We dont know how they were using this money is not factually true. You heard mcclk chin tok saying he had the mcclintock saying that he had the prosecutor fired. Yet those talking points are respited despite the fact theyre not based on fact. Its an important moment. I want to get your sense of the history of what were about to see. You see the members showing up, the staff, theyre showing up. The witnesses will be there. Theyll be sworn in as well. Its a moment that doesnt happen very often if american history. It doesnt and it shouldnt. Because its so important you think about the the way constitution set up our democratic structure here and were looking back right now to say what did the founded fathers envision about the country that we are now in . What did the separation of powers mean . Are there truly three coequal
branches of government or can one thumb their nose that leads to an authoritarian regime . We are looking at a very historic moment. Looking at what the power of con
Whether you think thats good or bad and matches the abuse of powers is an open question. And then he goes through and argues he doesnt see what he calls a statutory crime. And well see that debate as well. There are people youre going to hear from who are going to say its got to be an actual felony and then there are going to be other people pointing out the constitution doesnt require that. It has words like treason, bribery and high crimes. So were going to get into the weeds here, but the big picture is keep your eye on which witnesses and exchanges are talking about the serious question of whats impeachable. The other noise you can try and tune out as with any hearing. Mr. Wiesman, your last words of advice as we settle in to watch the legal experts. I think its very important to keep your eye on the facts and the law. And i think one of the things that the public is rightly upset about is the rule of law not being applied. And so i think the quote you read is fun, its sort of catc
maurice c. spa shapiro chair of law school. where he teaches torts, criminal procedure and constitutional law. after a stint at tulane law school, professor turley joined the gw law faculty in 1990 and in 1998 became the youngest chaired professor in the school s history. he has written over three dozen academic articles for a variety of leading law schools, leading law journals, i m sorry, his articles on legal and policy issues appear frequently if national publications. a chicago native, professor turley earned degrees from the university of chicago, northwestern university school of law. now we welcome all our distinguished witnesses, we thank them for participating in today s hearing. if you will please rise, i will begin by swearing you in. raise your do you swear or affirm under penalty of perjury that the testimony are you about to give is true and correct to
presidential election. let me begin now with the question of why the framers provided for impeachment in the first place. the framers borrowed the concept of impeachment from england, but with one enormous difference. the house of commons and the house of records could use impeachment in order to limit the ministers of the king, but they could not impeach the king, and in that sense the king was above the law. in stark contrast, the framers from the very outset of the constitutional convention in 1787 made it crystal clear that the president would be subject to impeachment in order to demonstrate that the president was subordinate to the law. if you will, i would like you to think now about a specific date in the constitutional convention, july 20th, 1787. it was the middle of a long, hot summer, and on that day two
and so i think the quote you read is fun, it s sort of catchy. but that s argument by adjective. what people should look is, is anyone challenging the facts and what is the law that should be applied. i think that s what people should keep their sort of attention focused on. because there s going to be a lot of distractions. garrett haake in the hallway outside this hearing. garrett, what can you add from your vantage point? reporter: brian, i was just in the hearing room kind of poking around as folks were getting set up. and the republican posters that they have put up behind the dias which i think you can see on your screens, tell me that they re going to make a lot of use of near and not so near history. they re going to point out the comments of chairman nadler back in the 90s when he was a defender of president clinton, arguing that an impeachment that is narrow and partisan cannot and should not succeed. and they ll even point out the comments from speaker pelosi