Were They Lying Then or Now? HT LA Times
Sen. Lindsey Graham in 1999: “A president doesn’t even have to be convicted of a crime to be impeached. Impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office”pic.twitter.com/KXp0L4jYGe
— PoliticsVideoChannel (@politvidchannel) September 24, 2019
Lindsy Graham Then and Now
Then (as a congressman who served as a House manager in Clinton’s Senate trial): “You don’t even have to be convicted of a crime in this constitutional republic if this body determines your conduct as a public official is clearly out of bounds in your role. Impeachment is about cleansing the office. Impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office.”
– Jan. 16, 1999, statement
Now: “To impeach any president over a phone call like this would be insane.”
Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa)
Then: “The true tragedy in this case is the collapse of the president’s moral authority. He undermined himself when he wagged his finger and lied to our people on national television, denying that relationship with Ms. Lewinsky. That did more damage to his credibility than any other single act…. The American people have a right to expect their president to be completely truthful, as they can expect you and me to be completely truthful.”
– Feb. 12, 1999, news report
Now: “Unfortunately, instead of waiting to learn the facts by reviewing that transcript or hearing from the whistleblower, Democrats have moved straight to starting the impeachment process. Democrats have been searching for any reason to impeach President Trump since his inauguration because they couldn’t accept the results of the 2016 election.”
– Sept. 24 statement
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
Iframe
Then: “Our nation is indeed at a crossroads. Will we pursue the search for truth, or will we dodge, weave and evade the truth? I am of course referring to the investigation into serious allegations of illegal conduct by the president of the United States — that the president has engaged in a persistent pattern and practice of obstruction of justice. The allegations are grave, the investigation is legitimate, and ascertaining the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the unqualified, unevasive truth is absolutely critical.”
– Feb. 12, 1998, floor statement
It’s important to remember this is legal oversight authorities speaking, critical to checks and balances of power-RWC
Now: “Instead of working together across party lines on legislation to help American families and strengthen our nation, they will descend even deeper into their obsession with relitigating 2016. This rush to judgment comes just a few hours after President Trump offered to release the details of his phone conversation with President Zelensky. It comes despite the fact that committee-level proceedings are already underway to address the whistleblower allegation through a fair, bipartisan and regular process. It simply confirms that House Democrats’ priority is not making life better for the American people but their nearly 3-year-old fixation on impeachment.”
– Sept. 24 statement
Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio)
Then: “No person stands above the law. All Americans — no matter how rich, how powerful, how well connected — should be held accountable for their actions. Every American must be held accountable.”
– Dec. 1, 1998
Now: I have an obligation to the people of the 1st District of Ohio to stop this misuse of congressional power to advance a partisan agenda. I will vigorously oppose this impeachment sideshow in Washington, because I believe that in the people’s House, we should be focused on doing the people’s business.”
– Sept. 26, news report
Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.)
Then: “We’ve heard all these prophets of economic doom and gloom if the House discharges its constitutional duty today in impeaching the President. The Nasdaq hit an all-time high. I think the markets are smarter than some of the people who are making these accusations.”
– Dec. 19, 1998, floor statement
Now: “From what we know now, Trump did nothing wrong. And he did nothing wrong because he did not offer a quid pro quo to the president of Ukraine for any of this information. … I would feel differently if there was a quid pro quo involved on that, but merely to find out if Hunter Biden [Joe Biden’s son] was violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. Asking the new president of Ukraine, who ran on an anti-corruption platform, to look into that, I do not think was out of bounds.”
– Sept. 24, news report
See the whole article
latimes.com