Amy Klobuchar: “as Senators in this proceeding, we were bound by two oaths, to support and defend the Constitution and to pursue…”

“as Senators in this proceeding, we were bound by two oaths, to support and defend the Constitution and to pursue impartial justice as we considered the Article of Impeachment filed against former President Donald Trump: a charge of incitement of insurrection. The Framers of our Constitution gave us the tools to respond to a moment like this. Having lived under the tyranny of an unaccountable King, they were well aware of the risks of a President willing to abuse his or her power. William Davie, one of North Carolina's representatives at the Constitutional Convention, argued that empowering the Congress was necessary to protect against the threat of a President who would spare ``no efforts or means whatever to get himself reelected.'' Our system of checks and balances as laid out in our Constitution provides that the Congress can impeach a President for committing ``Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.'' The phrase was meant to encompass any offenses that, as Alexander Hamilton explained in Federalist 65, include an ``abuse or violation of some public trust'' and ``injuries done immediately to society itself.'' Impeachment is a remedy for this public harm. Some of my colleagues argue that the Senate could not sit as a court of impeachment for a former President.…”