| Dear Katy, The first day of public impeachment hearings was a disgrace. Instead of showing they were serious about getting the facts about Trump's attempted bribery and extortion, Republicans mounted a ridiculous performance intended to appease Trump's fragile ego. Republican Rep. Nunez went as far as to suggest that the impeachment process was a Democratic conspiracy and that both the Departments of State and Justice were plotting against Trump. All the while, his Republican colleagues ignored serious questions and instead dabbled in conspiracy theories, attacked witnesses, blamed the Bidens and attempted to out the Ukraine whistleblower.1 Extorting and attempting to bribe foreign officials to undermine one of his personal political rivals is only one of Trump's many impeachable abuses of power. Republicans cannot deny the facts, so they resorted to trashing our democracy – and they won't stop until a massive public outcry makes them. Tell Republicans: Stop trashing our democracy. Click here to sign the petition. As the facts become clearer, Republicans are becoming more ridiculous. First, Trump's defenders said he did everything perfectly. Then, they claimed that while he did pressure the President of Ukraine to lie and mount false investigations into the Bidens, there was no evidence of extortion or bribery. Then they had to admit that, yes, every witness did say that Trump withheld aid and promises of a meeting, but claimed that happens every day. As more and more evidence piles up that Trump's illegal acts were intended to slur a private domestic political rival and put our national security at risk, they're trying to make a mockery of democracy itself instead of facing the facts.2 Even before the hearings began, Republicans showed they weren't serious by trying to call Hunter Biden and the Ukraine whistleblower as witnesses. They added bomb-throwing right-wing congressman Jim Jordan to the committee to be "a showman" shilling for Trump. And they followed Trump's lead in focusing on ridiculous, discredited conspiracy theories that somehow Ukraine, not Russia, intervened in the 2016 election.3 Yesterday's hearings were just more of the same. House Republicans acted more like medieval court jesters performing for their king than elected representatives in a democratic nation. They knew Trump was watching on TV, and they focused on trying to win points with their authoritarian puppet master instead of protecting the Constitution they claim to love so dearly. It's unacceptable – and they must face a backlash for their blatant hypocrisy and contempt for our democracy. Tell Republicans: Stop trashing our democracy. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/republicans-impeachment-hearings?t=9&akid=34897%2E12967895%2EYRZlHF Thank you for speaking out, Heidi Hess, Co-Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: - David Corn, "Republicans Spent the First Day of Impeachment Hearings in an Alternate Reality," Mother Jones, Nov. 13, 2019.
- Fred Kaplan , "Loyalty vs. Democracy," Slate, Nov. 6, 2019.
- Melanie Zanona, "Republicans plot counterattack for impeachment hearings," POLITICO, Nov 11, 2019.
Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images |
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