Highlights in the impeachment trial of President Trump
Closing arguments, February 2, 2020:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ5KmX2yu1M
"Hamilton explained this about impeachment: 'the subjects of its jurisdiction are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust.' . . . In America, no one is above the law, even those elected President of the United States—and I would say, especially those elected President of the United States." (Rep. Jason Crow)
"The President's private, personal interest is clear: to cheat in the next election." (Rep. Val Demmings, former police chief)
"We speak not only for those who are here with us now, but for generations yet unborn. Our voices today are messages to a future we may never see. When the history books are written about this tumultuous era, I want them to show that I was among those in the House of Representatives who stood up to lawlessness and tyranny." (Rep. Adam Schiff, quoting Elijah Cummings)
"The President's lawyers tried to create a muddle to confuse you. Don't let them. High crimes and misdemeanors mean abuse of power against the constitutional order: conduct that is corrupt." (Rep. Zoe Lofgren)
"Our founders created a government where the tension between the three branches would prevent authoritarianism. No one of the branches would be allowed to grab all the power. Impeachment was to make sure the President, who had the greatest opportunity to grab power, would be held in check. It's a blunt instrument, but it's what our founders gave us." (Zoe Lofgren)
"The founders knew that in order for our republic to survive, we would need to be able to remove some of our leaders from office when they put their interest above the country's interest." (Rep. Sylvia Garcia, former judge)
"The President's lawyers never spoke about the President's character during this trial—and I find that very telling." (Rep. Val Demmings, former police chief)
"President Trump tried to cheat, he got caught, and then he worked hard to cover it up. . . . If the Senate chooses to acquit under these circumstances, then America is in the wilderness." (Rep. Hakeem Jeffries)
"If abuse of power is not impeachable, even though the founders considered it to be the highest of all high crimes and misdemeanors—but if it were not impeachable, then a whole range of utterly unacceptable conduct in a president would now be beyond reach." (Rep. Adam Schiff)
"Mr. Dershowitz tried to embellish his legal creation and distinguish among those abuses of power which would be impeachable from those which wouldn't. . . . Under this theory, as long as the President believed his election was in the public interest, he could do anything, and no quid pro quo was too corrupt, no damage to our national security too great. This was such an extreme view, that even the President's other lawyers had to run away from it." (Rep. Adam Schiff)
An appeal to allow witnesses, January 31, 2020:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PptHtU8-XLc
"The body will die, the clock will run down, and our government becomes arbitrary." (Rep. Adam Schiff)
The White House defense, January 27, 2020:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqmhfyH09jM
"What I’m arguing is that purely non-criminal conduct including abuse of power and obstruction of Congress are outside the range of impeachable offenses." (Alan Dershowitz, lawyer for President Trump)
"When the framers rejected maladministration they also rejected abuse of power as a criteria for impeachment." (Alan Dershowitz, lawyer for President Trump)
The purpose of impeachment, January 24, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqcX0AV_YBE
"The President's obstruction is very much a constitutional crime in progress: harming Congress as it deliberates these very proceedings, and the American people, who deserve to know the facts." (Rep. Jason Crow)
"A president who believes he can get away with anything, and who can use his office to conceal evidence of abuse, threatens us all." (Rep. Jason Crow)
"President Trump is the first president in U.S. history to say he is immune from any effort to examine his conduct, or check his power." (Rep. Jason Crow)
On the obstruction charge, January 24, 2020:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/8YSoGSW4mrQ
"Presidents can't be above the law. Presidents, like everyone else, must obey subpoenas served in an impeachment inquiry." (Rep. Zoe Lofgren)
The historical basis for impeachment, January 24, 2020:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2I70G11IZg
"We are talking about a direct order from the President of the United States to completely disregard all our subpoenas, to deny us all of the information the President wants to keep secret. This is in order to deprive Congress of our ability to hold an administration accountable." (Rep. Jerry Nadler)
"The framers were wise, and so they worried that presidents would abuse their power for personal gain. They feared that some day, a president might mistake himself for a king, whose decisions cannot be questioned, whose conduct cannot be investigated, whose power transcends the rule of law. Such a would-be king would certainly think things like, quote, 'I have the right to do whatever I want as President.' He might believe that it is, quote, 'illegitimate' for anyone to investigate him. Of course, not even the framers could imagine that a president would say these things out loud." (Rep. Jerry Nadler)
"A president with this view of raw power would attack anyone trying to hold him to account, branding them, quote, 'human scum,' and, quote, 'the enemy of the people.' He would argue that Congress has no power to enforce the subpoenas against him." (Rep. Jerry Nadler)
"The framers wrote the impeachment clause to protect the American people from such a president." (Rep. Jerry Nadler)
On the cover-up, January 24, 2020:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds-fJZIu3HY
"Patrick Henry, one of the nation's great patriots, once said that 'the liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be secure when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.'" (Rep. Hakeem Jeffries)
"By July of 2019, White House officials were aware of serious allegations of misconduct by President Trump regarding Ukraine. But instead of halting the President's corrupt scheme, they worked overtime to conceal it from the American people." (Rep. Hakeem Jeffries)
Cover-up orchestrated by the President, January 24, 2020:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TLMLpQ44nA
"President Trump categorically, indiscriminately, and in unprecedented fashion obstructed Congress' impeachment inquiry. In other words, he orchestrated a cover-up." (Rep. Sylvia Garcia, former judge)
On the impeachment articles, January 23, 2020:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xiq2MHgnHks
"The articles of impeachment against President Trump rank among the most serious charges ever brought against a president." (Rep. Jerry Nadler)
"The articles are overwhelmingly supported by the evidence amassed by the House, notwithstanding the President's complete stonewalling, his attempt to block all witnesses and all documents from the United States Congress." (Rep. Jerry Nadler)
Trump's motive, January 23, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGm7FLw0L9U
"[President Trump] allowed the aid to go to Ukraine without complaint or issue in 2017 and 2018. It was only when he had a growing concern with Joe Biden's candidacy that he took a sudden interest in Ukraine and Ukraine funding and the withholding of that aid." (Rep. Adam Schiff)
"What the President is talking about here ["Crowdstrike"] is a very specific conspiracy theory, going to the server itself. Meaning, that it was Ukraine that hacked the Democratic server, not the Russians. This theory was brought to you by the Kremlin." (Rep. Adam Schiff)
The object of the President's scheme, January 23, 2020:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgKs0hpuU0s
"President Trump directed this scheme with corrupt intent." (Rep. Sylvia Garcia, former judge)
On the facts, January 22, 2020:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExjIqFVR6MI
"The evidence shows that President Trump unlawfully withheld military assistance appropriated by Congress to aid our ally, in order to extort that government into helping him with his re-election, then tried to cover it up when he got caught." (Rep. Jerry Nadler)
"The President cared only about his personal, political interests." (Rep. Jerry Nadler)
"Note that the act of solicitation itself—just the ask—constitutes an abuse of power. But President Trump went further. In order to secure his favor from Ukraine, he withheld two official acts of immense value. First, he withheld the release of $391 million in vital and military assistance, appropriated by the U.S. Congress on a bi-partisan basis, which Ukraine needed to fight Russian aggression. Second, the President withheld a long-sought-after White House meeting, which would confirm to the world that America stands behind Ukraine in its ongoing struggle." (Rep. Jerry Nadler)
High crimes and misdemeanors, January 21, 2020:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHR_fvViNYs
"No president in history has ever done anything like this." (Rep. Val Demmings, former police chief)
A response to the White House lawyers, January 21, 2020:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE0Vqi4qNkA
"I am struck by what we have heard from the President's counsel tonight. They complain about process, but they don't seriously contend the allegations against the President." (Rep. Jerry Nadler)
"And they lie. They lie, and lie, and lie." (Rep. Jerry Nadler)
"Only guilty people try to hide the evidence." (Rep. Jerry Nadler)