Counsel Sekulow Summary that the Impeachment Coup began at the Inauguration

Congressional Record Senate Page for February 3, 2020

Page S782

Mr. Counsel SEKULOW. Mr. Chief Justice, Majority Leader McConnell,

Democratic Leader Schumer, House managers, I want to join my colleagues

in thanking you for your patience over these 2 weeks.

I want to focus on one last point. We believe that we have

established overwhelmingly that both Articles of Impeachment have

failed to allege impeachable offenses and that, therefore, both

articles–I and II–must fail.

This entire campaign of impeachment–that started from the very first

day the President was inaugurated–is a partisan one, and it should

never happen again. For 3 years, this push for impeachment came

straight from the President's opponents, and when it finally reached a

crescendo, it put this body–the U.S. Senate–into a horrible position.

I want to start by taking a look back.

On the screen is a graphic of a Washington Post headline on January

20, 2017: ``The Campaign to impeach President Trump has begun.'' This

was posted 19 minutes after he was sworn in.

I also want to play a video in which Members, as early as January 15,

2017–before the President was sworn into office–were calling for his

impeachment.

(Text of Videotape presentation:)

Mr. RASKIN. Let me say this for Donald Trump, whom I may

well be voting to impeach.

Mr. ELLISON. I think that Donald Trump has already done a

number of things which have legitimately raised a question of

impeachment.

Ms. WATERS. And I will fight every day until he is

impeached.

Mr. GREEN of Texas. I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to call for

the impeachment of the President of the United States of

America.

Mr. COHEN. The main reason I'm interested is not so much to

win the Senate, which is a byproduct, but it's because I

think he has committed impeachable offenses.

Mr. CASTRO of Texas. But if we get to that point, then,

yes, I think that's grounds to start impeachment.

Mr. COHEN. So we're calling upon the House to begin

impeachment hearings immediately.

Question. Why do you think specifically he should be

impeached?

Page S783

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Well, there are five reasons why we think he

should be impeached.

Question. On the impeachment of Donald Trump, how would you

vote?

Ms. OMAR. I would vote yes.

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. I would vote to impeach.

Ms. TLAIB. Because we're going to impeach the [bleep].

Mr. SHERMAN. I introduced the Articles of Impeachment in

July of 2017. All I did yesterday was make sure that those

articles did not expire.

Mr. GREEN of Texas. I am concerned that, if we don't

impeach this President, he will get reelected.

Ms. WARREN. It is time to bring impeachment charges against

him.

Mr. NADLER. My personal view is that he richly deserves

impeachment.

Mr. Counsel SEKULOW. One of the Members of the House of

Representatives said that we are bringing these Articles of Impeachment

so he doesn't get elected again.

Here we are, 10 months before an election, doing exactly what they

predicted. The whistleblower's lawyer, Mr. Zaid, sent out a tweet on

January 30, 2017.

Let me put that up on the screen:

The #coup has started. First of many steps. #rebellion.

#impeachment will follow ultimately.

And here we are.

What this body, what this Nation, and what this President have just

endured–what the House managers have forced upon this great body–is

unprecedented and unacceptable. This is exactly and precisely what the

Founders feared. This was the first totally partisan Presidential

impeachment in our Nation's history, and it should be our last.

What the House Democrats have done to this Nation, to the

Constitution, to the Office of the President, to the President himself,

and to this body is outrageous. They have cheapened the awesome power

of impeachment, and, unfortunately, of course, the country is not

better for that.

We urge this body to dispense with these partisan Articles of

Impeachment for the sake of the Nation, for the sake of the

Constitution.

https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2020/02/03/senate-section/article/S773-2

>>8021374

‘Coup has started:’ Slew of tweets show whistleblower’s lawyer eager to oust Trump since Jan. 2017

https://www.bizpacreview.com/2019/11/07/coup-has-started-slew-of-tweets-show-whistleblowers-lawyer-eager-to-oust-trump-since-jan-2017-849481

Two years before the unnamed whistleblower levied accusations of corruption against President Donald Trump, his current lawyer posted disturbing tweets about a “#coup” that would involve the president’s eventual “#impeachment.”

“#Coup has started. First of many steps. #rebellion. #impeachment will follow ultimately. #lawyers,” factually challenged attorney Mark S. Zaid tweeted on Jan. 30, 2017, only days after Trump’s inauguration.

Six months later, he posted two additional tweets vowing that “[w]e will get rid of him” and predicting that the anti-Trump network CNN would “play a key role” in Trump’s ouster.

Archived copies of the tweets may be accessed here, here and here in case he chooses to delete them.

Two months after his final set of tweets, Zaid co-founded Whistleblower Aid, a firm whose stated purpose is to help “patriotic government employees and brave, private-sector workers report and publicize their concerns — safely, lawfully, and responsibly.”

“We help government employees and private-sector workers uphold their obligations and protect the public. Whistleblower Aid provides lawful alternatives to illicit leaking,” the firm’s mission statement reads.

Almost exactly two years later, Zaid’s accepted the partisan anti-Trump whistleblower as a client.

These newly uncovered revelations about the whistleblower attorney’s activities have sparked concerns among congressional Republicans and their allies that the whistleblower’s accusations against the president are part of a purposefully engineered “deep state” political hit job designed to spur his ouster from office.

“The lawyer behind the so-called whistleblower has been calling for a ‘coup’ against the president of the United States since January 2017,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy tweeted on Wednesday evening. “We should take him at his word that this is a coordinated, premeditated plot to overturn the election.”

A slew of other notable figures, including the president’s children, appear to believe similarly.

The president is aware of the tweets and mentioned them at a rally late Wednesday in Louisiana, adding that Zaid is a “sleazeball.”

“It’s all a hoax, it’s a scam, and you know who helps them? These people, the media,” he said after reading the tweets to a large crowd of supporters.

In a statement to Law & Crime, Zaid denied any wrongdoing.

“In the time since that tweet was posted, which was referring to lawyers serving as the force of good to prevent this president from doing harm to our democracy, I’ve probably represented more Republicans, including White House officials, than Democrats,” he said. “This is nothing more than the continuing partisan deflection to desperately avoid discussing the substance of my client’s whistleblower complaint.”

When asked specifically about his explicitly expressed desire to “get rid of” the president, he replied, “I referred to any lawful methods that exist, whether impeachment, if justified, or voting him out. My views are in sync with the majority of the country. In fact, there are tweets I made that speak out against impeachment.”

A search of his Twitter feed revealed one tweet he sent last April in which he didn’t exactly speak out against impeachment but rather warned that impeaching the president could ultimately backfire on Democrats:

[Business & Politics Review contains numerous twitter posts and a video]