Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) told Breitbart News on Friday that the House Democrats’ unprecedented impeachment of President Donald Trump marks the first time in U.S. history in which a president has been impeached “without even a single article alleging any criminal conduct.”
“Never before in history has a president been impeached without even a single article alleging any criminal conduct — without an article alleging even any federal law was violated,” said Cruz.
The senator spoke to Breitbart News on Friday, before addressing thousands of students and young activists at Turning Point USA’s fifth annual Student Action Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida.
“What we’ve seen in the House has been a total partisan circus,” said Cruz. “It has been a one-sided show trial, and it has been a sad, sad time for the House of Representatives — this is an expression of partisan anger and hatred from House Democrats against the president.”
Nonetheless, Cruz said he was sure the impeachment would fail in the Senate, after the president is given an opportunity to defend himself in a proceeding that will respect his due process rights.
“Now, thankfully, when it comes to the Senate, we’re going to see a very different proceeding,” said Cruz. “We’re going to see a fair trial. We’re going to see a process that respects due process. That means both sides are going to have an opportunity to present their case.”
The Senate will give the House managers an opportunity to make whatever arguments they want — rely on whatever evidence they can — but we’re also going to give President Trump a full and fair opportunity to defend himself, to tell his side of the story. And then, the Senate is going to decide based on actual facts and actual law, and the end outcome of this is going to be that these ridiculous articles of impeachment are going to be rejected.
“And the reason they’re going to be rejected is they don’t satisfy the constitutional standard,” explained Cruz.
“The Constitution requires that to impeach a president, you have to demonstrate high crimes and misdemeanors,” he added. “The House Democrats haven’t done that.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram
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