Congressmen Robert Aderholt (AL-04) and Bradley Byrne (AL-01) on Tuesday evening gave separate one-minute speeches on the U.S. House floor, slamming the process being used by Democrats in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
Aderholt’s remarks focused on the secretive nature of the Democrats’ proceedings, mentioning closed-door hearings that all members of Congress and the public do not have access to.
“Unfortunately, the Democrats continue to investigate the president in secret backrooms of the Capitol and the Intelligence Committee,” Aderholt decried. “If the speaker believes the members of Congress can ultimately vote and impeach the president based on bogus evidence that has never seen the light of day, then she is badly mistaken.”
“In the past 50 years, this body has impeachment proceedings for only two presidents,” he outlined. “One was a Democrat. One was a Republican. Those were serious times when both parties came together to conduct solemn business required under the Constitution — a document that we, as members of Congress, are sworn to uphold.”
“Conducting this impeachment process in the shadows is a mockery of the Democratic process,” Aderholt emphasized.
He concluded, “It actually belittles our duty and it belittles the votes of people who duly elected this president. Madam Speaker, in closing, I call on Speaker Pelosi to sit down with the Republican leadership to establish an open and transparent process based on precedent.”
In his own impassioned comments, Byrne also turned the spotlight on Pelosi, seemingly exposing serious “hypocrisy” in her current impeachment inquiry into Trump.
“Today the Democrat majority is not judging the president with fairness but impeaching him with a vengeance,” Byrne said. “In the investigation of the president, fundamental principles which Americans hold dear — privacy, fairness, checks and balances — have been seriously violated, and why? Because we are here today because the Democrats in the House are paralyzed with hatred of President Trump, and until the Democrats free themselves of this hatred, our country will suffer.”
He continued, “Now, if that sounds familiar, you’ve got a longer memory than Democrats. Those same comments, but addressing Republicans’ actions towards President Clinton, were made by Nancy Pelosi in December 1998.”
“Could there be a clearer indication of the hypocrisy that fuels the Democrats’ sham impeachment process, currently taking place behind closed doors?” the coastal Alabama congressman asked.
“If Pelosi and the Democrats truly care about – in Pelosi’s own words – ‘the fundamental principles which Americans hold dear—privacy, fairness, checks and balances’ — they will restore transparency and integrity to this process,” Byrne concluded.
Other Republican members of Alabama’s congressional delegation in recent days have spoken out against the impeachment inquiry into Trump, especially when it comes to the process and the actions of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA). This includes Congressmen Mike Rogers (AL-03), Mo Brooks (AL-05) and Gary Palmer (AL-06).
In a statement last month when the impeachment inquiry began, Congresswoman Martha Roby (AL-02) stated, “As the only member of the Alabama delegation currently serving on the House Judiciary Committee, I am already on record voting against Democrats’ pretend impeachment inquiry. My vote on the floor of the House would be consistent with this position.”
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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