House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Doug Collins, R-Ga., blasted the "sham" impeachment proceedings as an abuse of power and said President Donald Trump has done nothing wrong but to seek the truth.
"The president said, 'Go tell the truth,' when Amb. Sondland told the president he was asked to testify before Congress," Collins said in his opening statement Wednesday evening as the House Judiciary Committee begans its debate on the articles of impeachment.
"Democrats actually engaged in a campaign of intimidation to prevent witnesses from providing testimony to the Intelligence Committee."
Collins attacked the process as the culmination of a "three-year vendetta" by the Democratic Party, claiming they only want a "30-second commercial saying we 'impeached him.'"
"The only abuse of power here is the majority racing the fastest they ever have, the clock and the calendar determining what impeachment looks like," Collins said. "That's the abuse of power, as Professor [Jonathan] Turley said, but before I finish, I cannot stop without this: The real legacy of this impeachment hearing will not be the removal of Donald Trump as president.
"In fact, if anything, they see the majority for what they are: on a three-year vendetta to get someone that they couldn't beat and they're desperate to do it before he beats them again this year."
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