Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for High Crimes and Misdemeanors

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CONAWAY. Madam Speaker, other than authorizing an act of war, impeachment is the gravest item that we as a Congress can consider. The decision to move forward with impeachment of a United States President is so consequential that it has only been done three times in our entire nation's history prior to this year, all based on legitimate evidence of criminal behavior. Unfortunately, many of my colleagues have diminished what should be a solemn and grave proceeding into an absolute political circus, simply because they don't like the man occupying the White House.

Many Democrats have been intent on impeaching this President since the day he took office. Their actions are clearly motivated by pure hatred for President Trump. This impeachment vote today is simply the next step in their long-held plan to remove him from office.

The partisan impeachment investigation run by the House Intelligence Committee was unnecessarily held behind closed doors, in a room designed to share classified information. Nothing classified was shared during these meetings, but the result of this decision was that most Members of Congress and all Americans were blocked from hearing the facts for themselves.

It's also critical to remember that the House Intelligence Committee had no business conducting the impeachment inquiry to begin with--the House Judiciary Committee is the Committee tasked with all responsibilities surrounding impeachment in the House of Representatives. The Intelligence Committee had no business running this investigation at all, let alone running it in secret. As with past impeachment investigations, the investigation should have been led by a special prosecutor or independent counsel who then would turn over their findings to the Judiciary Committee--none of this happened here.

Chairman Schiff repeatedly withheld crucial information from Republicans, including the ability for anyone but himself and his staff to speak with the whistle blower at the center of this investigation. He was even called out by liberal media outlets for spreading misinformation and falsehoods throughout the impeachment process.

The public hearings were held with complete disregard for the House Rules and decades of precedent. Republicans were not allowed to call witnesses or make basic parliamentary motions. In fact, the only witnesses allowed to testify publicly were those who fit neatly within the Democrats' predetermined narrative.

Most importantly, we have not been presented with any real evidence that proves the President is guilty of ``high crimes and misdemeanors,'' as required by the Constitution to remove a duly- elected president. If there were criminal activity, as many Democrats have claimed, then why are there no crimes listed in the articles of impeachment?

As a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, I have had a ringside seat for not only the impeachment proceedings, but for the years of investigations into President Trump that preceded this one. When I led the Intelligence Committee's Russia Investigation, the Democrat minority led by Rep. Schiff was given every opportunity to participate, and they did so. They were not treated as a minority party, where their objections and right to call witnesses were denied as the Democrats did to Republicans in this impeachment investigation. I treated them with fairness and dignity and did not cast aspersions on them by calling their loyalty to our country or motivations into question. The investigation into Russia meddling was thorough and took more than fifteen months, during which we interviewed over 70 witnesses and poured over more than 300,000 documents. This impeachment investigation, by contrast, was rushed through in less than two months, with just a handful of witnesses.

The charade of a fair proceeding was further emphasized with the Democrats' refusal to let the defendant offer evidence and produce witnesses. The defendant--President Trump--has a right to defend himself, a right which was only ceremoniously and speciously offered once the investigation and report were completed.

It is clear--the verdict in the House was predetermined.

This has been a colossal waste of taxpayer dollars and of Congress' time. However, my greatest fear is that it's not over. When Democrats found no evidence of collusion during the Russia Investigation, they pivoted to the Mueller investigation. When Special Counsel Mueller's report did not include anything Democrat's found useful, they refocused their efforts once again to hone in on a supposed scandal with Ukraine. When this inevitably fails too, what will be the next casualty in their desperate attempt to destroy a president they dislike?

We have forever weakened this body by turning impeachment into a political weapon and set a terrible precedent for all future Congresses. This impeachment scheme is nothing more than an attempt to overturn the 2016 election and to conduct taxpayer-funded opposition research and damage the President's electability heading into 2020.

The American people see right through this charade, and are fed up. It's time to stop this madness and get back to the important work the American people sent us here to do.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source