All Republicans in Alabama’s U.S. House of Representatives delegation on Thursday voted against a resolution formally opening an impeachment inquiry into President Donald J. Trump, while Democratic Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) supported the measure.
H. Res. 660 passed on a 232-196 vote. No Republicans supported the resolution, while two Democrats voted “nay.”
Reactions poured in afterward from Alabama congressmen, who criticized both the substance and process surrounding the impeachment inquiry.
While Republicans prior to this resolution have largely criticized the process as secretive, they now argue that the newly formalized process institutionalizes an inequitable, one-sided inquiry ensuring the minority party has no real input or rights.
In a statement, Congressman Bradley Byrne (AL-01) said, “Since starting their impeachment scheme, Democrats have tried to manufacture a case against President Trump despite having no evidence of an impeachable offense. They’ve been playing a shameful game of political keep away in the basement of the Capitol to keep Americans in the dark. Today Democrats doubled down on their illegitimate smear job.”
“This is a sad day for our country, but the facts are in our favor and cannot be hidden from the American people forever. Until then, I will not stop fighting to expose and defeat this politically motivated sham,” he added.
Byrne made national headlines last week when he and a group of conservative Republicans, including Congressman Mo Brooks (AL-05), stormed into the secure basement room in which Congressman Adam Schiff’s (D-CA) committee was holding an impeachment hearing. Byrne returned to the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) on Wednesday of this week in an attempt to review transcripts and records from the Democrats’ impeachment hearings but was denied access.
Today Democrats breached House rules to deny me access to transcripts of Adam Schiff’s impeachment depositions. They don’t want me – or you – to know what’s going on deep in the basement of the Capitol. Americans should be outraged at this political coup against @realDonaldTrump! pic.twitter.com/GpWUUBKGpZ
— Rep. Bradley Byrne (@RepByrne) October 30, 2019
After the vote on Thursday, Congressman Mike Rogers (AL-03) stated, “I am proud to stand with President Trump and fight against the Democrats’ witch hunt. This sham is nothing more than an attempted coup.”
“Adam Schiff’s investigation is based solely on lies and leaks,” he continued. “They have never accepted the fact the Donald Trump was elected president fair and square. House Democrats should be ashamed of themselves.”
Congressman Robert Aderholt (AL-04) released a written statement and a video bashing the impeachment efforts.
He slammed Democrats and took an implicit jab at The Washington Post in the process.
Aderholt’s full statement as follows:
The Democrats have now made official, what they have been wanting to do since January 20, 2017 and that is try and overturn the 2016 election. Impeachment has been their only agenda since President Trump was elected, and they’ve spent the last 10 months since they took over the House trying to find a way to do so.
I voted no! While Congress does have the CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY to impeach a President, it was meant to only be used as a response to actual crimes committed by a President. So far, in what little information the Democrats have selectively leaked, I’ve seen nothing that rises to the level of overturning an American election.
Since the election three years ago, a national newspaper’s tag line has been “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” It’s too bad that our Democracy is dying in the darkness of this impeachment process. The process passed by Democrats reverses procedures used in the Nixon and Clinton impeachment investigations. For those two investigations, the President’s staff could examine evidence, ask questions of witnesses and attend hearings. Members of Congress from the Minority Party could issue subpoenas without the Chairman’s permission. Even with today’s vote, the Democrat impeachment process keeps the investigation behind closed doors for at least the next few weeks. This is wrong.
It’s time for Democratic leadership to accept that the Russians did not cause Hillary Clinton to lose, but that the voters simply chose Donald Trump over the prospects of granting a Clinton four more years in the White House.
The American people elected us here to work for them—to negotiate deals that improve trade, drug pricing, healthcare, infrastructure and aim to fix some of the biggest issues we face as a country. It seems that Democratic leadership would rather waste more even more time and taxpayer dollars on yet another pointless investigation that does nothing to answer the problems we were elected here to fix.
Congressman Mo Brooks (AL-05) used some Halloween puns to make his point in a press released headlined, “Befitting Halloween, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Her Coven Declare Open Season on ‘Donald Trump Witch Hunt’! Mo Brooks & the Good People of Oz Oppose.”
The North Alabama congressman also tweeted out a picture of what appears to be former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton photoshopped as a witch.
.@realDonaldTrump #impeachment
PELOSI TRICK OR TREAT!
Befitting Halloween, Socialist Dems endorse Trump Witch Hunt!GOP = no right to call witnesses. Dems secret Star Chamber Capital basement process continues. “The Coven” vote 231-2 FOR Hunt! Citizens of Oz vote 194-0 AGAINST. pic.twitter.com/5zEYESXjqU
— Mo Brooks (@RepMoBrooks) October 31, 2019
Brooks’ full statement as follows:
For years, Socialist Democrats successfully manipulated and fooled the American people with a ‘Russian Collusion Hoax’ that helped Socialists win the House of Representatives. Not to be deterred by having been caught with their hands in the cookie jar, Socialist Democrats are implementing ‘Russian Collusion Hoax 2.0’, an effort to again manipulate and fool the American people with a hyper-partisan, false, Trump impeachment narrative that, to date, is wholly lacking in evidentiary substance and legal support.
To date, Socialist Democrats have produced ZERO credible evidence that President Trump committed a high crime, misdemeanor, treason, or bribery—the Constitutional impeachment standard. Rather, Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff have abused their power by holding secret, sham proceedings in the Capitol basement while selectively and illegally leaking one-sided information designed to deceive the American people into believing the worst Fake News allegations against President Trump. Frankly, this process is so appalling as to constitute a very real threat to our Constitutional Republic. Trashing the votes of more than 60 million Americans is no small matter yet that is exactly the blood-lust of Socialist Democrats.
H.Res. 660 is badly flawed. First, the resolution enshrines tainted evidence obtained in secret in the official record. Because of the badly flawed process used, all evidence obtained to date in these Star Chamber proceedings is so badly tainted that it should be discarded as ‘fruits of the poisonous tree’. None of this evidence would ever see the light of day in a court of law where how evidence is obtained is also important. Every witness who has testified in Schiff’s secretive basement proceedings should be called again to testify in front of the American people.
Secondly, the flawed resolution gives Adam Schiff the authority to veto and prevent any Republican from calling any witness to rebut the Socialist Democrats’ false narrative. This process flies in the face of the Constitution’s Bill of Rights and long-standing due process rights and past judicial orders. In contrast, impeachment proceedings for both Nixon and Clinton, the accused and the minority party had the absolute right to call witnesses without majority party authorization. Socialist Democrats should respect past, bipartisan processes often used and long-respected in matters of such grave importance.
Keep in mind, there is a significant opportunity cost to this impeachment. None of the American people’s legislative priorities are being addressed. A tsunami of illegal aliens continues to swamp America’s southern border, at great cost to taxpayers and lost American lives. America’s deficit ballooned to $984 billion this past year, yet there is zero talk in Congress about reigning these deficits in or preventing a debilitating national insolvency and bankruptcy that risks American prosperity and lives. Nationally, economic growth has slowed substantially as impeachment overshadows economic issues. Substantive committee hearings on major issues facing America have declined almost to a standstill, leaving much needed work undone. For example, both the National Defense Authorization Act and federal government funding for the rest of this fiscal year languish while all eyes focus on this impeachment soap opera. Such is the state of Washington politics under Socialist Democrat majority tenure in the House. It’s not just a real shame, it is a dangerous tragedy that threatens America.
By trying to impeach President Trump at all costs, Socialist Democrats show their disdain for more than 60 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump in 2016. America’s Founding Fathers meant for impeachment to be reserved only for the most serious offenses. Impeachment rips apart America by ripping apart American votes. It’s a travesty that Socialist Democrats are proceeding with this impeachment despite ZERO evidence of an impeachable offense. Socialist Democrats ought to be ashamed.
In a statement, Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06) said the impeachment inquiry resolution was long overdue, yet still “unjust.”
“This resolution has finally come after many weeks of an already defunct process, a clear attempt to save political face,” he noted.
“Nothing in this impeachment inquiry thus far has met the threshold required for the serious charge of impeachment,” Palmer outlined. “The Constitution says a president may be impeached for ‘treason, bribery, or high crimes and misdemeanors.’ The investigation into President Trump has been centered around a phone call with President Zelensky of Ukraine, but the call transcript, which I have read, and Zelensky himself have both confirmed that President Trump has not committed a crime or abused his power. Zelensky has said that President Trump did not bribe or insist on any quid pro quo.”
Palmer concluded, “Aside from clear lack of evidence, the buildup to this point is so flawed that justice has been made virtually impossible. Democrats have held meetings in secret, have withheld transcripts of witness testimonies, and have leaked only the evidence that fits their narrative. They have done their best to construct a biased picture of the president in view of unseating him, regardless of the actual facts. And now they ask the American people to trust them to be fair for holding an official vote, something they should have done weeks ago. At this point, no vote can cure the injury inflicted upon the reputation of the Congress by this Democrat conceived and executed conspiracy against President Trump. We must acknowledge the process for what it is, an unjust and partisan attempt to remove a duly elected president by going against precedent, due process, and justice.”
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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