Time to Move On
As this impeachment trial drags on, it becomes more and more obvious the Democrats’ impeachment articles are backed by assumptions, not facts. They passed their two Articles of Impeachment – “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress” – without evidence President Trump committed a crime and without bipartisan support. Constitutional and criminal law scholar Alan Dershowitz said it best, “You picked the most dangerous possible criteria to serve as a precedent for how we supervise and oversee future presidents.” I could not agree more. House Democrats presented the weakest impeachment case ever. They still refuse to move past the 2016 election and are doing everything they can to impeach this president at any cost.
This farce all started with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation because Democrats were so certain Donald Trump did not fairly win the 2016 election. So, after a two-and-a-half year investigation that cost taxpayers $25 million; utilized 19 lawyers, 40 FBI agents, intelligence analysts, forensic accountants and other professional staff; required issuing 2,800 subpoenas, 500 search warrants and 50 orders of pen registers and 500 witness interviews, there was no evidence of collusion. This should have been greeted with relief and a determination to focus on the American people’s priorities, but it was not the answer Democrats wanted.
Instead of accepting reality, House Democrats decided it was time to impeach. In fact, House Democrats were so hell-bent on impeachment that half of their caucus voted to impeach the president before the whistleblower complaint was filed. We now know the whistleblower worked with Chairman Adam Schiff’s office to prepare the complaint. House Democrats continued with their narrative the president committed a crime by holding numerous closed-door hearings so they could leak information to support that narrative. When they finally held public hearings, they repeatedly denied Republicans the right to call witnesses and prevented the president’s counsel from cross-examination. These were concessions that were made to the minority party in every previous impeachment proceeding. House Democrats then rushed through passage of the articles of impeachment, only to watch Speaker Pelosi inexplicably delay sending the articles to the Senate for 28 days. How is that urgent? House Democrats did this without one witness saying they had firsthand knowledge a crime was committed, or the president’s actions were an impeachable offense.
The only evidence we have is the transcript of the president’s call, and Ambassador Sondland recalling the only direct quote we have of President Trump on the matter saying, “I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo.” That evidence alone exonerates President Trump from these ridiculous accusations. Democrats claim there is a smoking gun, but they have yet to provide the bullet. After all this nonsense over the last five months, the key facts remain: President Trump and President Zelensky agree there was no pressure to initiate investigations. The transcript of their call shows no pressure and President Zelensky did not know that aid was under review when the call occurred, and the aid was later released without any action on Ukraine’s part.
Now, Democrats are demanding Republicans call additional witnesses in the Senate trial. Isn’t this itself an admission their case against the president is so weak that the president should be acquitted?
Democrats put all their eggs in one basket, one with a big hole. It’s obvious that House Democrats believe the only way to take back the presidency in 2020 is by removing President Trump from office. You cannot impeach a president just because you do not like him. Now, there is a precedent that a duly elected president can be impeached over policy disagreements with the opposing party. This is a profound mistake for our country. Americans are over this impeachment. In fact, they were over it with the release of the Mueller Report. The longer this impeachment drags on, the more House Democrats lose support.
An ABC-Washington Post poll stated that 51 percent of Americans say not to remove the president. They don’t want to remove President Trump because the economy is great; our military is stronger than ever; and trade deals are being made under this administration. Instead of working on reforms House Democrats promised their constituents, they chose impeachment. The fact is Americans are tired of it, and it’s long over-due our country moves on from this political farce. I’m ready for Congress to get back to the work we were elected to do: such as ending surprise medical billing, lowering prescription drug costs and reforming our immigration system – instead of wasting America’s time.
