Rep. Al Green Blasts Lack of Racial Diversity in Impeachment Witnesses

Matt Margolis | 9:14 AM on December 05, 2019

*Grabien screenshot of Al Green on the floor of the House of Representatives.*

Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), wasn’t happy with the impeachment hearings on Wednesday. Not just because the hearings didn’t go well for the Democrats, but because of the lack of racial diversity of the expert witnesses.

“It hurts my heart, Mr. Speaker, to see the Judiciary Committee hearing experts on the topic of impeachment, one of the seminal issues of this Congress … Hearing experts, Mr. Speaker, and not one person of color among the experts. What subliminal message are we sending to the world when we have experts, but not one person of color? Are we saying there are no people of color who are experts on this topic of impeachment? What is the message that we’re sending? Mr. Speaker, if I am wrong, I will apologize. But, if the committee is wrong, if the Congress is wrong, what will it do? Mr. Speaker, people of color, for too long, have been ignored by one party, and taken for granted by the other.”

We cannot have the output of people of color without the input of people of color. It's about fairness. It's about reflecting the richness of diversity in our Nation. #ImpeachmentHearing https://t.co/vwN9ZRFZXw

— Congressman Al Green (@RepAlGreen) December 4, 2019

If you watched the House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearings on Tuesday, you might have been struck by the blatant partisanship displayed by the Democrat-chosen experts. One witness, Noah Feldman, had been calling for Trump’s impeachment since the early months of his presidency. Another witness, Pamela Karlen, actually had the audacity to include a joke about Barron Trump. The rabid partisanship of their witnesses undermined their alleged objectivity in interpreting the law. But, none of that matters to Rep. Green, who only saw them in terms of race.

Rep. Green has been pushing for impeachment for years. He’s previously made three attempts to introduce articles of impeachment, starting in December 2017, and most recently in July of this year, failing each time.