McConnell Rips Apart Democrats' 'Partisan Crusade' on the Floor of the Senate pjmedia.com/trending/mccon… #NewsandPolitics via @pjmedia_com
@PJMedia_com "House Democrats want to create new rules for this president because they feel uniquely enraged," he argued. "This is by far the thinnest basis for any House-passed presidential impeachment in American history."
@PJMedia_com McConnell noted that Pelosi is considering not sending the articles of impeachment over to the U.S. Senate. After rushing through the process of impeachment in the House, "they're content to sit on their hands."
@PJMedia_com "The Democrats' own actions concede their allegations are unproven. The allegations are not just unproven, they're also legally incoherent," he said. "If the Senate blesses this historically low bar, we will invite the impeachment of every single future president."
@PJMedia_com "...Pelosi’s House just gave in to a temptation that every other House in our history has managed to resist," moving to "impeach a president whom they do not even allege to have committed a crime" because they "disagree with a presidential act and question the motive behind it."
@PJMedia_com While Andrew Johnson was impeached for breaking a law later struck down as unconstitutional, he had broken a law. Richard Nixon was accused of obstruction of justice, a felony. Bill Clinton admitted to perjury, also a felony.
@PJMedia_com "History matters and precedent matters," the Republican leader warned. "And there were important reasons why every previous House of Representatives in American history restrained itself from crossing this Rubicon."
@PJMedia_com He noted that the Founders warned against impeachment just for maladministration, "in other words, because the House simply thought the president had bad judgment or is doing a bad job."
@PJMedia_com The Founders explicitly rejected an impeachment like this. "They realized it would create a total dysfunction to set the bar for impeachment that low."
@PJMedia_com Such a standard "would mean the president serves at the pleasure of the Congress instead of at the pleasure of the American people." So for 230 years, Congress "required presidential impeachment to revolve around clear, recognizable crimes."
@PJMedia_com Yet on Wednesday, the House "opened the pandora’s box of subjective political impeachments. That 230-year tradition died last night."
@PJMedia_com McConnell condemned the rush to judgment as "the predetermined end of a partisan crusade that began before President Trump was even nominated, let alone sworn in. ... From the moment the president’s election ended they would find some way to overturn it."
@PJMedia_com While the inquiry that led to Richard Nixon's election required 14 months and Bill Clinton's impeachment followed years of investigations, House Democrats rushed the inquiry against Trump in 12 weeks.
@PJMedia_com The first article "does not even purport to allege any actual claim," instead using "the vague phrase 'abuse of power' to impugn the president's action in a general way." He argued that this followed exactly what the Founders warned against — impeachment for maladministration.
@PJMedia_com "It’s not a constitutional crisis for a House to want more information than a president wants to give up," McConnell explained. Indeed, this kind of legal battle is "a routine occurrence." In the case of Bill Clinton, Congress went to the courts.
@PJMedia_com "This takes time, it’s inconvenient. That’s actually the point. Due process is not meant to maximize the convenience of the prosecutor, it’s meant to protect the accused," the Republican leader insisted.
@PJMedia_com "Fourteen months of hearings for Richard Nixon; years of investigation for Bill Clinton; twelve weeks for Donald Trump."
@PJMedia_com The historic speech did indeed echo the Founders, who warned against impeachment based on partisan strength rather than real crimes. The Senate was indeed created as a check on the passions of the House. It seems McConnell is exactly right that it exists for a role such as this.
