The idiocy, blind partisanship and craven moral cowardice of Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA09) is on full display in the following torrent of spewings, which he just posted on his official website. I’m going to go through it and add my comments and annotations in red.
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Impeachment: A Partisan Distraction
I enjoy using this column to discuss important but less well-known issues that affect the lives of Southwest Virginians.
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Progress in all of these areas could tangibly benefit citizens of the Ninth District in their lives and deserve our attention and effort.
We have important work to do. But unfortunately, the House Democrat [This should, of course, be Democratic, but Griffith is nothing if not infantile] decision to begin an impeachment inquiry of President Trump threatens to absorb our attention and block progress on the things that matter [Utter crap in several ways. First off, Republicans haven’t made “progress on the things that matter” in many years, certainly not when they controlled both branches of Congress and the White House. Now, they control the U.S. Senate, and they’ve used that power to block a wide array of bills passed by the Democratic-controlled House, from the budget to wages to elections to support of NATO to environmental protection to immigration reform to…you name it, basically. Besides those facts, it’s also utterly absurd for Griffith to argue that Congress should ignore clearly unlawful, corrupt and even treasonous acts by the president, as that violates their oath of office and also endangers our nation. Apparently, Griffith doesn’t care about either of those things.]
When I talk to constituents, I frequently hear their frustration about Democrats pursuing investigation after investigation after investigation into President Trump. [Griffith (mis)represents one of the most pro-Trump parts of the country, so that’s not surprising, but perhaps he should ask himself how his own failure of leadership has helped produce this unfortunate situation.]
To be clear, I support legitimate oversight of every administration. It is a fundamental congressional responsibility.
The Democrat [Again, with the infantile, intentional grammatical mistake to “own the libs” or whatever. What a complete and utter doofus] approach to President Trump, however, has been to launch inquisitions that start by presuming the President guilty at the outset and rooting around for possible evidence of guilt afterward. [Griffith is very good at mindlessly parroting the Trump party line, but clearly not for thinking for himself, having the least bit of integrity, standing up for our country, etc. Appalling.]
This impeachment inquiry is no different. Speaker Pelosi announced it on September 24, the day before the transcript of President Trump’s supposedly-incriminating phone conversation with the President of Ukraine was made public. [This is wildly disingenuous. In fact, the whistleblower complaint was filed on August 12, 2019, ” with Michael Atkinson, the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community (ICIG),[130] under the provisions of the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act…Atkinson looked into the complaint, and interviewed several government officials whom the whistleblower identified as having information to substantiate his claims…On August 26, having found the complaint to be both “credible” and “of urgent concern” (as defined by the ICWPA), and noting the “subject matter expertise” of the whistleblower, Atkinson transmitted the complaint to Joseph Maguire, the acting Director of National Intelligence…Maguire withheld the complaint from congressional intelligence committees, citing the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel’s rationale that the whistleblower complaint did not relate to an “intelligence activity within the responsibility and authority” of the acting DNI…Under ICWPA, the DNI ‘shall’ within seven days of receipt forward the complaint to the Senate and House Intelligence Committees. Maguire did not do so, and the deadline passed on September 2. On September 9 Atkinson wrote to several lawmakers, telling them about the existence of the whistleblower report, which Maguire had not forwarded to Congress.[137] On September 10, House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI) chairman Adam Schiff wrote to Maguire, asking why he had not provided it.” On and on it went, with the whistleblower complaint not being provided to Congress, which is legally required to do so “within seven days of receipt,” because clearly the Trump administration was trying to cover things up. THAT is the actual timeline and reality of what happened, as opposed to Griffith’s wildly misleading, dishonest account.]
I read that transcript and the whistleblower complaint from a member of the intelligence community that was later released. They did not contain anything which would justify the impeachment of the President of the United States, an action taken by the House of Representatives only twice in our history, or his removal, never done by the Senate. [That’s right, Griffith is going with blind party loyalty and fealty to Trump, rather than upholding his oath of office, protecting and defending the U.S. constitution, etc. Disgraceful.]
I might not have used the words President Trump used in his conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but I did not find the substance inappropriate. [Again, Griffith is being dishonest, disingenuous and disgraceful.]
If it was inappropriate, as most Democrats in the House think, then the question is: was it appropriate for former Vice President Joe Biden to brag about telling Ukrainian officials, “I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money,” referring to $1 billion in American loan guarantees? Remember, that prosecutor was looking into the company his son worked with. [And now, Griffith tries to change the subject to the Bidens, even though this angle has been debunked over and over and over and over and over again. So why is Griffith pushing this crap? Because, in the right-wing media echo chamber, apparently they are being told to believe it, and Griffith is sticking with the echo chamber as opposed to the truth. Again, disgraceful.]
Three Democratic senators also would have a lot to answer for if President Trump’s call with President Zelensky crossed a legal line. In May 2018, Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Richard Durbin (D-IL), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) wrote to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General. They begin their letter noting how the United States has aided Ukraine, then shift to demanding that country cooperate with an investigation of President Trump, their political rival. Mmmm? [This is another outlandish claim by the Trumpsters that has been debunked as “false- the senators did not imply anything of the sort.” Again, Griffith is being wildly irresponsible and just flat-out dishonest.]
Justice demands that if the President be held to a particular standard, these Democrat officials should be as well. [See previous comment.]
Justice is not the aim of this impeachment inquiry, in my opinion. [Given Griffith’s absolute-zero level of honesty, I think we can all judge what his esteemed “opinion” is worth. Mmmm?]
For the next several months, the attention of the House and of the nation will be focused on a political campaign against President Trump. This is not healthy for our Republic. [In fact, what’s not “healthy for our Republic” is to allow a lawless, corrupt, treasonous, out-of-control president to run amok, damage our democracy and our standing in the world, etc. Refer back to your oath of office and the constitution on the role of Congress, Rep. Griffith!]
It is still not too late for Democrats to drop the theatrics and start working on the real issues facing the American people. I hope they do. [Back to the brain-dead “real issues facing the American people” talking point, as well as throwing around the word “theatrics,” when you’ve just seen that Griffith has absolutely nothing of substance to offer, while Democrats are working hard to uphold the law and protect our nation.]
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405, my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671, or my Washington office at 202-225-3861. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov. Also, on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives. [Yes, definitely contact Griffith and let you know about what a pathetic, disgraceful job he’s doing, and how you want him to uphold his oath of office. No doubt, he’ll be thrilled to hear from you. Mmmm?]
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