In passing an official impeachment inquiry resolution on Thursday, the Democratic Party may have outsmarted themselves.
The resolution is not to be mistaken for articles of impeachment, but more of a show vote to legitimize the secret impeachment inquisition happening in the basement of the U.S. Capitol, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not get a single Republican vote to back her play — effectively confirming that the effort to take out President Trump is a partisan maneuver.
In fact, with two Democrats failing to vote for the resolution, it would be accurate to say that the opposition to Pelosi’s impeachment ploy was bipartisan.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was quick to point this out about the “sham impeachment” vote.
“The only bipartisan vote today was AGAINST impeachment,” McCarthy tweeted.
BREAKING ⇒ 100% of Republicans just voted AGAINST this sham impeachment. Two Democrats joined us.
Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Schiff have both insisted that impeachment should be bipartisan. The only bipartisan vote today was AGAINST impeachment.
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) October 31, 2019
Not that Democrats didn’t try to get out in front of that reality by spinning the truth — a party tradition.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., appeared on Fox News’ “Outnumbered” to claim that the vote was bipartisan, or “multi-partisan.”
Raskin pointed to Rep. Justin Amash, I-Mich., the rabid Trump-hating lawmaker voted with Democrats on Thursday.
“I’m sorry that there weren’t at least a handful of Republicans who were willing to vote for what the GOP’s basically been asking for, which is open hearings,” Raskin said.
“That’s what this is,” he added. “For open hearings and the availability of the public to participate in this process. I was happy also that the independent in the House, Justin Amash, voted with the Democrats. So it was bipartisan, or multi-partisan in that sense.”
Ignoring the recent incident were GOP lawmakers stormed their secret proceedings, Raskin also claimed, “Everything that’s taken place up to now has been scrupulously bipartisan.”
Amash overplayed his hand earlier this year when he left the GOP, a grandstanding move that not only denies him the notoriety of being a dissenting Republican vote on impeachment but denies Pelosi and Co. a true “bipartisan” label they were desperately seeking.
The libertarian-minded Amash often votes with Democrats and he took to Twitter on Thursday to call out GOP lawmakers.
“This president will be in power for only a short time, but excusing his misbehavior will forever tarnish your name. To my Republican colleagues: Step outside your media and social bubble. History will not look kindly on disingenuous, frivolous, and false defenses of this man,” he tweeted.
This president will be in power for only a short time, but excusing his misbehavior will forever tarnish your name. To my Republican colleagues: Step outside your media and social bubble. History will not look kindly on disingenuous, frivolous, and false defenses of this man.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) October 31, 2019
Reps. Jeff Van Drew, D-N.J., and Collin Peterson, D-Minn., are the two Democrats who did not vote for the impeachment resolution. Van Drew has long been skeptical of impeachment and Trump won Peterson’s district by 31 points, Fox News reported.
The resolution passed by a final vote of 232-196, with every Republican voting against it — which is quite the feat, given the many weak-kneed GOP lawmakers in Congress.
Back in March, Pelosi said that impeachment should not be pursued unless it was a bipartisan effort.
“Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don’t think we should go down that path, because it divides the country,” she declared.
Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement Thursday that Democrats broke their promise to the American people.
“House Democrats just dove deeper into their partisan impeachment charade. They promised Americans they would only drag the country into an impeachment if it was bipartisan,” Collins said. “They broke that promise, and their effort to feign fairness and transparency is anemic at best.”
“This resolution isn’t about the Constitution — it’s about control. It’s not about fairness — it’s about winning,” he continued. “It’s not about finding the facts — it’s about Democrats’ shredding procedure in order to stack the deck against a president they hate.”
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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