Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO) masterfully used a Republican colleague’s words against him regarding the merits of impeachment, getting Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) to disagree with an opinion piece he wrote five years ago when then-President Donald Trump was the subject of one such inquiry.
During a committee hearing Monday on Republicans’ impeachment resolution against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the Colorado lawmaker presented Homeland Security Committee Chairman Green with an editorial.
“I’m going to enter it into the record. The title is, ‘Americans are The Victims of The Impeachment Inquiry,’” Neguse said. “The subtitle…is, ‘A lot of bipartisan legislation that enjoys support sits gathering dust while Congress focuses on the impeachment inquiry.’”
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“I assume you disagree with this?” Neguse then asked.
Green replied, “I do.”
Neguse said he found that response “interesting,” because “these are your words.” He then held up the printed article for Green to see.
“This is an editorial that you wrote five years ago during the debate about the impeachment of former President Trump,” Neguse explained, referring to the November 2019 opinion piece by Green in The Tennessean.
After reading out loud once more the article’s title and subheading, Neguse expressed his apparent disappointment.
“It’s fascinating to me that you changed your tune,” he said.
Neguse later quoted a New York Times article from last April, which stated that Green “promised donors this month that he would produce an impeachment case against” Mayorkas.
Neguse, again, wasn’t pleased.
“This is before your committee has heard from Secretary Mayorkas,” he said. “It’s before you’ve had the witnesses that have apparently come before your committee. It’s before you’ve had any meaningful debate. You decide a year ago?”
The House GOP’s impeachment draft claims Mayorkas “knowingly made false statements, and knowingly obstructed lawful oversight of the Department of Homeland Security” regarding border security. It also alleges that Mayorkas “willfully and systemically refused to comply with the law” by instituting a “catch and release scheme” for migrants prior to their court dates.
Mayorkas himself called the accusations “baseless.” Even some Republicans in Congress are not sold by the move, with Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) calling it a “stunt” and a “political gimmick.”
Later Monday night, the House Rules Committee voted 8-4 along party lines to send impeachment articles to the House floor, where Republicans hold a one-member majority.
