Fox News host Christ Wallace corrected Democratic Florida Rep. Val Demings Sunday when she falsely claimed there was “no precedent that we have a full House vote” on impeachment.
Wallace told her that there were two such precedents in this century — when Presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton were impeached by the House.
“Wait, wait, wait. Congresswoman, you say there’s no precedent, there have only been two times under the history under the rules we now have in the both the Bill Clinton case and the Richard Nixon case, there was a clear precedent. The full House voted and authorized a full impeachment inquiry, so there’s a precedent,” Wallace said on Fox News Sunday. (RELATED: McConnell Says Impeachment By ‘Left-Wing Mob’ Stops With Senate Majority)
Demings is a member of the House Intelligence Committee, which has the lead on the official inquiry into the impeachment of President Donald Trump. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi decided to back impeachment proceedings last week. Demings did not acknowledge her error but reiterated two other points she had made about impeachment.
“There is no requirement, again, under the Constitution and no requirement under Houser rules: that is the procedure that we follow. But, Chris, let me just say this, this past 10 days has been painful for members of the House on both sides of the committee. Obviously, it’s been quite painful for the Senate even though too many senators are quiet on this issue”
The congresswoman was also asked if it was appropriate for House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff to fabricate the words in the transcript of the July 25 telephone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Committe Chairman Adam Schiff, Democrat of California, opens the hearing to hear testimony from Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire at the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on Sept. 26, 2019, in Washington, DC. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)
“President Trump says, that it’s just not true. It isn’t what the president says. There are questions about Chairman Schiff. He at one time talked about having evidence of collusion in the Russia case, the special counsel found no evidence of collusion,” said Wallace. (RELATED: Ken Starr: Impeachment ‘Doomed To Fail’ Because Poor Judgment Is ‘Not A Crime’)
“It’s one thing to talk like that in a press conference, it’s another to make stuff up in a congressional hearing on the possible impeachment of a president.”
Demings suggested this was a diversion by the president. “Chris, I’ve seen when the evidence was so painfully obvious, I’ve seen the subject of an investigation turn and attack the investigators,” she said.