With the impeachment of President Donald Trump headed to the U.S. Senate, on Wednesday, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., named House impeachment managers including a congresswoman from the Sunshine State.
Pelosi tapped U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the chairman of the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, to be the lead manager. Also named as impeachment managers were U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-NY, the chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee; U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who chairs the U.S. House Administration Committee; U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus; U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, D-Col.; U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Tex.; and U.S. Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla.
“Today, I have the privilege of naming the managers of the impeachment trial of the president,” said Pelosi. “It is their responsibility to present the very strong case for the president’s impeachment and removal. The impeachment managers represent the patriotism, pluralism and vibrancy of America.
“The House has demonstrated its courage and patriotism,” she continued. “Our managers reflect those values, and will now honor their responsibility to defend democracy ‘For The People’ with great seriousness, solemnity and moral strength.”
Demings, who serves on the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, welcomed the assignment on Wednesday.
“I am honored to have the opportunity to help defend our republic in this incredible moment in history. I hope that every American who believes in democracy will take a stand,” she said. “The president has been given an incredible responsibility and opportunity to serve the American people. Instead, he has abandoned his oath of office and the Constitution, choosing to put his interest before the national interest. The evidence against the president is overwhelming. The president abused his office to try to cheat in the 2020 election, and then covered it up. He shall be held accountable.”
Demings offered her take on how impeachment will be received in the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate.
“I understand that the politics of impeachment are difficult for many senators,” Demings said. “But I have not written off the Senate. Each senator still has the power to do the right thing. I know that as each senator considers whether to side with justice or corruption, the voices of the American people will matter.”
Demings weighed on the first article impeachment charging Trump with abuse of power.
“President Trump solicited the interference of a foreign government, Ukraine, in the 2020 United States presidential election,” Demings insisted. “In so doing, President Trump used the powers of the presidency in a manner that compromised the national security of the United States and undermined the integrity of the United States democratic process.
“President Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law,” she added.
Demings also opined on the second article, charging Trump with obstruction of Congress.
“The House of Representatives has engaged in an impeachment inquiry focused on President Trump’s corrupt solicitation of the government of Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 United States presidential election,” Demings said. “In the history of the republic, no president has ever ordered the complete defiance of an impeachment inquiry or sought to obstruct and impede so comprehensively the ability of the House of Representatives to investigate ‘high crimes and misdemeanors.’ This abuse of office served to cover up the president’s own repeated misconduct and to seize and control the power of impeachment — and thus to nullify a vital constitutional safeguard.”
First elected to Congress in 2016, Demings served more than a quarter-century in law enforcement, rising to become Orlando’s police chief.
Reach Kevin Derby at kevin.derby@floridadaily.com.
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