Jonathan Turley, the sole Republican witness during the House Judiciary Committee’s first public impeachment hearing Wednesday, said he was “inundated with threatening messages” after his testimony, which argued that Democrats do not have enough evidence to support articles of impeachment against President Trump.
“Before I finished my testimony, my home and office were inundated with threatening messages and demands that I be fired from George Washington University for arguing that, while a case for impeachment can be made, it has not been made on this record,” Turley wrote in an op-ed for The Hill on Thursday.
The law professor at George Washington University Law School appeared alongside three other legal scholars with opposing views Wednesday and warned that Democrats would be ill-advised to rush to a vote on impeachment articles because they do not have a complete record of witness testimonies and supporting evidence to prove that Trump abused his power to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to open an investigation into 2020 Democratic candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings there in exchange for military aid.
“My objection is not that you cannot impeach Trump for abuse of power but that this record is comparably thin compared to past impeachments and contains conflicts, contradictions and gaps, including various witnesses not subpoenaed,” Turley said.
“I suggested that Democrats drop the arbitrary schedule of a vote by the end of December and complete their case and this record before voting on any articles of impeachment,” he added. “In my view, they have not proven abuse of power in this incomplete record.” – READ MORE