On Thursday night, as the Washington, D.C., evening was closing, House Democrats tapped California Congressman Adam Schiff (D) to deliver the final remarks of the night for the House impeachment managers — and Schiff, who has become a high-profile figure during impeachment, delivered a rousing set of remarks.
On the floor of the Senate, the House Intelligence Committee Chairman declared, “It doesn’t matter how good the Constitution is. It doesn’t matter how brilliant the Framers were.”
“If right doesn’t matter, we’re lost. If the truth doesn’t matter, we’re lost. The Framers couldn’t protect us from ourselves if right and truth don’t matter. And you know that what [Trump] did was not right.”
Later in his speech, Schiff got choked up at the emotion of his words as he said, “No Constitution can protect us if right doesn’t matter anymore.”
“And you know, you can’t trust this president to do what’s right for this country. You can trust he will do what’s right for Donald Trump. He’ll do it now, he’s done it before. He’ll do it for the next several months. He’ll do it in the election if he’s allowed to.”
He closed by saying, “Right matters, and the truth matters. Otherwise, we are lost.”
Here’s a clip from the final minutes of Schiff’s speech:
Schiff closes out Thursday's proceedings: "'Right' matters. And the truth matters. Otherwise we are lost." pic.twitter.com/eHiMtsGwV2
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) January 24, 2020
Schiff is one of seven members of the House selected as impeachment managers in the Senate trial against President Donald Trump. However, he has played one of the largest roles in impeachment over the past few months. From his chair on the House Intelligence Committee, Schiff has worked to push the case against Trump.
In response, Trump has regularly lashed out against Schiff, giving him a collection of derogative nicknames. But Schiff has largely shrugged off the president’s attacks as they come, once joking to Trump that “you gotta pick one” nickname.