Thread by @AmoneyResists

Trump’s team has responded to the House brief, which makes an airtight case for the conviction and removal of Donald Trump from office. Let’s go through what they said (Thread).

Team Trump begins with: “The articles of impeachment submitted by House Democrats are a dangerous attack on the right of the American people to freely choose their President.”

Impeachment does not overturn an election and 3 million more people voted for Hillary Clinton

Second paragraph: “The articles of impeachment are constitutionally invalid on their face. They fail to allege any crime or violation of the law whatsoever.”

Impeachment is part of the Constitution. Crimes aren’t required. And yet MANY crimes were committed by Trump.

Paragraph 3: “The articles of impeachment are an affront to the Constitution, our democratic institutions, and the American people.”

The articles are not unconstitutional; Trump attacks and degrades our democratic institutions; and the majority of Americans support his removal.

Paragraph 4: “President Trump categorically and unequivocally denies each and every allegation in both articles.”

He has admitted he wanted the Bidens investigated and still refers to his phone call as “perfect.” It’s more he doesn’t see anything wrong with it.

Arguments against 1st Article of impeachment:
—It “fails to state an impeachable offense” (FALSE)
—It “alleges no crimes” (FALSE)
—“Trump has not abused the powers of the Presidency” (FALSE)
—“At all times the President faithfully executed the duties of his office” (FALSE)

1st Article (cont’d):
—“Trump raised the important issue of burden sharing on his phone call with Zelensky, noting that other EU countries such as Germany were not carrying their fair share.”

Trump not understanding how the EU works and trashing our allies is not a defense

The letter then goes on to state a series of lies it refers to as “facts.”

1.) “The transcripts of both the April 21st and the July 25th call make clear the President did nothing wrong” (FALSE)

Both transcripts made clear Trump extorted Ukraine to aid his own re-election

2.) “President Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials have repeatedly confirmed the call was ‘good’ and ‘normal,’ that there was no quid pro quo, and that no one pressured them.”

Of course the victim of extortion who still relies on the extortionist is going to say these things

3.) “The 2 individuals who have stated that they spoke to the President actually exonerate him. Gordon Sondland said Trump told him ‘I want nothing’ and Ron Johnson says Trump told him “he would never do that.”

These denials were AFTER the whistleblower report came out

4.) “The bilateral presidential meeting took place in the ordinary course, and the security assistance was sent, all without the Ukrainian government announcing investigations.”

BECAUSE YOU GOT CAUGHT. “We released the aid after our extortion plot was revealed” IS NOT A DEFENSE

The letter then repeats its previous lie about the transcripts exonerating Trump, then proceeds to reference Adam Schiff’s embellishment in his reenactment of the call during the hearings as “creating a fraudulent version.” This non-argument is beyond pathetic grasping at straws.

Closing Paragraph: “House Democrats ran a fundamentally flawed and illegitimate process that denied the President every basic right to present evidence.”

They ran an indisputably fair process that denied Trump no rights whatsoever. He simply obstructed it at every turn.

Last paragraph: “The President acted at all times with full constitutional and legal authority and in our national interest. He continued his administration’s policy of unprecedented support for Ukraine.”

This is disproven by every single document and piece of witness testimony

Arguments against Article 2:
—“Also fails to state an impeachable offense” (FALSE)
—“The president’s assertion of legitimate Executive Branch confidentiality grounded in the separation of powers cannot constitute obstruction of Congress” (LMFAO FALSE)

Arguments against Article 2 (cont’d):
—“The subpoenas the Democrats issued were issued without a Congressional vote and therefore have no constitutional authority.” (FALSE)
—“They sought testimony disclosing confidential communications/matters related to nat’l security” (FALSE)

—“House Democrats barred the attendance of Executive Branch Counsel at witness proceedings” (FALSE)
—“The Trump administration replied appropriately to these subpoenas” (FALSE)
—“Asserting valid constitutional privileges cannot be impeachable” (TRUE, BUT YOU DIDN’T DO THAT)

“Conclusion”: “The articles of impeachment violate the constitution (FALSE). They are defective in their entirety (FALSE). They are the product of invalid proceedings that flagrantly denied the President any due process rights” (FALSE)

“Conclusion (cont’d):” “They rest on dangerous distortions of the Constitution that would do lasting damage to our structure of government” (FALSE).

“Conclusion (part 3):” “In the 1st article, the House attempts to seize the President’s power under article II of the constitution to determine foreign policy.”

This is false. They assert Trump abused his power by using his article II powers to aid his own reelection (He did).

“Conclusion (Part 4):” “In the second article, the House attempts to control and penalize the assertion of the executive branch’s constitutional privileges.”

FALSE. The executive branch has no constitutional privilege to defy subpoenas, block documents, or ignore court orders

(Part 5): “By approving the articles, the House violated our constitutional order, illegally abused its power of impeachment & attempted to obstruct President Trump’s ability to faithfully execute the duties of his office.”

Nonsense. This was the most justified impeachment EVER.

(Part 6): “In order to preserve our constitutional structure of government, to reject the poisonous partisanship that the Framer’s warned against, the senate must reject both articles of impeachment.”

Literally the opposite is true

This letter reads like it was written by someone with zero legal knowledge, zero historical knowledge, and zero knowledge of how the Constitution actually works. It is a compilation of lies, fantasies, and projections that have no basis in reality. The senate must convict/remove.