December 18, 2019

Adam Schiff Lays Out the Case for Impeachment in Under 15 Minutes

In less than 15 minutes, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), laid out the case for impeaching President Donald Trump on Wednesday. Trump “tried to cheat,” said Schiff during today’s floor debate on impeachment. And if it weren’t for “the courage” of a whistleblower, “he would have gotten away with it.”

Schiff, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, opened his remarks with a quote from Alexander Hamilton, who in 1792 warned about the rise of a demagogue “unprincipled in private life, desperate in his fortune” and “bold in his temper” who might “throw things into confusion that he may ‘ride the storm and direct the whirlwind.'”

“Could we find a more perfect description of the present danger emanating from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?” Schiff asked.

Unless Congress impeaches Trump, Schiff warned, “the president and his men plot on, the danger persists, the risk is real, our democracy is at peril.” 

He finished his speech by doubling down on his charge that the president has “cheated” by trying to coerce Ukraine to dig up dirt on a political rival: “Donald J. Trump sacrificed our national security in an effort to cheat in the next election and for that—and his continued efforts to seek foreign interference in our elections—he must be impeached.”

The House is expected to vote to impeach Trump this afternoon. Watch Schiff’s entire remarks below:

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