Congressman Jamie Raskin on Impeaching Donald Trump—Again

The New Yorker Radio Hour

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Politics, Arts, News, Wnyc, Books, David, Storytelling, Society & Culture, Yorker, New, Remnick

4.2 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 19 February 2021

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Tommy Raskin, a twenty-five-year-old law student, took his own life on New Year’s Eve, after a long battle against depression. His family laid him to rest on January 5th, and, the next day, his father went to the United States Capitol, where he serves in Congress. Representative Jamie Raskin, who represents Maryland’s Eighth District, had an enormous task ahead of him: he was mounting the defense of the Electoral College vote. When a violent mob incited by Donald Trump breached the building, Raskin’s life was in danger, along with the lives of his daughter and son-in-law, who had joined him that day for support. Just weeks later, when the House impeached Donald Trump for his role in inciting that insurrection, Raskin was the lead manager prosecuting the case. Raskin told David Remnick about the devastation of a suicide in the family, his condolence calls from President Biden and Vice-President Harris, and how he believed the entire Senate would unite to convict Donald Trump.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is the New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.
0:10.0	Welcome to The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick.
0:13.5	January 6th, the day when mobs descended on the Capitol building in Washington,
0:18.1	will live very long in the memories of millions of Americans.
0:22.2	For Jamie Raskin, that is especially the case.
0:25.6	Raskin is a Democrat representing Maryland's eighth congressional district.
0:29.7	Just a week earlier, he had tragically lost his son, Tommy, a law student who suffered from
0:35.6	depression and took his life on New Year's Eve.
0:39.4	The Raskin family laid Tommy to rest on the fifth, and on the sixth, Jamie Raskin went to the
0:45.2	capital. One of his daughters and a son-in-law went with him for moral support because Raskin
0:50.9	had a crucial job to do. He was defending the certification of the electoral college
0:57.2	and the election of Joe Biden.
0:59.4	That's the process that Donald Trump and his supporters just could not abide,
1:04.4	and they wanted to stop it by any means necessary.
1:08.3	When the mob breached the building threatening violence on lawmakers, Raskin and his family
1:12.7	were all in danger, along with so many others. When the House impeached Donald Trump for his role
1:19.0	in inciting that insurrection, Jamie Raskin was the lead manager prosecuting the case.
1:25.7	This trial is personal indeed for every senator,
1:29.3	for every member of the House, every manager, all of our staff,
1:33.3	the Capitol Police, the Washington DC Metropolitan Police,
1:37.3	the National Guard, maintenance and custodial crews,
1:41.3	the print journalists and TV people who were here, and all of our families
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WNYC Studios and The New Yorker, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.