I take an oath before god as enormously consequential. I knew from the outset that being tasked with judging the president , the leader of my own party would be the most difficult decision i have ever faced. I was not wrong. Lets go to Cnns Phil Mattingly up on capitol hill. Phil, romney explaining in detail why hes voting now, about to vote to remove the president from office. Reporter thats exactly right. There was no hedging, there was no gray area. There was no uncertainty. Senator mitt romney making clear that he believed the president had absolutely done wrong and had absolutely deserved to be removed from office based on at least the first article of impeachment, abuse of power. Romney saying at one point, the phone call and what the president did was a flagrant assault on our electoral rights, also saying it was the most abusive and destructive violation of ones oath of office that i can imagine. To kind of set the scene here, guys, about 30 minutes before senator romney came to the floor to speak, i spoke to several republicans. They were walking into their regular closed door lufnch and not a single one of them thought romney was going to vote to convict. Most republicans thought he would give a scathing speech. But vote to acquit. That ended up not being the case. Whats most important and the length and detail to which the senator went through not just to explain why he was going to vote to convict but also the process he took to get him to that point and perhaps most importantly, something i think a lot of people havent been paying close attention to, how history would view this moment. He went back to that issue repeatedly over the course of the speech really kind of giving insight into his thinking. Its jake here, senator romney says hes well aware there are going to be repercussions not just for him but for his wife, for his children, and for his grandchildren because of the decision hes making today. Reporter its just the reality at this moment in the republican party, a party thats 90 plus percent blind pruehind t trump. Romney made the point on the floor he was very well aware of that, and that almost underscored why he decided to come to this point. Why would he put himself through that . He said if he wasnt so certain about his perspective. Behind the scenes ive talked to several people who have spoken to senator romney. One put it in this context, he compared to his republican colleagues felt like he was in a different universe as he listened to the presentations. Couldnt understand why so few of his colleagues were in the same place that he was, even though he knew that the president obviously would come down hard and his allies would come down hard if he ended up voting to remove repeatedly behind closed doors, he made the pitch for witnesses. He made the pitch for voting in favor of documents only to be talked down by other republicans who said they had heard enough. Didnt want to hear any more. They were in their place and he went off on his own, not just on the witness and document votes but will vote to remove the president and make that a bipartisan vote. It will fail, but it will be bipartis bipartisby pa partisan. Lets talk about this with our panel, george conway, lets take a step back. The historic moment of this is rather startling. This is only the third time in American History theres been a senate vote on whether or not a president should be removed from office, and unlike the Andrew Johnson impeachment removal vote, unlike the bill clinton removal vote, because of mitt romney, it will be a bipartisan vote to remove him from office. It will not succeed. It will not be a super majority vote of 67 votes, but it will be bipartisan for the first too many ever. And on this sad day, senator romneys speech, senator romneys position, his vote is nothing short of inspiring to me. His eloquence in defending his compliance with his oath is truly remarkable because standing alone among 53 republican senators, hes facing it all by himself, and he they have two oaths the senators, one is their regular oath of office to abide by the constitution and preserve, and protect and defend it. The second oath is to do impartial justice. What does that mean . Impartial justice means it shouldnt matter who is in the dock. You do the same thing if its a republican that youd do if it was a democrat, and i cant believe for a moment that those 53 republican senators wouldnt vote to convict a democrat who had done exactly this appalling abuse of power. And mitt romney recognized that, and mitt romney complied with his oath because he did what he would have done if it were anyone else other than a republican president there, and thats the difference between him and the other senators who just are not complying. Senator santorum, i know you disagree . I do. And i have two minds about this. Number one, in many respects i agree with what george said. I think senator romney weighed this, made a decision, and based upon what he laid out and the facts is and circumstances as he saw them, i think the idea that someone else could look at those same facts and circumstances and without partisan intent make a different decision is insulting and i think not accurate. I have im not saying with partisan intent, im not running for anything and i would not have come down where mitt romney did. There may be some for purely partisan, im not suggesting that, but a lot of people looked at the facts, like Lamar Alexander came down on the other side, so i think thats one aspect. The other aspect is i see mitt romney as someone whos trying to find his place in history here a little bit, and you know, john mccain had a very successful career in being just what mitt romney is doing today, and i think maybe the fact that mccain is no longer there, romney sees his role as sort of filling that void and being the contrarian within the party and frankly, just like george did, being praised highly by many for doing so. Mitt romney is somebody, a, who thinks of history, but also thinks of his family, and dont forget who George Romney was. George romney is somebody who ran for president , came out against the war this vietnam, and lost, and ended up marched for civil rights in the 60s. Exactly. And ended up giving up his political career or his National Political career effectively because after he came back from vietnam he said something, i believe, like we were fooled by the generals. I cant he said brainwashed. Brainwashed by the general. He was speaking facetiously, but the media unfairly attacked him for it. Romney talks about his father a lot. I mean, his father was a huge figure in his life, and when i watched romney on the floor today, i thought that romney was thinking of his father, and i remember during president ial debates that ann romney told me that he always had a piece of paper, what would george do on his podium, and so i think when he said my faith has meant a lot, i also think he was thinking of his father meant a lot. And his family meant a lot to him. Just when he was talking about his father, the atlantic has an interview with romney about this decision, and it says throughout the trial romney was guided by his fathers pardon me favorite verse of mormon scripture, search diligently, pray always and be believing and all things shall Work Together for your good. His father and his faith were a big part of that. He was speaking as a minnesota a of faiman of faith. That was the portion that really made him emotional. He could hardly get through it when he talked about swearing an oath before god and how he takes that oath enormous he thinks its an enormously consequential oath, what did god demand of him. Thats what i saw of mitt romney. His father was huge in the mormon faith as well, and that has guided his life for all of his life really, and guided his familys life. Thats what i saw. Hes going to face, john, a lot, a lot of anger from his fellow republicans and others. Let me play you a clip. Here is romney explaining why he has decided that the president of the United States should be removed from office. The president asked a Foreign Government to investigate his political rival. The president withheld vital military funds from that government to press it to do so. The president delayed funds for an american ally at war with russian invaders. The president s purpose was personal and political. Acco accordingly, the president is guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust. John, he doesnt mince any words. No, those are incredibly strong words, and there is no doubt. He was already an outcast in the republican party, and he will be more so now. It is very fair to go back through the history of mitt romney and say that on some policy issues including his own Health Care Plan when he was governor of massachusetts, when he tried to go from being that, a more moderate new england republican, to becoming the president ial nominee republican. He has changed his positions. He has been inconsistent on policy issues. Back to the point he made where he choked up, if youve covered to mitt romney you can question him on the policy issues. You cant question him on the faith. He will be criticized for this, the senators right, hes a politician. Hes trying to find his place in trumps republican party. Every leader is trying to find his or her place, and because of the overwhelming allegiance to this president , he will be criticized for it. But to the point of any politician, forget his party, who talks about his personal faith, you can disagree with it, you can disagree with where he landed but if youve been around him over the years, that part is genuine. Its who he is because of his father, its who he is in his individual life. Its who he is because of his leadership in his church and surrounding his family, when you see his children, his grandchildren and his family. This is part of the romney tradition. You dont have to like it but its gene ewe win. Senator lieberman went to the floor and talked about his faith and what bill clinton did was wrong, although he ultimately was talked out of voting to remove parking lig remove president clinton from office. The last time i remember somebody talking about their faith so much on a decision like this. I can only imagine were about i assume well hear from the president of the United States fairly soon. I can only imagine what hes about to say. Yep, yep. The senate vote on impeachment charges less than an hour away. What his peers are saying about senator romneys decision to vote to convict President Trump. Were going to talk to republican senator tim scott. Thats next. Can my side be firm . And my side super soft . Yes. With the sleep number 360 smart bed, on sale now, you can both adjust your comfort with your sleep number setting. Can it help me fall asleep faster . Yes, by gently warming your feet. But can it help keep me asleep . 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Neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repairs fastest retinol formula works so fast. It takes only one week to reveal younger looking skin. Making wrinkles look so last week. Rapid wrinkle repair® pair with retinol oil for 2 times the wrinkle fighting power. Neutrogena® welcome back, were waiting for a historic vote on the impeachment charges against president donald trump. One senator has said he will vote to acquit President Trump, republican senator of tim scott of south carolina. He was singled out by the president last night in his state of the Union Address. Your colleague from utah threw a little bit of a curve ball into todays proceedings the lets play a little bit of what senator romney just said a few minutes ago on the senate floor. Sounds good. As it is with each senator, my vote is an act of conviction. Weve come to different conclusions, fellow senators, but i trust we have all followed the dictates of our conscience. Whats your reaction to his announcement that he will vote to remove President Trump on impeachment article i . Yeah, im not surprised, to be honest with you. Theres no question that if you look back at the campaign trail, there seems to be an animus between romney and the president for the entire time hes been senator, so its not a surprising conclusion hes drawing. I think its unfortunate and i dont think its consistent with the facts, but its his to make, so i cant question the intentions, but i certainly can say that the consistency of his position led us to at least led me to the conclusion that this is not a surprise at all. Well, he said that he has voted with President Trump 80 of the time, and he photonoted politically its easier for him to vote to acquit President Trump, but hes doing this because of the facts not because of animus. Theres no question mitt romney is going to be consistent with the president s policies. I think theres always been this chasm thats been evident and frankly, palpable to most of us, so i cant speak to the intent of a persons heart. I wont suggest that i am. I am saying that historically speaking that we can look over the last several months and anyone that comes to a conclusion that this is surprising, that is surprising to me. But he obviously has said in his floor speech that he is making this decision based on his request ik convictions of his heart. I am not in a position to question that. Im simply looking at the historical information. Senator romney is one of Many Republican senators who has said that what President Trump did was either inappropriate or wrong, including republican senators thune and sasse and collins murkowski, a majority of the democratic house, a majority of the American People think President Trump abused office. Do you disagree that the president did something wrong in this instance . The conclusion of my colleagues, i assume, is based on the same transcript that i read, and the question that youre having answered is did the president do something impeachable on that call, and the answer those folks that you just named are coming to is the answer is no, he did not. I dont mean impeachable, obviously, you know go ahead. Theyve come to the conclusion. Thats not impeachable. The question is was it proper, and what do you say about whether it was proper or not, and youre hearing from a number of the colleagues who say that while it was not impeachable, it was not proper. I think that goes back to whether or not he was talking about the 2016 election, was he talking about the bidens, and is it ever appropriate for a United States president to speak about and look for information on his opponent . And i would say under in that prism, the answer is no. The question if you ask the question should the president of the United States exclude any citizens from the question of obstruction and corruption, i think the answer is he should not exclude any citizen no matter what office theyre running for, and this really comes to the question of wheres the threshold that the president should not look for rooting out corruption, if you think this is someone whos a serious candidate . Do you think its someone whos a candidate for senator, for congress, or city council, there are a lot of layers that youd have to fold back to come to a real conclusion. Im not sure that thats happened with everyone, but obviously there are a lot of folks that believe that he did something improper. But youre not one of them . Well, i think that the question should he look for ways to root out corruption, my answer is he should. Did he do something that was impeachable, my answer is hes innocent of anything impeachable, but was it a perfect call . Ive said from my first interview to this interview that it was not a perfect call. Certainly i wish he wouldnt have mentioned the name biden, but i dont find that his once again, i dont know the intent of his heart. I dont find that the information, the evidence suggests that there was no reason for us to have a serious concern about burisma and corruption. Okay, so youre saying its not a perfect call and perhaps that you wouldnt go about the same thing were you in the same shoes, that you wish he hadnt said bidens. Do you think that President Trump should be a bit more contrite about the call even though clearly you dont think it rises to the level of impeachable or removable . Should he be apoll geogetic . Should he be chastened in any way . The president will not be apologetic. I think he thinks it was a perfect call. I think he actually believes that. I dont know that you should expect anything different from President Trump. I am looking forward, however, to working on other priorities of the American People that we should be getting to, and i hope that were getting to it as i used to say, click fast and in a hurry. Come back and talk about other things with us, please, tim scott, south carolina. As we wait for this historic vote, we are also getting some more e results from the iowa caucuses, believe it or not. Will that change the strategy in New Hampshire for any of the democratic president ial candidates . Remember them . Stay with us. Tax refund than you deserve . Thats a reason to switch to jackson hewitt. No one gets you a bigger refund or you get 100. Yep, get your biggest refund or we pay you. Guaranteed. And heres another reason to switch to jackson hewitt. Yes. Yes. Yeah sure. Yes. Yes. Yeah, yeah no problem. Yes. Yes, yes a thousand times yes discover. Accepted at over 95 of places in the u. S. A clear plan for retirement to help cover the essentials, as well as all the things you want to do. 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Lets start with the latest news, was the white house, as far as we know the president , expecting senator romney to vote to convict . Reporter well, wolf, going into this day, white house officials were pretty clear eyed about where romney has been, what hes been saying over the last few weeks, but they had seemed to be holding out a little bit hope that this vote was going to be bipartisan but not in the way that mitt romney just made it. They were actually hoping some of those red state democrats would cross over, vote to acquit the president , and so they were essentially holding out hope that mitt romney would not vote to convict the president on either of these charges, and President Trump himself seemed to even believe that there was a little bit of a chance of that. Now of course you see that is not going to be the decision here judging by what mitt romney said. The president was actually expected to be in front of reporters around 2 00 when mitt romney was making this speech, but the white house canceled that for the press to come into the oval office with the president at the last minute. So we did not get to hear his thoughts on all of this. And wolf, we should note one other thing that white house officials have been talking about over the last several days, if mitt romney did vote to convict the president was what an awkward it puts his niece, ronna romney mcdaniel. Shes very close with the president and his campaign manager. She speaks with him often. She is here having to issue statements saying that she and the rest of the gop stand with President Trump on this. Very interesting. Will the president s Legal Defense team be up on capitol hill in the senate during todays roll call for the Impeachment Vote . Reporter yeah, the whole Impeachment Defense Team is expected to be up there. The legislative Affairs Director is up there right now avoiding answering questions directly on mitt romneys decision, but they will be there for this vote to come todown and like we said, ty are still hoping some of those red state democrats will cross over to acquit the president. That is still to be determined as well as if p we are going to hear from the president on this. Of course, wolf, its expected we will at some point. The question is just when and how. All right, kaitlan thank you very much. The news on romney thats going forward. Were still only a few minutes away from the top of the hour when there will be the actual vote in the u. S. Senate. Are there other surprises that may be in store . Well be right back. Danafarber Cancer Institute discovered the pdl1 pathway. Pdl1. They changed how the world fights cancer. Blocking the pdl1 protein, lets the immune system attack, attack, attack cancer. Pdl1 transformed, revolutionized, immunotherapy. Pdl1 saved my life. Saved my life. Saved my life. What we do here at danafaber, changes lives everywhere. Everywhere. Everywhere. Everywhere. Everywhere. Its almost like a challenge everyday mywws been an amazing journey. To see how well i can eat and still enjoy myself all day long. I wake up every morning to see how much weight ive lost and how much better i look. Myww join today with the ww triple play lets listen in to the Senate Minority lead you are chuck schumer. The facts are not seriously in dispute. In fact, several republican senators admitted they believe the president committed this offense with varying degrees of aprobe ree yum, inappropriate, wrong, shameful. Almost all republicans will argue, however, that this reprehensible conduct does not rise to the level of an Impeachable Offense. The founders could not have been clearer. William davy, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention deemed impeachment, quote, an essential security lest the president spare no efforts or means, whatever to get himself reelected. James madison offered a specific list of Impeachable Offenses during the debate in independence hall, a president might lose his capacity or embezzle public funds, a despicable soul might succumb to bribes while in office. Madison then arrived at what he believed was the worst conduct a president could engage in, the president could betray his trust to foreign powers, which would be fatal to the republic. Madisons words. When i studied the constitution in the federalist papers in high school, admittedly i was skeptical of George Washingtons warning that, quote, foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government unquote. It seemed so farfetched. Who would dare . But the foresight and wisdom of the founders endures. Madison was right. Washington was right. There is no greater subversion of our democracy than for powers outside of our borders to determine elections within them. If americans believe that they dont determine their senator, their governor, their president but rather some foreign poe ten take does, thats the beginning of the end of democracy. For a foreign country to attempt such a thing on its own is contemptib contemptible, for an american president to deliberately solicit such a thing, to blackmail a foreign country into helping him win an election is unforgivable. Now does this rise to the level of Impeachable Offense . Of course it does. Of course it does. The term high crimes derives from english law. Crimes were committed between subjects of the monarchy. High crimes were committed against the crown itself. The framers did not design a monarchy. They designed a democracy, a nation where the people were king, high crimes are those committed against the entire people of the United States. The president sought to cheat the people out of a free and fair election. How could such an offense not be deemed a high crime, a crime against the people. As one constitutional scholar in the house judiciary hearings testified, if this is not impeachable, nothing is. I agree. I judge that President Trump is guilty of the first article of impeachment. The second article of impeachment is equally straightforward. Once the president realized he got caught, he tried to cover it up. The president asserted blanket immunity. He categorically defied congressional subpoenas, ordered his aides not to testify, and withheld the production of relevant documents. Even president nixon, author of the most infamous president ial coverup in history, permitted his aides to testify in congress in the watergate investigation. The idea that the Trump Administration was properly invoking the various rights and privileges of the presidency is nonsense. At each stage of the house inquiry the administration conjured up a different bad faith justification for evading accountability. There is no circumstance under which the administration would have complied. When i asked the president s counsel twice to name one document or one witness the president provided to congress they could not answer. It cannot be that the president by dint of legal shamelessness can escape scrutiny entirely. Once again, the facts are not in dispute, but some have sought to portray the second article of impeachment as somehow less important than the first. It is not. The second article of impeachment is necessary if congress is to ever hold the president accountable again, democrat or republican. The consequences of sanctioning such categorical obstruction of congress would be far reaching, and they will be irreparable. I judge that President Trump is guilty of the second article of impeachment. The senate should convict President Trump, remove him from the presidency, and disqualify him from holding future office. The guilt of the president on these charges is so obvious that here again, several republican senators admit that the house has proved its case. So instead of maintaining the president s innocence, the president s counsel ultimately told the senate that even if the president did what he was accused of its not impeachable. This has taken the form of an escalating series of dershowitzian arguments, including, quote, abuse of power is not an Impeachable Offense, quote, the president cant be impeached for noncriminal conduct, but he also cant be indicted for criminal conduct. Quote, if a president believes his own reelection is essential to the nation, then a quid pro quo is not corrupt. These are the excuses of a child caught in a lie. Each explanation more outlandish and desperate than the last. It would be laughable if not for the fact that the cumulative effect of these arguments would render not just this president but all president s immune from impeachment and therefore above the law. Now, several members of this chamber said that even if the president is guilty and even if its impeachable, the senate still shouldnt convict the president because theres an election coming up. As if the framers forgot about elections when they wrote the impeachment clause. If the founders believed that even when a president is guilty of an Impeachable Offense that the next election should decide his fate, they never would have included an impeachment clause in the constitution. That much is obvious. Alone each of the defenses advanced by the president s counsel comes close to being preposterous. Together, they are as dangerous to the republic as this president , a fig leaf so large as to excuse any president ial misconduct, unable to defend the president , arguments were found to make him a king. Let future generations know that only a fraction of the senate swallowed these fantasies. The rest of us condemn them to the ash heap of history, and the derision of first year law students everywhere. We are only the third senate in history to sit as a court of impeachment for the president. The task we were given was not easy, but the framers gave the senate this responsibility because they could not imagine any other body capable of it. They considered others but they entrusted us to us and the senate failed. The Republican Caucus trained its outrage not only conduct of the president but on the impeachment process in the house deriding falsely an alleged lack of fairness and thoroughness. The conjured outrage was so blinding that the republican majority ended up guilty of the very sins it falsely accused the house of committing. It conducted the least fair, least thorough, most rushed impeachment trial in the history of this country. A simple majority of senators denied the senates right to examine relevant evidence, to call witnesses, to review documents, and to properly try, try the impeachment of the president making this the first impeachment trial in history that heard from no witnesses. A simple majority of senators in deference to and most likely in fear of the president of their party perpetrated a great miscarriage of justice in the trial of President Trump. As a result, the verdict of this Kangaroo Court will be meaningless. By refausing the facts, by refusing witnesses and documents, the republican majority has placed a giant asterisk, the asterisk of a sham trial next to the acquittal of President Trump written in permanent ink. Acquittal in an unfair trial with this giant asterisk, the asterisk of a sham trial, is worth nothing at all to President Trump or to anybody else. No doubt the president will boast he received total exonerati exoneration, but we know better. We know this wasnt a trial by any stretch of the definition, and the American People know it too. Weve heard a lot about the framers over the past several weeks, about the impeachment clause they forged, the separation of powers they wrougt the conduct they most feared in our chief magistrate, but there is something the founders considered even more fundamental to our republic, truth. The founders had seen and studied societies governed by the iron fist of tyrants and the divine right of kings, but none by argument rational thinking, facts, debate. Hamilton said the American People would determine, quote, whether societies are really capable of establishing Good Government from reflection and choice or forever destined to dependent on accident and force. And what an astonishing thing the founders did. They placed a bet with long odds. They believed that reflection and choice would make us capable of selfgovernment, that we wouldnt agree on everything, but at least we could agree on a common baseline of fact and of truth. They wrote a constitution with the remarkable idea that even the most powerful person in our country was not above the law and could be put on trial, a trial, a place where you seek truth. The faith our founders placed in us makes the failure of this senate even more damning. Our nation was founded on the idea of truth, but there was no truth here. The republican majority couldnt let truth into this trial. The republican majority refused to get the evidence because they were afraid of what it might show. Our nation was founded on the idea of truth, but in order to countenance this president you have to ignore the truth. Republicans walked through the halls with their heads down. They didnt see the tweet. They cant respond to everything he says. They hope he learned his lesson this time. Yes, maybe this time he learned his lesson. Our nation was founded on truth, but in order to excuse this president , you have to willfully ignore the truth and indulge in the president s conspiracy theories. Millions of people voted illegally, the deep state is out to get him, ukraine interfered in our elections, you must attempt to normalize his behavior. Obama did it, too, they falsely claim. Democrats are just as bad. Our nation was founded on the idea of truth, but this president is such a menace, so c contempts y contem contemptuous, so dishonorous, that you must ignore the sacrifice of truth to maintain his favor. The trial of this president , his failure reflects the central challenge of this presidency and maybe the central challenge of this time in our democracy. You cannot be on the side of this president and be on the side of truth, and if we are to survive as a nation, we must choose truth because if the truth doesnt matter. If the news you dont like is fake, if cheating in an election is acceptable, if everyone is as wicked as the wickedest among us, then the hope for the future is lost. The eyes of the nation are upon this senate, and what they see will strike doubt in the heart of even the most ardent patriot. The house managers established the president abused the great power of his office to try to cheat in an election, and the Senate Majority is poised to look the other way. So i direct my final message not to the house managers, not even to my fellow senators, but to the American People. My message is simple dont lose hope. There is justice in this world and truth and right. I believe that. I wouldnt be in this government if i didnt. Somehow in ways we cant predict with gods mysterious hand guiding us, truth and right will prevail. There have been dark periods in our history, but we always overcome. The senates opening prayer yesterday was amos 5 24, let justice roll down like water, righteousness like an ever flowing stream. The long arc of the moral universe, my fellow americans does bend towards justice. America does change for the better but not on its own. It took millions of americans hundreds of years to make this country what it is today. Americans of every age and color and creed who marched and protested, who stood up and sat in, americans who defended this democracy, this beautiful democracy in its darkest hours. On memorial day in 1884, Oliver Wendal Holmes told his war weary audience that, quote, where the one accepts from fortune her spade and will look downward and dig or from aspiration her acts and cord and will scale the ice, the one and only success, which is yours to command, is to bring to your work a mighty heart. I have confidence that americans of a different generation, our generation, will bring to our work a mighty heart, to fight for whats right, to fight for the truth, and never, never lose faith. Yield the floor. All right, that was the democratic majority leader senator chuck schumer. We expect in a moment to have more, and i will bring it to you. And jeffrey toobin, we want to bring you in and we know that there is going to be a bipartisan vote to remove a president from office for the first time in American History and as every other time in American History, it will fail. But we will see sfitif it is a bipartisan vote to acquit. We dont know how joe manchin is going to vote. Oh, there is mitch mcconnell. There because fever that might reach the floor from time to time. They knew that the country would need a partisan wall to keep flames from scorching, scoffing the republic and so they created the senate. And so formed out of a stable of an institution of the government. Today, we will fulfill this founding purpose. We will reject this incoherent case that comes nowhere near, nowhere near to justify the first president ial removal in history. This partisan impeachment will end today. But, i fear that the threat to the institutions may not. Because this episode is one of a symptom of something much deeper. In the last three years, the opposition to this president has come to revolve around a truly dangerous concept. Leaders in the opposite party increasingly argue that if our institutions dont produce the outcomes they like, our institutions themselves must be broken. One side has decided that defeat simply means the whole system is broken. That we literally tear up the rules. And write new ones. Normally, normally, when a party loses an election, it accepts defeat. It reflects and retools. But not this time. Within months, secretary clinton was suggesting that her defeat was invalid. She called her president illegitimate. Former president falsely claimed that President Trump did not actually win. He lost the election, the former president said. And members of congress have used similar rhetoric. A Disinformation Campaign weakening confidence in our democracy. The very real issue of foreign election interference was abused to fuel conspiracy theories. For years prominent voices said that there had been a secret conspiracy between the president s campaign and a Foreign Government. But when the Mueller Investigation and the Senate Intelligence committee debunked that, the delegitimateizing effort, it didnt stop. It didnt stop. Remember what chairman schiff said here on the floor. He suggested that if if the American People reelect President Trump, in november, that election will be presumptively invalid as well. That is chairman schiff on this floor. Saying, if the American People reelect President Trump this november, that election going to be presumptively invalid as well. So they still dont, still dont accept the American Voters last decision. Now, they are preparing the reject the voters next decision if they dont like the outcome. Not only the last decision, but the next decision. Heads we win, tails you cheated. Who can trust our democracy anyway they say. This kind of talk creates more fear and division than our foreign adversary is could achieve in their wildest dream. As dr. Hill testified our adversaries seek to divide us against each other, degrade our institutions and destroy the faith of the American People in our democracy. And as she noted if americans are consumed by the part san rancor, we can easily do that work for them. The architects of this impeachment claimed they were defending norms and traditions. In reality it was an assault on both. First, the house attacked its own precedence on fairness and due process, and by rushing to use the impeachment power as a political weapon of first resort. Then there are articles attacking the office of the presidency, and then they attacked the senate and called us treacherous. Then the far left tried to impugn the chief justice for remaining neutral in the trial. And now, and now for the final act, the speaker of the house is trying to steal the senates sole power to render a verdict. Speaker says, just refuse to accept this acquittal. The speaker of the house says that she refuses to accept this acquittal. Whatever that means. Perhaps she will tear up the verdict like she tore up the state of the Union Address. So i would ask my distinguished colleagues across the aisle, is this really, really where you want to go . The president isnt the president. An acquittal isnt an acquittal. Attack institutions until they get their way. Even my colleagues who may not agree with this president must see the insanity of this logic. It is like saying that you are so worried about a bull in the china shop that you want to bulldoze the china shop to chase it out. Heres the most troubling part. The most troubling part. There is no sign that this attack on the institutions will end here. In recent months, democratic president ial candidates and candidates have toyed with a filibuster so that the senate could approve radical persuasion. And so they sent a brief to the court threatening political retribution if the justices did not decide a case they wanted. We have seen the proposals to turn the fcc into to a partisan body for the first time ever, the body who oversees the elections. All of these things, the toxic temptation to stop debating the policy within our great governing traditions and instead to declare a war on the traditions themselves. A war on the traditions themselves. So, colleagues, whatever policy differences we may have, we should all agree that this is the precisely type of recklessness that the senate was created to stop. The response to losing one election cannot be to attack the office of the presidency. The response to losing several elections cannot be to threaten the electoral college. The response to losing a court case cannot be to threaten the judiciary. The response to losing a vote cannot be to threaten the senate. We simply cannot let factional fever break the institution. It must work the other way as hamilton and madison intended, the institutions must break the fever rather than the other way around. The framers built the senate to keep the temporary rage from doing permanent damage to our republic. The framers built the senate to keep temporary rage from doing permanent damage to our republic. That, mr. President , is what we will do when we end this precedentbreaking impeachment. We will look back on this vote and say this was the day that the fever began to break. I hope that we will not say, this was just the beginning. I ask unanimous consent for the senate to stand in recess subject to the call of the chair. Without objection, the Senate Stands in recess subject to the call of the chair. Im jake tapper her