july 31st, 2016, the fbi opened the trump russia investigation. and spied on four american citizens associated with president trump's campaign. they took the dossier to the fisa court appear lied to the court 17 times. didn't tell the court the guy writing the dossier was desperate to stop trump. department tell the court the guy was working for the clinton campaign didn't tell the court the guy writing the dossier had been fired by the fbi for leaking information to the press. and the fbi continued the investigation after the election. . and january 3rd 2017 snorp schumer said this. . if you mess with the intelligence committee they haves is six ways from sunday of getting back at you. it took all of three days for that statement is to come true. january 6th at trump tower. jim comey briefs president-elect trump on the dossier, the dossier the fbi knew was false. they do it to leak it to the

press and the press writes that he was briefed. the president was told he wasn't under investigation when in fact they were investigating him and trying to trap him at the meeting. of course they continued the investigation after the inauguration. when we deposed jim comey in this committee last it was greps he said after ten months of the fbi investigation they didn't have a thing. comey fired on may 9ing, 2017. eight days later bob mueller hired and two years of the mueller investigation. 19 lawyers, 40 agents 500 warrants. 2800 subpoenas but zero collusion. but the democrats don't care about the facts and never going to stop. whistle-blower's lawyers said ten tais after the president was sworn in the coup has started impeachment to follow. 16 democrats op this committee voted to move forward with impeachment before bob mueller ever sat in front of the committee and testified before president trump and president zelensky had their call. they are never stopping with the attacks. because they can't stand the fact that president trump is

actually draining the swamp and doing what he said he would do and most importantly getting results. taxes cut, regulations reduced, economy growing at unbelievable pace. lowest unemployment in 50 years. gorsuch and kavanaugh on the court. out iran deal. embarrass in jerusalem. hostage in out of north korea and a new nafta fremont coming any day now. they stant can't stand it never going to stop. and it's not just because they don't like the president. it's not just because they don't like the president. any don't like us. they don't like the 63 million people who voted for the president. all of us in fly overcountry all of us common folk in ohio, wisconsin, tennessee and texas they don't like us. how about what mrs. carlin said last week sitting right there? the democrat prochser who came in here and told us what she believes. liberals tend to cluster conservatives spread out because they don't want to be around themselves. how about our colleague, maxine

waters, june of 2018, when she said this. and if you see anybody from that cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them and you tell them they are not welcome anymore anywhere. that is scary. how about peter strzok the guy running the clinton investigation, the trump rather than the deputy head of counterintelligence fired when he said this went to a southern virginia wal-mart i can smell the trump support they don't like us. that's what this is about. they don't like the president, the president's supporters. and they dislike so much they are willing to weaponize the government. a few years ago it was the irs. more recently the fbi, and now it's the impeachment power of congress. going after 63 million people and the guy we put in the white house. think about what chairman schiff did last week. he released a phone records of the president's personal lawyer. he released the phone records of a member of the press. and he released the phone records of a republican member

of congress. this is scary stuff. this is scary stuff what they're doing and frankly it's dangerous for our country it's not healthy for our country and we should all remember what emmett flood told us the president's lawyer what he told us the past spring when the mueller report first came out. it would be well to remember that what can be done to a president can be done to any of us. this is scary stuff. and serious stuff. and i hope you guys are reconsider and stop it while you can. i yield back. >> the gentleman yields back plp deutch. >> i've been worried about the impact of president trump's attacks against our democracy and how they're felt by my kids, how they're felt by our kids by a younger generation that's just beginning to vote. that's just beginning to lead. and so i ask my kids on our family group text what they

thought at this moment. and they responded almost immediately. and they told me what they were feeling. and what their friends were feeling. and they confirmed the worst. their faith in our democracy is shaken. one of my kids said, trump has made me feel like our country is failing. he has taken away america's common sense. another said, if our democracy is fragile enough to be manipulated by the president, then i worry for our future as a country. why is our democracy so fragile? well, the president smears the press as the enemy of the people. he attacks verifiable facts and calls them fake news. i attacks his opponents in the ugliest and the most hateful

ways. he degrades diplomats and lashes out at law enforcement. he questions the patriotism of those who have bled on our battlefields. he questions america's leadership in the world. he believes russia over our intelligence community, russia over our nato allies, russia over ukraine. all of these things break long-held american positions of leadership in the world. and they'll all be part of the next election. but we're here at this moment to protect that election. the president's ongoing attacks on the 2020 elections and his effort to cover it up, that is why we are here tonight. the president's abuses of power

to cheat america's voters and threaten our national security, he welcomed russian interference in the 2016 election. he solicited interference by ukraine and by china in our 2020 election. the ongoing pattern of this president's abuse of power, his obstruction of investigations, refusing to turn over even one document, that's what requires us to act now. this is a moment that the president has forced upon us. these are the high crimes that violate the supreme law of our nation. the constitution of the united states. when my kids were younger we taught them to tell the truth.

we all teach our kids to tell the truth. if you have nothing to hide, honesty is the clearest path to putting trouble behind you. you know that's true. everyone does. if the president had not abused his power, if everything he did was truly perfect, he would have asked -- no he would have demanded that everyone who works for him come forward and tell the truth, and bring all of their documents with them. let them speak. let them all speak. but instead of ordering his staff to tell the truth he silenced them. what message does that send the next generation of american voters? the next generation of american leaders. the president violated his oath of office to defend and protect

the constitution. we cannot allow our children to believe that the abuse of power by the strongest leader in our country is acceptable. or that it's normal. yesterday my daughter sent another text. she said, it feels like we are losing the battle to get people to care about democracy. i'm worried we won't be able to fix it. president trump's violations threaten to break the foundation of our democracy. impeachment and removal from office is the only way to fix it. i yield back. >> the gentleman yields back. >> point of order. >> the gentleman will state his point of order. >> we started this proceeding tonight, and we on the minority side do not have the current amendment in the nature of substitute to hres 75 a because the one we have says the abuse

of power is article 1. and the other is obstruction of congress and we keep hearing about crimes. we should be able to have the amendment that includes the crimes you're talking. >> the gentleman will suspend. that's not a point of order. >> sure it is. >> mr. buck. >> thank you, mr. chairman. how will history judge this impeachment? i believe the american people will remember this impeachment effort unkindly. instead remembering democrats have been resisting and looking for an excuse to impeach this president since the day he was elected. there were false charges that pro trump russians had shut down the power grids in vermont, a frivolous lawsuit filed claiming voter machines were rigged in three states. more than 50 house democrats boycotted president trump's swearing in ceremony, including the chairman of this committee. the "washington post" ran an article titled, the campaign to impeach president trump has

begun on january 17th, 2017. strangely enough the article was posted at 12:19 p.m. while the inaugural ceremonies were still happening. the aclu executive director stated we think that president trump will be in vital of the constitution and federal statutes on day one. then the genre of assassination and personal harm began with kathy griffin poets posing with a model of trump's severed head and robert de niro using the tony awards speech to say f-trump. i'd like to punch him in the face. >> then came the effort to impeach based on the emolument claus and calls to remove trump under the 25th amendment due to snant. then bureaucrats in president obama holdover appointees began to run rough shod on the constitution by resisting within the administration. and on march 21st 2017 maxine

waters tweeted get ready for impeachment. march 21st, 2017. on may 16th, 2017, representatives from this committee began -- por a representative from the committee became the second member of the house to raise the topic of future impeachment proceedings. representative brad sherman and al green introduced the democrats aets first giannecchini presidents revolution for obstruction of justice and russian interference in july of 2017. representative cohen then the ranking member on the subcommittee on the constitution and civil justice introduced five articles of impeachment against president trump in november of 2017. representative talib said, we're going to impeach the blanc during aaround 3rd 2019 swearing in ceremony. what about may 6th 2019 when representative al green said i'm concerned if we don't impeach the president, he will get

re-elected. then markets couldn't let go of the russian collusion story even after there was the statement that trump did not coordinate with rather thannens. when representative grown force add vote 95 cleelgs voted in favor of proceeding to impeachment on july 17th, 2019. 16 of our democratic colleagues on this committee voted for that. it's clear my democrat colleagues prejudged the case. ignored the president's right to assert executive privilege with, asserting a court case to determine the bounds of the president's privilege will take take a look to serve justice to the american people. democrats are so righteous in their belief that president trump must be impeached that they ignore plain facts. professor turley was right when he said this impeachment quote will be the shortest investigation producing the thinnest record of wrongdoing for the narrowest impeachment in history.

end of quote. at the end of the day, i want to invoke the words of my colleague from the rules committee, congressman al c hastings who said during a debate with the majority -- that the majority efforts would back fire. he said, you will lose. this will cost you the majority next year. and some of you aren't going to be here in the next congress. i hope you've had your fun. well, i tell my colleagues, go ahead, vote to impeach president trump tomorrow. but when you bach out of this hearing room, call your freshman colleagues and tell them they're not coming back. and you hope they had their fun. say goodbye to your majority status. and please join us in january of 2021 when president trump is inaugurated again. i yield back. >> the gentleman yields back. ms. bass. >> mr. chairman this is a sad za

in u.s. history. when we have to vote on articles of impeachment because donald trump has abused the power of the office of the presidency in his attempt to cheat his way to re-election. this evening we begin the process because of the uncontested facts. president trump directed military aid approved by congress be withheld until a vulnerable ally publicly announced an investigation of the president's top opponent in the upcoming election. fortunately he was caught in the act by a brave patriot who took the risk of aanonymous reporting and military assistance was finally released. however during the eight weeks president trump withheld military aid from our ally at least 13 ukrainians died in the feel. now i know ukraine is far away and might be difficult to imagine how and why this country should be of any concern to us here. in part it's a matter of us honoring oximeters but it's more than that. when countries are unable they can collapse become failed states and can be taken over buy

by governments hostile for the u.s. or fertile ground for terrorist resistings. the president compromised our national security for his personal gain when military assistance was withheld from ukraine, leaving this country vulnerable to a neighbor that already invaded its territory. as a member of the foreign affords committee he regularly meet with heads of state and often have to apologize for embarrassing statement or tweet the president has made. since the ukraine scandal i have faced questions from leaders around the world asking what is going on here? where does the u.s. stand in regard to past commitments? is this presidency just an anomaly or has the u.s. presidentially been problem weakened and corrupted? has something fundamentally changed in the u.s.? the world is watching how we handle the crisis. there are many nations attempting to re-establish or create democrat governments after decades of autocratic or corrupt rule and looking to the united states. when members of congress travel on congressional delegations we emphasize the importance of a hearing to the rule of law.

encourage leaders to conduct free, fair and transparent elections, that are supported by and accountable to citizens. now members of congress have to acknowledge the challenges we face in our country. but we explain that because of the u.s. constitution and bill of rights when efforts are made to restrict and limit the right to vote we are free to speak out and challenge our government. we preach good governments and transparencies. insist that countries fight corruption. and one of the best ways to counter accuse is to encourage people to come forward and report but to ensure that when people do come forward ner protected pan remain aanonymous. we explain that in the u.s. there are specific laws protecting people who come forward. congressional delegations come and go go. but there are thousands of federal employees who live and work around the world from the state department, u.s. aid, patriots working in difficult conditions. what message does it send around the world when they see the president pan supporters attack and attempt to reveal the identity of the patriot who took the risk that exposed trump's abuse of his presidency, his

abuse of power? what message does it send when the world witnesses the president and supporters denigrate disrespect and via at which timer harass a parity testifying in public? he has compromised their ability to the viet fight for values and democracy. this is an example why the actions of this president threatens u.s. national security. the president's defenders shout coup, moeks and demonstrate 150% loyalty to the president while oft ac knowledge the his wrongdoing. people from the around the world understand this as autocratic behavior. they know if they step pout of line they might lose their lives or in this instance their election. president has foreboden everyone in the administration from cooperating even when subpoenaed. leaving the only tool available to us, impeachment. this is not a coup. and it's irresponsible to label a constitutional process a coup. it is the responsibility of this committee to follow the constitution. the world is waiting to see if

we will hold ourselves to the democratic principles we insist other uphold will we dmants demonstrate our ability to hold to accountable. we have an opportunity to show the world that our democracy remains strong and it's this president that is the anomaly. we have the opportunity to demonstrate to the world and that in the united states that no one is above the law and including president trump. this is which we must adopt articles much impeachment and take the first step toward relieving our napgs and the world of this presidency. i yield back. >> the gentle lady yields back mr. radcliff. >> thank the charli. article 1 section 2 claus five of the constitution gives the house of representatives the sole power of impeachment. the constitution authorizes impeachment only on the basis of treeszen wribry, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. that's the spreps criteria. those are the only

constitutional grounds we have to act upon. today we are marking up two articles of impeachment, abuse of power and obstruction of congress. no where does the constitution mention either one. neither meets neats the written criteria set forth by founders neither one ever been sustained as the basis for impeachment. which explains why i had two members of congress one republican and one democrat approach me on the floor yesterday. to ask me exactly what obstruction of congress means. they asked because they had never heard of it before. we are marking up articles of impeachment for offenses that aren't crimes that some members of congress have never heard of before, much less know what it means. the democrats keep repeating over and over again, the president is not above the law. i've said it before. the president is not above the law but he damn sure shouldn't be below it either.

i've said is it before because democrats have tried this before. during the mueller hearing, democrats said repeatedly emphatically, unequivocally, that donald trump must be impeached for obstruction of justice. that was until they heard the special counsel admit to me that his obstruction of justice analysis was done under a one of a kind, never before used by the department of justice legal standard that inverted a presumption of innocence to a presumption of guilt. now the democrats take it one step further. instead of creating legal standards out of thin air they create impeachable offenses out of thin air. what happened to quid pro quo, extortion and bribery? the democrats have been telling us it was clear the facts were undisputed. the evidence was overwhelming. except it wasn't any of those things. and now it's all gone. instead they reached into the grab bag for a nebulous abuse of power accusation that legal scholars admit is not a crime. and now democrats say the

president obstructed congress in its investigation into an alleged quid pro quo extortion bribery scheme that they now have to concede never existed 5:45 players. gee, where have i heard that before? i remember. it was when my same colleagues across the aisle first falsely accused the president of collusion and conspiracy with russia. and when that fell apart they accused him of obstructing justice into their investigation of false conspiracy and collusion allegations. every time democrats get caught trying to frame this president with some crime he didn't commit, they follow up by accusing him of obstructing their efforts to frame him for the things that he never did in the first place. i'd like to say you can't make this stuff up. but it is all made up. i got to concede to my colleagues you all move fast. the day after we watched the russian conspiracy and obstruction of justice claims from the special counsel go down

like the behinden berg, the next frame job startwood a phone call where the only two people on the call both said it was a great call and none of the things that the democrats alleged happened. but i'll admit, this time it's hard to about blame some of my colleagues on this committee for doing too much this time around. i concede that because the once respected house judiciary committee with jurisdiction over the constitution and impeachment was humiliatingly excluded until the bitter end from participating at all in matters involving the constitution and impeachment. one week -- history will reflect that the house judiciary committee's involvement in the impeachment of president donald j. trump startwood a hearing on wednesday december 4th and ended with a markup starting seven days later on was wednesday december 11ing. how does that sound for fairness how does that sound for due

process? the founders warned and feared today might come. alexander hamilton said the greatest danger of impeachment would be dpries the president of due process. the greatest danger would be impeachment was used politically by a party with the most votes in the house instead of on the basis of guilt or innocence for specified crimes under the constitution. and today the committee of jurisdiction after only one week is marking up a bill to impeach ament for crimes that aren't specified under the constitution by the party that has the moet most votes in the house and pledged to impeach him from the first day of his presidency. today's democrats are the founders worst nightmare come true. right now i imagine most americans are thinking if only we could impeach them. to those americans i say, you can next november. >> the gentlemen concludes his team mr. richmond. >> thank you mr. kmarm in president trump on january 20, 2017 you raised your hand --

2015 raised your hand and swore to preserve protect and defend the constitution. now we must preserve, protect and defend the constitution from you. donald trump once bragged he could shoot someone on fifth avenue and get away with it. well, he is shooting holes in our constitution on pennsylvania avenue. we can't let him get away with it. the constitution was written and signed over 232 years ago. since then we have elected 45 presidents. and all that time only four occasions has the house of representatives considered articles of impeachment. so i do not take this lightly. i take it seriously. i take it very, very seriously. i've heard republicans say, why are we rushing to judgment? this is not a rush to judgment. it's a rush to justice. and we must not delay. corruption is corrosive. it eats away like acid. and the longer we wait, the more time we allow for this president

to do irreparable damage to our country and our democracy, my lord, just last week the president's political cronies rudy giuliani was back at it in ukraine. ukraine. continuing to create new conspiracy theories. so, please, don't tell us to wait, because the corruption continues. in trying times like this, many people in this room look for guidance in scripture. look no further than the story of esther summoned the courage to stand up to the king and speak truth to power, under threat of execution she refused to hide, saying if i perish, i perish. she was willing to lose her life to save her people. and some people in this room aren't willing to lose an election to save our democracy. the truth is staring us in our

face. president trump sent roughly 250 million in military aid to ukraine in 2017. no problem. he sent nearly 300 million in military aid in 2018. no problem. so what was the problem in 2019? he was behind in the polls to joe biden. even fox news polls showed he was losing. he panicked. and he concocted this outlandish corrupt conspiracy. he withheld congressionally approved military aid for ukraine until ukraine agreed to do him a personal favor. and that personal favor was to announce a bogus investigation against the very person betting him in the polls. you don't need sherlock holmes to figure this one out. we have the evidence, the transcript of the call is a crystal clear contention. his chief of staff coconspiratorer admitted to in the white house press briefing room. we have hours of testimony from

state department witnesses. confessions, admissions, witnesses, video, we have everything but dna. what else do you need? you need the courage of esther. the constitution does vest the president with certain powers. but not the power to lie. not the power to obstruct. not the power to cheat our democracy. not the power to threaten our national security. there is no question that the president has abused his power. if we allow this, look the other way, say it's just politics, what are we telling other nations about the rule of law? what are we saying about our democracy? what are we showing our children if we cower to bully with a bully pulpit? during the darkest days of revolution thomas payne wrote these are the times that try men's souls. the sunshine patriot will in this crisis shrink from the service of their country. to my republican enclosings

fighting when it's comfortable is easy. running and hiding is easy but doesn't leave a legacy. how do you want to be remembered in this water shed moment in our nation's history? i ask my republican colleagues, will you stand with president trump and allow your legacy to be tied to his actions? if the tables were turned, do you think he would stand with you? and let me conclude by reminding the members of this committee, on both sides of the aisle, we each took an oath as well. we vemly swore when the time came we would -- and i quote support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic. that we would bear true faith and allegiance to the same and that we take this obligation, freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. members of this committee, members of this house, that time has come. the time has come to be the winter soldier, the time has come to show the courage of esther and with that i yield

back. >> the gentleman yields back. ms. roby. >> i've made clear how woefully incomplete this process has been how the minorities rights to hearing has been completely disregarded. how no fact witnesses were called before us and how staff questioning staff to get the truth was bizarre. no matter what any member on this side says here tonight, the majority will unanimously vote to send the articles of impeachment to the house floor. however, i have a duty to continue to point out how flawed this process has been. all members of congress are required to take an oath of office at the beginning of every congress. by taking this oath, we swear above all else to defend the constitution of the united states. i have the distinct honor to represent the hard working people of southeast alabama. they have placed their trust in me to represent their values and be their voice here in congress.

this revered and longstanding oath serves as a guiding principle for every decision i make as a member of congress. for the record, let me be clear. i believe in the rule of law. i believe that no person is above the law. i believe process is vital to this very institution. i have stated time and time again before in committee, process matters. without abiding by framework that adheres to our constitution we are charting a course that does not follow our country as founding principles. whether you identify as republican, democrat or independent, whether you grow or disagree with the president's policies, whether you like or even dislike a president, the american people should feel cheated by what has taken place here. we sit here tonight without all the facts of the case because the majority decided to conduct

an incomplete and inadequate pursuit of the truth. many questions remain. with the consequential decision of impeaching a president, it is our right and duty to the citizens of this country to properly use the powers of congressional oversight to add jute kait impasses through the courts and arrive at actual undisputed facts of a case that all americans regardless of ideology can agree are truthful and honest. an impeachment -- in the impeachment pd proceedings of president nixon president underlying facts were undisputed in the impeachment of president clinton, the underlying facts were also undisputed. here before us tonight that's not the case. the articles of impeachment before us in this committee do not meet the necessary requirements nor have they followed an exhaustive pursuit to even find out all of the facts of the case. therefore, the bar to impeach a

sitting president of the united states has not been met. for the sake of our country and for the future trajectory of this body, i implore my colleagues to take a hard look at the course of this investigation. it has severely discounted the ten ets of our democrat system. tomorrow we write history. a history that cannot be undone. a dangerous precedent will be set for future majorities of this body. the american people deserve a process that puts politics aside. the american people deserve a process that is led by our promise to protect and defend the constitution. the american people simply deserve better. and with that, mr. chairman i'd like to yield the remainder of my time to mr. collins. >> thank you for yielding. i just want a few. we're in an interesting situation. we can make up facts or not make

up facts but there is one fact needs refuting that's the idea that lives were lost during the pause. undersecretary hail testified that the funds were prospective bear in mind in future -- this is future assistance. this is not keeping the army going now it's to help them in the future. to be careless with the facts op primetime to say people's lives were lost in this is rgt capturingically wrong. if we actually had a chance to go to lessons of the testimony woe would see that in the testimony of the undersecretary hail as we go forward. again it's amazing to me most -- some people say you don't attack the substance we attacked the substance it's simple they got the aid didn't do anything to get it and we're take thing the fact that there is no way to talk about in because this process has been such a rushed process. but that's something that's not right to say and when no one else can check it when professor hill said it and he said that was for prospective not now those were mot losing lives on money not yet there.

with that i yield back. >> the gentleman yields back. mr. jeffreyy. >> george washington in his fare well dress address to the nation counciled americana the constitution is it sacredly obliger to upon all. it's in that spirit that we proceed today. the impeachment of a president is a solemn responsibility that we undertake prayerfully. skirpt says in the book of psalms, for the lord loves justice. and will not abandon his faithful ones. we undertake in responsibility prayerfully. we do not take this step to divide. though some will sinically argue the impeachment of this president will further divide an already fractured union. but there is a difference between division and clarification. slavery once divided the nation.

but emancipators rose up to clarify that all men are created equally. suffrage divided the nation but women rose up to clarify that all voices must be heard in our democracy. jim crow divided the nation but civil rights champions rose up to clarify that all are entitled to equal protection under the law. we do not take this step to divide. and at this moment, this committee can rise up to clarify that under the constitution here in america no one is above the law. there are some who have asked, why should it matter that donald trump pressured a foreign government to target an american citizen for political gain? and at the same time withhold

without justification $391 million in military aid from a vulnerable ukraine that remains at war with russian-backed separatists in the east? why should it matter? perhaps ronald reagan posited the best answer when he delivered a speech at the feet of the berlin wall in 1987 and stated east and west do not mistrust each other because we are armed, we are armed because we mistrust each other. and our differences are not about weapons. but about liberty. that is at the heart of the trump yourukraine standle. liberty, national security, abuse of power. america is the leader of the free world. we play that role because it is in the best interests of the

national security of the united states. we play that role because we believe in liberty and justice for all. we play that role because freedom is in our dna. freedom from oppression. freedom from tyranny, freedom from abuse of power, freedom is in our dna. what role should this committee play in defending freedom? the house is a separate and co-equal branch of government. we don't work for this president or any president. we work for the american people. we have a constitutional responsibility to serve as a check and balance on an out of control executive branch. that is not the democratic party playbook. that is the playbook in a democratic republic.

james madison once wrote in federalist 51 that the house should serve as a rival to the executive branch. why would madison use the word rival? it's because the framers of the constitution did not want a king. they did not want a monarch, did not want a dictator. they wanted a democracy. the house judiciary committee must defend our democracy, because in america no one is above the law, not even the president of the united states. we must hold this president accountable for his stung abuse of power. we must hold this president accountable for undermining america's national security. we must hold this president accountable for corrupting our democracy. we must impeach this president. we can't stop. we won't stop.

the constitution is sacredly oblig torey upon all. i yield back. >> the gentleman yields back. mr. gates. >> house democrats aren't clarifying that no one is above the law. they're just clarifying that none of them are above partisanship and politics. this is the quickest, thinnest, weakest most partisan impeachment in all of american presidential history. and for all the radical left attack on the president's honesty it's their lies that continue to fuel in scorched earth strategy of impeachment. when a member of the committee said this president was a agent of the russian government engaged in a criminal conspiracy with the russians he lied needing a new way to undermine the president the democrats said he obstructed justice. but they couldn't make the case. they didn't have the facts. and there are no obstruction of justice articles in this impeachment.

so needing another new distraction. chairman schiff announced a whistle-blower. he said we would hear from this person about bad presidential conduct. some in the media reported on the whistle-blower raising serious concerns about political bias and improper motivation and scandalous coordination with a political hit job aligned with none other than the operatives of chairman adam schiff. with public opinion turning against impeachment the democrats concuried to assemble focus groups and commissioned polls. they learned that accuseding of president of bribery would be good politics. while democrat house members are willing to follow the pundits and consultants, the evidence and the witnesses were not. even their seemingly most anti-trump witness lieutenant colonel vindman said i was never involved in anything that i would consider bribery or extortion. lo and behold there are now no bribery articles in this impeachment. another lie. but the biggest lie of all was

that house democrats would not put our beautiful nation through a partisan impeachment. speaker pelosi said there must be evidence that is compelling and bipartisan, chairman nadler said impeachment should not been. and tonight they stubbornly defy the standard that they set for themselves. not only has this weak case failed to convince the president's support tors abandon him. they can't even convince the president's congressional critics to go along with the sham. democrat jan van drew and collin ptsd doesn't support the president but no this hot garbage. congressman will hurd is a critic of thement and told you the truth. this is not kbechable. . after years of pointless investigations against the president, the witch hunt is no longer troublesome. it's become deeply and skrush naturingly tiresome. it's time to move on. the american people hate this. and it's making some of them hate us. this is nothing more than the

sloppy straight to dvd ukrainian sequel to the failed russia hoax. if it seems like you have seen this movie before it's because you have. and we know how the cycle goes. last night's cnn or msnbc promised smoking gun, turns into today's disappointing nothing burger. it's like democrat forgot they were trying to impeach president trump for delivering military aid that president obama himself withheld. and so now with no crime, no victim, how democrats impeach because they have no agenda for america. impeachment has become reflectionive for democrats what they have wanted all along impeachment is their passion, drug, all consume ambition and obsession and has been since the moment they stopped cries at the hillary clinton election night sob fest. saying president trump abused his power. a sad low energy place holder for an actual impeachable offense. president trump's true crime in their i eyes was winning the

2016 election against all odds and against the establishment of both parties. the only relevant quid pro quo is the american people's decision to send president trump to the white house and in exchange for trump's commitment to support our workers, restore our economy, defend our troops, and drain the swamp. how dare they accuses a president trump of announcing had his power when they released the phone records of journalists and congressman. contrived a kangaroo court and subjected the administration to more harassment than any other in american history. they are the sorest of sore losers. the second article accuses president trump of obstructing congress? if sfrouks in congress is an impeachable offense maybe we best impeach ourselves? for this fact-free impeachment obstructed progress on a budget, border security, fraz plan and on economic reforms that will put america and the american people first. the american people know it what this is about. it's not about ukraine. it's not about russia. it's not about the democrats

knowsiness into the executive decision making process. it's about the election. and so to the america first movement we will face in illegitimate impeachment with heads high a facts strait straight and commitment to transformational president deeply intensified we'll see you on the field in 2020. >> the gentlemen yields back. mr. cicilline. >> thank you, mr. chairman. since our founders ratified the constitution in 1788, the president of the united states has had a duty to advance our national interests not his own personal or political interests. 220 years later, a congressman on this committee said and i quote, in business of high crimes appear misdemeanors goes to the question of whether or not the person serving as president of the united states put their own interests personal interests ahead of public service, end quote. the congressman who said this was mike pence. and he was exactly right. impeachman offenses as stander

hamilton explained are and i quote abuses of public trust. injuries done to society itself. end quote. high crimes and in other words are abuses of power committed the people. this is exactly what president trump has done. and yet i have to admit i think the president's distractions are working. because most folks are sitting at home thinking what in the world has any of this got to do with me? how does stopping foreign aid to ukraine actually affect my life? that's why with my time i want to take a step back and remind everybody in this body and everyone watching at home what this is really about. president donald j. trump weidemaned the enormous powers of the presidency to cheat in the 2020 election. specifically, he used our nation's leverage over an ally, undermining national security to try to smear the opponent he feared most in the general

election. that wasn't an attack on vice president biden. it was an attack on our democracy. and if we don't hold the president accountable for it we will set a catastrophic precedent. any time a future president is afraid of lawsing re-election they'll feel entitled to do whatever it takes to win, even if they have to abuse their power to do it. if we set that precedent, if we decide the president is above the law, then we will no longer live in a democracy. we will live in a dictatorship trading the values of madison for the values of moscow. that's why this should matter to every single person watching tonight. because if the president gets away with trying to cheat in the 2020 election he will no longer be responsive to the will of the people. that means he could launch wars, sending young people into horm harm's way without worrying about facing repercussions at

the ballot box, separating children from parents and lock them in cages without worrying about public outrage. he could take away your health care, pocket your tax dollars, do whatever he wants. if the president can cheat to win re-election, the people lose their voice and he is no longer a president. he is a king. i'm proud to represent the great state of rhode island. the very first state that said enough to king george iii. and once again i'm here on behalf of my state to say enough. in america we don't bow to the president, because he works for us. we the people. but here is the thing. the people don't vote on impeachment. congress does. so before i close i want to speak directly to my republican friends. wake up. stop thinking about running for re-election. stop worrying about being primaried. stop deflecting and distracting

and treating those you represent as if they don't see what's going on like they are not smart enough to realized you are willfully ignoring the facts to protect a corrupt and dangerous president. do what you were elected to do. you didn't swear an oath to donald trump. you swore an oath to protect and defend the constitution of the united states. honor that oath. reach deep within yourselves to find the courage to do what the evidence requires, and the constitution demands. to put your -- our country above your party. all of you -- all you have to do is look at the evidence before you. because it will leave you with only one answer. this president must be impeached. our democracy for our constitution, for the people you represent, and for all who inherit our country i pray do you the right thing. despite everything that happened for the past few months i still have hope in my heart that you

will. with that i yelled back. >> the gentleman yields back. mr. johnson. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate that, mr. cicilline and i was going to make a request of my colleagues and friends on the other side as well to put country over party also. we are looking at the same set of facts two totally different ways. look the founders of the country warned against a single party kbeepment. you guys know why. years passed and it was openly acknowledged by the democrats had are leading this single-party charade today. some of you are famously quoted in saying so. our radical liberal colleagues have vowed to impeach donald trump since the day of the election and now they're pulling the trigger on what was described by professor turley in his expert testimony here several days ago as the shortest proceeding with the thinnest evidentiary record and narrowest

grounds ever used to impeach an american president. we call this an impeachment a sham because we don't have a better way to describe it. house democrats have been working to impeach donald trump since the very beginning they no introduced four separate impeachment resolutions and a new one on january 19 when they took the majority. as many as 95 house democrats, including 16 of the 24 democrats sitting on the other side of the room in this committee have already voted to proceed with impeachment and they did it well before the famous phone call between presidents trump and zelensky that took place in july of 2019. though every previous u.s. president has made unpopular decisions and even at times infuriated his political opponent, impeachments are for good reason and by specific design exceedingly rare. in the 243-year history of our nations are only two previous presidents, andrew johnson in 1868 and bill clinton in 1998

have been impeached by the house. richard nixon resigned to avoid it. evidence clearly established that specific criminal acts were committed and that is not the case here. the language of the constitution in article ii section iv shows the inherent weakness because democrats found no evidence of treason or bribery or high crimes or misdemeanors but they had already promised his impeachment to their liberal base, they felt they had no choice and they came up with abuse of power and obstruction of congress. abuse of power is a noncriminal act. as professor turley testified in january, the country has never impeached a president solely or largely on the basis of a noncriminal abuse of power allegation because it is so a h

amoh -- amorphis. it's rather shocking that they built their impeachment articles on hearsay, speculation and conjecture that wouldn't even be admissible in your local traffic court. democrats include bold allegations that arely unsupported by the evidentiary record. one alleges corrupt purposes or intent but presents zero proof for the claim. there's zero proof that president trump received personal benefit or ignored the interests of the country. on the contrary, the record is clear he's doing the opposite. there are four facts that clearly destroy this case. president trump and president zelensky say there was no pressure exerted. the transcript shows no conditionality between aid funding and an investigation. ukraine was not aware that money was delayed. the real abuse of power here is on the part of the house

democrats as they have recklessly pursued this impeachment and they've done so at the detriment of our rules, our procedures and our constitutionally guaranteed due process. there's no way that they have obstructed congress here or they have a legitimate claim to that because that's what every president has done in the modern era. all the president did was assert a legitimate executive -- but that's always been resolved in the third branch of the government. they're afraid donald trump may get re-elected by an even larger margin. they can't stand this president. in our system congress doesn't get to remove a president just because they don't like him, they don't get to ignore the constitution. when the rule of law in our system rules we all do better, it has to be followed, defended and preserved. i pray we can still do that when

this charade is over and after the dangerous precedent is set. god help us. i yield back. >> when i was 5, my dad was the police chief in iowa. he was and still is a law-and-order guy. everything by the book. that year when the county fair was going on and the fire chief called him and told him cars were parked illegally in the fire lane, it wasn't a close call for my dad. he knew what to do. the trouble was the owners of those cars were the mayor and a few council members who believed their titles allowed them to park wherever they wanted. my dad warned they were compromises the safety of other fair goer and they must move. they laughed at my dad and kept their cars there. my dad stuck to his guns. at the next city council meeting

he was summoned by the mayor and told he was to fix the tickets or be fired. my dad believed no one was above the law and held firm. he lost his job. we packed up our little family and moved west. it was my first lesson in politics, abuse of power and executive arrogance. in watching these proceedings and watching my colleagues across the aisle ignore and deny facts in blind defense of the president of the united states, i'm certain that had they been in algona, they, too, would have supported that lawless mayor. their behavior has been a reminder that too often in politics there's more of an emphasis of keeping your job rather than doing the right thing. but governance is about courage. think about the courage displayed by the witnesses who

came forward in this investigation, people like lieutenant colonel alexander vindman, ambassador maria yovanovitch and dr. fiona hill. they knew the price they would pay for their truthful testimony. they knew that they would be smeared by supporters of the president and, sadly, even by the president himself. they floou careers could be impacted perhaps forever, but they told the truth anyway and they held fast to their oaths to the constitution. if they can show that type of courage and risk everything, why can't my republican colleagues? the facts here are not in dispute. donald trump abused his power by putting his pure personal gain over our country. here are the facts: donald

trump directed rudy giuliani to smear his political rival. donald trump fired an anti-corruption ambassador who stood in his way. donald trump withheld $391 million in aid that was essential to ukraine, and donald trump withheld a white house meeting unless ukraine's president would do mhim a favor. in this scheme donald trump was not an incidental player, he was the central player. and anything we don't know about what donald trump did is because donald trump continues to this moment to block us from knowing. donald trump used his office to abuse his power to reelect himself. those are your taxpayer dollars. those are your votes. that's our national security. this is no longer about what the president did. we know what he did. he admitted it. this is about what will we do.

and my colleagues are laying a bet that the hard working people in dubling california or hayward, california in my district or a farmer in wisconsin aren't following this and don't care, despite how unquestionable the facts are in support of impeachment. but i have faith in the american people, and i know that they know right from wrong, just as my father did. and i know that regardless of the title a person holds, no one can abuse their power. imagine you're a kid with a paper route, it's the first job that so many americans have held and the only of the local paper tells you you're due for a raise and i'm going to giver y you th raise but first i need to you remove our competitor's paper from every house on your route. our children should know right

from wrong but they only know if we lead by example. wrong is wrong, from your workplace to the white house. there's no time to spare here, no time to waste. this is a constitutional crime spree. that's why courage is so badly needed right here, right now. our national security and democracy are depending on it. i yield back. >> gentleman yields back. >> democrats have not only drawn different inferences from the fact, they have created facts to satisfy the obsession of their rage. it is a kind of mass hysteria, a cognitive dissonance, it's an alternative reality they created. one colleague said if the president were innocent, he would come forward and bring documents, give us all the documents we want and everybody would come. to where? to this committee? we can't even get a fact witness in here. there's no fact witness that comes in here. we get law