Congressman Ben Cline (VA-06) released the following statement on the House vote that spells out a process for impeachment proceedings related to President Trump’s effort to strong-arm Ukraine into providing dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden.
“The passage of this partisan impeachment resolution today over the objections of Members from both political parties marks a sad day in the House of Representatives,” Cline said. “As a proud member of the Judiciary Committee, I strongly opposed and voted against this sham resolution, which ignores the bipartisan Rodino rules adopted for the Nixon and Clinton impeachment investigations, removes the process from Judiciary’s jurisdiction, and attempts to legitimize the ridiculous circus we have witnessed over the past several weeks. Since moving this investigation behind closed doors, the Majority has hindered due process, ignored precedent, and disregarded fundamental fairness. An impeachment process based on incomplete testimony heard in secret by only a privileged few is reminiscent of the phony trials of the Soviet era, and I will continue to fight for full transparency and for the rights of my constituents to have the full representation that is guaranteed to them by the U.S. Constitution.”