Despite the media and Democrats’ reliance on unnamed political operatives masquerading as whistleblowers, political spin, conspiracy theories, and, in many cases, outright lies, Senate Republicans held firm to the Constitution and acquitted President Trump of each of the Democrats’ sham articles of impeachment. Case closed. Zero wrongdoing. The senate made the right call.
When the initial impeachment hearings were assigned to Adam Schiff’s Intelligence committee, Schiff tried to control the narrative by holding secret hearings in the Secure Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF.) The Schiff SCIF tactic was to make sure Republicans could not talk about the testimony without being accused of breaching national security. Meanwhile, Democrats were selectively leaking half-truths and untruths damaging to the president, free from consequence and repercussion.
Strong Republicans like Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs and Congresswoman Debbie Lesko were having none of it. Joined by other House Republicans they stormed the SCIF. This was the type of action that in the past, establishment Republicans would have dismissed as uncouth or distasteful; however, President Trump and the new wave of Republican leaders understand that the struggle for the very soul of our nation is no longer being fought under Marquise de Queensbury rules, it is instead more akin to a cage fight. Biggs and Lesko, along with dozens of other Republicans, deserve special recognition for their roles to defend the president—maximizing media opportunities, relentlessly coordinating the messaging of Republicans on the Hill, and unabashedly defending the president’s right to due process under the Constitution.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, upon the realization that the two articles of impeachment voted out of the House with bipartisan opposition were doomed to fail, she attempted to hijack the Senate trial, claiming she would not transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate until the Senate agreed to conduct the trial as she saw fit. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called her bluff and sure enough, after thirty-three days and frustration from many Democratic senators, Pelosi transmitted the articles after gaining no concessions from a steadfast McConnell.
Throughout the impeachment trial, Democrats and the media constantly sang the chorus “witnesses, witnesses, witnesses.” Reporters tried to shove microphones into the faces of vulnerable Republicans, such as my own Senator Martha McSally, to breathlessly demand an answer on how they would vote when it came to the senate calling additional witnesses.
Again, Republicans stood resolute. Senator McSally said she had “heard enough,” while two of the “targeted” Republican votes, Senator Lamar Alexander and Senator Lisa Murkowski, announced before the witness vote that they would be voting “no.” If impeachment taught them nothing else, Democrats and the liberal mainstream media learned that Republicans, under the leadership of President Trump, will no longer kowtow to the pressure of leftist political pundits, editorial writers, and astroturf Democratic activists.
Ultimately, we witnessed unparalleled solidarity amongst Republicans. All Senate Republicans, aside from failed presidential candidate and perennial Trump antagonist Mitt Romney, voted to acquit President Trump of all charges. Republican senators rightfully saw through the partisan, political theater of the Democrats and recognized that combatting corruption within our government and ensuring that billions of American taxpayers’ hard-earned money is an appropriate function for our nation’s chief executive. Unfortunately for Nancy Pelosi, this resounding acquittal of President Trump means he will forever be “not guilty” of any wrongdoing.
Democrats rigged the impeachment process in the House and hijacked the U.S. Senate for weeks on end, yet after all of the bluster and wasted time, all they accomplished was to prove to all honest observers that their case was based on pure fiction. Congressional Republicans are to be commended for ending this national disgrace that Democrats forced upon us.
In the face of this stinging rebuke of Democrats’ partisan antics, we must not forget that since winning the House Nancy Pelosi and her ruling majority have nearly refused to do anything productive for the American people. Democrats have refused to progress countless proposals by President Trump and congressional Republicans that would substantively solve issues such as reducing healthcare costs, rebuilding our nation’s fraying infrastructure, providing veterans the help they need and deserve, securing the border, and much more. Instead, Democrats have wasted Americans’ time with their petty, partisan bullying of our duly elected president and the tens of millions of Americans who support him.
It’s time to move on and get back to the real work of the American people.
Jake Hoffman is a contributing columnist at Townhall and the founder, president and CEO of Rally Forge, one of the nation’s top conservative digital communications and media strategy firms. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.