(The following is a pro-bono speech I have drafted as my patriotic duty, for Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to deliver on the day the full House approves the Articles of Impeachment in the case of the People of the United States vs. Donald J. Trump.)
My fellow Americans:
Today, the House of Representatives, the People’s House of which I am honored to serve as Speaker, voted to impeach the President of the United States for only the third time in our history, and the first time in this century. With the stakes for our national security and of our democratic election process never higher, this Impeachment case of the United States of America vs. Donald J. Trump, is the most serious and significant in our country’s history.
In no other case of the Impeachment of a President — of either Andrew Johnson or Bill Clinton (Richard Nixon resigned before he was impeached) — have the violations of the oath of office, and of the law been as stark, or more clearly defined in our Constitution, and more directly abused and broken, then in this case of the People of the United States of America vs. Donald J. Trump.
The Founders of this great nation, in their wisdom, gave Congress the legal right and duty to protect this country from foreign interference in our elections, corruption, and abuse of power by the highest public official in the land. Even those prescient patriots would have been hard pressed to foresee that all of those crimes against the nation would be committed repeatedly by one man, without regard for the Rule of Law, for free and fair elections, or for our nation’s security against our most dangerous adversary. Those were, in fact, the precise “high crimes” contemplated when the Impeachment Clause was included in the U.S. Constitution.
Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, George Mason and even George Washington, could have never imagined that when they vested the responsibility to conduct impeachment trials in the United States Senate, that Senators would publicly announce their determination to “fix” the trial, and preemptively violate their sacred “oath and affirmation” to seek “impartial justice”. Fixing the trial for the accused, against the clear intent of the Constitution, is, however, precisely what both the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, and the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham have already announced they will do, on national television.
Senator McConnell told Sean Hannity of Fox News last week that, “Everything I do during this, I’m coordinating with the White House Counsel. There will be no difference between the President’s position and our position as to how to handle this to the extent that we can.”
As Representative Val Demings of Florida a former Sheriff, who knows criminal behavior when she sees it, said: “Sen. McConnell has promised to sabotage that trial, and he must recuse himself. No court in the country would allow a member of the Jury to also serve as the accused’s defense attorney. The moment Sen. McConnell takes the oath of impartiality required by the Constitution, he will be in violation of that oath. He has effectively promised to let President Trump manage his own impeachment trial. The Senator must withdraw.”
The oath that Rep. Demings refers to is provided for in the Constitution under Article I, Section 3, and under Senate Rules, Chapter IV, Paragraph 5, and also Chapter XXV. Under that sacred oath, all Senators who sit in judgment of the President must “solemly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of Impeachment, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws: So help me God.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, who should know better, since he served as one of 13 GOP House Managers in the impeachment of Bill Clinton two decades ago, has also announced that there will not be “impartial justice according to the Constitution” in the US Senate trail of the People of the United States vs. Donald J. Trump.
“The thing will come to the Senate and it will die quickly,” Senator Graham told CNN last week at the Doha Forum in Qatar. “And, I will do everything I can to make it die quickly…I have made up my mind. I’m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here.”
By the standards of “impartial justice” set forth by the U.S. Constitution, the Senate Rules and the Oath administered to all Senate jurors by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Senator Graham, like McConnell, must also recuse himself from the proceedings.
Unfortunately, I suspect that rather than do the honorable thing and withdraw from a trial on which these two Senate jurors have already passed judgement, Senators McConnell and Graham will do everything in their power to rig the outcome of this Senate trial of the President of the United States, in favor of the accused, and against the Constitution, and the people of this country.
Accordingly, I will recommend to the House Managers of the Articles of Impeachment against Donald J. Trump, that those articles not be forwarded to the Senate for trial until we are confident that the people of the United States will be guaranteed that a free and fair trial will be conducted according to the Constitutional standards of “impartial justice.”
During that period of time — however long it may be — the House Managers of the Articles of Impeachment against Donald J. Trump, will continue to gather evidence, secure additional sworn testimony, and integrate Supreme Court and lower court decisions pertaining to the case of the People of the United States of America vs. Donald J. Trump, into the body of evidence and Articles of Impeachment to be presented to the United States Senate for trial. Until the U.S. House of Representatives and the American people can be assured that “impartial justice” will be carried out in the Senate Trial of the People of the United States Vs. Donald J. Trump, and that the trial will not be rigged, the House will, as is our Constitutional right, withhold the Articles of Impeachment to such time when fairness, impartiality of justice, and upholding the United States Constitution can be guaranteed.
As patriotic Americans, we deserve nothing less.
Thank you, and God bless the United States of America.
########