On CNN Tuesday, fact-checker John Avlon dismantled Republican attacks on the impeachment process.
"We live in an age of disinformation, where arguments designed to distract and divide often regardless of facts," said Avlon. "With a historic House vote one day away, here are five arguments you might have heard about impeachment and why they don't hold water."
"Number five, there's no crime," said Avlon, playing a clip of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) saying, "This president isn't even accused of committing a crime. My standard for impeachment has always been a violation of the law."
"A Senate impeachment trial is not a criminal proceeding," said Avlon, noting that during the Clinton impeachment, Graham himself said "you don't even have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this constitutional republic," and in any case Trump is in fact accused of bribery and wire fraud, which are crimes.
"Number four, what obstruction of Congress?" said Avlon. "House Republicans have tried to flip it around and are accusing Democrats of obstructing Congress by exercising oversight. These are nonsense words because President Trump told us he was embracing an obstruction strategy." He played a clip of a Trump bragging that "We're fighting all the subpoenas," and noted, again, that Graham once said, "The day Richard Nixon failed to answer that subpoena he took the power from Congress."
"Number three, in modern history we've never gone after impeaching a president in the first term," said Avlon. "There's no provision. Our first impeachment occurred during Andrew Johnson's first term. It's also closely related to the 'you're going to nullify the 2016 election' argument, which doesn't make sense when you consider that Richard Nixon resigned rather than be impeached less than two years after he won a massive 49-state landslide."
Number two, Democrats have been trying to impeach Trump since day one or maybe even before," said Avlon, playing a clip of Trump complaining that "It started a long time ago, probably before I came down the escalator with the future first lady." "But you know who definitely were talking about impeachment casedays before the election? Several Republican congressmen gunning for Hillary Clinton, according to the Washington Post. It's worth remembering that Speaker Pelosi and Adam Schiff opposed impeachment after the Mueller report. It was the president's pattern of behavior with foreign election interference that ultimately changed their minds."
"And finally, number one, they have no facts," said Avlon, playing a clip of Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) saying "They're trying to just sham it through as best they can to convince the American people they actually have something."
"But we do know the facts after weeks of testimony, despite the White House blocking key witnesses," said Avlon. "The president asked a foreign power to dig up dirt on a domestic political rival, full stop. No one should be an impeachment enthusiast, but the facts aren't being disputed. They're being ignored, because they're not helpful to the Republican argument. Facts exist, facts matter. Simply saying the opposite doesn't make it so, and that's your reality check."
Watch below:
