This Day in History: Jerry Nadler Warned U.S. of Dangers of Partisan Impeachment

Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Hannah Knudsen

House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY), who is leading the partisan impeachment effort against President Trump, warned exactly 21 years ago to date of “an impeachment supported by one of our major political parties and opposed by the other.”

Nadler, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) have led the charge on the Democrat impeachment effort against Trump. It has garnered no Republican support thus far, according to the New York Times‘s latest tally, showing zero Republicans supporting the two articles of impeachment at this point.

Nadler, however, warned of the dangers of a partisan impeachment effort exactly 21 years ago during former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment, proclaiming that it would “produce decisiveness and bitterness in our politics for years to come.” He even warned that it would cause Americans to question “the very legitimacy of our political institutions” and referred to it as a “partisan coup d’etat”:

“And we must not do so without an overwhelming consensus of the American people. There must never be a narrowly voted impeachment or an impeachment supported by one of our major political parties and opposed by the other,” Nadler warned.

“Such an impeachment will produce decisiveness and bitterness in our politics for years to come and will call into question the very legitimacy of our political institutions,” he continued.

He added:

The American people have heard the allegations against the president and they overwhelmingly oppose impeaching him. They elected President Clinton. They still support him. We have no right to overturn the considered judgment of the American people.

He also called the effort “a partisan railroad job.”

“This partisan coup d’etat will go down in infamy in the history of this nation,” he added:

Another flashback recently surfaced featuring Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), who referred to the impeachment effort against former President Bill Clinton as a “coup d’état.”

“They know that these allegations do not meet the test of the Constitution. They know that they’re not impeachable offenses, but they press forward because it is really a coup d’état,” Waters proclaimed on December 16, 1998.

“They are trying to do with this impeachment what they were unable to do at the ballot box. The American people should be outraged. The American people should let them know … that we will not stand for it,” she told the crowd:

Despite their past positions, both Nadler, Waters, and their fellow Democrats are overwhelmingly in favor of impeaching the president.

“It’s a sad day for our country,” Rep. Steve Womack (R-AZ) wrote on Wednesday.

“This baseless impeachment inquiry has been anything but fair, failed to meet the very standards outlined by Speaker Pelosi herself, and proven to be nothing more than a partisan vendetta. It’s not about the facts – it’s about politics,” he added:

“Democrats have already lost public support for #impeachment,” Oversight Committee Republicans tweeted. “But there’s no going back now.”

“The American people will not forget this partisan circus,” it added:

More:

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.