U. S. Capitol
Now that we’re retired,
Tim and I spend much of our time following national as well as local
political news. Not surprisingly, the daily outrages coming out of the
White House keep us plenty busy. So naturally we were intrigued when the L.A. Times announced its latest
“expedition,” touring Washington D.C. with one of its
political reporters. President Bill
Clinton was in the midst of impeachment the last time we visited D.C., 20 years ago. Might another impeachment happen if we
returned? We signed up immediately.
Our group was small: nine well-read
Southern Californians who, despite political affiliation, were all as concerned about
the current White House as we are. Our guide was a Times political reporter and D.C.
resident. Thanks to him and his contacts, we were able to: meet with staff from
the Constitutional Accountability Center, which is representing Congress in an
emolument lawsuit against the White House; watch the filming of MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews; eat lunch
with L.A. Times editor Jackie Calmes,
who is writing a book about recent Supreme Court appointee Brett Kavanaugh;
have drinks with MSNBC political commentators; meet retired Congressmember
Henry Waxman, who now works for his son’s lobbying firm; and tour the
recently-renovated offices of the Motion Picture Association.
The true highlight,
however, was touring the Capitol building, where we unexpectedly stumbled
into the middle of history. After briefly visiting the Supreme Court building,
we walked over to the Capitol and chatted with Senator Kamala Harris’s communications
aide. Two interns then took us on
a tour of the Capitol, including rides on the underground trams that take
legislators from their buildings to the main part of the Capitol—typical VIP touristy stuff.
Looming over all of this, however, was the whistleblower complaint claiming that the White House used promises of
military aid to extort Ukraine into investigating presidential candidate
Joe Biden. In response, House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi scheduled a special Democratic caucus meeting at 4PM to discuss whether or
not to launch a formal impeachment inquiry. Their decision would then be publicly announced
at 5PM.
It was almost 3PM when we
just happened to be walking by Pelosi’s office in the Capitol. Suddenly there was a flurry of activity as somebody
whispered, “There’s Schiff!” And sure enough, here came an entourage including
Congressmember Adam Schiff, chair of the House intelligence committee,
followed closely by Jerry Nadler, chair of the House judiciary committee. Obviously
both were on their way to confer with the Speaker before the 4PM meeting.
“Oh my god,” I said to no
one in particular. “It’s happening!”
Within seconds, we were
surrounded by TV, radio, and newspaper reporters eagerly awaiting news. Anticipation filled the hall. We all knew the three Congressmembers were talking
impeachment. I could barely breathe.
Our Times guide had arranged a 3:15PM meeting with L.A. Representative Jimmy Gómez, so we quickly made our way to another part of
the building. It seemed impossible that the hundreds of happy-go-lucky tourists we
passed didn’t know what was happening in Pelosi’s office. Making no
predictions, Gómez was clearly distressed about the decision he would soon help make, saying
that this was a sad but historic day. He then left for the 4PM meeting as his
aide took us down a flight of stairs that led to the back of the building.
As we were leaving, we
heard a loud cheer: Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, wearing a bright orange hijab, was
greeted by a small, but loud, group of pro-impeachment supporters. Exiting the
building, we joined the supporters for a quick photo before walking to our van.
Only then did I allow myself to cry, relieved that Congress was at last moving
toward impeachment. At 5PM, we listened to Pelosi’s announcement as we
drove back to the hotel. A formal inquiry was finally being launched.
View of the Capitol from the Supreme Court building
More photos of our trip follow
below.
