House Democrats Weigh A Move To Delay Senate Impeachment Trial

Speaker 1: 00:00 For only the third time in the history of the United States, the house of representatives has voted to impeach a president by a vote of two 30 to one 97. The house yesterday voted to impeach president Donald Trump on two articles, abusive power and obstruction of Congress over his conduct towards Ukraine. All of San Diego's four Democrats voted in favor of impeachment, Republican Duncan Hunter refrained from voting to comply with house rules after pleading guilty to campaign finance crimes. Congresswoman Susan Davis spoke in supportive and peach meant on the house floor yesterday and she joins us now. Congresswoman Davis. Welcome. Speaker 2: 00:37 Thank you. I see you with you. Speaker 1: 00:38 Was this a difficult vote for you? Speaker 2: 00:41 Actually, it wasn't such a difficult vote yesterday. Uh, and I think that's because we had been, uh, really over a period of time, uh, seeing more and more allegations, more testimony, uh, at the committee level and then certainly open for, um, the public. And I came to believe that the president was truly impeaching himself. Speaker 1: 01:08 What do you mean by that? Speaker 2: 01:09 Well, I think that it's his actions and his behavior, um, that have created the, the crisis. Uh, it, this didn't come from out of thin air of course. And everybody takes this very, very seriously. I think that we take our oath of office seriously. Um, you know, 19 years ago I raised my hand for the first time here in Congress and then every two years thereafter. And I take that tremendously seriously, a great responsibility and trust, um, that people have in me as their representative. Sometimes I'm, I'm surprised how much it means to them. I think that they have put that trust in me. And I listened, I read, uh, just about everything I could. And I was convinced over time that there was such a pattern here. And I think that the two articles actually fit it well because there's no question I think that people can't look at, at the subpoenas that were issued by the Congress and the desire to seek more information and more testimony that was totally blocked, um, by the president, by the administration, and certainly on abusive power. That was, was pretty clear. And he said multiple, multiple times. Um, even in response to what had occurred, relationship to Ukraine that this was, he saw no problem, um, with what he was doing. And I think it's because he does see himself above the law. Speaker 1: 02:44 What was key, uh, for you voting for the two articles? Was there a specific piece of evidence? Speaker 2: 02:49 I think in terms of the testimony and the facts that even his staff and administration, um, they, they were actually quite aware, um, that this was a problem and a number, which is partly why they used, uh, a different way of, um, putting it aside from other memos from other information that they had. And I, that just became compelling to me, uh, that in, in every interaction, uh, that they had with him or, or outside specific to the Ukraine issue, it was clear to me that there, there really was a problem here and they were trying to bring it out. And yet, uh, we all, we all witnessed what occurred there. Speaker 1: 03:40 Do you believe the president committed a crime? Speaker 2: 03:43 Absolutely. Uh, I think that the difficulty here is that we're dealing not with the kind of crimes that we think of every day. Um, but crimes against the country against, uh, the, the trust again that people have put in him Speaker 1: 03:59 in response to yesterday's vote. San Diego County Republican party chaired Tony [inaudible] said in his statement, fair minded San Diego fans know that today's impeachment vote is a perverse overreach based on the flimsiest of reasons with an election less than a year away. Democrats blinded by hate, are afraid to actually debate the issues facing Americans. We deserve better. And quote, why not let the voters decide as Republicans have suggested? Speaker 2: 04:25 Well, I think that his statement really belies what's been going on here in the Congress in terms of the issues that we've been dealing with. In fact, um, we were passing the, the U S MCA, the trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, uh, in just a few minutes here. And I think that that's significant and that is being done in a bipartisan fashion. So we are certainly not ignoring these other issues. But you know, we look at a number of historians that have weighed in, uh, over the course of the last few weeks. Uh, and it became very clear to me, uh, that you can, you can have a, you know, they talked about a grain of sand. I mean, you could have a, you know, a few grains of sand, but it starts to be, um, a mountain after a while. And I think that we were, we were at a point that we felt that this is something that, that had to be dealt with and, and dealt with in this way because it was, it was the one tool that we actually have, um, for the Congress and the fact that it was our, our job as oversight was being blocked continuously. Speaker 2: 05:32 Uh, must suggest, I know, but suggest to my constituents, uh, that we have a problem with the president who was trying to not be transparent. Speaker 1: 05:42 How speaker Nancy Pelosi hasn't said when she'll send the articles of impeachment to the Senate. What do you think is behind the move to delay sending them over to the Senate? Speaker 2: 05:51 Well, I think that this is, I give it in sub time. I think it's important to know and understand, um, what leader McConnell has in mind, uh, in coordinating with the white house. I mean, that's an extraordinary statement if people can think about the fact that this is a trial. The Senate, uh, acts as jurors and for people who have sat on a jury, they must know that if you have any experience with an issue that is going to be dealt with in a courtroom, they often dismiss you. So I don't, I don't think we can move forward unless there some clear guidelines about how this is gonna be handled. Speaker 1: 06:34 You're the senior member of San Diego's congressional delegation and will be retiring after this term. When you first took the oath of office, did you ever imagine you'd be voting to impeach a president? Speaker 2: 06:45 No. I came in to Congress and in many ways I came in, you know, just before nine 11. Really. I mean, I came in in January, um, of, uh, 2001. And, and for me, that was, uh, something I never expected to do either. And yet in between all these years, I've had an opportunity to vote on many, many issues. Some of them really tough, probably not as tough as voting, you know, to, uh, not go into Iraq, uh, after nine 11, and, and this one as well, which is, which is a hard vote, but not as hard for me in the district and what my constituents are asking for that. It's some other districts Speaker 1: 07:32 I've been speaking with, Congresswoman Susan Davis, Congresswoman Davis, thank you very much for joining us. Speaker 2: 07:38 Thank you very much.