‘They’d have impeached George Washington!’ Republican Devin Nunes claims Democrats would have gone after the first president for trying to make a peace treaty with the British
- The House Intelligence Committee’s top Republican, Rep. Devin Nunes, said Democrats would have tried to impeach George Washington
- In his opening statement, Nunes took issue with Democrats ‘fake outrage’ over President Trump using his own people to communicate with Ukraine
- Nunes was referring to Trump’s use of his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani in dealings with Ukraine
- He then brought up Washington’s decision to send John Jay to London to negotiate a treaty with King George III
- ‘If my Democratic colleagues were around in 1794 they’d probably want to impeach him too,’ Nunes said of Washington
Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said Democrats would have tried to impeach George Washington if they had the chance.
In his opening statement Wednesday before U.S. Ambassador to the E.U. Gordon Sondland was set to testify, Nunes took issue with Democrats ‘fake outrage’ over President Trump’s decision to use his own people – including his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani – to communicate with Ukraine.
‘I would remind my friends on the other side of the aisle that our first president, George Washington, directed his own diplomatic channels to secure a treaty with Great Britain,’ Nunes said. ‘If my Democratic colleagues were around in 1794 they’d probably want to impeach him too.’
House Intelligence Committee ranking member Rep. Devin Nunes lashed out at Democrats in his opening statement Wednesday, suggesting they would have tried to impeach George Washington had they had the chance
Rep. Devin Nunes (right), seated alongside House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (left), recalled George Washington’s decision to send John Jay to London, comparing it to President Trump allowing Rudy Giuliani to freelance on Ukraine policy
Nunes was referring to Washington sending Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay to London to negotiate a treaty with King George III in November 1794.
Washington was trying to keep the newly formed United States out of another war with England.
George Washington, the U.S.’s first president, sent Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay to London to negotiate a treaty in 1794
The treaty was not a hit with Congress, but it was ultimately ratified on August 14, 1795.
Stephen Vladeck, a professor of law at the University of Texas, pointed out one difference between how Trump utilized Giuliani versus how Washington employed Jay.
‘The reason why that treaty is called the “Jay Treaty” is because Washington sent the Chief Justice of the United States to negotiate it on behalf of the country (as opposed to for his own personal benefit),’ Vladeck tweeted after Nunes made the remark. ‘And never mind that the resulting treaty was deeply controversial,’ Vladeck added.
In his opening statement Wednesday, Nunes was trying to make the point that House Democrats were looking for a reason to impeach President Trump, saying they spent three years trying to convince the American people he was a ‘Russian agent’ before turning to the current Ukraine scandal.
‘So you have to give them points for creativity for selling this absurdity as an impeachable offense,’ Nunes said.
Nunes, a California Republican, warned Sondland, ‘you are here today to be smeared.’
‘Welcome,’ he told the witness. ‘I’m glad you’re here. I’m really not glad you’re here, but welcome to the fifth day of this circus,’ Nunes said to Sondland.
Nunes didn’t speak to the meat of the impeachment inquiry, which is that Trump is accused of holding up $400 million in military aid to Ukraine to pressure the country’s new president to investigate Burisma – a company associated with Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden.
Biden is currently running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
The president also wanted the origins of the 2016 Democratic National Committee server hack investigated as he’s bought onto a conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not Russia, was behind it.
On Wednesday, Sondland’s testimony revealed there was a quid pro quo and that a number of high-ranking administration officials knew that the aid dollars were linked to Ukraine opening up a Biden probe.