VIDEO: Rep. Stansbury Slams House GOP for Lack of Evidence on Biden Impeachment

VIDEO LINK: Link is available here.

WASHINGTON—Today, in a markup for the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.-01) slammed House Republicans for the lack of evidence to hold an impeachment inquiry on President Biden. Meanwhile, the Mazars Report found that foreign governments spent $7.8 million at Trump’s properties during his presidency. 

“My question is, where are the receipts?” Rep. Stansbury asked. “You have reviewed thousands of pages of documents, countless hours of testimony, talked to expert witnesses, including your own witnesses, that can't provide a single iota of evidence of wrongdoing by this president.” 

Rep. Stansbury continued by outlining what the Mazars Report found on Trump and his dealings with foreign countries. 

“For any of you that have not dug in on this report, I want to talk a little bit about what this report shows, because it's actual receipts from foreign governments who spent $7.8 million at Trump properties during his presidency while they were actively seeking to influence foreign policy and decisions by the administration,” Rep. Stansbury said. 

Rep. Stansbury ended her remarks by asking the GOP one last question, “If the GOP actually cares about criminal activity, how about they investigate the receipts that we have right here? The evidence of influence peddling by Donald Trump, a man who is currently facing trial in four jurisdictions on 91 counts of criminal activity, who's been twice impeached by this body and is currently trying to run for president again, whom much of this committee has already endorsed.” 

Rep. Stansbury’s full remarks as delivered are below:   

Well, it's always a wild and interesting adventure here in the Oversight Committee, and this morning certainly doesn't disappoint. You know, I want to talk for a few moments about the resolution that's been proposed in the ANS here, because that's what we're here to debate this morning and really the content of that, including the assertions about the investigation that led to the moment that we're at here today. 

But I am really glad that my colleague mentioned that we are a land of laws and that every citizen should have to comply with them, including members of this committee. Not to mention a chairman who was subpoenaed during the last Congress and refused to respond. So, if we're going to apply these laws, then they must apply equally, I would think, to even members of this committee and certainly to the frontrunner in the GOP’s presidential election, which I'll get to in a moment. 

But let's talk a little bit about this ANS and about the background and correct the record a little bit. First of all, I want to talk about the evidence that was presented to this committee as part of this investigation. More than 62,000 pages of records from the National Archives on top of 20,000 pages that were already made publicly available, 30,000 pages of private bank records, 2000 pages of activity reports provided by the Treasury Department, dozens of hours of testimony from special counsel, U.S. attorneys, DOJ officials, FBI, IRS agents, financial advisers, friends, business partners, evidence provided by the Ways and Means Committee, and expert witness testimony by the GOP's own witnesses right here in this committee in September, who sat right there at that table and said there was not sufficient evidence to support proceeding with an impeachment. In fact, there are numerous members of the GOP currently serving in Congress who do not believe there is sufficient evidence. 

So, my question is, where are the receipts? You have reviewed thousands of pages of documents, countless hours of testimony, talked to expert witnesses, including your own witnesses, that can't provide a single iota of evidence of wrongdoing by this president.  

But last week, House Democrats released this. We have the receipts. In fact, they're all right here in the Mazars report. And for any of you that have not dug in on this report, I want to talk a little bit about what this report shows, because it's actual receipts from foreign governments who spent $7.8 million at Trump properties during his presidency while they were actively seeking to influence foreign policy and decisions by the administration. Let's talk about some of the receipts that are in here.  

Malaysia: over a quarter million dollars was spent by representatives of Malaysia while their ex-president was being investigated for a massive corruption scheme and which Trump's ex fundraiser was indicted for illegally lobbying on.  

Saudi Arabia: tens of thousands of dollars spent by the Saudi government and by the crown prince and his staff. They later gave $2 billion to Jared Kushner's private firm. 

Qatar: tens of thousands of dollars spent by Qatar during what was described as a charm offensive and an arms sale to the government of Qatar by the Trump administration. 

Kazakhstan: thousands of dollars spent by the president of Kazakhstan on a controversial visit which raised questions about human rights violations, business dealings, and the money laundering scheme involving Donald Trump's properties in New York. 

My question is, if the GOP actually cares about criminal activity, how about they investigate the receipts that we have right here? The evidence of influence peddling by Donald Trump, a man who is currently facing trial in four jurisdictions on 91 counts of criminal activity, who's been twice impeached by this body and is currently trying to run for president again, whom much of this committee has already endorsed. 

This is not factually based. This is a farce. This is a political stunt, and it is designed to help Donald Trump secure the nomination this November.  

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