Standford Law School professor Pamela Susan Karlan, one of three Democrat witnesses testifying before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday as part of the ongoing impeachment inquiry, once asserted hyperbolically that President Donald Trump “has sexually assaulted more women than 99.99 percent of all of the people” who have illegally entered the United States.
Karlan made the remark, among other rants that were critical of the president, speaking on a 2017 panel organized by the American Constitution Society featuring Bill Kristol, founder of the defunct Weekly Standard, and moderated by the Washington Post‘s Ruth Marcus.
“Every day Trump says something outrageous and people go, ‘ah, at least it’s not as outrageous as the day-before thing,’ the professor began. “I remember this during the campaign, where he would say things, and you would think, ‘okay, that’s the end.’ When he mocked John McCain for having been shot down. When he made fun of the reporter with the disability. When the infamous tapes about grabbing women came out, and you kept thinking… Donald Trump has sexually assaulted more women than 99.99% of all of the people who have entered this country illegally.”
“By himself, he’s done more. And people have stopped — think about it, because it’s just like every day it’s a new one. And I worry about that, because I think that may stop us from ever getting to the red-light moment,” she added.
Karlan’s comments have resurfaced as she told House Judiciary panel members today that President Trump’s activities with Ukraine are impeachable offenses by using an analogy about a hypothetical disaster in Texas or Louisiana to explain why the president should be ousted.
“Imagine living in a part of Louisiana or Texas that’s prone to devastating hurricanes and flooding. What would you think if you lived there and your governor asked for a meeting with the president to discuss getting disaster aid that Congress has provided for? What would you think if that president said, ‘I would like you to do us a favor? I’ll meet with you, and send the disaster relief, once you brand my opponent a criminal,’ she said. “Wouldn’t you know in your gut that such a president has abused his office? That he’d betrayed the national interest, and that he was trying to corrupt the electoral process? I believe the evidentiary record shows wrongful acts on those scale here.”
Karlan began her appearance before the House committee on a contentious note, scolding the panel’s ranking member, Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), in her opening statement and taking a bizarre dig at Trump’s teenage son Barron.
Joining Karlan in appearing before the panel were University of North Carolina Law School’s Michael Gerhardt, Harvard Law School’s Noah Feldman, and George Washing University law professor Jonathan Turley, the sole Republican witness.