Trump lawyers respond to articles of impeachment: 'Constitutionally invalid'
President Trump's legal team on Saturday issued a full-throttle defense to the
articles of impeachment,
refuting the substance and process of the charges while accusing House
Democrats of engaging in a "dangerous attack" on the right of the
American people to freely choose their president.
"This
is a brazen and unlawful attempt to overturn the results of the 2016
election and interfere with the 2020 election -- now just months away,"
the
legal filing said.
"The highly partisan and reckless obsession with impeaching the
president began the day he was inaugurated and continues to this day."
"The articles of impeachment are constitutionally invalid on their face," the seven-page filing continued.
The
legal paperwork is the first formal response to the two articles of
impeachment read in the Senate on Thursday Jan 16, 2020 for abuse of power and
obstruction of Congress.
Answer Of President Donald J.Trump.PDF
IN PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE UNITED STATES SENATE
ANSWER OF PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP
JAY ALAN SEKULOW PAT A. CIPOLLONE
Counsel to President Donald J. Trump Counsel to the President
Washington, DC. The White House
THE HONORABLE DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES, HEREBY RESPONDS:
The Articles of Impeachment submitted by House Democrats are a dangerous attack on the right of the American people to freely choose their President. This is a brazen and unlawful attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election and interfere with the 2020 election now just months away.
The highly partisan and reckless obsession with impeaching the President began the day he was inaugurated and continues to this day.
The Articles of Impeachment are constitutionally invalid on their face. They fail to allege anycrime or violation of law whatsoever, let alone "high Crimes and Misdemeanors," as required by the Constitution.
They are the result of a lawless process that violated basic due process and fundamentalfairness. Nothing in these Articles could permit even beginning to consider removing a duly elected President or warrant nullifying an election and subverting the will of the American people.
The Articles of Impeachment now before the Senate are an affront to the Constitution of the
United States, our democratic institutions, and the American people. The Articles themselves and
the rigged process that brought them here are a transparently political act by House Democrats. They
debase the grave power of impeachment and the solemn responsibility that power entails. They must
be rejected. The House process violated every precedent and every principle of fairness governing
impeachment inquiries for more than 150 years. Even so, all that House Democrats have succeeded in
proving is that the President did absolutely nothing wrong.
President Trump categorically and unequivocally denies each and every allegation in both
Articles of Impeachment.
The President reserves all rights and all available defenses to the Articles of Impeachment.
For the reasons set forth in this Answer and in the forthcoming Trial Brief, the Senate must reject the Articles of Impeachment.
I.
THE FIRST ARTICLE OF IMPEACHMENT MUST BE REJECTED
The first Article fails on its face to state an impeachable offense. It alleges n0 crimes at all, let alone high Crimes and Misdemeanors, as required by the Constitution. In fact, it alleges no violation of law whatsoever.
House Democrats abuse of power claim would do lasting damage to the separation of powers under the Constitution.
The first Article also fails on the facts, because President Trump has not in any way abused
the powers of the Presidency. At all times, the President has faithfully and effectively executed the
duties of his Office on behalf of the American people. The President's actions on the July 25, 2019,
telephone call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine (the July 25 call), as well as on the earlier April 21, 2019, telephone call (the April 21 call), and in all surrounding and related events,
were constitutional, perfectly legal, completely appropriate, and taken in furtherance of our national
interest.
President Trump raised the important issue of burden sharing on the July 25 call, noting that
other European countries such as Germany were not carrying their fair share. President Trump also
raised the important issue of Ukrainian corruption. President Zelenskyy acknowledged these concerns
on that same call.
Despite House Democrats having run an entirely illegitimate and one-sided process, several
simple facts were established that prove the President did nothing wrong:
First, the transcripts of both the April 21 call and the July 25 call make absolutely clear that the
President did nothing wrong.
Second, President Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian ofï¬cials have repeatedly confirmed that the
call was a good and normal, that there was no quid pro quo, and that no one pressured them on anything.
Third, the two individuals who have stated for the record that they spoke to the President about
the subject actually exonerate him. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland stated that
when he asked the President what he wanted from Ukraine, the President said: I want nothing. I want
nothing. I want no quid pro quo. Senator Ron Johnson reported that, when he asked the President
whether there was any connection between security assistance and investigations, the President
responded: No way. I would never do that.
House Democrats ignore these facts and instead rely entirely on assumptions, presumptions, and speculation from witnesses with no first-hand knowledge.
Their accusations are founded exclusively on inherently unreliable hearsay that would never be
accepted in any court in our country.
Fourth, the bilateral presidential meeting took place in the ordinary course, and the security
assistance was sent, all without the Ukrainian government announcing any investigations.
Not only does the evidence collected by House Democrats refute each and every one of the
factual predicates underlying the first Article, the transcripts of the April 21 call and the July 25 call
disprove what the Article alleges.
When the House Democrats realized this, Mr. Schiff created a fraudulent version of the July 25 call and read it to the American people at a congressional hearing, without disclosing that he was simply making it all up.
The fact that Mr. Schiff felt the need to fabricatea false version of the July 25 call proves that he and his colleagues knew there was absolutely nothing wrong with that call.
House Democrats ran a fundamentally flawed and illegitimate process that denied the President every basic right, including the right to have counsel present, the right to cross-examine witnesses, and the right to present evidence. Despite all this, the information House Democrats assembled actually disproves their claims against the President.
The President acted at all times with full constitutional and legal authority and in our national interest. He continued his Administration's policy of unprecedented support for Ukraine, including the delivery of lethal military aid that was denied to the Ukrainians by the prior administration.
The first Article is therefore constitutionally invalid, founded on falsehoods, and must be rejected.
II.
THE SECOND ARTICLE OF IMPEACHMENT MUST BE REJECTED
The second Article also fails on its face to state an impeachable offense. It does not allege any crime or violation of law whatsoever. To the contrary, the President's assertion of legitimate Executive Branch confidentiality interests grounded in the separation of powers cannot constitute obstruction of Congress.
Furthermore, the notion that President Trump obstructed Congress is absurd. President Trump
acted with extraordinary and unprecedented transparency by declassifying and releasing the transcript
of the July 25 call that is at the heart of this matter.
Following the President's disclosure of the July 25 call transcript, House Democrats issued a
series of unconstitutional subpoenas for documents and testimony. They issued their subpoenas
without a congressional vote and, therefore, without constitutional authority. They sought testimony
from a number of the President's closest advisors despite the fact that, under longstanding, bipartisan practice of prior administrations of both political parties and similarly longstanding guidance from the Department of Justice, those advisors are absolutely immune from compelled testimony before Congress related to their ofï¬cial duties.
And they sought testimony disclosing the Executive Branch's confidential communications and internal decision making processes on matters of foreign relations and national security, despite the well-established constitutional privileges and immunities protecting such information.
As the Supreme Court has recognized, the Presidentâ's constitutional authority to
protect the confidentiality of Executive Branch information is at its apex in the field of foreign relations and national security.
House Democrats also barred the attendance of Executive Branch counsel at witness proceedings, thereby preventing the President from protecting important Executive Branch confidentiality interests.
Notwithstanding these abuses, the Trump Administration replied appropriately to these
subpoenas and identified their constitutional defects.
Tellingly, House Democrats did not seek to enforce these constitutionally defective subpoenas in court.
To the contrary, when one subpoena recipient sought a declaratory judgment as to the validity of the subpoena he had received, House Democrats quickly withdrew the subpoena to prevent the court from issuing a ruling.
The House may not usurp Executive Branch authority and may not bypass our Constitution’s
system of checks and balances. Asserting valid constitutional privileges and immunities cannot be an
impeachable offense.
The second Article is therefore invalid and must be rejected.
III.
CONCLUSION
The Articles of Impeachment violate the Constitution. They are defective in their entirety.
They are the product of invalid proceedings that fragrantly denied the President any due process rights.
They rest on dangerous distortions of the Constitution that would do lasting damage to our structure of government.
In the first Article, the House attempts to seize the President's power under Article II of the Constitution to determine foreign policy.
In the second Article, the House attempts to control and penalize the assertion of the Executive Branch's constitutional privileges, while simultaneously seeking to destroy the Framers' system of checks and balances.
By approving the Articles, the House violated our constitutional order, illegally abused its power of impeachment, and attempted to obstruct President Trump's ability to faithfully execute the duties of his Offïce.
They sought to undermine his authority under Article II of the Constitution, which vests the entirety of the executive Power in a President of the United States of America.
In order to preserve our constitutional structure of government, to reject the poisonous partisanship that the Framers warned against, to ensure one party political impeachment vendettas do
not become the new normal, and to vindicate the will of the American people, the Senate must reject both Articles of Impeachment.
In the end, this entire process is nothing more than a dangerous attack on the American people themselves and their fundamental right to vote.
Dated 18th Day Of 2020
__________________________________
Editor Note
The ANSWER OF PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP to the false articles of impeachment detail the complete spectrum of lies that have been forged into the 2 FAKE articles of impeachment.
This answer alone is enough to exonerate President Trump of all false and FAKE impeachment
allegations.
In the first Article, the House attempts to seize the President's
power under Article II of the Constitution to determine foreign policy.
In
the second Article, the House attempts to control and penalize the
assertion of the Executive Branch's constitutional privileges, while
simultaneously seeking to destroy the Framers' system of checks and
balances.
By approving the Articles, the House violated our constitutional
order, illegally abused its power of impeachment, and attempted to
obstruct President Trump's ability to faithfully execute the duties of
his Offïce.
They sought to undermine his authority
under Article II of the Constitution, which vests the entirety of the
executive Power in a President of the United States of America.
Pelosi and the democrats have abused their authority attempting to sieze the President's power under Article II of the Constitution and are attempting to obstruct President Trump's ability to faithfully execute the duties of his office.
EVERY democrate in the House Of Representatives who voted to impeach President Trump,
which was all the democrats in the house of representatives are guilty of sedition.
Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward insurrection against the established order.
Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent towards, or resistance against established authority.
18 U.S. Code § 2384. Seditious conspiracy
18 U.S. Code § 2384. Seditious conspiracy
If two or more
persons in any
State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the
United States,
or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority
thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any
law of the
United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the
United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
The key words here are: conspire to overthrow the government of the United States.
By FAKING articles of impeachment to remove President Trump from office and usurp his Authority as Commander and Chief the democrates in the house of representatives have
ALL conspired to overthrow this government and seize power by subverting the US Constitution.
ALL the democrates in the US House Of Representative should be charged with Seditious Activity.
ALL the democrates in the House Of Representative should be removed from office and IMPRISONED when convicted of seditious conspiracy to overthow the government of the
United States!
PRESUMPTUOUS INQUISITION CHANNEL
Presumptuous Inquisition Channel features Ambassador Sondland's often
convoluted and contradictory assumptions.
His contradictory assumption
testimony was the main democrate basis for impeachment of President Trump.
He was grilled by the Republicans on the democratic controlled committee about
why his opening statement was different than his testimony when asked about no
quid pro quo in the phone call.
In ambassador Sondlands opening statement he said, there was a quid pro quo
between President Trump and the ukrainian president.
His opening statement reflected ONLY HIS OWN OPINION! Not Fact.
When schiff asked him the question about the phone call later,
Ambassador Sondlands answer was a statement of fact about what President
Trump actually said during the phone call.
The national news media just reported
his opening opinion statement and not his actual under oath
testimony that
President Trump DID NOT ask for a quid pro quo.
The President said, I want nothing, I want nothing, I want no quid pro
quo.
Even though ambassador sondland testified under oath that President Trump did NOT ask for a quid pro quo on the phone call, all the house of representatives democrates voted to impeach President Trump.
This is Seditious conspiracy by ALL the democrates in the house of representatives!
To install the Presumptuous Inquisition Channel use this code
ZJVZXPG when you log into your
Free Roku Account.
To keep up to date on the latest Real News you must avoid the deep state /
democratic controlled national media.
To do that avoid nbc, cbs, abc, cnn, msnbc, pbs and other fake news
controlled outlets.
Listen to
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Talk radio.
Tera Show 6AM-10AM M-F, Rush Limbaugh 12PM-3PM M-f, Bob Mclain 3PM-7PM M-F
and especially Mark Levin 7PM-10PM.
MarkLevinShow.com
Mark Levin is a Constitutional lawyer, president of the prestigious
Landmark Legal Foundation in
Washington D.C., a top-rated nationally syndicated
conservative talk radio host and a best selling non-fiction author.
The democrate controlled majority in the house of representatives is attempting to overthow President Trump by 2 articles of impeachment that are totally fabricated.
The democrates in the house of representatives are openly subverting the US Constitution by their submission of fabricated articles of impeachment that are defective in their entirety.
The house of representatives constructed two articles of impeachment without allowing ANY republican to call any witnesses or be included in the democrat depositions in the basement of congress!
The republicans in the house could only debate what the democrates constructed as articles of impeachment.
They in effect were on display via national media totally controlled by the house democrates without the benefit of calling any witnesses to testify on President Trumps behalf.
The FAKE impeachment hearings conducted by the democrates in congress were a total disgrace and displayed their total contempt for President Trump and the US Constitution.
