Gris it would be extremely dangerous precedent to set for the future Presidents and congresses in making an appeal to the judicial branch into a high crime and misdemeanor unquote here's the deal impeachment was never intended to be a remedy for political disagreements it wasn't intended to be a remedy even for legal disagreements between the legislative branch in the executive branch that's why there's a 3rd branch of government that's why we have the judiciary this is a very dangerous road indeed as president Professor Turley noted and I hope and pray that future Congresses can and will exercise greater restraint and has what what's been shown by Chairman shift and Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Adler in the rest of the stability of our republic is going to depend on that in the future and I pray that we can put this genie back in the bottle you know back. For what purpose does the gentleman from Florida seek recognition and strike to move to strike the last word. Gentlewoman's recognize Thank you you know it's truly disheartening to hear my colleagues on the other side argue in favor of crippling the very institution that they're a part of the power of impeachment has built and due process is dead Powell of Florida Democrat people's Julie elected representatives and we members of Congress are empowered to hold to account corrupt and criminal presidents when the president of strikes and impeachment inquiry he's obstructing the people who have a right to know how the president is running their government after all that is the basis of our government by the people for the people we have requested hundreds of documents and have been provided with absolutely not one document the president has actually instructed the State Department to not give us the information that we've asked he has told witnesses people that we have subpoenaed to come in front of Congress to testify. To not come and testify talk about a dangerous president I think that the people deserve to know how he's using the office of the presidency to advance his own interests above those of the people whom he was elected to serve the president has abused his office and is now using that power of the office to hide the extent of that abuse from the people that is abuse of power that is an impeachable offense and I just want to end by saying that it is also palling that throughout this process the president and the Republican Party have continuously attacked foreign service officers the men and women of the military our intelligence community those who protect us every day undermining our national 6 security they are patriots and they should be treated as such after all we are all Americans I yield back General back for purposes Mr Gohmert seek recognition rise in support of the gentleman straight to his word. Yes we do journalism. You know Louie Gohmert Republican of Texas so surreal. It's seems that we've come to a time when right is wrong wrong is right bullies are the victims and the victims are called Bullies this is for 3 years this president has been harassed he's been electronically survey old spied upon as normal people would call it allegations have never ceased they continue and they're continuing today at some point you would think that someone would look at the buf says. By Congress by the Justice Department friends of our Democrats by the f.b.i. Friends of our Democrats who hated the president when he was nothing but a candidate at some point somebody would go this is out of control we need to step back and say Way way this this train is off the tracks it's time to get and here's the word reasonable what's gone on the last 3 years is not reasonable there's a doctrine those who are turning is know you're going to try to pursue some remedy you need to have clean hands the majority has been so abusive sure this is ministration has produced tons of witnesses after subpoenas some without sometimes it's just negotiated But normally what happens is a subpoena is received and it means you're not going to be able to use an agency attorney even though and the agency attorney will not be allowed and even though the only way that the witness can appear and have executive privilege is properly claimed is to have an agent see your department attorney with them and that's when things get negotiated and get worked out but some of our friends know that if they are abusive enough with subpoenas and with law fair just not warfare but using the law as a weapon. You can run people out of Walvis they successfully did that didn't you leave suing Sarah paling. Ryan Zinke couldn't afford to keep hiring individual lawyers when Agency lawyers can come this is the kind of stuff that's been going on and so. This will end up since our friends are not being reasonable we're not willing to negotiate with the administration so agency lawyers could come claim executive privilege even though the target kept changing and know what they were going to come tested by about they were being accused of all kinds of different thing that kept changing and it's changed even in the last 48 hours total 24 hours it's change how do you defend yourself when the charge keep changing I mean this is like a Stalin asked cock court system. You know you don't get to meet and cross-examine your witnesses and in fact we'll just have some law professor that's paid by our friends come in and explain what the witnesses probably said did say what it is that's all you need to hear if you're going to vote on guilt or innocence impeachment or not you don't need to hear the witnesses we don't need no stinking witnesses just bring us the chance to vote and we will vote it is an outrage there is nothing reasonable about what's gone on and especially it is so ironic this is the same week when the corruption of the Department of Justice is been shown and there is no sorrow no apology no remorse whatsoever by this incredible abusive system so the obstruction of Congress is by people in Congress. The administration has not been unreasonable. They've seen what has happened when this abuse of justice department gets people in a perjury trap they've got nothing to go on but if we can get you in and get you to test them we can prosecute you would you make a mistake while you're testifying it was very very reasonable not to become manager of the subpoenas when you couldn't have an agency lawyer and there was no negotiation with the. Gentleman you back for what purpose does Ms Dean's mission to strike the last word it was recognized throughout the course of this investigation we've seen a stark contrast says Madeline Deane a Democrat of Pennsylvania to tell the truth and those who have turned a blind eye to the truth and so tonight to those patriots I want to lift you up I want to tell you thank you I am in all of you I'm in awe of your courage to uphold your oath at great personal sacrifice and professional cost patriots like Lieutenant Colonel Colonel Alexander Vandeman Purple Heart recipient and Iraq war veteran Ambassador William Taylor bronze star reception and Vietnam War veteran Marie you have on a bench extraordinary former ambassador to Ukraine who joined the Foreign Service during the Reagan administration Dr Fiona Hill Dr former deputy assistant to the president and senior director of Europe and Russia on the National Security Council and so many others more than a dozen other witnesses in this is ministration confirm the details of the wrongdoing of a president. They described a president who reflects it reflexively and repeatedly abused his power for personal gain jeopardizing our security and our own democracy these Patriots had the courage to live up to their oath their words mattered Patriots my family knows something about the sacrifice of service 2 of my brothers served in the Navy during the Vietnam War My brother Bob serving 2 tours in Vietnam and I'm lucky to serve with those who have served on my own staff 1st lieutenant Collin Mylan who was recently called to service to active duty and staffers to Mack and Dave Karger and proud Marines now as members of Congress it is our turn to stand up Dr King once said The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience it's where he stands in times of challenge and controversy this is a time of great challenge and some of my colleague colleagues do not want to face the realities of a president's wrongdoings and so I ask my colleagues tonight what are you afraid of . This country was built by those who were brave enough to stand up against King George we are called to stand up against Donald j. Trump what are you afraid of look to our framers look to our patriots for courage because this is about courage the courage to honor our oath my oath your oath Mr Chairman I will with somberness of purpose yet with confidence in our constitution the voting no on this amendment and be voting yes on these articles of impeachment. And with that I yield back is chairman Lake general 80 years back who seeks him what purpose does Mr Big seek recognition who said last word in his regular Thank you Mr Chairman I support the dollar Amendment and he takes Republican donors are this to you charging the president with obstruction of Congress is frankly unprecedented and in itself it threatens our system of government the principles of separation of powers and checks and balances demand that a president be permitted to resist demands that the president finds overly broad burdensome harassing or otherwise violative of his constitutional privileges it is an absurdity to claim that the granting of to Congress of the sole power than Pietschmann implies duties to the president to cooperate in any and all congressional requests no matter their merit disputes between the branches are actually a feature they're a feature of our of our system they're not a bug in the system the branches are required to engage in a process of accommodation to reach an agreement that takes into account the relative equities of the side of both sides but both branches have rights and interest to protect we do the executive does if those disputes cannot be resolved the courts are to step in anything less threatens the separation of powers that is the very foundation of this constitution. This majority is taking the position quite frankly a dubious position that despite their president to the country that a vote of the full House is not required to nope an impeachment proceeding. Think of the implication of that any row Committee chairman can on his or her own commits an impeachment proceeding against a president that chairman can then submit whatever subpoenas and document requests they wish under the theory of these articles the president has no choice but to comply with the single row Committee chairman because his failure to do so would be impeachable How does that comport with the separation of powers now should not be able to artificially created in an impeachable offense through its own actions president trumps actions are not unprecedented many presidents have defied congressional subpoenas including President Obama on many occasions as my colleague from Louisiana just pointed out a moment ago many presidents have outright refused to cooperate with congressional investigations as well and I'm going to give you 3 historical. Cases that are not artifacts but are actual cases where for instance President Jackson said an $837.00 he called a House subpoena illegal and unconstitutional unconstitutional stating that he would repel all such attempts as an invasion of the principles of justice as well as of the Constitution and he shall esteem it his sacred duty to the people of the United States to resist them as he would the establishment of a Spanish Inquisition. That's from interjection later President Coolidge said in a New York Times article from April 24th he that he sent a message in that op ed piece to the Senate saying that he would cease to participate in their unwarranted intrusion and questioning the legitimacy of their investigation. And in 1948 for instance President Truman an executive published an executive order in the Federal Register ordering executive departments to respectfully decline any subpoena pertaining to congressional investigation into ins executive branch personnel. And then we have the recent Obama example so if you had a problem you don't necessarily the chairman said that well that he didn't exert privilege Well actually he claimed executive privilege in a very broad way y'all were you know very discussed about we mission we did it but typically what would happen is I dish you a subpoena have it served the person doesn't show up yes what we do we go into court and we provide prove the provenance of our subpoena. The court then issues an additional order maybe it's a warrant for arrest maybe it's a fine maybe it's a contempt citation but we have bail ourselves of the process you haven't done that and you haven't done it because Mr Schiff says so just last week because he didn't want to take the time. To avail himself of the process that you claim you're defending. And that is precisely why. Professor Turley and all who look at this with objective eyes say you are the ones abusing the process you are abusing Congress and you're abusing the president and the executive branch but I'm afraid what happens is we actually denigrate our body and we did a great the very process that we claim to be protecting today that are you backed your enemy backward purposes and. Move to strike the last or at least we're going to thank you Chairman. We've heard our Veronica Escobar Democrat of Texas obstruction of Congress has not happened one of our colleagues called the charge ridiculous another colleague said quote The president has consistently cooperated with Democrats a stunning statement you know I've had the incredible privilege of serving on the House Judiciary Committee now for almost a year we were the freshman were sworn in January 3rd and we've had many many many hearings and there's a thread that runs through all those hearings especially those hearings where we are trying to provide proper oversight over the president of the United States and that thread is that my colleagues complain bitterly about our efforts to be a check our efforts to perform our obligation to the Constitution and our efforts to provide oversight we hear time and time again. And this idea that the president has cooperated that is the claim that is actually absurd in fact during some of our oversight hearings we heard the president say that he was covered under absolute immunity without listing the documents or the reasons why he deserved absolute immunity and no president not even Richard Nixon no president has refused to honor subpoenas during impeachment so if you can imagine this president has achieved a new low and lowered the bar significantly if it were not for the Patriots and I associate myself with the statement by Representative Dean who thanked them they are heroes they put their reputations their names their safety and their security at risk so that they could defend this country and defend the Constitution and uphold the oath of office that the oath that they took as public servants. But let's find out just how cooperative This president has been during this investigation and I'd like to ask Representative Swalwell my colleague who serves on intelligence representative Swalwell how many documents did you all request during this investigation 74 in a way of. On pages 30 and 31 of the intelligence committee finance it was 71 documents to the White House and how many witnesses. 12 witnesses we asked to show up for the president directed to not sure how many so just so the American public understands so you requested 72 documents 12 witnesses how many documents and how many witnesses did the president provide. 12 were asked shortly director the not show up 0 of the 7171 documents were provided thank you so much Representative Swalwell I want to ask the American people what is the president trying to hide from you why is he trying to keep you in the dark if he has nothing to hide then let him come forward with those documents and those witnesses. I want to conclude by just touching a little bit on something I mentioned last night unfortunately we've come to expect this kind of behavior from the president and this really is a very very tragic moment in American history a very dark moment in American history. But it's made even more tragic by enablers who seek to make sure that they protect one man at any cost $1.00 man who is not for America one man who is for himself. This is a reckoning for us and this is a moment when we should be standing with the Patriots. I am very proud as dark as this moment is I am very proud to stand with the Patriots here on this committee . And I will continue to stand with the Patriots who defend this country Mr Chairman I yield back generally the years back to work purposes Mr Oh sorry what purpose does Mr currency recognition. The strike last for Gentlemen thank you Mr Chairman. We've already told Klein Republican of Virginia lack of evidence in support of the 1st article of impeachment the abuse of power article. They can't prove bribery they can't prove extortion they can't even prove a campaign finance violation so they don't have the elements to prove any crime they created one and said that there was quote no higher crime there are higher crimes or actual crimes but since the president then commit one here we are it's laughable if it weren't so sad we do know a few things though the same for facts that have been repeated throughout both President Trump and President Selenski have said there were no pressure on the call there was no conditionality of aid in the call transcript the Ukrainians were not aware that the aid was withheld when the president spoke. And we have the Time magazine article involving Andrew Yarmuk which hasn't been pursued by this committee and 4th Ukraine didn't open investigation but still receive the aid and a meeting with President Trump you know my colleague said earlier we can't prove any of it so we're going to accuse him of all of it and call it abuse of power that's it to a point so now we have an article The 2nd article charging obstruction of Congress . The Democrats have alleged that the president directed the unprecedented categorical and indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas issued by the House of Representatives but the facts don't match up with these claims president has legitimate constitutional privileges and the courts can and should determine the boundaries of these privileges. The White House released to call transcripts to the public for review during this process ambassador silence said the president told him Go tell the truth when the ambassador told the president he was asked to testify before Congress in addition these claims of obstruction ignore the appropriate role of the 3rd branch of government to review conflicts between the executive and Congress the majority by seeking to impeach the president for failing to yield to their demands in an oversight or impeachment investigation fails to distinguish instances where prior presidents sought the very same review while withholding testimony and documents they also ignore instances where the 2 branches negotiated in good faith over the return of documents but after the failed failure of the majority to negotiate in good faith over the rules for this very impeachment proceeding why would we think. That there would be an effort by the president to acknowledge and work in good faith to resolve said dispute better that in their minds to wait for the courts to resolve it which is their right. President Obama during the Fast and Furious investigation invoked executive privilege and barred essential testimony in documents during its litigation the Obama administration argued the courts had no authority over its denial of such witnesses and evidence to Congress. But the federal court and Committee on Oversight and Government Reform versus holder disagreed. Professor Turley in his testimony to this committee testified that he thinks the Democrats impeachment process is an abuse of power. He said quote What I'm saying is that if you want a will be a legitimate impeachment case to set this abbreviated schedule demand documents and then impeach because they haven't been turned over when they go to a court when the president goes to a court I think that is an abuse of power if you make a high crime and misdemeanor out of going to the courts it is an abuse of power it's your abuse of power. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and I yield back the balance of my time gentlemen us back for purposes of misdiagnoses where you should move to strike the last word it is recognized Thank you Mr Chairman my Republican colleagues was child democratic a lot of excuses today and so I want to go through the ones that we've heard the most 1st they've said that the president's behavior was all about his supposedly legitimate concern about corruption but what we know is that all of President Trump's agencies all of his advisers everyone unanimously told him that Ukraine had passed all the anti-corruption benchmarks what we know 6 is that the Department of Defense said no further review on Ukraine corruption was necessary what we know is the president trumps a budget cut aid for Ukraine designed to fight Ukraine corruption and what we know is that President Trump before both the calls with President Selenski in April and July was given official talking points official talking points on corruption in Ukraine and yet he never used those talking points in fact he never mentioned the word corruption on either call the only 2 names the president mentioned were Joe and Hunter Biden on July 25th. 2nd excuse the Republicans put forward they suggest that this was all about the president's desire to get the European Union to share more of the burden of foreign assistance Well let's look at that Mr Holmes told us that Europe provides 4 times as much assistance more aid to Ukraine then we do and actually the United States aid largely gets paid back on top of that Ambassador saw and President Trump's ambassador to the European Union testified clearly that nobody ever told him to go to the European Union and actually ask for more military aid to be provided that simply wasn't the case the only thing that President Trump told Ambassador Sana and to communicate to Ukraine what was that he told us that resumption of aid would likely not occur unless President Selenski announced the investigations and Ambassador sama made clear and this is a quote unless Selenski went to the mike and announced these investigations there would be a stalemate over the aid. So what were the what were these investigations 2016 election interference and worries mark meaning the Bidens So finally left with no other defenses my Republican colleagues say the president trumped had a legitimate reason to investigate Vice President Biden but once again let's look at the facts that makes no sense whatsoever the minorities all report states that the allegations against the Bidens were from 20152015 but President Trump readily gave military aid to Ukraine and 2017 and then again in 2018 president trumps own aides told him that there was no merit to with these investigations So what changed what led to the sudden push to hold up Congressionally approved desperately needed military aid without telling anybody the reason Vice President Biden began beating President Trump in the polls the evidence is clear. When President Trump said Do us a favor though who was the us we know we know who the us was because he said it President Trump told President Selenski that his personal attorney his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani quote very much knows what's going on President Trump could have gone through official channels of he wanted he could've asked for the attorney general to conduct an investigation he could have conducted all sorts of legitimate investigations but he did it and we know that too because the Department of Justice said that President Trump never asked them to do any investigations or even talk to you crane Instead President Trump asked his personal attorney because us was not about America the president was not putting America 1st this wasn't official policy this wasn't what was right for our country every witness told us that to this was personal it was all for president Trump's personal political gain to benefit his own campaign and his reelection and that's why he used his personal attorney to do that he abused his power he abused the power entrusted to him by we the people and he placed our safety millions of dollars of taxpayer money on the table that is an abuse of power we must impeach Donald j. Trump yield back generally of us back we're privileged as Mr Armstrong nation the last word in the mood is recognized. Talk about obstruction of Congress and so Armstrong a Republican from North Dakota for a little bit and the Democratic majority is abuse of subpoenas and how it started and it started in this committee with a subpoena to the attorney general Bill Barr that compliance with that simply known would have required him to violate the law so like a reasonable rational deliberative body we are what did we do we held him in contempt we held the attorney general of the United States in contempt of Congress for not violating the law. But it gets better because after that we held a hearing in judiciary about whether or not we should have held them in contempt. Oversight Democrats subpoenaed documents from Commerce legal documents relating directly to a case that was pending in front of the Supreme Court and as I stated earlier those same Democrats had oversight subpoenaed the personal e-mails of President Trump's children Democrats and Ways and Means have subpoenaed presidents Trump attack which tax returns for purely political purposes speaking of politics Adam Schiff use the subpoena power of the Intelligence Committee to obtain phone records he then released the phone records of a member of the press and the ranking member and his political opponent. But we think you know we have when you are going to you cannot weaponize the subpoena power of Congress in order to rouse the executive branch and then not expect the executive branch to use every legal remedy at their disposal supposal to oppose those subpoenas. You can continue with an impeachment proceeding it's a political proceeding but what you cannot do is charge obstruction because you're going to continue long continue faster than allowing the courts to decide it and before I before I finish I'd just like to point out a couple things you know we haven't subpoenaed Ambassador Bolton he basically begged to have one issue do we have been subpoenaed the whistleblower we have been subpoenaed out in shifts we haven't subpoenaed Adam Schiff staff member who talked with a whistleblower we haven't subpoenaed all the people that the whistleblower mentioned he talked to in relation to this Concord and that in this phone call so if we want to talk about abuse and obstruction and why these things are going on I think as another comment my Professor Turley said in a different theory we've met the enemy and he is us and with that I yield back you know me it's back to what purpose does the this Mr Judge the recognition of strikes last word and his regular I think it was Chairman Mr Chairman there are 2 articles of impeachment Democrat of Florida vitally important obstruction of Congress matters to all of us who value the separation of powers here in the house and it will matter to all of those who value the separation of powers in the United States Senate article one vests in the house the sole power of impeachment that's set forth in the Constitution so what is the president done President Trump is the 1st and only president in American history to openly and indiscriminately defy all aspects of the constitutional process our Tobar $26.00 the president argue that Congress should not even be allowed to impeach him under the constitution and then on October 8th White House counsel acting on behalf of the president wrote a letter to the house and said that President Trump cannot permit his administration to participate. Well this is not a fishing expedition this is a matter of grave importance and we've talked about at length the abuse of power that the president has exhibited but what why did the president refused to produce what we we've heard about the dozen officials that he's blocked but what about all of the documents that we've asked for what about the witnesses who did come forward who told us about the briefing materials for president Trump's call with President Saleh that were prepared by Lieutenant Colonel Vin and the National Security Council staff summaries of conclusions for meetings relating to Ukraine including military assistance and what about the memorandum of conversation from President terms meeting in New York with President Selenski on September 25th and one of the all of the additional documents from the vice president the notes taken by Jennifer Williams during the call between President Trump of presidents Alinsky their briefing materials prepare for the vice president's meeting president's Alinsky. And I never 24th a news report revealed the White House conducted an intro records review and turned up hundreds of documents they reveal extensive efforts to generate after the fact justification for the decision that's what we're talking about obstruction of Congress matters because we know what we're looking for we know how important it is the president has stood in the way of this House of Representatives doing its important work. President should allow should have allowed these officials to speak should have allowed these documents to speak my colleagues on the other side understand that this is not a fishing expedition and they know that these documents are there and if it if they were to help the president they would be urging the president to work with us rather than obstruct us we have to proceed with this obstruction of Congress and article the impeachment and I oppose this amendment you know the balance of my time to Mr Johnson thank you Mr Deutsch Tonight we are called upon to protect the nation's core values and I'm going to tell you money and the economy Hank Johnson Democrat of Georgia core values cutting regulations are not our core values tax cuts for the top one percent not our core values withholding desperately needed security assistance from a ally desperately in need is not a core value coercing a foreign power to interfere in a presidential election is not our core value giving Congress the finger as it seeks to exercise its authority as a co-equal branch of government is not a core value I'll tell you what a core value is fair and free elections and respect for the Constitution and to take care that your duties are faithfully executed as president that is our core value the faithful execution of the office of the president the upholding of the oath of office are our core values to to the best of your ability. Preserving protecting and defending our Constitution that is the nation's core values when a president commits a group a grave abuse of the public trust by running roughshod over the high office of president then Congress is left with no choice but to do its duty to protect the public and the Republic from clear and present danger we must impeach this president and with that I yield back generally the gentleman yields back for what purpose does Mr Jeffrey seek recognition. Overstrike last word and it is recognized . I cannot generalise as a foreign government had an army an American citizen for political gain and at the same time withheld $391000000.00 in military aid from a vulnerable Ukraine without justification as part of a scheme to solicit foreign interference in the 2020 election the July 25th rough transcript is a smoking gun and Donald Trump's words pulled the trigger 5 words do us a favor though and the central question for us to resolve on this committee is whether the president sought political favor or is he as my Republican colleagues suggest an anti corruption crusader. That notion is laughable Well let's just check the record to see what it says Donald char spoke to the Ukrainian president twice once on April 21st he did not use the word corruption wants he had a 2nd call with the president of Ukraine on July 25th he did not use the word corruption once. Donald Trump's own Department of Defense wrote a letter to the Congress on May 23rd and said that the new Ukrainian government the new Ukrainian government has out of so satisfied all necessary preconditions to receive the aid including the implementation of anti corruption protocols that was Donald Trump's Department of Defense saying there are no corruption concerns that should justify the withholding of the aid that's why so many trumped appointed witnesses came forward and what trouble and I just want to enter into the record 3 Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Venkman who was on the call reported his concern because. They had significant national security implications for the country and in turn a colonel then men said it is improper for the president of the United States to demand a foreign government investigate a u.s. Citizen for a political opponent That was Lieutenant Colonel venom in Iraq war veteran Purple Heart recipient 20 years of active duty Gordon Sunderland ambassador appointed by Donald Trump What did he say everybody was in the loop it was no secret was there a quid pro quo the answer is yes some women never trump or he was appointed by Donald Trump he gave $1000000.00 to Trump's inauguration and then of course there's Bill Taylor West Point graduate What did he say to withhold that assistance for no good reason other than help with a political campaign made no sense. It was illogical it could not be explained It was crazy that is the record evidence that has been established Donald Trump did not care about alleged corruption and Ukraine he sought a political favor and at the same time Donald Trump was allegedly concerned with corruption in Ukraine he authorized $8000000000.00 in weapon sales to the corrupt kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states $8000000000.00 in April he authorized he was supposedly concerned about corruption this is a regime that butchered a Washington Post journalist with a bone saw and then lied about it at the same time he was withholding money from Ukraine he authorized $8000000000.00 and weapons sales over the objection of Congress. President pressured a foreign government to target an American citizen for political gain he solicited foreign interference in the 2020 election the record is clear he abused his power he must be held accountable because in America no one is above the law you'll back Mr Chair back for purposes Mr Collins the great commission I was struck last word and was recognized. You know it is it is listen to this is Doug Collins the ranking member Republican from Georgia process and the remote fully support this memo sort of all because frankly we're in a position right here where we don't need to be but it's also been very interesting just to listen all day today to the trying to build a case out of nothing and like I said I've already went through the fact that we're we have are the majority has already disparaged beyond belief Mr Zelinsky I'm not sure why they decided to end in character assassination but they did it and they still are I'm not sure why. They choose to continue to put out articles saying that members of the Ukraine military died because of a that was withheld that was as it's just a lie and even their own articles to prove it says well we can't actually say that that's true but but keep sending it out there believe me the American people are watching this this farce but it is amazing to me to listen to my colleagues now talk about how we do proper process and subpoenas let me just take you on a little Wonderland trip back through this committee this year in which we shoot more subpoenas and we did more things that were just amazingly outrageous then I could ever imagine in fact we've learned some stuff this year in the offense to my chairman he's been he's been doing its best he could to satisfy that many demands of of being the chairman who has to go over to get impeachment over what we've learned this year that subpoenas were you know they just they just help you look better in court we learned that subpoenas are a conversation starter I'm not sure what that is about but I know in court that they're not of a conversation starter they're compelling information. They're actually wanting us to move forward so when you really look at this and you start come out how the Democrats have been denied process and denied this you know it's really interesting to me that again 70 something days of the day I think the gentle lady from California said that my to try to make repairs it was not fast it can starve education I said but it was after almost 3 and a half years of investigation in this one we've had since September till now. The majority frankly is acting like petulant children who are not getting their way quick enough because Santa Claus hadn't gone yet believe me they're going to vote for their Christmas present I think the American people next November will remember this Christmas present but it goes back even further I remember in a time when we if we want to talk about the sanctity of subpoenas then one of the lines of the majority we draw from the Copperman. Suit why they would draw from that they want to continue is they could have done the as they could had this right and still stayed in court now it's just a waste of time when I don't do it so they'll hand me these high and mighty arguments about process this is not about obstructing Congress which right now it's about Congress just being petulant and saying we don't want what we don't want because we want it now and I can take it back to February of this year acting attorney general Whitaker remember this I'll remind some of the folks because many of you here who wrote about this they were trying to get acting attorney general Whitaker here because they were trying to make political points before the as a year got started because there's nothing rolling yet Moller hadn't happened so they couldn't talk about it except in broad generic terms Bill Barr one sworn in yet and one week before Bill Barr was sworn in we brought in Mr Whitaker now we threaten him with a subpoena and made public declaration about a subpoena until we found out the not before they sent him a letter saying if you show up we knew that subpoena No we won't do that I mean we found it all right here we talked about it. So it's a little bit hard for me to hear how this Congress this committee and they were not in the Get Started Oh Mr Shifu again loves the camera loves the microphone loves his own gavel but doesn't like to actually have to answer all questions about his own work and what he's actually done you don't want to have to answer questions of him Mr Goldman last week when Mr Gold was here on who actually ordered the matching of that so that they could on last ranking member and journalist when they could have just as easily put in if it had been proper member one congressperson one individual Anyway doesn't matter they could use whatever they want to but no they did it for drop says so tonight is as we hear the the angsty we hear the the just plain out just flat out hypocrisy remember that this is a majority that had one thing in mind and I will not it did not that they have not passed bills but also deny that they have not passed bills enough that actually can get any about partisanship in the Senate which is known for that we've done that before in this committee we passed bills that actually get signed into law instead we want to talk about subpoenas that we don't enforce process as we don't follow why because you can't make the argument you don't have abuse of power and you Devan all have a structural Congress. Back for purposes Ms Deming secret mission move to strike the last word in Louisiana you know it's a Chairman I rise in opposition Val Demings Democrat of Florida my colleague said a minute ago that we are using the law as a weapon while the law is the weapon against people who valeted it don't respect it don't obey it my Republican colleagues have claimed that there is not enough here to impeach a president that I have heard them previously say that this is merely about 8 lines from one phone call. Well for have stayed forgot that the pressure against Ukraine lasted for months perhaps they forgot that trying to limit this to merely 8 lines on one phone call underestimates the risk to our national security and our national interests for you see Ukraine's ability to protect themselves against Russian aggression is directly tied to our ability to protect ourselves from Russian aggression but that's right this president only cares about 'd and I quote the big stuff big stuff big things that are directly tied to his personal agenda but my colleagues also seem to ignore the pattern of behavior the pattern of misconduct and certainly the abuse of power 1st the president welcome interference in the 2016 election his campaign had multiple contacts with Russia and he himself publicly invited Russia to interfere remember this Russia if you're listening I hope you were able to find a 30000 e-mails that are missing then after the special counsel was assigned to investigate the president's conduct the president tried to cover it up. By obstructing the investigation and refusing to cooperate then this one really as someone used to say takes the cake just one day after the special counsel testified before Congress the president was added again apparently undeterred and Bolden he demanded interference into the 2020 elections tell an Avon Arab or Ally I would like you to do us a favor a thorough and conditioned official acts on the announcement of a sham investigation and to the president's chief political rival and true to form after the president's scheme was exposed after he was caught and Congress launched an investigation the president tried to cover it up by trying to undertake a complete blockage of Congress's investigation the president's misconduct is a part of a pattern. 1st the president and vice foreign powers interfere in our elections and then he instructs obstructs lawful inquiries into his behavior whether by Congress are by law enforcement and then he does it again because remember he believes he is above the law and he certainly has the full support of my colleagues on the other side of the hour most recently the president suggested publicly that China why don't you come on in the water's warm China should interfere and our elections by investigating former Vice President Joe Biden the president has taken no accountability for his misconduct he has shown no remorse no surprises there or rather he has doubled down and made clear that he will continue to solicit interference in our election for his own personal gain not the gain of the American people he will continue to disregard a co-equal branch of government that were designed to keep the 2nd of branch in check and other words unless he is stopped the president will continue to erode our democracy and the values on which our country was founded we cannot and we will not allow that to happen Mr Chairman I yield back generally to you as backward purposes Mr Rudd to seek recognition moved to strike the last word in Israel you know it's a yield to Mr Russian dollar I think the gentleman from Texas you know there's a guy Russian feller Republican of Pennsylvania about your feelings so let's go through some facts let's talk about the trauma administration and how much they actually have cooperated with Congress. In the report the chef report chairmanship argued that President Trump as a shock to the impeachment inquiry in the letter sent to request deposition witnesses chairmanships wrote and I quote anything or to appear for a scheduled deposition shall constitute evidence of obstruction of the houses impeachment inquiry and quote however there is ample evidence of the administration complying with congressional oversight and investigations during 20172018 even with congressional probes the ministration did not find legitimate for example over 25 administration officials testified before the House Oversight Committee over 20 administration officials have testified before the House Judiciary Committee Additionally as of the start of the Democrats' impeachment inquiry the administration has produced more than 100000 pages of documents to the House Oversight Committee that's over 100000 pages of documents I must say they produced them in a timely manner they didn't dump them within 48 hours of a hearing but but again I digress the administration also engaged in investigations that they disagreed with for example 1000 oversight Democrats initiated a sweeping investigation into the White House security clearances practices despite the president's product already to grant security clearances to whomever the administration wishes and that investigation the administration provided the current White House chief security officer to brief both members and staff the White House security clearance process. The administration has also provided committee staff in camera reviews of over $500.00 pages of White House documents and policies related to the security clearance process the f.b.i. Has also allowed Committee staff to review in camera hundreds of documents pertaining to the rule the White House security clearance has played as pre-code member listening to live special coverage of the Pietschmann markup from n.p.r. News provide the committee staff with multiple follow up briefings regarding their own internal security clearance process. We've heard Democrats talk this evening about the border so let's just talk about the border ministrations willingness to open themselves up to review in that regard to the administration has produced more than 9600 documents in response to the committee's subpoenas related to child separation of the border again that's over 9600 documents Additionally in August and September of 2019 the administration accommodated 9 separate multi-day surprise congressional visits. The ice India has facilities across the country the ministration has worked with Committee with the committee staff to observe 11 c.p.b. Holding facilities 13 ice detention facilities and 6 state license privately run facilities they contract with us contrary to the search this is live special coverage of the impeachment markup from n.p.r. News I'm Jeremy Hobson and 10 hours after this markup began it is still going on and let members of Congress members of the House Judiciary Committee still have not voted on the 2 articles of impeachment against President Trump N.P.R.'s to Mackinac is with me here as we listen to members debate amendments to the articles Tim Are we still expecting a vote this evening Yeah I think the committee is pretty dead set on getting through some of these amendments were an amendment number 4 of 7 offered by Republicans Democrats are generally been happy with the tax they don't have amendments to offer right now what we're listening to from lawmakers.