The White House excoriated House Democrats on Wednesday for voting to impeach President Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, calling it “the culmination… of one of the most shameful political episodes in the history of our Nation.”
Press secretary Stephanie Grisham issued a scathing statement moments after the House made Trump the third U.S. president ever to be impeached and made clear the White House had its sights set on a Senate trial.
“The President is confident the Senate will restore regular order, fairness, and due process, all of which were ignored in the House proceedings,” she said. “He is prepared for the next steps and confident that he will be fully exonerated.”
Grisham decried the impeachment vote as “partisan” and repeated many of the same talking points Trump has deployed in recent weeks to try to undermine the process. She bemoaned the lack of due process for the White House and insisted Trump had done nothing wrong.
“This unconstitutional travesty resulted in two baseless articles of impeachment that lack any support in evidence and fail even to describe any impeachable offense,” she said.
“All of these antics make clear that Democrats have lost sight of what this country needs, which is a Congress that works for the people,” she added. “Their boundless animus for President Trump fuels their desire to nullify the 2016 election results, and improperly influence the 2020 election.”
Grisham’s statement came as Trump stood on stage in Battle Creek, Mich., at a campaign rally. He railed against the vote and hailed Republicans for remaining unified in voting against both articles.
The House voted 230-197 to impeach Trump on abuse of power and 229-198 to impeach him on obstruction of justice.
The GOP-held Senate is expected to acquit Trump following a trial in January.