[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 28 (Saturday, February 13, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S738-S739]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              IMPEACHMENT

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, the hallmark of our American democracy is 
the peaceful transfer of power after the voters choose their leaders. 
In America, we accept election results even if our candidate does not 
prevail. If a candidate believes that there is fraud, the courts can 
hear and decide those issues. Otherwise, the authority to govern is 
vested in the duly elected officials.
  On January 6, this Congress gathered in the Capitol to count the 
votes of the electoral college, pursuant to the process set forth in 
the 12th Amendment to the Constitution. At the same time, a mob stormed 
the Capitol, determined to stop Congress from carrying out our 
constitutional duty.
  That attack was not a spontaneous outbreak of violence. Rather, it 
was the culmination of a steady stream of provocations by President 
Trump that were aimed at overturning the results of the Presidential 
election.
  The President's unprecedented efforts to discredit the election 
results did not begin on January 6. Rather, he planted the seeds of 
doubt many weeks before votes were cast on November 3. He repeatedly 
told his supporters that only a rigged election could cause him to 
lose.
  Thus began President Trump's crusade to undermine public confidence 
in the Presidential election unless he won.
  Early in the morning of November 4, as the ballots continued to be 
counted, President Trump claimed victory and asserted that Democrats 
were trying to steal the election.
  On November 8, the day after several media outlets had declared Joe 
Biden the apparent winner based on State-by-State results, President 
Trump tweeted:

       This was a stolen election.

  With that, his postelection campaign to change the outcome began.
  Over the ensuing days and months, the President distorted the results 
of the election, continuing to claim that he had won, while court after 
court threw out his lawsuits and States continued to certify their 
results. President Trump's falsehoods convinced a large number of 
Americans that he had won and that they were being cheated.
  The President also embarked on an incredible effort to pressure State 
election officials to change the results in their States. The most 
egregious example occurred on January 2. In an extraordinary phone 
call, President Trump could be heard alternating between lobbying, 
cajoling, intimidating, and threatening the election officials in 
Georgia. ``I just want to find 11,708 votes,'' he stated, seeking the 
exact number of votes needed to change the outcome in that State. 
Despite the President's pleas and threats, the Georgia officials 
refused to yield to the Presidential pressure, as did State officials 
in other States.
  In December, President Trump's postelection campaign became focused 
on January 6, the day that Congress was scheduled to count the 
electoral college votes. Although this counting is a ceremonial and 
administrative act, it is nevertheless the constitutionally mandated 
final step in the electoral college and the electoral process, and it 
must occur before a new President can be inaugurated.
  On December 19, President Trump tweeted to his supporters:

       Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!

  In response, some of his campaign supporters changed the date for 
protest rallies they originally had scheduled to occur after the 
inauguration to happen instead on January 6.
  Having failed to persuade the courts and State election officials, 
President Trump next began to pressure Vice President Pence to use his 
role under the 12th Amendment to overturn the election. The President 
met with Vice President Pence on January 5 and then increased the 
pressure by tweeting hours later:

       If [the Vice President] comes through for us, we will win 
     the Presidency.

  That is what his tweet said.
  Vice President Pence, however, refused to yield. He issued a public 
letter on January 6 making clear that his oath to support and defend 
the Constitution would prevent him from unilaterally deciding which 
electoral vote should be counted and which should not.
  During his speech at the Ellipse on January 6, President Trump kept 
up that drumbeat of pressure on Vice President Pence. In front of a 
large, agitated crowd, he urged the Vice President to ``stand up for 
the good of our Constitution.'' ``I hope Mike has the courage to do 
what he has to do,'' President Trump concluded. Rather than 
facilitating the peaceful transfer of power, President Trump was 
telling Vice President Pence to ignore the Constitution and to refuse 
to count the certified votes. He was also further agitating the crowd, 
directing them to march to the Capitol.
  In this situation, context was everything. Tossing a lit match into a 
pile of dry leaves is very different from tossing it into a pool of 
water. And on January 6, the atmosphere among the crowd outside the 
White House was highly combustible, largely the result of an ill wind 
blowing from Washington for the past 2 months.
  President Trump had stoked discontent with a steady barrage of false 
claims that the election had been stolen from him. The allegedly 
responsible officials were denigrated, scorned, and ridiculed by the 
President, with the predictable result that his supporters viewed any 
official they perceived to be an obstacle to President Trump's 
reelection as an enemy of their cause. That set the stage for the 
storming of the Capitol for the first time in more than 200 years.
  Nearly 30 minutes after the Capitol first came under attack, Members 
of Congress, law enforcement, and everyone else here in the Capitol 
waited in vein for the President to unequivocally condemn the violence 
and tell his misguided supporters to leave the Capitol. Rather than 
demand an end to the violence, President Trump expressed his 
frustration once again that the Vice President had not stopped the vote 
certification as he had urged
  Shortly after the Vice President was whisked away from this very 
Chamber to avoid the menacing mob chanting ``Hang Mike Pence,'' 
President Trump tweeted:

       Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have 
     been done.

  Instead of preventing a dangerous situation, President Trump created 
one.
  Rather than defend the constitutional transfer of power, he incited 
an insurrection with the purpose of preventing that transfer of power 
from occurring.
  Whether by design or by virtue of a reckless disregard for the 
consequences of his action, President Trump, subordinating the 
interests of the country to his own selfish interest, bears significant 
responsibility for the invasion of the Capitol.
  This impeachment trial is not about any single word uttered by 
President Trump on January 6, 2021; it is instead about President 
Trump's failure to obey the oath he swore on January 20, 2017. His 
actions to interfere with the peaceful transition of power, the 
hallmark of our Constitution and our American democracy, were an abuse 
of power and constitute grounds for conviction.
  Two arguments have been made against conviction that deserve comment. 
The first is that this was a snap impeachment, that the House failed to 
hold hearings, conduct an investigation, and to interview witnesses, 
and that is true. Without a doubt, the House should have been more 
thorough. It should have compiled a more complete record. Nevertheless, 
the record is clear that the President, President Trump, abused his 
power, violated his oath to uphold the Constitution, and tried almost 
every

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means in his power to prevent the peaceful transfer of authority to the 
newly elected President.
  Second is the contention that the First Amendment protects the 
President's right to make any sort of outrageous and false claims, no 
matter the consequences.
  (Ms. BALDWIN assumed the Chair.)
  But the First Amendment was not designed and must never be construed 
by any court to bar the impeachment and conviction of an official who 
violates his oath of office by summoning and inciting a mob to threaten 
other officials in the discharge of their constitutional obligations.
  My vote in this trial stems from my own oath and duty to defend the 
Constitution of the United States. The abuse of power and betrayal of 
his oath by President Trump meet the constitutional standard of high 
crimes and misdemeanors, and for those reasons, I voted to convict 
Donald J. Trump.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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