News and Commentary

Democrats’ Top Impeachment Witness: Democrats Have Not Impeached Trump

   DailyWire.com
UNITED STATES - DECEMBER 4: Harvard Law School professor Noah Feldman testifies during the House Judiciary Committee hearing on the impeachment inquiry of President Trump in Longworth Building on Wednesday Dec. 4, 2019.
Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Noah Feldman, one of the Democrats’ top impeachment witnesses against President Donald Trump, said in an op-ed on Thursday that Democrats have not yet impeached the president despite their vote last night.

Feldman’s op-ed at Bloomberg News comes as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is considering withholding sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate because she is worried that the political trial would be biased in favor of the president.

“So far we haven’t seen anything that looks fair to us,” Pelosi told reporters last night. “That would’ve been our intention, but we’ll see what happens over there.”

Feldman noted that “according to the Constitution, impeachment is a process, not a vote,” and that while a modest delay would not pose a problem, a lengthy delay would be a “serious problem.”

“Impeachment as contemplated by the Constitution does not consist merely of the vote by the House, but of the process of sending the articles to the Senate for trial,” Feldman wrote. “Both parts are necessary to make an impeachment under the Constitution: The House must actually send the articles and send managers to the Senate to prosecute the impeachment. And the Senate must actually hold a trial.”

Feldman continued, “If the House does not communicate its impeachment to the Senate, it hasn’t actually impeached the president. If the articles are not transmitted, Trump could legitimately say that he wasn’t truly impeached at all.”

Feldman noted that if Democrats do not send the articles of impeachment to the Senate that it would not only deviate from constitutional protocol but it would also “deny the president the chance to defend himself in the Senate that the Constitution provides.”

Federalist co-founder Ben Domenech picked up on this last night, tweeting: “What Pelosi wants to avoid is the outcome of any trial in the Senate: a bipartisan vote to acquit.”

Fox News reporter Chad Pergram added, “Some polling reveals that impeachment is really hurting Democrats. Perhaps this was Pelosi’s gambit all along. Impeach the President. Take a stand for the Constitution. But apply an emergency hand brake on impeachment by not sending the articles to the Senate.”

Democrats’ vote on impeachment last night was the first time in U.S. history that impeachment was a purely partisan event as only Democrats and one independent member of Congress voted for it while all Republicans voted against it and were joined by multiple Democrats.

Trump hammered Democrats on Twitter late on Thursday, writing, “Pelosi feels her phony impeachment HOAX is so pathetic she is afraid to present it to the Senate, which can set a date and put this whole SCAM into default if they refuse to show up! The Do Nothings are so bad for our Country!”

Trump later added, “So after the Democrats gave me no Due Process in the House, no lawyers, no witnesses, no nothing, they now want to tell the Senate how to run their trial. Actually, they have zero proof of anything, they will never even show up. They want out. I want an immediate trial!”

Got a tip worth investigating?

Your information could be the missing piece to an important story. Submit your tip today and make a difference.

Submit Tip
The Daily Wire   >  Read   >  Democrats’ Top Impeachment Witness: Democrats Have Not Impeached Trump