-President Trump took extraordinary
and unprecedented steps to obstruct the investigation,
including ignoring subpoenas,
ordering the creation of false records,
and publicly attacking and intimidating witnesses.
Then, as now, this administration's level
of obstruction is without precedent.
-In fact, they're not anything
that presents an impeachment here,
except a president carrying out his job
in the way the Constitution saw that he sees fit to do it.
-On the basis of the testimony
and the evidence before the House,
President Trump has committed impeachable
high crimes and misdemeanors
by corruptly abusing the office of the presidency.
-Mr Collins, I would like to say to you, sir,
that I read transcripts of every one of the witnesses
who appeared in the live hearing,
because I would not speak about these things
without reviewing the facts.
So I'm insulted by the suggestion
that as a law professor, I don't care about those facts.
But everything I read on those occasions tells me
that when President Trump invited -- indeed, demanded --
foreign involvement in our upcoming election,
he struck at the very heart of what makes this a republic
to which we pledge allegiance.
-The record compiled thus far shows the president
has committed several impeachable offenses,
including bribery; abuse of power
in soliciting a personal favor from a foreign leader,
to benefit himself personally; obstructing justice;
and obstructing Congress.
-This is a facially incomplete and inadequate record
in order to impeach a president.
I get it -- you're mad.
The president's mad.
My Republican friends are mad.
My Democratic friends are mad.
My wife is mad.
My kids are mad.
Even my dog seems mad.
And Luna's a goldendoodle, and they don't get mad.
-Professor Feldman, did President Trump commit
the impeachable high crime and misdemeanor of abuse of power,
based on that evidence and those findings?
-Based on that evidence and those findings,
the president did commit an impeachable abuse of office.
-Professor Karlan, same question.
-Same answer.
-And Professor Gerhardt, did President Trump commit
the impeachable high crime and misdemeanor of abuse of power?
-We three are unanimous, yes.
-Professor Turley, do you think that impeaching,
in this case, would constitute impeaching with a partial
or plausibly contested understanding of key facts?
-I think that that's clear, because this is one of
the thinnest records ever to go forward on impeachment.
-What comparisons, Professor Karlan,
can we make between kings, that the framers were afraid of,
and the president's conduct today?
-So, kings could do no wrong, because the king's word was law.
And contrary to what President Trump has said,
Article 2 does not give him the power to do anything he wants.
And I'll just give you one example
that shows you the difference between him and a king,
which is, the Constitution says
there can be no titles of nobility.
So, while the president can name his son Barron,
he can't make him a baron.
-When the president calls -- -Excuse me,
you don't get to interrupt me on this time.
Now, let me also suggest that when you invoke
the president's son's name here, when you try to make
a little joke out of referencing Barron Trump,
that does not lend credibility to your argument.
It makes you look mean.
It makes you look like you're attacking someone's family --
the minor child of the president of the United States.
So let's see if we can get into the facts.
To all of the witnesses, of you have personal knowledge
of a single material fact in the Schiff report,
please raise your hand.
-I want to apologize for what I said earlier
about the president's son.
It was wrong of me to do that.
I wish the president would apologize, obviously,
for the things that he's done that's wrong.
But I do regret having said that.
-As the Democratic majority promised
that this was going to be a fair process
when it got to Judiciary,
for the president and others, the president --
and you may say he could have come today.
What would have this done? Nothing.
There's no fact witnesses here, nothing to rebut.
In fact, it's been a good time just to see
that really nothing came of it, at the end of the day.
-As one of my colleagues pointed out,
I have, in the past, articulated a three-part test
for impeachment.
Let me be clear, all three parts of that test have been met.
A majority of this country is clearly prepared to impeach
and remove President Trump.