Trump Celebrates His Acquittal By Senate, Praises North Texas Congressman John Ratcliffe
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) — At the White House Thursday, President Trump celebrated his acquittal by the Senate on the two articles of impeachment.
During his remarks, he praised North Texas Congressman John Ratcliffe, Republican for the 4th Congressional District, who for months has defended him in Congressional hearings and national TV interviews.
As Ratcliffe sat in the audience, the president told him he was a good lawyer. "He gets on that screen and everyone says I agree. The other side folds up so fast. We'll probably use a lot of you. You have been fantastic."
Ratcliffe's office released a video statement in which he supported the Senate's acquittal. "This is not only a win for President Trump and his commitment to faithfully fulling the duties of his office, it's a win for the Constitution."
But the verdict in the Senate is being criticized by Democrats, including North Texas Congressman Marc Veasey of the 33rd Congressional District. "I thought it was terrible. What I will say is that in my opinion, you can't have an acquittal without a trial. And there's no trial without any witnesses, documents or evidence. They suppressed all of the evidence."
Even as the President and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are feuding with each other, Veasey said he thought big legislation could get passed this year.
"The President already said he wanted to pass a prescription drug bill. We have a prescription drug bill. Mitch McConnell has a prescription drug bill. Why hasn't he started debate on his so we can go to conference on a prescription drug bill," he said.
Congressman Veasey said the House is also working on an infrastructure bill, but he questioned whether the Senate is.
CBS 11 reached out to Congressman Ratcliffe's office, and representatives from five other Republican and Democratic House members from North Texas Thursday, but they were unavailable.
