NBC News Special Report: Moments Away: House Impeachment Vote

Transcript

Event Date(s): 12/18/2019 | Event Location(s): Washington, District of Columbia, Battlecreek, Michigan, San Diego, California | Description: INT WASHINGTON, DC Democratic Maryland Representative Steny Hoyer: (02:00:04) In America, as we have said over and over again, no one is above the law. Only as long as we hold every person accountable for breaking the law, even a president, will that be true. If the House does not act, if we wait and delay, we run the risk of allowing the President’s misconduct. If we believe it to be so to be repeated at the expense of the integrity of our elections, our national security, and our constitutional system of separation of powers. Steny Hoyer: (02:00:51) Democrats did not choose this impeachment. We did not wish for it. We voted against it. We voted against it once. We voted against it twice. We voted against it three times as recently as July. We did not want this. However, President Trump’s misconduct has forced our constitutional republic to protect itself. Steny Hoyer: (02:01:35) These votes that we are about to take and the process that will follow in the Senate are not only an assessment of the President’s commitment to the Constitution or to his oath of office, it is as well a test of our own. Damning evidence of the President’s high crimes has emerged. Nevertheless, Republican members of this House and of the Senate have continued to defend the President whose actions seem to many of us to be indefensible. Steny Hoyer: (02:02:17) All of us feel a sense of loyalty to party. It’s what makes our two party system function. It’s what helps hold presidents and majorities accountable. But party loyalty must have its limits. As evidence of the President’s impeachable offenses have mounted daily, as the witnesses testified, it has become increasingly clear that the limits of partisanship have been reached and passed. Now Democrats and Republicans together face a test before our constituents, our countrymen and our creator. Steny Hoyer: (02:03:10) The New York Times on October 18 summarized the question now posed to House and Senate, Republicans and Democrats, “Compromise by compromise, Donald Trump has hammered away at what Republicans once saw as foundational virtues, decency, honesty, responsibility, and yes, even civility.” It went on to say, “Will they commit themselves and their party wholly to Mister Trump, embracing even his most anti-democratic actions, or will they take the first step towards separating themselves from him and restoring confidence in the rule of law?” Steny Hoyer: (02:04:02) Madam Speaker, we have seen Republican courage throughout our history from the Civil War to the Cold War. In 1950, Margaret Chase Smith, the Senator from Maine, a Republican, spoke bravely against the cancer of McCarthyism in her party leading six of her Republican colleagues in a declaration of conscience against their own leadership. “We are Republicans,” they declared, “But we are Americans first.” Steny Hoyer: (02:04:43) In 1974, one congressman took the brave and principled step of becoming the first Republican on the judiciary committee to support impeaching President Nixon. He said to his colleagues and to the country, and I quote, “It isn’t easy for me to align myself against the President to whom I gave my enthusiastic support, on whose side I’ve stood in many legislative battles, whose accomplishments in foreign and domestic affairs I’ve consistently applauded. But it is impossible,” he went on to say, “for me to condone or ignore the long train of abuses to which he has subjected the presidency and the people of this country. The Constitution and my own oath of office,” he said, “demand that I bear true faith and allegiance to the principles of law and justice upon which this nation was founded.” And he concluded, “And I cannot in good conscience turn away from the evidence of evil that is to me so clear and compelling.” Steny Hoyer: (02:06:03) My colleagues, that congressman’s name was Larry Hogan Sr. He represented the Fifth District of Maryland, which I now represent. His son is presently the second term Republican Governor of our state. When Larry Hogan Sr. died in 2017, every obituary lead with praise for his act of political courage. Who among us many years from now will receive such praise as a man or woman of courage? Who will regret not having earned it? Steny Hoyer: (02:06:55) We’ve talked a lot about partisan differences. There is one person who has spoken today who is neither a member of the Republican Party nor the Democratic Party. His name is Justin Amash, who represents a Republican district. He left the Republican Party, and in doing so, he admonished to his colleagues that, “This President will only be in power for a short time, but excusing his behavior will forever tarnish your name.” He spoke on this floor in support of the two articles that we will consider this evening. Neither a Democrat nor a Republican. Representative Amash of course is the only member of this House who has no allegiance to either party but to his country. He is supporting … Steny Hoyer: (02:08:03) … party, but to his country. He is supporting, as I’ve said, both articles. We need not ask who will be the first to show courage by standing up to President Trump. The question we must now ask is, “Who will be the last to find it?” The pages of our history are filled with Americans who have the courage to choose country over party or personality, but as President Kennedy wrote, “The stories of past courage can teach. They can offer hope, they can provide inspiration, but they cannot supply courage itself.” “For this,” President Kennedy said, “each man, each woman must look into their own soul.” I urge my fellow colleagues in the House, and yes, in the Senate, to look into your soul, summons the courage to vote for our Constitution and our democracy. I understand we will all not see the same conclusion, but to do less betrays our oath and that of our founders who pledged their lives, their fortune, and their sacred honor. Let us neither turn away from the evidence, which to me seems so clear, nor from our good conscience, which compels us to do what in our hearts we know to be right. Let us not allow the rule of law to end, or for tyranny to find its toehold. With our votes today, we can bear true faith and allegiance to the vision of our founders, and we can show future generations what it truly means to be Americans first. Vote yes. Democratic Colorado Representative Diana DeGette (Madam Speaker): (02:10:24) Gentleman yields back. Gentleman from Georgia. 19:40:17 Republican Georgia Representative Doug Collins: (02:10:34) Madam Speaker, a few weeks ago just off of this floor, I said that a dark cloud was descending upon this body, and today because of the clock and the calendar, it is closing. It is amazing to me what I just heard from the Majority Leader, that Mr. Schiff and Mr. Nadler presented a compelling case for impeachment. If this is a compelling case for impeachment, I’m not sure why we’re here right now. It is not anywhere close to compelling. But you know what is interesting, is what I have heard today. Doug Collins: (02:11:13) The Majority Leader just spoke and said that if the President was given every opportunity to come prove his innocence. I’ll tell you what, Madam Speaker, let me have just a few minutes, stop the clock, and let me go around to the Press Corps and everybody here, and I’m going to accuse you of something. You did it. You did it. You did it. You did it. Now prove us wrong. You did it. Guess what? You don’t want to, because deep down, you know that that’s turning the entire jurisprudence of this country upside down. You’re not guilty until you’re proven. You’re innocent. And today from this floor, we have heard the Majority Leader say, “This President is guilty,” and not the other way around. He is innocent, and these come nowhere close to proving it. Doug Collins: (02:12:01) But what is left of this body? Let’s have an honest conversation, Madam Speaker. What we have found over the past few weeks is it is okay for the majority to tear down a foreign leader because they can’t make their case. They’ve called him a liar, or weak, or worse, or is it was called in the committee, even looked like a battered wife. It is below the dignity of this body and this majority to tear down a foreign leader because they can’t make their case against this one. We have broken rules in this House. Even to this moment, Chairman Schiff and the others have broken House Resolution 660 by not turning over the things that they should be turning over. I still have not got a transcript. We still don’t know what we got, and the White House still has not got their stuff. I guess minority hearing rule days don’t matter either. You see, there is a problem here, because we’re going to vote this tonight while breaking the rules. What a shameful incident. But we also found a creative interpretation of minority rights, we saw the rise of partisanship because of things that have been done even further, and we’ve even seen members smeared in reports by drive by political hacks when they match numbers of the ranking member and the members of the press. That ought to concern every one of you as much as it concerns every one of us. Nothing but a drive by hit. Doug Collins: (02:13:22) But you know something? This Majority Leader also just said, “Wherever law ends, tyranny begins,” but I will say this. In this House, wherever the rules are disregarded, chaos and mob rule actually begin, and the majority has taken that to a new level. It has been said today, “Where’s bravery?” I’ll tell you where bravery is found and courage is found. It’s found in this minority who has lived through the last year of nothing but rules being broken, people being put down, questions not being answered, and this majority say, “Be damned with anything else. We’re going to impeach and do whatever we want to do. Why? Because we won an election.” I guarantee you one day you’ll be back in the minority and it ain’t going to be that fun, because when you look at it, when you actually trash the rules of this House, you ought to really look at, “What did you gain at the end by trashing the institution you claim to love?” Doug Collins: (02:14:10) That’s the things we’ve found out so far, but you know, they’re really careful saying, “Oh, you want to deal in process and process.” As I said last night in the Rules Committee where they didn’t want to listen, I’ll win all process and I will win on facts because we have the truth on our side. Let me remind you that here’s what the process actually says. There was no pressure. Look at the call. President Zelensky, President Trump. No pressure. There was no conditionality. There was nothing done to get the aid, and the aid actually came. There were five meetings, but when you look at it right now, none of which matter, because right now the dark cloud is descending upon this house, and I am fearful, Madam Speaker. Doug Collins: (02:14:49) When I look out in that abyss, I don’t know what I see, but I’ll tell you what I do see. I see coming up, a President who will put his head down even through this sham impeachment and he will do his job. He will put the American people first. He will tell them that, “I care about you.” He will still put the economy first and he will make sure this country stands strong. That’s what I see in this abyss. That’s where we’re going. And Madam Speaker, it is with that hope in the future that I recognize right now that I yield one minute to the Republican leader of this house, the Republican from California, Mr. McCarthy. Madam Speaker: (02:15:24) Gentleman is recognized. Republican California Representative Kevin McCarthy: (02:15:30) Madam Speaker, I must warn you, I’m about to say something my Democratic colleagues hate to hear. Donald J. Trump is President of the United States. He is President today. He’ll be President tomorrow, and he will be President when this impeachment is over. Madam Speaker, when they accept that, maybe this House can get back to work for the American people. Tonight I rise not as the leader of the opposition to this impeachment, or as the elected representative from the Central Valley of California. I rise as Kevin McCarthy, citizen. No better, no worse than the 4,435 Representatives that are in this chamber, or the 330 million Americans watching this institution make what I believe to be one of the worst decisions we have ever made. Kevin McCarthy: (02:16:49) It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, whether you’re liberal or you’re conservative, whether you’re the first generation or the 10th. At our core, we are all American. All of us. We choose our future. We choose what kind of nation we want to be. Here’s our choice tonight: Will we let impeachment become an exercise of raw political power regardless if it damages our country, or will we protect the proper grounds and process for impeachment now and in the future? For months, Democrats and many in the media have attempted to normalize the impeachment process that would remove a duly elected president from office. After three years of breathless and baseless outrage, this is their last attempt to stop the Trump presidency. Madam Speaker, Speaker Pelosi even recently admitted that Democrats had been working on this impeachment for two and a half years. Those were her words, they were not mine. Because they lost to him in 2016, they’ll do anything or say anything to stop them in 2020. That’s not America. That’s not how Democratic Republics behave. Elections matter, voters matter, and in 11 months, the people’s voice will be heard again. Kevin McCarthy: (02:18:37) Impeachment is the most consequential decision Congress can make other than sending our men and women into war. Yet 85 days ago, Speaker Pelosi chose to impeach the President of the United States. She wrote the script and created an artificial timeline to make the details fit. Why else are we doing this just hours before Christmas? If that’s all it was, a rush to judgment, she could be forgiven. But before the Speaker saw one word or one shred of evidence, she moved to impeach. Kevin McCarthy: (02:19:23) In the past, in this body, such a step demanded a vote from all of us from the start, but not only did she move to impeach before she gave this House and the hundreds of millions of people we represent a say in whether to pursue an impeachment inquiry, she threw out the bipartisan standards this House gave President Nixon and Clinton. That is why I immediately sent Speaker Polosi a letter asking her to follow the rules of history, of tradition, and follow those standards that have served America well. What did she say? She rejected it. She rejected it, because Democrats knew a fair process would crumble their case. A fair process would have exposed to the American public what many already knew: Democrats have wanted to impeach President Trump since the day he was elected, and nothing was going to get in their way, certainly not the truth. Kevin McCarthy: (02:20:34) Madam Speaker, Chairman Schiff said he had evidence, more than circumstantial, of collusion. That was false. In January, where we all stood in this body, we stood up, we raised our hands, we swore that we’d uphold the Constitution. And a few mere hours after that, Congress woman Tlaib said she was going to “impeach the mother effer.” Those are not my words. Kevin McCarthy: (02:21:23) A year before taking the majority, Chairman Nadler campaigned to the Democrats that he wanted to be chairman of the Judiciary Committee, where impeachment is, New York Times writes, Madam Speaker, “Because he is the strongest member to lead a potential impeachment.” And Congressman Raskin, a leading Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, one that the Democrats had representing the Rules Committee for these articles just yesterday, told a crowd he would impeach President Trump two days before he was ever sworn into office. Kevin McCarthy: (02:22:06) What we’ve seen is a rigged process that has led to the most partisan and least credible impeachment in the history of America. That is this legacy. Any prosecutor in this country would be disbarred for such blatant bias, especially if that prosecutor was the fact witness, the judge and the jury. Kevin McCarthy: (02:22:34) Madam Speaker, Democrats haven’t just failed on process. They’ve also failed on evidence. I’ve heard a lot of debate on this floor today, but I haven’t heard one member of this body dispute this simple fact: President Trump provided lethal aid to Ukraine. It came before the call, it came after the call, and it continues to this day. President Trump provided Ukraine tank busting bombs. The previous administration, they gave blankets. This is the truth. Meanwhile, the Democrats’ case is based on second hand opinions and hearsay. Kevin McCarthy: (02:23:24) “Simply put, there are no grounds for impeachment.” That’s Constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley. And I would challenge to say he’s probably the most respected, and we all know it. A Democrat who did not vote for the president said under oath there was no bribery, there was no extortion, no obstruction of justice, and no abuse of power. Based on the facts, based on the truth, based on the lack of evidence, Turley called this the fastest, thinnest, and weakest impeachment in the US history. Kevin McCarthy: (02:24:09) Such a definitive answer should be the end of all of this, but Speaker Pelosi is still moving forward with this impeachment without evidence of facts, or truth, or public support. The Speaker says it is out of allegiance to our founders. On this I agree. I agree with the Speaker. We should listen to the founders, and if one does, it’s very clear that this impeachment is unfounded and improper. Kevin McCarthy: (02:24:41) In the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton wrote there would always be the greatest danger that impeachment would be driven by partisan animosity instead of real demonstrations of innocent or guilt. That impeachment would be driven by partisan animosity instead of real demonstrations of innocence or guilt. James Madison, another author of the Federalist Papers wrote, “The danger of legislative abuse must lead to the same tyranny as is threatened by executive abuse.” The founders did not want impeachment to be used for political or partisan battles. If my colleagues do not want to follow the Constitutional high standards for undoing a national election, perhaps you could have followed Speaker Pelosi’s standard, at least the one she promised to follow back in March. It was a sensible standard. She says, “Impeachment is so divisive that the evidence must be overwhelming, compelling, and bipartisan.” Not one of those criterias have been met today. Based on the facts, based on the evidence, based on the truth, this impeachment even fails that Pelosi test. Kevin McCarthy: (02:26:17) Those now who say removing President Trump would protect the integrity of our democracy have it backwards. By removing a duly elected president on empty Articles of Impeachment, Congress will inroad the public trust in our system of government. I understand you dislike the President, his beliefs, the way he governs, and even the people who voted for him. How do I know this? Because you say so day in and day out. In 2016, they even dismissed his supporters, remember, calling us deplorables? Now they are trying to disqualify our voice before the 2020 election. They want to undo the results of the last election to influence the next one. Kevin McCarthy: (02:27:14) As I said, President Trump will still be president when this is all over, but Congress will have wasted months of time and taxpayers’ dollars on impeachment rather than doing what America’s people want us to do. It didn’t have to be this way. Is this why we came here to serve, to trample on due process rights, to issue more subpoenas than laws, to appease the new Democrat Socialist base? That is not leadership. That is raw political politics, and you know it. By refusing to acknowledge the truth or follow the facts, by substituting partisan animosity for real demonstration of innocence or guilt, and by continuing a three-year effort to undermine the President, this impeachment has divided this nation without any concern for the repercussions. Moreover, politicizing these processes discredit the United States House of Representatives and could forever weaken the remedy of impeachment. To again quote Professor Turley, “It is the Democrats’ rush to impeachment on these grounds with unfair procedures that is an abuse of power.” History will write that. Kevin McCarthy: (02:29:03) Madam Speaker, as I said at the beginning, we face a choice. Do you trust the wisdom of the people, or do you deny them a say in their government? Fortunately, the people will have the opportunity to speak up and render their verdict in 11 months to my fellow Americans. To my fellow Americans, if you approve of the way this House has conducted their business, if you want to see your tax dollars, go forward to endless investigations, support this impeachment. But if you want to restore a working Congress like the previous Congress that listened to you and worked to bring the best economy in this country has ever seen, and one that once again will work with the President to get things done for you and your family, then join with us in rejecting this baseless impeachment. Kevin McCarthy: (02:30:21) That’s what’s wonderful about this system of ours. We are a government of, by, and for the people. Always remember, we work for you, not the other way around. Now, I will say this stronger and with more conviction than I have ever said it before. In this time of great trial and tribulation, may God bless America. I yield back. Kevin McCarthy: (02:30:58) Speaker, I yield back. Madam Speaker: (02:31:07) Gentleman from California is recognized. House will be in order. Gentleman from California. 20:01:05 Democratic California Representative Adam Schiff: (02:31:20) Madam Speaker, I recognize myself for the remainder of our time. Madam Speaker: (02:31:23) Gentleman is recognized. Adam Schiff: (02:31:25) Madam Speaker, my colleagues, after eight hours, let us return to where we began, with the Articles themselves. Article one charges the President of the United States with abusing the power of his office by coercing an ally into cheating in a US election on his behalf. It charges the President of the United States. It charges the- Madam Speaker: (02:31:53) The House will be in order. The gentleman has a right to be heard. Adam Schiff: (02:31:59) It charges the President of the United States- Madam Speaker: (02:32:01) The gentleman shall suspend. The gentleman may resume. Adam Schiff: (02:32:08) It charges the President of the United States with abusing his power by withholding official acts, by withholding a White House meeting that the President of Ukraine desperately sought to establish the support of his most important benefactor, the United States, by withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to a nation at war in order to get that nation to intervene in our election by smearing his opponent. That is the gravamen of the charge in Article One, and what is the defense from my colleagues? Now, I’ve listened carefully to my colleagues for the last eight hours and I have to say it’s been hard for me to follow. But it amounts, I think, when you cut through it all, when you cut through all the sound and the fury signifying nothing, what it really amounts to is this: “Why should we care? Why should we care about what the President did to Ukraine?” Adam Schiff: (02:33:12) Well, first of all, we should care about our allies. We should care about Ukraine. We should care about a country struggling to be free and a Democracy. We used to care about Democracy. We used to care about our allies. We used to stand up to Putin and Russia. We used to. I know the party of Ronald Reagan used to. “Why should we care about Ukraine?” But of course it’s about more than Ukraine. It’s about us. It’s about our national security. Their fight is our fight. Their defense is our defense. When Russia remakes the map of Europe for the first time since World War II by dent of military force and Ukraine fights back, it is our fight too. And when the President sacrifices our interests, our national security for his election, he is sacrificing our country for his personal gain. That is the gravamen of Article One. Adam Schiff: (02:34:21) Article Two, Article Two charges the President of the United States with obstructing the Congress, with denying the Congress any witness, any document, by telling all of his administration people, “You will not appear. You will ignore a coequal branch of government.” And what is the defense to this from my colleagues? Again, it is, “Why should we care? He is the President of our party. Why should we care if he ignores this Congress?” Well, I remind my friends that he will not be the last President. There will be another President, and you maybe one day, although you do not act like it, you may one day be in the majority, and you will want to hold a President accountable. And what will you say when that President says, “You are a paper tiger. You have no oversight. I can ignore your subpoenas.” What will you say? What will you argue? “Well, no, no. That was different. Then we were in the minority. Then it was a Republican President.” Will that be your argument? Is that how little faith you have in our Democracy and our Constitution? Is that how poorly you defend and uphold that Constitution? Adam Schiff: (02:35:38) But finally, let me ask this question that overrides it all: Why should we care about any of this? And I will bring you to one conversation that came to light, because it’s not the most important conversation, but in many ways it is the most revealing. It took place on September 14, in Ukraine, when Ambassador Volker sat down with Andrey Yermak, the top advisor to Zelensky, and he did what he should do. He supported the rule of law and he said, “You, President, you, Andrey Yermak, should not investigate the last President, President Poroshenko, for political reasons. You should not engage in political investigations.” And you know what Yermak said?” “Oh, you mean like you want us to do with the Bidens and the Clintons?” And in that abrupt, brutal retort, we see why we should care. Because what he was saying is, “You, America, have forgotten what it means to uphold the rule of law. You have forgotten what it means to say that no one is above the law. We are a struggling democracy, but even we know better than that.” Adam Schiff: (02:36:58) What is at risk here, what is at risk here is the very idea of America. That idea holds that we are a nation of laws, not of men. We are a nation that believes in a rule of law. When we say we uphold the Constitution, we are not talking about a piece of parchment. We’re talking about a beautiful architecture in which ambition is set against ambition, in which no branch of government can dominate another. That is what it means to uphold the Constitution. If you ignore it, if you say, “The President may refuse to comply, may refuse lawful process, may coerce an ally, may cheat in an election because he’s the President of our party,” you do not uphold our Constitution. You do not uphold your oath of office. Well, I will tell you this. I will uphold mine. I will vote to impeach Donald Trump. I yield back. Madam Speaker: (02:38:24) Our time for general debate has expired. 20:08:10 DeGette asks for a vote 20:09:55 Holt is joined by NBC’s Geoff Bennett live from Washington, DC. They discuss the impeachment vote for President Donald Trump INT Inset shot of Trump speaking Inset shot of people on the hearing room floor 20:11:20 Holt is joined by NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell live from Washington, DC. They discuss the impeachment vote for President Donald Trump MS: Trump speaking in Battle Creek, Michigan Clip of Trump stating, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you to Vice President Pence. He's a good guy. We've done a great job together. Merry Christmas, Michigan. Thank you, Michigan. What a victory we had in Michigan. What a victory. Was that one of the greatest? Was that the greatest evening? But I'm thrilled to be here with thousands of hardworking patriots as we celebrate the miracle of Christmas, the greatness of America and the glory of God. Thank you very much. And did you notice that everybody is saying Merry Christmas again? Did you notice? Saying Merry Christmas. I remember when I first started this beautiful trip this beautiful journey, I just said to the first lady, "You're so lucky I took you on this fantastic journey. It's so much fun. They want to impeach you. They want to do worse than that. By the way, by the way, [Crowd chanting "Boo!"] by the way, it doesn't really feel like we're being impeached. The country is doing better than ever before. We did nothing wrong. We did nothing wrong and we have tremendous support in the Republican Party like we've never had before nobody's ever had this kind of support, but this sacred season…” 20:14:27 Holt is joined by NBC’s Chuck Todd live from Washington, DC, NBC’s Hallie Jackson live from Washington, DC, and by NBC’s Andrea Mitchell live in Washington, DC They discuss the impeachment vote for President Donald Trump Inset shot of people on the hearing room floor GFX: The Wall Street Journal: Should President Trump be impeached and removed from office? Inset shot of Trump speaking 20:34:09 Live video of Democratic California Representative Nancy Pelosi announcing the voting results. Live video of Pelosi announcing that Trump has been impeached. Live video of Democratic New York State Representative Jerry Nadler requesting a recorded vote. 20:35:30 Holt is joined by NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell live from Washington, DC, NBC’s Geoff Bennett live from Washington, DC, by NBC’s Chuck Todd live from Washington, DC, NBC’s Hallie Jackson live from Washington, DC, and by NBC’s Andrea Mitchell live in Washington, DC They discuss the impeachment of Trump GFX: President Trump Impeached Inset shot of Trump speaking Inset shot of people on the hearing room floor 20:45:26 Holt and the panel are joined by NBC Legal Analyst Carol Lam live from San Diego, California They discuss the impeachment of Trump Inset shot of people on the hearing room floor 20:47:44 Holt and the panel are joined by NBC Presidential Historian Michael Beschloss live from Washington, DC They discuss the impeachment of Trump Inset shot of people on the hearing room floor GFX: President Trump impeached Clip of Pelosi reading the voting results Clip of Democratic Colorado Representative Diana DeGette discussing the impeachment vote Inset shots of Trump speaking MS: Trump clapping MS: Trump speaking