REP MATT GAETZ: ‘Democrats have done monumental damage both to the institution of the Presidency, and to the legitimacy of the Congress.’

Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL, District 1) in an email explained in no uncertain terms how Democrats have ignored the Constitution in an attempt to undermine President Trump and his followers. Please read and watch the below video to understand how lawless the Democrats in Congress have become. They are drunk on their power.

TRANSCRIPT OF CONGRESSMAN MATT GAETZ’S EMAIL:

This has been a challenging week, and one that will be remembered poorly in the history of our Nation. Democrats have done monumental damage both to the institution of the Presidency, and to the legitimacy of the Congress.

On Tuesday, January 12, the House voted on H. Res. 21, a resolution calling on Vice President Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, declare President Trump incapable of executing the duties of his office, and immediately assume the role of Acting President. The House voted on this legislation even though earlier that same day, Vice President Pence wrote in a letter that he would not take this course of action.

Part of the problem with H. Res. 21 is that it is fundamentally unconstitutional. The decision to deem the President “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” lies with the Vice President and the Cabinet — not with the Congress. The House cannot mandate Vice President Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment any more than the Vice President can force Congress to pass laws. The branches of government are, and must remain, separate.

H. Res. 21 also has no real effect whatsoever. The resolution is non-binding — it is merely an unconstitutional suggestion to the Vice President. The same suggestion could be made via a letter, a phone call, or even an email. (In fact, those would be more proper channels for this suggestion than a House Resolution).

I spoke against this misguided proposal, which nevertheless passed. My speech is below:

Wednesday was even worse. Less than 24 hours after passing H. Res. 21, House Democrats brought an impeachment resolution to the floor with lightning speed, claiming that President Trump had “incited insurrection” on January 6.

The problem is…he didn’t. President Trump’s speech asked protestors “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices be heard.” It is patently clear that the President did not provoke the violent riot that took place in the Capitol later that day, and many legal scholars agree. In fact, later that day, he told protestors again to stay peaceful, and then told them to go home. These statements were publicly available on his Twitter account — which was subsequently banned. (I would say “it’s funny how that works,” but there’s no humor to be found in big tech ‘colluding’ to silence the sitting President of the United States).

Yet the facts didn’t matter in the first wrongful impeachment, and they certainly didn’t matter in this one. It was simply an attempt by Democrats to punish the President because they don’t like him. Why else would they try to impeach a President with one week left in his term? In fact, the Senate portion of impeachment will not even begin until after President Trump has left office, and some House Democrats have indicated that they may wait until after the first hundred days of the new administration before sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate.

Impeachment in the absence of a crime sets a terrible precedent for Congress, and for the Presidency, in the future.

It is bad for America.

©Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL, District 1). All rights reserved.

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