This week, President Donald Trump has faced the bulk of his impeachment trial in the Senate, where House impeachment case managers have made their case against him over his attempt to bribe Ukraine into investigating his opponents. This Thursday, following days of trial arguments that also included the president’s defense team wheeling out outrageous arguments like that “abuse of power” is not enough to impeach a president, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) delivered a renewed defense of her side as flatly on the right side of history.
Pelosi shared:
‘I am very proud of our managers. We believe that they have been magnificent custodians of the Constitution by dint of their content, their presentation, their historic perspectives, and their tone. They have made us all proud… and they do so in the face of the president’s team that’s there to dismantle the Constitution of the United States, and some of them are even lawyers!.. I don’t know how they can retain their lawyer status with the comments that they’re making.’
Indeed — on Wednesday, the already controversial Trump defender Alan Dershowitz (whose past clients include O.J. Simpson and Jeffrey Epstein) delivered the argument that Trump can essentially do whatever he wants.
Dershowitz commented:
‘If a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.’
That’s what he said! A direct quote! It mirrors the complete lie of an argument that the president himself has used multiple times that Article 2 of the Constitution gives him the power to do whatever he wants.
Very soon, the impeachment trial will turn to a vote on whether or not to hear from witnesses, and the House Speaker commented that she prays “that the Senators will have the courage and the ability to handle the truth instead of blocking the truth from themselves and from the American people.”
Watch:
This Thursday, Pelosi also addressed a poignant list of Democrats’ legislative efforts compared to Republican obstruction. The president and his defenders have claimed that Democrats are “do nothing,” but the facts tell an entirely different story.
Pelosi noted:
‘In the election of 2018, House Democrats’ platform was “for the people.” For the people, we would lower the cost of health care, lower the cost of prescription drugs, and protect preexisting condition benefits. For the people, we would increase paychecks… and for the people, we would have cleaner government. We passed H.R. 1, which we continue to call for, which lowers the role of big dark money in politics and which strives to end voter suppression that Republicans find as their most effective political action.’
Indeed — numerous voter suppression schemes across the country, including biased district lines that dilute marginalized communities’ votes, have had Republicans behind them.
Pelosi continued by also upending the administration’s complete lies that they’re defending the health care system like protection for pre-existing conditions.
‘Today, the administration will unveil its latest effort to take away America’s health care: its Medicaid block grant scheme… Yet again, having failed to repeal the law, the administration has decided to ignore the law with potentially devastating consequences for families and seniors that depend on a lifeline with Medicaid.’
Heading into the 2020 elections, the contrast is clear.
