Impeachment Hearings: House Judiciary Committee, July 27, 1974 (1/2)
Impeachment Hearings: House Judiciary Committee, July 27, 1974 (1/2)
[00.44.33] [LEHRER/DUKE in studio] DUKE says this is the first ARTICLE of IMPEACHMENT voted against a President by a Congressional Committee in more than a century. Vote was 27-11, a "decisive margin" ensuring that a resolution will be sent to the HOUSE FLOOR, where a majority vote would send it to the Senate, where a two-thirds vote would convict and remove from office. DUKE summarizes the gist of the OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE article as lying, encouraging others to lie, withholding iformation, interfering with investigations, payment of hush money, attempt to misuse the CIA to obstruct the FBI, improperly giving grand jury information to witnesses to influence testimony, False public statements to deceive public, and leading convicted conspirators to believe they would get favorable treatment for silence. DUKE says to LEHRER that he found the vote to be a "profoundly moving experience". LEHRER says that he will leave alone the question of the validity of the article and its prospects for successful impeachment and conviction in Senate, but he is struck by the different sounds of the voices in the vote, the Midwester twangs, high voices, deep voices, etc. Says he doesn't want to sound corny, but he gets a feeling for the diversity and size of the United States from the voices of the committee members DUKE concurs, citing the unanimity of the DEMOCRATS and the six REPUBLICANS who voted for the ARTICLE as evidence of a strong coalition for impeachment. LEHRER says that beyond the vote count, he was more impressed by the fact that geographic divisions didn't seem to affect the vote, nor did age, conservative beliefs, legal experience, were not prejudicing factors in the vote DUKE says it proves that, as some people have argued all along, that the factors of public opinion and NIXON'S image in the media did not appear to influence the vote, as most members seemed to vote according to their beliefs of the legal issues in question. [DUKE addresses LEWIS, shown on the projection screen in studio] LEWIS says the feeling from the CAPITOL among observers was that it was difficult to believe that the vote was taking place "to your President, under your Constitution". Stillness in the room as the vote took place, realization that this was a historical event with potential long-reaching effects. LEWIS says that the ARTICLE must first go to the HOUSE RULES COMMITTEE to be approved for the FLOOR VOTE, then between 60 and 100 hours of debate on the FLOOR, which could take about ten days of hearings. [LEHRER standing at "scoreboard"] says the vote has just been seen, so there's no need to go into much detail, but reviews the composition of the Pro-IMPEACHMENT side, 21 DEMOCRATS, with the possible exception of Rep. FLOWERS, were not in question until the end [closeup of board as LEHRER points to photos of REPUBLICAN members who voted for the ARTICLE] LEHRER names Reps BUTLER, HOGAN, COHEN, RAILSBACK, FISH, names Rep. FROEHLICH as a surprise vote for the ARTICLE, in spite of FROEHLICH'S opposition to the article in many speeches. Mentions that the REPUBLICANS are very unified on the PRO-NIXON side, with the exception of Rep. McCLORY, who has said he will introduce an article of his own on the CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS issue., and Rep. SMITH, who has indicated that he would vote for an article based on the BOMBING OF CAMBODIA, which is not likely to be proposed. [00.53.48]