House Democrats on Tuesday unveiled two articles of impeachment against President Trump but refused to take questions after the announcement, calling into question the level of confidence they have in their collective decision.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) stepped aside on Tuesday to allow House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) to present the details of the two articles of impeachment, which are abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — neither of which allege a high crime or misdemeanor. Notably, there was no mention of bribery, extortion, or treason either.
The speaker was also flanked by committee chairs Eliot Engel (D-NY), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), and Richard Neal (D-MA).
However, the Democrats refused to take a single question following their announcement and did not indicate when the text would be released despite their purported devotion to transparency and “solemn” duty to hold political leaders accountable:
Pelosi, Schiff and Nadler do not take any questions after announcing the impeachment articles
— Ben Siegel (@benyc) December 10, 2019
it is worth noting; Pelosi, Schiff, Nadler do NOT take questions after telling us about articles of impeachment they have decided to intro. They also gave us no text, and no indication when we will get the text
— Alana Abramson (@aabramson) December 10, 2019
The Faces of Defeat: No questions allowed. And they claim the president thinks he’s not accountable to anyone? pic.twitter.com/FrHaO1gmLB
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) December 10, 2019
Democratic chairs just headed to Pelosi’s office and they all continued to decline to answer questions https://t.co/poiIoF8yqs
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 10, 2019
Chairs + Pelosi take no questions.
— Alex Miller (@AlexMillerNews) December 10, 2019
“Today, in the service to our duty to the Constitution and to our country, the House Judiciary Committee is introducing two articles of impeachment, charging the president of the United States of committing high crimes and misdemeanors,” Nadler stated during the brief press conference.
“It is an impeachable offense for a president to use the powers of his office to seek a personal benefit,” he added.
Schiff, during his announcement, said Democrats cannot wait for the next election cycle to play out because it would essentially allow Trump to “cheat” in one more election — a subtle reference to the debunked Russia collusion narrative.
“The evidence of the president’s misconduct is overwhelming and uncontested,” Schiff said.
“The argument, ‘Why don’t you just wait?’ comes down to this: Why don’t you just let him cheat in just one more election?” he added:
Rep. Adam Schiff makes the argument why Congress can’t just wait on impeachment:
Why don’t you just wait amounts to saying: “Why don’t you just let him cheat in one more election?”pic.twitter.com/R84yUGXY7L
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) December 10, 2019
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