Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the chairman for the House Intelligence Committee, said on Tuesday the reason why Democrats could not have waited to impeach President Trump is because it would allow him to "cheat" again in the 2020 election.
Schiff made his comments at a press conference where Democratic House leaders officially announced the two articles of impeachment they are presenting against Trump.
"The argument 'Why don't you just wait?' amounts to this: 'Why don't you just let him cheat in one more election?" Schiff said. "'Why not let him cheat just one more time? Why not let him have foreign help just one more time?'" That is what that argument amounts to. The president's misconduct goes to the heart of whether we can conduct a free and fair election in 2020. It is bad enough for a candidate to invite foreign interference in our political process, but it is far more corrosive for our president to do so and to abuse his power to make it so."
"Ben Franklin said, 'We have a republic if we can keep it.' The president and his men say, 'You can’t keep it, and Americans should just get over it.' Americans don't get to decide American elections anymore, not by themselves, not without foreign help," Schiff added. "For the members of Congress, this is not a question of fact because the facts are not seriously contested. It is rather a question of duty."
While Trump at first tweeted about the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement after the press conference, he then simply tweeted the impeachment inquiry is a "witch hunt."
WITCH HUNT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2019
Democrats did not take questions at the end of their press conference.