Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) revealed on Wednesday during Democrats’ partisan impeachment hearing that it was her son that convinced her to impeach President Donald Trump and, furthermore, that he convinced her to do so back in June — a month before Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“It is my adult son Ian Schakowsky, whom I will always credit for my decision last June to support an impeachment inquiry,” Schakowsky said. “It had never been my goal to impeach a president, but Ian made such a compelling case.”
“He reminded me of the oath that I have taken 11 times now to support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” Schakowsky continued. “He said, ‘Mom, this is not about politics, this is not about party,’ and pushing back against my arguments, he said, ‘This has nothing to do with the final outcome, it’s about doing the right thing, even if others don’t.'”
“He made me see that it was about my legacy, my modest place in history,” Schakowsky concluded. “I want to thank you, my son, for helping me do the right thing today, to vote to impeach the President of the United States, Donald Trump, because no American is above the law.”
WATCH:
Democrat Rep. Schakowsky says her son convinced her to impeach in June, which was before the Ukraine phone callhttps://t.co/woBRHeZSeT pic.twitter.com/eWlrJLuYIg
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 18, 2019
Democrats went on to vote for impeaching Trump in what became the first time in U.S. history that a president was impeached on a purely partisan basis as only Democrats voted for impeaching the president while all Republicans and multiple Democrats voted against impeachment.
Democrat presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard did not vote for either articles of impeachment — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — and instead voted “present.”
Gabbard said, “I could not in good conscience vote for impeachment because removal of a sitting President must not be the culmination of a partisan process, fueled by tribal animosities that have so gravely divided our country.”
Dem HI Rep Gabbard on her “present” vote on impeachment: I could not in good conscience vote for impeachment because removal of a sitting President must not be the culmination of a partisan process, fueled by tribal animosities that have so gravely divided our country.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) December 19, 2019
Trump was at a campaign rally when the impeachment vote occurred and said in response to learning about the results of the vote, “With today’s illegal, unconstitutional and partisan impeachment, House Democrats are declaring their deep hatred and disdain for American Voters. This lawless and partisan impeachment is a political suicide march for the Democrat Party!”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m having a great time,” Trump added.
🚨MOMENTS AGO🚨
“With today’s illegal, unconstitutional and partisan impeachment, House Democrats are declaring their deep hatred and disdain for American Voters. This lawless and partisan impeachment is a political suicide march for the Democrat Party!”
President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/Z78vcBEQ7n— Dan Scavino (@DanScavino) December 19, 2019
George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, a harsh critic of Trump who votes for Democrats, warned Democrats during their impeachment hearings that they did not have the evidence needed to impeach Trump.
During his opening statement, Turley said, “I would like to start, perhaps incongruously, with a statement of three irrelevant facts. First, I am not a supporter of President Trump. I voted against him in 2016 and I have previously voted for Presidents Clinton and Obama. Second, I have been highly critical of President Trump, his policies, and his rhetoric, in dozens of columns. Third, I have repeatedly criticized his raising of the investigation of the Hunter Biden matter with the Ukrainian president. These points are not meant to curry favor or approval. Rather they are meant to drive home a simple point: one can oppose President Trump’s policies or actions but still conclude that the current legal case for impeachment is not just woefully inadequate, but in some respects, dangerous, as the basis for the impeachment of an American president.”
Turley added, To put it simply, I hold no brief for President Trump. My personal and political views of President Trump, however, are irrelevant to my impeachment testimony, as they should be to your impeachment vote. Today, my only concern is the integrity and coherence of the constitutional standard and process of impeachment. President Trump will not be our last president and what we leave in the wake of this scandal will shape our democracy for generations to come. I am concerned about lowering impeachment standards to fit a paucity of evidence and an abundance of anger. If the House proceeds solely on the Ukrainian allegations, this impeachment would stand out among modern impeachments as the shortest proceeding, with the thinnest evidentiary record, and the narrowest grounds ever used to impeach a president. That does not bode well for future presidents who are working in a country often sharply and, at times, bitterly divided.”