House Democrats impeach, may block Senate trial, attack Tulsi Gabbard for ‘Present’ vote
The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to impeach President Trump for “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress”, without any Republican support.
As the process moves forward, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., seems interested in delaying transmission of the two articles of impeachment to the Republican-controlled Senate until Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., agrees to a “fair trial?” — as she sees it.
photo/ donkeyhotey
Pelosi used her weekly news conference to express her concern over having a fair trial in the Senate, saying while the Founding Fathers had anticipated the possibility of a rogue President, “I don’t think they suspected that we could have a rogue president and a rogue leader in the Senate at the same time.”
“The next thing for us will be when we see the process that is set forth in the Senate, then we’ll know the number of managers that we may have to go forward and who we will choose,” Pelosi said. “That’s what I said last night, that’s what I’m saying now.”
McConnell was asked this week about articles not being sent over, he told reporters, “I’m in no hurry.”
Pelosi’s comments have also angered some Republicans in the Senate. GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said Thursday he was outraged. “What they’re proposing — to not send the articles for disposition to the Senate after being passed to the House — is incredibly dangerous,” he said.
“This is a land — uncharted waters, constitutionally,” Graham told reporters. “I just know this, that this matters to the future of the country. We cannot have a system where the House impeaches the president, tells the Senate how to conduct the trial, holds the articles of impeachment over the president’s head at a time of their choosing to unleash them.”
Gabbard, a 2020 presidential candidate, voted “present” on impeachment articles against Trump, drawing ire from the left. Gabbard also did not give a 30-second to one-minute speech about her vote as most of her Democratic colleagues did.
This from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “Today was very consequential, and to not take a stand one way or another, on a day of such great consequence to this country, I think is quite difficult,” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters Wednesday night after the vote, according to the New York Post.
“We are sent here to lead,” she added.
“After doing my due diligence in reviewing the 658-page impeachment report, I came to the conclusion that I could not in good conscience vote either yes or no,” Gabbard said in a statement, explaining her “Present” vote. More below from Tim Pool on the topic.
“I could not in good conscience vote against impeachment because I believe President Trump is guilty of wrongdoing,” Gabbard said, adding, “I also could not in good conscience vote for impeachment because removal of a sitting President must not be the culmination of a partisan process, fueled by tribal animosities that have so gravely divided our country.”
