impeachment Archives - Alabama Today

With impeachment over, critics see Donald Trump ‘retribution tour’

Trump has told confidants in recent days that he felt both vindicated and strengthened by his acquittal in the Senate.

Bradley Byrne introduces bill to determine time, money ‘wasted’ by impeachment proceedings

Alabama 1st District U.S. Rep. and U.S. Senate hopeful Bradley Byrne on Thursday introduced legislation to determine the true costs of the taxpayer-funded impeachment proceedings of President Donald Trump. Dubbed, the SHAM Act, or the Statement of Harm to the American Majority, the bill requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct an audit of the use of funds and loss of government productivity for both the Legislative Branch and the Executive Branch due to the impeachment inquiry and trial of Trump. The audit must include costs, time spent, expenses, and estimations on the loss of productivity. “Tragically, there was no bigger loser in the Democrats’ impeachment sham than the American people,” said Byrne. “The SHAM Act will determine the true costs of this taxpayer-funded political hit job that kept Congress from addressing real issues that actually matter to the American people. The American people deserve to see just how much time and money was wasted on this sham, so the Democrats can be held accountable for what they have done to our country.” The bill, H.R. 5769, currently has 31 cosponsors including Alabama 5th District U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks.

What they’re saying: Alabama delegation reacts to Donald Trump’s acquittal

The Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump came to a close on Wednesday, with a simple majority Senators voting along party lines to acquit the President on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Here’s what the Alabama delegation is saying about Trump’s acquittal: Sen. Richard Shelby *voted to acquit the President Today I joined the majority of my Senate colleagues in justly voting to acquit the President of both impeachment charges. Throughout this process, I had the opportunity to hear arguments from the House managers and the President’s counsel, review the presented evidence, and study relevant portions of the Constitution. After several days of deliberation, I believe that neither charge constitutes an impeachable offense as defined by our Framers. The House managers’ case was nothing more than an abuse of the power of impeachment itself. For the sake of the American people, it is time to put this behind us and move on. I look forward to getting back to our legislative duties for the good of our country. Sen. Doug Jones Senators are to make tough choices. We must study the facts & exercise independent judgment in keeping with our oaths. I’ve studied the record for months. Unfortunately I believe the President abused his power for his own benefit. 1st District U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne President Trump has been exonerated. Democrats should finally accept the results of the 2016 election and move on. Congress has wasted untold time, effort and taxpayer money on this partisan sham, and we should get back to work immediately by turning to issues that actually matter to the American people. Years from now, history will see Nancy Pelosi’s abuse of the impeachment power to weaken Donald Trump as a stain on her legacy, but I predict the American people will make Democrats regret this baseless partisan witch hunt as soon as this November. 2nd District U.S. Rep. Martha Roby President Trump has been exonerated. Democrats should finally accept the results of the 2016 election and move on. Congress has wasted untold time, effort and taxpayer money on this partisan sham, and we should get back to work immediately by turning to issues that actually matter to the American people. Years from now, history will see Nancy Pelosi’s abuse of the impeachment power to weaken Donald Trump as a stain on her legacy, but I predict the American people will make Democrats regret this baseless partisan witch hunt as soon as this November. 3rd District U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers After three years, the Democrats’ attempted coup based on lies and falsehoods has finally failed. I applaud the Senate for putting an end to this baseless witch hunt. Shame on Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congressman Adam Schiff for putting our nation through such a travesty of justice solely for their petty political purposes. Democrats are not only sore losers from the 2016 election, but also jealous of the phenomenal job and many accomplishments of President Trump. Democrats need to get over it and accept the fact that Donald Trump is our president. 4th District U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt Now that the President has been rightfully acquitted, it’s time to move on. With this behind us, this is a new beginning for the President and our nation to focus on growing our economy, strengthening our military and restoring our values. America can lead this century just like we led the last century. I call on all Americans to join with us to work towards an even better and brighter future. 5th District U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks Impeachment was a gigantic waste of time and taxpayer dollars. Socialist Democrats should be ashamed for foisting this unfortunate, political distraction on the unwilling American people. Now that President Trump has rightly been acquitted, exonerated, and completely vindicated, I hope we can return to focusing on the public policy issues that face America. 6th District U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer Thankfully, the impeachment charade came to an end today. The Senate just voted to acquit President Trump on both articles, so if Speaker Pelosi is interested in ripping up documents not grounded in the truth, she should find the articles of impeachment that have been rightly rejected and rip up those. It’s time to get back to work on that bright future that President Trump brilliantly laid out in his speech last night. 7th District U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell The President abused his power when he solicited foreign intervention in our elections and the House managers made a clear case to convict. The Senate’s vote today after a sham trial marks a dark day in our nation’s history. Our democracy will not fight for itself. It does not have a voice – but YOU do. We must all #DefendOurDemocracy this November. Let’s take this fight to the ballot box. Because in the United States of America, right matters.

Steve Marshalls urges Senate to reject “fundamentally flawed” articles of impeachment against Donald Trump

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall on Wednesday called on the members of the U.S. Senate to reject the two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. Marshall was joined by 21 fellow Republican state attorneys general in sending the 14-page “Friend of the Senate” brief, which asserts the articles of impeachment are setting a dangerous precedent that would turn the presidency into “a puppet” of Congress. “The Democrat-controlled House passing of these constitutionally-deficient articles of impeachment amounts, at bottom, to a partisan political effort that undermines the democratic process itself,” the attorneys general wrote. “Even an unsuccessful effort to impeach the President undermines the integrity of the 2020 presidential election because it weaponizes a process that should only be initiated in exceedingly rare circumstances and should never be used for partisan purposes.” “If not expressly repudiated by the Senate, the theories animating both Articles will set a precedent that is entirely contrary to the Framers’ design and ruinous to the most important governmental structure protections contained in our Constitution: the separation of powers.” In conjunction with sending the letter, Marshall along with fellow AG’s — Alan Wilson of South Carolina, Jeff Landry of Louisiana, Leslie Rutledge of Arkansas and Curtis Hill of Indiana — spoke to the media outside the U.S. Capitol about their concerns over the fairness of the impeachment charges. Watch Marshall’s remarks below: A total of 21 state’s Attorneys General have signed the letter, which can be found here.