Watch This ‘Snarky, Bisexual, Jewish’ Law Professor’s Impeachment Testimony
Pamela Karlan, a professor of law at Stanford University, made waves on social media Wednesday with her testimony on the impeachment inquiry before the House Judiciary Committee.
Karlan, who has referred to herself as a “snarky, bisexual, Jewish” woman, spoke forcefully about how Donald Trump’s quest for a quid pro quo from the Ukrainian government was antithetical to American democracy.
“I see a pattern in which the President’s views about the propriety of foreign governments intervening in our election process are the antithesis of what our framers committed to,” she said at one point in her testimony.
Karlan’s opening statement, however, received the most attention on social media, especially when she responded directly to the opening statement of Rep. Doug Collins, the Judiciary Committee’s ranking Republican.
Collins, himself a lawyer, suggested that the four constitutional scholars assembled by the Judiciary Committee would likely not have been able to read through Rep. Adam Schiff’s report on impeachment, or go through the testimony presented to Schiff’s Intelligence Committee.
Karlan disagreed.
“I read transcripts of every one of the witnesses who appeared in the live hearing,” she said. “I’m insulted by the suggestion that as a law professor I don’t care about those facts.”
A Star is Born. pic.twitter.com/X9EhDAN9aq
— Claude Taylor (@TrueFactsStated) December 4, 2019
You can watch Collins’ remarks in the video below.
What’s shocking to me is Rep Doug Collins is a lawyer
Had he remembered even one thing from law school it would’ve been that you do not, You Do Not, insult law professors by labeling them ignorant of the facts or law at issue
Well done Prof Pamela Karlanpic.twitter.com/clmPEraxo8
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) December 4, 2019
Karlan was one of three Jewish constitutional scholars invited to testify Wednesday, alongside Noah Feldman of Harvard University and Michael Gerhardt of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aefeldman
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!