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Subcommittee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks as FAA Acting Administrator Daniel Elwell, NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt, and DOT I.G. Calvin Scovel appear before a Senate Transportation subcommittee hearing on commercial airline safety, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, March 27, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
As my RedState colleague Streiff wrote Tuesday, Democrats utterly beclowned themselves on the first day of President Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate by demanding White House Counsel Pat Cipollone step down as Trump’s attorney because he was, in their words, a “fact witness.”
Alleging they had “evidence” that Cipollone was a “fact witness to numerous critical events related to the president’s scheme”, House impeachment managers including House Intel Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA), House Judiciary Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and others wrote a letter to Cipollone stating “we write to notify you that evidence received by the House of Representatives during its impeachment inquiry indicates that you are a material witness” to the impeachment articles against Trump:
“You must disclose all facts and information as to which you have first-hand knowledge that will be at issue in connection with evidence you present or arguments you make in your role as the President’s legal advocate so that the Senate and Chief Justice can be apprised of any potential ethical issues, conflicts or biases,” they wrote.
The managers then outlined Cipollone’s alleged connection to both articles of impeachment — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
“Evidence indicates that, at a minimum, you have detailed knowledge of the facts regarding the first Article and played an instrumental role in the conduct charged in the second Article,” they wrote.
They went on to say that ethical rules generally “preclude” a lawyer from acting as an advocate in a trial if he or she is also a witness.
Read the full letter below:
The rest of the letter: pic.twitter.com/R3LiMMcmZD
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) January 21, 2020
It was a predictable political stunt, considering the sham nature of the impeachment inquiry proceedings they conducted against President Trump for four months starting in September.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who has been more than happy to remind House Democrats that they are no longer running the impeachment show, torched Democrats over their suggestion that Cipollone step aside as Trump’s attorney.
In a statement, which he posted on Twitter in a series of tweets yesterday, Cruz laid out the left’s constitutionally flawed arguments:
The Sixth Amendment provides the accused the right “to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.” Note that the Sixth Amendment does not apply to the prosecution; it protects only the accused.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 21, 2020
Schiff, it has been alleged, spoke directly with the so-called “whistle-blower” and may even have helped him draft the complaint that launched this entire impeachment.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 21, 2020
With all that in mind, Cruz suggests that it’s Adam Schiff himself who should be disqualified and instead called as a fact witness:
So, maybe we should disqualify Schiff as a lawyer, and schedule him instead as a witness to explain his role in creating the “evidence” in this proceeding?
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 21, 2020
In other words: Democrats, if you want to play this “fact witness” game, you will lose. Bigly.
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