 Thank you Do you believe we are facing a constitutional crisis is our democracy under threat and what can we be done to rebuild our institutions? I do think we are facing a constitutional crisis and I Say that as someone who actually worked on an impeachment staff back in 1974 I was a young lawyer recruited to work on the staff to Gather and analyze the law and the facts around president Nixon's behavior in office and I was one of the lawyers who worked on a document about what is a high crime and misdemeanor Think about this. Why did our founders put impeachment into the Constitution? They knew we'd have elections They assumed that we'd have fair elections without, you know, British French or Russian interference And that if you didn't like somebody in office including the president you would vote that person out But they put impeachment in because they understood human nature and they understood the potential for abusive power and They concluded you needed a remedy in the Constitution to remove dishonest abusive office holders So the impeachment power is given to the house To conduct investigations when there is evidence that a president in office Has engaged in behavior that amounts to a high crime or misdemeanor against our nation that could cause a series of Consequences that would undermine our rule of law our separation of powers our Constitution I think that Speaker Pelosi was correct not to give in to pressure to impeach about everything that people disagree with Trump about I mean There's a long list Because I think she felt a heavy responsibility that it had to meet the founders definition and reason if she was going to trigger an impeachment inquiry the Ukraine Phone call the whistleblower report the additional information that is now coming out certainly in my view meets the definition of an impeachable offense if it's proven and so I believe you have to have a very thorough Thoughtful deliberative process when I was on the impeachment staff. I mean we didn't talk to the press We didn't leak anything because we knew this was a very heavy Responsibility and I think that's what Nancy Pelosi understands and that's why they're trying to gather evidence now if you look back at the Nixon impeachment abuse of power obstruction of justice contempt of Congress were the major reasons under which there were specific acts The Trump administration's letter that their White House counsel sent saying they weren't going to cooperate and that you know The house had no right to investigate the president and all of that is totally out of bounds if you were to Believe that no president could be investigated for wrongdoing while in office If you were to believe that the president was above the law We would lose our democracy right then We would be on the road to tyranny and you know if if If he wants to contest the evidence if he wants to present Contrary evidence to the house that is his right, you know, that's I mean the Nixon administration Desperately tried to present evidence, but the problem was Just like with the transcript of this phone call and the whistleblower can Complaint there was real evidence about what president Nixon and his staff were doing They were obstructing justice. They were abusing power and the tapes just sealed the deal so remember what happened in 1974 and one of the people I profile in here is Barbara Jordan who gave one of the greatest speeches when she spoke about Why she was going to vote in favor of the Articles of Impeachment about defending the Constitution? So the articles were presented to the House committee and Four Republicans joined in voting for those articles of impeachment Because the evidence was compelling. It couldn't be brushed away It couldn't be argued or insulted away. It was there in black and white and in transcripts of phone calls And so four Republicans voted to impeach President Nixon it never went to the full house because Republican senators went to the White House including I recall Barry Goldwater and Said to President Nixon you should resign The evidence is there. You should resign and he did so I think this Particular impeachment inquiry is not anything anybody should be happy about nobody should celebrate. It's a solemn sad moment for our country But we have to enforce our laws and our Constitution and we have to hold leaders Accountable and we have to protect the separation of powers and the rule of law So I will not prejudge it but from my own experience and looking at it It certainly seems to meet the definition of impeachment that the founders had in mind