Sen. Cruz: In the Senate Trial, President Trump Will Be Acquitted
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Senate subcommittee on The Constitution, today appeared on Fox News' ‘America's Newsroom' with Bill Hemmer and the Hugh Hewitt show to discuss his expectations for the Senate's impeachment trial. Excerpts of the interviews are below.
When asked about the Senate's impeachment trial, Sen. Cruz said:
"I think at the end of this process, these Articles of Impeachment are going to be thrown out. And I think it's going to end, not with a dismissal, but with a verdict of not guilty. And the way it works in the Senate, when you come to vote on verdict, you vote on each article, and each senator will vote either ‘guilty' or ‘not guilty.' The reason why this ends with an acquittal is very simple; the House hasn't met the constitutional threshold."
He continued:
"The Constitution specifies for impeachment of a president that you have to demonstrate bribery, treason or other high crimes and misdemeanors. They haven't done that. In fact, this is the first time in the history of our country any president has been impeached without even so much as an allegation of criminal conduct. They have not alleged in these Articles of Impeachment the president violated any criminal law. They haven't alleged he violated any civil law. They haven't even alleged the president has a speeding ticket. And for that reason, this doesn't meet the constitutional standard of high crimes and misdemeanors. And so the end of this process will be an acquittal and I think that's probably in about a couple of weeks."
On the Hugh Hewitt Show, Sen. Cruz discussed the importance of ensuring President Trump has the opportunity to present his defense:
"As it concerns witnesses, I am open to the possibility of the Senate hearing witnesses, in particular because the way House conducted itself. It was a one-sided show trial on the House side. They denied the minority the ability to call witnesses in the House. That was contrary to the precedents that were set with both the Clinton impeachment and the Nixon impeachment. House Democrats this time decided it was only going to be one-sided. They'd only bring prosecution witnesses. They wouldn't allow the White House to cross-examine them. And so it was entirely a one-sided deck of cards.
"In the Senate, if the president wants to call witnesses in his defense, I believe the Senate should let the president do that. If the [White House] wants to call Hunter Biden, if the [White House] wants to call the whistleblower, due process dictates that he have the opportunity to present his defense."
Watch Sen. Cruz's full interview on Fox News here. Listen to Sen. Cruz's full interview on the Hugh Hewitt show here.
###
