WASHINGTON (Nexstar) — For hours before voting on the articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, lawmakers of both parties made their case with short speeches on the floor of the House of Representatives.
Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal said President Trump did release aid in 2017 and 2018 to Ukraine, “but not in 2019. Why? Because in 2019 Vice President Joe Biden was running for President.”
“Making matters worse over the past several months,” said another Democrat, Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado, “President Trump and his administration have done everything they can to prevent Congress from uncovering the truth.”
GOP lawmakers tried to convince their peers and the public that the president did nothing wrong.
Utah Rep. Chris Stewart rose to Trump’s defense. “This vote, this day is about one thing and one thing only: they hate this president.”
Colorado’s Scott Tipton said he doesn’t see the evidence to support impeachment. “There was no high crimes, no misdemeanors, they had no fact witnesses to be able to point to that.”
While the US Senate is not expected to remove President Trump from office, Democrats like Oregon’s Earl Blumenauer say impeachment has meaning.
“People back home in Portland are ready to move forward,” Blumenauer said. “They are appalled at what they’ve seen.”