On Friday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Michael Patrick Leahy spoke to U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN-7) regarding the recent Republican political theatre at the nation’s capitol.
During the show, Congressman Green described how the current ‘impeachment inquiry’ has being completely decided upon by Nancy Pelosi and characterized the move as ‘tyrannical.’ He continued the discussion by explaining how the testimonies by witnesses were being selected and leaked to the New York Times in order to support a narrative in favor of the Democrats’ agenda.
Leahy: We are joined now by Representative Mark Green who on Wednesday was the leader of one of the greatest recent political theatre events I’ve seen. Welcome, Representative Green.
Green: Well, thanks for having me on the show. Glad to talk to ya’ll.
Leahy: So how did this all come about? I’m’ there thinking the Republicans are not going after the Democrats here for all this secret chamber, secret impeachment activity. And then you are on the front row of this spectacular political theatre event (Green laughs). There you are, two dozen of you trying to storm into this secret basement room. How did this come about?
Green: It was actually the brainchild of Matt Gaetz, the congressman from the panhandle of Florida. He kind of came up with the idea and we all went down and made speeches. The press was there of course. As Republicans, we have to do this kind of stuff just to get the mainstream media to publish the topic.
But this was a good way to make the point clear that this impeachment inquiry is a farce. It’s a joke. I mean, people of my district and people in America don’t have a say in it and they’re just down there commandeering the House of Representatives. It’s just crazy.
Leahy: This is the intelligence committee where Adam Schiff is behaving kind of like a minion of the steward King of Charles the I when they had the old star chambers in the 1600s in England. Where is this place and how do you get to it?
Green: It is located, it is for our secure compartment of information. That’s where we go to read our top-secret stuff. It’s three or four floors below the ground. I think it’s four floors below the ground in front of the capitol. So if you are familiar with the layout, across the street from the capitol is the library of congress and the supreme court and it’s in that space between there and down three or four floors.
Leahy: So you started this. How did this all come about in terms of that actual day? So there’s two dozen of you. (Laughs) Where do you assemble? What do you do? And how do they respond?
Green: We got together in a conference room and planned it out. Talked about what we were going to do. We added people to the list because I think at that point only about only six or seven us were planning on speaking. I already said I wanted to speak. And Matt had said yes, Green your good.
We get in there and meet and we’re going to add some more people. Other people came in that we weren’t expecting. So we put the rest of the agenda together and went down to that floor.
Leahy: Do you walk down? Do you take an elevator? What happens?
Green: Yes, it’s a beautiful spiral staircase that goes down. (Leahy giggles)
Leahy: Were there guards with guns or something?
Green: In the facility yes.
Leahy: Really?
Green: We went in and there’s two guards, two capitol police, and other personnel that operate the skiff. (Sighs)
Leahy: The secret chamber where Adam shifty Schiff is holding these inquisition like inquiries.
Green: Yeah, Schiff for brains. (Leahy laughs) Yeah, he was in there and there was a break when we finally got in. I’m authorized access because I’m on the oversight committee at least this year. But even still there’s some of us on the committee that doesn’t get to see all of it. I can’t get Volker’s testimony still today.
Leahy: But you’re a member of Congress.
Green: I’m a member of Congress and I’m a member of the oversight committee.
Leahy: But you can’t see this? They’re hiding it from you?
Green: They won’t let me get a copy of it, no.
Leahy: Where does that fit in the rule of law in American ideas of fairness?
Green: It’s certainly not a democracy, a representative of democracy. This is probably the most serious action that Congress can take constitutionally. To remove a sitting President. One person, Nancy Pelosi has made a decision to go through the process. So that’s why I use the term, commandeering the House.
She has basically taken action as a legislative body without a vote. And it’s unprecedented. It’s not democratic. And we’re not tolerating it. We’re going to continue to be a part of the meeting whether they like it or not. They’re going to have to get more than two guards.
Leahy: I like that a lot. I like the feistiness representative Green. Because for a long time the Republicans didn’t have it. It looks like you and a couple of others in the House are leading the way in the pushback. And I think your constituents and Americans across the country appreciate that.
Green: The feedback I’ve gotten so far has been positive. There are a few people that are die-hard liberals that want Trump gone at all costs. Just like the mainstream media, fake news, and the hardcore leadership of the Democrat party. But there are a lot of D’s.
I mean, I am shocked at the number of moderate Democrats who are saying, ‘Mark, we agree. This is not a democracy. This is not the way our legislative branch is supposed to operate. And we agree with you 100%.’ They don’t like Donald Trump but they recognize that this is ridiculous. This is tyranny. This is one person making a decision.
Leahy: So you are telling us that you’ve been approached by a number of Democrats who agree that this secret hearing is un-democratic and inappropriate for a constitutional republic?
Green: Absolutely have.
Leahy: Are any of them Congressman Green, are any of them willing to come public and say that?
Green: Oh I don’t think so. (Leahy and Cunningham laugh) No. They’re sitting on the sidelines watching it unfold.
Leahy: So in the studio with us today is our all-star panelist and national Tea Party founder Ben Cunnigham. Ben has a question for you.
Cunningham: Hey Mark. Good morning. I want to reiterate that. Thank you so much for your willingness to stand up publicly. It is inspiring to everyone. We all know that there are just not that many congressmen that are willing to go out publicly and take this kind of stand. Thank you so much for your willingness to do it.
There have been several reports about, we all know this is an absurdity. But there have been several reports about the schedule really not even allowing time for this thing to go forward. What can you tell us about that?
Green: I think the schedule is going to be amended by them to do whatever they want. My gut and people ask me what’s my prediction. I think they’re going to find something that they can justify a vote and they will eventually have articles of impeachment. There will be a vote.
My gut tells me they vote to impeach the President and then it goes nowhere. It’s interesting with Lindsey Graham jumping on the bandwaggon with this, he actually is compelling action. So now they’re talking about opening up the hearings and making everything public here in a couple of weeks.
And I bet it happens before that. Because the pressure from America is just overwhelming. But then I still think they say they take a snippet from Taylor’s testimony or a snippet from some other very biased witness and then have a vote.
Leahy: That testimony, by the way, do we have this right? They take this testimony. They leak it to the New York Times. You can’t see this entirely. They leak it to the New York Times and they spin it. How fair is that?
Green: It’s not a trial of any kind like you would think of. There’s no due process. The President can’t present witnesses. Normally if you have a case where there’s he said, he said and that kind of thing, and the reliability of the witnesses and then the court makes a decision. None of that’s happening.
Even where witnesses basically undue their premise, for example, a couple of witnesses have said, and we heard this from Congressman Ratcliffe. The Ukrainians didn’t even know that the money wasn’t coming till late August. Now you can’t have a quid pro quo is there’s no quo. But yet they won’t let that come out!
Leahy: Yeah.
Green: That’s coming from a Republican who happened to, fortunately, be in there during that time.
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