@Tindwyl Thanks for this – I wasn’t aware Grassley had made a statement. Others here have done a great job of debunking what he said, but I would just like to address his first paragraph which really sticks in my craw and shows me that he is practicing “willful ignorance” like the vast majority of the Republican party.
Grassley says:
“Speaker Pelosi announced an impeachment inquiry even before seeing the call transcript or hearing from the alleged whistleblower or the director of national intelligence. That says all anyone needs to know about the legitimacy of the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry: impeach now, facts later."
The accusation embedded in that last sentence certainly has a nice ring to it, “Impeach now, facts later.” It sounds like something Hannity would say and it’s something Trump’s base can really get indignant about. But it’s just a complete load of B.S.
I would just say this to Mr. Grassley: We, the Democrats, are not “impeaching now” – we are opening an impeachment inquiry (something you, in fact, just said in your preceding words). Instead of ignoring the facts, we are searching diligently for the facts. We can’t find the facts without an inquiry because Trump, Barr, and the rest of the GOP, including yourself, are all stonewalling requests for information. Trump and his enablers broke the law by refusing to release the whistleblower complaint. What other choice did we have except to announce a formal inquiry? If we hadn’t announced it, Trump would still be blocking us from seeing the complaint.
So Mr. Grassley: Won’t you help us with our inquiry? Won’t you help us find the facts instead of stonewalling us? If the facts point to an impeachable offense, then and only then would we take the next step and impeach. And if that becomes the case, we would hope, as a patriot, you would then join us. In the meantime, how dare you accuse us of impeaching before we have the facts. That is a flat out lie, sir.
