Impeachment

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, today it appears that the House Democrat majority will finally stand behind its decision to impeach the President of the United States. Last year, the House of Representatives rushed through the least thorough and most unclear impeachment inquiry in American history. They took just 12 weeks--12 weeks.

There was more than a year of hearings before the impeachment of President Nixon. There were multiple years of investigation for President Clinton. When people are serious about compiling evidence and proving a case, these things take time.

That is not what happened this time. House Democrats performed a pale imitation of a real inquiry. They did not pursue their own subpoenas through the courts. They declined to litigate potential questions of privilege. They pulled the plug as soon as Speaker Pelosi realized she had enough Democrat votes to achieve a political outcome.

This isn't really about Ukraine policy or military assistance money. It can't be because, for one thing, prominent Democrats were promising to impeach President Trump years--years--before those events even happened.

The day this President was inaugurated, the Washington Post said: ``The campaign to impeach President Trump has begun.'' That was the day he was inaugurated, stated in the Washington Post.

More than 2 years ago, Congressman Jerry Nadler was campaigning to be the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, specifically because he was an impeachment expert.

Just a few weeks ago, when a reporter asked Speaker Pelosi why the Democrats were in such a hurry, here is her response:

Speed? It's been going on for 22 months. Two and a half years, actually.

That is really interesting--really, really interesting. The events over which the Democrats want to impeach happened just 6 months ago-- just 6 months ago--not 2\1/2\ years ago.

So how has impeachment been underway for 2\1/2\ years? The Speaker tried to say she was referring to the Mueller investigation, except the House couldn't impeach on the Mueller investigation because the facts let them down; remember?

The House impeached over events in Ukraine, events that happened only 6 months ago, but they still admit this was years in the making. It was not some earnest factfinding mission that brought us to where we are. This is not about the nuances of foreign assistance to Eastern Europe. This has been naked partisanship all along--naked partisanship all along.

If that weren't already obvious, our colleague the Senate Democratic leader helpfully removed any shred of doubt just this past weekend. Here is what he said: He told reporters that as long as he can try to use the trial to hurt some Republican Senators' reelection chances, then whatever happens, ``it's a win-win.'' That is what the Democratic leader said. This is a stunning statement.

Presidential impeachment may be the gravest process our Constitution contemplates. It undoes the people's decision in a national election. Going about it in this subjective, unfair, and rushed way is corrosive to our institutions. It hurts national unity, and it virtually guarantees--guarantees--that future Houses of either party will feel free--free--to impeach any future President because they don't like him. If you don't like him, impeach him. That is the message coming out of this.

But as long as our colleague the Democratic leader can weaponize this process in the next election, he thinks ``it's a win-win.'' That really says it all; doesn't it? That really sums it up.

This partisanship led House Democrats to cross a rubicon that every other House of Representatives had avoided for 230 years. They passed the first Presidential impeachment that does not even allege an actual crime under our laws. We had a 230-year tradition of rejecting purely political impeachments, and it died last month in this House of Representatives.

So Speaker Pelosi and the House have taken our Nation down a dangerous road. If the Senate blesses this unprecedented and dangerous House process by agreeing that an incomplete case and a subjective basis are enough to impeach a President, we will almost guarantee the impeachment of every future President of either party when the House doesn't like that President.

This grave process of last constitutional resort will be watered down into the kind of anti-democratic recall measure that the Founding Fathers explicitly--explicitly--did not want.

The Senate was designed to stabilize our institutions, to break partisan fevers, and to stop short-term passions from destroying our long-term future. House Democrats may have descended into pure factionalism, but the U.S. Senate must not.

This is the only body that can consider all factors presented by the House, decide what has or has not been proven, and choose what outcome best serves the Nation. This is what we must do.

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