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The question I've gotten most often since the impeachment trial finished is, was it worth it?
Absolutely.
We knew we faced an uphill battle in the Senate, and that many Senators had made up their minds before they had even heard the evidence. But we also knew that the facts were on our side, that we had a constitutional duty to perform, and that the President’s conduct left us no choice.
The President tried to cheat in the next election by soliciting foreign interference. And more than solicit, Trump withheld hundreds of millions in military aid to an ally at war in order to coerce that country into doing his political dirty work.
And when he got caught — when we exposed his scheme — he tried to cover it up and obstructed our investigation.
As one law professor put it in the House, if that’s not impeachable, nothing is.
After two weeks of arguments and questions from Senators, and many late nights, the Senate was left with a choice of whether to call witnesses and demand the documents the White House had withheld — essentially whether to hold a fair trial, or to participate in the President’s coverup.
Mitch McConnell chose a coverup and gave Donald Trump what he wanted — the first impeachment trial in American history without live witnesses, and without review of essential documents. In doing the President’s bidding, McConnell and Senate Republicans shut down the impeachment prematurely and deprived the American people of the fair trial they deserved. They also kept critical information about the President’s wrongdoing from the American people.
But without a fair trial, the President couldn’t get everything he wanted.
Without a fair trial, there could be no exoneration or vindication. And Trump will always be impeached.
In the end, the President's defense laid out an argument that would have left the Founders aghast. They argued that even the blatant abuse of power the President engaged in, extorting an ally for his own personal, political benefit, wasn’t an impeachable offense.
Instead they claimed that as long as the President believed his reelection was in the country’s interest, no quid pro quo — no matter how corrupt — was an impeachable offense, a theory so dangerous, it would excuse almost any form of presidential abuse of power. In so many words, they echoed the admonition from the President’s Chief of Staff that we should just “get over it.”
The American people could see through this, and they did. For the first time in history, a majority of the American people favored the impeachment, conviction and removal of a sitting U.S. President.
The American people know that what the President did was wrong, that he abused his power, and that he acted immorally.
And yet, as we made our case, we knew that the President’s hold on his party was such that finding even one Republican Senator to put the country first was a tall order.
But we also knew that one vote could help change the course of history.
As I addressed the Senate in my closing argument, I said that if even a single Senator put country over party, if even a single Senator could be the David to take on Goliath, that one person could change the course of history. They would also demonstrate a form of courage that Robert Kennedy said was even more rare than courage in battle — moral courage. The courage to do the right thing.
And Mitt Romney rose to that task, as did every Democrat in the Senate, including several for whom this was potentially the most difficult vote of their careers, because of the states they represent.
I know that their courage will lead others to think about what they can do in these dangerous times for our democracy and our Constitution.
It certainly inspired me. And it has made me optimistic about our future.
The Trump Administration has demonstrated that cowardice can be contagious, but I believe courage can be contagious too. It must be. The Founders believed that men and women possess sufficient virtue to be self-governing and the courage that some of these Senators showed — though not a majority — was enough to bolster my confidence in the future.
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I have said all along that we're going to get through this dark chapter in our nation's history. We’ve faced terrible trials and divisions before, and emerged even stronger.
November is right around the corner, and that’s our next chance to change the course of our history for the better.
And coming out of this process, I'm optimistic about our country's future. You should be too.
I know we'll get through this — because in America, right still matters, truth still matters and decency still matters.
And you matter. To me. Thank you again.
I’m so appreciative of all you do,
Adam