Impeachment

"May I now pass on to this Congress advice which I received recently from a fellow Vermonter—Either impeach him or get off his back."

"The only honest answer is that an impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers [it] to be at a given moment in history; conviction results from whatever offense or offenses two-thirds of the other body considers to be sufficiently serious to require removal of the accused from office."

"Dr. FRANKLIN mentioned the case of the Prince of Orange William V], during the late war. An arrangement was made between France and Holland, by which their two fleets were to unite at a certain time and place. The Dutch fleet did not appear. Every body began to wonder at it. At length it was suspected that the stadtholder was at the bottom of the matter. This suspicion prevailed more and more. Yet, as he could not be impeached, and no regular examination took place, he remained in his office; and strengthening his own party, as the party opposed to him became formidable, he gave birth to the most violent animosities and contentions. Had he been impeachable, a regular and peaceful inquiry would have taken place, and he would, if guilty, have been duly punished,—if innocent, restored to the confidence of the public."

"Dr. Franklin was for retaining the clause [on impeachment], as favorable to the executive. History furnishes one example only of a first magistrate being formally brought to public justice. Every body cried out against this as unconstitutional. What was the practice before this, in cases where the chief magistrate rendered himself obnoxious? Why, recourse was had to assassination, in which he was not only deprived of his life, but of the opportunity of vindicating his character. It would be the best way, therefore, to provide in the Constitution for the regular punishment of the executive, where his misconduct should deserve it, and for his honorable acquittal, where he should be unjustly accused."

"In the case of impeachments, which are the groans of the people,… and carry with them a greater supposition of guilt than any other accusation, there all the Lords must judge."

"Having found, from experience, that impeachment is an impracticable thing, a mere scare-crow, they consider themselves secure for life; they sculk from responsibility to public opinion, the only remaining hold on them, under a practice first introduced into England by Lord Mansfield."

"The power of impeachment is, of course, solely entrusted by the Constitution to the House of Representatives. However, the Executive Branch is clearly obligated, both by precedent and by the necessity of the House of Representatives having all of the facts before reaching its decision, to supply relevant information to the Legislative Branch, as it does in aid of other inquiries being conducted by committees of the Congress, to the extent compatible with the public interest."

"The Constitution specifies that the grounds for impeachment shall be, not partisan consideration, but evidence of “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Since the Constitution vests the sole power of impeachment in the House of Representatives, it falls to the Judiciary Committee to understand even more precisely what “high crimes and misdemeanors” might mean in the terms of the Constitution and the facts before us in our time. The Founding Fathers clearly did not mean that a President might be impeached for mistakes, even serious mistakes, which he might commit in the faithful execution of his office. By “high crimes and misdemeanors” they meant offenses more definitely incompatible with our Constitution. The Founding Fathers, with their recent experience of monarchy and their determination that government be accountable and lawful, wrote into the Constitution a special oath that the President, and only the President, must take at his inauguration. In that oath, the President swears that he will take care that the laws be faithfully executed. The Judiciary Committee has for seven months investigated whether or not the President has seriously abused his power, in violation of that oath and the public trust embodied in it."

"Conditions may, and are not unlikely to arise, some day, when the exercise of the power to impeach and remove the President may be quite as essential to the preservation of our political system as it threatened to become in this instance destructive of that system. Should that day ever come, it is to be hoped that the remedy of impeachment, as established by the Constitution, may be as patriotically, as fearlessly, and as unselfishly applied as it was on this occasion rejected."

"On January 6, 2021 a violent mob attacked the United States Capitol to obstruct the process of our democracy and stop the counting of presidential electoral votes. This insurrection caused injury, death and destruction in the most sacred space in our Republic. .... The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. .... There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution. I will vote to impeach the President."

"The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the President and other powerful people."

"If you look at the preponderance of the legal opinion by scholars over the years … the preponderance of opinion is that yes, an impeachment trial is appropriate after someone leaves office"

"Not a single court, not a single judge agreed that the election results were invalid or should be invalidated"

"Donald Trump was trying to undermine our election by taking votes away from the American people so that he could remain president, and he was willing to blame and betray anyone, anyone, even his own supporters if they got in the way,""

"There are only around 2K of them and a lot are useless fat asses or girls"

"Watching this is traumatizing. How traumatizing it must have been--and still is--for those who were there. Imagine ignoring this evidence in order to protect the loser who incited these murderous thugs so you can hang on to your own corrupt power."

"It feels like having watched all of that, cinematic heart-stopping new video that showed just how close Speaker Pelosi, Mitt Romney being whisked away just minutes by Officer Goodman, minutes before he would have been in danger, the Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer running up a ramp and having to run back down the ramp because the insurrectionists were basically right behind him. The hunting of Mike Pence, which might have been the most jarring part of the presentation. He’s literally hiding with his family in a room where he is accessible, where the speaker is accessible"

"The damage done to this building is a stain on all of us and on the dignity of our democracy..."

"What if president Trump was successful? If he had succeeded in overturning the will of the people?"

"The world watched President Trump tell his big lie. The world watched his supporters come to Washington at his invitation and the world watched as he told his supporters to come here to the Capitol, President Trump, our commander in chief at the time, failed to take any action to defend us, as he utterly failed in his duty to preserve, protect and defend, and now the world is watching us wondering whether our constitutional republic will respond the way it should … whether the rule of law will prevail over mob rule. The answer to that question has consequences far beyond our own borders."

"The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people, and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government, which they did not like"

"I think it’s [25th Amendment] a waste of time. And I think impeachment is a waste of time."

"I think he’s going to find himself further and further isolated. I think his business is suffering at this point. I think he’s lost any sort of political viability he was going to have. I think he’s lost his social media, which meant the world to him. I mean, I think he’s lost the things that really could have kept him moving."

"Senators! This trial is not about Donald Trump, the country and the world know who Donald Trump is! This trial is about who we are... who we are"

"There is no power worth defending by bloodshed of the people."

"On being appointed president: "This is an ideal team. The president can't see and the vice president can't talk.""

"You don't realise that losing the presidency for me is nothing ... I regret more the fact that I lost 27 recordings of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony."