On Dec. 18, 2019, for what was then the third time in U.S. history, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered a powerful speech invoking the late Elijah Cummings, a civil rights hero and former congressman.

Pelosi: As our beloved chairman Elijah Cummings, an oversight committee chair, our North Star, said when announcing his support for this action, “When the history books are written about this tumultuous era, I want them to show that I was among those in the House of Representatives who stood up to lawlessness and tyranny.” He also said, almost prophetically, “When we are dancing with the angels, the question will be what did we do to make sure we kept our democracy intact?”

Elijah, as you know, has since passed on. Now he is dancing with the angels, and I know that he and all of us here are very proud of the moral courage of members who want to honor the vision of our founders for a republic, the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform to defend it, and the aspirations of our children to live freely within it. Today we are here to defend democracy for the people. May God bless America.

A few weeks later, the Republican-controlled Senate held Trump’s impeachment trial, where then-Rep. Adam Schiff, Democrat of California, delivered a similarly emotional message in his closing arguments.

Schiff: But here, right is supposed to matter. It's what's made us the greatest nation on Earth. No constitution can protect us if right doesn't matter anymore. And you know you can't trust this president to do what's right for this country. You can trust he will do what's right for Donald Trump. He'll do it now. He's done it before. He'll do it for the next several months. He'll do it in the election if he's allowed to. This is why if you find him guilty, you must find that he should be removed. Because right matters. Because right matters. And the truth matters. Otherwise, we are lost.

Republican senators—many of whom voted to impeach then-President Bill Clinton—ultimately shirked their constitutional duties and acquitted Trump.