FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
PRESS CONTACT
press@defendamericandemocracy.org
STATEMENT: Defend American Democracy Responds to Republican Capitulation to Trump in Impeachment Trial
WASHINGTON — Defend American Democracy issued the following statement regarding the Senate’s vote to acquit President Donald Trump on two articles of impeachment:
“At the beginning of the impeachment trial, every Senator swore an oath to do impartial justice according to the Constitution.
It was clear the fix was in from the start, with Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham being so brazen as to say on the record that they were not interested in being impartial, that they were working in lockstep with the White House. This process has exposed Republican senators as having more allegiance to the president than the country and the constituents they represent. Not only did they not take their duty seriously and consider the evidence presented to them, but they refused to hear from witnesses and see new evidence as it emerged, in spite of a bipartisan group of Senators voting to bring that evidence to light.
The president withheld foreign aid for help with his personal political campaign and for that crime, a bipartisan group of senators voted to remove the president for the first time in history. This is a cover-up, plain and simple, and it’s a cover-up that hurts the American people and America’s standing as an example of democracy around the world. The president has not been acquitted — he has covered up his crimes with the help of a complicit Senate, a cover-up that will define his presidency.”
Defend American Democracy is a bipartisan campaign to call on Congress to put politics aside when it comes to impeachment and hold the president accountable for his abuse of power. The broad coalition of organizations focused on national security and veterans issues includes Common Defense, Truman National Security Project, Protect the Investigation, Law Works, Protect Democracy, Stand Up Republic, Republicans for the Rule of Law, and National Security Action.
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