It’s Mourning in America -- Today, We Lost the Republic

“Well, Doctor, what have we got -- a Republic or a Monarchy?”

“A Republic, if you can keep it.” -- Benjamin Franklin

Denver, CO -- For the first time in 243 years of this nation’s history, the United States Senate abdicated the notion of checks-and-balances, set a precedent for Senate trials with no witnesses, disregarded the Constitution, and officially decided that the President is above the law. While this is normal in a dictatorship, it’s not in the United States of America.

This afternoon, for the first time in our history, an impeachment trial in the Senate concluded without hearing from any witnesses being called or any key documents being subpoenaed. Despite evidence and President Trump’s own admission that he pressured Ukraine to investigate a political rival for his own personal gain, Senate Republicans -- including Colorado’s own junior U.S. Senator Cory Gardner -- chose to look the other way, letting the most divisive and corrupt President in modern history off the hook.

Despite a groundbreaking admission from former National Security Adviser John Bolton that Trump was , Republicans blocked him and a number of other key witnesses from testifying before the Senate. So, what is a trial without key documents or witnesses?

It’s a cover-up. Mitch McConnell led a cover-up of unprecedented levels of corruption coming from the President of the United States of America, and this afternoon, Cory Gardner joined with all but one of his Republican colleagues to ensure Donald Trump would remain in the Oval Office.

Colorado Democratic Party Chair Morgan Carroll released the following statement after the vote:

“Today, the Senate decided the President of the United States is above the law and that party loyalty trumps the Constitution. The Senate -- once known as the world’s greatest deliberative body -- was hijacked by a Republican Party drunk on power, and ultimately chose to look the other way while a lawless President stamps his feet over our country’s Constitution and norms. As a third-generation Coloradan, I am disgusted that our state’s junior U.S. Senator was complicit in this disgraceful cover-up.

“Let’s be clear: Donald Trump pressured a foreign power to interfere in the 2020 elections by digging up dirt on one of his political rivals. He did so by illegally withholding aid to this foreign power -- one of our allies -- and Mitch McConnell and Cory Gardner sent a loud message to our country that they think this is okay. This is not okay, and this is not normal. What is clearer is that in order for our country to recover from this travesty, Democrats must win back the U.S. Senate, and they must back win back the Presidency. Our nation depends on it.”

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