WASHINGTON TIMES: DAVID BOSSIE: House GOP can set important precedent with Mayorkas impeachment
Over the past few years, the Biden administration and radical left-wing Democrats on Capitol Hill have set a lot of bad precedents when it comes to conducting sham impeachments, creating illegitimate congressional committees, and demanding jail sentences for contempt of Congress referrals.
In their never-ending quest to destroy former President Donald Trump and his supporters by any means necessary, the left bent rules, ignored traditions, and put into place a stunning system of double standards in order to punish the 45th president of the United States.
In January 2021, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi further divided the country by plowing forward with a baseless impeachment of Mr. Trump while ignoring exculpatory evidence and not affording him due process. Unchecked House Democrats doubled down and disregarded the will of the people by setting up a fraudulent Jan. 6 Select Committee that consisted of seven Democrats and two Republicans in name only.
This set the stage for a one-sided, Soviet-style panel free to abuse power and make it impossible for any meaningful cross-examination of witnesses, a hallmark of our democratic system of government.
It was an embarrassing spectacle, the kind usually reserved for the world’s banana republics where tin pot dictators turn the massive powers of government at their disposal against their political opponents.
Then, the Department of Justice — at the direction of President Biden himself — created a new precedent with regard to criminal prosecutions for contempt of Congress charges. For years, DOJ would not act on contempt referrals from Congress, but that all changed when it came to outspoken Trump loyalists Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro. Now, the Biden-Garland DOJ must treat Hunter Biden the same when Congress finds him in contempt for noncompliance with a committee subpoena. No double standards.
House Republicans have an opportunity to make the impeachment process serious again and set an important precedent when it comes to lawless behavior by Cabinet secretaries. This week, the House Homeland Security Committee will finally hold its first impeachment hearing for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
For the past three years, Mr. Mayorkas has abused his high office in breathtaking fashion by facilitating the invasion of the United States through our open southern border. He has repeatedly lied to Congress under oath, refused to enforce tried-and-true immigration laws already on the books, paved the way for over 8.5 million illegal border crossings and at least 1.7 million so-called gotaways in just three years, and created a fentanyl, humanitarian, and national security crisis.
Republican Rep. Jim Jordan has estimated that a staggering 12 million people will have entered the U.S. illegally during Mr. Biden’s four-year term. That is more than the population of Ohio, Mr. Jordan’s home state.
Last month alone saw a record 302,000 migrant encounters at the southern border, a number that was unimaginable not so long ago. This is, of course, on top of the millions of immigrants who were living in the United States illegally prior to Mr. Biden’s arrival in the Oval Office. Hardworking American taxpayers are staring at an illegal immigration crisis that is destroying our country, and the time has come for accountability.
Only one member of a president’s Cabinet has been impeached in American history, and that happened in 1876. In the case of Mr. Mayorkas, however, members of Congress must ask themselves this question: If allowing the invasion of the United States isn’t an impeachable offense, what is? The bottom line is that it would be dangerous for the House of Representatives to give Mr. Mayorkas a free pass.
Unlike Democrats in their treatment of Mr. Trump, Republicans should afford Mr. Mayorkas due process and allow him to defend himself.
That being said, lying under oath before Congress can’t become the new normal; picking and choosing which laws to enforce can’t be permitted under any circumstances; and ignoring the oath of office to protect and defend America must not be ignored. Dereliction of duty of this magnitude must not be allowed to take root.
If the House doesn’t make an example of Mr. Mayorkas now, it will only embolden bad actors to go further in the future. And make no mistake; the ongoing border invasion must be included in the House’s impeachment inquiry of President Biden as the House moves forward with that investigation as well.
The icing on the cake may have been the stunt that was pulled in Eagle Pass, Texas, the other day when 60 members of Congress traveled there to see the border crisis firsthand. For weeks, images from Eagle Pass showed record numbers of immigrants entering the country illegally. Yet on the day the congressional delegation was scheduled to be there, migrants seemed to have been systematically diverted to another entry point.
This proves the Biden administration controls the problem and is intentionally choosing not to solve it. This truly deceitful behavior should unite House Republicans to vote unanimously to send articles of impeachment of Mr. Mayorkas to the Senate for an immediate trial.
Then, Senate Democrats choosing to defend Mr. Mayorkas’ horrific record do so at their own political peril.
David N. Bossie is president of Citizens United and served as deputy campaign manager for Donald J. Trump for President.