Reading the proposed articles of impeachment took less than ten minutes. The nonsense that followed, in which Republicans introduced a series of nonsense amendments and revisions then spent the maximum time dragging out each inevitable rejection, stretched on for over twelve hours. And then, when the all the long day of intentional distractions and repeated lies had left the Republicans hoarse-voiced and looking pummeled … there was a surprise. With midnight looming and the end in sight, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler suddenly gavelled the hearing closed without calling for a final vote on the articles.
Throughout the day, Republicans had many moments of over-the-top histrionics, with ranking member Doug Collins of Georgia swinging between mocking laughter and storming out of the chamber in his quest to produce the perfect fifteen seconds for Fox News. But what Nadler did when the last possible minutes of objections, points of order, and “I rise for the purpose of striking the last word” had finally been exhausted left the Republicans genuinely roaring and sputtering as the Democrats left the room just short of midnight.
"It is now very late at night," said Nadler. "I want the members on both sides of the aisle to think about what has happened over these last two days, and to search their consciences before we cast their final votes.” So Nadler closed the hearing with the announcement that they would take up the vote at 10 AM and “let history be our judge." Then he left, with Republicans who thought they had safely buried the vote in the literal middle of the night sputtering in his wake.
Even with the hearing officially closed, Collins continued shouting his objections and emerged in the hallway to claim that “this is why” people don’t like Congress. Collins also described the action as a “Kangaroo court.” Because Nadler moved the vote to … where it’s more visible and more public. That might not make sense, but then neither did the feeble arguments that Republicans mounted all through Thursday.
Friday, Dec 13, 2019 · 3:06:53 PM +00:00
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Mark Sumner
And now, after some expected fuming from the Republican side, the actual vote is underway. On the first Amendment, all Democrats have voted to approve. Republicans are currently having a contest to see how loudly they can shout “no.”
The entire day saw Democrats challenging Republicans on the facts of the case against Trump, and Republicans wanting to talk about everything but those facts. For the most part, that took the part of complaints about the “secret” process that had been equally attended by Republicans, and attempts to paint House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff as a malevolent force who had somehow rolled over Washington. And the extended hearing also left hours for Louie Gohmert to talk about … things. Lots, and lots, of things.
It wasn’t a day that produced a lot of highlights—since the intention was simply to get through the articles and provide final markup before they were sent to the floor—but Republicans did add some spice to the day with moments of complete awfulness. For example, there was Matt Gaetz reading not just from a salacious magazine article, but actually dipping into divorce proceedings, in his effort to do exactly what Donald Trump wanted Ukraine to do for him: smear the Bidens. That incident ended hilariously when Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson made a none-too-subtle poke at Gaetz’s time spent wearing orange after collecting a DUI.
Multiple efforts through the day by Democrats attempting to get Republicans to actually comment on Trump’s actions in Ukraine met with failure, as the last thing Republicans were willing to do was move from their talking points. However, there was that moment when Republican John Ratcliffe thought he was being clever by declaring that soliciting foreign interference in an election was perfectly okay.
Now the hearing will pick up again at 10 AM ET. Expect massive displays of faux disgust from Republicans on the fact that their “schedule” has been affected. Expect Democrats to ignore them and vote.