Law professor Pamela Karlan quickly caught some attention online Wednesday after her fiery reprimand of Rep. Doug Collins while testifying at the first the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.
In front of the House Judiciary Committee, Karlan addressed the ranking member directly for his opening statement that questioned her ability to fully digest the transcripts of yesterday’s hearing.
“Unless you’re really good on TV or watching the hearings over the last couple of weeks, you couldn’t have possibly, actually digested the Adam Schiff report from yesterday or the Republican response in any real way,” Collins said.
Karlan didn’t take kindly to Collins’ comments and fired back swiftly. “Everything I know about our constitution and its values and my review of the evidentiary record — and here, Mr. Collins, I would like to say to you, sir, that I read transcripts of every one of the witnesses who appeared in the live hearing because I would not speak about these things without reviewing the facts so I’m insulted by the suggestion that as a law professor, I don’t care about those facts — but everything I read on those occasions tells me that when President Trump invited — indeed, demanded — foreign involvement in our upcoming election, he struck at the very heart of what makes this a republic to which we pledge allegiance.”
She went on to note that in her opinion, the president’s actions in relations to Ukraine constitute an abuse of power and undermine “democracy itself.”
On Twitter, Karlan’s rebuttal got immediate attention. She was declared “not here for the GOP shenanigans” and someone who “has turned this hearing room into a classroom.”
Stanford law professor Pamela Karlan responds to House Judiciary ranking member Doug Collins: “I read transcripts of every one of the witnesses who appeared in the live hearing…I’m insulted by the suggestion that as a law professor I don’t care about those facts.” pic.twitter.com/lQUFdBTSBK
— Axios (@axios) December 4, 2019