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White House Counsel Pat Cipollone showed old video clips in which Democrats railed against embarking on the extraordinary measure when it’s politically polarizing. Jerry Nadler” “There must never be a narrowly voted impeachment or an impeachment supported by one of our major political parties and opposed by the other. Such an impeachment … will call into question the very legitimacy of our Constitution.”

Chuck Schumer said: “My fear is that when a Republican wins the White House, the Democrats will demand payback.”

Pat Cipollone closed the defense’s case by urging senators to consider their role and the lasting impact that their decision could make on American history. “I have every confidence, every confidence in your wisdom. You will do the only thing you can do, what you must do, what the Constitution compels you to do — reject these articles of impeachment for our country and for the American people,” Cipollone said.

Jan 28, 2020 was the last day Trump’s lawyers had to refute the House’s impeachment case. There were many hours of arguments from Patrick Philbin, Jay Sekulow and Pat Cipollone.

The original clips contained more than 7 minutes of video, this compressed version is only 5 minutes after removal of silences and pauses.
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Full transcript:

Pat Cipollone Closing Argument
Pat Cipollone:
Thank you, Mr. Chief Justice, members of the Senate. Well, I had kind of a lengthy presentation prepared, but I think you’ve heard a lot from our side, and I think we’ve made our case, so I just want to leave you with a couple of points. First of all, thank you Mr. Leader and thank you, Democratic Leader Schumer, and all of you for the privilege of speaking on the floor of the Senate and for your time and attention. We really appreciate it. We’ve made three basic points. One, all you need in this case is the constitution and your common sense. You just look at the articles of impeachment. The articles of impeachment fall far short of any constitutional standard, and they are dangerous. If you look to the words from the past that I think are instructive, as I said last night, they’re instructive because they were right then, and they’re right now. I’ll leave you with some of those words.

Jerry Nadler:
There must never be a narrowly voted impeachment or an impeachment supported by one of our major political parties and opposed by the other. Such an impeachment will produce divisiveness and bitterness in our politics for years to come and will call into question the very legitimacy of our political institutions.

Zoe Lofgren:
This is unfair to the American people. By these actions, you would undo the free election that expressed the will of the American people in 1996. In so doing, you will damage the faith the American people have in this institution and in the American democracy. You will set the dangerous precedent that the certainty of presidential terms, which has so benefited our wonderful America, will be replaced by the partisan use of impeachment. Future presidents will face election, then litigation, then impeachment. The power of the president will diminish in the face of the Congress, a phenomena much feared by the founding fathers.

Ed Markey:
This is a constitutional amendment that we are debating, not an impeachment resolution. The Republicans are crossing out the impeachment standard of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” and they are inserting the words, “any crime or misdemeanor.” We are permitting a constitutional coup d’etat, which will haunt this body and our country forever.

Bob Menendez:
I warn my colleagues that you will reap the bitter harvests of the unfair partisan seeds you sold today. The constitutional provision for impeachment is a way to protect our government and our citizens, not another weapon in the political arsenal.

Chuck Schumer:
I expect history will show that we’ve lowered the bar on impeachment so much. We have broken the seal on this extreme penalty so cavalierly that it will be used as a routine tool to fight political battles. My fear is that when a Republican wins the White House, Democrats will demand payback.

Pat Cipollone:
You were right, but I’m sorry to say you were also prophetic. I think I couldn’t say it better myself, so I won’t. You know what the right answer is in your heart. You know what the right answer is for our country. You know what the right answer is for the American people. What they are asking you to do is to throw out a successful president on the eve of an election with no basis and in violation of the constitution. It would dangerously change our country and weaken forever all of our democratic institutions. You all know that’s not in the interest of the American people. Why not trust the American people with this decision? Why tear up their ballots? Why tear up every ballot across this country? You can’t do that. You know you can’t do that.

So I ask you to defend our constitution, to defend fundamental fairness, to defend basic due process rights, but most importantly, most importantly, to respect and defend the sacred right of every American to vote and to choose their president. The election is only months away. The American people are entitled to choose their president. Overturning the last election and massively interfering with the upcoming one would cause serious and lasting damage to the people of the United States and to our very country. The Senate cannot allow this to happen. It is time for this to end here and now.

So we urge the Senate to reject these articles of impeachment for all of the reasons we have given you. You know them all. I don’t need to repeat them. They’ve repeatedly said over and over again a quote from Benjamin Franklin, “It’s a Republic if you can keep it,” and every time I heard it, I said to myself, “It’s a Republic if they let us keep it,” and I have every confidence in your wisdom, you will do the only thing you can do, what you must do, what the constitution compels you to do. Reject these articles of impeachment for our country and for the American people.

It will show that you put the constitution above partisanship. It will show that we can come together on both sides of the aisle and end the era of impeachment for good. You know it should happen. You know it should happen. It will allow you all to spend all of your energy and all of your enormous talent and all of your resources on doing what the American people sent you here to do: to work together, to work with the president, to solve their problems, so this should end now as quickly as possible. Thank you again for your attention. I look forward to answering your questions, and with that, that ends our presentation. Thank you very much.
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Pat Cipollone's closing argument in the House’s case in Senate impeachment trial (Jan 28, 2020) https://t.co/dA7TihHHE0

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