Dem Sen. Jones Poised To Give GOP Victory in November with Impeachment Vote
It is not often you witness someone end his career on national television, but that is precisely what Alabama Sen. Doug Jones chose to do this week.
When it came time to cast his vote to convict President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial, a conviction he knew was not coming, he essentially ended his career in the Senate.
Jones managed to win his election to the Senate because his opponent, Republican Roy Moore, was dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct with minors.
And while those allegations were never proven, they were enough to swing enough votes to the Democrat Jones in the red state of Alabama.
Jones was hanging by a thread in his re-election bid, against any Republican, as it was. But casting a vote to convict the president — who is extremely popular in Alabama — on ridiculous charges has virtually ended any slim chance he had.
In a statement to The Western Journal, National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson Nathan Brand said, “By voting to remove President Trump from office, Democrat Doug Jones has given up on serving the men and women of Alabama.”
“Motivated by left-wing New York and California donors or the chance at a cabinet position in a Democrat administration, Jones once again disrespected the overwhelming majority of Alabamians who stand with President Trump,” he said.
And that is precisely what Jones’ motivation is. He had to know his chance at re-election was infinitesimal at best and he wants a new career.
Rather than choosing to join with Trump to drain the swamp, Jones wants to be neck-deep in it the next time a Democrat becomes president.
“After many sleepless nights, I have reluctantly concluded that the evidence is sufficient to convict the president for both abuse of power and obstruction of Congress,” the Alabama senator said in a statement.
“Having done my best to see through the fog of partisanship, I am deeply troubled by the arguments put forth by the President’s lawyers in favor of virtually unchecked presidential power,” he said.
“In this case, the evidence clearly proves the President used the weight of his office and that of the United States government to seek to coerce a foreign government to interfere in our election for his personal political benefit.
“The President’s actions placed his personal interests well above the national interests and threatened the security of the United States, our allies in Europe, and our ally Ukraine. His actions were more than simply inappropriate. They were an abuse of power.
“With impeachment as the only check on such presidential wrongdoing, I felt I must vote to convict on the first charge of abuse of power,” he said.
If the subjective charge “abuse of power” is the benchmark on which to impeach a president, then the standard that has been set is frightening.
The “abuse of power” argument could be made for any number of things done by previous presidents, as Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz showed, and it could be argued against future presidents.
A president now need only have an opposition party in the House to be impeached on a whim, and that was not the intention of the Founders.
But one thing is all but certain. The next time there is an impeachment trial, Doug Jones won’t be a part of the Senate jury.
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