Representative Jamie Raskin, Chief House Impeachment Manager
Friends of Padre Steve’s World,
Today the House of Representatives Impeachment Managers delivered the Impeachment Article against former President Donald John Trump to the United States Senate. It was a historic moment for it was the first time a President has been impeached twice, and the first time that one has had the impeachment charge was filed after a President left office, unfortunately it was necessary and an unnecessary unfolding of events brought about by Trump himself.
In his last words at the first impeachment trial of President Trump Congressman Adam Schiff stated:
“If the truth doesn’t matter, we’re lost. Framers couldn’t protect us from ourselves, if right and truth don’t matter. And you know that what he did was not right. That’s what they do in the old country, that Colonel Vindman’s father came from. Or the old country that my great grandfather came from, or the old countries that your ancestors came from, or maybe you came from. But here, right is supposed to matter. It’s what’s made us the greatest nation on earth. No constitution can protect us, right doesn’t matter any more. And you know you can’t trust this President to do what’s right for this country. You can trust he will do what’s right for Donald Trump. He’ll do it now. He’s done it before. He’ll do it for the next several months. He’ll do it in the election if he’s allowed to. This is why if you find him guilty, you must find that he should be removed. Because right matters. Because right matters and the truth matters. Otherwise, we are lost.”
Schiff was not only correct but prophetic in what Donald Trump and his supporters would do if he was not convicted. Schiff’s words in those closing arguments could not have been more correct and Donald Trump nearly succeeded in overthrowing the election and maintaining power on 6 January 2021. This was not a one off, it was not a last minute “Hail Mary” it was the culmination of a plan that existed before Election Day to discredit the election and every action after it from challenging vote counts, demanding recounts, making over 60 legal challenges all of which were shot down in flames because they lacked any factual evidence. Despite every failure President Trump called his supporters to the Capitol weeks ago to come to Washington to use force and violence to change the result of the election and in the process threaten the lives and urge the assassination of Vice President Pence, Speaker Pelosi, Representative Alexandra Ocosio-Cortez, and numerous other Senators and Representatives of both parties who they believed had committed the Cardinal sin of opposing Donald Trump.
Trump, his son Donald Jr., Representative Mo Brooks or Alabama, Rudy Giuliani, and others made impassioned speeches in order charge up the mob to attack the Capitol. The speeches were one thing, but the way they were received exactly as Trump intended it. The people who made the assault attacked, killed and wounded police officers and others as was the intent. Those who breeched the Capitol went looking to kill Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Representative Alexandr Ocosio-Cortez, and even Vice President Mike Pence. Truthfully no one was safe and ever member of the Senate sitting in judgement Most of those targeted escaped with under a minute to spare. Had just a few Capitol Police and Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police officers not done their duty and stood their ground the bloodshed would have been much worse, and every drop of it would be on Donald Trump’s already bloodstained hands which have over 425,000 dead from the Coronavirus Pandemic that he and his administration so malevolently made light of and ultimately condemned all of those people to death and left over twenty five million more infected, hundreds of thousands of whom are dealing with long term effects of the virus: respiratory, neurological, pulmonary, psychological and more.
No matter who you are if you can fairly evaluate facts and evidence then you can admit that Donald Trump is a sociopath who values himself, his wealth and power more than any other human being. So after over 70 days of fighting the inevitable, lying, filing unsupported lawsuits, intimidating elected state officials, and even his own Justice Department to overturn election results in Georgia, all of which failed he resorted to the last desperate measure of a would be dictator, attempting a coup and using violence to overthrow the government and Constitution with the help of much of his party including Senators Hawley, Cruz, Paul, Cornyn, Cotton, and others in the Senate and House too numerous to name.
That my friends is sedition and treason. It is a fundamental break with their Constitutional oaths. All of them are in some manner guilty for what happened and in large part of why former President Trump must by impeached again and this time convicted.
No President has ever been impeached for a more heinous event. His crime was one display before the entire nation and every member of the Senate who will sit in judgement of him are witnesses. It would have been easy for those who planted bombs at the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic National Committees almost within throwing distance of the Capitol building complex to take them into it killing untold numbers of people including political allies and complete innocents. This is the most dastardly and heinous crime ever perpetuated on the American people and government by a President. If justice ever mattered. If adherence to the law and Constitution ever mattered Trump cannot be allowed to escape without a conviction. If 17 Republicans cannot find the inner fortitude and courage to vote to convict then our democracy is finished.
The single article of impeachment reads:
H. Res. 24
January 13, 2021.
Resolved, That Donald John Trump, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors and that the following article of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:
Article of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, against Donald John Trump, President of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors.
ARTICLE I: INCITEMENT OF INSURRECTION
The Constitution provides that the House of Representatives “shall have the sole Power of Impeachment” and that the President “shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors”. Further, section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution prohibits any person who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” the United States from “hold[ing] any office … under the United States”. In his conduct while President of the United States—and in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed—Donald John Trump engaged in high Crimes and Misdemeanors by inciting violence against the Government of the United States, in that:
On January 6, 2021, pursuant to the 12th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, the House of Representatives, and the Senate met at the United States Capitol for a Joint Session of Congress to count the votes of the Electoral College. In the months preceding the Joint Session, President Trump repeatedly issued false statements asserting that the Presidential election results were the product of widespread fraud and should not be accepted by the American people or certified by State or Federal officials. Shortly before the Joint Session commenced, President Trump, addressed a crowd at the Ellipse in Washington, DC. There, he reiterated false claims that “we won this election, and we won it by a landslide”. He also willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged—and foreseeably resulted in—lawless action at the Capitol, such as: “if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore”. Thus incited by President Trump, members of the crowd he had addressed, in an attempt to, among other objectives, interfere with the Joint Session’s solemn constitutional duty to certify the results of the 2020 Presidential election, unlawfully breached and vandalized the Capitol, injured and killed law enforcement personnel, menaced Members of Congress, the Vice President, and Congressional personnel, and engaged in other violent, deadly, destructive, and seditious acts.
President Trump’s conduct on January 6, 2021, followed his prior efforts to subvert and obstruct the certification of the results of the 2020 Presidential election. Those prior efforts included a phone call on January 2, 2021, during which President Trump urged the secretary of state of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, to “find” enough votes to overturn the Georgia Presidential election results and threatened Secretary Raffensperger if he failed to do so.
In all this, President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government. He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.
Wherefore, Donald John Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law. Donald John Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.
Insurrection is the most dishonorable, dastardly, criminal and evil charge ever leveled against any American President. The evidence is damning. It is on video, audio, on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Parlor feeds, not to mention the anti-government sites that proliferate the internet and apps for smartphones and tablets.
The crime is the most documented political crime in American history perpetrated by an American President. He called his cult to Washington, he incited them to violence and they responded by assaulting the Capitol, killing and wounding police officers, and attempting to find and kill the Vice President, the Speaker of the House and any other opponent of Trump they could find.
If any Republican votes to acquit Trump it can be said that they are no better than the Nazis elected to the Reichstag, and have so little integrity and honesty that they cannot be trusted in the most minor matters, or for that matter the offices and Constitution that they swore to uphold and protect against all enemies foreign and domestic.
With the evidence so obvious, the crimes so open, the testimony so damning how can we not ignore for regardless of our political affiliation our Constitution and Republican demand we hold former Trump accountable or lose everything, for after that there will be no incentive for any malevolent leader of any party to follow the law, and the one Constitutional means of reigning in tyranny will mean nothing.
As Justice Robert Jackson closed his argument against the Nazi war criminals said:
“It is against such a background that these defendants now ask this Tribunal to say that they are not guilty of planning, executing, or conspiring to commit this long list of crimes and wrongs. They stand before the record of this trial as bloodstained Gloucester stood by the body of his slain King. He begged of the widow, as they beg of you: “Say I slew them not.” And the Queen replied, “Then say they were not slain. But dead they are ….” If you were to say of these men that they are not guilty, it would be as true to say that there has been no war, there are no slain, there has been no crime.”
In the impeachment trial of President Trump that applies to the entire Trump Cult and any Senator who votes to acquit him.
There can be no middle ground on this. There can be no forgiveness without repentance. There can be no unity without individual and collective admissions of guilt for the crimes of a leader committed with their fully approval and complicity. Simply, you cannot fake unity when the GOP, which I was a member of for 32 years refuses to respect honor or obey our laws, Constitution, political norms and guardrails but instead bulldozes them with sycophantic loyalty to a many who despises all of them. How they cannot wake up and see that I cannot understand, except that they have abandoned all pretense of loyalty to the country and Constitution in favor of a personality cult around a would be dictator who used his last two and a half months in office to overthrow the Constitution, overturn an election, and finally incite a physical assault on members of the House, Senate, and his own Vice President doing their Constitutional duty to certify the votes of the Electoral College.
If just 34 members of Republican Senate representing under 30 percent of the American population vote to acquit Trump they will drive the stake through the heart of our democracy, burn the Constitution and ensure that at some point a more competent and malevolent leader will be elected President and proclaim himself a dictator. Because after that there will be no Constitutional way to hold him accountable for his actions and crimes. It would be the equivalent of a murder-suicide, they would not only condemn the nation, but themselves and their descendants to tyranny. They would be like the Vichy collaborator Marshal Weygand of France who after France had fallen to the Nazis said “I didn’t get the Boches, but I got the regime.”
This is a big deal and we as Americans need to take it seriously.
Peace,
Padre Steve+
The Inglorius Padre Steve's World 
Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
HISTORY IN THE MAKING … #HereTruthMAtters – I think! – “The House of Representatives Impeachment Managers delivered the Impeachment Article against former President Donald John Trump to the United States Senate. It was a historic moment for it was the first time a President has been impeached twice, and the first time that one has had the impeachment charge was filed after a President left office, unfortunately it was necessary and an unnecessary unfolding of events brought about by Trump himself.”
Thanks Dr. Rex for the reblog of this. God I hope that members of the GOP will vote their conscience for the sake of our country, our children and all who follow us.
Most welcome!! Just voting now … from what I gather – the winds show acquittal again! I so hope I’m wrong! 🥺
Me too… these SOBs are the Party of Trump Fascism and will do all to overthrow our democracy.
Reblogged this on Filosofa's Word and commented:
The impeachment trial of the twice-impeached president, Donald Trump, is to begin on February 9th. Will it end differently than the last trial? The future of this nation depends on 100 men and women in the Senate … the question is, will they vote their conscience, or will they continue to be cowards who have forgotten the oath they took? Padre Steve says it well, makes the case that the Senate must do their jobs, else the nation will pay a steep price. Thank you, Padre … you’ve said it well.
Thank you Jill
My pleasure, Padre … you do great work!
some of them don’t have a conscience – i don’t know what makes them tick but how and why do so many bad, bad people get in politics – they are not out for our country – they are out for themselves but until trump came along, we were actually clueless – they are deceitful opportunists
Good people seldom choose to go into politics, they are not power hungry people. Many of the ones who do go into politics hate their lives, and want everyone to be as miserable as them.
You want to get rid of bad politicians, stop paying them big wages, and better yet, take away their perqs
, privileges, and especially their pensions. Those are the things that attract unscrupulous people.
Right now, they are in charge of the henhouse, and give themselves everything that pleases them. Take that away! Don’t just pretend they work for you, make them work for you. Control the purse strings. And demand the right to recall any elected official who does not live up to their voters expectations.
Being unscrupulous, and knowing their jobs are safe for at least four years, no matter how bad they do or don’t do it, gives them a feeling of power they have not earned. Take that away too!
Please? If you want democracy to survive!
Padre Steve, well said. Here is a note I sent to my two Senators and representative, who are all Republican. I also sent a note to the five Senators who voted to hear the impeachment evidence, after doing the same for the courageous ten GOP Representatives who voted to impeach: Keith
“What continues to fail me is when people look past the courage and conviction of folks doing the right thing to fault them on their message. I see it today with people posing death threats to Republicans who dare push back on the deceitful former president. Don’t the folks who threaten people realize the targets know they will receive such threats, yet they share their concerns anyway? Now, why would they risk so much?
The people of courage are those who testified under oath or wrote inspector general reports over concerns about the former president’s actions. They are the Republican (and Democrat) election officials, judges, secretaries of state and governors who told the former president he lost the election. They are the ten GOP representatives who voted to impeach the former president. My question is why did only ten do so, when it is clear the former president lied to repeatedly, invited, revved up and sicced these tin soldiers on the Capitol building?
And, now there are only five Republican Senators who voted to hear the impeachment trial. Five. The five Senators match the five people who are dead because of the former president led insurrection. And, we should not forget members of Congress were in danger as well due to this terrorist attack. This former president needs to be held to account. It is that simple, says this independent and former GOP voter. What the former president did is unforgivable.”
Well said Keith. I hope they find the moral courage to do the right thing.
Padre Steve, we should not hold our breath. They are too worried about keeping their jobs than to do their jobs. Sadly, my former party no longer exists, The new Trump Party is built on a foundation of conspiracy theory, untruthfulness, and lawlessness. This party can no longer say it is the party of law and order when they look the other way and rationalize I lawless and fraudulent party leader. The former president must be held accountable. Keith
And unconscionable!