Meuser Statement on Conclusion of Senate Impeachment Trial

Washington – Congressman Dan Meuser (PA-09) issued the following statement following the United States Senate voting to acquit President Trump on both Articles of Impeachment:

Today's vote in the Senate concludes an impeachment characterized by a lack of evidence and clear political motivation. Despite Democrats' attempt to prolong the trial in an election year ploy, our country can now move past this ordeal and the people can choose the next President based on merit instead of on hearsay and political theatre.

House Democrats ran a historically rushed and partisan investigation that ignored Constitutional principles of fairness and due process. Their rush to impeach included silencing dissenting views from the minority and denying the President the ability to meaningfully participate in the process, both of which have long been afforded in Presidential impeachments. Blinded by their partisan political motivations, House Democrats' case fell apart once the President's defense team was able to present their argument in a fair trial.

In fact, House Democrats made up their mind to impeach the President the day he was sworn in. Emboldened by a majority in the House, Democrats wasted no time opening-up groundless investigations and eventually impeaching President Trump before evidence was even available. In fact, the President provided the transcript of his call with Ukrainian President Zelensky that cleared him of any wrongdoing the very next day.

Speaker Pelosi and Chairmen Schiff and Nadler insisted impeaching the President was an urgent matter that required uprooting normal procedures, such as enforcing subpoenas in court. Yet they held hostage the Articles of Impeachment from the Senate for 28 days while they dictated demands to another government body how to run a trial and expected the Senate to redo the House's shoddy investigative work.

Even though House Democrats heard from 17 witnesses during the investigative phase and from the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, who shed light on the initial whistleblower complaint, they still tried to bully the Senate into calling more of their cherry-picked witnesses.

Despite repeated requests during the House investigation to hear from the Bidens and the whistleblower, Democrats routinely objected to their testimony and other possibly exculpatory evidence. After months of investigating, we still have no idea what Hunter Biden was doing for a Ukrainian gas company being paid $50,000 per month. The only thing we know about the whistleblower is that his attorney deplores President Trump, suggested a coup had begun in January 2017, and was eager to oust the President by impeachment.

In a fair trial in the Senate, the President's defense team articulated the weakness of the Articles of Impeachment, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. They reiterated that the President long had concerns about Ukraine and that withholding aid is frequently practiced when such concerns are present. Obstruction of Congress is an empty accusation because House Democrats did not enforce and even withdrew subpoenas for witnesses they sought. When there is a dispute between two branches of government, it is up to the third to resolve it, but this Constitutional principle was incompatible with Democrats' election year schedule and they instead construed following normal procedures as an impeachable offense.

Since gaining the majority in 2018, the House Democrat majority has obsessed over doing one thing: impeaching a President despite the absence of evidence. Their purely political agenda consumed the resources and time of all three branches of the federal government. This is irresponsible, an abdication of responsibility, and a violation of the people's trust.

In contrast, President Trump delivered his third State of the Union Address last night. In his address, the President detailed the incredible results of his policies over the last three years and articulated an optimistic and ambitious agenda for 2020 and for our country this decade. Pro-growth policies have created the best economy in our lifetime, our modern military stands ready to face any threat, and we are beginning to see drug overdose deaths decline for the first time in decades. These are real results and prime examples of where President Trump has disproved conventional wisdom and set our country on a path to prosperity and peace.

Nine months from now, the people will choose the next President. They will decide whether continued pro-growth leadership is best for our country. Until then, I look forward to working with the President to deliver results for the American people.