‘You Do Not Have a Right to Demean This Institution!’ Dan Goldman Tees Off on Republicans Over Impeachment Effort

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) blasted House Republicans’ efforts to impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the southern border.

The House Homeland Security Committee met on Tuesday to discuss the impeachment articles against Mayorkas, which have come under fire from constitutional scholars on both sides of the spectrum. Fox News legal analyst Jonathan Turley has said there is no “cognizable basis” to impeach Mayorkas.

“He’s adhered to the law in every single way that he’s been required to do,” Goldman said. “What you are upset about is that Secretary Mayorkas rescinded prior executive orders that were working. And you have a right to be upset about that. And you have a right to talk about that. And you have a right to express your dissatisfaction in any way you choose.”

He then accused Republicans of demeaning Congress:

But you do not have a right to demean this institution, to bastardize the impeachment clause of the Constitution, to belittle the standard of constitutional impeachment to such a degree, that you can’t even produce a legal memo in support of your articles of impeachment that do not exist in history, and do not exist in the law.

And if, in fact, as you allege here, there were false statements made to Congress or obstruction of Congress, those are crimes. You could’ve charged him with those, but you didn’t want to because you knew you couldn’t actually prove them. You just want to make the allegations and concoct some crazy breach of public trust which does not exist.

Impeachments of cabinet officials are virtually unheard. The only time it happened was in 1876 when the House impeached Secretary of War William Belknap. He was acquitted by the Senate.

Watch above via C-SPAN.