Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas stepped into the spotlight during the Republican sham-impeachment inquiry on Thursday. She began by modestly reminding everyone that the so-called “evidence” the Republicans keep pointing to is not evidence at all, and never has been. “Repeating the same lies will not somehow turn them into truths,” she said. Then Crockett turned up the heat: “Kind of like the election that Trump lost. Say it with me: He lost it. Repeating the same lie that he won wasn't going to turn the election around.” Hot enough? How about this: “The ‘lost’ in this chamber keep pushing lies and lunacy on behalf of a multitime loser.”
That’s minute one. Crockett proceeded to drop microphones all over the inquiry chamber as she spent the rest of her time hammering home every fact out there about Donald Trump, his dirty dealings, and the charges against him while continuously throwing well-deserved shade at Republicans. Crockett joked that if Republicans “continue to say ‘if’ or ‘Hunter,’ and we were playing a drinking game, I would be drunk by now.”
One of the highlights was when Crockett held up a picture of the boxes of classified documents discovered by the FBI in Trump’s Mar-a-Lago bathroom, saying that when Democratic officials “start talking about things that look like evidence, [Republicans] want to act like they blind.” She then turned the gas all the way up, motioning to the image she was holding up: “They don't know what this is. These are our national secrets. Looks like—in the shitter to me.”
And she didn’t stop there.
Enjoy.
Crockett: Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. Before I begin my questioning, I want to remind everyone that the information recorded in the FBI Form 1023 that my Republican colleagues keep citing is not evidence of anything. This form reflects the years-old secondhand unverified information from a Ukrainian oligarch as relayed to the FBI by a confidential human source. These unverified second-hand allegations have been repeatedly debunked and undermined, including by the confidential human source who relayed this information to the FBI.
The tip, recorded in the Form 1023, was thoroughly explored by the U.S. attorney handpicked by Donald Trump, which was Attorney General William Barr and the assessment was closed. Finally, Devin Archer, Hunter Biden's former business partner who worked with the Ukrainian oligarch in question, told this committee in a transcribed interview in July that he had no knowledge of any such payments allegedly described in this form.
Repeating the same lies will not somehow turn them into truths. Kind of like the election that Trump lost: Say it with me. He lost it. Repeating the same lie that he won wasn't going to turn the election around. The “lost” in this chamber keep pushing lies and lunacy on behalf of a multitime loser. So if we gon’ talk about China, let's go ahead and talk about China.
And let's talk about the dealings. And let me point out the fact that right now each of you has admitted that none of you are fact witnesses. We walked in without facts. And unfortunately, because what we say isn't necessarily evidence, we have wasted the American people's time and we are going to walk out of this chamber, and we still have no facts that are leading to anything.
But let me give y’all a little bit of tea while we're here. So: I have a document that I will ask for unanimous consent to enter into the record. It’s a fact sheet on President Trump's shady business dealings with the Chinese government.
Comer: What are you entering in? A record from who?
Crockett: This is from the Congressional Integrity.
Comer: Congressional Integrity Project, the dark-money PAC. I object. Object to that too.
Crockett: Of course y’all are going to object, but we gon’ talk about it. So it says Trump has extensive financial ties to the Chinese government. President Trump collected millions from Chinese government-owned entities while in office: ‘“I have the best tenants in the world.”President Trump was well aware of the multiple million-dollar lease to Chinese interests. President Trump promised to donate foreign government profits while in office, but he donated less than a third of his proceeds from the Chinese government.
President Trump maintained three foreign bank accounts while in office, including one in China. President Trump's business with China raises legal and ethical concerns. President Trump: “President Xi loves the people of China. He loves his country, and he's doing a very good job.”
Let me tell you something: I don't want to talk about what y’all want to act like is some big mystery because we keep sitting here. And Professor Gerhardt, just just to be clear: As my colleagues have even tried to provide evidence, which they're not the ones to provide evidence. Have you ever heard them say if since we've been sitting here for I don't know how long?
Gerhardt: Yes, I. I've been taking a tally.
Crockett: Oh, okay. Can you show us what the tally is?
Gerhardt: More than 35 times the Republican witnesses and Republican members of the committee have used the word ‘if.’
Crockett: Thank you so much for that. Because honestly, if they would continue to say “if” or “Hunter,” and we were playing a drinking game, I would be drunk by now. Because I promise you, they have not talked about the subject of this, which would be the president. But let me tell you something that was so disturbing as I walked into this chamber today. As I prepared, I said, “What is the crime?”
Because when you're talking about impeachment, you're talking about high crimes or misdemeanors. And I can't seem to find the crime. And honestly, no one has testified of what crime they believe the president of the United States has committed. But when we start talking about things that look like evidence, they want to act like they blind. They don't know what this is.
These are our national secrets. Looks like in the shitter to me. This looks like more evidence of our national secrets—say on a stage at Mar-a-Lago. When we're talking about somebody that’s committed high crimes, it’s at least indictments. Let's say 32 counts related to unauthorized retention of national security secrets. Seven counts related to obstructing the investigation. Three false statements. One count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.Falsifying business records.Conspiracy to defraud the United States.Two counts related to efforts to obstruct the vote certification proceedings. One count of conspiracy to violate civil rights.Twenty-three counts related to forgery or false document statements.Eight counts related to soliciting. And I could go on because he's got 91 counts pending right now.
But I will tell you what the president has been guilty of: He has, unfortunately, been guilty of loving his child unconditionally. And that is the only evidence that they have brought forward. And honestly, I hope and pray that my parents love me half as much as he loves his child. Until they find some evidence, we need to get back to the people's work, which means keeping this government open so that people don't go hungry in the streets of the United States.
And I will yield.
I could listen to this all day long.
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