In the final remarks made to senators before they vote on a verdict, Schiff delivered an impassioned plea for lawmakers to find the courage to put an end to the president’s conduct.
“Every single vote, even a single vote by a single member, can change the course of history,” he said. “It is said that a single man or woman of courage makes a majority. Is there one among you who will say ‘enough?'”
Schiff’s 25-minute-long speech laid out Mr. Trump’s record of inviting foreign interference in U.S. elections, beginning with his call in 2016 for Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails to his most recent efforts to pressure Ukraine to announce investigations into his Democratic political rivals, the latter of which are at the heart of impeachment efforts against him.
If senators believe Mr. Trump will act any different in the future following the impeachment proceedings, Schiff said, they are wrong.
“He has not changed. He will not change,” Schiff said. “He has made that clear himself, without self-awareness or hesitation. A man without character or ethical compass will never find his way.”
Schiff said that if Mr. Trump is not removed from office, the odds he will cheat in future elections are all but certain, and the California Democrat warned that acquittal will set the country on a dangerous path.
“What are the odds if left in office he will continue trying to cheat? I will tell you: 100%. Not 5, not 10 or even 50, but 100%,” he said. “If you have found him guilty and you do not remove him from office, he will continue trying to cheat in the election until he succeeds. Then what shall you say?”
Schiff lamented that in the decades since impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, lawmakers have become more partisan, leading to their willingness to accept impermissible conduct.
“For reasons as varied as the stars, the members of this body and ours in the House are now far more accepting of the most serious misconduct of a president as long as it is a president of one’s own party, and that is a trend most dangerous for our country,” he said.
Schiff said that “history will not be kind to Donald Trump,” and said senators can choose to either join him in the annals of history or stand up to him.
“If you find that the House has proved its case and still vote to acquit, your name will be tied to his with a cord of steel and for all of history,” he said. “But if you can find the courage to stand up to him, to speak the awful truth to his rank falsehood, your place will be amongst Davids who took on Goliath, if only you will say, ‘Enough.'”
Schiff concluded his remarks with a final plea for senators to convict Mr. Trump.
“It may be midnight in Washington, but the sun will rise again. I put my faith in the optimism of the Founders. You should too,” he said. “They gave us the tools to do the job, a remedy as powerful as the evil it was meant to constrain: impeachment. They meant it to be used rarely, but they put it in the Constitution for a reason: For a man who would sell out his country for a political favor. For a man who would threaten the integrity of our elections. For a man who would invite foreign interference in our affairs. For a man who would undermine our national security and that of our allies. For a man like Donald J. Trump.”
“They gave you a remedy and they meant for you to use it,” he concluded. “They gave you an oath and they meant for you to observe it. We have proven Donald Trump guilty. Now do impartial justice and convict him.”
