enormously
consequential. I knew from the outset that being tasked with judging the
President, the leader of my own party, would be the most difficult
decision I have ever faced. I was not wrong.
The
House Managers presented evidence supporting their case; the White
House counsel disputed that case. In addition, the President’s team
presented three defenses: first, that there can be no impeachment
without a statutory crime; second, that the Bidens’ conduct justified
the President’s actions; and third that the judgement of the President’s
actions should be left to the voters. Let me first address each of
those defenses.
The
historic meaning of the words “high crimes and misdemeanors,” the
writings of the Founders and my own reasoned judgement convince me that a
president can indeed commit acts against the public trust that are so
egregious that while they are not statutory crimes, they would demand
removal from office. To maintain that the lack of a codified and
comprehensive list of all the outrageous acts that a president might
conceivably commit renders Congress powerless to remove a president
defies reason.
The
President’s counsel noted that Vice President Biden appeared to have a
conflict of interest when he undertook an effort to remove the Ukrainian
Prosecutor General. If he knew of the exorbitant compensation his son
was receiving from a company actually under investigation, the Vice
President should have recused himself. While ignoring a conflict of
interest is not a crime, it is surely very wrong.
With
regards to Hunter Biden, taking excessive advantage of his father’s
name is unsavory but also not a crime. Given that in neither the case of
the father nor the son was any evidence presented by the President’s
counsel that a crime had been committed, the President’s insistence that
they be investigated by the Ukrainians is hard to explain other than as
a political pursuit. There is no question in my mind that were their
names not Biden, the President would never have done what he did.
The defense argues that the Senate
should leave the impeachment decision to the voters. While that logic is
appealing to our democratic instincts, it is inconsistent with the
Constitution’s requirement that the Senate, not the voters, try the
president. Hamilton explained that the Founders’ decision to invest
senators with this obligation rather than leave it to voters was
intended to minimize—to the extent possible—the partisan sentiments of
the public.
This verdict is ours to render. The
people will judge us for how well and faithfully we fulfilled our duty.
The grave question the Constitution tasks senators to answer is whether
the President committed an act so extreme and egregious that it rises
to the level of a “high crime and misdemeanor.”
Yes, he did.
The President asked a foreign government to investigate his political rival.
The President withheld vital military funds from that government to press it to do so.
The President delayed funds for an American ally at war with Russian invaders.
The President’s purpose was personal and political.
Accordingly, the President is guilty of an appalling abuse of the public trust.
