the military should be very much on notice that it must conform to the rule of law and that the oaths that they swear are to the Constitution of the United States and to the people and not to the president. This is not a banana republic…

Well, you're talking about the inside strategy or the outside strategy for Trump?

Think of it like the chief justice in an impeachment tribunal. He's basically there to preside over the proceedings, but not to usurp Congress' right to make decisions about the counting of the electors.

You know, on the inside, it is absolutely outlandish and whimsical.

Donald Trump's refusal to immediately sign the stimulus bill led to nothing but heartache over the Christmas holidays.

the idea that he's suggesting it as some kind of Christmas present to his friends and family is just outrageous.

if a president were literally to sell pardons, to take money for pardons, that would be bribery.

the president has the power to pardon in order to correct manifest injustices with an exercise of justice or to balance the operation of justice with mercy.

he doles out pardons like a mob boss would, to reward his political friends and conversely he uses his power over the Department of Justice to punish his enemies.

the president can only pardon for federal offenses. The president cannot pardon in a way that is effective against state criminal prosecutions.

I support this hearing, as you mentioned in your opening statement. However, I am concerned that holding this hearing in the midst of a multibillion dollar settlement negotiation will delay and reduce needed restitution for millions of…

Look at what the consequence is of this kind of corporate recklessness and governmental toleration of it.

It's easy to feel outrage about the misdeeds of this corporation, but what about our government that gives license to this kind of corporate irresponsibility and criminality and impunity?

In this committee, we should do more than identify a problem and benefit from a short-term media mention. We should hold people accountable.

I told you this before the hearing was scheduled for the first time and I asked that you delay the hearing until January.

You're using the passive voice there when you say it's been associated with abuse, which implies somehow you and your family were not aware of exactly what was taking place in the country.

I hope that having these hearings--this hearing today does not delay a settlement and result in victims getting less restitution from Purdue and the Sackler family.

It's a completely hypothetical claim, the type that the Supreme Court just makes mincemeat out of on a regular basis.

There's obviously no precedent for that, but there's no standing because there's no injury to those states. It's a totally political question, which means it's non-justiciable, which means it can't go to court.

I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Huffman) for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in favor of H.R. 970, and I salute my colleague, Congressman Brown, for his exemplary leadership on this issue. Mr. Speaker, I cannot find a single case…

Well, that's all theater just to keep the fund-raising going. They're making tens of millions of dollars a week shaking down the political apparatus for this.

There are real vulnerabilities that we're going to have to deal with going forward.

I introduced the first national popular vote legislation when I was a state senator in Maryland, and I've been fighting for the national popular vote interstate compact, and it's a way to get beyond the Electoral College with all of its…

This is just a political command performance by the president, and it's a statement about the absolute degradation of the Republican Party that they all line up like lemmings and get in line and, you know, walk the plank with the president.

Fortunately I think the governors of all those states will stand by the legitimate constitutional process, the election process of Michigan and Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and Georgia, as the officials both Democratic and Republican in…