House Impeachment Managers Violated CDC Social Distancing Guidelines—to Pose for Tweeted Photo

By Emma Riley and A. Kim | February 24, 2021 | 12:19pm EST

 
This is the photo from Feb. 13 that Rep. Jamie Raskin and six other House impeachment manager tweeted.
This is the photo from Feb. 13 that Rep. Jamie Raskin and six other House impeachment manager tweeted.

(CNS News) -- On Feb. 13, the day that former President Donald Trump’s second Senate impeachment trial ended, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the lead House impeachment manager, tweeted out a photo showing a group of 19 people, including all nine House impeachment managers.

The photo showed these people standing together shoulder-to-shoulder, some with their hands on other’s shoulders, and all wearing masks, but manifestly in violation of the CDC’s social distancing guidelines, which call for people to stay six feet apart.  

The group was standing in what appears to be a room in the Capitol.

“My profound thanks to the American people for engaging so passionately with this crucial process & to our remarkable House impeachment managers & staff for their solemn work,” Raskin said in his tweet.

In addition to Raskin, at least seven other impeachment managers tweeted or retweeted the same photo. These included Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), and Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-V.I.), Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Penn.) and Rep. Ted Lieu (D.-Calif.)

Lieu and Plaskett tweeted a version of the photo that had been adjusted from color to black-and-white.

In addition, the one remaining impeachment manager. Rep. Diana DeGette (D.-Colo.) tweeted out a different image that day that also showed impeachment managers standing very close together and not following the CDC social-distancing guidelines.

 

Thus, all nine impeachment managers sent out tweets when Trump’s second impeachment trial ended showing themselves gathering closely together in violation of CDC guidelines.

(To see examples of tweets or retweets from all nine impeachment managers that feature photographs showing them not following the CDC guideline to maintain 6 feet of social distance click here.)

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who served as the lead impeachment managers in Trump’s first impeachment trial, also tweeted out the photo of the House managers not social distancing.

Additionally, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D.-N.Y.), who was an impeachment manager in Trump’s first impeachment trial, also sent out a tweet with an image of the impeachment managers from the second trial not social distancing.

In his tweet, Schiff offered his “eternal thanks” to the impeachment managers in Trump’s second trail. “The case they made will stand the test of history,” Schiff said.

Swalwell retweeted Schiff's tweet and also sent out his own tweet that featured four photos, including the one Raskin had tweeted of the group of 19 and also another that shows some of the managers not socially distancing.

“Social distancing, also called ‘physical distancing,’ means keeping a safe space between yourself and other people who are not from your household,” say the CDC’s social-distancing guidelines. “To practice social or physical distancing, stay at least 6 feet (about 2 arm lengths) from other people who are not from your household in both indoor and outdoor spaces.

“If you are in a crowded space, try to keep 6 feet of space between yourself and others at all times, and wear a mask,” says the CDC. 

The CDC further states, “A mask is NOT a substitute for social distancing. Masks should still be worn in addition to staying at least 6 feet apart, especially when indoors around people who don’t live in your household.”

CNSNews.com repeatedly asked the offices of the nine impeachment managers if they would admit they were violating CDC social-distancing guidelines and why they did so. So far, only one office has provided a response.  A spokesman for Rep. Plaskett said: “At this time, the office has no comment on that photo.”

The photo that Raskin and others tweeted out was taken and posted after the conclusion of the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump.

(Twitter.)
(Twitter.)

That same Saturday that the nine House Impeachment Managers posed for the photo Raskin and seven other tweeted out, they also held a press conference that was covered by C-SPAN. At that press conference, all nine stood close together with masks on, but not maintaining the CDC recommended 6-feet in social distancing.

During thos press event, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) entered the room, wearing a mask, and spoke for a few minutes at the podium. She also did not maintain 6 feet of sodial distance as recommended in the CDC guidelines.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) exits press conference held by House Impeachment Managers, Feb. 13, 2021. (screenshot, CSPAN)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) exits press conference held by House Impeachment Managers, Feb. 13, 2021. (screenshot, CSPAN)

In addition to the photo in the congressional office, Raskin tweeted a link to the C-SPAN video of the Feb. 13 press conference that showed all nine House Impeachment Managers close together, not social distancing.

The House Impeachment Managers in the photo are: Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Madeleine Dean (D-Penn.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Diana Degette (D-Colo.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands), and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.).

(Twitter)
(Twitter)

CNS News asked the offices of each of the nine House Impeachment Managers, by email and telephone, for comment. Each office was contacted by email four times and by telephone four times, a total of 36 inquiries. As noted, so far only Rep. Plaskett's office has provided a response, saying they had not comment.

Below are the questions that were sent by email:

  1. The CDC “social distancing” guidelines for the COVID-19 pandemic say people should “stay at least 6 feet (about two arm lengths) from other people who are not from your household in both indoor and outdoor spaces.” Rep. Jamie Raskin tweeted out a photo on Saturday, Feb. 13, that showed all nine House impeachment managers and ten other people standing shoulder to shoulder with at least 3 people in the group putting their hands on the shoulders of others.

Question: Do you admit that in that photograph you were not following the social-distancing recommendation issued by the CDC?

Question: Why did you not follow it?

2. In a second instance, the nine House impeachment managers held a press conference on Feb. 13 after the Senate voted on the article of impeachment against President Donald Trump. Several minutes into the press conference, Speaker Nancy Pelosi entered the room and joined it. During this press conference, which was televised on CSPAN, most of the House impeachment managers stood shoulder-to-shoulder. When the impeachment managers—and Speaker Pelosi---went to the microphone to speak, they were not six feet from the others on the stage.

Question: Do you admit that in this second instance, as recorded by CSPAN, the House impeachment managers and the House speaker did not maintain the CDC’s recommended 6 feet of social distance?

(Twitter)
(Twitter)

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(Twitter.)
(Twitter.)

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(Twitter)
(Twitter)

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