Jay Sekulow, a member of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial defense team, on Friday accused two top Democrats of quoting founding father Alexander Hamilton out of context in their arguments.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-N.Y., both quoted a passage by Hamilton in which he warns against a public official using their public office to pursue their own interests.
"Both Sen. Schumer and yesterday, as well, Congressman Schiff, used this famous quote from Alexander Hamilton about impeachment," Sekulow said on Fox News Friday. "It wasn't about impeachment. It was a letter regarding policy disputes between Hamilton and Washington five years after the Constitution was adopted."
He added, "So they're not only taking the wrong law, they're taking the wrong quotes from the founding fathers."
The quote comes from a letter Hamilton wrote to George Washington mostly about policy topics, but the passage Democrats have selected concerns his fears that a constitutional government could become a monarchy. However, Schiff did say on Wednesday that the Hamilton quote is not about impeachment, but about what kind of leader would be most harmful to the government.
"The framers worried then, as we worry today, that a leader might come to power not to carry out the will of the people that he was elected to represent, but to pursue his own interests," Schiff said. "A fear that a president would subvert our democracy by abusing the awesome power of his office for his own personal or political gain."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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