Trump Acquitted In Second Impeachment This Year | 2021 Rewind

to go that way due process I've exhausted that subject it's a really good reason for all of you all of you in this chamber to stop the politics to read the Constitution and apply it to this proceeding and acknowledge that the lack of due process way over the top shocking and you must not stand for it and of course the first amendment the actual facts of this case there were no words of incitement foregrounds nobody gets to tell you which ground to pick and nobody gets to tell you how many grounds to consider Senators do not let house Democrats take this manacle Crusade any further the Senate does not have to go down this dark path of anonymity and Division you do not have to indulge the impeachment lust the dishonesty and the hypocrisy it is time to bring this Con unconstitutional political theater to an end it is time to allow our nation to move forward it is time to address the real business pressing this nation the pandemic our economy racial inequality economic and social inequality these are the things that you need to be thinking and working on for all of us in America all of us with your vote you can defend the Constitution you can protect due process and you can allow America's healing to begin I urge the Senate to acquit and vindicate the constitution of this great Republic thank you who yields time Mr President Senators I understand I'm told we have around 27 minutes but I will return all of that but perhaps five back to you there's just a few things that I need to address and so in an extraordinary and perhaps unprecedented Act of self-restraint on my part I will resist the opportunity to reap at every single false and illogical thing that you just heard and I am going to be able to return to you you know perhaps 22 or 23 minutes a few points one we have definitely made some progress in the last few days because a few days ago the president's team although I think it was perhaps a member who has since left the team lectured us that this was not an insurrection and said that the impeachment managers were outrageous in using the word Insurrection today Council in his closing statement said it was a violent Insurrection and he denounced it and I would certainly love to see President Trump also call it a violent Insurrection and denounce it too and I believe although I don't have a Verbatim text that a council called for long sentences for the people who were involved again I would love to hear that come from the president as well um the distinguished Council complains that there's no precedent with the developed body of law that the Senate has for impeaching and convicting a President Who incites violent Insurrection against the Congress and the government of the United States well I suppose that's true because it never occurred to any other president of the United States from George Washington to John Adams to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison to James Monroe to Abraham Lincoln to Ronald Reagan to George W bush to Barack Obama to incite a violent Insurrection against the union you're right we've got no precedent for that and so they think that that somehow is a mark in their favor that's a score for them that this Senate has to be the first one to Define incitement of violent insurrection against the Union and so the gentleman puts it on me he says inciting a president for committing incitement to Violent Insurrection against the union is the new Raskin Doctrine we've tried to convince him that there are well-known principles and elements of incitement which we have talked to you about ad najram and that this is an intrinsically inherently fact-based judgment but if that is the Raskin doctrine that a president of the United States cannot incite violent Insurrection against the Union in the Congress then I embrace it and I take it as an honor most law professors never even get a Doctrine named after them so I I will accept that and finally the council goes back to Julian Bond's case because I think in the final analysis their best argument as pathetically weak as it is is really about the First Amendment but remember they keep talking about stifling president Trump's speech someone told me when his speech has ever been stifled he says exactly what he wants whenever he wants if and when you convict him for incitement of insurrection he will continue to say whatever he wants on that day remember that they referred yesterday to interference with his Liberty which I found absolutely bizarre because everybody knows that he will not spend one minute in prison or jail from conviction on these charges it is a civil remedy to protect all of us to protect the entire country our children our constitution our future that's what impeachment trial conviction are all about or all about Julian Bond see I knew Julian Bond so forgive me most people say don't even respond to have I gotta respond to this okay Julian Bond was a civil rights activist who decided to go into politics like the people in this room like all of us who are in politics um and they tried to keep him out he was a member of Snick the student non-violent Coordinating Committee which really launched the Voting Rights movement in America it's a great story that Bob Moses tells in his book called radical equations about you know he was a graduate student mathematics at Harvard and he went down to Mississippi you know why because he saw a picture in the New York Times of the of black civil rights protesters college students I think North Carolina a t and he saw a picture of them on the cover New York Times and they were sitting in at a lunch counter and he looked at the picture and he said they looked the way that I felt they looked the way they felt and he said he had to go down South to Mississippi and they launched the Voting Rights Movement that's where the phrase one person one vote comes from was not invented by the Supreme Court they would go door to door to try to register people to vote but anyway Julian Bond was part of that movement the student non-violent Coordinating Committee non-violence it was the end and it was the means non-violence and he ran for he ran for the state legislature in Georgia a path other civil rights activists followed like our great late beloved colleague John Lewis who's in our hearts today and when he got elected they wanted to try to keep him from being sworn into the Georgia legislature and so they said the student non-violent Coordinating Committee has taken a position against the Vietnam War you're a member of Snick we're not going to admit you because you took a position against the Vietnam War and the Supreme Court in its wisdom said you cannot prevent someone from swearing an oath to become a member of a legislative body because of a position that they took or a group they were part of took before they got sworn in that's the exact opposite of Donald Trump he got elected to office he swore an oath to the Constitution to preserve protect and defend the Constitution he served as president for four years right up until the end when he wanted to exercise his rights under the imaginary January exception and he incited a violent mob in Insurrection to come up here and we all know what happened he is being impeached and convicted for violating his oath of office that he took he's not being prevented from taking his oath in the first place the First Amendment on our side he tried to overturn the will of the people the voice of the people he lost that election by more than seven million votes some people don't want to admit it counsel for the president could not bring themselves to admit that the election's over in answer to the question from the distinguished gentleman from Vermont he refused to answer that he said it was irrelevant despite all of the evidence you've heard about the big lie and how that set the stage for his incitement of the insurrectionary violence against us First Amendment it's on our side we are defending the Bill of Rights we are defending the Constitutional structure we are defending the separation of powers we're defending the U.S Senate and the U.S House against a president who acted no better than a Marauder and a member of that mob by inciting those people to come here and in many ways he was worse he named the date he named the time and he brought them here and now he must pay the price thank you Mr President Mr President majority leaders recognized Mr President the Senate is now ready to vote on the article if of impeachment and after that is done we will adjourn the court of impeachment the clerk will read the article of impeachment Article 1 incitement of an insurrection said it will be Lord the Constitution provides that the House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment and that the president shall be removed from office on impeachment 4 and conviction of treason bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors further Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution prohibits any person who has engaged in insurrection or Rebellion against the United States from holding any office under the United States in his conduct while President of the United States and in violation of his constitutional oath Faithfully to execute the Office of the President of the United States and to the best of his ability preserve protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be Faithfully executed Donald John Trump engaged in high crimes and misdemeanors by inciting violence against the government of the United States in that on January 6 2021 pursuant to the 12th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States the vice president of the United States the House of Representatives and the Senate met at the United States capitol for a joint session of Congress to count the votes of the Electoral College in the months preceding The Joint session president Trump repeatedly issued false statements asserting that the presidential election results with a product of widespread fraud and should not be accepted by the American people or certified by state or federal officials shortly before the joint session commenced president Trump addressed a crowd at the ellipse in Washington D.C there he reiterated false claims that we won't we won this election and we won it by a landslide he also willfully made statements that in context encouraged and foreseeably resulted in Lawless action at the Capitol such as if you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a country anymore thus incited by President Trump members of the crowd he had addressed in an attempt to among other objectives interfere with the joint sessions solemn constitutional duty to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election unlawfully breached and vandalized the capital injured and killed law enforcement personnel Menace members of Congress the vice president and Congressional personnel and engaged in other violent deadly destructive and seditious Acts president Trump's conduct on January 6 2021 followed his prior efforts to subvert and obstruct the certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election those prior efforts included a phone call on January 2 2021 during which president Trump urged the secretary of state of Georgia Brad rafson's Burger to find enough votes to overturn the Georgia presidential election results and threatened security raffensberger if he failed to do so in all this President Trump Gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government he threatened the Integrity of the democratic system interfered with the peaceful transition of power and imperiled a coat imperiled a co-equal branch of government he therefore betrayed his trust as president to the Manifest injury of the people of the United States wherefore Donald John Trump by such conduct has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to National Security democracy and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-government and the rule of law Donald John Trump thus warns impeachment and trial removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of Honor trust or profit under the United States and a man that you that said Donald John Trump should be put to answer the accusations as set forth in this article and that such proceedings examinations trials and judgments might be there upon had as are agreeable to law and justice each senator when his or her name is called will stand in his or her place and they'll vote guilty or not guilty as required by rule 23 of the Senate rules of impeachment Article 1 Section 3 Clause 6 of The Constitution regarding the vote required for conviction on impeachment provides that quote no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members president close quote the question is on the article of impeachment senators I'll say you is the respondent Donald John Trump guilty or not guilty a roll call vote is required and the clerk will call the roll Miss Baldwin Ms Baldwin guilty Mr barrasso Mr barasso not guilty Mr Bennett Mr Bennett guilty Mrs Blackburn Mrs Blackburn not guilty Mr Blumenthal Mr Blumenthal guilty Mr blunt Mr blunt not guilty or Booker Mr Booker guilty Mr Bozeman Mr Bozeman not guilty Mr Braun Mr Braun not guilty Mr Brown Mr Brown guilty Mr Burr Mr Burr guilty Ms Cantwell Ms Cantwell guilty Mrs capito Mrs capito not guilty Mr Cardin Mr Cardin guilty Mr carper Mr Carper guilty Mr Casey Mr Casey guilty Mr Cassidy or Cassidy guilty Ms Collins Ms Collins guilty Mr Coons Mr Coons guilty Mr cornyn Mr cornyn not guilty Miss Cortez masto Miss Cortez masto guilty Mr cotton Mr cotton not guilty Mr Kramer Mr Kramer not guilty Mr creepo Mr crapo not guilty Mr Cruz Mr Cruz not guilty Mr Danes Mr Dane's not guilty Ms Duckworth Ms Duckworth guilty Mr Durbin Mr Durbin guilty Ms Ernst Ms Ernst not guilty Mrs feinstone Mrs Feinstein guilty Mrs Fisher Mrs Fisher not guilty Mrs gillibrand Mrs gillibrand guilty Mr Graham Mr Graham not guilty Mr Grassley Mr Grassley not guilty Mr Haggerty Mr Hagerty not guilty Ms Hassan Miss Hassan guilty Mr Hawley Mr Hawley not guilty Mr Heinrich Mr Heinrich guilty Mr Hickenlooper Mr Hickenlooper guilty MS hirono Miss hirono guilty Mr Hoven Mr Hoven not guilty Mrs Hyde Smith Mrs Hyde Smith not guilty Mr inhofe Mr inhofe not guilty Mr Johnson Mr Johnson not guilty Mr Kane Mr Kane guilty Mr Kelly Mr Kelly guilty Mr Kennedy Mr Kennedy not guilty Mr King Mr King guilty Ms Klobuchar Miss Klobuchar guilty Mr Langford Mr Langford not guilty Mr Leahy guilty Mr Leahy guilty Mr Lee Mr Lee not guilty Mr Lujan Mr Lujan guilty Ms Lamas Ms lummis not guilty Mr mansion Mr Mansion guilty Mr Markey Mr Markey guilty Mr Marshall Mr Marshall not guilty Mr McConnell Mr McConnell not guilty Mr Menendez Mr Menendez guilty Mr Merkley Mr Merkley guilty Mr Moran Mr Moran not guilty Miss murkowski MS murkowski guilty Mr Murphy Mr Murphy guilty Mrs Murray Mrs Murray guilty Mr ossoff Mr rossov guilty Mr Padilla Mr Padilla guilty Mr Paul Mr Paul not guilty Mr Peters Mr Peters guilty Mr Portman Mr Portman not guilty Mr Reed Mr Reed guilty Mr risch Mr Rish not guilty Mr Romney Mr Romney guilty Miss Rosen Ms Rosen guilty Mr rounds Mr rounds not guilty Mr Rubio Mr Rubio not guilty Mr Sanders Mr Sanders guilty Mr sass Mr sass guilty Mr Schatz Mr Schatz guilty Mr Schumer Mr Schumer guilty Mr Scott of Florida Mr Scott of Florida not guilty Mr Scott of South Carolina Mr Scott of South Carolina not guilty Mrs Shaheen Mrs Shaheen guilty Mr Shelby Mr Shelby not guilty Miss Cinema Miss Cinema guilty Miss Smith Miss Smith guilty Miss stabenow Miss stabenow guilty Mr Sullivan Mr Sullivan not guilty Mr tester Mr tester guilty Mr thune Mr thune not guilty Mr Tillis Mr Tillis not guilty Mr Timmy Mr Timmy guilty Mr tuberville Mr tuberville not guilty Mr Van Hollen Mr Van Hollen guilty Mr Warner Mr Warner guilty Mr Warnock Mr Warnock guilty Ms Warren Ms Warren guilty Mr Whitehouse Mr Whitehouse guilty Mr wicker Mr wicker not guilty Mr Wyden Mr Wyden guilty Mr Young Mr Young not guilty that's why we have these things unless you had a script ures foreign s are 57 the Nays are 43 two-thirds of the Senators present not having voted guilty the Senate judges that the respondent Donald John Trump former president United States is not guilty as charged in the article of impeachment residing officer directs judgment to be entered in accordance with the Judgment of the Senate as follows the Senate having tried Donald John Trump former president United States upon one article of impeachment exhibited against him by the House of Representatives and two-thirds of the Senators present not having found him guilty of the charge contained therein it is therefore ordered and a judge that they said Donald John Trump be and he is hereby acquitted of the charge in said article Mr President majority leaders recognize Mr President I send an order to the desk and the clerk will report Ed that the secretary be directed to communicate to the Secretary of State as provided by rule 23 of the rules of procedure and practice in the Senate when sitting on impeachment trials and also to the House of Representatives the Judgment of the senate in the case of Donald John Trump and transmit a certified copy of the judgment to each we have objection the order will be entered majority leader Mr President I move that the Senate sitting as a court of impeachment on the article against Donald John Trump adjourn sign a die and without objection the Motions agreed to the Senate sitting as a court of impeachment stands adjourned Sani die and could have water please the presiding off the acting Sergeant arms will escort the house managers out of the Senate chamber and in order Mr President leader Mr President can we have order the Senate is not in order and the Senate will be in order Mr President I ask unanimous consent the Senate being a period of morning business with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each the objection is sold is any Senator seek recognition senator from New York majority leader Mr President the case of Donald Trump's second impeachment trial was open Mr President can we have order please the center is right the Senate is not in order um Senate will be in order Senate will be in order please take your conversations off the floor thank you Mr President New York the case of Donald Trump's second impeachment trial was open and shut president Trump told a lie a big lie that the election was stolen and that he was the rightful winner he laid the groundwork for this big lie in the months before the election he told the big lie on Election night and he repeated the big lie more than a hundred times in the weeks afterwards he summoned his supporters to Washington assembled them on the ellipse whipped them into a frenzy and directed them at the Capitol and then he watched as the violence unfolded the capital was breached and his own vice president fled for his life and president Trump did nothing none of these facts were up to Up For Debate we saw it we heard it we lived it this was the first presidential impeachment trial in history in which all senators were not only judges and jurors but witnesses to the Constitutional crime that was committed the former president inspired directed and propelled a mob to violently prevent the peaceful transfer of power subvert the will of the people and illegally keep that president in power there is nothing nothing more Un-American than that there is nothing nothing more antithetical to our democracy there is nothing nothing more insulting to the generations of American Patriots who gave their lives to defend our form of government this was the most egregious violation of the presidential oath of office and a text for text textbook example a classic example of an impeachable offense worthy of the Constitution's most severe remedy in response to the incontrovertible fact of Donald Trump's guilt the Senate was subject to a feeble and sometimes incomprehensible defense of the former president unable to dispute the case on the merits the former president's Council treated us to partisan vitriol false equivalence and outright falsehoods we heard the roundly debunked jurisdictional argument that the Senate cannot try a former official a position that would mean that any president could simply resign to avoid accountability for an impeachable offense a position which in effect would render the Senate powerless to ever enforce the disqualification clause in the Constitution essentially the president's Council told the Senate that the constitution was unconstitutional thankfully the Senate took a Firm Stance said a firm precedent with a bipartisan vote in favor of our power to try former officials for acts they committed while in office we heard the Preposterous claim that the former president's incitement to violence was protected by the First Amendment the First Amendment right to free speech protects Americans from jail not presidents from impeachment if the president had said during World War II that quote Germany should attack the United States on Long Island we've left it undefended I suspect Congress would have considered that an impeachable offense finally the defense Council said that President Trump was not directly responsible for the violence at the Capitol quote his words were merely a metaphor his directions were merely suggestions and the violent mob was just a spontaneous demonstration but wind the clock back and ask yourself if at any point Donald Trump did not do the things he did with the attack on the capital have happened there's only one answer to this question of course not if president Trump hadn't told his supporters to March to the Capitol if he hadn't implored them to come to Washington on January 6 in the first place if he hadn't repeatedly lied to them that the election was stolen their country was being taken from them the attack would not have happened could not have happened January 6th would not have happened but for the actions of Donald Trump here's what the Republican leader of the Senate said the mob that perpetrated the quote failed interaction Insurrection unquote was on January 6 was quote provoked by President Trump you want another word for provoke how about in sight yet still still the vast majority of the Senate Republican caucus including the Republican leader voted to acquit former president Trump signing their names in The Columns of History alongside his name forever January 6th will live as a day of infamy in the history of the United States of America the failure to convict Donald Trump will live as a vote of infamy in the history of the United States Senate five years ago Republican Senators lamented what might become of their party if Donald Trump became their Presidential nominee and standard Bearer just look at what has happened look at what Republicans have been forced to defend look at what Republicans have chosen to forgive the former president tried to overturn the results of a legitimate election and provoked an assault on our own government and well over half the Senate Republican conference decided to condone it the most despicable act that any president has ever committed and the majority of Republicans cannot summon the courage or the morality to condemn it this trial wasn't about choosing country over party even not that this was about choosing country over Donald Trump and 43 Republican members chose Trump they chose Trump it should be a weight on their conscience today and it shall be await on their conscience in the future as sad as that fact is as condemnable as the decision was it is still true that the final vote on Donald Trump's conviction was the largest and most bipartisan vote of any presidential impeachment trial in American history I salute those Republican Patriots who did the right thing it wasn't easy we know that let their votes be a message to the American people because my fellow Americans if this nation is going to long endure we as a people cannot sanction the former president's Congress because if lying about the results of an election is acceptable if instigating a mob against the government is considered permissible if encouraging political violence becomes the norm it will be open season open season on our democracy and everything will be up for grabs by Whoever has the biggest clubs the sharpest Spears the most powerful guns by not recognizing the heinous crime that Donald Trump committed against the Constitution Republican Senators have not only risked but potentially invited the same danger that was just visited upon us so let me say this despite the results of the vote on Donald Trump's conviction in the court of impeachment he deserves to be convicted and I believe he will be convicted in the court of public opinion he deserves to be permanently discredited and I believe he has been discredited in the eyes of the American people and in the Judgment of History even though Republican Senators prevented the Senate from disqualifying Donald Trump for any office of Honor trust or profit under these United States there is no question Donald Trump has disqualified himself I hope I pray and I believe that the American people will make sure of that and if Donald Trump ever stands for public office again and after everything we have seen this week I hope I pray and I believe that he will meet the unambiguous rejection by the American people six hours after the attack on January 6th after the Carnage in Mayhem was shown on every television screen in America president Trump told his supporters to quote remember this day forever I asked the American people to heed his words remember that day forever but not for the reasons the former president intended remember the panic in the voices over the radio dispatch the rhythmic pounding of fists and flags at the chamber doors remember the crack of a solitary gunshot remember the hateful and racist Confederate flags flying through the halls of our Union remember the screams of the bloody officer crushed between the on-rushing mob and a doorway to the Capitol his body trapped in the breach remember three Capitol police officers who lost their lives remember that those rioters actually succeeded in delaying Congress from certifying the election remember how close our democracy came to ruin my fellow Americans remember that day January 6th forever the final terrible Legacy of the 45th president of the United States and undoubtedly our worst let it live on in infamy a stain on Donald John Trump that can never never be washed away Mr President on Monday will recognize President's Day part of the commemoration in the Senate will be the annual reading of Washington's farewell address aside from winning the Revolutionary War I consider it his greatest contribution to American Civil Life and it had nothing to do with the words he spoke but the example it set Washington's Farewell Address established for all time that no one had the right to the office of the presidency that it belonged to the people what an amazing Legacy what an amazing gift to the Future Generations the knowledge that this country will always be greater than any one person even our most renowned that's why members of both parties take turns reading Washington's address once a year in full into the record to pledge common attachment to the selflessness at the core of our democratic system this trial was about the final acts of a president who represents the very antithesis of our first president and sought to place one man before the entire country himself let the record show let the record show before God history and the solemn oath we swear to the Constitution that there was only one correct verdict in this trial guilty and I pray that while Justice was not done in this trial it will be carried forward by the American people who above any of us in this chamber determine the destiny of our great nation I yield the floor Mr President the Republican leader January 6 was a disgrace American citizens attacked their own government they used terrorism to try to stop a specific peace of domestic business they did not like fellow Americans beat and bloodied our own police they stormed the senate floor they tried to hunt down the Speaker of the House they built a Gallows Enchanted about murdering the vice president they did this because they'd been fed Wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth because he was angry he lost an election former president Trump's actions preceded the riot or a disgraceful disgraceful dereliction of Duty the house accused the former president of quote incitement that is a specific term from the criminal law let me just put that aside for a moment and reiterate something I said weeks ago there's no question none that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day no question about it the people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president and having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements conspiracy theories and Reckless hyperbole which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet Earth the issue is not only the president's in temperate language on January 6. it is not just his endorsement of remarks in which an associate urged quote trial by combat it was also the entire manufactured atmosphere of looming catastrophe the increasingly wild myths myths about a reverse Landslide election that was somehow being stolen some secret coup by our now president now I defended the president's right to bring any complaints to our legal system the legal system spoke the Electoral College spoke as I stood up and said clearly at that time the election was settled it's over but that just really opened a new chapter of even Wilder Wilder and more unfounded claims the leader of the Free World cannot spend weeks thundering that shadowy forces are stealing our country and then feign surprise when people believe him and do reckless things now sadly many politicians sometimes make overheated comments or use metaphors we saw that that unhinged listeners might take literally but that was different that's different from what we saw this was an intensifying crescendo of conspiracy theories orchestrated by an outgoing president who seemed determined to either overturn the voter's decision or else torch our institutions on the way out the unconscionable Behavior did not end when the violence actually began whatever our ex-president claims he thought might happen that day whatever right reaction he says he meant to produce by that afternoon we know he was watching the same live television as the rest of us a mob was assaulting the capital in his name these criminals were carrying his banners hanging his Flags and screaming their loyalty to him it was obvious that only President Trump could end this he was the only one who could former aides publicly begged him to do so loyal allies frantically called the administration president did not act swiftly he did not do his job he didn't take steps so federal law could be Faithfully executed and Order restored no instead according to public reports he watched television happily happily as the chaos unfolded he kept pressing his scheme to overturn the election now even after it was clear to any reasonable Observer that vice president Pence was in serious Danger even as the mob carrying Trump banners was beating cops and breaching perimeters the president Senator further tweet talking his own vice president now predictably and foreseeably under the circumstances members of the mob seem to interpret this as a further inspiration to lawlessness and violence not surprisingly later even when the president did half-heartedly began calling for peace he didn't call right away for the right to end he did not tell the mob to depart until even later and even then with police officers bleeding and broken glass covering Capitol floors he kept repeating election laws and praising the criminals in recent weeks our ex-president's Associates have tried to use the 74 million Americans who voted to re-elect him as a kind of human shield against criticism using the 74 million who voted for him is kind of a human seal Shield against criticism anyone who deprives his awful behavior is accused of insulting millions of Voters that's an absurd deflection 74 million Americans did not invade the capital hundreds of riders did nation and rage that provoked it one person with folks in the party who are according for those arguments even though they voted to equipment I don't grapple with anybody we finished the grappling in that room and we slammed them down on a mat and won this case there's no grappling anymore we won not guilty they should have I'm not gonna I got I got work to do back home now the burden of proof is on them and they didn't meet their burden of proof it is somewhat confusing to us that if this conversation was of such great import why was it only brought to our attention today and formed the basis for most of the closing that the house managers made if this is the centerpiece of their case it should have been front and center from the beginning I kind of think that yesterday their case was destroyed and they needed to throw a Hail Mary pass and it fell in the end zone uncaught [Music] what's that we are not privileged to discuss anything we talk about with the president what do you make of foreign if president Trump were still in office I would have carefully considered whether the house managers proved their specific charge by the strict criminal standard the president's speech probably was not incitement however however in the context of impeachment the Senate might have decided this was acceptable shorthand for The Reckless actions that proceeded the riot but in this case the question is moot because former president Trump is constitutionally not eligible for conviction now this is a close question No Doubt Donald Trump was the president when the house voted though not when the house chose to deliver the papers brilliant Scholars argue both sides of this jurisdictional question the text is legitimately ambiguous I respect my colleagues who've reached either conclusion but after intense reflection I believe the best constitutional reading shows that Article 2 Section 4. exhausts the set of persons who can legitimately be impeached tried or convicted it's the president it's the vice president and civil officers we have no power to convict and disqualify a former office holder who is now a private citizen here is article two section 4. quote the president the vice president and all civil offices of the United States shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors end quote now everyone basically agrees that the second half of that sentence exhausts the legitimate grounds for conviction the debates around the Constitution's framing make that abundantly clear Congress cannot convict for reasons besides those it therefore follows that the list of persons in that same sentence is also exhausted there's no reason why one would list one list would be exhaustive but the other would not Article 2 Section 4 must limit both y impeachment and conviction can occur and to whom and to whom if this revision does not limit impeachment and conviction Powers then it has no limits at all the house has sole power of impeachment and the Senate's sole power to try all impeachments would create an unlimited circular logic empowering Congress to ban any private citizens from federal office now that's an incredible claim but it's the argument that the house managers seem to be making one manager said the House and Senate have quote absolute unqualified jurisdictional power end quote well that was very honest because there is no limiting principle in the constitutional text that would empower the Senate to convict former officers that would not also let them convict and disqualify any private citizen an absurd end result to which no one subscribes Article 2 Section 4 must have Force it tells us the president vice president and civil officers may be impeached and convicted Donald Trump's no longer the president likewise the provision states that officers subject to impeachment and conviction shall be removed from office if convicted shall be removed from office if convicted as justice story explained the Senate upon conviction is bound in all cases to enter a judgment of removal from office removal is mandatory upon conviction clearly he explained that mandatory sentence cannot be applied to someone who's left office the entire process revolves around removal if removal becomes impossible conviction becomes unsensible in one light it certainly does seem counter-intuitive that it also office holder can elude Senate conviction by resignation or exploration of term an argument we heard made by the managers but this underscores that impeachment was never meant to be the final forum for American Justice never meant to be the final forum for American Justice impeachment conviction and removal are a specific intra-governmental safety valve it is not the criminal justice system where individual accountability is the Paramount goal indeed justice story specifically reminded that while former officials were not eligible for impeachment or conviction they were and this is extremely important still liable to be tried and punished in the ordinary tribunals of Justice put another way in the language of today president Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office as an ordinary citizen unless the statute of limitations is run still liable for everything he did while he's in office didn't get away with anything yet we have a criminal justice system in this country we have civil litigation and former presidents are not immune from being accountable by either one I believe the Senate was not was right not to grab power the Constitution doesn't give us and the Senate was right not to entertain some light speed sham process to try to outrun the loss of jurisdiction it took both sides more than a week just to produce their pre-trial briefs speaker Pelosi's own scheduling decisions conceded what President Biden publicly confirmed a senate verdict before Inauguration Day was never possible now Mr President this has been a dispiriting time but the senate had done our duty the framers firewall helped held up again on January the 6th we returned to our posts and certified the election we were uncalled we were not intimidated we've finished the job and since then we resisted the climber to defy our own constitutional guardrails in Hot Pursuit of a particular outcome we refuse to continue a cycle of recklessness by straining our own constitutional boundaries in response the center's decision today does not condone anything that happened on or before that terrible day it simply shows that Senators did what the former president failed to do we put our constitutional Duty first president the senator from Maryland thank you Mr President I take this time to explain why I voted to convict the former president of the United States Donald Trump of the Articles of impeachment presented by the House of Representatives in regards to the incitement of insurrection throughout his presidency Donald J Trump has violated his oath of office to preserve protect and defend the Constitution of the United States there are many examples that I could give of Halley's violated his oath of office I could also cite the basis of the first articles of impeachment that were tried last year as violating his oath of office but by far Mr President the most egregious violation of his oath of office took place in his incitement of insurrection that occurred with the attack on this Capitol on January the 6th but it started well before January 6. the seeds were planted a long time ago and even before the November elections wherein president Trump pointed out when the polls were showing that he might lose in the election that he would refused to acknowledge that he would accept the election results if he lost he didn't say that once before the November elections he said it on several occasions talked about a rigged election talked about a fraudulent election talk about the election being taken away from us the victory with no evidence of voter fraud one of the key provisions of our constitution of our democracy is the peaceful transition of power Donald Trump called that into question prior to the November 3rd elections then came the November third elections and shortly thereafter Joe Biden was the was declared to be the winner why because he had the most votes most populous votes over 7 million but he was declared the winner because of electoral votes 306 to 232 by the way the same electoral margin that Donald Trump won four years earlier in which Donald Trump called a landslide but then came the legal challenges by President Trump he didn't accept the electoral vote or the declared elections and he has his right to contest the elections in the court asking for recounts or asking for challenges but in every one of those cases he could not establish widespread fraud that would have changed the results in any one of the states let alone enough electoral vote changes to change the outcome of the election but did he stop after he was denied relief in all of those legal challenges the answer is no he further contested by trying to inappropriately interfere with state election officials and state public officials urging them to take action to change the certificated results now we have many examples that during this period of time he was talking about a fraudulent election a stolen election all the different things about raising questions as to the legitimacy of the voices of the people of this nation we have so many examples of his interference but we actually have the tape of his conversation with the Georgia Secretary of State that we all heard and heard how the president tried to intimidate and threaten the secretary of state of Georgia in order to change the certified election results from the votes of the people of Georgia clear examples of how president Trump violated his oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States but that wasn't the end of it he went to his Department of Justice believing the Department of Justice is his Department of Justice not the Department of Justice of the United States of America now let's remember that the Department of Justice had found no widespread corruption in fact they had to determine this is one of the freest elections one of the least problem elections that we've had didn't stop president Trump from trying to intimidate and Order his Department of Justice to conduct an additional investigation to find fraud to overturn the will of the people once again violating his oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States he continued to do this contrary to his constitutional obligations corrupt election stop the steal rigged elections tremendous fraud all words that he used after the November third election he knew what he was saying was a lie he knew there was no widespread fraud but he continued to use the office of the presidency and his voice to promote the big lie and he knew his followers would believe it he knew he could convince his loyal followers to believe that this was a regular election a stolen election again compromising our democracy where the will of the people determine who our leaders are and he knew his followers would be motivated to action because he knew he can motivate his followers he put himself before the nation before his responsibilities as president of the United States he put his own self-interest above his responsibilities under the Constitution of the United States and to the people of this nation and then he summoned his loyal following to Washington on January 6. he knew they would come he knew dangerous people were in the group you knew the proud boys were there which he had directly said stand back and stand by he knew that they were ready for violent action and then he incited the mob to action on January 6. we know the words that he used we saw the videos we it's part of the record of the impeachment trial We Will Never Surrender we will never concede we will stop the steel stolen election all words that he had been using during the entire 2020 election cycle when particularly when he thought he was going to lose but the most damning part of the president's violation of his oath of office the most serious part is what he did and did not do after seeing that violence erupt in the United States capital if the capital was penetrated after we saw the violence being committed where we knew that the members of Congress were in danger the vice president United States was in danger the people that work here were in danger the people the press all the people that are in the capital legitimately we're at Danger we all saw that and the president United States knew of that and he did nothing to stop the violence he could have called off his loyalist and told him just get out of the capital he didn't do that he could have sent in the National Guard in order to protect us he didn't do that and he never condemned the participants in this mob and penetrating in capital for what they did I'm going to sort of summarize my feeling about that by agreeing with representative lives Cheney the house Republican conference chair who said it on the floor of the house and let me just quote her statement the president of the United States summoned this mob assembled this mob and lit the flame of this attack everything that followed was his doing none of this would have happened without the president the president could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence he did not there has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution I agree with that president Trump violated his oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States he violated that but let's take a look at what he did do after knowing the violence that occurred his tweet of 224 PM now this is after the Vice President had been removed from presiding in the chamber after we he knew the violence that was taking place in the capital of the United States he was aware of all that he knew that we had shut down the operations of the house and the Senate that there was violence taking place within the capital and that his vice president was the target of that attack and when he tweeted at 2 24 PM Mike Ben's I'm quoting the president Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what he should have been been done to protect our country inflaming the group even more to violence after he knew that it was a violent circumstance he had known violence had taken place and we heard put into the record of the impeachment trial today congresswoman Butler's report of majority leader McCarthy's conversation which again is during this period of time here we are the Republican leader in the House of Representatives gets the president on the phone says Mr President we're being attacked my office is being broken into we need help send the guard take care of us and then president Trump said something like well it's not my supporters it's some left-wing group and leader McCarthy said no Mr President these are your supporters who are doing this and what did the leader say what did the president say I guess Kevin these people are more upset about the election than you are here we have the members of Congress In Harm's Way and the president is talking about the support for those who are causing the violence putting his own interest above the safety of the people that he has sworn to protect as our commander and chief and then at the end of the day about six o'clock he sends out a tweet that really sums up his feelings about what these people were doing now these are people that came into the capitol they killed people they they hurt people they stole property they damaged property they invaded the capital of the United States they hurt Law Enforcement Officers they hurt all of us they heard our democracy so how does the president send us some up today this tweet these are the things that happen when a sacred Landslide Victory is so unceremoniously and viciously Stripped Away from great Patriots who have been badly and unfairly treated for so long go home with love and in peace remember this day forever repeating the big lie caught saying the day was a day of Celebration when it was one of the most Bleak days dark days in the history of our nation that's what president Trump did rather than bringing in the National Guard rather than telling his people to go home rather than being concerned about the safety of the vice president or the members of Congress as the President of the United States should have been doing he violated his oath of office over and over and over again pattern of practice that we have seen for so long it clearly establishes that he incited an Insurrection against our country that the facts included as basis for the articles of impeachment brought To Us by the House of Representatives has been proven purpose of impeachment is not just the accountability for the president but also to protect our constitution to make sure this conduct never happens again no one is above the law including the president of the United States everyone who has was responsible for an Insurrection that occurred on January 6 should be held accountable from those who broke into the capital and caused the harm and damage to the president of the United States who incited the violence that's why I voted to convict president Trump of the Articles of impeachment for inciting an Insurrection and that's why I would have voted to disqualify him from ever holding an office of trust again with that Mr President I yield the floor and can I ask you know I was consent on my entire statement be put in the record there's no objection

Channel: Forbes Breaking News

Views: 223,633

Keywords: President Trump, impeachment, Senate

Id: DOsEjclwbzA

Length: 80min 33sec (4833 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 27 2021