Andy McCarthy: Was this an abuse of power?
'Outnumbered's' One Lucky Guy Andy McCarthy weighs in on the impeachment inquiry process.
President Trump's best defense against impeachment is that the House Democrats' charges do not rise to the level of impeachment, former U.S. Assistant Attorney Andy McCarthy said Friday.
On Thursday, to the chagrin of protesting Republicans, the House of Representatives voted to endorse the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry into the president. The vote was 232 to 196 to approve a resolution that sets out rules for an impeachment process for which there are few precedents. It was just the third time in modern history that the House had taken such a vote.
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According to an October ABC/Washington Post poll, 49 percent of a group of 1,003 adults think that President Trump should be removed from office, while 47 percent are opposed to impeachment.
Appearing on the "Outnumbered" couch, McCarthy explained that you don't need a crime for impeachment.
"For impeachment, they need to have an abuse of power that's sufficiently egregious, that it goes to the trust that we repose in an officeholder. It can be a felony if you have a felony, but it doesn't need to be," he said.
"So, all this chatter about quid pro quo...there's quid pro quo in every single exchange. The question is, is the exchange in this instance an abuse of power?" he asked.
McCarthy believes that Trump is "freezing his defense in place" by repeatedly claiming his call with the president of Ukraine was "perfect" and that the White House should shift its messaging.
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"His best defense here is that this doesn't rise to the level of impeachment. To make that case, you need to confront what they say was wrong and why it doesn't rise to the level of impeachment," he said.
"As long as they're saying...as long as their defense is, 'It's perfect and there's no quid pro quo,' they will never get to that," McCarthy added.
"You can't impeach someone for having a dirty mouth."
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