Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who served as the lead impeachment manager in former President Trump’s second impeachment trial, said Sunday that Democrats had “no regrets at all” despite Trump’s acquittal.
NBC’s Chuck Todd asked if, in hindsight, Raskin believed Democrats could have secured more Republican votes by adding a dereliction-of-duty article.
“[W]e have no regrets at all. We left it totally out there on the floor of the U.S. Senate, and every senator knew exactly what happened. And just go back and listen to McConnell’s speech,” Raskin responded on “Meet the Press,” referring to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who criticized Trump shortly after voting to acquit him.
“Everybody was convinced of the case we put forward, but, you know, as the defense lawyer said, just pick any one of these phony constitutional defenses, and then you can justify it,” he added.
“It could be First Amendment, it could be bill of attainder, it could be due process. I mean all of them are nonsense,” Raskin added. “I thought that I successfully demolished them at the trial but, you know, there’s no reasoning with people who basically are, you know, acting like members of a religious cult and when they leave office should be selling flowers at Dulles Airport.”
The Maryland congressman called the trial “a dramatic success in historical terms,” noting the seven Republican votes for conviction in the Senate and 10 House Republicans who voted for impeachment.
“[Y]ou need two thirds, but I think that we successfully prosecuted him and convicted him in the court of public opinion and in the court of history,” Raskin said. “He’s obviously a major political problem for the Republican Party, and as long as he’s out there, attempting to wage war on American constitutional democracy, he’s a problem for all of us.”