-Today the house voted
to send articles of impeachment against President Trump
to the Senate as damning new evidence emerges
against Trump's henchmen.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Suspenseful theme plays ] [ Cheering and applause ]
It's official: We will now have the third
Senate impeachment trial
of a president in American history.
And, knowing that this historic moment was coming,
Trump decided to soothe his ego last night
by holding another one of his group therapy sessions
in Wisconsin, [ Laughter ]
where he surrounded himself
with his cult of fawning admirers
and tried to fill the stage
with as many underwhelming white guys as possible.
[ Laughter ]
I guess to make himself look good by comparison?
I mean, look at this. This looks like the audition room
for a Cialis commercial.
[ Laughter ] It's like the curtain call
for a regional theater production
of "12 Angry White men."
[ Laughter ]
But, as always, it wasn't enough for Trump
to surround himself with admirers.
He also had to admire himself
by talking about himself in the third person.
-We've produced everything we said, and more, and more.
[ Cheering and applause ] Before it was talk, I said,
"I'm gonna do this.
We're gonna take care of your trade."
What we've done with China, now,
on Wednesday, we sign -- That's tomorrow.
[ Cheering and whistling ] What we've done with the USMCA.
What we've done with Japan: $40 billion trade deal.
[ Cheering and applause ] And a lot of it has to do with the farmers.
[ Whistling ] South Korea.
Oh, you gotta love Trump.
You gotta love Trump.
[ Laughter and applause ]
-No, we [chuckling] don't.
[ Fresh laughter and applause ] Trump is so
detached from reality, he's startin' to talk like
a sitcom character doin' his catchphrase.
[as Trump] Uh-oh. Looks like the kitchen's on fire
and the cops are here.
Still,
you gotta love Trump!
[ Whimsical sting plays ] [ Applause and cheering ]
[ Laughter ] By the way, sitcom Trump is not a stretch.
If you don't believe me,
here's the president of the United States
goin' full "King of Queens" and complaining,
[laughing] once again, about water pressure.
-But sinks,
[ Laughter ] toilets, and showers.
You don't get any water.
-Are you...getting oxygen?
[ Laughter and applause ] To your brain?
I don't wanna be critical, but is it possible
you're not paying the White House water bill?
[ Laughter and applause ]
[as Trump] "Final notice"?!
[ Laughter ]
And then, today Trump continued his attempt to counterprogram
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's
historic impeachment announcement
with his own announcement,
on the first phase of a trade deal with China.
But it seemed like Trump never got to the actual announcement
because he spent the entire press conference
just callin' out the names
of supporters who were in the room.
-Bob Lighthizer's really an outstanding guy.
Thank you very much, Steve. Great job.
Jared Kushner. Where is Jared?
And, Ivanka, nice to have you here. Thank you, honey.
Larry, you've been fantastic. [ Laughter ]
Peter Navarro. Chris Liddell.
Wilbur Ross. Sonny Perdue.
Elaine Chao. The great Kevin McCarthy.
[ Laughter ] The great Lou Dobbs. Henry Kissinger.
A friend of mine, Steve Schwarzman.
Nelson Peltz is here.
Hank Greenberg is here. Hank.
Steve Daines. Joni Ernest.
Deb Fischer. Lindsey Graham.
He's become a great friend of mine.
Chuck Grassley. Jerry Moran.
[ Applause ] Rob Portman. Pat Roberts.
[ Laughter ] Mike Rounds. And Dan Sullivan.
Vern Buchanan. Mike Conaway.
Kristi, thank you for being here.
I didn't know you were gonna be here.
[ Laughter ] Mike Kelly Drew Ferguson.
Darin LaHood. Michael McCaul.
Patrick McHenry. Devin Nunes.
Adrian Smith. David Abney.
Darius Adamczyk.
Ajay Banga, Mastercard.
[ Laughter ] Josh Bolten.
-[as Trump] Congratulations
to the Class of 2020.
[ Laughter and applause ] Ohhhhh.
Oh, the places you'll go.
Jail.
[ Laughter ]
And then, in an even more desperate attempt
to counterprogram the impeachment talk,
Trump made a random announcement, out of nowhere,
about the 4th of July, that had nothing to do
with trade or China, or, really, anything at all.
-We're gonna do a big fireworks display, right?
Mount Rushmore.
We're going over.
I think I'm gonna try to be there on July 4th.
They haven't been there like for 20 years.
I said, "Why?"
Environmental reasons.
I said, "You mean, can't have fireworks
because of the environment?"
Yeah, environmental reasons.
I said, "What can burn? It's stone, you know.
[ Laughter ] It's stone."
-You idiot!
It's in the Black Hills of South Dakota!
[ Laughter ]
[laughing] It's surrounded by trees.
There's a forest like right across the street.
[ Laughter ] 'Cause he used to be a New Yorker,
Trump thinks everything is in Times Square.
[as Trump] What can burn? It's stone.
You just take the subway up to Mount Rushmore
[ Laughter ] and then,
when you're done, you go next door to the M&M store.
[ Laughter and applause ]
It's stone. It's fine.
But Trump's attempt to distract from impeachment news
did not work because, as this was all happening,
the House was also releasing bombshell new documents
involving Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani
and two of Rudy's indicted associates,
Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman.
Remember these guys,
the Mario and Luigi of entry-level mobsters?
[ Laughter and applause ] They're the Soviet Turner & Hooch,
except they're both Hooch.
[ Laughter ]
They look like off-brand Russian Cabbage Patch Dolls.
[Slavic accent] What patch? Is just --
[ Laughter ] Is just cabbage doll.
Now, let's remember that it's well-established
these guys were workin' for Trump.
There are multiple photos of them with Trump and Rudy.
They had at least ten separate interactions with Trump.
They told associates they had been given
a special assignment by the president,
like some sort of James Bond mission,
and one of Trump's former lawyers --
one of Trump's former lawyers -- even wrote a letter to Congress,
stating that Parnas and Fruman assisted Giuliani in connection
with his representation of President Trump.
That's right, these guys!
Who look like the guys who spray your bowling shoes
when you turn them in, [ Laughter ]
were supposedly representing Trump.
I guess it's all part of Trump's strategy
to surround himself with lawyers who look guiltier than he does.
If you saw all four of these guys in a police lineup
[ Laughter ] and the cops asked you
to point out the suspect,
you'd need all four fingers.
It was him.
[ Laughter and applause ]
So it's well-established these guys worked directly for Trump
in his scheme to get Ukraine to interfere
in the 2020 election by digging up dirt on Joe Biden.
In fact, in one of those documents
the House released last night,
there was a letter, written by Rudy,
to the new Ukrainian president in May of 2019,
in which Rudy requested a private meeting
to discuss what we now know
was their scheme to cheat in the 2020 election.
Rudy said explicitly, in that letter,
that he was working for Trump,
while simultaneously trying to claim
he wasn't working for the president
and insisting that all of this was very normal.
Here's the first paragraph of Rudy's letter.
"Dear President-Elect Zelensky:
I am private counsel to President Donald J. Trump.
Just to be precise,
I represent him as a private citizen,
not as President of the United States.
This is quite common under American law
because the duties and privileges of a President
and a private citizen are not the same.
Separate representation is usual process."
Wow! When you have to start your letter
by explaining that what you're doing is not suspicious,
[ Laughter and applause ] that is definitely suspicious.
Like when you text a weed dealer for the first time
and say, "I am writing to obtain marijuana for medical purposes,
and not because my parents are out of town."
[ Laughter and applause ] But, in many ways --
[ Applause ]
In many ways, that letter was one of the least shocking things
the House released last night.
There were also additional notes and text messages,
related to the scheme to get Ukrainian President Zelensky
to investigate Joe Biden.
For example, there are handwritten notes, from Parnas,
on stationery from the Ritz-Carlton in Vienna,
where Parnas literally says -- and these are completely real --
"get Zalensky to announce that the Biden case
will Be Investigated
and "do my 'magic' and cut [a] deal."
What magic was this [laughing] guy gonna do?
[ Laughter ]
Other than make a meatball sandwich disappear?
[ Laughter and applause ] [muffled] "Ta-da!"
[ Laughter ]
And then, there were the text messages,
which were ominous, chilling, and bizarre.
For example, they also introduced
a completely new character into this whole saga:
a Trump supporter from Connecticut,
named Robert Hyde, who owns a landscaping business
and ran for Congress.
Hyde was apparently working with Parnas
on this whole scheme in Ukraine.
And, yes, before you ask,
there are multiple photos of Hyde posing with Trump.
How is it possible that Trump has taken photos
with every meathead goon in the tri-state area?
[ Laughter ] Trump's like a mall Santa
for wannabe goodfellas.
[ Laughter and applause ] These guys look like
they're starring in a kid's show called "Spongebob Squarehead."
[ Laughter ]
Parnas and Hyde, apparently, had an ongoing exchange
of text messages in which they appeared to be stalking
and spying on the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine,
Marie Yovanovitch.
You might remember that Yovanovitch was
a key impeachment witness,
who was the target of smears by Trump and his inner circle
because she was a career foreign service official
who they saw as an obstacle to their criminal scheme.
In fact, at various points, she was told Rudy, and his goons,
had plans for her and that there were concerns for her security.
And, now, we have these text messages,
in which it appears Hyde and Parnas
were closely tracking her movements
and planning something very ominous.
-We are starting to see the contents
of the cellphone and files of one Lev Parnas
and it is giving us a window
into a rather astounding operation,
supervised by Rudy Giuliani, in the name of the president.
[ Camera shutter clicking ] -Text messages suggesting that
former U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch
may have been under physical surveillance.
-Robert Hyde, a Trump supporter and congressional candidate,
claimed to have contact with a "private security" team
monitoring the ambassador's moves and communications.
-He's talking about Marie Yovanovitch,
the ambassador.
He says, "She's under heavy protection.
She's talked to three people.
Her phone is off.
Her computer is off.
They'll let me know when she's on the move."
Then, later that day, "They're willing to help,
if you/we would like a price."
-Holy [bleep], this idiot literally wrote
in a text message that his guys were willing to help
"if you would like a price."
These guys are a lot dumber than the criminals on TV.
[ Laughter ] Those criminals are always using burner phones
and switching cars, meeting in back alleys.
In real life, these guys were texting each other
and puttin' up posters on telephone poles,
that said, "Looking for thugs to do crimes.
[ Laughter and applause ] This is for Trump as citizen,
not as president.
He is my friend. Here is a picture of us."
[ Cheering and applause ]
So, all, every bit, of this damning new evidence
is coming out as the Senate prepares to hold
only the third impeachment trial of a president in history
and, whatever happens, that will be a historic stain
on Trump's presidency that will follow his name forever,
which is a point House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
hit home multiple times in her press conference today.
[ Camera shutters clicking continuously ] -On December 18th,
the House of Representatives
impeached the president of the United States,
an impeachment that will last forever.
And, yes, it is a fact:
When someone is impeached, they are always impeached.
It cannot be erased.
-Oh, she definitely knew Trump was watching.
[ Laughter ] She might as well have looked directly into the camera
and said, "Donald, this will follow you.
[echoing]
[ Laughter ]
Forever. Forever.
[ Applause ]
Forever. Forever.
So the House voted today to send the two articles
that passed last year to the Senate for a trial
and Pelosi also appointed impeachment managers,
who are basically just prosecutors,
to make the case against Trump during the trial.
Pelosi said she focused specifically
on choosing experienced lawyers when she made her selections.
[ Camera shutters clicking continuously ] -Today I'm very proud
to present the managers
who will bring the case, which we have great confidence in,
in terms of impeaching the president and his removal.
Chair Adam Schiff of California, lead manager.
Chairman Jerry Nadler,
chair of the House Judiciary Committee.
Chair Zoe Lofgren, Chair Hakeem Jeffries,
Congresswoman Val Demings,
Congressman Jason Crow,
Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia.
The emphasis is on litigators.
The emphasis is on comfort level in the courtroom.
-That's right: Democrats are actually
appointing experienced litigators,
whereas, Trump's team is just a bunch of heavies
he picked up off a street corner in Bayonne.
[ Laughter ] You know, the guys Trump bought
at Goons R Us.
[ Laughter ] They even all dress the same.
I mean, look at this.
These guys look like they shop
at a store called Abercrombie and Snitches Get Stitches.
[ Laughter and applause ]
So, Trump's now preparing to face
the third Senate impeachment trial in history
as more damning evidence emerges
about the criminals he surrounded himself with
to carry out his illegal scheme to cheat in the 2020 election.
Trump will be on trial for multiple crimes
as his presidency goes down multiple...
-Toilets!
[ Laughter and applause ] -This has been "A Closer Look."
♪♪ [ Cheering and applause ]