This Wednesday, the full House was slated to approve formal articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, including charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. As that vote closed in, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) released a video summary of impeachment evidence against the president, who has been loudly, clearly, and publicly implicated in a plot to get dirt on his domestic political opponents from Ukraine in exchange for military aid. As Pelosi’s video made clear, this evidence is straightforward and publicly available, although Republicans keep desperately resisting anyway.
The video includes clips of public testimony from top Ukraine diplomat Bill Taylor, former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, Purple Heart recipient and National Security Council official Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, and others. Each one of the witnesses confirmed the existence of Trump’s pressure campaign, no matter isolated claims of innocence that Trump and his allies have tried to point to.
Pelosi wrote:
‘All of the witnesses from Trump’s own Administration told the same story. The President put himself above the law, abused the power of his office for personal gain, and is trying to corrupt our elections. We have a duty to the Constitution. #DefendOurDemocracy’
His bid for dirt he could use in the 2020 election is plainly clear.
All of the witnesses from Trump’s own Administration told the same story. The President put himself above the law, abused the power of his office for personal gain, and is trying to corrupt our elections.
We have a duty to the Constitution. #DefendOurDemocracy pic.twitter.com/HJQlQz5ttH
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) December 18, 2019
In the clip of testimony included in the video, Taylor comments:
‘To withhold the assistance for no reason other than help with a political campaign made no sense. It was counterproductive to all of what we had been trying to do. It was illogical. It could not be explained. It was crazy.’
As the video concludes, Pelosi singles out Republicans who’ve refused to budge no matter the weight of the evidence.
A message reads:
‘The facts aren’t contested: only whether Republicans will do their duty and stand up.’
There is not any indication that a single Republican is willing to display the political courage — and basic decency and responsiveness to clearly demonstrated behavior — necessary to vote for impeachment.
Trump has already gotten fully behind Republican efforts to defend him; he’s called them “Republican warriors,” and this week, he followed that up with a rambling six page letter to Pelosi claiming — among other things — that she’s lying when she says she prays for him. Talk about petty egomania.
Check out Twitter’s response…
