Let’s start with a tweet from a lawyer with experience in congressional investigations in both parties:
The debate on Article I reveals one of its more fundamental flaw. It doesn't allege a crime (like the Nixon and Clinton abuse of power articles did). It also doesn't allege that @realDonaldTrump committed an act that is unlawful (but not criminal).
— Sam Dewey (@samueledewey) December 12, 2019
So despite Democrats' and liberal pundits' allegations of bribery and other statutory crimes, they are not mentioning those in the impeachment articles they drafted. As Rep. Matt Gaetz explains:
.@RepMattGaetz: A Democrat drive-by: List crimes that you don’t allege and that you don’t have evidence for.
— Rep. Doug Collins (@RepDougCollins) December 12, 2019
Democrats are naming crimes in debate that they don’t have in their impeachment resolution because they can’t prove them and there are no underlying facts. pic.twitter.com/vI5WAxDwKl
As Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Doug Collins points out in an op-ed entitled: "Articles establish nothing impeachable and allege no crime: GOP leader of House Judiciary," Democrats are rushing to get impeachment done and ignoring legal and fundamentally fair practices.
When the executive and legislative branches disagreed, Schiff refused to allow the courts to weigh in on constitutional questions. Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., declined to call any of the witnesses requested by Republicans, and Schiff withdrew his own subpoena for John Bolton’s deputy.
With inconvenient witnesses ignored and exculpatory evidence dismissed, House Democrats have chronically worked to mislead the public.
Rep. Adam Schiff leading this process is especially troubling:
Schiff lied about having more than circumstantial evidence that Trump colluded with Russia, and the Mueller report debunked that lie. Schiff told a similar lie this Tuesday when he said the evidence for impeachment was “overwhelming and uncontested,” ignoring the fact that all 17 Judiciary Republicans dispute Schiff’s report.
Schiff also defended the Justice Department’s surveillance of a former Trump campaign aide, even though the department’s inspector general later found 17 errors or omissions in the FBI’s warrant applications. Democrats have been hurtling toward impeachment for years, facts be damned, and Americans are right to suspect Schiff of abusing his power as chairman.
As Rep. Collins said last night:
"This is as much about political expediency as it is anything else—and that should never be in articles of impeachment," @RepDougCollins said in last night's debate. pic.twitter.com/vcrEYsFwAN
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 12, 2019