“Pierre Delecto,” is that you Mitt Romney? Qui, C’est moi’…
In a carefully worded speech, delivered with French “emotion” in his voice, “Pierre Delecto” aka Mitt Romney announced on the Senate floor that he intended to vote to “convict” President Trump of “abuse of power.” He was the only Republican to break with his party and support removing “Bad Orange Man” from office.
The Constitution is at the foundation of our Republic’s success, and we each strive not to lose sight of our promise to defend it. The Constitution established the vehicle of impeachment that has occupied both houses of our Congress these many days. We have labored to faithfully execute our responsibilities to it. We have arrived at different judgments, but I hope we respect each other’s good faith.
The allegations made in the articles of impeachment are very serious. As a senator-juror, I swore an oath before God to exercise impartial justice. I am profoundly religious. My faith is at the heart of who I am. I take an oath before God as enormously consequential. I knew from the outset that being tasked with judging the president, the leader of my own party, would be the most difficult decision I have ever faced. I was not wrong.
The House managers presented evidence supporting their case, and the White House counsel disputed that case. In addition, the president’s team presented three defenses, first that there could be no impeachment without a statutory crime, second that the Biden’s’ conduct justified the president’s actions, and third, that the judgment of the president’s actions should be left to the voters. Let me first address those three defenses.
The historic meaning of the words “high crimes and misdemeanors,” the writings of the founders and my own reasoned judgment convince me that a president can indeed commit acts against the public trust that are so egregious that while they’re not statutory crimes, they would demand removal from office. To maintain that the lack of a codified and comprehensive list of all the outrageous acts that a president might conceivably commit renders Congress powerless to remove such a president defies reason.
The president’s counsel also notes that Vice President Biden appeared to have a conflict of interest when he undertook an effort to remove the Ukrainian prosecutor general. If he knew of the exorbitant compensation his son was receiving from a company actually under investigation, the vice president should have recused himself. While ignoring a conflict of interest is not a crime, it is surely very wrong. With regards to Hunter Biden, taking excessive advantage of his father’s name is unsavory, but also not a crime.
Given that in neither the case of the father nor the son was any evidence presented by the president’s counsel that a crime had been committed, the president’s insistence that they be investigated by the Ukrainians is hard to explain other than as a political pursuit. There’s no question in my mind that were their names not Biden, the president would never have done what he did.
The defense argues that the Senate should leave the impeachment decision to the voters. While that logic is appealing to our democratic instincts, it is inconsistent with the Constitution’s requirement that the Senate, not the voters, try the president.
Hamilton explained that the founders’ decision to invest senators with this obligation rather than leave it to the voters was intended to minimize, to the extent possible, the partisan sentiments of the public at large. So the verdict is ours to render under our Constitution. The people will judge us for how well and faithfully we fulfill our duty. The grave question the Constitution tasked senators to answer is whether the president committed an act so extreme and egregious that it rises to the level of a high crime and misdemeanor. Yes, he did.
The president asked a foreign government to investigate his political rival. The president withheld vital military funds from that government to press it to do so. The president delayed funds for an American ally at war with Russian invaders. The president’s purpose was personal and political. Accordingly, the president is guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust.
What he did was not perfect. No, it was a flagrant assault on our electoral rights, our national security and our fundamental values. Corrupting an election to keep oneself in office is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one’s oath of office that I can imagine.
In the last several weeks, I’ve received numerous calls and texts. Many demanded, in their words, that I “stand with the team.” I can assure you that that thought has been very much on my mind: You see, I support a great deal of what the president has done. I voted with him 80 percent of the time.
But my promise before God to apply impartial justice required that I put my personal feelings and political biases aside. Were I to ignore the evidence that has been presented and disregard what I believe my oath and the Constitution demands of me for the sake of a partisan end, it would, I fear, expose my character to history’s rebuke and the censure of my own conscience.
I’m aware that there are people in my party and in my state who will strenuously disapprove of my decision, and in some quarters I will be vehemently denounced. I’m sure to hear abuse from the president and his supporters. Does anyone seriously believe that I would consent to these consequences other than from an inescapable conviction that my oath before God demanded it of me?
I sought to hear testimony from John Bolton, not only because I believed he could add context to the charges, but also because I hoped that what he might say could raise reasonable doubt and thus remove from me the awful obligation to vote for impeachment.
Like each member of this deliberative body, I love our country. I believe that our Constitution was inspired by Providence. I’m convinced that freedom itself is dependent on the strength and vitality of our national character. As it is with each senator, my vote is an act of conviction. We’ve come to different conclusions fellow senators, but I trust we have all followed the dictates of our conscience.
I acknowledge that my verdict will not remove the president from office. The results of this Senate court will, in fact, be appealed to a higher court, the judgment of the American people. Voters will make the final decision, just as the president’s lawyers have implored. My vote will likely be in the minority in the Senate, but irrespective of these things, with my vote, I will tell my children and their children that I did my duty to the best of my ability believing that my country expected it of me.
I will only be one name among many, no more, no less, to future generations of Americans who look at the record of this trial. They will note merely that I was among the senators who determined that what the president did was wrong, grievously wrong. We are all footnotes at best in the annals of history, but in the most powerful nation on Earth, the nation conceived in liberty and justice, that distinction is enough for any citizen.
Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.
In an earlier speech in Salt Lake City, Utah, 2012, motivated by bitterness and jealousy, “Pierre Delecto” laid out a scathing critique of GOP front-runner Donald Trump. “Dishonesty is Trump’s hallmark,” he said.
The former Massachusetts governor called Trump a phony and said, “if we Republicans choose Donald Trump as our nominee, the prospects for a safe and prosperous future are greatly diminished.”
Romney who has a severe case of “Trump Derangement Syndrome” like his pal John McCain said he hated “faking” being a Republican ever since the 2012 election, when the media persuaded him that he was a hideous “RINO.”
“How can I not trust the mainstream media?” said Romney. “Only a fool like Trump would call them ‘fake news’ and choose to believe his own lying eyes.”
“If the media calls me a RINO but the mirror says otherwise, I have no choice but to stop trusting my eyes,” he continued. “It’s just common sense. The grave question, then, is whether my actions rise to the level of a high crime and misdemeanor to warrant becoming a transrepublican. According to my best judgment it does.”
“I must suffer the consequences and feel the pain that I felt when my friends in the media and in the Democratic Party opened my eyes to my monstrosity as a Republican,” Romney continued, reminding the American people about his long list of high crimes and misdemeanors:
- I kept binders full of women.
- I put my dog on the roof of my car.
- I hid my money in the Cayman Islands.
- I removed my testicles years ago.
- I caused cancer of my employee’s wife and let her die.
- I clipped a boy’s hair with a pair of scissors in prep school.
- I said that 47% who leach from the government would never vote for me.
- I inaccurately accused Obama of not calling the Benghazi attack an act of terrorism.
- I cheated on my taxes – according to Harry Reid who would never lie or dig dirt on a political rival.
- I foolishly challenged the magnificent and unbeatable Barack Obama in 2012 election, as if I ever had a chance of winning.
“The evidence is overwhelming. And while some may argue that being a Transrepublican is not a crime, we all know it’s still very wrong,” Romney ruefully declared.
His confession was met with scattered applause from several Democratic Senators, who later admitted that Romney’s act moved them to tears for about two minutes, after which they returned to the usual order of business.
“Mitt Romney is forever bitter that he will never be POTUS. He was too weak to beat the Democrats then so he’s joining them now. He’s now officially a member of the resistance & should be expelled from the @GOP.” — Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 5, 2020
Even President Trump “eulogized” Benedict Romney at the “National Prayer Breakfast” gathering in Washington, D.C. as he wished “goodbye” to Benedict Mitt Romney.
“Had failed presidential candidate @MittRomney devoted the same energy and anger to defeating a faltering Barack Obama as he sanctimoniously does to me, he could have won the election. Read the Transcripts!” — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 6, 2020
Romney later defended his “transgenderism” in an interview with Fox News. “It was the toughest decision I have ever faced, no pun intended,” Romney told Fox News anchor Chris Wallace.
“I know it’s going to get very lonely. But on the bright side, I can now tell my children and their children that I had enough wisdom to publicly confess my transgenderism.”
Future generations of Americans will look at my historical record and see that even though I had been an “ugly and divisive” Republican, I redeemed myself before God to secure my place in the “Celestial Kingdom” in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), better known as the “Mormon Cult” disciples.
Romney no longer is known as “Mittens” nor “Pierre Delecto” but now as “turncoat and traitor” Benedict Romney.
Romney’s Links to Burisma
Explaining why Mitt Romney really voted to convict Trump
Mitt Romney gives a disgraceful display of petty vindictiveness
Legendary College Football Coach Tweets About Mitt Romney.
Pierre Delecto Strikes Again’: Tucker Carlson Mocks Mitt Romney’s ‘Silly Moral Preening’
Donald Trump Jr. Calls For Mitt Romney To Be Expelled From GOP
Romney Pays Tribute to Himself After Voting to Convict an Innocent Man…
Trump Fires Back at Pierre Defecto with Devastating Vid
Mitt Romney’s Oath before God
Pierre Delecto