VIDEO: Rep. Stansbury Criticizes House GOP for Impeachment Inquiry, Calling It an "Effort to Undermine Our Democracy”

VIDEO LINK: Link is available here. 

WASHINGTON— Today, in the first hearing for the Impeachment Inquiry of President Joe Biden in the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.-01) slammed House Republicans for engaging in the political bidding of former President Donald Trump. The hearing took place with less than 48 hours remaining until the government is set to run out of funding and shut down.  

“Let's be clear about what this hearing actually is. It's an effort to undermine our democracy, to diminish Donald Trump's own two impeachments: his first impeachment for trying to illegally bribe a foreign government to help him with his campaign, and the second for a deadly insurrection in the halls of this Capitol,” said Rep. Stansbury. 

Rep. Stansbury slammed the House GOP for their attempts to diminish the gravity of conducting an impeachment, saying, “So, what is this hearing actually about? It's a campaign strategy,” Stansbury said, continuing, “It is this committee and loyalists of Donald Trump doing his bidding to bolster his chances of winning back the White House and securing their majority in the next election. And in the process to diminish the name of impeachment, which is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Which we take an oath to uphold. And to make Donald Trump's crimes, including his two impeachments and his 91 criminal indictment counts look like they're not serious crimes.” Rep. Stansbury continued by showing examples of the former President pressuring his party’s members through directives on the social media platforms still available to the former President (Trump was banned from all mainstream social media platforms in wake of the 2021 insurrection.) 

Rep. Stansbury closed her condemnation of the inquiry by assuring the House GOP Oversight that the American people can see through the political play, ending, “we know that the American people are smart, that they're not going to be fooled by what's happening here today, and especially as they shut the government down in two days with catastrophic impacts for our communities.”  

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

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to say thank you to Mr. Donald Trump for calling this hearing today, as it demonstrates the House GOP and Donald Trump's continued attacks on our institutions and on our democracy, and the House GOP's complete inability to govern in a serious manner as they're holding this hearing, as we see just two days before a potential devastating government shutdown and the fact that most Republican members on this committee didn't even bother to show up for the hearing this morning.  

Their own star witness said right here in this committee this morning that he doesn't even believe that there's enough evidence to meet the standards needed for impeachment. And in doing this, our colleagues across the aisle are making a mockery of this institution and of our Constitution peddling conspiracy theories, peddling the conspiracy theories that Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump themselves tried to get the American people to believe, and which Donald Trump's DOJ debunked. It's outrageous.  

So, let's be clear about what this hearing actually is. It's an effort to undermine our democracy, to diminish Donald Trump's own two impeachments: his first impeachment for trying to illegally bribe a foreign government to help him with his campaign, and the second for a deadly insurrection in the halls of this Capitol after he asked his followers to tear through the halls of Congress, which they did with zip ties looking to execute the former vice president.  

And we know that Donald Trump has called for this impeachment inquiry because we have the direct evidence from his own social. You can see it right here. He says, “impeach the bum.” And we also know that he's been directly coordinating with members of this committee, as reported by The New York Times right here. A member of this committee has been briefing Donald Trump on this inquiry.  

We also know that if Donald Trump doesn't get his way, he wants his loyalists to shut down the government. How do we know that? Because he posted it right here on his social media and his loyalists in this committee who are doing his bidding for him today re-tweeted it. And in fact, it actually says right here that the reason why they want to defund the government and impeach is because, “this is the last chance to defund these political prosecutions against me.” So, folks, this is not a serious inquiry. This is not a serious hearing. In fact, the witnesses here don't even believe there's enough evidence to impeach their own members, don't even believe there's enough evidence to impeach. 

In fact, they refuse to hold a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives because they didn't have enough Republican members who would vote for it. That's why we're here today. It's outrageous.  

So, what is this hearing actually about? It's a campaign strategy. It's a misuse of official resources. It is this committee and loyalists of Donald Trump doing his bidding to bolster his chances of winning back the White House and securing their majority in the next election, and in the process to diminish the name of impeachment, which is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, which we take an oath to uphold, and to make Donald Trump's crimes, including his two impeachments and his 91 criminal indictment counts look like they're not serious crimes. When you think about it, it's chilling. It's truly chilling. 

It's another attack on our democracy and our institutions. It's another attack on fair and free elections and the use of this committee to try to carry it out. So, I just want to say, I think it's obvious who the grand puppet master is here. He tweeted about it on his own social. And we see the long arm, and the little hands, of Mr. Donald Trump, whose fingerprints are all over this hearing and this sham impeachment. 

But we know that the American people are smart, that they're not going to be fooled by what's happening here today, and especially as they shut the government down in two days with catastrophic impacts for our communities. And with that, I yield back. 

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