USA: Republican attorneys general condemn impeachment on Capitol Hill

W/S Republican attorneys general wall past press, Washington DC
SOT, Alan Wilson, Attorney General of South Carolina: "Today, we are submitting a legal opinion, a friend of the Senate brief if you will, to the secretary of the United States Senate to aid the senators in their deliberations and in that letter we are outlining the problems, both factual and legal, with the articles of impeachment that were passed last month by the United States House of Representatives.. We are asking the United States Senate on constitutional and legal grounds, as well as lacking in factual sufficiency, to reject these articles."
M/S Attory General of South Carolina Alan Wilson speaking to press
SOT, Alan Wilson, Attorney General of South Carolina: "There is an incredibly dangerous precedent being set here today. I don't want this precedent to exist. I don't want the House of Representatives to turn the presidency into a ward of congress. I don't want the Democratic House of Representatives to have this kind of power in the future and I especially don't want Republicans to have this kind of power. This is not about partisan politics. This is about creating a constitutional precedent that could harm our country for decades to come."
M/S Camerapeople recording press conference
W/S Attorney General of Louisiana Jeff Landry speaking to press
SOT, Jeff Landry, Attorney General of Louisiana: "An impeachment was never designed to be a partisan response towards one party losing a presidential election. The weaponising of the process that should only... It's a weaponising of this process that should only be used in very rare circumstances. If the House can impeach a president for basically invoking executive privilege, the presidents from now one become mere congressional pets."
W/S Attorney General of Louisiana Jeff Landry speaking to press
W/S Attorney General of Arkansas Leslie Rutledge speaking to press
SOT, Leslie Rutledge, Attorney General of Arkansas: "Attorneys general from 21 states came together to write this letter to the United States senate. We're the chief legal officers of each of our states and recognising the importance of the rule of law, recognising what this impeachment trial has already down to the United States of America, what the House of Representatives has done is tear down and rip apart the threads of our democracy."
M/S Camerapeople recording press conference
SOT, Curtis Hill, Attorney General of Indiana: "We have two articles of impeachment that are vague, that do not set forth crimes and its appalling. As my colleagues have indicated this would not stand in a court of law. It's completely, completely anti-fair and we demand that the Senate repudiate, in the strongest terms, this process and return it to fairness."
M/S Camerapeople recording press conference
SCRIPT
Five Republican attorneys general delivered a joint letter condemning the push to impeach US President Donald Trump to the Senate on Wednesday.
Alan Wilson (South Carolina), Jeff Landry (Louisiana), Leslie Rutledge (Arkansas) and Curtis Hill (Indiana) explained their move, which had the support of 21 Republican attorneys general, at a press conference sponsored by US congressman Mike Johnson.
Wilson kicked off proceedings by calling the impeachment a "dangerous precedent".
His co-signatory Landry accused Democrats of "weaponising" the process.
Arkansas's Rutledge even said Congress achievement was to "tear down and rip apart the threads of our democracy."
Hill concluded by calling for a return to fairness.
Trump is currently facing an impeachment trial in the US Senate over allegations he abused power and obstructed Congress.
The investigation revolves around a now-infamous phone call July 25 with Volodymyr Zelenskiy relating to political rival and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.