Chris Wallace: House Democrats Holding Up Articles Of Impeachment ‘Contradicts Everything They Were Saying’
In an interview broadcast on Friday, Fox News host Chris Wallace criticized House Democrats for holding up the articles of impeachment, reports Mediaite.
Wallace appeared on fellow Fox News anchor Ed Henry’s show to discuss the next phase of impeachment proceedings. Now that the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives has formally voted to impeach President Donald Trump, the GOP-controlled Senate is expected to hold a trial.
However, no date has been set given that House Democrats — led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi — are still holding up the articles of impeachment, refusing to send them to the Senate unless Majority Leader Mitch McConnell commits to holding a full trial, which he has still not done.
“The whole thing is political,” Wallace began, arguing that Pelosi is trying to use “leverage” to ensure that the Senate holds a full trial.
According to the veteran anchor, the Democratic leadership’s decision to hold up the articles of impeachment contradicts “everything they were saying in the run-up to the impeachment vote.”
“The one thing that kind of contradicts is how many times did we hear in the house from Nancy Pelosi, from Adam Schiff, from a number of people, ‘We’ve got to move this along because Donald Trump is a clear and present danger. We can’t wait for him conceivably to do something.'”
Wallace also said that it seems like Trump wants the Senate to hold a trial because he believes he would be acquitted. Although a Senate acquittal would not erase impeachment “from history,” the host suggested that it would make it as a “clear, present mark” against Trump’s presidency, and allow the commander-in-chief to defend himself by saying he was impeached but not convicted.
House Democrats voted earlier this week to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. According to Democrats, Trump committed multiple impeachable offenses during his contacts with the Ukrainian government, when he allegedly threatened to cut military aid unless the eastern European country’s authorities did as he asked.
Trump allegedly wanted the Ukrainians to launch investigations into his political opponents. One of the individuals Trump wanted Ukraine to investigate is former Vice President Joe Biden, who is one of the top Democratic contenders for the 2020 presidential nomination. According to House Democrats, by pressuring Ukraine to investigate Biden, Trump effectively invited foreign meddling in the 2020 election.
Trump and his Republican allies have countered Democratic accusations by suggesting that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 presidential election.
The Senate is expected to acquit Trump, but it has been rumored that “seemingly loyal” Republican senators in purple districts might deflect and vote to convict the president.
