» Panel’s Texans weigh in on impeachment.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar said she wanted to put House Democrats’ case for impeachment in “simple terms for the American public.”
During a marathon hearing of the House Judiciary Committee in which Democrats teed up the third impeachment of a president in American history, the El Paso Democrat laid out a hypothetical.
A governor withholds funding from a community racked by a natural disaster, telling the mayor of that community he’ll hand over the money, but first he wants a favor: Have your police chief smear my political opponent.
“Has there been a crime?” Escobar asked. “The answer is yes. And that governor would go to jail.”
Democrats allege that’s what President Donald Trump did when he withheld military aid from Ukraine as he sought to push Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskiy to open an investigation into his political foe, former Vice President Joe Biden. The White House summary of the president’s July call with Zelenskiy, in which Trump asked for a favor, makes that clear, and testimony from officials in a slew of hearings, both public and private, prove it happened, they argue.
Texas Democrats on the committee, including Escobar and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston, emerged as front-line fighters during Thursday’s historic hearing — drawing attacks on Twitter from the president. Texas Republicans, meanwhile, stuck by Trump as some of his fiercest defenders, accusing Democrats of building their case on lies.
Republicans pointed out that some Democrats have pressed for impeachment since Trump took office — through the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 elections, then shifting their attention to Ukraine. They say the Democrats landed on a flimsy case that doesn’t stand a chance in the Senate.
“We started this impeachment proceeding about the Russia hoax and the Russia collusion . ... And it kept changing, and then it went to bribery and extortion and emoluments and all these other things,” said Rep. Louie Gohmert of Tyler, a Republican on the committee. “Never in history has a president been accused of crimes with a target constantly changing.”
The Texans on the Judiciary Committee signaled that they would vote along party lines, the three Democrats voicing support for sending articles of impeachment on to the full House and the two Republicans trying to stop it in its tracks.
The articles accuse Trump of abuse of power in his effort to push Ukraine to investigate Biden while withholding aid as leverage, and obstruction of Congress for the president’s refusal to participate in the House inquiry and for blocking members of his administration, including former Gov. Rick Perry, from testifying.
“Neither Mr. Nixon nor Mr. Clinton obstructed Congress in the manner that this president is doing,” Jackson Lee said, referring to two other presidents who have faced impeachment proceedings.
“It’s incredible to me that the other side of the aisle has not seen the facts,” said Rep. Sylvia Garcia, a Houston Democrat. “It is obvious to me that this president has put his personal interest above this country.”
Republicans pushed to add mention in the impeachment articles of Hunter Biden and Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company that employed him on its board while his father was vice president. Trump and his defenders have argued that it was inappropriate for Hunter Biden to work on the board.
“And Hunter Biden?” asked Rep. John Ratcliffe, RHeath. “The president has, as the chief executive, the ability to ask about matters where there is a prima facie case of corruption. What do we have with respect to Hunter Biden? Tons of money for a position where he has no Ukrainian experience, where he has no experience with Ukraine or energy. … That’s called influence peddling. That is a crime.”
Trump, meanwhile, accused Escobar and Jackson Lee of lying about what he said to Zelenskiy in a phone call.
“Dems Veronica Escobar and Jackson Lee purposely misquoted my call,” Trump tweeted Thursday morning. “I said I want you to do us (our Country!) a favor, not me a favor. They know that but decided to LIE in order to make a fraudulent point! Very sad.”
The Texans responded as the hearing wore on.
“‘Do us a favor’ — as though the United States of America and foreign policy experts and State Department experts were clamoring to get information on Burisma or information on Hunter Biden or Joe Biden,” Escobar said.
“This is about the president seeking to have Ukraine investigate this political opponent for personal and private reasons,” Jackson Lee said. “No one misinterpreted what was said.”