Republicans in the House Judiciary Committee brought massive signs to a hearing in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump on Wednesday, and used Democrats’ own words to defend the commander in chief.
The signs, which were positioned behind Republicans’ seats during the hearing, displayed quotes from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Al Green, and Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler.
This isn’t the first time Republicans have brought signs to the impeachment inquiryy. In televised hearings that took place in November, Republicans displayed signs featuring Trump quotes, criticisms of Rep. Adam Schiff, and a Pelosi quote they said proved Democrats are engaged in a coup.
Here are all three signs side by side at Wednesday’s impeachment inquiry hearing:
![Signs with quotes from Democratic members of Congress sit behind Republican seats on the committee dais before the start of a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the impeachment Inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill]({"https://image.businessinsider.com/5de7dadbfd9db2148111c379":{"contentType":"image/jpeg","aspectRatioW":375,"aspectRatioH":236}})
All three signs from Wednesday featured quotes from Democrats criticising the process of impeachment.
The Nadler quote dates back to 1998, during the impeachment inquiry into President Bill Clinton. It says: “An impeachment of a president is an undoing of a national election.”
Green’s quote, which he said in May, said: “I’m concerned if we don’t impeach this president, he will get re-elected.” The quote was also featured on a sign at a November impeachment inquiry hearing.
Pelosi’s quote — in which she says impeachment is “so divisive to the country that unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan I don’t think we should go down that path because it divides the country” — is from a Washington Post interview that was published in March.
Wednesday’s hearing features testimony from several legal scholars speaking on the “constitutional grounds for presidential impeachment.”
House Democrats launched an impeachment inquiry into Trump in September. They’re investigating whether or not Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine on the condition that the country’s top officials investigated former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. Much of the inquiry is focused on a July phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
They previously heard testimony from several fact witnesses.
