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While Democrats claimed that an acquittal would place the president above the law, deputy counsel to the president Patrick Philbin noted that “the House of Representatives is also not above the law.” Philbin described the beginnings of the impeachment inquiry, and how it strayed from established norms.
“In very significant and important respects they didn’t follow the law. From the outset, they began an impeachment inquiry here without a vote from the House, and therefore without lawful authority delegated to any committees to begin an impeachment inquiry against the president of the United States,” Philbin said. “That was unprecedented in our history.”
As a result of the House’s failure to follow protocol, Philbin argued, the 23 subpoenas they issued were “totally unauthorized and invalid,” only to be followed by House Democrats violating “every principle of due process and fundamental fairness in the way the hearings were conducted.”
“This was a purely partisan impeachment from the start,” he said.
Philbin then cited Federalist No. 65 to bring his point home. Philbin previously used passages from Federalist No. 65 in his arguments, but he took it to another level on Monday. “[Hamilton] warns that an impeachment in the House could be the result of the persecution of an intemperate or designing majority in the House of Representatives — then he goes on…” Philbin said.
“Though this latter supposition may seem harsh, and might not be likely often to be verified, yet it ought not to be forgotten that the demon of faction will, at certain seasons, extend his sceptre over all numerous bodies of men,” he said.
“Now that’s very 18th century language. We don’t talk about demons extending their sceptre over men, but it’s prescient nonetheless. We might not be comfortable with the terms but it’s accurate for what can happen,” he added.
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The original clips contained more than 15 minutes of video, this compressed version is only 12 minutes after removal of silences and pauses.
Patrick Philbin's closing arguments in Senate Trump impeachment trial (Feb 3, 2020) https://t.co/9z2FVwkVqi
— HYGO News (@HygoNews) February 3, 2020