GOP Rep. Doug Collins looked visibly annoyed during Jerrold Nadler's impeachment hearing opening statement
The impeachment hearing opening statements from House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and the panel's top-ranking Republican, Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), were predictably quite different.
In an attempt to highlight the seriousness of the events involving President Trump and Ukraine, Nadler, who is leading the charge for impeachment, invoked America's founding fathers' fears of foreign influence in U.S. elections. The congressman said we "will find ourselves in grave danger" if the president "opens the door" to foreign influence, which is what Trump is accused of doing.
"The patriots who founded our country were not fearful men," Rep. Jerry Nadler says.
"But as they met to frame our Constitution, those patriots still feared one threat above all: foreign interference in our elections." https://t.co/KuVSM82rSV #ImpeachmentHearings pic.twitter.com/kT5UfsMQgl— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) December 4, 2019
Nadler's words did not, however, inspire Collins, who looked like he was about ready to leave the hearing before it even really got going.
The ranking member does not appear to be enjoying the chairman's opening statement. pic.twitter.com/69tTs9uz9r
— Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) December 4, 2019
When it was his turn to speak, Collins shocked absolutely no one by referring to the impeachment process as a "sham," and questioned the usefulness of the witnesses.
Doug Collins opening statement was brimming with disdain for the impeachment process and also elite academia.
"We got law professors here. What a start of a party."— Lauren Gambino (@laurenegambino) December 4, 2019
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