WASHINGTON DC (February 3, 2020) — Following the conclusion of presentations in the Senate’s impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the Senate’s president pro tempore, announced that the House’s case falls well short of the constitutional bar to remove a sitting president. In an address on the Senate floor, Grassley criticized the House’s flawed process and evolving arguments, and expressed the importance of respecting precedent. Removing a president for legal actions based on a flawed and partisan process, especially in the midst of an election, would set a dangerous standard for future impeachments.
Below are excerpts from Grassley’s speech, followed by the full prepared remarks. Video of the speech is available HERE.
“We’ve sat as a Court of Impeachment for over 70 hours. The final vote will be the product of a fair and judicious process, consistent with precedent. I cannot say the same of the articles we’re considering today. After nine days of presentation and questions, and after fully considering the record, I’m convinced that what the House is asking us to do is constitutionally flawed and dangerously unprecedented.”
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“It’s not the Senate’s job to read into the House’s articles what the House failed, or didn’t see fit, to incorporate itself. Articles of impeachment shouldn’t be moving targets. The ambiguities surrounding the House’s “abuse of power” theory give this senator reason enough to vote ‘not guilty.’”
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“The House may cower at defending its own authority, but the Senate shouldn’t have to clean up a mess of the House’s own making. For the many ways in which the House failed in the fundamentals of oversight, and for the terrible new precedent this “obstruction” article would set, I’ll vote ‘not guilty.’”
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“With more than 28,000 pages of evidence, 17 witnesses, and over 70 hours of open, transparent consideration by the Senate, the American people are more than adequately prepared to decide for themselves the fate of the President in November. This decision belongs to them. It’s time to get the Senate back to work for the People.”
