detriment of the national security interests of the united states. that is the very definition of an impeachable offense. when congress began to investigate president trump s wrongdoing, he engaged in an unprecedented pattern of obstruction. that, too, is why the impeachment power exists. a president who subverts both our elections and our constitutional system of checks and balances puts himself above the law, and it is congress duty to hold the president, any president accountable. it gives us no pleasure no pleasure to stand here today, but president trump s conduct has put our next election at risk. president trump s behavior puts the integrity of our constitutional order at risk. and president trump s continued actions put the rule of law at risk. the framers gave us the power of impeachment for exactly this reason. and in fulfillment of our oath and obligation to the american people, today, we took action to hold president trump accountable
impeachable offense. he engaged in an unprecedented pattern of obstruction. that, too, is why the impeachment power exists. a president who subverts both our elections and our constitutional system of checks and balances puts himself above the law, and it is congress duty to hold the president, any president accountable. it gives us no pleasure no pleasure to stand here today, but president trump s conduct has put our next election at risk. president trump s behavior puts the integrity of our constitutional order at risk. and president trump s continued actions put the rule of law at risk. the framers gave us the power of impeachment for exactly this reason. and in fulfillment of our oath and obligation to the american people today we took action to hold president trump accountable for the serious and undisputed risk he poses to our free and fair elections and to the separation of powers that safe
there will be another president, and you may be one day although you do not act like it, you may one day be in the majority. and you will want to hold a president accountable. and what will you say when that president says you are a paper tiger, you have no oversight, i can ignore your subpoenas? what will you say? what will you argue? well, no, no, that was different? then then we were in the minority, then it was a republican president. will that be your argument? is that how little faith you have in our democracy, in our constitution? is that how poorly you defend and uphold that constitution? but finally let me ask you this question that overrides it all. why should we care about any of this? and i shall bring you to one conversation that came to light because it s not the most important conversation, but in many ways it is the most revealing. it took place on september 14th
here. but we begin of course with this top story. president trump woke up today with a mark he will carry for the rest of his life, the first president ever to be impeached in his first term. and he s facing a volcanic aftermath from what played out here in front of the whole nation, an undeniably huge development in a year full of hyperbollically touted accomplishments in the news cycle. this comes from the floor debates dramatic at times on the impeachment of a president. we used to care about democracy. we used to care about our allies. we used to stand up to putin and russia. we used to you may one day be in the majority and you will want to hold a president accountable. and what will you say when that president says you were a paper tiger, you have no oversight. i can ignore your subpoenas. what will you say? congressman schiff s closing
wrote it, but thankfully we still live in a democracy. there s accountability. there s checks and balances. and if you re a fan of the constitution and the intent of the framers of the constitution, you should celebrate tomorrow because we are holding a president accountable. he s not the chosen one. he s a servant of the people. yeah. so, lauer, he calls pelosi s actions spiteful. he says that she is offending americans of faith, and he says it s a terrible thing you are doing. but you will have to live with it, not i. and then pelosi responded, calling the letter sick. i mean what is it about strong, powerful women that really puts trump over the edge? well, you know, it appears that there is a trend here, and the idea that a strong, powerful person in general who dares to have the audacity to say, i m going to call to attention, call you to account of what has happened here. in particular pelosi, who just a week ago actually yesterday,