Republican leaders in the House of Representatives sent the rank-and-file home with one overriding message to deliver to voters in their districts: There is no evidence that warrants an impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
The bulleted talking points, prepared by Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, also attack House Democrats as disorganized and the impeachment process as illegitimate, primarily because Nancy Pelosi declined to hold a floor vote on whether to open the inquiry. Cheney argues in her messaging guidance that Democrats have been intent on impeaching Trump for more than two years. An investigation into Trump’s harmless telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, she asserts, is just the Democrats’ latest excuse to justify their attempt to undo the 2016 election.
“For the speaker of the House to back impeachment of the president of the United States without even the pretense of the necessity of evidence is a sign that she and her party have lost all credibility on this issue, and, more tragically, have abdicated their duty to the Constitution and to the American people,” said Cheney in a message to GOP members that accompanied the talking points. As conference chairwoman, Cheney oversees caucus messaging.
During the July telephone call between Trump and Zelensky, the president asked Zelensky to initiate an investigation of Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
IMPEACHMENT
- Democrats opted to pursue impeachment with no evidence or facts. This is a somber and serious responsibility of the House and they have behaved recklessly, putting politics first.
- They have taken a partisan approach and are attempting to undermine the voices of 63 million Americans who voted for the President in the 2016 election.
- For months, Democrats careened from justification to justification, looking for a reason or excuse to impeach, regardless of the facts or the truth.
- By putting politics before the facts, Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats have lost all credibility and, most tragically, have abdicated their duty to the Constitution and to the American people.
PROCESS
- Democrats won’t even hold an impeachment inquiry vote on the House floor because they know the facts aren’t on their side.
- The issue of impeachment is of such overwhelming importance that the full House, and all Representatives who speak for the people, deserve to have a chance to weigh-in if impeachment is going to be pursued.
- Initiating an impeachment inquiry without any debate or vote before the House of Representatives undermines the voting privileges afforded to each member and the constituents they represent.
- This is not an imperial Speakership and the House should not move forward on impeachment because of a unilateral decree from the Speaker of the House or the Judiciary Committee chair. That’s not how the Constitution or our democracy works.
DEMOCRATS’ DISORGANIZATION
- Democrats are increasingly nervous and some of their members are saying publicly that they should have waited for more facts and evidence before embracing impeachment.
- They have no plan, no evidence, no facts, and now they are reportedly planning to rush the entire process so they can have an impeachment vote before Thanksgiving, holding few, if any, hearings.
- This is not something that should be rushed for political expediency. Impeachment is one of the most serious responsibilities of the House, and it should involve a clear-eyed and sober gathering of facts.
- Anything less is an abdication of members’ Constitutional duty.
[Previous coverage: White House talking points for Republicans: ‘Nothing more than conspiracy theories’]
