doesn't howe, the understand how we got here and the other two presidents you mentioned he has not broken the law and where are are the high crimes and the president would say to you. you know, norah all of those witnesses the democrats have in the house proceedings they weren't fact witnesses, exactly one of them had talk to the president, let alone ukraine and we had law professors and others telling us about treason and bribery and extortion and quid pro quo and collusion, none of which is in the articles of impeachment. none of them. we had two and a half years of a russia investigation, collusion mueller investigation and in two and a half months this impeachment proceeding, and yet they couldn't even eke in the mueller report, the mueller testimony, the mueller investigation, the fruits of that into the articles of impeachment. these articles are spare and they are spacious, and i think that when it gets to the senate at least we feel that there will be a full and fair trial meaning that this process has been unfair but it also has been unfamiliar, most americans know what a trial is but they don't

know what happened in the house process. >> will met and he you about that kellyanne, as you talked about a full and fair trial, that's what the president wants is he disappointed then that majority leader mitch mcconnell is blocking witnesses? >> well, full and fair means that as was the case, norah, if you or i were in a court of law in our nation under due process, we would have an attorney present. we would be able to challenge witnesses and evidence. we would be permitted to present our own witnesses and evidence. people would object if someone like a schiff or nadler in the role of a vuj, when speaking for seven or ten minutes denigrating the the defendant, president trump that doesn't happen in a full, fair court of law. short or quick or protracted, but i also think that if these articles of impeachment are presented to the senate, that is what the senate going to look at. it is not their job to litigate or relitigate what hasn't hasn'n done, since you had representative al green on the screen let me review on july

this happened, july 17th, 8 days before the call of the u.s. and ukrainian president al green wrote out a resolution to get the impeach the president and got many votes, one-half of all democrats committed to an impeachment inquiry, the very first dependent member of congress to ever say that he or she was voting for impeachment inquiry because of the ukrainian call happened on september 22nd with congresswoman angie craig from minnesota so i think the democrats should be honest about how we got here. it is not because of where the fact and evidence took them but because they have been trying to get donald trump for a very long time. >> kellyanne to follow upton question i asked you, why not allow, why not push to have the president's chief of staff, former president's former national security advisor testify in the senate and defend, if you believe his record has been besmirched? >> in this country, people are innocent until they are proven guilty, and we can't have the lower bar than that for the president of the united states

indeed, it is not the job of the person being accused to present witnesses to help make the case that nobody else could make. he is fully con rated by virtue of the fact these articles of impeachment never delivered on what was promised. bribery, extortion, treason, quid pro quo, high crimes and misdemeanor, collusion with russia, and the rest. and so it -- i think it would have a chilling effect on jurisprudence in order to permit or to compel, really, somebody who is in the defense position to have to produce witnesses to further exonerate them, it doesn't work that way. is this a real court of law, the defense knows things are going the way clearly impeachment is on the way, going the way of the president in terms of public opinion you just say the defense rests we have no testimony. we have no evidence. so it is not necessary, white house counsel on october 8 said this is an illegitimate, ill-conceived process in which we will not participate, nothing changed the only thing that changes is the goals are going in the direction of the

president, the major a at this of independents, according to numerous polls say they are against impeaching and removing the president, u.s., a today had a poll impeachment has 11 out of 12 issues most important to americans. and abc news had a poll said 62 percent of americans, including over 60 percent of republicans, democrats and independents all agree that the senate trial will be fair, so let's watch that fair proceeding happen after a very fair, unfamiliar process unfolded in the house. >> kellyanne, counselor to the president and also former pollster, still knows her polling well and we know majority of americans want to hear from the american's top aides to learn more about this issue and kellyanne just to note we have professor turley here with us who says you were one of his best law students at the university. >> thank you, thank you. he did a great job as a witness i tell you that and a wonderful professor, i don't use my -- i don't practice law but i use my law degree all the time, how about that? thank you, norah. >> yes, you use your debating

skills. kellyanne, thank you for joining us, we appreciate it and want to let everyone know we hoe hope to speak to democrat and house majority leader hire in the next hour. for now let's go back to the house floor for the impeachment debate continues. >> two of those meetings were after the ukrainians knew of the possibility of aid being held. they have never addressed the truth and facts, after there was nothing done to get the money, guess what, they got the money. that's the facts, that's what they don't want to deal with, that's where we are at today so let's continue to see how the sham was perpetrated that's what many of our member are talking amount. i yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from -- >> yields for a minute and a half. >> thank you marks damn speaker, madam speaker .. i rise for the articles of impeachment president trump, i believe all-american people need to be looked in the eye by all of the are representatives. today is the culmination of the democrats three-year long quest to delegitimatize the president,

this has been in the works since november of 2016 and was all but promised when the democrats took the majority. this sham process began without a formal vote in the house. and was continued over these past several months willfully trampling on decades of bipartisan press tent. no due process, closed door depositions, even though nothing in the investigation was classified. and leaking only details that fit their narrative. if this this isn't partisan pols i don't know what is. holding our elected officials accountable is a job i take extremely seriously. but the impeachment votes today represent the worst of washington, d.c., yet another reason my constituents are so disillusioned with the process and disappointed by the 116th congress. michigan's first district sent me to washington to get things done, to get the government off their backs and to help rural

michiganers and other people around the country keep more of their hard earned currency, not to impeach our duly elected president. with that, i urge my colleagues to vote against the articles of peesm. i yield back. >> gentleman yields back. gentleman from new york. >> madam speaker i now yield one minute to the gentlelady from california, ms. berrigan. >> gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> madam speaker with a solemn sense of duty i rise in support possess impeachment as this chamber debate twos articles a of impeachment against the president for his abuse of power and obstruction of cock i want history to know that i stood up to say that i stand for the constitution and our democracy. when my immigrant mom became a united states citizen she took an oath and allegiance to our country and constitution. when i stood on this floor as a new member of congress, i took an oath to uphold and defend our constitution. the president abused his power when he used his official office and power to ask a foreign government to interfere in our

elections. when he asked a foreign government for a personal favor to dig up dirt on his political opponent so he could cheat the president not caught and then he tried to cover it up, today we say no more. today we say we will not allow this president to abuse his power and endang jerry our national security. i stand to say no one is above the law, not even the president. i yield back. >> the gentleman from georgia. >> thank you naah damn speaker i yield a minute and a half to -- >> the gentleman is recognized for a minute facilitate. before the inauguration press and member of this congress had been for impeachment, members refuse to attend the inauguration, they called for impeachment, they voted for impeachment without any evidence, they voted for impeachment creating the manufacturing evidence, recall votes of no confidence are not included in our constitution for a reason our system demand high crimes and misdemeanors. has, if such evidence existed

there would be an agreement in the chambers there is not agreement because there is not evidence. madison and hamilton warned up us that impeachment would veer toward political factions and that's exactly what this is. this is bitterly and nakedly partisan, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have made a mockery of this process and this government. they despise the president and are themselves abusing the power of their office. all to settle a political score they were unable to resolve at the ballot box, madam speaker they hope if they repeat them over and over and stay on message you will believe their charges. repeating things that aren't true doesn't make them true. the call record between the two presidents is clear, president trump was interested in betting to the bottom of what happened in the 2016 election. he asked the ukrainians to work with our attorney general. the ukrainians were already getting the military hardware and they got the assistance money and the meeting they desired. these are not crimes. these are disagreements over foreign policy and the fact that this president is conducting it.

if it weren't so sad it would be laughable madam speaker, my colleagues are not driven by a quest for facts or truth they are driven by their partisan animus and a timetable. these are the reckless and irresponsible acts of elitists in the swamp and they underline the, underlie the fabric of our retalk, i urge no vote and i yield. >> gentleman from new york. >> madam speaker i would remind gentleman there is in fact extensive direct evidence, including the president's own words and actions which is corroborated and supported by indirect and circumstantial evidence. the record leaves the following key facts indisputable, president trump's personal lawyer rudy giuliani pushed ukraine to investigate vice president biden in a debunked conspiracy theory about the 2016 elections. president trump directed u.s. officials and prezelensky himself to work with mr. giuliani to fulfilled his demands, president trump withheld critical military aid

for ukraine and president trump stonewalled congress's investigation to cover up his misconduct. i now yield one minute to the gentleman from illinois, mr. -- .. the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> madam speaker, this should not be a partisan vote. this is a vote about america it is a vote about our democracy and our oath to the constitution. wewe all took an oath to protect the constitution all enemies foreign and domestic and we all know what president trump did was wrong. we all know it is wrong to withhold foreign aid as a political -- for a political favor. we know it is wrong to ignore congressional subpoenas. and we know it is wrong to default to silly partisan process arguments rather than to rise and defend this beautiful but all too fragile democracy and when those in elected power abuse their position for personal advantage it is on us to somberly uphold and defend the responsibility that the founders bestowed on us so when you talk about partisanship i would remind you of the great words of lincoln and paraphrasing him slightly when

one party would inflame partisanship rather than let the country survive i would accept partisanship rather than let the nation perish the answer is clear not because we want to impeach but because we must. so when you vote in a few hours don't vote your party. vote your character. that's how you are going to be judged and that's how we are all going to be judged, thank you and i yield back. >> gentleman from virginia. >> madam speaker i ask for a time check for both. >> >> gentleman from georgia has an hour and 44 and a half minute. gentleman from new york has an hour and 47 and a half minutes. >> thank you, madam speaker at this time i yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from colorado, mr. tipton. >> the gentleman is recognized for a minute and a half. >> madam speaker i rise in strong opposition to this partisan impeachment process. make no mistake this process did not begin with whistleblower report. in fact, impeachment efforts

began shortly after the president was elected. the theatrics, political posturing have ensured that this body is not actually pursuing to preserve checks and balances, rather this process echoes the calls by some that refuse to accept the 2016 election results. neither of the articles received a vote just by the removal of the president from office. the first article suggests that president pressured foreign government to be able to assist in an upcoming election. ukraine received its aid without a prearranged agreement. there is unsubstantiated. second article is premised on the obstruction occurred when the white house ignored subpoenas issued by the house. a federal courts are the ultimate arbiters of these decisions. in fact, previous administrations, republican and democrat both have dealt with these issues and claimed executive privilege. mr. speaker, madam speaker, the articles that are before this house are unsubstantiated. i intend to vote no on these

articles and i would encourage my colleagues to be able to do the same. >> gentleman yields back. gentleman from new york. >> madam speaker i now yield one minute to the gentleman from arizona, mr. ga he go. >> the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> today i will vote to impeach president trump for. >> they are desperately grasping at straws while living in an alternative universe where facts don't exist. to head those still unwilling to search your souls ask yourself would you support a democratic president using taxpayer dollars to pressure a foreign government to investigate a republican political opponent based on false russian conspiracy theories? of course not. that's absurd. any president who does that has abused the power of the presidency for personal gain and undermine our most sacred tradition our elections. is this a few hours every member will make a choice. will you fall into the age old political trap of thinking blind partisanship is all that

matters? will you vote to defend the constitution and our democracy so that the president trump and every future president will know that they are not above the law and will be held accountable for their actions. i have made my choice i hope every member puts the defense of our nation first and joins me. i yield back. >> gentleman from georgia. >> thank you madam speaker, i needle to yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from nebraska, mr. smith. >> gentleman is recognized for a minute and a half. >> madam speaker i rise today to speak out against this family to remove the duly elected president of the united states. impeachment is importantly established in our constitution, the impeachment of a president has only happened twice in our country's 243 year history. yet today, for highly political purposes, the house majority is trying to remove president trump from office based on secondhand indirect accounts. the articles of impeachment we are voting on today offer no evidence of a crime, but instead are purposely broad to fit the

majority's narrative. less than one year until the next presidential election we are being asked to override the choice of the american people. this 0 lopsided and hyper-partisan biased impeachment process has had -- has been predetermined as an outcome from the very beginning. this is an unfortunate day in the history of our great country, we must hope this political game does not set a precedent of which to follow in the future. surely in will be disfreedom of the presses between a president and congress for many years to come. instead of unnecessarily dividing our country, as we are seeing today we should be looking at ways to bring our country together. thank you, i yield back. >> chairman yields back, gentleman from new york. >> madam speaker, president trump's actions are both impeachable and criminal. although the violation of a federal criminal statute is neither necessary nor sufficient to scruff impeachment, president trump's conduct violated the federal anti-bribery statute

very clearly. madam speaker i now yield one minute to the gentleman from virginia, mr. byer. >> the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> i thank the chairman, madam speaker today i vote to impeach donald trump for abuse of power and obstruction of congress. i don't hate the president. but i love my country and i have no other choice. i voted for these articles of peesm is the only moral course of action. the only way to honor our oath of office. i have no doubt the votes i cast today will stand the test of time this has nothing to do with the 2016 elections. i am so disappointed though our republican friends approve of the president's abuses of power and solicitation of foreign interference in our elections. this is the very definition of the willful suspension of disbelief. they now, they know in their heart what the president has done is deeply wrong and know they would vote without hesitation to impeach a democratic president who who had done these things. i remind all memories the president did not rebut the facts, the many, many facts which led to the articles of

impeach today. for the sake of our democracy, our constitution and our country, we must do the right thing and vote to impeach president trump i yield back. >> the gentleman yields back, the gentleman from georgia. >> thank you, madam speaker, i was amazed by what speaker said, if it was obviously he violated the bribery statute, why wasn't he impeach on that? he wasn't. >> the gentleman is recognized for a minute and a half. >> thank you, ma'am. >> article 2, section 4 of the united states constitution state that states that the president of the united states may be removed from office for treason, bribery, high crimes and misdemeanors. as a former prosecutor, i am confident that no court would accept these articles of impeachment as having met the starp set forth by our founding fathers. the impeachment articles rely almost exclusively on hearsay and opinion a testimony and they present no direct evidence of

wrongdoing. as a former district attorney i am dismayed that the democrats have submitted articles of impeachment against a sitting president using circumstantial evidence that fails to offer proof of an impeachable offense. additionally the charges levied against the president and the articles of impeachment lack historical precedent and are motivated by pure political reason. if the house of representatives passes the articles of impeachment the democrats will have set a dangerous precedent by doing america's votes for president because a single party disagreed with the 2016 presidential election results. i urge my colleagues to vote no on the articles of impeachment and i yield back. >> gentleman from new york. >> madam speaker i now yield one minute to the distinguished gentleman from california, mr. thompson. >> the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> madam speaker, i find no pleasure coming to to the floor today to consider impeachment, i ran for congress to represent my community and to serve the

country i love. as a combat veteran and having served eight years on the intelligence committee, i understand the threat that foreign actors can play in our elections. every elected official must dedicate themselves to protecting our democracy. known should invite a foreign country to interfere with our most sacred act of voting. it was abuse of power by the president to ask a foreign nation to interfere in our election to benefit his personal and political interests and to condition bipartisan congressionally approved aid on that interference. unchecked these actions could lead us down a path that will unravel the fabric of our nation. i am saddened we are here today. but in the interest of defending our nation i will vote for the articles of impeachment. i media back the balance of my time. >> gentleman from georgia. >> thank you, madam speaker, this time i yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from texas. >> gentleman is recognized for a minute and a half. >> i thank the gentleman from georgia.

mr. speaker our founders did not embrace recall or votes of no confidence, rather we demand from congress evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors. while my colleagues are plea to dislike the president and while they may reasonably view the infamous phone calls as something less than perfect they are not free to impeach something less than a high crime or misdemeanor. in just over ten minutes though the people are free to decide and we should let them. the eyes of the world are upon us, madam speaker, the press galleries are full and our floors full of members when will we give the world something better than this? my cleggs talk about the constitution they found under mothballs, where is respect for the constitution when the people's house daily refuses to do its actual job while shredding federalism and limiting government, today in mexico a young girl will be abused while being trafficked to our open borders while some yell kids in cages in the false name of compassion, today new york a yankee mother will be coerced into a abortion by planned

parenthood while we allow the genocide of the unborn. today across america diabetics will struggle to pay for medicine empowered in the false name of coverage and today our children inherit $100 million of debt an hour borrowed in the false name of what government can provide. in this conduct by congress, failing to do its jobs that should be impeached and one might ask if america would be better off taking the first 435 names out of the phone book to represent us in the united states house than what is on display here today. today is not a dark day. because the american people know this. america is great. washington is broken, and we are taking our country back. >> i yield back. >> the gentleman from new york. >> madam speaker i now yield one minute to the distinguished scre lady from california. >> the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> madam speaker i rise today with a heavy heart, i came to congress to serve the great people of sacramento and to

build a better future for our children and grandchildren, including my grandkids and, ann and robbie the facts before us are crystal clear, we heard testimony from 17 brave patriots who value our democracy and the constitution. they testified that president trump threatened to withhold congressionally approved money in exchange for dirt on a political rival. and worse. they continue continues to invite foreign powers to violate ours of i sovereignty even todan its face these are impeachable offenses that present a clear and present danger to our country. that is why the only answer is to act now. we need to stand together and stop president trump immediately zoo that he cannot violate the next election. for the sake of our country and our democracy, i will vote yes to imfeature president and i yield back. >> gentleman from swra. >> thank you, madam speaker, i yield a minute and a half. >> the gentleman is recognized

for a minute and a half. >> thank you, madam speaker i rise today to ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle how much is the trust of the american people worth in when the american people are dissatisfied with their government, the primary tool that the constitution gives them to make a change is their vote. and on november 8th, 2016, americans from every part of this nation packed the polls to lent donald j. trump to be the president of the united states. the country wanted a disrupter, a fighter, a deal maker, a president that would put america first. but sadly on that very same day democrats had no plan or interest in honoring the vote of the american people. they were going to attempt from day one to delegitimate moyes this president and ultimately remove him from office. right after the president was sworn in the "washington post" wrote, the campaign toeat tr ih.

even before he took office, a political, politico article head line read, could trump be impeached shortly after he takes office? so house democrats have been planning for this day since january 2017. it is clear that facts have never mattered to the house democrats. they never planned to work with the president, instead they intended only to fulfill their divisive partisan agenda. again i ask, how much is the trust of the american people worth? because after the vote today for what you think is a short-term partisan gain you can be sure that american people will have lost their trust in our institution and will have lost their trust in congress and most importantly it will have lost trust that their vote counts:gentleman from new york. >> madam speaker i now yield one minute to the gentleman from

california. >> the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, madam speaker, impeaching the president is one of the most solemn and consequential decisions the united states congress can make. it is not an action i or my fellow house colleagues take lightly. investigations and hearings conducted by the house prove overwhelming evidence that president trump abused his power and endangered our national security. president trump also issued a blanket order prohibiting all executive office personnel from testifying, responding to subpoenas or turning over documents, therefore, he has obstructed the legitimate constitutional obligation of congress. the president's actions leave me no choice, president trump violated his oath of office, now i will uphold my oath of office to preserve and protect our

constitution. and my problem to my con stitch wents to carefully analyze all issues before me. i will vote in favor of both articles of impeachment against president donald john trump. i yield back. >> gentleman from georgia. >> thank you, madam speaker i yield a a minute and a half. >> the yes plan is recognize ford a minute and a half. >> madam speaker, i stand before you today a disappointed man. i am disappointed in a broken and partisan process that has consumed the house democrats. we were told this investigation was going to be bipartisan and transparent, instead the proceedings were held in secret behind closed doors with no attempt at a fair hearing. all this was done deliberately in an effort to unto the results of the 2016 election. madam speaker my constituent in florida want to see us get to work and they want us, are counting on us to actually fix the surprise medical building billing, to lower the cost of

prescription drugs, instead we are here a week before christmas voting to impeach the legitimate president donald j. trump, on the strength of nothing but rumors. we have wasted almost a year on this process while house democrats chose political theatre over serving the american people. this shameful vote to impeach our president will be a lasting stain on our house. and i urge all of my colleagues to vote no. i yield back. the gentleman from new york. >> madam speaker i now yield one minute to the distinguished gentleman from oregon,. >> the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> i thank the gentleman. it is clear-cut thes you the president of the united states violated his oath of office and betrayed the american constitution and the american people. he admitted to soliciting interference from a foreign leader to interfere and that is a violation of law and the

constitution and a betrayal of the american people and an impeachable offense. overwhelming evidence also demonstrates the president withheld congressionally approved taxpayer dollars to blackmail the young new president of ukraine under attack from russia. now the gentleman from georgia says ukraine didn't feel any pressure. they are being invaded by russia. vladimir putin, you know, trump's friend, and he withheld that aid. until the whistleblower report came out, then the aid was released. it wasn't released for any good purpose. congress voted for that aid, the president signed the bill, that is another impeachable offense and the judiciary committee has put together extensive documents which shows that there is evidence of numerous other federal crimes including bribery and wire fraud. the president's actions threaten the continuation of our representative democracy. i am proudly voting for impeachment today.

>> gentleman from georgia. >> thank you ma momma damn spear and i am glad he gave them lethal aid something to fight back with not what was previously given to them and there was again from the president himself put no pressure on him, if the whole case you are coercing somebody if there was no pressure felt but yet we don't seem to get that part on this floor debate today. so with that i yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from montana,. >> the gentleman is recognize ford a minute and a half. >> today this chamber is pushing through the most partisan baseless articles of impeachment in our history. house democrats hyper-partisan impeachment has been a sham since day up with .. driven by those whose bitter rage against president trump has blinded their better judgment. the fact is they resolved to overturn the results of the 2016 election the day president trump won. earlier this year speaker pelosi said impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there is something so compelling and wh