Meuser Statement on House Impeachment Vote

WASHINGTON — Congressman Dan Meuser (PA-09) issued the statement below following his vote strongly opposing the impeachment of President Donald J. Trump:

"Tonight marks the culmination of a nearly three-year effort to nullify the lawful election of President Donald J. Trump. Since the day he was sworn in, the priority of House Democrats has been to scrutinize, delegitimize, charge with crimes, and remove from office the duly-elected President of the United States.

"The process, players, and underlying proof at the heart of this impeachment have been fundamentally flawed and brazenly biased.

"Democrat leadership has stacked the deck at every stage of this process: cherry-picking rehearsed witnesses, hiding exculpatory evidence, limiting dissenting views, and denying the President meaningful participation and due process.

"Chairmen Jerry Nadler and Adam Schiff have led this impeachment process by presuming the President's guilt and racing towards a predetermined outcome. Chairman Nadler, along with two-thirds of the Democrat Judiciary Committee membership, voted to advance impeachment before any call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky took place. Equally disturbing, Intelligence Committee Chairman Schiff has a record of being untruthful to the American people about the details of his investigation, basic facts, and his staff's interaction with ‘the whistleblower.'

"Even with a flawed process led by partisan players, Democrats still failed to provide any proof of Presidential wrongdoing. After months of polling and focus group testing aimed at creating the most politically advantageous allegations against our President, Democrat leadership arrived at ‘abuse of power' and ‘obstruction of Congress.' These vague terms attempt to mask the fact that months of congressional investigations have produced one simple and undeniable fact: President Trump did not commit an impeachable offense.

"Not only are these articles vague, they are easily dispelled. President Zelensky's confirmation of ‘no pressure' and ‘no quid pro quo' immediately negates the validity of any charge of Presidential ‘abuse of power.' The President has inherent Constitutional executive authorities and privileges. If House Democrats classify the utilization of those authorities as an ‘obstruction of Congress,' every President since Jimmy Carter – and every President moving forward – would and will be impeached.

"Democrat leadership failed to exhaust all Constitutional avenues to settle a dispute between the legislative and executive branches. Fearing it would slow down the neck-breaking pace of their impeachment proceedings, Speaker Pelosi actually said, ‘we cannot be at the mercy of the courts.' If you refuse to engage with the Judicial branch, you forfeit your right to assert ‘obstruction of Congress.'

"This entire year has been a period of opportunity lost. Rather than working to improve the lives of the American public, this Democrat-led Congress has focused its full time and attention on passing partisan legislation and driving political outcomes. I look forward to the new year of 2020 and enacting legislation to benefit seniors, veterans, farmers, and families. As the Senate will hold a fair trial to evaluate this case – without presumption – I am 100 percent confident the President will not be removed from office. In spite of the Democrats' desperate tactics to win the White House by removing the President, the people will ultimately decide who will be elected in 2020."